#aside: when I saw that backpack bit in the trailer my first thought was of a joke in doctor who

[dharmafox]

Do you think the Medicine Seller ever tries to do things in a non-sexy way and just... can't? Like...

Medicine Seller: Now to enter this train car in a normal and unsexy manner.

(He flings open the door, hair and robes billowing in the wind, fixing the occupants with a penetrating glare)

(Girlies swoon)

Medicine Seller: Damnit.

Or in the movie...

Medicine Seller: Now to normally and unprovocatively touch my backpack.

(He strokes the backpack tenderly like a lover.)

(Girlies lose it.)

Medicine Seller: Oh, for...

[queenofthekings]

𝐼 𝒹𝑜.

Summary: You and Eddie have been best friends for as long as you both can remember, and while both of you secretly always wanted to be more, it was never meant to be... or was it?

Author’s note: I don't even really have an explanation for this; as soon as I heard I Do by (G)I-DLE I knew I wanted to write something with it.

CW: 18+, swearing, drinking, smoking, Eddie is a bit of a hoe, Reader does get drunk

Word count: 2.4k

Any hate will not be tolerated, constructive criticism is welcomed.

Hit me like a shot in the heart

Never shoulda played you so hard

Guess I played myself, that’s my fault

Summertime meant one thing for you: spending all of your time with your best friend, Eddie. Both of you had been friends since childhood; with your parents and Wayne being lifelong friends before you. Wayne would often babysit you when your parents were busy, so you naturally became friends with Eddie when he moved in with Wayne when you were teenagers.

Both of you would spend all day together; finding secluded spots in the woods to smoke and drink and talk about life or go swimming in Lovers Lake if the sun was out or playing video games, going to the arcade, or watching movies if it was raining. You were practically inseparable from each other.

You’d always thought Eddie was cute and even had the biggest and embarrassing crush on him for a while after the pair of you met, your diary being filled with doodles of Mrs. Eddie Munson in hearts for months on end. You never dared tell him about your crush, and by the time you felt like something might happen; Eddie had seemingly gotten a girlfriend. Well, you say girlfriend, but you were sure they were just hookups, nothing more and nothing less.

It hurt at first knowing Eddie was sleeping around and it wasn’t with you, but you got over it, you had to. There was no way in hell Eddie would ever look at you in a romantic way, anyway, both of you practically grew up together – it would be weird.

You walked through the trailer park, your backpack filled with everything you needed for the day and a towel draped over your shoulder. Summer days with Eddie were always unpredictable so it was best to always bring everything for every possibility, no matter how weird it ended up being.

Skipping up to Eddie’s trailer, you didn’t even have time to knock before the door was opened and Sloane stepped out, laughing at something Eddie had said and smelling like cigarettes and sex. You could see her neck and cleavage covered in fresh love bites, along with some older ones that had faded slightly.

You knew she’d spent the night with him; her cropped shirt and short shorts and tiny purse were a dead giveaway they’d gone out then gone back to Eddie’s. She stopped laughing as soon as she saw you, giving you an awkward and forced smile as she walked past and got to her car.

You’d seen Sloane hang around Eddie a few times; it was clear they got on like a house on fire. Eddie had never invited her when it was just you and him hanging out, he always made that clear with anyone he was “seeing” but you still saw them around while you were doing other things.

With how many times you saw him and her together and the way they were interacting, it was almost obvious that they were together, but you knew Eddie would’ve told you if they were, right?

Once Sloane had left, Eddie stepped aside to let you inside. “Hey, sweetheart, I didn’t realise you were getting here so early, I would’ve told her to leave beforehand.”

You shook your head, brushing him off as you dumped your things on the counter. “You’re alright, I would’ve called ahead if I knew you had a guest over.” You tried your best to not let it show that it clearly was bothering you, but you were always terrible at hiding things from Eddie, he knew how to read you far too well.

“If it bothers you, you know you can tell me, right? I’m not gonna get mad if it does.”

Oh, if you only knew.

You sighed. “Seriously, Eds, it doesn’t bother me… it’s just you hang out with her basically anytime you don’t hang out with me, you’re gonna make me think it’s something more than just fucking.”

“What if it was?”

I don’t even know how to think

‘Cause now she got your heart so I feel

Stupid, foolish

‘Fraid I’m losing everything

I thought I couldn’t

My whole world is falling apart

You tried to pretend like his words weren’t replaying your head all day, making your heart break over and over again. Eddie had asked you constantly if you were okay, and you constantly assured him that you were fine. He knew something was off with you, probably even knew why things were off with you but he never asked.

Even when both of you were doing your favourite things together, your mood still didn’t improve. Constantly in your head, you were thinking of him and Sloane doing those things too behind your back, even though Eddie had assured you in the past that anything he did with you was exclusive to you and him, he never did it with anyone else.

So how come you couldn’t shake the feeling that he hasn’t taken at least one of his hookups to Lovers Lake to screw?

You didn’t care. You didn’t care. You didn’t fucking care.

Eddie could do whatever he wanted, it’s not like he’d ever even notice that you were hopelessly in love with him and the reason you never went on dates with anyone else was because of your feelings for Eddie.

You knew your feelings for him were holding you back. Heck, Eddie would even say it himself. He’d say that being in love with someone you couldn’t be with was stopping you from living your life, hooking up with people, going to parties, potentially meeting someone new.

But you didn’t want any of that, you just wanted Eddie.

Sure, there’d been potentially other guys, but they never came remotely close to replacing Eddie, no matter how hard they’d tried.

The images of Eddie and Sloane or literally other girl you’d ever seen him with clouded every single thought you had, and it was starting to give you a headache, no matter how much water you drank or food you ate.

Once again, Eddie had asked if you were okay, and you brushed him off. “I just have a headache; I might head off and get some sleep.”

Eddie frowned, he almost looked disappointed at you going home early but he didn’t say it. Instead, he helped you to your feet and began packing up both of your things. “I can drive you home.”

“No, that’s okay. I wanna walk.” You shook your head, grabbing your backpack from him and forcing your feet into your converse. You barely even looked at him before you walked away from him, because you knew if you did, you’d start to cry. All you wanted was to be alone and only have a bottle of alcohol for company while you sobbed and listened to sad love songs, not exactly an unusual way for you to spend your nights.

Don’t you go falling in love

Trust me she’s not the one

She won’t ever

Love you like I do

Hold you like I do, know you like I do

Once you got home, you locked your bedroom door and stared at your phone’s lock screen, expecting Eddie to call but he never did. He texted to make sure you were okay, got home safe and even apologised for whatever he’d said. But you knew he didn’t know exactly what he did wrong, not that you’d tell him.

Tossing your phone onto your bed, you sat down towards the end of it and just stared at the floor. You knew you couldn’t keep up the façade of hiding your feelings towards Eddie anymore, you had to tell him but if he was really dating Sloane like you assumed and he somewhat implied, your feelings wouldn’t even matter to him anyway.

Your eyes darted up to the half full bottle of vodka on your desk, a shot glass close by. You knew it would be irresponsible of you to drink, especially with your headache and the day you’d had but surely it couldn’t hurt to have one shot, right?

Grabbing the bottle, you poured yourself a shot and downed it, cringing a little as it went down your throat. You took a sip of water to help get rid of the taste before you looked at your phone again, still no phone call or new texts from Eddie. You debated on calling him or texting him back but you were still somewhat upset with him and so you concluded the only way you’d say anything to him would be if you had more alcohol. You grabbed the bottle again and instead of pouring another shot, you just unscrewed the lid and took a swig and forced yourself to swallow it, no matter how disgusting it felt and how much it burned your throat. You didn’t even allow yourself to have some water to wash it down, you just didn’t want to be sober anymore.

You repeated taking large swigs several more times before the world began to spin around you, even though you knew you were sitting still. It felt like nothing in your life mattered anymore, and it felt amazing. You got giggly and took another drink, laughing at yourself for spilling some of it on your shirt before you set it down on your bedside table.

Picking up your phone again, you could barely unlock it and tap Eddie’s name to call him properly, it took you far too many attempts. But once you called, he picked up on the third ring. “Sweetheart? Are you okay?”

You couldn’t help but laugh as you were slurring over your words. “I’ve never been better… listen, I’m still mad at you.”

From the other side of the phone, you could hear Eddie walking about and the opening and closing of doors, the loud jingle of his keys. “I can barely understand you, darling. Where are you? I’ll come get you.”

“You’re not listening to me! I said I’m still mad at you!”

“I’m listening, sweetheart,” his soothing voice only made your heart melt even more than it already does anytime you hear it. “Tell me where you are.”

“I’m at home but Eddie…” you felt hot tears well up in your eyes and fall down your cheeks. “I love you; I always have. And I’m mad at you because you don’t even notice me, you’re with Sloane now and that’s fine but I can’t just keep going on with my life without saying anything. It’s killing me to know that you don’t even see how much I love you and that I want to be with you, but I know you don’t feel the same way.”

You were completely unaware while you ranted, but Eddie was driving as fast as he legally could over to yours as soon as you told him where you were. And once you began professing your love, he only wanted to be there more. He wanted to tell you everything on his mind, but he knew you needed to get this off your chest first and he would far prefer to tell you in person. Even if you were horrendously drunk and most likely wouldn’t remember much of what was said.

Your ranting of professing your love for Eddie had turned into nonsensical babbling, and mostly got muffled by your tears and lying on your bed. Eddie was still listening although had arrived outside your house, and knowing you liked to keep your window open at night during the summer, he muted himself before sliding his phone into his back pocket and climbed up the drainpipe to your bedroom window.

He grabbed his phone again and unmuted himself. “Sweetheart, can you let me in? I’m outside your window.”

You stopped mid-sentence when you looked out your window to see Eddie, opening your window wider to let him in before shakily moving aside to get out of the way. He gracefully climbed into your bedroom and sat on your bed beside you, kicking off his sneakers.

“Whatever made you think I never loved you back, hm?” he asked, tucking a piece of your hair behind your ear.

“All those girls you hooked up with, and then how happy you seemed to be with Sloane. I couldn’t not think you didn’t love me or even knew that I loved you,” you sniffled, looking down at your hands.

