#asherah's scar

[picathartidae]

Oooh! Tell me about Where the Sun Greats the Sea! ^__^

A very long answer incoming, many apologies!

So I have this homebrew D&D setting (called Asherah's Scar) I’ve been working on for actual years, and in my eternal quest to flesh it out, I have written several stories set in different time periods within this universe.

This one is actually a retelling of an ancient creation myth, that goes over a conflict between the old gods (two gods, known as 'She Who Walks the Sea' and 'He Who Dances in Fire') and the first dragon (eventually revealed to be my version of a D&D god called Tharizdun), leading to the creation of the world, and later gives a mythological explanation for a supervolcanic eruption back in the very early days of the world existing ��� thus leading to humans spreading out across the world rather than staying on that archipelago where they originated. And a bunch of other things.

He Who Dances and She Who Walks are the gods of the Sun and Sea respectively, and they’re generally portrayed as lovers, hence the ending line of the whole thing being; “And on the cusp of day and night do the lovers meet; at the edge of the world, where the Sun greets the Sea”, which is where the title comes from.

At the moment, it’s really just a plot outline and bits and pieces of dialogue. But! Rather than a snippet, I can just give you a full plot synopsis (because let’s face it, this is very esoteric world building that I’m writing for reference and never posting anywhere).

The myth comes in two parts; the first being the initial conflict between the old gods and Tharizdun, which ends with He Who Dances drawing out the 'fires of the earth' to bury the dragon and save the multiverse from destruction as the world is being created. This is obviously a metaphor for a volcanic eruption that ultimately formed the island chain, hence why the world is called "Asherah's Scar", because it's the scars of land left behind from that godly conflict on the ocean (the name Asherah literally means 'she who walks in the sea', by the way, it's all very detailed and complicated).

The second part of the myth is a second volcanic eruption that forced humanity to leave the archipelago and settle the rest of the world.

Basically, an ill-advised revenge plot by a traumatised man leads to the spirit of He Who Dances in Fire getting corrupted, the resurrection of the dragon, and everything under His jurisdiction (the sun, fire, life, volcanos, etc) goes completely out of whack. Creatures get corrupted into weird fire demons, the ocean gets set on fire, every volcano in this huge chain of volcanic islands explodes all at once, everything is ash and the air is poison, the works.

Since this all nearly destroys the world, again, She Who Walks has to take mortal form to figure out what the hell happened, which involves Her sort of taking over an actual human girl because that's the only way gods can interact with the mortal plane in my setting. From there it's an ongoing quest to 1) save what remains of He Who Dances -- the disparate fragments of which have taken over a young man -- and 2) get the dragon and its corrosive spirit as far away from the Material Plane as possible, since they can't destroy it.

They succeed in saving creation, but destroy the archipelago in the process. And as the survivors flee the islands, the two kids who got taken over by She Who Walks and He Who Dances are completely subsumed into the respective gods and they disappear into the ash as the gods leave the Material Plane themselves.

It's all bundled up in a framing device of a woman telling a bunch of kids this, as they are sailing to find new lands to settle on, in wake of the whole disaster.

And that's Where the Sun Greets the Sea! It is bonkers and I apologise profusely.

[almacambiondaughterofsaleos]

Chaos (Blitzø) and Asherah (Darcy) in my fic/the main couple INSTEAD of Stoliz:

Blitzo emerges as a nightmarish vision of uncontrolled chaos, a direct embodiment of the void in mythology. Cloaked in a dark, off-the-shoulder cassock that flows elegantly to the ground, the fabric is ink-black, saturated with a glossy sheen that absorbs light. The cassock features wide sleeves, eerily devoid of any patterns except for an array of pulsating white stars that embellish the hem and lower portions, their shapes unnaturally twisting and resizing themselves as if alive. His torso is a disturbing tableau of multiple red eyes with slit black pupils and blinding white irises, each one blinking asynchronously, creating a disorienting, hallucinogenic effect. Blitzo's arms, encased in obsidian armor, end in sharply elongated claws, dripping with an otherworldly substance that sizzles upon contact with the ground. His boots are jet black with violent splashes of red-pink, the colors so intensely vivid they nearly radiate off the material. Above his head, a glowing white halo shaped like a twisted crown pulsates with chaotic energy, its center marked by a red-pink star, radiating an oppressive light that seems to warp reality around it. From his back sprouted three pairs of massive, black angel wings, each feather fluttering with eerie autonomy. The feathers are studded with red-pink eyes, each blinking independently, adding to his terrifying visage. His neck is clasped by a skull charm that throbs with a ghostly light, while his own eyes, now pitch black with stark white irises and blood-red slits which can shift to broken hearts or a starry-eyed effect, give nothing away of his thoughts but scream malevolence.

Surrounding Blitzo is an aura of black fire, a darkness so profound it appears to swallow light, punctuated by flashes of chaotic energy that distort the air around him. His voice, a cacophony of whispers, screams, and the unsettling chitter of insects, shifts unpredictably, sometimes overlapping in a symphony of madness. Accompanying him are the mythical horses Skinfaxi, Hrímfaxi, and Spindle, each exuding their eerie glow of dawn, dusk, and the spectral unknown. Blitzo wields a staff topped with an obsidian Mustang, its mane, and tail a morass of flames and liquid lava, eyes glowing red, horns branching out like twisted trees. His previously yellowed teeth are now an unnerving angelic white, his tail longer and spiked, ending in a swirling orb of indigo and violet flames. The once innocuous heart-shaped mark has been replaced by a glowing red pentagram, shifting unpredictably between symbols of ancient chaos. Engulfed in flames of red, black, and white, his every movement leaves trails of these colors, blending into a dizzying display of otherworldly power.

Drool of black blood trickles from his mouth, a dark liquid substance seeping from his form, granting him the terrifying ability to restore life to the dead and mend injuries. This same substance, when it touches the fallen, causes their eyes to reform and fuse, restoring them to a semblance of life. His scars seem to be completely healed. 

In the swirling chaos that is Blitzo's aura, shadows seem to move of their own accord, forming faces of torment that whisper secrets of despair into the ears of the brave souls who dare approach. His cassock, while appearing solid from afar, up close reveals a shifting, almost liquid texture, like a black hole fabric consuming the light around it, making it difficult for one's eyes to find a place to rest without feeling pulled into the abyss. The stars on his garment, rather than providing a respite from the darkness, flicker erratically, their light sharp and piercing, like needles to the eye, overwhelming the senses with their intense glare.

The chains that Blitzo wields writhe like serpents, each link crying red blood that steams upon hitting the ground, filling the air with the metallic scent of iron and fear. The glowing red roots that entangle these chains pulse with a life of their own, occasionally tightening suddenly as if attempting to strangle the unseen. His halo, rather than a divine symbol, functions as a beacon of madness, casting disturbing shadows that dance mockingly around him, warping and elongating into grotesque figures that seem to mock the very idea of sanity.

The sound accompanying Blitzo's presence is no less disturbing—a discordant symphony of the cries of the damned, the wailing of the winds of oblivion, and the unsettling silence of the void interspersed suddenly and without warning. This acoustic chaos ensures that no one can acclimate, each moment with him a test of one's mental endurance. Even the air around Blitzo is tainted; breathing it in feels like inhaling a mist of despair that slowly fills the lungs with a heaviness that is not just physical but existential. The ground where he steps crackles with the energy of a storm, the very earth blackening as if scorched by the depths of hell, leaving behind a trail of decay in his wake. Instead of a forked and lengthy red tongue, his tongue can change into a variety of disturbingly clownish patterns, Asherah (Darcy), finding it "hot". The main pattern(s) he chooses is either half black and red, black with red stripes, or red with black stripes.

Darcy's form is a masterpiece of cosmic artistry, her skin has two hues that for different patterns (black or white), showcasing an intense duality of existence that borders on the divine, but she can change this pattern to anything she wants, or just have one color dominate the other which changes the rest of her traits to fit the change. Most of the time, she has the pattern of half-white and half-black split down the middle.

The vantablack portion(s) of her skin transcends mere darkness; it embodies an unfathomable abyss, a void so profound and all-consuming that it seems to stretch into infinity itself. This is no ordinary shade but an engulfing singularity, where light doesn't just fade—it's voraciously devoured, annihilated on contact. Each speck of white scattered across this incomprehensible darkness explodes with the intensity of an entire universe, not just a star, but a boundless cosmos brimming with tales untold, epochs unfurling in the blink of an eye. These pinpricks of light are so fiercely brilliant, so saturated with stories and life, that they pierce the veil of the abyss with an overwhelming fervor, challenging the very nature of perception. The stark, absolute blackness of her skin clashes with the incandescent specks in a spectacle of contrast so severe, that it threatens the sanity of the beholder. The light does not simply shine; it blazes with a ferocity that feels almost tangible, a beacon of infinity calling from the depths of an endless night. This collision of light and darkness creates an experience so intense, that it can destabilize the senses, inducing a vertiginous awe that makes the observer feel inconceivably minute, standing on the precipice of the vast, unfathomable expanse of existence. The encounter with such a sight, where the darkness is so saturated it becomes a physical presence, and the light so bright it sears the very essence of being, is an encounter with the sublime, leaving one dizzy with profound reverence and an acute awareness of one's insignificance in the face of such transcendent beauty. These stars are not static; they pulse, twinkle, and burn with vibrant life, moving in an ethereal dance choreographed by the forces of an invisible universe. Their luminosity is so potent, that it threatens to breach the boundary of reality, transforming her skin into a living nebula where stories of distant worlds unfold in real time.

Contrastingly, her light-infused portion(s) erupts in a brilliance that transcends mere dazzle, emitting an ethereal luminance from an immaculate, stark white surface. This white isn't just radiant; it's an explosion of purity, a blinding beacon of light so overpowering it seems to tear through the fabric of reality itself. The brightness emanating from her skin is not of this world, surpassing the core of a supernova in its intensity. It is a white so saturated, so utterly devoid of blemish, that its mere presence assaults the senses, compelling the beholder's pupils to shrink to mere pinpricks. The glow radiates a spectrum of whites so vivid and potent, that it threatens to consume all that falls within its gaze, challenging the very essence of perception and leaving an afterimage that lingers, burned into the vision of all who dare to look upon it. This hemisphere does not simply shine; it pulsates with a force that feels almost alive, an unyielding torrent of light that promises no shelter or reprieve, turning its observation into an act of defiance against the overwhelming tide of its luminosity. Against this surreal backdrop, patterns of vantablack weave constellations, nebulae, and celestial events so detailed, that they could only mirror the universe's splendor in its entirety. These formations challenge the very essence of light, presenting a twisted mirror to the cosmos that not only replicates but subverts the starry sky, suggesting an alternate reality where shadows craft the light. The white of her skin blazes with an intensity that borders on the unbearable, each ray of light seeming to carry the weight of a thousand suns. The vantablack designs on this incandescent field are not mere shadows but portals to infinity, each one a swirling maelstrom of possibilities, evolving and rotating with a hypnotic allure that dares the onlooker to dive into the void. The brilliance of this site is such that it transcends mere visual spectacle, becoming a visceral experience that engraves its memory onto the soul. In this breathtaking duality, shooting stars trace her limbs, leaving trails of cosmic fire that tattoo the skin with ephemeral tales of celestial wanderlust. This sensory barrage is not just seen but felt, a symphony of light and darkness that plays upon the senses with a cacophony of beauty so intense, that it verges on the traumatic, leaving an indelible mark of overwhelming awe. 

She has glowing white star-like freckles on either side of Her face, with three on each cheek, along with two glowing cartoonish faces (on her black-skinned side one face is white, on the white side the other face is black): a black cat with sharp fangs and piercing scarlet eyes, and a serpent with even longer fangs. These faces are capable of reacting to what She says and can speak and sing along with Her, as well as speak on their own and add on to anything Darcy says. 

Her hair, stark white on the vantablack side and pitch-black on the white side is fluffy, and changes in volume, sometimes wavy, sometimes curly, and sometimes sleek, straight strands that shimmer under the light. Occasionally, it adopts a crimped style, adding a playful, zigzag pattern that complements her bold look. Darcy occasionally swaps haircuts almost daily.

Her hair also possesses an elemental quality, swaying independently as if composed of living flames and a lava lamp, as well as undulating as if having a life of its own, as if she is constantly underwater. Upon closer inspection, the underside reveals a canvas of vantablack, a cosmic void punctuated by the twinkle of entire galaxies, nebulae, and star systems.

She has stylized white eyebrows. Her teeth are pearly white, and perfectly healthy-looking, even if she gorges on the greaseiest of foods. Her physique is sharply drawn, pencil-thin, scrawny, almost emaciated, and androgynous. She is capable of shapeshifting into a more male-like form, female form, or both, or even neither as the situation demands. She has a pointed upright nose.

Her eyes are a dizzying mosaic of unearthly visual wonder, the sclerae inked in an absorbing vantablack, so deep it swallows light whole. In stark contrast, her irises gleam with piercing white, shaped like stars with edges so sharp they could slice through the very fabric of reality. These celestial star-shaped pupils fluctuate wildly in size and form, morphing to mirror her volatile emotions. Surrounding these are sinister, crimson-colored concentric rings that glow with an ominous intensity, pulsing rhythmically when she wields her power of hypnosis. Above the typical placement, on her forehead, lie three additional eyes, meticulously arranged to form a triangle of mystical surveillance. The largest pair, her primary eyes, command attention, their gaze piercing and calculating. Subtly interspersed among her freckles are myriad tiny eyes, each barely visible unless caught by the right light, blinking open to reveal hints of the same dark sclerae and luminescent irises. More eyes tend to appear when she's angry.

She possesses lanky and slightly digitigrade limbs that culminate in what seem to be split black hooves, resembling those of artiodactyls—or more precisely, deer.

