#cough people hate amber more the moment shes a black woman too huh what a coincidence cough

[aaronymous999]

Even if I don’t personally like her? I will defend her with my life. She did nothing wrong. Stop beefing with her for being beautiful and mildly flawed.

free my girl she did the same things as the celebrated male protagonists but the fandom has labeled her irredeemable

[lonelypond]

Moonlight Becomes You: Apocalypse Midnight Dance Party, Ch. 5

Love Live, Love Live Sunshine, NicoMaki, 3K, 5/?

Touched By The Divine

Yoshiko was on the roof, leaning against the chimney, flicking her fingers to spark. The wind was picking up and teasing the feathers of her wings. Goosebumps on her bare arms, Yoshiko stepped forward, sweeping her arms out in a T, wings unfurled and unhidden, angelic sight seeing multiple futures in the clouds that were piling up, drawn to this moment, gray covering white, wisps of almost black like a fist closing around a treasure. Almost her dream, but aeromancy was never an exact science for Yoshiko. She could gather mood and threat and promise from the weather, but only the most background tones. Dreams and other tools would fill in too few blanks on days like today, days when the wind shrieked omens in a language Yoshiko could not heed…

“Yohane is a mere vessel, humble before the majesty of the heavens and her fate, open to the trumpets of Fate, to summon the wisdom of her prophet.” Yoshiko knelt, head bowed in a suppliant posture, then she pulled out an embroidered black silk bag, opening and tilting it, scattering dice sized from 4 sides to 100, orange fires flickering deep in the blood red resin, and Yoshiko’s eyes closed as if they had slammed into her gut.

“No, not now, there’s too many signs, but Yohane can see it, there, a future disappearing unless…” Yoshiko grabbed a random dice, throwing it, ears pricked for the sound as it rolled across the roof, the skips were the message, not the number, as her eyes followed a blue gray twist of storm threatening as thunder began to cry. Yoshiko opened herself up to the wind, to the darks, to the rising air, to the gravity that pulled her downward from her ancient home, and her mouth wide, the words screamed out, punching through time and space, ruffling angel feathers, bloodying demon horns...Yoshiko was no more, Yohane screamed and swooped, her ears melted back into her skull as protection against the voice of the divine that chose this moment to speak through her, to scar eternity with a warning, to wake the future in the hope of avoiding the woe now shadowing all the souls of Yohane’s earthly domain.

“Mothers Love, and the same…” Yoshiko muttered, and then with another cry rose higher, “Lili, it makes no sense...but you know her, there...and she’s her mother…” Yoshiko’s wings drove her higher, her screams raw and frustrated, “LILI!”

MEANWHILE, IN THE FUTURE THE LIBERALS WANT

It was happening again. The voice, the swoop of wings, the screamed “Lili” shoving through her brain like a flood through a flimsy, windblown leaf dam. Sakurauchi Riko pushed back from the piano she was composing at, on her feet, hands gripping the body of the piano as if she could pick it up and toss it through the window of her Los Angeles studio. Right hand gripping to funnel the pain of the explosion in her head into the wood, her left grabbed a pencil and scribbling quickly the first words and notes that came into her head across the sheet of music paper. She’d learned it was the only way to clear this mood, to let herself see “Yohane” flying up toward Heaven, huge dark wings beating madly, mouth open wide, frenzied, frantic, ears bloody, then watch the angel fall down from the heights, again, crying out words only the sky and Riko could hear…

Riko had no idea how she’d found that bookstore, but she’d been in search of a rare doujinshi and it had suddenly popped up in her search result. The owner, Hanamaru, sounded confused, but shy and sweet, and while the demand that Riko appear at the shop at an incredibly specific time was unusual, Riko had decided to assume whimsy and shown up. And then SHE had swept through, while Hanamaru was serving Riko tea, shadows of magnificent wings hovering behind her, purple eyes weeping spectral fire, muttering, seemingly unaware that anyone might be caught in her wake. And then Hanamaru had spilled some tea on Riko’s hand, coughed, “Guest” and when Riko glanced up, a tall woman with jet black hair in a side bun and guilty, unshining purple eyes, hands shoved in the pocket of her biker jacket, jeans torn, tank top paint spattered was staring at her.