Eddie shook his head, gently placing a couple fingers underneath your chin to make him look up at you. Both of you looked into each other’s eyes without saying a word before he closed the gap, gently kissing you. It was quick, but sweet and said everything he needed to. “Even if you’re massively drunk, I hope you remember me saying this; I love you too. And I’m sorry I’ve been too scared to say it this whole time and hurting you in the process; you’re the only person I want to be around and honestly, the only person I want to go on dates with and sleep with.”

Even though you were drunk out of your mind, you repeated his words over and over in your mind as you moved to kiss him again. You wanted to remember everything, or at least as much as you were able to. Forever the gentleman, Eddie returned your kisses but only left it at kissing; he’d stroke your cheek and cuddle you but never did anything else, despite your drunken protests.

Both of you ended up lying on your bed, your head on his chest and his hands playing with your hair. You’d gotten to talking about anything and everything, only interrupted by the occasional kiss and exchanging of “I love you”s but by the time the sun began to rise above the horizon, you both knew the serious question had to be asked.

Your drunkenness had almost completely passed as you looked at him, propping yourself up on your elbows. “So, what does this make us now? Are we friends, are we boyfriend and girlfriend now, what are we?”

Eddie gently held your face in his hands, his thumb stroking your cheek. “We can be whatever you want us to be. Although, I don’t think I want to go back to being friends.”

“So let’s not.”

Don’t you go fallin’ in love

‘Cause I’ma break that shit up

I won’t let her

Love you like I do

Touch you like I do, nothing like I do

[zintranslations]

Kaleidoscope of Death, Ch. 132

Kaleidoscope of Death by Xi Zixu Link to Chinese / Novel Updates

Chapter 132: By Day, By Night

After hanging up, Lin Qiushi got out of bed. He went to the living room to check on the door and television, making sure both those things were still the same as they had been during daytime yesterday.

After that, Lin Qiushi left the apartment in a hurry. Halfway out he even got a call from Wu Qi, asking why he wasn't at work.

"There's something I have to do." Lin Qiushi was already in a car and had honestly completely forgotten about going to work. He tried to wheedle: "Ask for time off for me."

Wu Qi, "okay, how long should I ask for?"

Lin Qiushi, "half a year?"

Wu Qi, shocked, "…half a year?? Are you planning on resigning?"

Lin Qiushi glanced at his watch, not thinking of work at all.

"Or yeah, you can just resign for me."

Wu Qi seemed like he had something to say, but whatever words were on the tip of his tongue never made it out—he only sighed: "Fine, I'll get time off for you. If there's something going on you've got to tell me, alright? Don't carry it all on your own."

Lin Qiushi made a noise of agreement, expression still pensive.

The car continued on, and over an hour later, it arrived at where Lin Qiushi wanted to go. Lin Qiushi got off, went upstairs, and knocked on the door—every motion done in a single smooth breath. The truth was, however, that these few simple motions were only possible after extensive emotional preparation done during the car ride.

The door he knocked on opened after a bit, revealing a beautiful middle-age woman—it was Ruan Nanzhu's mother.

Because before they'd entered the door, Ruan Nanzhu had taken Lin Qiushi home. Now Lin Qiushi had a clear memory of where Ruan Nanzhu's old house was. Coming here this time was simply to confirm one thing…

"Hi Auntie," Lin Qiushi greeted politely.

"Hello." The woman watched Lin Qiushi with curiosity and asked, "is there something I can help you with?"

"I wanted to ask, do you know who Ruan Nanzhu is?" Lin Qiushi asked carefully.

"Ruan Nanzhu?" The woman's tone of doubt sent Lin Qiushi's heart sinking, and the question on her face only grew stronger. "Sorry, I don't know who that is."

"Then do you know Ruan Baiye?" Lin Qiushi brought up another name—this was the name of Ruan Nanzhu's older bother.

"Baiye? He's my son…" Mama Ruan said. "He's not home right now, but he'll be back later tonight. Are you looking for him?"

Lin Qiushi, "ma'am you…only have one son?"

Mama Ruan nodded as the way she looked at Lin Qiushi got stranger and stranger. Which was fair. Suddenly coming to her house and asking questions like these, Lin Qiushi didn't seem like a normal person at all.

Lin Qiushi had no idea what else to say either. After bidding Mama Ruan goodbye, he rushed back downstairs and hurried off to another location.

Ruan Nanzhu's existence had been completely wiped. There was nobody in this world named Ruan Nanzhu, not even to his parents, and even Obsidian, the organization that he led, had stopped existing…

This time, Lin Qiushi's destination was Li Dongyuan's White Deer.

When he arrived at White Deer headquarters, Lin Qiushi discovered that the building that once belonged to White Deer was now commercial offices, labeled with the name of XX Bank. Lin Qiushi was standing in the doorway contemplating how to sneak upstairs when he saw a familiar face leave the building. That person was wearing a suit and speaking to someone beside him; judging by appearance alone, he was that baby-faced Li Dongyuan that Lin Qiushi knew.

Seeing this Lin Qiushi hurried forward and called, "Li Dongyuan!"

Li Dongyuan's feet stalled, and he glanced in Lin Qiushi's direction. With eyes both cautious and distant, he asked, "who might you be? If you'd like to discuss something please book an appointment with my secretary first."

"I—" Lin Qiushi said. "Do you know me?"

Lin Qiushi lifted an eyebrow and didn't speak. His expression though, gave Lin Qiushi an answer—he did not know Lin Qiushi, and even thought Lin Qiushi's question odd.

"You don't recognize me?" Lin Qiushi also couldn't quite convey how he was feeling just then.

"Should I recognize you?" Li Dongyuan smiled a smile that wasn't quite a smile as he scanned Lin Qiushi up and down.

Lin Qiushi suddenly recalled something else. He said, "then do you know Zhuang Rujiao?"

Li Dongyuan didn't answer, and still seemed unfamiliar with the name.

"What about Jin Yurui?" Lin Qiushi tried again.

"You know her?" Li Dongyuan's smile, however, faded. "You're one of hers, then?"

Lin Qiushi could finally be sure why some people didn't exist in this world—because they were still alive. If they still survived in the world outside the door, then they did not exist inside this door. Both Li Dongyuan and Jin Yurui were dead, so they had new identities inside this door.

And, those who had died inside the doors aside, the people who were competely unrelated to the doors did not seem affected by this rule at all. They existed both inside this door and outside it, and had nothing to do with living or dying.

"Is there anything else?" Eyeing Lin Qiushi, who was deep in thought, Li Dongyuan lifted his chin with a cold expression. "If there's nothing else why don't you take your leave? This is a place of work."

Lin Qiushi took one last look at him before turning to go.

"Who is that?" the person standing beside Li Dongyuan asked as they watched Lin Qiushi leave.

"I don't know," Li Dongyuan said. "Looks kind of familiar though. Never mind, bring me that data and let me confirm…"

Lin Qiushi left White Deer headquarters and glanced at his watch. It was already twelve noon. An idea surfaced in his mind, and Lin Qiushi got out his phone to book a roundtrip flight for C City the next morning.

There were some matters he wanted to confirm in C City; it was already too late to go today, so he could only hurry there tomorrow morning and try to make it back in one day.

Fact of the matter was, Lin Qiushi didn't want to try spending the night on an airplane. Hell knows how terrifying that would be.

After taking care of lunch at a random spot in town, Lin Qiushi returned home and took a nap. As he thought about what would happen later that evening, Lin Qiushi thought he wouldn't be able to sleep. But in fact he slept quite well, passing out the moment he hit the bed. When he woke it was already five in the afternoon. Chestnut sat by his side, meowing, looking to be hungry again.

Lin Qiushi got up and, after fixing up some food for Chestnut, called some delivery for himself. He ate while watching TV.

He saw the trailer for Tan Zaozao's new movie. From the language of the advertisement, Lin Qiushi figured out that Tan Zaozao had already won the award. The award-winning movie was exactly the same as it had been on the outside, only the director was a different person this time and not Zhang Yiqing.

This world was so very similar to the world that Lin Qiushi lived in, but there was one fundamental difference—Ruan Nanzhu, the person Lin Qiushi most wanted to see, was not here.

Good thing that was so, actually. This door, for a lot of other people, would likely be of insurmountable difficulty. Like Zhuang Rujiao. Or Cheng Yixie for that matter. That was because here, they could once again see their most beloved person…

The night deepened, and Lin Qiushi got everything ready.

Around ten in the evening, it suddenly began to rain outside.

Water came down as if tossed from a ladle, washing clean the earth scorched dry by the sun. Lin Qiushi stood by the window, watching as passersby scampered home along the sidewalks until only streetlamps were left on the empty streets, with only the occasional car passing by.

Chestnut fell asleep sprawled out on the couch. The atmosphere grew quiet. Some senseless program played on TV as a queer sort of silence began to crawl out inside the house.

Lin Qiushi smelled petrichor. He used to be quite a fan of this smell, until he encountered a particular door. After that, this tainted scent of rainwater became something a lot more unpleasant.

The hour hand turned bit by bit, and twelve o'clock was nearly here.

Lin Qiushi sat in the living room, as if a spirit waiting for the death god's verdict. The switch from day to night came, and the clock hanging on the wall finally began to ring: ding dong, ding dong, ding dong…Twelve chimes heralded in another world.

The moment it became twelve, someone was immediately knocking at his door once more. Backpack on, Lin Qiushi came to the door, and through the peephole saw a woman standing on the other side, smiling at him.

He remembered the woman's name. It was the NPC hidden among the crowd in the Sister's Drum door, Xu Jin.

"Hurry up and come out already," Xu Jin told Lin Qiushi. "Come out already, my sister's coming to find you."

Lin Qiushi didn't open the door. He heard a soft noise from the window, however, and when Lin Qiushi turned, he saw a figure pressed against the glass.

It was a person with all her skin stripped off, her body a mess of blood and flesh from head to toe. The bloody face pressed against Lin Qiushi's glass and her mouth split open, showing Lin Qiushi her stark white teeth. It looked like she was trying to open up the locked window, and judging from her motions, she seemed close to succeeding.

Opening the door looked to be the only option right now. Gritting his teeth, Lin Qiushi twisted open the door handle and faced Xu Jin, standing on the outside.

Xu Jin clearly knew what Lin Qiushi was worried about, and began to chuckle.