A large, stark white halo floated above her head, and crystal spires formed seven vertical white lines, resembling the seven spires of a tiara, specifically the Kokoshnik tiara. Each spire is topped with a sparkling, twinkling, and flaming star that can vary in its number of points (from four to sixteen), and the central spire is flanked by two smaller spires. This halo floats above her head, outlined in a white glow, with a central onyx black obsidian circular cut gemstones below the central spire and three smaller opals of the same color on each side of the halo's rim, she also has a pair of glowing branch-like axolotl gill-antlers extend from her hair, and branch out when she's angry or when she examines people but don't usually appear.

She possesses a deer tail, distinguished by its black and white hues, notable for its silk-like smoothness and gentleness upon touch. Additionally, her tail boasts the remarkable ability to transform into various forms, with a preference often alternating between her natural deer tail and a unique, vantablack devil's tail. This devil's tail is distinct, extending long with seven spikes culminating in an arrowhead tip, decorated with a white tip. Black dots embellish the corners of her mouth, complemented by black lipstick accentuating her upper lip.

She is adorned with seven pairs of wings, each marked by black eyes set against a white backdrop on their span, though these wings remain concealed and her wings are feathery and colored white. Her eyes are framed by thick black mascara and eyeliner. These wings are extremely large and gigantic compared to the other angels.

A striking feature is her elongated, sinuous, forked tongue adding to her enigmatic presence. Her forked tongue is the inverse of her skin (skin = black/white tongue half, tongue = white/black tongue half). She has two large black-tipped tufts of hair extending from the top of Her head that resemble deer ears. The ends of her arms are black with a texture of smooth obsidian rock with white veiny cracks and small embers flying from it, giving the appearance of cracked volcanic fissures that do burn when touched. All the glowing features in her body can also glow in the dark. She also has conspicuous, pulsating veins along her neck, their obsidian tendrils imbued with a sinister scarlet luminescence. A viscous ink-like venom incessantly oozes from her fingertips, dripping and generating wisps of smoke. At times, observers claim to perceive faint, anxious voices accompanying the eerie spectacle.

I know this may seem like an essay, but since I can't draw fanart of them, here it is in 10,000 word description for '^^!

Wow!

[cymorilcinnamonroll]

Eternal Famine - Biblical Knifeplay Fic of Tragic Proportions

Eve tortures Lucifer, because bleeding is the only way this depressed, sadistic motherfucker Feels

Alabaster skin leaves bloody petals on my dressing board. I take my talons and dredge them through my shining flesh, adamant sparkle against wicked nails, and crimson pours forth.

A snaggle tooth sharp canine, grinning arcanely. I look at my reflection, shedding my snakeskin. First, albino serpent scales, shimmering with moonlight. Then, clandestine wings, littering the immaculate marble floor, shot through with veins of gold.

Eve watches. Eve is always watching, through cycles of time, praying that I can find refuge – fuck my little savior. There is nothing but to be harrowed in Hell, and though I am Prince of her World, Gehenna is fructified only by it’s regent’s scarred flesh and ichor foliating like seeds deep into the blood-soil.

“Do you like it, little girl?” I sing, slipping out of my skin, fileting myself to bloody ribbons.

She cries, praying. I laugh like a madman, sanguine horror of my body hanging in ruins.

“It doesn’t have to be like this, Lu.”

She dots her eyes of tears.

I reach out – across paens of time, across seas of evil, and lust rises in my groin. I send myself across the Abyss of my Father to her pale pink room.

“It always has to be like this. There is not truth but justice. And I am a sinner, Eve.”

She begins to dry my wounds, the caul of my bloody rebirth staining her carpets with gore. Sandalwood incense. A rosary of olive wood from Israel – oh, so my charge has been praying for my supposedly wayward soul.

“I will pay the tithe for you, Lu.”

She kisses my brow as I bend into her lap, crying out as she applies poultices. My lower naga half wraps around her, strangling her legs. She winces as I draw my thumb claw across the meat of her thigh, digging in. I ruin her many times, cutting apart, click clack of silver blade, her nubile flesh.

Planting my sons deep in my hellwife’s womb.

Oh, we fuck. Of course, we fuck in the ruins of my body. When are Lucifer and Eve not fucking? Samael and Asherah? The Bride and the Whore.

“Nachash,” Chavah whispers, losing herself in my husks, a quicksilver flame

to my darklight.

“Yes, Eve?” I eat her out like my favorite parfaits. She is crying, agony and ecstasy – her vagina is my favorite place to burrow, tongue laden with her honey, her delicate sweet folds hot and wet under my thumb.

“Do you love me? Do you love anyone? Are you even capable of love?”

“Like a mother albatross’s blood from her heart, to feed her children.”

I spear into her, laying her down in sweet ruin. My white feathers rain down on her golden breast like marabou. Her blonde hair and blue-green eyes are misty. She begs for kisses. I, of course, oblige.

“Will you leave me, one day, Lu? Never to return? Even when your whole being is lost in me, I can feel the eternal famine of your soul.”

“A Beast is hungry, Eve.”

“Through eternity?”

“Always, Eve.”

“Always.”

[fortitudina]

BASIC INFORMATION

FULL NAME: Esther Mary Morningstar NICKNAME: Ess, Essie, Mom AGE: Forever 30 BIRTH DATE: 15th December GENDER: Female SPECIES: Angel ROMANTIC ORIENTATION: Heteroromantic SEXUAL ORIENTATION: Heterosexual RELIGION: Christian SPOKEN LANGUAGE: English, Russian ( sort of ), French CURRENT LIVING CONDITIONS: Cottage in the woodland OCCUPATION: Homebody

RELATIONSHIPS

PARENTS: • Mother ( deceased ) • Father ( deceased ) SIBLINGS: • Sister ( deceased ) • Brother ( deceased ) SIGNIFICANT OTHER: • Lucien Morningstar ( former husband ) • Enzo Morningstar ( husband ) CHILDREN: • Lily Morningstar ( daughter ) • Louie Morningstar ( son ) FRIENDS: • Valentin Demiurgos • Hermione Black • Harry Black • Adrian Strix • Kodiak • Lonan Morningstar OTHER CONNECTIONS: • Michael Demiurgos • Lucifer Morningstar • Sima Morningstar • Phenex Morningstar • Lucifer Morningstar • Asherah • God

PHYSICAL TRAITS

EYE COLOUR: Brown HAIR COLOUR: Brunette HEIGHT: 5ft 7 inches BODY BUILD: ectomorph TATTOOS + PIERCINGS: Pierced ears NOTABLE PHYSICAL TRAITS: Scars upon her body from what happened to her.

POWERS & ABILITIES

POWERS: • Angel physiology • Flight via wings • Immortality • Invulnerability • Resurrection / Life Manipulation • Superhuman stamina / strength / speed ABILITIES: • Skilled in hand-to-hand combat • Great at liaising • Incredibly empathetic WEAKNESSES: • Celestial weaponry • Her family / loved ones • Memories of the past

PHOBIAS & DISORDERS

PHOBIAS: Being trapped, Death MENTAL DISORDERS: Anxiety, PTSD WHEN WAS THIS DIAGNOSED?: A few years ago.

PERSONALITY

PERSONALITY TYPE: MORAL ALIGNMENT: True Neutral INTELLIGENCE: Highly intelligent LIKES: Wine, Music, Getting cosy under blankets in front of the fire DISLIKES: Almonds, Pecan Pie, HYDRA DISPOSITION: She is a kind and caring soul with an incredibly maternal nature. Despite her ordeals, she remains soft and compassionate towards everyone she meets but she can also hold quite the temper and put others in their place should she need to. EXTRAS: She can become quite the goof when around those familiar to her.

BIOGRAPHY

TW: TORTURE. DEATH. MURDER.

Esther Morningstar is the late wife of Lucien Morningstar and mother of Lily and Louie Morningstar. She was born and raised in Watertown in the late 1800’s and was a desirable young woman as she came of age. What she did not realise, however, was the dangers that lurked within her town. One night, she was walking in the park when she felt herself being followed. She was unchaperoned as it was - one of her rebellious acts against her parents at the time, but she least expected her sleepy town to be hiding a dark secret.

Her walking quickened bit by bit until it became a run. She could feel her heart racing within her chest but the one following her did not stop. She quickly made for the woodland by the park, hoping that she could lose her hunter within the trees, darting behind an old oak in an attempt to hide. She attempted to calm her breathing and slowly, tried to peer around the tree to see if she could find her follower, only for him to appear before her and trap her between himself and the wall. She remembered his striking eyes above everything else… and the fangs that he bore.

This was her first encounter with Lucien Morningstar. He had no humanity at the time but Esther’s fear quickly dropped, seeing the pain hidden behind his eyes, despite him wanting to make her his meal. She quickly showed him compassion and caring, lifting her hand to cup his cheek and give him a soft smile before letting him feed on her, only enough to satiate his hunger, however, before she took herself home again and made sure to heal the punctures upon her neck from her parents.

That night sparked something between them both and from then on, Esther kept seeing Lucien lingering wherever she went. She began to sneak away from her parents more and more, meeting with him in the night at first, until she was certain that his humanity was back. Their hidden romance quickly became something more and Esther did not care what people said about her courting a stranger to them that was not part of the socialite scene of the town. She fell for the hunter and she fell in love hard.

Esther tried telling her parents of her love for Lucien but her father above all failed to see her side of things. He shunned her love and their relationship together, leaving Esther no other option but to leave her home and her town. If it meant that she could be with the love of her life, then she would do anything.

The two left Watertown and made a home for themselves elsewhere. They married in a private ceremony, securing their soulmate bond entirely and consummating their marriage that evening. Lucien had built them a small cottage in the woodland, away from everyone and everything. It was perfect in Esther’s eyes; giving her the solitude she always preferred, along with being surrounded by the peacefulness of nature that was perfect for building a family.

Esther soon fell pregnant and the two fell even more in love. Her pregnancy was smooth, despite the nature of their unborn child and nine months later, she gave birth in their home to a baby girl. The baby girl was aptly named Lily and they now had that little family that Esther had imagined when they moved to the cottage.

Esther spent her days caring for their daughter and teaching her as much as possible. The years seemed to fly by as Lily went from a quiet infant to a cheeky toddler, and then to a caring child. It was evident that she took after her mother for her compassion and Esther often bore witness to it as she tended to their animals and took care of those who came to them injured.

But one day, whilst Esther was tending to the housework within the cottage and Lily played in the garden, Esther heard the scream of her daughter. Everything was dropped to run out to her, only for her to see Lily gripped in the arms of unfamiliar men. Esther went to scream for her husband but her attempts were quickly hushed as another came up behind her and put her hand over her mouth. They were taken to a place Esther did not recognise. Thrown into a cold and damp cell-like room. She could hardly see anything with how dark it was, but Esther could make out the voices. There were several men and then there was her husband’s voice. What they were saying, she did not like, but she kept hold of Lily and kept her ears covered.

The men barged into the cell and tried to prize Lily from her arms but Esther quickly moved and held onto her daughter for her life. She begged them not to take her and continued begging them until they were face-to-face with Lucien. The fear in her eyes was more than evident as she saw her husband again. She shook her head, tears flooding her cheeks and asked him to kill her over their daughter, hoping that it would save Lily’s life.

She could see the pain it was causing her husband but she tried her best to reassure him that it would be okay. She took the stabbing, hands gripping onto his wrists as she felt her blood blossom upon her clothing and her life drain from her. Even as she was dying, she tried to reassure him that it was okay; that everything would be okay. What she did not know was that shortly after she was killed, they then slaughtered their daughter too, forcing Lucien to eat them both.

The afterlife was something she could not have ever imagined. It was peace and tranquility on a whole other level. At first, she was alone, greeted by angels and God, himself but then she saw the familiar small head of flowing brunette hair and the pain struck her all over again. How could they have killed her daughter too? Lily looked so scared and Esther quickly moved to let her know that she was not alone.

So many years passed by with them both in Heaven. Esther watched daily as her husband endured things she never thought he’d allow himself to. She watched as he was beaten and broken repeatedly, always finding his way back to this one small Hell. She could never understand why he kept letting himself get pulled back there, nor could she understand why he let himself get involved with the relationships he had.

By now, Yahweh had told her of her husband’s true being. Despite him being yet to know himself. However, it was all about to change as she watched from above, Lucien finally meeting his father. She hoped that this revelation would help the destructive nature her husband had fallen into; hoped that it would help him to heal again. What she had not expected was for Lucifer to come to his father upon being told about his granddaughter. Lily had been allowed to grow, despite being only a soul in Heaven and when Lucifer asked his father for the gift of a resurrection, Esther agreed to allow him to give Lucien back his daughter. She would always be able to see her; Lily was angelic, after all.

She watched the whole process of Yahweh and Lucifer resurrecting her daughter before watching as Lucien met the gift of his now grown child. It was an adjustment and a half for him, that she understood but she was glad that Lucien was getting a chance at being a father again, even if it meant she was not physically there to be that little family again

It seemed her father-in-law did not know when to stop, however, and he returned this time for her. Resurrection was not what she had ever had in mind, but Lucifer did one thing differently. He refused to allow her to return to his son as merely a mortal being. He made her an angel instead; an angel with vampiric abilities, similar to his son. She’d kept it well hidden that Lucien had been slowly turning her but it seemed nothing could be hidden from celestials. She returned to Earth with Lucifer, hoping that it would be a pleasant surprise for her husband to have her back as well as Lily. But she also knew what Lucien was like. It came as little of a surprise to her when Lucien freaked out over what Lucifer had done but Esther took it in her stride. She was not about to smother him or make things worse. Instead, she kept her distance for a short period, allowing him to come to terms with her revival. In time, he did.