“I didn’t see you.” It was a bleat of confusion, not an apology.

Hanamaru was chiding, “I left you a note. Ms. Sakurauchi is here about that rare manga. She is also a Tokyo native transplanted here to Los Angeles.”

“Well not so much transported as occasionally travelling here for business. I’m a producer. For music.” Riko was as nervous as a first date, except first dates had never involved wanting to scratch off your ears because they were burning. Riko found herself rubbing them with her knuckles. Both Hanamaru and the biker looked concerned. The biker had reached into her pocket for a crystal, which she held out to Riko.

“Have you seen this?” The question was gentle and Riko shook her head, drawn to the color, almost amethyst, that seemed to be sparking with an internal luminescence. It was restful, like watching fireflies at dusk in a hidden field.

When Riko looked up, Hanamaru was alone and the crystal was on the table.

“Do you have lucid dreams?” Hanamaru asked suddenly, her voice sharper.

Was this bookstore a front for something? Riko hadn’t smoked anything since college, but…

“I’m not interested in…I’ll have a beer sometimes but.. .”

Hanamaru was suddenly flustered, “No no no. That’s not what I meant...at all…” Hanamaru poured herself some more tea with shaky hands, Riko suspected it was merely a delaying tactic while the bookstore owner figured out what to say, “Yoshiko…” Hanamaru pointed to a space near Riko, as if the other woman were still standing there, “just thinks you might be sensitive to…” Hanamaru sighed, her voice picking up a rustic accent, “I grew up in a temple, zura, my grandparents were very pious, and I learned, sometimes, there are people who are…” Hanamaru’s amber eyes were innocent and kind, Riko felt an instinctive trust, “open to the divine.”

Riko smiled, relaxing. “I think I know what you mean. When I was a child, we visited the Ōura Church in Nagasaki, and I wouldn’t leave. I told my mother there were angels flying around and I was going to stay until one of them landed and talked to me.”

“You can leave now.” Hanamaru muttered, closing her eyes.

“Huh?” Riko had been about to reach for her tea cup.

Hanamaru shivered, “The gods have strange plans for all of us, zura.” Hanamaru pushed the crystal at Riko. “If you ever...hear or see...things you don’t understand, hold this in your hand, over your heart and wait.”

“What do you mean?” Riko could feel her ease turn into suspicion.

Hanamaru stood, bowing politely, “I have another appointment; I’ll have to ask you to leave. Let me wrap the manga for you.”

Riko stumbled as she rose, trying to follow the store owner, “But we haven’t discussed payment. I’m waiting for a royalty check right now but I can…”

Hanamaru gestured, waving a hand dismissively, “Consider it small compensation for the inconvenience we have caused.”

We? This afternoon was getting crazier and crazier, Riko starting to wonder if there weren’t some kind of questionable incense at work in the air and she’d wake up at home with a bad headache and all of her bank accounts hacked.

The wrapped book was in her hand, Hanamaru had maneuvered her through the door, and the last things Riko heard before the door shut solidly behind her, “Hand over your heart.”

In the five years since, many odd things had happened to Riko, but slowly unravelling the stories of Yoshiko and Hanamaru had been the spine running through them all. Humming the tune that was weaving together all the chords and sharps from her latest vision, Riko reached into her bag for the crystal. She had decided, 5 years ago, that being flicked with the divine, scarred by a burning brush with the celestial aura that still clung to Yohane, had been MEANT. To have seen one of the angels she’d spent her childhood dreaming about, to have literally been brushed by a spark of divine fire...surely that had been fated. She could do without the headaches though and being haunted by visions of Yohane’s ageless eyes swooping nearer, but those visions had lessened when Riko started staring regularly into a different pair of purple eyes, those of her writing partner and lover, Kazuno Sarah. That was a purely mortal thrill, one Riko could melt into in a very delicious, very very of this plane experience that she preferred to repeat as often as possible. Which meant, right now, getting Yohane’s latest prophecy out where Hanamaru could deal with it.

She glanced down at the paper...daughter of the Princess and the Star, someone she knew? Grabbing her bag, she reached for the crystal, focusing on the song that was creating itself in her head. And then suddenly, Yohane’s deepest tones reverberated everywhere, “NOW.”