"How could I bear to hurt you?" A pause, as her gaze lingered on Lin Qiushi's backpack. "My diary is still in your hands. Did you give it a good read yet?"

Lin Qiushi, "…" Why did he feel like he was being teased?

But there wasn't time for him to worry about that, because Xu Jin's sister was about to come in though the window. Xu Jin grabbed Lin Qiushi by the arm and ran. The two made their way down the hall and came to the elevator.

"Go on inside, but watch out," Xu Jin said. "There are other things that want you dead."

Lin Qiushi asked, "what about you?" He recalled that Xu Jin didn't have a very good relationship with her sister.

"Me?" Xu Jin’s eyes curved up in a sudden smile. "How do you know that I don't want you dead?"

As soon as she said this, the skin on her body began to fall off patch by patch. The startled Lin Qiushi rushed into the elevator and pressed a number.

Xu Jin was chuckling again, and though her laugh was bright like silver bells, her terrifying appearance struck a sharp contrast.

Even though she now looked scarier, she didn't seem keen on pursuing Lin Qiushi.

The elevator started. In theory, Lin Qiushi ought to be safe, but that weird sense of danger once again assaulted the top of his head.

Lin Qiushi looked all around him, and when he spotted a certain something hanging in the elevator, goosebumps appeared all over his body. He'd spotted behind him, on what should have been an empty elevator wall, a huge black picture frame. There was nothing inside the frame, but the frame was pointed at exactly where he was standing.

Lin Qiushi reacted swiftly, hitting the button for the floor closest to him. At the exact same time, black water stains began appearing on the white paper inside that frame. First there was only one drop. Then it began spreading on the canvas paper.

He watched as the shape of that stain began to look more and more like a woman. It dispersed across the canvas and, in a short amount of time, managed to coat the entire large canvas.

Luckily it was then that the elevator reached the nearest floor. Lin Qiushi immediately took off, and the moment he cleared the elevator, a pair of pale white hands burst out of that canvas paper, searching around like it was looking for something to grab hold of.

Lin Qiushi was currently on the sixth floor. The moment he was out of the elevator he turned for the emergency exit right next door, bounding quickly down the stairs.

It was dim in the stairwell, with just enough light to see the path beneath his feet. Lin Qiushi ran down two stories before feeling something was off. He took a closer look, and discovered that he'd been turning round and round on floor six.

The stairs seemed to have become a mobius strip—up, down, backward, forward, it all came back to the sixth floor.

Lin Qiushi's feet screeched to a halt. He took in his surroundings, and noticed, on the white stairwell ceilings, little black spots of water appearing. That chilling stench of rain too was spreading through the air.

The thing had found him. Lin Qiushi made an executive decision and left the stairwell, stepping out onto the hallway. But back in the hall, Lin Qiushi discovered that the corridor had underwent a terrifying change: black frames hung on both sides, and inside each frame was a human head with its expression all twisted up. As for the ceramic tile floor, there was now a new carpet, thick and black—the pattern on it looked the same as in a door they'd encountered before.

Lin Qiushi looked up and saw, on the other other end of the hallway, another painting hanging. That painting was a woman in black with a long, sharp hat. Her eyes were half closed, but it felt like she was staring right down the hall and meeting Lin Qiushi's eyes.

Lin Qiushi wanted to leave the hallway, but when he glanced back, he found that the stairwell he had just came from had disappeared. The length of the hallway too seemed to be slowly shortening; Lin Qiushi could sense the painting of the woman getting closer and closer, closer and closer…

At that moment, a drop of water fell onto Lin Qiushi's forehead. Lin Qiushi gave it a wipe, and realized that it was blood. On reflex he looked up—a black hole had appeared above his head without him noticing, and blood was dripping from its edge onto his head. A pair of black eyes glimmered faintly in the dark, and then right after, a pair of pulpy, bloody hands reached out of the hole for Lin Qiushi.

Lin Qiushi's instincts were to back away, but the strange thing was, the hands stopped when they got to him. As if a miracle, he sensed no animosity from this pair of hands.

The hallway was still getting shorter and shorter, as if it were becoming a cage keen on trapping Lin Qiushi inside. With a clench of his teeth, Lin Qiushi reached up and grabbed the fleshy mess of those hands, and then felt a sudden force as he was brought out of that shrinking hallway.

"Aiya, looks like you can't manage without me after all."

The voice belonged to Xu Jin, but from appearance alone, he couldn't tell it was her at all. The skin on her body was completely gone, leaving only scarlet flesh and blood. She was grinning brightly at Lin Qiushi, and the contrast between her smile and appearance was strange, but Lin Qiushi didn't find it scary at all.

"Thank you," Lin Qiushi said to her.

Xu Jin didn't speak. Her gaze instead leaped over Lin Qiushi to look behind him.

Sensing something, Lin Qiushi too twisted around, and spotted on the other end of the darkness a pair of glowing red eyes.

"Meimei, my sister."

The owner of those eyes was also a skinless monster. She didn't have any legs and could only walk on her hands, but that didn't mean she was slow. She glared at Lin Qiushi with vitriol and bared her teeth; like a hyena hunting its prey, the sheer amount of hatred in her eyes was strong enough to materialize.

"Why did you betray me?" she said. "Do you like him that much? Since you like him so much, why don't I keep him here for you?"

Xu Jin tilted her head, and also smiled.

"But Jiejie, even if you did that, I still won't like you."

After that, she told Lin Qiushi to run, and threw herself at her sister. The two monsters clashed and tangled together.

Lin Qiushi got up and sprinted in the direction of the light. By the time he reached its source, he found that he'd already escaped from the apartment building, and was standing in the yard of the residential block.

It was still raining outside. Lin Qiushi pulled an umbrella out of his backpack and slowly pushed it open, stepping out into the curtaining rain.

The rain came down in sluicing torrents, and the streets were completely empty, with only water splashing along the ground. The rain ought to have been noisy; but at a time like this the loudness of the rain only made the world sound more silent in comparison.

"Help me—help me—"

There was a sudden cry for help. A silhouette came stumbling out of the rain, and Lin Qiushi could just make it out: she was a pitiful-looking young woman, staggering through the rain in a long dress. It looked like she was being pursued by something, and when she spotted Lin Qiushi standing not too far away, it was like she'd found an oasis in the middle of a desert—she came running immediately.

"Help, help!! Please, I'm begging you please help me, something wants to kill me…" She fell to the ground, looking up pathetically at Lin Qiushi. "You're also someone going through the doors, right? So am I, this door is so scary—"

Had this been reality, Lin Qiushi would've definitely helped the young woman up by now. But at this stage he wasn't moving, and a light furrow had appeared between his brows. The truth was, he found the person before him a bit familiar—more specifically, everything that appeared at night now was familiar, and he was certain he'd seen this person somewhere before.

"Mister, mister." The woman collapsed in the rain saw Lin Qiushi unmoved, and slowly crawled forward. She wiped at the rainwater on her face and said, shakily, "I know a safe place, and I can bring you there. Do you want to come with me?"

Lin Qiushi said, "do I know you?"

The woman said, "we met once in the door, and you even helped me out." Her lashes lightly trembled, looking vulnerable as anything. "But I didn't deserve that mercy, I still didn't make it."

"We met inside a door?" Lin Qiushi now found the shape of her eyes familiar. "Which door?"

The woman approached Lin Qiushi, saying, "you know, that one."

As Lin Qiushi watched her, he suddenly spoke: "There's something behind you."

The woman halted.

"A giant picture frame," Lin Qiushi said. "She's here."

The woman wheeled around in fright, but when she didn't see anything behind her, she suddenly realized that Lin Qiushi had recognized her. What had been a pitiful expression immediately went cold.

"It's been a while," Lin Qiushi said, "Yang Meishu."

The woman chuckled coolly.

"You still recognized me?"

Lin Qiushi shrugged. "I didn't want to, but I can count the people who wanted me dead on one hand. Since you're not a ghost, you must be somebody who hates me…"

He paused, and quickly announced, "she really is here."

But Yang Meishu didn't believe him. She said, "do you really think I'm that dumb? You've fooled me once already, you think you can do it again? I—"

As she spoke, getting more and more agitated, she felt a sudden breeze behind her. Yang Meishu glanced back, and found the woman in black standing right behind her. The woman's white face was impassive, and in her hands was a black picture frame that she swung right at Yang Meishu.

Yang Meishu knew this was likely it for her, and a terrible scream came out of her mouth. Right after she screamed, she became a portrait in the hands of the woman; soaked from head to toe, her expression bore both fright and a lively, vivid resentment.

Lin Qiushi took the opportunity to run further away. The woman didn't seem intent on chasing after him either, only watched him go with an icy gaze.

The rain came down in torrents, and Lin Qiushi was completely soaked. In such a strong rain, the umbrella was practically useless. As he ran, he fished out his cell phone and sent Ruan Nanzhu a text.

How are things on your end? After some thought, Lin Qiushi added: I'm fine over here, don't worry about me.

After the text was sent, he didn't get a reply for the longest time. It wasn't until Lin Qiushi found a place to hide from the rain that the message notification dinged, displaying four simple words: I'm good, don't worry.

Seeing the message, Lin Qiushi huffed a bitter laugh. Because how could he not know? Had Ruan Nanzhu truly been alright, the text would not have been so short. Ruan Nanzhu had trained his way through so many doors, so god only knew how many malicious NPCs and dead people from the inside he would meet at night. From what Lin Qiushi understood of him, if he had everything under control, he would've definitely sent a message first asking about Lin Qiushi's situation. Now, even his text message was so short. The situation on his end could not be good.

He wanted so badly just to be by his side—Lin Qiushi clenched his phone and thought bitterly. Whatever he had to experience would be fine, as long as he could be by Ruan Nanzhu's side.

[Ch. 131] | [Ch. 133]

[xserpentlife]

Trippin

Requested: Yes - Hey are requests still open? If so do you think you could so one where it's a Jughead or Sweet Pea x reader where the reader is usually super clumsy, so he's usually prepared to save them and stuff, But the reader gets a pair of heelys and he doesn't find out until he sees the reader holding onto one their friends jackets or back packs running through the halls?

A/N: I hope y’all love this. I really love the way it turned out so I hope you do too.