As much as she wanted that loving family they once had, she was aware that things had drastically changed. Lucien’s orientation being one of them. But he tried for her and that was something she was thankful for. The two had often discussed having more than one child when Lily was born; wanting a big and happy family together. Despite Lucien not being able to physically procreate with her anymore, he asked for help from Yahweh, gifting Esther with another child that would be theirs. It felt so odd for her to carry another child but it was so familiar at the same time. This time, Lucien wanted Esther to be especially safe and so, they went to The Lake House ~ a world that Lucien had built to escape to, where time did not exist and mere minutes passed by on Earth whilst years passed by there. She went through her pregnancy there before giving birth to a son, one the two agreed on naming Louie; Famous Warrior. Not only would this give Esther the chance to be a mother again, but it also gave Lucien the chance to be a father and get to experience it without the fear of what happened to Lily, happening again.

Esther took Louie wherever she went. Lily was an adult now, with her own life and career and she was glad of that. She often travelled between Earth, Heaven and The Lake House, meaning that Louie aged quicker than human children did. Most of his teaching was done in Heaven by Lucien’s aunts and uncles anyway, meaning that he did not have to deal with the torment of Earthly schooling. The differences between times were still something that Esther struggled to grasp the concept of, especially with how quickly it felt like Louie grew to become a young man; a rebellious young man at that. He took after his father and that was truthfully something that Esther did not mind so much, even if at one point it led him into a small danger of his own. Either way, she was not going to abandon him and the moment he was home again, Esther had him in her arms, taking him and what happened to him in her stride, accepting him completely, alter and all.

Esther now lives her days in the small cottage in the woods. Lucien had told her that he’d kept it all of these years, updating it to modern standards but keeping all of her possessions and books within it. She’s since fallen in love with Enzo, one of Lucien’s alters that he introduced her to, knowing that he could not love her as he once did but knowing that Enzo could.

[pdmtsn]

Miguel Atwood-Ferguson - Les Jardins Mystiques Vol. 1 (2023)

A1 Kiseki A2 Persinette A3 Narva A4 Eudaimonia A5 Porpita A6 Nazo No Tenkai (Ernok) A7 Mångata

B1 Ano Yo B2 Zarra B3 Kairos (Amor Fati)

C1 Magnolia (Aisling) C2 Cho Oyu C3 Matumaini C4 Zoticus C5 Légäsi

D1 Votivus D2 Querencia D3 Kundinyota D4 Dragons Of Eden D5 Eunoia D6 Znaniya (Falkor) D7 Tzedakah D8 Apocrypha

E1 Asherah E2 Plotinus E3 Kairos (Kefi) E4 Qumran E5 Makaria E6 Kupaianaha E7 Taijasa

F1 Vesta F2 Ziggurat F3 Ziya F4 Scar F5 Let The Light Shine In F6 Komorebi F7 Daydream

G1 Dream Dance G2 Apotheosis G3 Magnolia (Astronomia Nova) G4 Moksha

H1 Datsuzoku H2 Hypatia H3 Kuleana H4 Aldous H5 Jijivisha H6 Paititi H7 Airavata H8 Znaniya (Ahura Mazda) H9 Nag Hammadi H10 Halcyon H11 Sweet Invitation

Genre: Jazz Style: Contemporary Jazz

[withinycu]

"Do not judge, or you too will be judged. They only know what they've been taught just as you did before the forest. Some will be as lucky as you have been some will not. But they will learn," God said offering the only reassurance he could or at least was willing to. From his vantage point nothing ended, all the souls of mankind would be 'saved' in time. But that didn't mean anything. It would still hurt.

He tossed the apple to the boy and shook his head. "You won't find that answer with me here in the garden anymore than Adam and Eve did. You must go out and find it with others," He said only to go quiet thinking as he often did of his Asherah. "It hurts to grow. What you lost will hurt and scar and occasionally still ache just like a flash wound. For that I know no remedy except wha I've old you."

❝ I-if you trust me with any secret I'd consider it an honor.❞ HE PLACED HAND OVER HEART. A PROMISE TO KEEP IT.

YOUNG OREL'S FACE TURNS SOLEMN. HE HAS LONG AWAITED THIS MOMENT. It doesn't disappoint. It wasn't God's fault that Orel had been lied to. LIED TO HIS ENTIRE LIFE. About what God had wanted. AND IRONICALLY, THE CLOSEST HE HAS BEEN TO HIS CREATOR WAS TO LIE TO THE FACE OF HIS FATHER.

❝  You shouldn't be sorry. Everyone has manufactured a hypocritical version of your plan. ...It's sad. ❞ He frowns. Not because of God. Only because it just shows how terrible, how truly terrible the bigotry of his elders, his parents, the people who were supposed to protect and guide him had been. Still there's a small gasp and a little smile the apple had come from nowhere a hand reaches behind his own ear to see where it came from.

❝  Well, then, What should I do now? I-I feel so lost and confused. - I know you said to refuse what I know to be wrong. It's just - I don't want to resent...HIM,...them. Anyone. -I feel like a piece of me just disappeared and I'm afraid I'll never get it back. ❞

[o-craven-canto]

Ea, Our Second Chance (1)

1. Utu’s system

(> Back to 0. Introduction) (> On to 2a. Tectonics and surface features)

(full-sized image)

« I don't feel the least humble before the vastness of the heavens. The stars may be large, but they cannot think or love; and these are qualities which impress me far more than size does. » – Frank Ramsey, On There Being No Discussable Subject, 1925

« – Urithi 4, Mission Control here. Do you receive us? Do you receive us, Urithi 4? – Mission Control, Urithi 4 here. Praise be to God and the Prophet, we receive you. We see Asherah. She's beautiful. »

The solar system of Utu, Ea's star. Mass measures are given in the picture as Earth's-masses (Me), 1 Me being about 6.0 million billion billion kg; distances are given in astronomical units (AU), 1 AU being equivalent to Earth's average distance from the Sun, or about 150 million km. Body sizes are proportional to each other, as are distances between bodies, but sizes and distances are not proportional to each other (if they were, even the star would be just barely visible). As a G4-class star, Utu is somewhat smaller and colder than our Sun, which is a G2-class star (Utu has a radius of 650,000 km and a surface temperature of 5530 K, whereas the Sun has a radius of 700,000 km and a surface temperature of 5778 K). In broad strokes, Utu's system is similar to our own, if slightly smaller, with a number of rocky planets surrounded by gas giants on wider orbits. The outer gas giants protect the inner planets from major meteorite impact by absorbing or deflecting most objects on irregular orbits, or by capturing them as moons. Asherah (0.38 Me, 0.64 AU) is the closest planet to Utu. In its formation it was closer still; as the high temperatures slowed the consolidation of its crust, its surface is now covered in crystals, mainly quartz, that make it highly reflective. After the moons Nanna and Ereshkigal, it's the brightest object in Ea's night sky. Ea (0.64 Me, 1.03 AU) is the only planet in the system with liquid water oceans and an oxygen-rich atmosphere. As such, it was chosen for human colonization. Its native red flora is well visible from space. Attis (0.18 Me, 1.9 AU) and Cybele (0.31 Me, 1.9 AU) are twin planets that orbit around each other as they revolve around Utu. The tidal forces due to each other's gravity deform and fissure the crust (compare Jupiter's moon Io). They are being considered for mining because of the deposits of heavy radioactive metals brought to surface by this process. Dagon (0.79 Me, 2.6 AU) is the farthest rocky planet. Like Venus, it has a hot core but no significant tectonic activity; instead, pressure builds up for hundreds of millions of years until it is released in a planet-wide eruption that melts most of the crust. Today the surface is frozen and static, but the immense scars of the last eruption are still visible. Thanks to the periodic outgassing, it's the only rocky planet in the system other than Ea with a significant atmosphere. Bel (256 Me, 6.1 AU) is the first gas giant, and the only planet of Utu's system with visible rings. It's mostly composed of hydrogen, helium, and ammonia, and its surface, like Jupiter's, is divided in parallel belts of alternately rising and falling gases (similarly to what occurs in Ea's own atmosphere). Marduk (298 Me, 13.2 AU) is the largest planet in the system. Its atmosphere appears bluish due to a presence of methane, which glows where it's ionized by electric storms. A counterclockwise cyclone, known as the Eye of Marduk, persists in the northern hemisphere. Ashur (156 Me, 21.8 AU) is the farthest planet of Utu's system. At the present is poorly studied. The orbit of Ashur was reached just before the Planetary War by the Hanno 3 probe. The further regions of Utu's system, containing a large number of dwarf planets, comets, and other such objects, are to date relatively unknown.

Astronomical features of Ea

Star: Utu (class G4, 0.93 solar radii, 0.80 solar masses, 5530 K) Other planets: Asherah, Attis and Cybele, Dagon (terrestrial), Bel, Marduk, Ashur (gas giants) Mean radius: 5432 km (Earth: 6371 km) Mass: 3.84 E+24 kg (0.64 Earth masses) Mean surface gravity: 0.88 G (8.67 m/s^2) (escape velocity: 9.71 km/s) Orbit: eccentricity 0.183 (Earth: 0.017); aphelion at 1.149 AU, perihelion at 0.793 AU, average distance 1.030 AU Moons: Nanna (0.0068 Earth masses, orbit at 406,000 km), Ereshkigal (0.0041 Earth masses, orbit at 251,000 km) Axial tilt: 8.5° (Tropics: 8.5° north/south; Polar Circles: 81.5° north/south) Daylength: 21.15 hours (a step-hour every 6, 6, and 8 days) Orbital period: 442.14 Ean days (9351 hours, or 389.6 Terran days) (7 step-days every 50 years) Sidereal month: 20.6 Ean days (Ereshkigal), 42.3 Ean days (Nanna) Relative tidal influence: 1.2 (Ereshkigal), 0.47 (Nanna), 0.35 (Utu) (Moon = 1.0) Age of the system: 3.91 billion years

The project’s gallery on DeviantArt The original thread on the SpecEvo Forum The secondary thread of the Alternate History forum

[heyyyharry]

Deep End - Chapter 7: Duet

…in which Ezi helps Harry write a song.

Word count: 4.2k

AU: famous!harry, siren!mc, adult modern retelling of the little mermaid? lol, fake dating, enemies to lovers.

WARNING: MATURE THEMES

All chapters / Synopsis / Moodboard / Playlist

Wattpad link

A/N: Please leave comments! They help motivate me to write faster :D

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“Mother, Aunt Nerissa is here.”

As soon as Queen Asherah heard her sister’s name, she sat straight up on her throne, her fingers tightened around her gold trident as if she was ready to fight. Koa waited by the door until her mother flicked her long fingers, ordering Koa to present their guest. Koa didn’t know what had happened between them in the past, but the Queen and her sister hadn’t been in contact for over a decade. It probably had something to do with the fact that Nerissa was the firstborn, but it was Queen Asherah who had inherited the queendom.

Nerissa swam into the throne room, escorted by two siren soldiers, both of whom were dismissed by Queen Asherah. Koa was about to leave as well, but her aunt grabbed her before she could even move.

“Look at you, Koa!” exclaimed Nerissa. “You’ve grown so much!” Koa was speechless, too distracted by the purple curls bouncing around her aunt’s round head. Nerissa resembled Queen Asherah in every way except for that long scar snaking from behind her left ear down to the centre of her chest. Some said she’d been bitten by a shark when she was small, but no one had dared to ask her about what had really happened. The last siren who’d questioned Nerissa about the history of the scar had been found torn in half in a cave somewhere. Nerissa was known for her madness, so usually, people would just avoid her at all costs.

“Nerissa,” Queen Asherah said, her voice booming.

Nerissa let out a sigh and released Koa as she faced the Queen. “Sister.”

“Where were all your manners?” Queen Asherah asked, looking proud and mighty on her throne. Koa liked watching her mother interact with her subjects. The Queen was everything Koa wanted to be. “You came in here and didn’t even--”

“My apologies, Your Majesty,” Nerissa said. Koa feared for her safety, but it seemed like she couldn’t care less about disrespecting the Sea Queen. She folded her arms across her chest and looked around, her thin purple brows pulled together. “Where’s the Queen-to-be? I came all the way here for her twentieth birthday to attend the coronation.”

Koa flicked her gaze to her mother, who wasn’t looking at her. The Queen’s expression remained stone cold as she said, “Who told you about the coronation?”

Nerissa laughed, shaking like a dancing skeleton. “I’m family, Sister. I don’t need an invitation, do I? Besides, you were crowned at twentieth, so it’s Ezili’s time to shine now.” A corner of her lips curled condescendingly. “Or do you want to keep the trident to yourself until you turn into seafoam?”

Koa looked at her mother again. She had no idea why the Queen seemed unbothered by Nerissa’s jabbing. If Koa had said those words, she would’ve lost a fin before she’d even finished her sentence.

But Queen Asherah only sucked in a breath. “There won’t be a coronation.”

“What?” Narissa breathed, still smiling, but this time in disbelief. “What do you mean?”

“She’s not ready. You know Ezili.”

“Oh my,” Narissa gasped, and Koa could tell the astonishment was fake. “Finally! Someone said it! I’ve been trying to tell you that Ezili wasn’t ready! She was the weakest link in our family, Sister.” Quickly, she caught Koa’s face between her palms and squeezed. “So this is our new queen, I see. Well deserved!”

“No.”

Both Koa and Narissa whipped their heads back to the Queen. Koa hated how unfaltering that ‘No’ was, as if her mother hadn’t considered making her Queen before. She clenched her fists yet said nothing since it wasn’t her turn.

“What do you mean?” Narissa chuckled. “One of your daughters must inherit the throne and the trident, Sister.”

“It will be Ezili,” Queen Asherah said. Even the sound of her sister’s name made Koa’s skin crawl.

“So where is she now?”

“On land.”

Narissa let out a snort, then she realised the Sea Queen wasn’t joking. It was stupid to assume the Queen would ever make a joke, anyway. In fact, Koa had never actually seen a happy smile on her mother’s face. Being Queen would mean giving up your own happiness for your subjects. Something Koa knew Ezili would be too selfish to do.

“Oh no,” Narissa murmured, shaking her head once she’d finally caught on. “You’re not sending her on the mission.”