###

Kurasawa Dia hated flying. It wasn’t so bad when Ruby and Leah were with her, or her mothers, they always needed Dia to help them organize something. How they had ever managed before Dia was old enough to take care of everything they missed, Dia could not figure out. And she’d tried. What were they like before Dia? Had Mama always been so prone to shrug off schedules and conflicts and glare at everyone who wanted NicoTime™️ when they were in Los Angeles. Had her momma always been so prone to pile on 5000 things to do before Dia and Ruby were born? Dia had become firmly convinced at the age of 5 that Ruby would be lost with the luggage on the way to one of Nico’s movie sets if it weren’t for her. So she’d grown up raising Ruby, teaching her, keeping her safe while their parents attracted crowds and coverage EVERY time they spent time in LA. Finally, when Ruby reached school age and was getting more anxious every year, her mothers had decided to move their family to a small, seaside town in Japan, changing their name, and disappearing from public view as much as possible with Nico still shooting films. Dia had approved. Ruby thrived in Numazu.

Ruby had grown up nicely, thanks mostly to Dia’s influence, and surprising everyone, fallen in love with a fellow school Idol and decided to go pro as a singer after high school. She and Kazuno Leah were adorable together, on stage and off, Saint Smile topping the charts a couple of times a year. LA was a second home for them and their songwriting team, Leah’s sister Sarah and her girlfriend, Sakurauchi Riko. Dia was industriously working on her medical degree in Japan, aiming to take over the Nishikino family business from her grandparents. But right now, she was on a vacation to see Ruby and Leah’s new tour kick off in LA. And Ruby was meeting her at the airport.

Out of customs, a tall, dark haired woman caught her eye. A chauffeur’s cap was tilted at a rakish angle over worried, amethyst eyes, and as tall as the woman was, she seemed to curl and uncurl in a series of nervous fidgets that couldn’t help drawing Dia’s attention. The driver was holding a sign with ‘Kurosawa Dia’ scrawled on it. Dia reached into her pocket to check her phone. No message from Ruby...had something happened?

Dia stood as tall as she could after the cramping of a flight from Tokyo and hurried to confront the woman, “Can I help you?”

“Kurosawa Dia, daughter of Nishikino Maki and Yazawa Nico?” A close examination, too close, Dia could have bitten off the tip of the woman’s nose.

Dia started to panic. Had something happened to her mothers? Was that what the growing unease in her stomach, the queasiness was some kind of weird reaction to? Had she flown through a quiet night into a day with dire news. Her voice quivered as she snapped out questions, “I left them in Japan? Did something happen? Are they all right? Is there a tsunami?”

“Oh good, I was worried I wouldn’t be able to find you.” A clawing hand gripped Dia’s arm with a bruising strength and started to drag her away from the crowds.

“Hey, let me go! BZZZT” Dia barked.

Her kidnapper stopped, whirled, not letting go of Dia’s arm, and eyes that Dia would swear had the sudden glint of golden flames captured her complete attention, “Come with me if you want to love.”

Dia dug in her heels, “What the hell?”

The kidnapper started to stutter, as she curled into the tightest ball a person could and still be standing, “I mean...welllll...there’s a chance that…” then, drawing in a huge breath, she uncurled, taller than Dia, strange shadows above her shoulders, eyes aflame, “Yohane commands you to FOLLOW.”

And Dia only heard the echo of “FOLLOW” and the airport rushed by, people falling away and sounding like the Chipmunks arguing over Christmas presents, and dark and fog was falling as the earth rose up with a crack and then everything dropped away and Dia had no mass, as if a feather had touched her and infected her with its airiness, and the queasy feeling in her stomach was worse, nearly bringing up a lunch from two days ago, the disorientation as bad as it had been the time she’d snuck onto a roller coaster she was too small for and once again there was nothing underneath her feet and she was yelling for her mothers and racing upwards….

Heavy, Dia felt heavy again, and aware, she looked up to see a dark silhouette, winged against the sun, blinding her, searing her retinas, and she hadn’t known she was on fire, but now the air was cool and she was still screaming and pain smacked into her back as water opened to claim her. She thrust her arms out, swallowing too much before she could end the scream and now it was a struggle to climb free of so much cold, wet weight pressing in on her and breathe.