WC: 1845

Sweet Pea’s POV

5 months ago I noticed Y/N for the first time. We were friends, always had been. Walking home from Pops with Fangs on my left and Y/N to my right. We were making our way to our trailers on the Southside. After a long week of school, Pops was our escape. No care in the world we were walking aimlessly along the stone sidewalks and uneven ground. Y/N stepped up and must have mistook how high or uneven the ground was and somehow I instinctively saw her falling as I reached out and grabbed the end of her backpack. I grabbed on to it as she screamed, but I stopped her from falling before she could hit the ground.

“Ahhhh!, What the…!” I lifted her back up placing her onto her feet.  

“How did you...?”

“I dunno” She looked at me before turning back and running into her trailer as we soon made our way into Sunnyside Trailer park.

The second time we were waiting for a meeting. An emergency Serpent meeting had been called and luckily I was in the area, I texted Y/N about it and she was on her way running from her job on the Northside. She was trying to get there as fast as she could but the meeting had to start before she arrived. I heard a bike pull into the lot upstairs, and I heard pounding down the steps, and again I felt that instinctive feeling. I opened the door as she came barreling in landing in the booth in front of her. I went back over and stood next to Fangs as she collected herself, slipping out of her work vest and putting on her Serpent jacket.

“You know if you hadn’t opened that door she would have run face-first into it right?”

“Nah, Fangs she would’ve…”

“Bro did you see how fast she was running”

“But…”

“You two have some weird psychic shit going on or something”

“I don’t know Fangs”

“Hey, guys!” I turned to see Y/N’s makeup done, Serpent Jacket on, beautiful. I saw her.

The third time was when I saw her clumsiness once again, her goofiness, as she was running late to a class, running down the hallway full speed. She turned a corner running straight down the hallway as she turned the corner too sharp and came barrelling towards the lockers, but instead she came towards where I was standing and barreled straight into my chest as I fell and she fell right on top of me.

“Pea oh my god are you ok!”

“Date me”

“What, did you hit your head?” she started standing up as she grabbed my hand “C’mon we gotta bring you to the nurse, get up you big oaf” I started standing but I pulled her back down and put my hand on her cheek waiting for her to react before I did anything.

“I’m serious” I brought my lips to hers slowly. She bit her lip as I pulled away.

“Okay”

“Is that a yes…?”

“Yes Pea, i'll go on a date with you” we were a we

The fourth time was months later, finals had just finished and we were finally graduating. Cheryl was throwing her end of the year bash. Red solo cups everywhere, kids trying to play with the various vases and China that Thistlehouse had locked away. Cheryl yells every 5 seconds for someone to put something down, and Toni follows behind her to calm her down. The normal things that always went on. I couldn’t find Y/N though. I had lost her as she wandered away midway through the party and went with Toni and Fangs as they pulled me away for a game of beer pong. I heard everyone screaming shouting a bunch of “Do it’s” and “yes’s” and “you got this'' from various areas of the party until I looking up and saw Y/N. She was on the small roof of the Thistlehouse guest house, where a couch had been placed, standing on it, dangerous as it was for her clumsiness. Aside from that, she was trying to jump into the pool that stood below her.

“Y/N what are you doing!”

“Hi babyyyyyy”

“Y/N baby get down” I didn’t care that she had fun. That was not my worry, my worry was her and the danger she was in at the moment. I saw her ready to jump, luckily the building was fairly short, I could climb up right now, I knew if she would jump I could catch her, or her falling I could do the same. I had Fangs and Jug come up behind me as a backup, as she jumped I stood underneath watching as she jumped directly down completely missing the pool that Jughead thought she was going to hit the edge of, which caused him to fall in, while she landed directly into my arms.

“Oh nooooooo, Juggy”

“Its okay princess”

“Fangs can you help him while I get her home”

“Course” the 5-minute walk to the truck felt like the calmest moments of my life, her and me the trees and woods surrounding us and the sounds of the birds singing. Her head nuzzled into my chest. I felt love.

And now we’re here month 5, and on the 5th month with the love of my life. We both started working at the Wyrm, shifts on the weekend covering bar shifts. We were the only two who apparently knew each other’s movements well enough to work together efficiently and timely enough in the confined space of the bar. But this night, in particular, she was trying to impress Fangs and Toni. She had been learning some bar tricks from Tik Tok and wanted to show them a few of the moves. She was doing good and all, until one I knew wasn’t gonna end well.

“Fangs, T, wanna see a cool trick?”

“Yeah Y/N do it”

“Yeah, I wanna see” I watched the bottle swing up as it was about to land on her head, the spin not quite right on the bottle, she ducked down as the bottle was coming close to her head, I hadn’t even heard anything as I was talking to a customer but I knew. I reached upright as I turned around. Stepping right in front of her catching it before it could even come close to hitting her as everyone around us cheered. She grabbed my hand standing back up again.

“Thanks”

“Anytime” we stared into the eyes of each other, for some reason I didn’t wanna look away. As her lips came to mine slowly.

“Marry me”

“What!”

“I’ll do this again in a fancier way I promise, but… marry me”

“No”

“What?”

“No, I mean I don’t need the fanciness, I just know, Yes Pea!, It’s a yes”

“Its a yes!”

“Mhm” Everyone around us cheered once again. The happiness running through me. She was my person. The connectedness I felt for her I never felt for anyone. The constant clumsiness that she had that always made me laugh. The extra change of clothes I kept in my car because she always spilled food or coffee down the front of herself, not to mention all the coffee that she spilled in my truck on our morning coffee runs. Or even the amount of times I’ve watched her phone drop on her face in the middle of the night and had to kiss it better. Or the hundreds upon thousands of times she's fallen up the stairs. Those are the things I love about this girl. But what I love most is the way I can catch her when she falls, the way I know when she is gonna run into a door and I can open it for her, or even when I can be that barrier and break that fall for her. I can be that cushion that she needs. I love her. I want to marry her.

5 months later we had our wedding, Yeah, it wasn’t a long time to plan, but we didn’t need long. It was small and intimate. I stood at the front of the aisle, the flowers surrounding me as I waited for her to walk down. Our favorite song playing in my ears because she didn’t want to walk down the aisle to the traditional here comes the bride. Fangs was gonna be the one to walk her down, her father, a serpent had been killed years ago on a job, Fangs had been there for her as a brother since she was a kid. A brother to me as well, I was ready. Ready to take this beautiful woman as my wife. Our officiant standing behind me ready to make this whole thing official. FP standing off to the side as support as one of my groomsmen along with Jughead, Fangs my best man once he was done walking her down. Her side consists of Betty, Cheryl, and Toni.

I heard the song start, the music playing as everyone took their seats and began to quiet down. The nerves are beginning to rack through me. FP smacking me on the back as he came and stood behind me. I shook out my arms as I brought my hands together.

The doors shot open as Fangs came running in Y/N holding onto his back *I was wondering why had such a long aisle* She let go soon as Fangs whipped her forward, as she came barrelling towards me, she had a short white poofy dress on. Almost cupcake-like. And I looked to her feet to see Heelys. DaNgER was all I thought to myself. She just kept going as she came barreling into my arms as I caught her and helped her stand upright.

“Fancy meeting you here”

“Oh yeah?”

“Thought I’d make us meet the same way we always do”

“Mmm oh yeah baby, just wanted to live in danger, add a little clumsiness to the wedding huh, you’re the clumsiest person I know so I think you’d do that anyway”

“Hey!” she smacked me on the chest as I leaned down kissing her on the cheek before helping her up onto the step by the officiant. Toni handed Y/N her regular bottoms to the Heelys so that she could wear them as normal sneakers for the rest of the night. The wedding went by smoothly as vows were exchanged and the kiss. The best kiss of my life. I stepped down the stairs about to take her hand but she decided to come down tripping as she did until I caught her so she wouldn’t fall.

“See… clumsy, I look over for five seconds and you end up like this...”

“Hey… well, now you’re married to clumsy MR!”

“Wouldn’t want it any other way Princess” I kissed her before helping her stand up straight, grabbing her hand as everyone clapped and blew bubbles as we exited down the aisle.

[themadlostgirl]

NDY AU (2)

*A lot of people wanted me to continue the AU I wrote a while ago so here is a short mini-fic full of fluff while I’m working on the new main story.*

Pairing: Reader x Peter Pan

Warnings: language

*Months Earlier*

I don’t think it was a secret that my life in Storybrooke was pretty miserable. Okay, maybe miserable was too strong a word. It was more boring than anything. Monotonous and routine and insufferably predictable. I think there was a phrase that summed it up perfectly: Familiarity breeds contempt.

Everyday was the same. Wake up, go to school, babysitting all afternoon, go home, do homework, go to bed. Each and every day. I didn’t even get a weekend break because that’s what everyone else did. They were off having fun while I watched their kids.

At some point I finally broke. My alarm clock went off and I decided that I was done. I stayed in bed and kept sleeping. When my mom came up to see why I wasn’t up I told her I was sick. Trusting as she was she decided I was telling the truth and left me to my own devices while dad and her went to work. I heard their cars pull out of the garage and then I got up.

It was stupid. I shouldn’t be skipping school. Not like there is a lot to do around this town in the first place but I needed one day off. One day away from my life of repetition. I threw on a inconspicuous hoodie and was out the door.

I meandered around town dodging the gaze of everyone I passed. I was so nervous about skipping school I thought that if someone saw me out and about they would drag me back and I’d get detention for sure. I decided to take a walk through the woods. I had always felt more at home in the wilderness. Something about the neverending trees and chatter of birds put me at ease.

After a good hour of hiking and getting further away from the trail I heard something out of place this deep in the woods. Music. Not loud blaring music coming from a stereo but something softer. It drifted across the air like a lullaby hushing the birds and stilling the trees.

I walked towards the source curious and found an unzipped backpack. Inside was a bunch of notebooks and an overflowing pencil case. Next to it was a phone with music coming out of its speaker. Fairy Dance? Interesting.

“Didn’t your mommy teach you not to snoop.” A voice from above made me jump. I dropped the phone back to the ground.

There was a boy in the tree above me. He dropped down with a glare. He was kinda cute in a bad boy, scruffy, wrong side of the tracks kinda way. It was his eyes that kept me staring though. They were the most beautiful shade of green.

He picked up the phone and stopped the song before stuffing it back in his pocket. “What are you doing out here.”