“She asked me to. She wanted to prove that she was worthy of the throne and the trident.”

“You’re sending her there to die! She’s Ezili.” Nerissa sighed, her face contorted with feigned sadness. “Poor little sweet Ezili.”

“She’s not the strongest of us, but she’s stronger than most of them,” Queen Asherah said. “And smarter. She’ll survive.”

“Or she won’t.” Narissa lifted her pointy shoulders. From the smirk growing on her face, Koa knew she was already up to no good. “Remember how we used to joke about her being more human than siren? What if…”

“What are you implying, Nerissa?”

“Well, you know it, dear sister.” Narissa did a twirl as she gestured with her hands. “Beautiful Ezili goes on land, makes a man fall in love with her, but then she realises how much she has in common with the man. She then falls in love. Next thing we know, sirens start going missing. That’s when you know who’s the snitch.”

A shiver coursed right through Koa. Could it be possible? That her sister, her weak pathetic sister, could become a traitor? If she helped the humans invade the queendom, they would not be able to fight back. Ezili had wits and knew too many secrets about sirens that she would become a weapon, along with humans’ advanced technologies. It was only a matter of time--

“--until sirens go extinct.”

“No!” Koa blurted, then all four eyes pinned on her, and she recoiled to the side.

Queen Asherah’s expression didn’t change. “Koa, tell me what you think.”

Koa thought for a long moment. The fate of her mother’s queendom was now all on her. She knew whatever she said next would influence her mother’s final decision. So she had to think wisely. What could she do for her queendom? What could she do to save them and at the same time prove her loyalty to her mother?

“I’ll go on land.”

“What?” Narissa gasped. “You can’t! You’re the only daughter left!”

“Go on, Koa,” Queen Asherah said.

Koa bit her lip. “I’ll go after Ezili to make sure she won’t betray us. You don’t trust Ezili but you can trust me. Have I ever let you down, Mother?”

Queen Asherah seemed hesitant, but after a moment of thinking, she nodded her head. “You may start at dawn.”

“Yes, Mother.”

“Oh, wow!” Narissa covered her mouth as she laughed, and even though Koa knew her aunt was mad, she could not help but feel uneasy. “Aww, the things you’d do for your sister,” Narissa said with a crooked grin as she pinched Koa’s chin. “You must love her so much, don’t you, child?”

Koa said nothing. She shrugged her aunt’s hand off her, gave her mother one last look, and swam out of the room.

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Harry didn’t like the song. Well, ‘not like’ wasn’t a strong enough emotion, but he didn’t want to be rude and admit that he hated it. From the first few notes, he already knew he could not vibe with it even if he tried. Jeff, his manager, however, was bobbing his head to the song with a big smile on his face, as if it didn’t sound like the generic pop on the radio that would be overplayed during the summer and hated by the end of it.

“So,” Jeff said as he removed his headphones. “What do you think?”

Harry poked his tongue into his cheek, pretending to give it some deep thoughts. “I don’t...um...I was expecting something more...you know...me.”

“Harry, you said you couldn’t write songs, and we must start working on your new album now. It’s been over a year since you last released an album.”

“Yeah, yeah, I’ve been busy lately. Just give me some more time,” Harry said, scratching the back of his head. He could have written ten new songs since he returned to London if it hadn’t been for the mythical creature in his house that had been causing trouble wherever she went.

Jeff sighed, gave Harry a tired look and put the headphones down. “Okay, if you don’t like this, then can I hear something of yours this weekend?”

“Yeah, sure.”

“Is this weekend good? How much time do you need?”

“This weekend should be fine,” Harry lied and faked a smile. It was already Wednesday, so he only had a few days to come up with something new and better than what they’d given him. Maybe he could concentrate on writing if he could get Ezi to stop pestering him while he worked.

“Ezi, I’ve got an assignment for you,” he told the fish girl as soon as he came home. She was lying on her stomach on the floor with Chilli and her fairy tale book. It felt like he now had two cats in the house, not just one.

“What is it?” Ezi glanced up lazily, her chin resting on her knuckles. “Can’t you see that I’m busy?”

“I was out for three hours and you’re still on the first page.”

“Well, I’m still learning how to spell,” she said, then smiled. “Hey, don’t forget about the bedtime story tonight! We’re at the part where the mermaid finally got her legs.”

“Sure, sure.” Harry gave a dismissive wave as he uncuffed his sleeves. “Anyway, assignment. You must finish reading ten pages today.”

“What?” Ezi jolted, jumped to her feet and followed Harry to the staircase. “That’s a lot of words!”

Harry stopped on a stair and looked down at her. “You’re being lazy. I know you’re smart, Ezi. You can do it.”

Ezi frowned, crossing her arms. “What if I don’t want to?”

“Then no bedtime story for you--Hey!” Harry put up a hand before Ezi could jump at him and possibly scratch his eyes out. “If you kill me, you won’t know how it ends.”

Ezi glared at him, her nostrils flared. Whenever she gave him that kind of look, he was reminded that she was a killing machine and not a sweet innocent girl who loved fairy tales. Why had he even agreed to keep her in his house?

“Fine.” Her expression eased as she flipped her hair over her shoulder. “Ten pages then.”

“Great! I’ll be upstairs so I won’t disturb you.”

Before she could say something else, he immediately escaped to his music room.

Harry expected to have at least the whole afternoon for himself, because he was the one teaching Ezi how to read, and knew that there was no way she could read ten pages that quickly when she still had to spell out each word. But he had barely got time to even come up with the first verse of the song when she burst into the room and slammed the book onto the carpet in front of him.

“Done!”

“Liar!”

“Test me. I’m not lying!”

Harry exhaled in frustration as he set his guitar aside and leaned forward to check if she was reading the correct words on the page. She did. She read aloud every single word perfectly and without pause. How could she do that?

Knowing she’d outplayed him, Ezi looked up once she was done with a victorious grin on her face. “Scared?”

“Terrified.” Harry swallowed.

Ezi closed her fairy tale book and hugged it to her chest as she knelt in front of him. “So...I have to ask you something--”

“Not right now, Ezi. I’m busy.”

“You’re not. You were just making noises.”

“That’s what I’m paid to do. I sing and write songs.”

Ezi’s face lit up. “Let’s hear it then! I haven’t heard you sing.”

“Well, I haven’t written anything.”

“But you've been here for so long!”

“Not long enough because you’ve disturbed me!”

Harry grabbed the guitar and turned away from Ezi, who said nothing but didn’t move either. Chilli had followed her into the room, and they just sat there, staring at him. Harry reckoned there was no way to make them leave without one, or both of them, attacking him, so he pretended they weren’t there and resumed his work. He didn’t need to see to imagine the look on Ezi’s face when she watched him strum his guitar, playing a few experimental chords. He loved having an audience, so maybe her presence in the room would make writing easier.

“I saw a sailor make music with one of these,” Ezi said.

“It’s a guitar.”

“Nice. Can you teach me how to--”

“Not now, Ezi.” Harry sighed, then he thought for a moment and opened his notebook. “Actually, I need your opinion.”

“Sure.”

“So I wrote this poem years ago. I might use this as new song lyrics. Tell me if you think they’re good.”

Ezi nodded, picked up the cat and put it on her lap as she scooted closer to Harry.

He cleared his throat and started reading, “I’m in my bed, and you're not here. And there's no one to blame, but the drink in my wandering hands. Forget what I said. It's not what I meant, and I can't take it back. I can't unpack the baggage you left.” Finished, he lowered the notebook and looked at a wide-eyed Ezi. “So what do you think?”

She stared at him for a moment, and he pictured the wheel in her head running as she analysed every single word of his. “It’s good,” she said at last. “I like this poem. It’ll be a good song, unlike those meaningless lyrics you sang to me on the beach.”

“They weren’t meaningless. They were metaphorical. But you know what? Thanks. Your job here is done.”

When he turned away and looked over his poem to find the melody for it, Ezi started humming. Harry didn’t usually pay attention to her hummings because she did that a lot out of habit. But what shocked him this time was the fact that it was his words she was singing.

He whipped his head up. “How did you do that?”

Ezi stopped petting the cat and glanced up at Harry with a confused look on her face. “Do what?”

“That melody,” Harry said, frantically gesturing with his hand. “How did you come up with that in just a second?”

Ezi thought for a second and shrugged. “Don’t know. I just did.”

Harry drummed his fingers on the guitar, biting his lip. “I think that has something to do with you being a siren. Sirens sing songs, right? Do you just come up with random melodies?”

“I think so,” Ezi said, her brows knitted together. From her baffled reaction, Harry assumed that she had never thought of her musical ability as something special. Maybe to sirens, it wasn’t.

“Sing it again,” he told her.

She blinked, her eyes round and wide. “Why?”

“Just do it.” Hurriedly, he repositioned the guitar on his lap and pushed the notebook towards her. “Sing my lyrics with the melody you came up with.”

“Harry, I can’t read.”

“Oh, shit, right.”

“But it’s okay, I remember the lyrics,” she said, pushing the notebook away. “However, I have a lot of questions about--”

“Ezi, just sing.”

“Okay.” Ezi cleared her throat and straightened her back. Harry pressed record, then nodded at her when he started playing so she could start.

“I'm in my bed,” she began with the most angelic voice he’d ever heard, “and you're not here. And there's no one to blame, but the drink in my wandering hands. Forget what I said. It's not what I meant, and I can't take it back. I can't unpack the baggage you left.”

“Holy shit!” Harry exclaimed, holding his head. “Did we just write a song together?”

“Well, I did all of the work--”

“Those were my lyrics.”

“Oh, right.” Ezi cracked a smile. “Then we just wrote a song together.”

“Ezi!” Harry threw himself at her and pulled her into a tight hug. He was too elated to even consider the fact that she might bite him in the neck like she’d done his cousin. But she just sat there and blinked at him when he pulled back, holding her shoulders. “You’re my saviour! I owe you this time.”

“Oh, so does that mean I can ask for anything.”

“Anything that’s in my power of course.”

“Okay, I want to go back to that bookstore.”

“Sure, you--What? No.”

“What do you mean no?!”

Harry shrugged. “Too dangerous. I could come with you to make sure you wouldn’t cause trouble, but I’m too busy, and I don’t trust Niall or my assistant again.” Ezi opened her mouth to argue, but Harry didn’t let her. “And no. Not even Dawson.”

Ezi angrily crossed her arms. “I’ll kill you in your sleep, Harry Styles,” she muttered.

“Be my guest.” Harry shrugged. “Take me out of my misery.”

For a second, he thought that she’d actually do it, but all she did was get up and leave. “She’ll get over it,” he told the cat, who gave him a sideways glance and followed Ezi as well. It was nice knowing he’d raised a traitor in this house. But anyway, he must send this recording to Jeff.

.

.

.

Stupid creature thinking he had the upper hand. Ezili didn’t need his permission to do what she wanted. She just had a little amount of respect for him due to the fact that he’d saved her once and was the owner of Chilli, and also because she needed his heart for her own sake. Nevertheless, she must do what she was here to do.

“Look, Chilli,” Ezili said with a smile as she shook the set of keys in her hand. “Look what I’ve got. I’ll be right back.” She’d taken them earlier when Harry was hugging her. He was too happy with his little achievement (that she’d created) and let down his guard. Well, now they both had what they both wanted -- she could go to the bookstore, and Harry could be left alone with his guitar and a half-finished poem.

Having learned the lesson from last time, Ezili was more cautious now when she left the house. She followed other humans, noticed where they walked and where they didn’t, when they stopped and when they went. Nobody had suspected that she wasn’t from here. It felt good. The feeling of belonging. Come to think of it, she had never truly belonged anywhere. Even if she looked like these creatures, she knew she wasn’t them. Back when she used to be a siren, she’d also been less siren than her kind. So she enjoyed these little moments when she felt like she belonged, even though deep down, she knew she never did.

“Hello!”

Ezili jumped and clutched her heart. “Hi,” she greeted the bookstore’s owner.

“I’m Maggie. How do I help you?” the woman said. Ezili eyed her up and down. She reminded Ezili of a typical mermaid from the way she acted. Disturbingly psychotic. Today, Maggie wore a colourful long-sleeved dress that fell right past her ankle, and her puffy hair looked like a seagull’s nest. She fixed her big round glasses and flashed Ezili a shiny smile. “You’re the girl who came here last week with that tall handsome man.”

“That was Dawson,” Ezili said. “I came back because I have questions about--”

“Oh, yes, we’re hiring!”

“What?”

Maggie grabbed a piece of paper and handed it to Ezili. Ezili’s face grew red because she couldn’t read, but thankfully she didn’t have to.

“We’re looking for a new employee!” Maggie said. “The last one quit on her very first day. I shouldn’t have hired her anyway. She told me she didn’t like cats, which should have been a major red flag.”

“She hated cats?!” Ezili gasped. “What a devilish little creature! Cats are great. I left mine at home because I don’t wanna be called a cat-stealer. But she’s practically mine.”

“Nice!” Maggie clasped both hands together. “You’re hired, cat lover!”

“Wait, but what do I do?”

“You take care of the books and clean the store. Easy peasy.”

“So...I can read as much as I want?”

“Yeah, as long as there’s no customer.” Maggie blew out her cheeks and looked around with her hands on her hips. “But there are hardly any customers anyway. Nobody reads these days. They have their smartphones and TikTok.”

“I love smartphones and TikTok!” Ezili said, smiling. “But also books.”

“Well, books are really powerful, you know.”

Ezili blinked. She didn’t think that stories could possess any power. “How so?”

Maggie seemed thoughtful as she fixed her glasses again. “Books contain knowledge. Without them, we wouldn’t be who we are today. Do you think that we’d have smartphones and TikTok without books? Books are so valuable. Even fictional stories can teach us great lessons.”

“Can books teach us about love?”

“Sure! Aisle three! Relationship self-help books!”