THE NOW

Nico rolled to the right and Maki tore through the fabric of the cabana. Someone had fallen in the pool, screaming until the water choked them off, arms thrown out, grasping. Maki hit the water at the same time as Nico, both swimming to the distressed...woman. Not dressed for swimming. Maki tried to pull the woman toward her, Nico was fighting to get an arm around the stranger’s chest, fingers scraping her cheek as the woman struggled, now gasping for breath. A third person entered the pool, with a sharp command, “Keep her head above water. Get her to the side of the pool. She’ll grab onto anything. Watch out.”

“Yeah…” Nico muttered, now backstroking her way to the side of the pool, the woman slipping out of her grasp, Maki trying to hold the struggling swimmer afloat but having to fall back when a kick nearly connected with her eye. You swooped in, her arm overlapping Nico’s, her other hand bracing the torso, and two powerful kicks bringing them all to the side of the pool, while Maki pulled herself out to help the woman, who was shaking her head and coughing, still struggling to clear out water.

“You’re all right, just hang on.” You’s voice was crisp, “We can work our way over to the ladder.”

Maki, kneeling by the side of the pool, reached both arms down, “I can pull her up, if you help support her weight.”

Another coughing fit, and then “Ma..Ma...?” and more coughing as Maki looked increasingly confused.

Nico froze, her hand white where it gripped the pool edge.“You know Maki? Who are you?”

The woman, green eyes wide, turned her head to stare.

“Nico asked you a question. Who are you?” Nico’s voice got shrill, adrenaline and annoyance adding a tremble.

You was unprepared for the taller woman to suddenly become a dead weight, fainting and sliding back into the water, her wet hair clinging to You’s neck. For once, You couldn't manage calm as she readjusted her grip, Nico ducking under to help maneuver their rescue into a manageable position, “What the heck…Kanan, call 911 or something.”

But Kanan was in the water too. Counting the heads in front of her, Maki made a quick decision and ran back to the cabana, where she'd left her phone, "Get her out. I'll call."

Another cough, and the green eyes fluttered opened briefly, the voice wavery and uncertain, "Momma? I'm sorry."

"Did she hit her head?" Nico asked.

"Ambulance is on the way." Maki was back at poolside as You and Kanan hefted the unconscious woman out of the pool.

"Get a blanket or towel or something." Nico ordered, pulling herself up, shivering. "She'll be in shock."

You nodded, impressed at the return of Nico's calm. "Yes. Kanan, can you help?"

Kanan had her phone to her cheek, "Mari's on it."

"Good."

You let Kanan and the others deal with the rescued woman and paced a little to the side, searching the skies. She'd felt Yoshiko's presence, the tingle in the air, the darkening of the sun. What was the connection?

A/N: I gotta be me. Seems to be cliffhanger season. Hang in there...

[keikaku-sama]

Book of the Atlantic: Chapter 1

Rating: Early chapters are rated T. Later chapters are rated M.

“Ye did a good job today, Snake!”  

Joker patted the white haired man on the shoulder, commending him for a job well done during the show that had just ended.  

When he got no response, he looked at Snake. He was staring at a black haired girl who was standing off to the side, texting someone on her phone. The man also had a blush on his face, with his cowlick trembling in nervousness.  

“Snake!”  

The man jumped, startled at the sound of Joker’s voice. “Yes? What is it? -Asks Emily.”  

The ginger frowned at his friend. “I called yer name ten times!”  

“Apologies, Joker. I was preoccupied with my thoughts. -Says Emily.”  

The taller male raised an eyebrow, not believing that one bit. “Preoccupied with yer thoughts, ye say? Then why did it look more like ye were starin’ at that girl?”  

Snake blushed, his eyes widening. “……S-Sorry….it’s just that….I think I met that girl a long time ago…when I was a child…”  

Joker’s eyes widened in surprise.

“A childhood friend then, eh?”  

“Y-You could say that….”  

“Then why don’t ye go over there an’ talk to ‘er?”  

The white haired man’s whole face flushed at that. “Wh-What?! N-No way! I’m not even sure if it’s her!”  

“Well, there’s only one way to find out, ain’t there?”  

“Wha-“ The golden eyed man was cut off when the ginger pulled him towards the girl with a mischievous smile on his face.  