I snapped back to my senses and looked away, “I was just taking a walk. I heard and the music and--I’m sorry.” I backed away ready to leave. “I’ll be going now.”

“Wait a second. Wait a second.” The boy grabbed me and turned me back around, “You’re cute.”

“Thanks?” I removed his hand from my arm and kept on walking. Still he followed.

“Do I know you?”

“Don’t think so.”

“You’re right. I would remember a face like yours.” he smirked, “What’s your name?”

“Why do you wanna know?”

“I’m a curious guy. I swear I’ve seen you before.”

“Probably at school. Which, shouldn’t you be there right now?” I don’t think this guy could be that much older than me. What was he doing skipping school?

“Nah. Don’t go to school much.” he shrugged. “Actually, if it is a school day, why aren’t you there?”

“I--I--” Crap!

“Don’t sweat it, pet,” he grinned wrapping an arm around my shoulders. “Teenage rebellion. It’s a good thing.”

“I’m not rebelling. I just needed a day off.” I shrugged him off once more, “Also, don’t call me pet.”

“Well if you told me your name I wouldn’t need nicknames.” he didn’t try to touch me again but still followed closely.

“Y/N. Happy?”

“Yes. My name’s Peter by the way. Since you didn’t ask.”

“Wasn’t interested.”

“So cold.”

“Only towards creeps like you.” I huffed.

“Hey, hey,” he ran in front of me stopping me, “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable.”

“Really? Do you just not have any sense of personal space.”

“Truthfully? Always been a bit of a problem with me. Guess because I never got that much love growing up that I crave the gentle touch from others.” he winked and I gagged.

“And you wonder why I think you’re a creep. Although with that comment now I’m thinking you’re more of a pervert.” I shoved past him.

“Okay, seriously, I am sorry. I’m just being a dick.”

“Obviously.”

“Y/N,” he cut me off again, “Can we start over?”

“Why do you care? Leave me alone.”

“If you wish it,” he gave an exaggerated bow and stepped aside to let me pass. “I am sorry though. Don’t think badly of me.”

Those damned green puppy dog eyes. He was actually sorry, wasn’t he? “I forgive you. I’m really on edge with skipping school. It’s not something I’ve done before.”

“Clearly.” he straightened up, “If the lady would be so kind as to let a humble delinquent such as myself teach you the ways of a successful ditch day I would be honored.”

“Wow, you are so damn extra.”

“I try.” he winked, “What do you say?”

“Why not? Not like I have anything else to do.” I shrugged. I don’t know why but I felt like I could trust him. Not only to not be an asshole but to take me on a small town adventure.

He offered up his arm and I took a deep breath before accepting it. We kept on with our walk while Peter talked to me about things to do and how to avoid getting caught.

“What are you doing out here, anyway?” I asked after a while.

“Nothing. Relaxing. Keep away from the house.” he shrugged.

“And the notebooks in your bag?” At that I got a glare. “Sorry, I saw them in your bag. You write?”

“Sketch.” he grumbled.

“Can I see?”

A clap of thunder stopped him before he could answer. “Shit. Come on.” he tugged me along faster now.

Gotta love this Maine weather. We ran through the forest as rain came pouring down on us. I was drenched and freezing but I couldn’t help but smile. I let out a crazy little laugh and Peter looked back at me with a similar grin.

Ahead of us was a run down trailer. We ran inside out of the downpour laughing like idiots. For being an abandoned crappy trailer it wasn’t that bad inside. It was mostly clean and free of any wildlife.

“How’d you know this was here?” I asked as I stripped out of my soaked hoodie.

“Found it a couple months ago. Cleaned it up as best I could so I had a place to hang out in cases just like this.” He shook out the rain from his hair. His eyes raked over me. I crossed my arms over my chest suddenly aware of how much my t-shirt was clinging to me and what it may be showing.

“Here,” he handed me a dry hoodie from in the small closet. “You look cold.”

“Thank you.” I pulled it on relishing in the warmth. It smelled like forest.

“Looks like the rain won’t let up for a while. Unless you wanna brave the storm we’re gonna be stuck here until it passes.” he collapsed back on the couch.

“Joy.” I sat down next to him. “Got a way to pass the time?”

“There’s a chess set in one of the cabinets but half of the pieces are missing.”

“So nothing.” I slumped further in my seat.

“I got a book in here.” he rummaged in his bag and pulled out a copy of Lord of the Flies. “Don’t know if it’s your thing but it's a classic.”

“Gotta say I’m more a Jane Austen kinda girl myself but this’ll do for now.” I took the book, “Thanks.”

“No problem.” We sat in silence for a long while. The only noise being the patter of rain against the side of the trailer and the sound of Peter’s pencil scritching and scratching in his notebook. It was strangely comfortable. There was no need to fill the silence between us. We didn’t need to.

At some point the rain had stopped but I was so invested in my reading I hadn’t noticed. It wasn’t until Peter tapped me that I came back to myself. “Rain stopped.”

“Oh. I guess it did.” I looked around for something to mark the page with since I refused to be a degenerate and dog-ear it. Peter seeing my struggled ripped a piece from his notebook and handed it to me.

“You can keep it if you wanna finish it.” he told me as we left the trailer. “I’ve read it like five times already.”

“You like a story about feral children murdering one another that much?” I cocked an eyebrow up at him.

“Well when you say it like that I sound like a weirdo.”

“You are a weirdo.” I joked.

We walked back to town. School should be letting out about now so I didn’t need to worry about that anymore. Peter pulled me along as we stopped inside the pharmacy for snacks. I noticed him trying to sneak out chocolate bars and smacked him. “I have some cash on me. No need to shoplift sweets.”

We went up to the register and the man scanning the items kept glaring at Peter suspiciously. I would too if I had the right to believe this little shit was stealing inventory. We left and I let Peter take the lead as we wandered around town and talked.

“Alright, I got one,” I said in between bites of my candy, “Would you rather be locked in a room that is constantly dark for a week or a room that is constantly bright for a week?”

“Dark, no question.” he answered.

“Seriously? But you can’t see anything!”

“My eyes would adjust. Besides, the dark doesn’t scare me. Constant bright light would be so annoying though, especially when you’re trying to sleep.”

“Point. Your turn.”

“I got a good one,” he turned to me with that dumb smirk, “Would you rather go back home and pretend to be sick or keep being a rebel and grab dinner at Granny’s with me tonight?”

“Oh…” I felt my face grow warm, “I think--”

“Y/N?” I froze. Dad.

“Hey,” I turned to him, “What’s up?”

“I thought you were sick. Why aren’t you home?”

“Just taking a walk. Getting some fresh air.”

“Uh huh,” he glanced at Peter, “And who is this?”

“Peter...my friend.” I mumbled.

“Sure.” Dad grabbed my arm and pulled me away from Peter’s side. “You’re coming home right now. And you,” he rounded on Peter, “Don’t think I don’t know who you are. I’ve seen Graham dragging your ass into the sheriff’s station on a weekly basis. Stay away from my daughter.”

“Dad!”

“I believe that’s up to Y/N, sir.” Peter smirked wider. I swear I thought steam was going to come pouring out of dad’s ears at any second.

“I will not let my daughter ruin herself with something like you. Now beat it.” Without another word dad dragged me away.

I craned my neck to look back at Peter. He gave me a wink and continued on with his walk.

(1) (3)

[fxngsfxgarty]

the night is alive (you can feel the heartbeat)

Toni hasn't been back to Riverdale since she and her mom left when she was six. She's a tough Brooklyn cookie with a heavy heart, and she loves to skate - will she find her feet in the rink with the Serpents? Or will the opposite team's star jammer be the one to throw her off?

title from all about tonight - pixie lott

Disclaimer: absolutely minimal research has been done for this fic. I have a vague idea of how roller derby works. That's it, come along for the ride. Or... skate, I guess? anyway have fun I'm having fun writing it.

Can also read on AO3 here.

Toni half expects Riverdale to feel like a breath of fresh air. A middle-of-nowhere town should, in theory, be worlds away from Brooklyn and city cabs and cigarette smoke. But right now, it just feels like she’s come back to prison.

She was born here, as her family likes to constantly remind her, in a house on the edge of the forest with vines growing up the brickwork and flowers blooming against the picket fence the same vibrant pink as her hair. She left when her mom did, six years old, curled up in the back of a borrowed car while dad stood in the doorway of that house and shouted until they were out of sight, and mom drove and hurled each insult right back, like the words would detonate in someone’s hands if they didn’t stop it moving. A ticking time bomb.

Toni grew up to be a time bomb too.

That’s why she’s here, now, not at the old house that holds all her memories of the town, having her hair braided in front of the tall mirror in mom’s bedroom and playing in the trees with the local boys and girls. Toni’s home now is called Sunnyside, and she wrinkles her nose at the name, because it’s about as far from sunny as could be in Riverdale, the fading sign gray beneath the cloud cover, the same color reflected in the aluminum trailer walls beyond. She never thought she’d say she missed New York, but right here, right now, all she sees is this hopeless trailer park. It’s not like there are even any signs of life. The place is dark, and cold, and Toni is cold too.

She counts driveways to find her place, the only thing she has left to call home, even though she doesn’t know how to call dad’s last possession home. At least he died in the street in the middle of the day - good riddance, in her mind, and at least half a guarantee that there won’t be any ghosts in the corners when she tries to sleep. The trailer is filthy from the outside, exposure to the elements showing in the rain-splattered sides, the bird crap down the windows, one of which is cracked and taped together with black electrical tape. The ancient iron steps seem to bend beneath her feet, and she’s only light. When the door swings open unexpectedly, she grabs the rail for support, and it breaks off, rusted beyond repair, in her hand.

The fall knocks the wind out of her, but those aren’t tears in her eyes, god, no, a good Topaz girl never cries. She just scrambles to her feet on her own, blames the backpack she carries for knocking her off her balance, and goes inside.

She flips a switch. Nothing happens.

No power. Shit.