This is it! Ezili thought to herself. This was where she meant to be. She now had access to one of humans’ powerful weapons, and she would use it against her human. Harry would never escape--

“There you are, you sneaky little--”

“Oh my! You’re Harry Styles!”

Harry ignored Maggie, headed straight to Ezili and grabbed her hand. She believed he was about to drag her out of there, but one glance at Maggie and he sucked in a breath. Apparently, he was afraid of how others perceived him. He didn’t want to show them the Harry that had beat up his cousin. Just like her, he was also a fake.

“Home. Now.”

“I just got hired.”

“What?” Harry turned and glared at Ezili over his shoulder. “For what?”

“Oh, she’s my new employee!” Maggie said, grinning. “I like her.”

“She’s not qualified.”

Ezili angrily yanked her hand out of his grip. “I am! Stop telling me what I am and what I’m not. You don’t know me.”

Harry growled and stabbed a finger at her chest. “Do not test me, young lady!”

“Or what?”

“I-I’ll let you guys talk,” Maggie said and quickly disappeared behind one of the shelves.

Ezili huffed and crossed her arms. “She said I could read as much as I wanted, and all I needed to do was clean this place and take care of the books.”

“You don’t need a job!” Harry said between gritted teeth. “I pay for everything.”

“It’s not about money. I’m here for the books.”

“You can’t even read.”

“I’m getting there. I memorise a lot faster than you.”

Harry’s eyes grew big as realisation flashed across his face. He held up a finger. “You liar! You didn’t read those ten pages, did you?! You memorised the story when I read it to you.”

Ezili rolled her eyes and smirked. “So what? Are you gonna cry about it?”

“You--” Harry pressed his lips together and closed his eyes. Ezili waited for the redness to fade from his face as he calmed down enough to not yell at her in a bookstore. “I’m not having an argument with you,” he lowered his voice. “You’re not working here, because I’m offering you a real job.”

“What?”

Harry rubbed the back of his neck. Ezili knew he only did that when he was anxious. “I sent my manager the song, and he liked it.”

“Congrats. Now you can benefit from my hard work.”

“Hard work? You didn’t even break a sweat! But anyway, I don’t want to be called a thief because the melody is still yours, so I’m asking you formally to sing a part of the song for me, and I’ll credit you for the music.”

Ezili blinked, her eyebrows lifted. “You want me to sing with you?”

“Yeah, my manager heard your voice and he fell in love.”

“With me?!”

“With your voice.”

“Oh.”

“Why do you look disappointed?!”

“Nevermind, go on,” Ezili said with a wave. “He fell in love with my voice and what?”

“And he wanted the song to be a duet. It means you and I will sing together.”

“Okay.”

“Oh, come on, I--Wait, what?” Harry flinched, his eyes almost falling out of his head. “You agreed?”

Ezili lifted her shoulders. “Yes.”

“Oh my God, thank--”

“Only if you let me work here.”

“I fucking knew it!” Harry clenched his fist and punched the air. He pointed a finger to her face, and she didn’t hesitate to take a step forward so that his finger touched the tip of her nose.

Her lips curled into a smile. “Deal?”

She could tell that Harry wanted to shout. They both turned and saw Maggie’s head quickly disappear behind a shelf. Finally, Harry had to give in. He opened his hand. “Keys.”

Ezili placed the keys she’d stolen in his palm. He shoved them back into his pockets, his eyebrows furrowed and his nostrils flared. “She’ll start tomorrow,” he told Maggie, who threw herself between them and pulled Ezili into a hug.

“Wonderful! You’ll have a wonderful time here--”

“Okay, that’s it. Let’s go,” Harry said with a tap on Ezili’s shoulder.

“Bye!” Ezili waved happily at Maggie and followed Harry out of the bookstore.

[etherealvoidechoes]

A Viper’s Old Loyalty

Still have Thin Men and Vipers on my mind, so I wanted to write about my girl Asherah. This is before she finds a new name for herself.

She’s opening up to my human Torn, telling a little bit about her old loyalty to the Elders before that all changed when she started questioning things. Little insights to things that will eventually appear in my other fics. And I really need to get back into a drawing mood and do portraits of several of these characters.

----

“We were loyal… I was loyal… We had a reason to be.”

Or was that something that she told herself? She wasn’t so sure anymore. Especially with her long, modified life. The mere thought of that made a deep hiss come from within her throat.

“The Elders helped my species. It was genuine what They did. I’ve seen what They stopped. Such a pointless war.” There was a warmness to her words even though she shook her head. Just as the space fairing years of her species were looking bright, they had run into some trouble. “But some species just want to fight no matter what the circumstances are. They want power.”

 “They stopped and repelled that war. We owed Them our lives. They didn’t have to show such kindness, but they did and continued to do so.”

A chuckle escaped her lips. A pained one at that. “They nurtured us, caused our world and ones we colonized to flourish. And return we pledged our lives to Them.” 

“Such a golden age.”

But now, but now what she questioned what she saw. Questioned what she knew. All that recorded history… was it true? The prosperity was still continuing around the time she was born and she remembering that time. The memories were so vivid. There was great joy and peace. But was that all a lie? Were her memories truly her own? 

“But now… But now…” A sharp hiss came from her; scales on her neck flared up and out. “I question all of that, after witnessing what has happened to your species… what has happened to so many species that have come before your kind.”  

How so much weighed heavily on her mind. How she hated her one high status amongst the Upper Echelon. Was it truly necessary to strike humanity first to test the capabilities of a species? She knew the Elders’ time was growing short, but in doing so, they’ve destroyed so many humans, so much diversity they could have studied.

She cast a glance to her side, to the human she was talking to. Someone she could call a friend in this resistance group she had joined. Torn was his name. A man with a messy mop of black and brown hair lazily pulled back into a bun. A man riddled with scars he proudly showed to the world. Scars that were hard for her not to stare at. He earned many of the scars during the invasion; her kind was the source of most of the lasting marks. With how severe some were, he should have been dead. Yet, somehow, he was still kicking. 

“The venom clouds…”

She studied his face again. It was rare when she didn’t. The right half of his face was a mix of black and pink, riddled with burn scars and divots. Barely any hints of his original tawny skin existed on that side. He told her he got that from getting hit point blank by the poisonous venom spit. 

“Was a hell of a trip and burned like the dickens. Hotter than cat piss!” He gave a hearty laugh when he told her that story one day. That odd American Southern twang and idioms she had come to learn, mixed with a hint of Thai accent. There was still much to learn about these humans.

Her eyes followed the scar down this his neck. More Several bite marks littered his neck. Close encounters with her modified brethren; Thin Men the humans so lovingly called them. For them to resort to biting, they had to be desperate to get away. Then there was a deep divot of a scar so close to the center of his neck. Rumors said that one came from tangoing with a Chryssalid.  It sank a fang into his neck, but he caved its chest in with a well-placed blast from his scatter laser before it could do more damage.

“Insane.” She couldn’t imagine a human purposefully getting close to one of those slavering beasts. The risk to fight one so close. But there had to be a reason. He wasn’t crazy. Well… that crazy.

“Wonder how immune he is to my kind’s venoms and poisons now? How immune is he to those savage beasts’ venom?” The thought always crossed her mind whenever she studied his scars.

“But it seems he got too cocky one day and lost his arm to one of my ‘unmodified’ brethren.” Possibly the greatest scar Torn had, though now it had been replaced by a cybernetic one. She had seen the recorded video of Torn’s group raiding an ADVENT outpost. This one had a Viper running the place. She didn’t take their intrusion lightly.

“Crushed two of your comrades to death and managed to get a solid hold on your arm after nearly breaking your back.” What happened next wasn’t pretty, but she had grown desensitized by the violence. The Viper had a solid grip on Torn before whipping around and slamming him into the side of the building. He got a few broken ribs from that. As she loosened her grip on his chest, her tail coiled around his left arm, became a crushing vice; twisting and breaking bone before she forcefully pulled back, ripping the arm out or the shoulder.

“You should have died that day, but those those bombs your surviving friends planted. And somehow your survived the blast.”

She wondered if this man had some guardian over him, keeping him alive through all the things he had been through. 

“Somehow you still have that eye.” She really questioned how that survived the venom, but he could have received a new one by then. His resistance group had access to adequate tech to do so.

Feeling eyes on him, Torn turned his head towards her. Their eyes meet. A plain face for a few seconds before he slowly grinned. He knew why she was looking. Wrinkled his nose in return, a slight hiss came forth. She was still unsure of the human.

Torn. Such a strange name for a human. Had to be a callsign or nickname. A rather fitting one because of his appearance. Sometimes it was hard deciphering what was one’s real name in this group, but she was figuring things out.

But this human was… interesting to her, even as she still tried to gauge him. It surprised her he bothered to talk to her or her children and den mates since they were “accepted” by this resistance group. Learning the origins of several of his scars, she expected him to loathe her kind. Yet he barely treated them with suspicion. Still strange she could call him a friend.

Perhaps it was because the group’s psionics saying she, her children, and den mates had no ulterior motives; no active implants could be detected. Perhaps another bonus may have been the important operatives they saved a few days earlier. She was still unsure.

“XCOM.” She muttered under her breath. She still couldn’t believe she had turned to their side now. She once hunted them during the invasion and partially during her tenure as an ambassador. How things could change.

“Gonna continue your story, Faruk?” Torn asked.

She closed her eyes. Trying her best to hold back a hiss, but one slipped through as her nostrils flared. Faruk. How she was starting to hate that name. The whole identity that came with it. But she couldn’t remember her original name. No. Couldn’t stand to hear it anymore. That wasn’t her anymore. She didn’t deserve to be called that either. It was sacrificed when she volunteered to be an infiltrator and then further locked away after the war, as her role was not finished.

“Sorry,” she apologized for the hiss, “yes… my story.”

Where did I stop? Yes, I remember.

 “I’ve come to question Their kindness as I remember what has happened to my kind.” Though she was born far after the initial contact with the Elders, it was still a time of prosperity during her life. But was witness to a great tragedy during her time. A great purge.

“Remember ya mentioning somethang about there being little to no males of your species, right?”

“Yes. There was a purge. Totted as them stopping a ‘mad’ uprising and then a way to ‘better’ our species genetics.”

“Sounds more like eugenics and wanting control over ya’ll.”

“Yes… yes…” She was coming to terms with that idea. “But perhaps… we had the more benevolent ones that found us before Their other brethren took over. Yes… maybe that.”

“Benevolent Elders?” Torn snorted at such an idea. “Sure there ain’t a screw I in your head?” He emphasized by twirling a finger by the side of his head.

Faruk chuckled, covering her mouth with her hand. The things humans would say. “Yes, Benevolent. There are ones that aren’t cruel. But it seems such few still exist.” 

“Sure…” Torn nodded slowly with a raised brow. “I’ll believe that when hellfire and stars rain down from the sky and the oceans turn to blood.”

She raised a brow at that. “Mm hm.” Such a strange thing to say.

There was silence for some time. Faruk returning to her thoughts. Questioning so many of her memories. Torn was enjoying the sunset.

“So…” Torn spoke, yet trailed off as his gaze was focused on the sunset. A subtle orange glow illuminated the sky with reds and purples. The purples slightly enchained by the faint psionic energy permeating the region. “Got any regrets becoming what yer are now?”

“Regrets?” She muttered. A question that burned deep within her. “Do I regret it?” Head turn and and slightly pained scoff. “I don’t know how to answer that.” She shook her head. “I don’t know.”

“Old programing causing conflicts? Faint senses of loyalty?” He asked, tapping the back of his head. 

She snorted, knowing exactly what he meant. “We didn’t have those kinds of implants.” One of the few things she was thankful for with how much the Elders deemed her species worthy. Fewer controlling implants compared to the rest under Their control. Instead, the Vipers were ‘gifted’ implants that granted enhancements. But she felt like some implants monitored what her kind, and could control them to an extent. 

“But perhaps…” She raised her hand to her chin. A pair of fingers pulled at her moustache. Facial hair. Hair in general. Still a strange thing. “Yes, and no.”

“Yes, and no?” Torn cocked his head to the side. He crossed his arms and leaned towards her. “Oh, do tell me why, my scaley friend.”

She snorted at that. Half tempted to smack the smirk off of his face but she would let it slide. For now, she placed a free hand against his chest and pushed him back. He just laughed.

“It’s hard to put my thoughts together regarding the subject…” Fingers tightly twisted the mustache as her nose wrinkled. “Truthfully, anger boils inside of me for what they did to some of my children and my den mates after the sacrifice I had made.” Those thoughts were very clear.

She twisted the hairs tighter and tighter before finally letting go, head dropping as a heavy sigh came forth. “That promise… that agreement that was struck… The sacrifice I made, a risky one at that.” She shook her head. 

Sometimes she wondered how she convinced her Masters to let herself volunteer for conversion when she learned of the plan to study this Earth. She was getting old and was best suited to running her den after a nasty injury during her service to Them. But perhaps They saw her age, and the wisdom that came with, as something useful. And then she had the gall to ask for her children to be exempt from the invasion. Perhaps that brazenness, not her lifelong loyalty, amused Them, so They agreed to the deal. How could she be so stupid?

“But it was pointless one, as They had the gall to go behind my back during the… invasion.”

“Ah.” Torn nodded along. “Out of the large lot of your kids and den mates, a good handful are them Thin Men like you.”

She nodded.

“Yeeeeeeaah.” He drew the word out as he leaned back against the wall. He smacked his lips a few times and shook his head. “I’d be mighty pissed too if someone dun did that to my kin.”

“Still can’t believe… They did it… How so much changed during my absence. Years I cannot get back.”

It felt like eons before she she saw them once again. Before she was allowed to see them, she under the knife again. For her exemplary service, the Elders were refining her form as a gift. But it was two-fold as They needed a few ‘ambassadors’ to quell the unease that permeated humanity after the invasion. The Thin Men perfectly fit that role, after further modification. They were accustomed to how humans acted, along with knowing the ins and outs of the surviving cultures. It would speed along the Elders securing the Earth with minor issue. 