Joker pushed Snake forward, then tapped the girl on the shoulder, before quickly leaving, as the girl looked up at Snake.

He gaped at bit at how beautiful the girl was. She had a small bit of baby fat on her cheeks, her lips lightly glossed pink, while her hair was black and went to her mid thigh. She had a cute pout on her face, and her eyes…they were heterochromatic…a beautiful cobalt blue with speckles of amber scattered throughout the iris.  

It is her.  

“Yuki…”  

The girl blinked, before her pout turned into a smile as she realized who he was. “Egin!”  

Yuki hugged him tightly, nearly crushing him.  “C-Can’t…….breathe…”  

At that, she quickly let go of him. “Sorry! I’m just so happy to see you!” Egin gently patted her head. “You’re fine….You dyed your hair.”  

“I wanted to try something different.”  

The snake man curled a few locks of her hair around his finger. “Do you like it?”  

“No, but it’ll be a few weeks until I can get it out.” Her eyes then sparkled in awe, as she noticed the snakes around Egin’s shoulder, neck, and arm. “Wow~ Your snakes are really pretty~!”  

The boa resting on the man’s shoulder hissed in annoyance. “’Men aren’t supposed to be pretty, woman!’ Yes, I wholly agree, Wordsworth.”  

Yuki smiled, and tried not to chuckle at the voice her friend gave his snake-Wordsworth. “Oh~ Well then, let me rephrase that~”  

Egin raised an eyebrow, as Wordsworth seemed to glare at her, when she coughed, getting herself to stop laughing. “Your snakes are beautiful, Egin~”  

The white haired man blushed, as the ghoul smiled radiantly. “Thank you. -Say Emily, Wordsworth, and Wilde.”  

The girl then spoke a language he had never heard anyone else speak before. “You speak Parseltongue?”  

“Yeah. Alu taught me.”  

The snake man hummed at that. “That’s cool…Um…Could I talk to you?”  

“Aren’t we already talking?” Egin’s eye twitched in annoyance. “I meant in private.”  

“Why didn’t you say so then~?” The snake man groaned, then gently grabbed Yuki’s hand, and lead her toward his tent.  

Before they were stopped by a freckle faced, ginger haired female. “Hi Snake! Oh, who’s this? A new recruit?”  

“Hello, freckles. This is Yuki. She’s a good friend of mine. And no, she will not be joining the circus. We’re just taking her to our tent so we may catch up, as we haven’t seen each other in while. -Says Emily.”  

The ginger’s visible eye widened, before she nodded in understanding. “Oh, I see! Well, it was nice meetin’ ya, Yuki! I gotta go now! Bye bye!”  

The ghoul smiled, and waved goodbye at the girl who was about the same age as her. “She was nice…and cute too~” Egin raised an eyebrow at his friend. “Could you not?”  

“Not what?”  

“Do that.”  

“Do what?”  

“Flirt with every girl you see!”  

“I’m not flirting with every girl I see. I just like to brighten up girls days with a nice compliment if we’re talking.” The snake man’s eyebrow twitched at her, before he dragged her to his tent.  

Yuki’s eyes sparkled, as she saw a pitch black King Cobra with red eyes as they walked into the white haired man’s tent. She walked over to the cobra, and fawned over it.  

“His name is Bram.”  

“Like Bram Stoker?!”  

“Yes.”  

“Awesome~!” Egin chuckled at his friend, who’s arm and shoulder were now resting places for the cobra. The white haired man went to sit on the ground a few feet away from the girl, before he spoke. “Yuki?”  

“Hm?”  

“…..I’m a half demon.”  

The ghoul turned away from the snakes in front of her to look at the snake man. “Cool.” The snake man blinked at her. “Cool?”  

“Yup.”  

“But….”  

“Nothing’s going to change just because you’re half demon.”  

“Huh?”  

“My dad used to be in an organization that was created by the Vatican, called the Knights of the True Cross. There are plenty of people in the Knights of the True Cross currently, who have demon blood in them, and are exorcists. Being half demon just makes you more powerful. It won’t create problems with your friends…as long as you’re not literally the Spawn of Satan, anyways….”  

Egin tilted his head in confusion. “Why would being the Spawn of Satan cause problems?”  