It’s already dark in the trailer, despite it being the middle of the day, and it smells like old cigarette smoke and something damp, but the Brooklyn apartment smells the same, so at least that’s something she’s used to. She thinks she probably smells of it, too, of clothes that can never quite dry and smoke that clings to hair, even though she’s never tried a cigarette in her life and she doesn’t want to, doesn’t feel like falling down that slope just yet. It seems like someone either cleared it out or looted it after dad died, so it’s bare floorboards, torn couch cushions, the broken window… she’d hoped Riverdale would be different, but right now, this room could belong to any one of the places she’s lived in the last ten years. It wouldn’t surprise her. Nothing would.

She leaves her overstuffed backpack in the middle of the room, where a coffee table would be, if she had one, and explores the rest of it. There’s no bedroom, so she guesses that she sleeps on the couch, which again is nothing new, but disappointing all the same. The shower is a cube she barely fits in, and the water doesn’t run from any of the faucets - another thing that needs connecting or fixing, something she doesn’t know how to do and doesn’t have anyone to help with. The stove doesn’t start up, the rings don’t light. Everything she investigates is another fraction her heart sinks, and she sort of feels like there’s a hand in her chest and another round her throat, squeezing, squeezing, and then she has to sit, because her head is spinning and she can’t breathe.

She misses the couch, fishnet-clad legs hitting cold, bare floor with a gasp, and buries her face in her knees. She’s not crying, because Topaz girls are good and strong and never cry at anything.

Mom would go crazy if she saw her cry, anyway.

A few minutes pass. Toni curls up tight, shivers, breathes.

There’s a tap at the door, fingertips on the frame - she left it open, like the idiot she is right now. She’s all over the place. Her head snaps up, and there’s hair in her eyes, and when she pulls the pink haze aside, there’s a boy there.

He’s tall, wearing a leather jacket that’s too long on his arms, and his bangs have too much gel in them, they shine even in the low light of this hellish trailer. But he’s smiling at her, and his eyes are dark and he looks like he hasn’t slept in a few days or more, but he’s still smiling. Boys don’t smile like that unless they want something from Toni. So she swallows hard and asks “the hell d’you want?” even though it doesn’t come out as stinging as she’d like it to.

The boy shrugs. “Saw you coming in. Can’t miss you, hair like that.” “There’s nothing wrong with my hair,” Toni mumbles. “Never said there was!” He raises his hands in mock defense, and then he smiles again. “I live just across the track. Wondered if you wanted some help getting settled in.” Her eyes narrow. “And what do you get in return?” She knows how boys work. “An ally, I hope. Welcome to the South Side. You’re Ben’s kid. You’re practically one of the family already, if I listen to what my sister says.” “The… family?” “Not, like, a real family.” The boy grins. “That’s the best part about this place. We get to choose our families. We’re all outcasts here, princess. You’ll fit right in.”

Toni glares. “Who says I’m an outcast?” “You showed up at a trailer park with a backpack and a sports bag, I know your dad’s dead, I connected the dots.” He shrugs.

Her response is a sigh, albeit a shaky one. He’s right. This strange tall boy, smiling in her doorway, knows enough. “Damn. Guess you got me… Yeah. I could use some help. If you’re still offering.” She scrambles up, pulls her skirt down to preserve a little decency, and manages to smile back for the first time. “My name’s Toni. You’re…” “My friends call me Sweet Pea. So we can be friends, if you want,” he says quickly, before she can respond, or ask about the name. “It’s good to meet you. C’mon, I’ll get your power connected, show you how.”

That’s how, by evening, she ends up with her couch-bed pulled out, made up with blankets from home and pillows pushed on her by Sweet Pea’s insistent but friendly older sister. They’ve scrubbed her floors and windows clean, stitched the cushions back together, got her power working and the gas for heat and cooking all fixed up. Sweet Pea even got soaked for her, connecting the trailer park’s water supply to her tank and spraying himself to the skin in the process, and he’d just laughed, and called her Tee, and sprayed her a little bit too.

Maybe Riverdale will be okay after, she thinks.

She hopes.

Maybe.

[magic-and-moonlit-wings]

Chapter 21: On The Edge Of The Spotlight

Becoming The Mask

Bold and italicized text indicates trollish.

"Behold." Toby opened up a tied grocery bag. An absolutely awful smell wafted out. A nearby troll leaned in for a better sniff. "Month-old sweat socks. Shopping spree tonight, on me." To the relief of the humans, and disappointment of the curious troll, he tied the bag back up.

"Speaking of buying things, I got my tickets for the play," said Darci. "My parents said they'd come, too." Assuming her dad didn't get called in to work.

"Nice," said Mary. Claire groaned.

"I'm not ready. We're not ready. Opening night's practically here and Steve still can't really get into character. I mean, he knows his lines, finally, but his delivery could still do with a lot of work."

"I thought he was doing fine," said Mary. "Everyone but you and he and Eli keeps stumbling. I feel like I'm doing tongue twisters. At least when Steve messes up, he acts like he meant to say it that way, so most of the audience probably won't notice."

"Sure, it's 'good enough', but it feels like he's using that as an excuse not to try and get better. Iambic pentameter is supposed to flow, and he just … blasts it out."

"Toby, do you or Jim have tickets yet?" asked Darci.

She knew he had. As the Mole, she'd been helping sell tickets at a table outside the auditorium that afternoon. But none of her friends knew she was the school mascot yet, so she asked.

"I bought two, for Nana and me. Jimbo said he's worried some emergency might come up in Trollmarket or at the clinic so he's not sure he or his mom can make it, but I'm working on him to buy tickets in advance just in case, so he doesn't get to the door and find out they're sold out."

"How many emergencies does he get called in for?" Mary gestured at the bustling underground marketplace as the four humans stood aside for a few carts to pass by. "It's busy down here but it all seems pretty peaceful. And when stuff does happen, most trolls seem like they'd rather fight out their own problems."

They all jumped when a gnome popped out of the wall beside them and chittered angrily. They reminded Darci of squirrels that way.

"Have you noticed the hat colours?" Claire wondered out loud. "Red and blue, like in Gnomeo and Juliet. Except these little guys don't seem to be fighting each other."

"Have you noticed," said Toby, "how there's now at least two movies that take a Shakespeare tragedy, rework it for a happy ending, give it a surprise cast, and set it to Elton John music?"

"What's the other?"

"Lion King is supposed to be based on Hamlet."

"… Yeah, I guess I can see that," said Claire. "The sequel to that one was Romeo and Juliet, too, and the, what's it called, interquel, was like Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead."

"I think it's a sidequel?" Toby looked it up on his phone. There could, amazingly, be a better signal in some parts of Trollmarket than in some areas of the town above. "An interquel happens in the time between other stories. A sidequel basically overlaps another story in time, but with different perspective or locations."

"Elton John also did the Road To El Dorado soundtrack," said Darci. "I've heard the first song was supposed to have another verse, where it talks about a prophecy of the gods coming to live in the city of gold and that's why everyone was expecting them when Miguel and Tulio showed up, but it got cut for some reason."

"We should do a slumber party this weekend," said Mary. "We could marathon a bunch of 'contemporary takes' on Romeo and Juliet and tell our parents it's for school."

"I really need this to go well," said Claire, going to fidget with her hair. Her hand brushed one of her clips and she stopped herself. "My parents have been on me practically since I auditioned. The one time I got a B, what was their advice? Drop the play. If this doesn't go great, they're going to be all, 'we told you so'."

"Hey, no matter how bad the rest of us stink, you'll do great," Mary insisted.

"You both will – AAAHH!" The gnome hopped onto Darci's shoulder, and from there onto a green troll with an orange – pelt? A beard and a fringe of fur across his shoulders – who was walking the other way. The troll either didn't notice or didn't care about the sudden passenger.

"You okay, Darce?"

"Yeah, just startled me."

"It's wild watching them jump," said Toby. "I wonder if anybody's recorded, like, a record, for how high and how far they can go. We should ask Blinky. Or Chompsky; he'll do anything for a Nougat Nummy."

"Who's Chompsky?" Darci brushed off her shoulder. She was pretty good with names, and that one sounded familiar, but she couldn't put a face to it.

"Kind of my roommate? He's a gnome who lives in my dollhouse. I don't speak gnome so I don't know his real name, so I named him after that linguist guy Noam Chomsky; Nana's got some of his books; and Chompsky rolled with it."

Pedestrian traffic had eased up, so they were able to wander onward without fear of being stepped on.

"You have a dollhouse?" Of course that was the part that would draw Mary's attention.

"It's technically Nana's but it's in my room. It's the perfect size for Sally-Go-Back and digging it out of the basement was easier than saving up for the Moon Base."

"How'd you end up with a gnome in your room?" Mary asked next. "Did it follow you back from Trollmarket or something?"

"Stow away in your backpack?" Darci could see that. They seemed to like small places, being so small themselves. An open bag would look like an invitation.

"I think he followed Jim, actually. It was before I found out about, you know," Toby spread his hands in an expansive 'ta-dah' gesture, "this. Chompsky showed up one night, and then Jim came in and saw him and was all, 'oh no, we need to catch him, this is unsafe, what if he bites?', but then Chompsky found the dollhouse and kinda settled in, and I thought he was cool, and … I guess Jim decided he had to keep his cover, so he dropped it."

Toby's face fell a little. It had to hurt, knowing his best friend had been keeping something this big from him for so long. Darci felt bad sometimes about keeping her mascot job secret from her friends, and that wasn't nearly on this scale.

Jim was in the Hero's Forge. Usually he spent some of the night with the four of them, but apparently he'd lost a sparring match a couple of nights ago, and things were tense between him and Draal and Blinky now. As Darci understood the explanation, Draal had accused Jim of slacking off and Blinky took that as an insult to his capacities as a trainer when he found out.

So Jim was ramping up his training.

AAARRRGGHH, at least, was acting as calm as ever. Darci wasn't sure the placid troll could get mad for real.

"Hi, Bagdwella," Mary greeted when they reached her shop. It looked like a junkshop to human eyes but Bagdwella advertised it as 'fine gifts'. "How's business?"

"A little slow this week," she answered. The humans liked to stop by her place because she'd let them practise speaking trollish with her. "Not unusual for the season. It should pick up in three or four days. Rumour has it" – Darci and Claire exchanged amused looks at one of the first phrases they all learned, since it was one of Bagdwella's and Mary's favourites – "some of Glug's relatives are planning to visit from Floor-ee-dah. They always forget to pack a few essentials and they like to bring home souvenirs."