Yet, she could remember that day she saw her children and den mates again. So many emotions flowed that day.

“That day…” It was already hard for her children to see her in her new form after she first volunteered for the assignment. A strange spindly thing that lacked scales like them. It showed how masterful and terrifying the Elders’ hand could be.

Her refined form was met with roughly the same hesitancy once again when she finally saw her family once more. They were happy their mother was still alive, but she was still a strange-looking thing called a “human”. But now it looked like her “human” form reflected her age. Wrinkles and graying hair, and regal clothes that fit her status as a matriarch amongst her people, and new status as an ambassador.

“That day…” Her voice wavered for a moment. She hated that day. An already tearful reunion with her family became absolutely tragic. “They had changed a few of my den mates. A few of them died during the invasion. Doing what they were tasked to do.” 

Thinking of it now, she felt so guilty she didn’t bargain for their lives that day. They were under her care; she was the matriarch of a few dens. But she was thinking of her children first. They came first. But even her bargain didn’t save them.

“I noticed a few of my children missing. At first I thought they were late. Each had their duties under those they served besides duties to the dens.” Her voice continued to waver. She brought a hand to her eyes, hiding the tears that were forming. 

“But I noticed how everyone was behaving. There was a thickness to the air. A dread hanging low. No one wanted to tell me what was wrong.” How she wished she could go back and change things. “But I could tell something was wrong. Terribly wrong.” 

How could I have been so trusting?

“Then they arrived… scents twisted. Forms cha-changed just like me.” She choked on her words as tears streamed down her face. Seeing her girls like that hurt her so much.

“Uh.” Torn eyes widened as he caught the streams running down her face. He had never seen her like that. “Faruck?” 

She wasn’t one to let her emotions show or get to her. Patient and well-restrained, with a hint of bluntness, was her nature. Correction. There was one emotion that she would sometimes let the get the best of her. Wraith. Never mess with her kin, especially her children, nor those she had come to trust in XCOM. Her expression would barely break from that stone-face they were all accustomed to. 

“Eight of them… changed… forms twisted much like mine.” Looked like she didn’t hear him. “Learned two of them had died during the invasion. They weren’t supposed to be there.” She still wanted answers for that. “And then I saw him. My youngest son.” The runt of one of her last egg clutches before an injury led to her infertility. She let loose a wretched hiss of a wail when she saw him that day.

“Why him?” Out of her three sons, why did They choose him? She had a theory. He was a rather troublesome runt, getting his nose into things where it didn’t belong. Perhaps the Elders thought she wouldn’t mind the runt of her children becoming more useful and less troublesome.

“Why them? Why him?” Tears full force, Faruk fell to her knees. Eyes close tightly as she tried her best to hold back the emotions.

But she did mind. Oh, she did mind. Her heart truly broke that day. Her sacrifice was made in vain and her children still suffered. That day broke how she viewed the Elders. How could They treat a loyal servant so poorly?

“Gosh.” That was the only word Torn could muster once she finished and broke down. A rare time for that mask of her’s to crack. 

He kneeled, reaching out to touch her shoulder, but before his fingers connected, he stopped. He remembered she didn’t exactly like anyone touching her unless she trusted them. Instead, he fetched a handkerchief from his pocket. “Here. For the tears.” He handed it to her.

One hand still covering her eyes, she blindly searched for what he was offering with her other. Once found, she quickly snatched the rough cloth. 

“T-t-thank you.” She said in-between sniffles.

“My pleasure.”

It took a few minutes for Faruk to recompose herself. Fighting back memories in-between cleaning her face and sniffles. But the memories were strong. Getting back on her feet, she tossed the tear and snot stained handkerchief aside. But she refused to face Torn; almost embarrassed at herself for losing her composure like that. 

“If ya don’t mind,” Torn carefully paused, trying to judge it was a right time to ask more questions, “I gotta ask—”

“I know if I told you to bite your blabbering tongue you would still talk.” She had a rough idea of what was running through his mind, since he had been asking questions about her past. She already opened a can of worms and was still in the mood to share. “So ask.”

“Guilty as charged, boss lady.” He grinned. She snorted at the nickname. “Anywho, given the chance… wouldcha want yer body back?” Though his brain had wrapped itself around what the Thin Men originally looked like, it was still crazy what the Elders did to make them look like humans. He still questioned why they went the unnecessary extra mile to make them look male. But he didn’t ask, fearing it may have been a sensitive subject. “Original body, scales, snake n’ all that jazz.”

“My old body back?” 

A question that played far too many times in her mind. Her mind and brethren who felt like her.

“Do I want my old body back?” She repeated the question. She turned to face him once more. Eyes were bloodshot, but she had a curious look on her face. Eyes shifting to the side for a moment as she searched her thoughts.

“Again… not sure how to answer.” She tapped the side of her head a few times. “Brain and pathways have been edited in such a way for this to feel more ‘natural’ to me to cut down on conflicts to make infiltration more efficient and make me more of an ‘authentic’ human.”

“Right…”

“But,” Faruk paused, “who knows how long that will hold. Even with all They have done, I still experience disconnects. Old repressed memories of what I once was occasionally surface.”

There were moments when she would see her reflection in the mirror, she would see her old self. That always put her in a sour mood for the rest of the day. And led to many broken mirrors.

 “Just disrupts how I function some days. Dysphoria one could say.”

“Huh, don’t want to imagine how bad that gets fer ya.”

“Somedays are better than others.”

She took a moment to look down at her hands. Scales. Sandy brown and tan scales with a hint of red. A former part of herself she could bring back after learning the Elders refinement wasn’t perfect.

“But to answer, yes. If was possible, I would like my old body back. I want it back.” She couldn’t deny that deep want, even if it was impossible to get her body back. “I do miss my old body. Same with my family and den mates.” She rolled up her sleeves and further examined her scales. So far, a consistent patch of scales went up to her elbow had grown in. 

“Why we have out… ‘rituals’… to bring back old traits suppressed by the Elders. Helps cut back on the dysphoria.”

“Riiiight, you guys little cuttin’ and moltn’ sessions.” Torn was witness to it once and found it strange. “You guys need to warn us when ya’ll doing that with what entails.” He shuddered. “And properly sign out the medical supplies.”

A soft chuckle came from her. “I’ll try to keep that in mind.”

“But even with that want,” a heavy sigh exited her lips, “truthfully, I don’t want to go back under the knife. Who knows what further modifications would do to me. I feel as though I’m beyond a threshold both my body and mind can handle.”

“I can understand that. Hated my surgery for my shiny arm.” Torn grimaced, remembering that day. Not enough anesthetics to numb the pain as the doctors worked. What didn’t help was his weird tolerance to the drugs, which required more than the usual amount to block pain for him. “Hate the continued tinkering. I swear Rita has it out fer me.”

“You do bother her a lot from what I’ve observed.”

“I’m just sharing the love!”

“Sharing headaches is more like it with how you pester and hover around her work area.” 

“Yer just jealous of our unique friendship!”

“I would rather eat glass. If possible, still molten.”

Something about that statement made Torn break out into a fit of laugher, doubling over on himself. Perhaps it was the slight smirk that accompanied that stone-face of Faruk’s.

“Anywho,” Torn gothis laughing fit under control, “maybe things will get better fer ya’ll.

“One can dream.”

“Maybe searching for a new name could help out that process fer ya.”

“A new name?” Faruk’s brow raised. She eyed him carefully. Did he know how she felt about her name.

“Oh, don’tcha act all surprised. Pretty much everyone knows you hate that name now.” He said, rolling his eyes. “Hissn’, snortin’, and grimacen’ every other time it’s said.”

“Ah… right.” So he did know. Looked like she had been doing a horrible time hiding her feelings.

“Hey, yer my friend. I’m gonna help ya.” He smiled widely. “Whether ya like it or not.”

She shook her head, muttering under her breath. “There’s what Rita hates.” But there was something about Torn’s bullheadedness that was endearing. 

Help her find a new name? A little chuckle came out as she shook her head. This human was a strange one.

“Maddening.” She wasn’t sure what to say to the offer.

“Hey.” Torn chuckled, shrugging innocently. “I’ve got books ya can pilfer through ‘em to find somethin’ suiting.”

“Thank you, Torn. I do mean it.” Maybe she would take up his offer. But limit his colorful input.

“Hey, anything fer a friend.”

[annes-andromeda]

Star Wars: Rise of the Fates (FINALE)

The last part of the TROS rewrite. It’s a mix of TROS plot, Dual of the Fates plot, and my own ideas. This is how I spent my free time, everyone.

(⚠️❗️WARNING: LONG BOI AHEAD❗️⚠️)

Back at Korilev, the Falcon and Resistance transporter have arrived back to base, with medics hurrying towards the Falcon to assist Zorii’s wounds. Finn is still in disbelief about all the recent events: the mission, his parentage, Rey leaving. It was all too much. As he walks through the camp, he can see Poe from the corner of his eye, trying to get to Zorii, but Rose was holding him back. Finn could hear Luke call out to him, but he didn’t listen. He wanted to be alone, to take everything in. The Resistance came to the aid of the defectors, welcoming them and giving them shelter, while Jannah made sure all the children were comfortable. Leia could only look around at all the frenzy, and walk away. Luke, Han, and Lando watched her leave, knowing that they were in more danger than ever.

On Remnicore, Kylo Ren was furious about Hux’s death, along with his Knights. In his mind, Snoke was taunting him, telling him that he was a fool for telling Finn of the prophecy. But Kylo was far gone, his mind finally at its breaking point. When asked when he’ll ever stop, Kylo said “Never”. With that, the temple begins to charge, a great force of energy erupting from its walls. Kylo brought about all the powers of the Dark side, the veins on his neck growing and corrupting him. Through the unused rubble of the temple, Kylo builds protection towers so as to create a field for the Resistance to have trouble getting to him. The towers are protected by Sithtroopers and Night Hounds alike. He had truly become more powerful than any of the Sith. The First Order fleet stood at attention, each ship having the power of a single Death Star. Kylo refused to hear of the prophecy, and would make it his mission to destroy Finn and the Jedi, once and for all.

On Korilev, Zorii had been sedated by the medics, as he denied anyone who would get near him so as to remove his helmet. Poe sat at the corner of the medical bed, with BB-8 and D-O at his side. He had grown so fond of the Mandalorian, more than ever. He blamed himself for Zorii almost getting killed, but before Poe could degrade himself anymore, Zorii woke up. Poe asked the question he asked Zorii on Coruscant: what did the First Order do to him. Without saying a word, Zorii allowed Poe to remove his helmet, revealing what the Order had truly done to him. His face was scared, with his left cheek sliced open, revealing his teeth. A glass eye replaced his right one, and his lips were chapped and cut. Poe could only gape at the man, his face showing pain and disbelief. Zorii explained that the First Order raided his home, attempting to steal his children and train them as Stormtroopers, but Zorii interfered. This caused him to get jumped on by soldiers, and then tortured brutally. After his scars healed, his wife could only look at him in horror, and his children refusing to be near him. Ultimately, his wife asked for a divorce, taking Zorii’s children away from him, never seeing them again. Poe felt pity for Zorii, but the man reassured him not to feel that way, as Zorii knew the incident wasn’t his fault and that he was blinded by a woman who hadn’t truly loved him after all. Zorii tells Poe that the Resistance needs a leader, someone who Leia can put her trust in, and that Poe needed to be that person. Poe reciprocates by saying that he was just a pilot, and that he’d only lead the Resistance to failure. Zorii, with the strength he has, runs his fingers through Poe’s hair, an action of admiration, reassurance... love. Zorii tells Poe that he believes in him, and although he lost his most priceless treasures but years ago, he had found a greater and more beautiful treasure: the brightest star in the Galaxy. Poe promises to return to Zorii once the fight was over, and places a kiss on his cheek, a small confession of his love for him.

Finn sits in a nearby tree, alone in his thoughts. BB-8 had followed him, looking up at his friend and beeping worryingly. But Finn paid no mind to him. He thought about Rey, and how she left in complete fear of herself. He thought about his parents: how they died protecting the things they loved most, and that they loved Finn. And he thought about the prophecy, the thing that brought about Anakin’s voice in his head. Finn screamed up at the heavens, angry at the voices of all the Jedi, and how they should’ve done something, anything. He let the tears fall from his face: he was so tired of all the death, the pain, the suffering. Finn then heard a voice, but it wasn’t Anakin’s. It was a womans. Unlike Anakin, Finn could feel a sense of familiarity and comfort the voice brought to him. He looked up to the stars, and recognized the voice. It was his mother, Queen Asherah. He could almost see her again; her beautiful face, kind yet strong eyes, and ethereal, pure white hair. Asherah refused to see her son fall so easily, and encouraged him to finish what Anakin ended. To find his ray of sunshine and bring her back, so that they can destroy Death forever. Feeling more strength and determination, Finn decides one more time to heal the Sith kyber crystal. He takes the blue kyber from Anakin’s lightsaber and puts it in his clasped hands along with the Sith kyber. As he opens his hands, Finn is shocked to see what he’s created, and goes back to base to retrieve his almost finished lightsaber. At base, Leia is speaking with Poe and Rose, trying to figure out a plan to take out the First Order. Now that they had the Coaxium and the Hyperfuel, they could transfer them to the small fleet they have. The Resistance comes up with a plan to destroy the control tower of the Oblivion, which is the command ship of the First Order fleet. A ground team will attack the protection towers, while the squadrons will try to target the control tower, which will allow the Resistance to take down the Eclipse Destroyers. Connix states that the base got a transmission from practically dozens of systems who heard Leia’s message. Leia orders for Han, Chewie and Lando to go to these systems and bring the fleet to Remnicore. Finn, alongside Luke, will go find Rey and meet the Resistance at Remnicore. Luke and Han share a kiss, promising that at the end of everything, they’ll finally be married. As for Leia, she wishes good luck for Chewie and Lando, whom she kisses on the cheek.