“Because, Satan is the God of Gehenna, and, the God of demons. If someone was the Spawn of Satan, it would be a bit of a problem for the Knights, as the Satan Spawn would be unpredictable for them. They wouldn’t know how to handle them.”  

“I see.”  

Yuki raised an eyebrow at him. “How’d you find out?”  

The snake man looked down at that. “I….I’ve known for a while…..over a century, actually…..Mother told me…..the day before she was killed…after she bought me a necklace with the money she made at work the night before….I just….didn’t know how to tell you when we first met….

“I was afraid that you’d be scared….Hell, I was scared. I didn’t know exactly what the hell I was. All I knew was that I was half demon. And back then, anything even relating to the devil was to be immediately shunned, or killed…I hated myself…

”…I believed that I was the cause of Mother’s death, that the killer had found out that she had had intercourse with a demon, and conceived a half demon child. But then….you came along…..and showed me how to love myself….I’m grateful for that, Yuki. Thank you.”

The white haired man smiled radiantly at her, making her blush, as she had never seen him smile like that before. “Y-You don’t need to thank me….All I did was become your friend…"  

“And by becoming my friend, you showed me that someone could love me. And that helped me learn to love myself.”  

At that, the ghoul hid her flushed face behind Bram’s scaly body, as the cobra had wrapped himself around her neck loosely. “….N-No problem….I guess…..”  

The half demon chuckled at her. “M-May I ask….what kind of half demon you are? I mean, I have an idea, but I’m not completely sure.”  

“Naga.”  

“Knew it~!” The blue eyed girl shouted this in a sing song voice, making Egin laugh. Yuki then tilted her head questioningly. “You know who your father is?”  

“I do. The demon king of earth, Amaimon visited me a few years back, and told me that my father is his most trusted and most powerful servant.”  

“Did Mai give you a name?”  

The half Naga raised an eyebrow at her. “Mai?”

“My nickname for him. He’s a good friend of mine.”

“Ah. I see….Yes. he did give me a name.”  

“And….”

“Yuri Dreyar.“

The ghoul stared blankly at him. “Tell me you’re joking. Please, tell me you’re joking.”

“No. Amaimon was quite serious when he told me.”

The girl was silent for a few moments, staring blankly at him, before she spoke. “But Yuri Dreyar’s dead. He passed away ninety years ago, in Earthland.”

“Amaimon did say that father went to a world with that name, and stayed there for forty six years after I was born.”

Yuki went silent again. “…..But…..he’s……dead…”

“No, Amaimon said that he is very much alive.”

“But…..how….HOW THE HELL AM I GONNA TELL THEM THAT HE’S ALIVE AND KICKING, AND AS A POWERFUL DEMON SERVANT IN GEHENNA?!”

“It would be best if you didn’t tell them, whoever they may be.”

“But- Fairy Tail wizards are supposed to be honest with each other!”

“I’m sorry, but Amaimon said not to tell anyone that he might’ve known while he was in Earthland that he was alive.”

“But-But-But-“ The ghoul cut herself off by growling loudly in frustration.

“Everythin’ alright in there? Ye aren’t ‘avin’ too much fun, are ye, Snake?” Egin jumped at the sound of Joker’s voice outside the tent, then blushed at what he was implying. “Everything is fine, Joker. Yuki is just very frustrated at the moment. And we aren’t ‘having fun’ as you put it!”

They heard a melodic laugh outside. “That’s good!….But we wouldn’t mind at all if ye made love to ‘er!”

“Joker!”

“Sorry, sorry. Anyway, I’m goin’ out to get dinner. Ye want anythin’?”

“Wimpy’s, please.”

"Got it! Oh, and before I forget….” The flap suddenly opened to reveal the ginger, who then walked to stand in front of Yuki, and gave her something. “’Ere. Some souvenirs. Ye looked like ye needed a pick me up earlier.”

The ghoul raised an eyebrow, but took  the bags that she was handed. “Huh? Oh, uh…thanks.”

Joker smiled slightly at her. “‘Tis no problem. Oh, and there’s no need to pay me back for it, or anythin’. All I ask in return is that ye take good care of Snake for us.”

The ghoul stared at him, before smiling sadly. “Of course. You have my word that I will do my best.”  

