#feels weird to call mine flashy……but it’s not technically wrong

[designernishiki]

I just remembered that mine drives a fucking sports car. of course he fucking does. venture capitalist lookin ass

[holeinotomemind]

Shaw: I Do?

WARNING: Marriage :P

Also posted on AO3 [here]

Summary: The filming in Las Vegas about weird weddings wrapped up successfully with Shaw's help, subbing in for our sound engineer who had a family emergency. As it happened to be his birthday today, I figured we can go out and celebrate, but It seemed he had something else on his mind.

Words: 2,656

Notes: Special thank you to yunyu and WonderfulShining for the inspiration.I was a bit sad, although it was expected, that Shaw didn't get his own wedding karma. And after discussion on the discord channel and reading WonderfulShining's fic A Jolt to the Heart (also on AO3), I was inspired to write my own.I know some things don't technically make sense in this fic, but just go with it ok? XD And sorry in advance for any errors and grammar and stuff... this wasn't beta-ed. T_T

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The new series on interesting weddings around the world was wrapping up quickly after the last several weeks of filming. We finally landed a few days ago at our last stop in Las Vegas, where the weirdest and wackiest weddings took place.

Today was the last day of our shoot and I couldn’t help be feel a little sad about it. But I was also glad to be heading back home soon, especially after the several hiccups we encountered during the last week. I’m more than ready to spend a couple of days just relaxing at home back in Loveland City.

“Boss,” Kiki squealed. “That dress is cute!”

“Thanks!” I blushed a little as I tucked a stray strand of hair behind my ear.

The off-shoulder lilac dress I was wearing was bought last-minute yesterday in an outlet mall when I was suddenly told that today’s bride had a fallout with her bridesmaid and needed someone to stand-in for her last minute.

The A-line dress was beautiful with just enough beaded flower patterns above the waist that twinkled under the light without being too flashy and the dress covered just above the knees accentuated my legs while still remaining modest.

Initially, I was a bit concerned that the bride may want me to wear a plainer dress, after all, I was only a stand-in bridesmaid, but considering how extravagant the original bridesmaid’s dress was, I felt confident that she wouldn’t be upset about this. Plus, Shaw said since I was paying for it out-of-pocket, I might as well buy something I like. And I sure did fell in love with this dress as soon as he pulled it out of the rack.

I checked with the film crew to make sure everything was ready before heading over to Shaw , who was acting as our sound guy today. When Herts had to drop everything to fly back home due to a family emergency last week, I was forced to ask Shaw to help us out.

He agreed, on the condition that he got to spend a few extra days here after the filming at the expense of the company. He mentioned something about a band headlining in one of the hotels here, but I couldn’t remember which one. At the time, I was so glad that he agreed to help that I didn’t listen to the exact details, but now that I thought about it, we might be expecting a big bill from him after all this.

“Hey, how’s everything going?” I asked him.

“Everything looks fine,” he answered before looking my up and down with his arms folded. “Not bad.”

“Kiki said it was pretty,” I told him, trying to give him a hint.

“Of course,” he smiled lopsidedly. “I picked out the dress.”

Not getting the desired answer, I pouted. As I turned around to find the bride, I heard Shaw chuckled behind me and I knew he did it on purpose. The little brat knew I was fishing for his compliment, but he just refused to give it to me.

Acting like a child myself, I half stomped my way over to the bride’s room.

The bride, in her extravagant red wedding gown and black leather jacket, turned towards me. “Here comes my bridesmaid!”

“Congratulations on your big day!” I hugged her tightly.

She beamed at me with the brightest smile I had seen even though her slightly shaking hands told me she was getting the wedding jitters.

The director came in with Homer, our cameraman, and asked her to talk about her story. After all, this was made in a reality show format, so the audience would like to know how she was feeling.

Sitting on the other side of the room out of shot of the camera, I watched her talk about why they chose to be wedded by a KISS impersonator in Las Vegas and how their family had opposed the idea at first.

It had been extremely interesting listening to every couple’s unique story during the last several weeks of filming, but today, my mind drifted elsewhere.

Today was a special day. True, it was the last day of filming, but it was also Shaw’s birthday. While I was happy that he was here and I could celebrate it with him, I hadn’t had the time to prepare for anything. After all, I didn’t expect to be able to see him until after I returned to Loveland City until a week ago, and I was too busy to plan anything for him this last week.

But most importantly, he was turning twenty-two today, the legal age for marriage back home.*

I shook my head violently, my face beet red at the thought. What was I thinking?

Kiki gave me a strange look when she poked her head in the door as I was smacked myself in the face several times. “Err… Boss, you ok?”