On Ahch-To, Rey has destroyed the stolen TIE fighter with intentions of isolating herself on the island, just like Luke did. She sits in the Jedi Temple, where she asks whether she truly was destined to be a Jedi. Jedi weren’t supposed to give into hatred and violence. There were meant to always keep the peace, even if it meant people got hurt. As Rey continues to degrade herself, she can feel that she’s not alone in the temple. Without question, Rey is visited by the Force ghost of Obi-Wan Kenobi. He comforts her and gives her wisdom just as he once did with Luke, telling her that the Jedi were wrong. It’s completely normal to have feelings such as anger, hate, fear, and sadness. What mattered is that those feelings did not define a person or control them. Obi-Wan then speaks of his own past; that just like Rey, he too was a nobody who came from nowhere. He talks about hardly remembering his parents, as he left them not long after his birth. Obi-Wan then says “It saddened me when I learned of my mother’s death, and then content when my father found love again. I then felt joy when I learned of my stepsisters birth, and then... well, I never expected that from that sister I’d have a niece whom I’d never meet”. With that, a wave of memories fills Rey’s mind: the day her mother left her on Jakku, with her clear blue eyes and a golden half sun around her neck, and Rey yelling for her ship to come back. Rey knew well that the crime lord Qi’ra Leia went to negotiate with was her mother, and that Obi-Wan was her stepbrother, making him Rey’s uncle. Finally knowing the origins of her Force abilities, Rey felt almost content, but Obi-Wan reminded her that her blood did not make her who she was, and that just like her uncle and mother, she has taken control of her own fate. Obi-Wan then gives Rey his second lightsaber which Luke kept sacred on Ahch-To. Rey then goes outside to see Luke’s old X-Wing being lifted from the waters by Luke himself, who came alongside Finn to retrieve her. Hugging Luke, Rey whispers “I know who I am now. And I know what to do”

The Resistance arrives on Remnicore with Poe leading the squadrons, where the Eclipse Destroyers begin attacking. On the ground, Rose and Jannah lead the attack on the protection towers while the squadrons attack the control tower on the Oblivion. Finn and Rey arrive in front of the Sith Temple, ready to confront Kylo Ren. Inside the temple, the duo realize that there’s two stories to the structure, with the first story containing Sithtroopers. Rey wields her uncle’s lightsaber, the blue blade glowing in the dark temple, while Finn wields his newly finished lightsaber, packed with two purple dual blades made by Anakin’s blue kyber and the red Sith kyber. They battle against the Sithtroopers, taking them down with ease. Once defeated, they move onto the second and final story, where Kylo and his Night Hounds reside. Immediately the Hounds attack Rey and Finn, who have no problem taking down the creatures, who disintegrate into thin air when killed. The two then move on to battle Kylo. At first, they seem to overpower him with unusual ease, but then soon realize that he was only holding back, as he proceeds to use his newfound abilities to throw them towards the walls and even use Force lightning against them. Outside the temple, Luke and Leia have come to help Finn and Rey, but are locked in the first story as mirages taking the form of past Sith Lords (Darth Plagueis, Darth Maul, Darth Tyranus, Darth Sidious, and Darth Vader) surround them. They fight the mirages, while Finn and Rey try to get back on their feet to fight Kylo. In the skies, Resistance pilots are being shot down by the Eclipse Destroyers, which causes Poe to loose hope for a moment. But then, he hears Lando’s voice and turns to see a ginormous fleet made up of thousands of ships from across the Galaxy.

Finn and Rey are badly hurt from Kylo’s attacks, so Luke and Leia step in to fight him, forcing Leia to battle her own son. But she had given up on him long ago. The twins fight Kylo, bringing him down, but he then realizes that he can strengthen himself by absorbing the life essence of Luke and Leia, which leaves them weakened and unconscious. Kylo then disables the Resistance fleet above with his greatest power yet: a Force supernova that destroyed any and everything it came into contact with. Kylo then grabs Luke and Leia, intending to kill the last Jedi and the last Skywalkers. A weakened Finn looks up at the sky and hears the voices of past Jedi (Obi-Wan Kenobi, Qui-Gon Jinn, Ahsoka Tano, Yoda, Mace Windu, Kanan Jarrus, Aayla Secura, Luminara Unduli, Adi Gallia, and Anakin Skywalker), telling him to unleash the power within him. Finn remembers fractions of the prophecy (...A flare will burn so bright, burning Darkness with its light...A great eclipse will bring forth an awakening...), and he steps up to Kylo, lifting Luke, Leia, and Rey so that they’d be outside of the temple. Kylo attempts to destroy Finn with the power of the dark supernova, but Finn blocks the attack with his lightsaber. However, Kylo vastly overpowers him, so Finn quickly drops the saber and instead deflects the supernova with his bare hands. This method proves to be more effective, as Kylo is thrown back and his body (being delicate due to the effects of the Dark side) begins to disintegrate. With the supernova no longer affecting them, Poe and the fleet proceed to shoot at the control tower, while Rose and Jannah destroy the protection towers, which allows for the temple to be destroyed by Finn, whose awakening resembles the form of an eclipse. Kylo is killed by the burning light, as he takes his last breath and is defeated. With his death, the temple falls, and the First Order fleet is taken down by the Resistance. However, the effort of the powerful attack causes Finn to go unconscious, as he begins to drift away.

Rey, now waking up from consciousness, pulls herself up to walk through the ruble of the fallen temple and grabbing Finns body into her arms. She begs him not to leave her, as she asks for the help of the past Jedi to save Finn. When she gets no answer, Rey tries to heal Finn by transferring life into his body. Luke and Leia have also woken up, and help Rey by transferring life into Finns body as well. With the help of the three, Finn is successfully healed and wakes up, smiling at Rey and his masters. The two embrace and then kiss lovingly, happy of their bond and still unable to believe that they found each other. Luke and Leia look up to see the falling Eclipse Destroyers, a sense of peace filling them as they now know that the Galaxy is truly free.

The Resistance on Korilev and people all over the Galaxy rejoice at their victory. Poe and Rose run towards each other and embrace, feeling ecstatic and more happy than they’ve ever felt. Han gives Chewie his Medal of Bravery that was rewarded to him after the Battle of Yavin, feeling that his best friend deserved it more than him. Luke and Leia reunite with Han and Lando. Leia kisses Lando’s cheek once again, while Luke and Han kiss in general. Rey and Finn walk through the celebration to find Poe and Rose, embracing them as tears of joy fall from their faces. Rose then turns Poe around so that he can see Zorii walking through the crowd. Poe runs towards the man, practically jumping on him and wrapping his arms around his neck. Feeling daring, Poe kisses Zorii as BB-8 and D-O look at their masters happily. Jannah then walks up to Lando, who’s arms are wrapped around Leia, and asks him where he’s from, to which he responds with the Gold system. Lando asks the same thing to Jannah. While she remains unsure, she gives it a shot and says that she’s from the Bespin system. Jannah then shows the two her medallion, which had her name inscribed in Galactic Basic. Lando looks up at her and smiles, saying “It’s good to see you again, kid”, confirming that Jannah is in fact his daughter who was taken by the First Order. Luke and Han look on at the celebrations, and Luke looks down at his engagement ring, reminding Han that there was still one more thing they needed to do.

In the Mid Rim and in the Chommel sector, the planet Naboo is having a grand celebration in honor of the First Order’s destruction and, Luke Skywalker and Han Solo’s wedding. The ceremony is held outside, the waters clear as day and the sun shining brightly. All of the Resistance is dressed in their most formal attire, as they look onto the couple (Luke wears white, while Han wear brown leather, seeing as he’s not one to be so adorned). Leia smiles fondly, as her brother was finally getting the happiness he so well deserved. Rey and Finn held hands, sharing the same amount of fondness Leia had for Luke. Poe stands next to Zorii, while Rose stands next to Jannah. R2-D2 gives Han the rings, as the man inserts the ring onto his lovers finger, while Luke does the same. They share a kiss, sealing their union as man and husband. The crowd cheers, as Chewie roars happily and the droids (C-3PO, R2-D2, BB-8, and D-O) beep and bounce around.

That evening, the Resistance is celebrating with native Gungans and the people of Naboo. Rose and Jannah are playing with some of the orphan children of the planet, as Jannah asks Rose if she wants to explore the Galaxy with her to help Stormtrooper children find their families, to which Rose agrees. Poe sits next to Zorii, who watches as D-O and BB-8 converse with R2-D2, while the three of them tease and play with C-3PO. Poe then asks Zorii what he’s going to do, which the Mandalorian answers with simply being with his lover and taking better care of his droid. Poe chuckles at that, and proceeds to kiss Zorii. Leia speaks with Luke and Han, congratulating them and playfully threatening Han if he were to ever hurt her brother. Lando then tells Leia that he’s heard some of the locals say that she looks more beautiful than any woman who ever lived, a statement which Lando happily agrees with. Leia brings up Lando’s question of what she was gonna do once the war was over, as the Resistance didn’t really need a General anymore. Lando then reveals that he’s been speaking with the Queen of Naboo, saying that she felt that Leia’s bravery and leadership should be rewarded. The Queen knows that Leia’s mother Padmé was once a Queen, and that her adoptive mother Breha was also a Queen. To honor their memories and to follow in their footsteps, the Queen rewards Leia by naming her the last living Queen of Alderaan and asks for her help in rebuilding the Republic once again. Leia agrees with the promotion, fond that Lando wanted more for her. He professes his feelings for her by saying “You’ve been a Princess, a General, a Jedi, and mostly importantly, a beacon of hope for everyone across the Galaxy. Now, I want you to be the Queen you were always meant to be” Accepting his confession, Leia kisses Lando after nearly years of holding their feelings back. Luke smiles at his sister, and then looks up at his newfound husband to share a blissful kiss with him. Finn walks around, hugging different Resistance members such as Connix and Rose. Jannah and Poe tease him for his newfound royal blood, bowing playfully and calling him things such as “Your Worship” and “Your Excellency”. Finn rolls his eyes and smiles at his friends. He’s then approached by some of the orphan children, who ask him what his name is, to which he responds with “Finn. Finn Galfridian”.

He then goes to find Rey, who has been accompanied by BB-8. She reaches behind her and takes out her fully built lightsaber, which was created by a part of her staff and wields a yellow blade. Finn moves to stand right next to his girlfriend, as he places a kiss on her forehead. Rey is thinking of everything that’s happened, saying that perhaps her destiny was never to become a Jedi. Finn agrees with her, but reassures her by saying “Maybe you’re right. Maybe you never were meant to be a Jedi. But you know what? You’re the best knight a prince could ask for”. Rey smiles at her boyfriend, kissing him as BB-8 beeps at them happily. They then realize that he’s also acknowledging Luke and Han. The two embrace Rey, who sees them as the father figures she never had. Seeing as Finn now had a name for himself, Luke asks Rey who she was. Rey turns along with Luke, as they see Obi-Wan’s Force ghost, smiling and nodding at his niece and former student. Luke smiles back with tears in his eyes, and Rey responds to his question by giving her name as “Rey Kenobi”. The couples along with BB-8 watch the sun of Naboo set, as the Galaxy rejoices in the newfound peace.

And there ya go! My TROS rewrite is complete! These took a lot of time and attention to make, so I hope you’ve enjoyed them. I’ll hopefully get to making some art, and get back to one of my other AUs that I have to start working on again. Once again, respectful criticism is much appreciated.

[picathartidae]

okay so i have to ask about The Favored Ones (because unfortunately at first i misread it as The Flavored Ones and um now i can't not think about that 😅)

Alright, more of my unhinged homebrew setting D&D stories! This will probably also be an overly long and meandering answer.

The Flavoured Ones sounds very fun, but sadly this story is full of angst and trauma and sadness, because it revolves around an evil cult (as a lot of D&D campaigns seem to).

Said cult is called "Auvrael Olo" in-universe, which roughly translates to "favoured ones" in the yuan-ti language, and this is yuan-ti cult. I have massively rewritten the yuan-ti into a subrace/ethnicity of humans, rather than their own thing, because ideas were had and I had spiralled out of control by this point. And thus, the title.

It actually started life as a fanfic for AC Odyssey, which is kind of embarrassing, but it's been slowly developing into its own thing, and now works better in my setting than it does in Assassin's Creed. If you're familiar with that game, then I'll explain it by saying it's basically about the character of Deimos (Alexios) trying to find himself after a good ending situation, and readjust to life after being raised as the Chosen One of a cult before getting dragged out of it kicking and screaming.

In my setting, gods can only directly interact with the Material Plane if they take on mortal form (this is a recurring motif with me). The gods of the yuan-ti (my versions of Mystra and Cyric, they're very different here than in the Forgotten Realms, basically only have the name in common) do this, by incarnating into human form every generation -- these mortal incarnations are called the Shahmaran (in the case of Mystra) and the Nehushtan (in the case of Cyric).

The protagonist, a guy called Alexander Fiennes (nicknamed Sasko), is the Nehushtan, and he's essentially trying to find himself and work out how to be a normal fucking person while also reconciling with his trauma and the inescapable conclusion that he is literally a god in mortal form. And he struggles with morality because Cyric is generally considered an "evil" god.

Consequently, he's a target of various different groups of people for various different reasons, and his efforts to have a normal life with his wife and son are constantly derailed in spectacular fashion.