The purple eyed male sighed through his nose, before gently ruffling her hair. “Thank ye. ‘E deserves the best….I’ve got to get goin’ now. Wimpy's ain’t open for much longer, and I’ve got to order a lot. It was nice meetin’ ye, Yuki. See ye later, Snake.”

Before leaving the tent, Joker crouched down in front of the snake man, and kissed his forehead, making the half demon blush, and stare at him confusedly, as he walked out.  

“What was that about? He was acting like he was going to die soon…”

“I’m sure it was nothing. Anyways….can I really not tell them, Egin?”

The golden eyed half demon blinked at her, as she quickly changed the topic. “No. I’m sorry, Yuki.”

The girl deflated at that, before putting the souvenirs Joker gave her in her requip space. “Egin, can I ask you something?”

“I believe you just did.”

Yuki glared at him, with her eyebrow twitching. “Egin…”

“Sorry, sorry. Go ahead.”

"Um….You still have that necklace your mother got for you?”

“Yes. It’s…..not what it used to be, as it has been one hundred twenty six years, but it’s still got some charm to it…I always keep it on me. Why?”

“I could fix it.”

“Huh?” Egin stared at her with an eyebrow raised in confusion, as the girl gave him a cute smile. “I know a spell that uses runes, that makes broken and antique stuff like new.”  

“Have you tried it before?”

“I have. It works.”  

The half demon stared at her, silently, before pulling out a very old, worn, necklace with a dragon shaped charm, that protected a teardrop shaped locket that might have held a small portrait inside. “How do you go about this?”  

“I just need to use my runic pen to write a few runes onto the necklace. So, I need you to lie it down on a flat surface, and I need a good light.”

The snake man nodded, before doing as told. He gingerly lied the necklace down on a table at the back of the tent, before he turned on a few battery powered lanterns that sat on the table.

The ghoul soon got to work, focusing intently on the necklace and runes. ■————————————————————————————■ “Egin.”

“Yes?”

“One more rune and I’m done. Get your ass over here and watch.”

The snake man nodded, and did as told. He stood behind Yuki, watching over her shoulder as she wrote the last rune…..over the necklace’s chain.

The half demon’s eyes widened, when the runes Yuki had written began to glow, before the necklace burst into runes, the strange magical written language soon disappearing, revealing a silver chain, holding a dark sapphire dragon charm, that protected a teardrop shaped locket which glowed blue with magic.

Egin stared at it, and said nothing.

“Egin?”

“Y-Yu…ki….” The white haired man sobbed, as tears of joy ran down his scaled cheeks. “Th-Thank you…..s-so much….”

The ghoul smiled softly at him. “It’s no problem.”  

The half Naga hugged his friend, and sobbed into her chest, as Bram was still around her neck.  

The girl sighed at him, before running her hand through his hair soothingly. ▪————————————–▪ A half hour later, the man had stopped crying, now only sniffling, and resting his head on his friend’s shoulder, as Bram the king cobra had slithered off of the girl soon after the man started crying. “Egin? You okay now?”

Yuki got a nod in response. Egin then stood up, before using his sleeve to wipe his eyes.  

The half demon looked at the ghoul with a smile. “Thank you, so very much, Yuki. It means a lot to me.”

The blue eye girl smirked at him. “As I told you before, it’s no problem. I just like making people happy.”

“Well, you’ve made me very happy.”

“Awesome. Oh, and Egin.”

“Yes?”

“You have a phone?”

The snake man raised an eyebrow. “Yes, I do. Why?”

"Give it to me.”

The golden eyed male was confused, but obliged, and pulled out a black, Samsung Galaxy S3, before giving it to her. He got it back a few seconds later.

“There. Now you can call me, or text me, whenever you like, or whenever you need to. I’ve gotta go now. Sorry.”

Egin frowned sadly at her. “Can’t you stay a bit longer?”

“No, I can’t. Adrian told me to be back by eleven, and it’s eleven ten now. Sorry.”

The half demon stared at her, before smiling. “Alright. Could I visit sometime?”

"You don’t need to ask, you know. It’s your home, not mine.”

The smile on his face grew into a grin, before he hugged her. “Alright. See you later then.”

The girl patted his head, and said goodbye to the snakes, before snapping her fingers, summoning a Garguanta, before disappearing into it.