"What's this?" asked Claire, suddenly, sharply. She held up a stuffed rabbit and switched languages. "Where did you get this?"

"My suppliers brought it in a while ago, I don't recall exactly."

"This is my brother's bunny! He's been acting weird ever since he lost it. Suzy Snooze was here the whole time?"

"Uh, Claire?" Toby waved at her. "First rule of bargaining, don't let them know just how bad you want the thing." He turned to Bagdwella. "I'll trade you three socks for the … toy. I don't know the words for 'stuffed rabbit'."

"It's a stuffed rabbit if it's cooked and a cloth rabbit if it's a toy. Twelve socks and a bedspring."

"Four socks and a candy wrapper."

"Ten socks, all argyle."

Toby checked his pockets. "Six socks, a candy wrapper, AND a pen full of delicious dried ink."

"Deal."

"You didn't have to do that," Claire said to Toby when they left.

"I kinda did. She runs a store, not a Lost & Found. Even if she believed you about it being your brother's, she wasn't gonna just give it back."

Claire cuddled the plush rabbit. Darci's skin crawled a bit, watching her. Who knew what the toy had gotten into while it was missing? Trolls were amazing but not very clean.

"You'd better run that through the laundry a few times before you give it back to Enrique," she said.

"It'll be good for his immune system," Claire joked. "But seriously, yeah, I will."

Previous Chapter (Barbara has dramatically ironic concerns about Jim)

Table of Contents

Next Chapter (Back to the main plot!)

What Toby refers to as 'Shakespeare tragedies' are more accurately called 'Shakespearean tragedies', but he either doesn't know that or doesn't care.

In S1E4, Gnome Your Enemy, Toby refers to the dollhouse in his room as "Nana's dollhouse" at least once, so he presumably got it from her.

Bagdwella has a sister, Sagdwella, who "lives under a trailer park in Oo-tah". The Quagawumps live in Florida except for one, Glug, who spends her time in Trollmarket and makes a presumably-alcohol-equivalent drink that she seems to have named after herself.

Jim and Toby didn't see Enrique being carried by a goblin or chase after them, so Suzy Snooze was left in the alley until a troll on a scavenge run happened upon the abandoned plush bunny.

[iamthechocobabe]

A True Nightmare

I figured after the Episode Ignis trailer, we all needed some Ardyn getting his ass kicked a bit (though keep in mind there’s only so much poor Mallory can do). Don’t be put off by the creepy vibes at first of the chapter, Mallory’s gonna show this asshole who’s boss by the end (and NO, not in that way guys-NOT AN ARDYN LOVE STORY, ‘member?) 

Sorry that it’s a little long, but it’s been going way too slow for me and I wanted to get the story going already. Oh well, what’s done is done, I guess. 

Tagging the Senpais: @roses-and-oceans @bespectacled-girl @nifwrites @cupnoodle-queen @themissimmortal @gladiolus-mamacitia 

A True Nightmare

~Chapter 4~ SFW Word Count: 3,885

Mallory was trying her hardest not to appear cynical as Noctis looked at the car with a forlorn look; obviously, this car meant a lot to the crowned prince and his friends seemed to understand that, but Mallory was having a hard time fighting the urge to go up to him and yell 'it's just a CAR'. 

Boys and their cars, I guess-Mallory thought. 

A far off explosion lighting up the night sky got Mallory's attention and the realization hit that they had absolutely no idea where they were. Mallory had to drive a different route to get into Gralea and she only knew the one route, but how were they supposed to find their way through Gralea without a map? Mallory cursed herself for not going with instinct and packing a map with her, telling herself that she knew the way and that it was just a waste of space. It was a fucking piece of paper, Mallory, you had room. 

"Where to now?" Mourning was over, apparently and the three joined Mallory as she stared at a street sign, trying to get her bearings. As if sensing her confusion, Ignis spoke with a slight tilt of the head to better focus his hearing. "You do know where we're going, correct?" 

"That is an excellent question," Mallory mumbled, wanting to kick herself as she tried to piece together the last time she had been to Gralea and to Zegnautus. A piece of FUCKING PAPER, Mallory, what the hell is wrong with you?

"You didn't bring a map? What kind of an 'assassin' are you?" 

"Shut up for a sec, yeah?" Mallory didn't glance at Gladio as she fished out her disposable flip phone from her backpack, shooting a quick text. Got lost, am at Crysallis Ave., how do I get to Z. from here? Closing the phone, Mallory waited, hoping and praying that the response would be quick, partially because Mallory knew if it was that she got out all right. 

"You're texting? Who are you texting?" Noctis sighed exasperatedly and tugged on a few ends of his hair. "That's it, we're dead," 

"She's a friend, and if you want to go die in a corner somewhere, by all means, please do," Mallory was beginning to lose her patience with these guys (minus Ignis, who didn't really seem too judgmental of Mallory, just observant), but ignored it when her phone buzzed and a little mail icon showed up on the front screen where the clock usually was. 

Wait where r u plz dont tell me ur in Nflhm. 

Relief flooded through; the knowledge of one of Mallory's closest friends being safe was like a thousand pound weight being dropped off. But when Mallory read the words, a bad feeling began to grow in her stomach as she responded. Didnt u get my txts

No wait There was a short pause before the texts started flooding Mallory's phone, so fast that Mallory didn't have time to read a text before another one popped up on her screen. 

mal get out serisly shits bad u need 2 go chncllrs gone crzy mts & daemons evrywhr ppl r missing

Well, this was bad-people missing and MT's roaming the streets? Mallory sensed this was a bit more than a coincidence, blowing a piece of hair from her eyes and typed as fast as she could with the old fashioned phone. cant exactly get out now am stuck need 2 get 2 Z. help me out here

A few seconds went by, Mallory tapping her foot impatiently the whole time, when the phone buzzed again. 

u die on me Mal I swear 2 Gods go on crysallis til u get 2 casey dr. go right til u get 2 train tracks follow train tracks military entrnce thre

Mallory sighed, stress and oncoming panic dropping from her shoulders as she looked at the three with new found confidence about where to go. "Head down the road," She explained the directions before they all started following, Ignis occasionally faltering as they maneuvered the road designated for shipping containers. When they reached the railroad tracks, practically destoryed with train cars and shipping containers that laid askew around the tracks, Mallory shot a quick text. Thx Ky owe u

u wont owe me if ur dead b carful

Snickering, Mallory put the phone in her backpack just as they reached a stray train car carefully and barely propped on some debris with a small gap underneath that would give the four enough crawling space. Despite how the thing looked like it was the tiniest nudge away from collapsing, Noctis was already half way under there and Mallory quickly reached forward and pulled him back. She didn't necessarily mean to make the crown prince fall on his butt, but he glared all the same. 

"What?" Noctis stood up, dusting the dirt from his pants like a little kid with a grumpy face to match. 

"MT's are probably guarding the fortress," She didn't mean to sound snippy, but this was basic shit 101 and Mallory was starting to feel more and more like a babysitter every minute. Tired and irritated, Mallory went over to a broken side ladder on the train car before gesturing to Gladio. "Give me a boost and I'll see what we're dealing with here," 

"Isn't that dangerous?" Gladio asked the question, but maybe he figured there was no point in arguing with her because he just bent down and linked his fingers together so Mallory could boost herself up to the ladder and start climbing. 

"When are you assholes going to figure out that I can take care of myself?" Grumbling was always a thing Mallory hated to do, she hated sounding whiny and grumpy. People already thought she was a grouch because of the way she looked and her naturally stern eyes, she didn't need constant bitching to help her in that department. Working with these three, she was starting to remember why she preferred working assignments and stuff by herself, only occasionally teaming up with Aranea. 

Still, Mallory had bigger things to worry about, especially when she reached the top of the traincar. 

"How many are there?" Noctis called up, but Mallory couldn't find an answer. Confusion clouded her brain as she processed what was easily the most popular entrance into the fortress, aside from the main entrance. "Mallory?" 

Shaking her head, Mallory forced herself to respond, though it came out as choked as she was trying to piece everything together. "Nothing. There's no one here," 

No one. One of the most used entrances into Zegnautus, and not a soul was in sight, no one to guard the most heavily guarded megafortress in the world. The whole thing reeked of wrong, something definitely off, but what could it be? What reason could the fortress have to possibly leave itself defenseless? 

"What's going on?" 

She was so focused that she barely noticed Noctis popping up from under the train car-just as she shouted for him to get back, Noctis had accidentally knocked into a bar, which was apparently the only thing holding the train car up, as the moment it was loose the car decided now was the time to fall. Failing to keep her footing, Mallory soon tumbled down the side of the car, winding up stuck on the ground, separated from the others by derailed train cars and shipping containers. 

"Guys?" Mallory shot up to her feet, checking around her for enemies with her gun while calling out. "Anyone?" 

There was no answer, but Mallory swore she could hear vague yelling and running feet, so she continued to yell, hoping her words would reach someone. "If you guys can hear me, head into Zegnautus-on the thirteenth floor is a common area with a cafeteria. Meet me there!" 

"On the thirteenth floor is a common area with a cafeteria. Meet me there!”

Ardyn heard his own breath inhale rather than feel it-the same thing had happened when he saw Aryelle appear on top of the train car, hearing himself suck his breath in rather than feel it. The little trick he had when he showed Aryelle the memory of how they met didn't seem to phase this Aryelle, other than seeming to confuse her, but he was determined...of what, he still wasn't quite sure. Every time he saw her, despite how she was much more stern than the Aryelle he knew, he wanted to see her, to know her, to make her see him. 

And as he stood up to head to the common area in the megafortress, his promise of so many years ago rang in his ears. You will know my redemption. 

A furious kick to the stubborn vending machine gave Mallory what she wanted, a simple can of Ebony. While she hated coffee, despised the bitter taste, the past days of being on a train to Gralea with little to no sleep due to nerves was making her exhausted. She figured she needed the extra caffeine to keep herself on her feet, she just hated the fact that the stubborn machine ate up the last of her gil without giving her what she wanted. A little kick showed that machine what, though the stinging in Mallory's ankle was making her regret her rash decision. 