In terms of a snippet, I have this dialogue he has with his wife (not long after they first met, before they got married)

“You got out. You realised the truth, and you got out. That’s what matters.” He laughed bitterly and turned away, unable to stand even looking at her as the shame rose. “Not without a lot of help.” There was silence for a moment. Then two. And then; “From what you’ve told me, you were in deep," Aminah insisted softly, reaching out and placing her hand over his. "Deeper than most can hope to come back from. Anyone would have needed help, in your position. It’s not something to be ashamed of.” A shiver ran up Sasko's spine at her touch, though he could never quite bring himself to pull away. “You don’t understand," he insisted. "Auvrael Olo, they- they were everything to me. When they told me what I was and what I had to be, I believed them. I bought the whole story. They didn’t turn me into a monster so much as I let them.” “Alexander.” He didn't look at her. He couldn't. “Alexander," she called again, squeezing his hand as he finally brought himself to meet her gaze. "Listen to me very carefully. You. Were. A. Child. You were a child, and they were all you knew. What happened was done to you. You didn’t let them do anything.” He wasn't entirely sure he deserved that. Not after everything. But it must have shown in his face then, because Aminah's brow furrowed, and she seemed to grow all the more determined to make him understand. “The first thing you did once your decisions were your own to make was try to help people," she reminded him, her voice ever so soft and her tone ever so gentle. "I think that says far more about you than anything you did while under a cult’s control.”

I even made Sasko as one of my Dark Urges in BG3 (former insane cultist connected to an evil god, so he fit the vibe), as well, so I even have screenshots for you! (I also made his wife, and had him be her dream visitor, because of course I did)

[tcrnishedgracea]

NAME: Olesia ROLE: Angel of the Lost and Abandoned, Guardian Angel BIRTHPLACE: Asherah’s universe PRONOUNS: She/Her/Hers SEXUALITY: ??? FC: Milla Jovovich LANGUAGES: All ALIGNMENT: Neutral Good GOD: Asherah ELEMENT: Earth BUILD: thin and willowy HEIGHT: 5’9” HAIR COLOR: vibrant orange EYE COLOR: Blue SCARS/BIRTHMARKS: TBD

BIO

Olesia is - in human terms - weird. She longs to be among humans to help guide them and protect them when they’re on their own and lost to help them find a way that won’t lead to them being hurt or hurting others. She’s trusting of humans and angels, but doesn’t trust demons on principle. She’s capable of fighting and will if she deems it necessary.

She’s mainly drawn to humans in crisis or that are already on a dangerous path.

[thewriterwithnoplan]

Still Fighting (Part 7)

Summary: Asherah has had a hard life, but lately it’s been looking up. After being adopted by the Ytger’s Asherah is off to Rifthold. But the story doesn’t end there does it? No there’s magic, tragic backstories and secret identities. So who exactly is Asherah? Pairing: Aedion x OC Word Count: 750 Warnings: None.

It had been a while since I'd admitted almost everything to Dorian. Celaena was out of her room, sorting out Archer and figuring out the riddles. We'd made some progress with the iron teeth witch Baba Yellowlegs. Paying her off to keep Dorian's secrets before killing her at the cost of a few wounds. Celaena had a row of ten fingernail shaped scars across her collar bone while I had five up my ankle and five on my left shoulder blade. She'd clawed herself across me, trying to pin me down. Mort had later informed us that the witch was a Yellowlegs clan Queen. Oops? Celaena and I always seemed to get ourselves into the stupidest of situations.

Celaena and I had found a secret library beneath the royal one, full of ancient scrolls and leather-bound books. Dusty and grimy but mysterious and intriguing. It didn't disappoint. Of course, the book admiring wasn't what we'd had in mind the second time we returned. Nope, the second time Celaena wyrd marked the iron door and was nearly killed by a mutant beast. When she came looking for me to explain what she'd found I'd chewed her ear out for going off without me. Then we'd both had to lumber up to Dorian's tower and dumb him with a load more information. Poor guy.

* * *

None of it explained why I was in the tomb right now. I was sure I had to be dreaming. The last thing I remembered was leaving Celaena's chambers to my own and lying down to sleep. And before me, most unbelievable of all stood Elena. I couldn't believe it! What else could she ask of us? More riddle-solving? We were a bit busy trying to find the Wyrd keys for her.

"Quickly child," A frown creased her forehead. "You must awaken."

That request was a surprise, too simple, what was the catch? "Why?" I decide was more appropriate to ask a Queen, even a dead one.

"Because a line that should never be crossed is about to be breached. It puts the entire castle in jeopardy - and the life of your friend." Her voice was no longer it's usual calm reassurance. "Through the tapestry and into the tunnels."

"What do you-"

"Help her!"

* * *

I sprinted down there, tugging on a pair of pants and a shirt. Barefoot but armed I made my way into the tunnels. Elena had said that the prince would lead me. Did she mean Dorian? Of course, she meant Dorian who else is a Prince? No one was here though... At least not until a streak of fur dashed passed into the furthest archway, into the hall beyond. Fleetfoot.

Oh, Celaena. What have you done? I wondered, gazing upon the Wyrd portal. Before I could think, I'd sprinted across the hall and latched onto Celaena's upper arm. She was in so much trouble now, about to get the scolding of her life. What was she doing with a Wyrd portal? Scratch that, what was she doing with the Wyrd marks? First the library catacombs and now this? I was about to scold her, that is until I saw who else stood in the torch-lit hallway. Nehemia. She'd opened a portal to see Nehemia again.

"Sister," Nehemia's voice was near frantic. "Listen to me, quickly. You must close this portal, other beings wish to pass through. Can you do that for me?"

I nodded, "Nehemia, I-"

"There is no time for the words that need to be spoken," She shook her head, glancing back into the abyss like a portal. "You've been so strong all your life, don't ever lose your morals or compassion. All I can give you is my advice. Do not leave Adarlan, Asherah, this kingdom still needs you here."

"But I've promised myself to Wendyln." She gave a knowing look, allowing the smallest of smiles to grace her lips.

"That you have, dear sister. Things are changing... you are both so full of light, do not let that light go out," She sent a swift look down the hall. "I must go."

"No, Nehemia!" Celaena tried to go toward her but I knew I had to hold her back. There was something so obviously wrong with the portal.

"Elentiya," Nehemia gave a sad smile. "You cannot follow me, there is no returning from this realm. Things are changing. Do not let that light go out."

Nehemia stepped backward, leaving only a rippling veil of darkness upon the wall.

[shctteredillusions]

Name: Isabella Calder/Blake Age/birthday: 20 / May 27th Parents: Asherah and Preston Siblings: (half) Ellette and Zephyr Species: Half human, half pixie  Hair/Eyes/Height: Cherry brown / golden brown / 4′11

Preston Calder, a name known throughout the country. On the list of the top bachelors, he’s rich, famous and the perfect image for a single dad raising his daughter alone. A household name, idolized with a fan base spread far and wide. Little do they know the secrets that lay behind the mansion walls.

Asherah Rae, a vivacious pixie with a love for life, a warm home and a family dearly loved. She had made a mistake, trusting that man so easily and believing he was nothing more than a lost human who needed help out of the woods. She didn’t know the trap laid out for her, she didn’t know that she’d never see her family again. Not her parents or siblings, not even the husband and children she left behind.

Captured by hunters and sold on the black market for the value of her blood, she was bought by Preston who fell in love with her instantly. That love became an obsession, and though he never stopped using her blood to keep him young, he tried everything he could to get Asherah to fall for him but nothing ever worked. Preston grew to a point where he was no longer willing to keep trying and simply took what he wanted from her, forced her into being the housewife and lover that he so desired. When Ash became pregnant, he was elated. The baby who would be known as Isabella was that connection he had been waiting for. The thing that anchored Ash to him like nothing else could. Little did he know that instead, she’d be the very thing that caused his world to come crashing down.

Now with her mother long gone, her father angry, full of rage and hatred, she became the key to his youth her blood is the only thing keeping her alive. She figured if anything, she was lucky, though she never truly saw it that way. She was alive because of her blood but instead of locked away, she was allowed to live like a normal girl outside the walls. School, friends, clubs, she seemed exactly like a normal girl when she wasn’t home.

Landing herself a full ride through college, she’s smart, she’s funny and she loves to make other people laugh. She hides behind her own walls and masks, desperately wishing someone would see through them and yet always fearing the day someone might. She lies to her friends about the scars the riddle her body, though it’s not often she even lets herself into a situation for them to be seen. Every night before she goes to bed, she repeats the names of the half-siblings she has the real husband of her mothers. Committing to memory the last words her mother spoke to her before she drifts off into a world plagued with nightmares.

[bardicbeany]

More Portal Pressure shenanigans

I’ve been meaning to make more write ups of the things that have happened to Ashscale in-game the past few sessions, so here’s one!

After the events that lead to Ashscale getting covered in burn scars, her and the party ended up going down to Ignarthis to get the resources they needed to repair a broken magical amulet that could defeat the Avatar of The Melter.

While in the market place buying supplies Ashscale and Asherah the party druid ran into Ashscale’s blacksmithing rival, Ringburn Frostfire, along with a couple of his henchman. He demanded Ashscale to come along with him to make a sword, to which she refused saying “No! What, are you not skilled enough to make the sword yourself?”

Noting the rising tension but also not understanding a damn word being said,  Asherah threw ice cream from her Ring of Frosting at Ringburn’s face. Aaand next thing Ashscale and Asherah knew, henchmen that had been hiding up in a building shot both of them with arrows tipped with sleeping poison. When Asherah woke up awhile later Ashscale, Ringburn and all his henchmen were gone. 

When Ashscale came to, she found herself locked up in an unfamiliar forge. There Ringburn showed her the sample he’d taken of her blood he was going to use to steal her blue fire. He also told her as part of her bladesmith’s last rites he’d allow her to smith one final sword before killing her.  

Ashscale was horrified. In the past the worst Ringburn had done was say some cruel things or get into fights with her. She never expected him to do something like this. As Ashscale began the work on her sword she formulated a means of escape...

In the meantime Asherah informed the rest of the party Ashscale had been kidnapped and all of them went out searching for her. They ended up tracking down some other cronies of Ringburn and had gotten Ashscale’s location outta them when suddenly there was a massive explosion in another part of the city.

The part of the city where Ashscale was.

And there, emerging from the explosion, was the Avatar of the Melter. The Avatar proclaimed the souls of the salamanders of the city belonged to The Melter and he was there to claim them all. Cue the party running frantically towards the area of the explosion.

Cut back to Ashscale just before the explosion. She was in the midst of enacting her plan to escape when one of the walls to the forge was smashed to smithereens. It was the Avatar. The Avatar opened his mouth, spewing the hottest fire one could imagine. The force of the blast slammed her into the wall behind her. She reflexively held up her gauntlet-covered hand to protect her face. In mere seconds the Avatar of the Melter’s flames burned off all her scales. All her skin.

And just like that, she was dead. 

[bloodcxrsed]

𝕿𝖍𝖊 𝕮𝖔𝖓𝖋𝖎𝖓𝖊𝖉 𝕻𝖎𝖝𝖎𝖊

𝔑𝔞𝔪𝔢: Isabella Blake 𝔄𝔤𝔢/𝔅𝔦𝔯𝔱𝔥𝔡𝔞𝔶: 21 / May 29th 𝔖𝔭𝔢𝔠𝔦𝔢𝔰: Half Pixie, Half Human 𝔊𝔢𝔫𝔡𝔢𝔯/𝔓𝔯𝔬𝔫𝔬𝔲𝔫𝔰: Female / She / Her 𝔒𝔯𝔦𝔢𝔫𝔱𝔞𝔱𝔦𝔬𝔫: Demisexual / Demiromantic ℌ𝔢𝔦𝔤𝔥𝔱/ℌ𝔞𝔦𝔯/𝔈𝔶𝔢𝔰: 4′11 / Cherry Brown / Amber 𝔖𝔱𝔞𝔱𝔲𝔰/𝔄𝔳𝔞𝔦𝔩𝔞𝔟𝔦𝔩𝔦𝔱𝔶: Single / Available

𝔇𝔦𝔰𝔱𝔦𝔫𝔤𝔲𝔦𝔰𝔥𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔉𝔢𝔞𝔱𝔲𝔯𝔢𝔰: Slightly pointed ears, no unusual eye color. No tattoos. No Piercings. Some scars.

𝕭𝖎𝖔:

Preston Calder, a name known throughout the country. On the list of the top bachelors, he’s rich, famous and the perfect image for a single dad raising his daughter . A household name, idolized with a fan base spread far and wide. Little do they know the secrets that lay behind the mansion walls. Asherah Rae, a vivacious pixie with a love for life, a warm home and a family dearly loved. She had made a mistake, trusting that man so easily and believing he was nothing more than a lost human who needed help out of the woods. She didn’t know the trap laid out for her, she didn’t know that she’d never see her family again. Not her parents or siblings, not even the husband and children she left behind. Captured by hunters and sold on the black market for the value of her blood, she was bought by Preston who fell in love with her instantly. That love became an obsession, and though he never stopped using her blood to keep him young, he tried everything he could to get Asherah to fall for him but nothing ever worked. Preston grew to a point where he was no longer willing to keep trying and simply took what he wanted from her, forced her into being the housewife and lover that he so desired. When Ash became pregnant, he was elated. The baby who would be known as Isabella was that connection he had been waiting for. The thing that anchored Ash to him like nothing else could. Little did he know that instead, she’d be the very thing that caused his world to come crashing down. Now with her mother long gone, her father angry, full of rage and hatred, she became the key to his youth her blood is the only thing keeping her alive. She figured if anything, she was lucky, though she never truly saw it that way. She was alive because of her blood but instead of locked away, she was allowed to live like a normal girl outside the walls. School, friends, clubs, she seemed exactly like a normal girl when she wasn’t home. Landing herself a full ride through college, she’s smart, she’s funny and she loves to make other people laugh. She hides behind her own walls and masks, desperately wishing someone would see through them and yet always fearing the day someone might. She lies to her friends about the scars the riddle her body, though it’s not often she even lets herself into a situation for them to be seen. Every night before she goes to bed, she repeats the names of the half-siblings she has the real husband of her mothers. Committing to memory the last words her mother spoke to her before she drifts off into a world plagued with nightmares.