The bitter taste made her want to gag, but Mallory forced it down her throat before crumbling the can and disposing of it in a recycle bin (why there was a recycle bin in the most industrial place in Niflheim, Mallory would never know). She scooted up onto a picnic bench style table and tried to force herself to relax, though the blaring red light and the rustling of daemon feet in the hallways outside was making it difficult to do so. 

She had managed to clear out the common area fairly easily, as there were only a few daemons in the room when she got there. Mallory left the big metal doors to the common area unlocked, but she would still tense anytime a scurry of feet would approach the door, then sigh with relief as the feet scurried away. But it had been almost three hours of waiting and Mallory was starting to get worried. 

More footsteps-this time, though, the foot falls were different-rather than being hasty, or sloppy (depending on the daemon on the other side), these were careful foot steps and they were definitely human. But Mallory could feel, almost know that the prince and his entourage would not have been walking so lazily down the hallway and stop casually in front of the door, neither opening it nor locking it. Just stand there-whoever this person was, Mallory had a feeling they knew she was in there. 

Reaching for her gun once again, Mallory scooted off the table and carefully placed her feet on the floor. 

Only the floor was different-the common area had grating all throughout the floor, but the floor was now suddenly smooth, like marble. The texture (or lack thereof) from the floor caused Mallory to look down, only to see grey marble flooring versus the common areas grating that looked to some of the prison cells below. 

Naturally, Mallory looked up-only she wasn't in the common area anymore. 

Red blinking lights and sirens were replaced with a peaceful and calm hallway exterior, with the same grey, old fashioned marble decorating the walls. Paintings and ceiling high windows gave the place almost a homely look and now, Mallory couldn't help but feel panic growing in her stomach. 

Mallory had been so on edge, so on the run since the train that she honestly hadn't even had time to think of the weird vision of the barn and the red haired man. Now she was forced to face the reality that maybe the stress was making her lose her mind, maybe years of taking care of Ari and constant close calls with death had finally made Mallory's mind snap. 

Foot steps-again, only behind her. They brought Mallory out of the panic and she whirled around to aim her gun behind her, only there wasn't a soul in sight. There was only the peaceful hallway and...Mallory could hear it again. The humming. A four note lullaby, the same four notes hummed over and over again and it might have been peaceful in different circumstances. 

Walking carefully down the hallway, checking behind her back every few feet to make sure no one was behind her, Mallory shouldn't have honestly noticed the paintings. But there they were and the sight made Mallory stop, partially in awe and partially in fear. 

The paintings on the walls were all the same and they were all of...Mallory? 

No, it was someone who looked just like her. Mallory's hair was the same shade of dark black, but the woman in the painting's hair was longer, stretching down to her waist in long waves. Her facial features were the same, though, with her slightly pointed nose, her heart shaped lips and high cheekbones. Of course, the eyes-the same, mysterious and deep dark green, an almost unworldly color that had been in her family for years and years. 

Mallory instinctively backed away, the woman's eyes almost following her as she tried to leave when something stopped her dead in her tracks. Eyes widening, Mallory leaned forward, positive she was seeing things. 

On the woman's wrist was what looked like a soulmate mark...but it wasn't any mark. 

It was just like Mallory's on her left shoulder, the same shape with the same points, just in a different spot. 

"Aryelle," 

That name again...looking over, Mallory saw the same red haired man again coming down the corridor, only this time he looked a little older-a little meaner too, with a confident and smug look versus the man from the barn, who was young with an easy smile who seemed almost naive. But when he met Mallory's gaze, his golden irises almost softened, though the smug smile he wore was still bitter and cold as he approached. 

When he came within five feet, Mallory instinctively back up and aimed her gun at the man, though he just chuckled at the sight of a gun aimed between his eyes. 

"How different you are now...I suppose it doesn't matter, does it?" With a long and deep sigh, the man turned to the painting and gazed with a wonder and love that only his eyes shown at the woman in the painting. "She was just like the soulmate mark on her wrist...a star. Beautiful to look at, but unattainable to the human touch," With the same look of fondness in his eyes, but still not in the rest of his face, the man touched the back of his fingers gently to the woman in the painting's face, gently stroking the canvas. 

Mallory shivered, swearing she could feel icy cold fingers against her cheek. "What's happening to me?" The whisper was more of a question for herself than anyone else, but the man turned his attention away from the painting to focus once again on her. 

"I promised that day that I would show you and everyone my redemption...at last, that day has come," With a grand sweep, the man knelt before her, his warm and loving golden irises in the cold face gazing at Mallory. She tried to shake the foggy feeling out of her mind, but she couldn't, couldn't fight the odd sense of longing in her stomach and the race of her heartbeat. She knew logically that none of this made sense, that she didn't know this man, but she still found herself crouching down beside him. She still felt her heart flutter like crazy when he grazed the back of his cold fingers along her cheek. 

"Aryelle," he whispered, inching closer and closer with each word he spoke. "My soul...my half...my star...my life..." 

He was so close that she could smell a bitter stench of cologne, could feel the hot stinking breath on her face, but she couldn't force herself to stand up. Couldn't force herself to think as he slowly closed his eyes as a single phrase chanted in her head. This is wrong. This is wrong. This is wrong. This is wrong. This is wrong. This is wrong. 

But she still felt her eyes closing, but was somehow able to fight the draw to close her eyes when a brilliant blue object appeared just over the man's shoulder. 

A blue feather? 

A biting cold and snowy wind almost knocked Mallory off her feet and onto her bottom, but she steadied herself with the palms of her hands as she stayed crouched. The man and the peaceful corridor was gone, but it was replaced by the whiteness of a snow storm, the cold biting into her skin and if she wasn't questioning her sanity, Mallory would have been relieved that she was wearing her winter coat. 

"What's happening to me?!?!" Mallory didn't even hear her own scream over the wind of the storm, but she was too frozen and panicked to care at this point. 

Because the image of Ari, alone in a cold and sunless world with no one to protect her, flooded Mallory's mind. The image of Ari panicking as daemon's surrounded her wouldn't leave Mallory and she screamed with no one but the wind to hear. Her sister, unable to function, now alone in this world, unable to defend herself...

Because of Mallory-her lack of sanity. While she always knew that her missions were dangerous, she always had the confidence to come back home to her sister. She figured if she did die, it would be because of a shot to the head. 

Not because she had lost her mind. 

Through the white blanket of snow and sleet, a sudden image appeared. The image waved and moved, almost like a window curtain flapping in the wind, but Mallory could clearly see snippets of something happening in the image. Almost like watching a TV, Mallory watched the red headed man make grand flourishes to King Regis, making promises of peace and tranquility, but going back to the Empire to signal the attack on Insomnia. Mallory cringed as the man bent down by the oracle with a cold and cynical look, sinking a dagger into her stomach as Lady Lunafreya's eyes went wide in pain and fear. Mallory wanted to claw her own ears out at hearing Ignis Scientia's screams of pain at being blinded by the man, his cold and smug look never once going away as he smiled like he enjoyed bringing so much pain to someone. She wanted to cry as she watched the man taunt and mock a young blonde boy as he sat on the ground and practically sobbed, though she didn't know over what. 

All that pain and misery...brought on by this man. 

A hand grabbed onto her left wrist, squeezing so tightly that the bones might snap underneath as the snow storm melted away and somehow, Mallory knew she was back in reality. The man was back, only he now appeared angry as he tightened the hold on Mallory's wrist. A blue, ethereal glow made his eyes look almost black as he tried to yank Mallory beside her, despite her resistance as she placed her palm on the cold, metal grating of the floor below her. 

"Aryelle," The man hissed, his voice dripping with the venom of a snake as a dark, oozing blackness started to appear from him. "Come to me," 

It was at that moment that Mallory realized that this man, the person from her visions, was a person of pure and horrific evil. She didn't know what he wanted with her and she didn't care, she only knew she had to escape. With quick reflexes she had learned over years of dangerous missions, she grabbed the switchblade out of her back pocket, flipped it up and sank the knife into the man's leg, right beneath his knee cap. A simple twist and pull popped the knee cap out of place, though the man didn't roar like others she had performed the trick on had. But he did flinch and hiss through his teeth, clearly in pain as Mallory left the blade forgotten in his knee and stood up to run away. 

"Mallory!" Gladiolus, Ignis and a young blonde boy, the one from the snow storm vision, appeared behind her, all of them out of breath as they looked at the man pulling the knife out of his knee. "Where's Noct?" Gladiolus asked her. 

Mallory shook her head, sure confusion was as clear on her face as it felt. "I thought he was with you guys," 

"We sent him on torwards the crystal," Ignis explained with his eyes cast ahead, not really focusing on anything due to his blindness. "We were surrounded-has he absorbed the power from the crystal yet?" 

"He's gone," 

The four turned their attention to the man as he straightened up, looking almost un-bothered now despite his knee being severely damaged. He turned and focused his smug gaze at the group, but he focused on Mallory, his body framed by the blue glow from the crystal behind him. "I'm afraid you won't be seeing your friend again for quite sometime," 

"What?" Confusion and whiplash from being jerked around from so many places in the span of what felt like less than ten minutes clouded Mallory's mind, but she didn't have time to react as Gladiolus summoned his broadsword and swung it at the man with a roar and the blonde boy shot him twice in the back, the man falling with his hat rolling casually away. 

"Die, motherfucker," The blonde boy whispered, his voice choked with tears. 

"He's not dead," the words left Mallory's mouth before she really understood them, not sure how she knew he wasn't dead. And sure enough, he wasn't, as he stood up with his fedora and placed it casually on his head before turning and looking at Mallory and she almost wanted to scream at what she saw. 

The man was almost daemon like now, the whites in his eyes now inky black and oozing, making the bright golden irises stand out in contrast. His face and skin was now pale and cracked in several places, like a broken china doll and he now looked as evil as he was. 

"You will know my redemption, Aryelle," The words were fueled with anger and bitterness, but he didn't stay to explain what it meant as he simply strolled to the elevator, leaving the four alone in one of the capitals of magitek industries. 

It felt like the air returned to the room the minute the doors to the elevator closed and Mallory gasped and began to pant, not realizing before she had been holding her breath. As she collected herself, she realized she felt something wet and thick on her hand. 

Mallory prided herself on being calm and collected even in the grimmest of situations, but when she saw the man's daemon like black and oozy blood covering her hand from where she stabbed him, the scream she let loose practically echoed throughout all of Gralea.