“Yeah… I was just waking myself up,” I gave her a lame excuse.

“Sure,” she wasn’t convinced but didn’t press the issue. “I came to tell you we’re all ready to go.”

With that announcement, the wedding ceremony officially began.

Carrying a small bouquet of red and black roses, I slowly walked down the aisle as loud heavy metal music played in the background. I couldn’t help but smile when I saw the groom, dressed in all black, waiting at the altar, eagerly looking pass me for the bride.

As the KISS impersonator and the bride came into view, the groom let out a quick laugh and all three rose their hand to give a sign of the horn and stuck their tongues out. But that lasted only for a moment before the groom’s gaze was fixed on his bride. His face lit up, grinning ear to ear as she walked down the aisle, the KISS impersonator all but forgotten.

I stole a few quick glances at Shaw, who was carrying around the microphone. Unlike his normal playful expressions, he had a look of serious concentration on his face.

Smiling to myself, I wondered what he would look like on his own wedding day. Would he wear a proper suit? Or would he insist on wearing his leather jacket? Would he look at his bride with the same admiration as the groom did today? Or would he carry a smug look as he often did?

As if hearing my thoughts, Shaw looked over at me and smirked before returning to his work. My face flushed red and lowered my head immediately.

There was no way he could have known I was fantasizing about him being the groom, right?

Mortified at the prospects that he might know what I was thinking, I kept my head down until the crowd started cheering and I realized the groom was now kissing his bride passionately.

I bit my cheek to prevent my brain from wondering about how Shaw would act in this situation and told myself to focus.

The ceremony ended without a hitch with the minister, who was impersonating another KISS member, yelled something and everyone got up from their seat to get ready to take pictures. Several guitars were shoved towards the wedding party and everyone made faces at the photographer’s request.

Homer came over with the director to request for the couple to comment on their experience before everyone was invited to head over to the reception.

Since I was only a stand-in bridesmaid, I didn’t follow them. After congratulating the couple again, I snuck off to check in with the film crew again.

“That’s a wrap, everyone!” The director yelled out after we confirmed we had all the footage we need and everyone cheered.

Kiki hurried towards me with a bounce in her stride. She was visibly excited that the shoot was over. “Got plans tonight, Boss?”

I thought for a moment before looking down at my watch and smiled at the time. It was still early, perhaps I could still get a reservation in a nice restaurant to celebrate Shaw’s birthday tonight.

“Yes, I have plans,” I replied to Kiki’s dismay.

She muttered something before she shrugged and skipped over to Bao Bao.

As I craned my neck to look for the birthday boy, I heard him calling my name. He was standing with someone I don’t recognize.

“Come over for a sec,” Shaw called out to me again.

“Is there something wrong?” I asked as I hurried over, my heels hitting the red carpet thinking that perhaps something went wrong with the sound equipment.

I stopped a few feet from them and looked at him questioningly. Instead of answering, Shaw grabbed my wrist and yanked me towards him.

“Say I do,” he ordered out of the blue.

“What?” I blink in confusion.

“Why do you have so many questions?” He tsked annoyingly. “Just say it!”

���I... do...?” I complied in an extremely unsure tone, still confused as ever.

At my words, he smiled. It was a smile so bright I never saw before, like a ray of sunshine it warmed my heart. Dazzled, I stared at him and almost missed it when he said, “I do, too.”

Before I was able to react, before the man, who I did not recognize, finish saying “you may now kiss the bride”, his lips were already on mine.

Cradling the nape of my neck with his gloved hand, he tilted my head back further to deepen the kiss. His other hand splayed across the small of my back, pressing me close to the warmth of his body and I melted against him. His kiss was like a storm, engulfing me, forcing my senses to focus on nothing but him.

Loud cheers and whistling snapped me back to reality. Pushing away from him, I blushed bright red as I realized my staff had, apparently, been watching us. Some wore expressions of surprise, some had huge smiles, some had tears in their eyes… and then there was Minor, who looked absolutely mortified and was sweating profusely.

“What just happened?” I looked back towards Shaw and demanded. I had an inkling, but it was so farfetched that the possibility of it happening was close to nil.

Again, instead of answering the question, he took my hand and led me toward the back of the altar, where two documents laid side by side on top of a huge amplifier speaker.

Releasing my hand, he bent down to quickly signed his name on both, then shoved the pen towards me.

“Nooooo!” I squealed as I read the title on the documents and threw the pen away as if it was on fire.

“You’re too loud,” he complained, rubbing his ear with his finger. “You’re going to blow my eardrums at this rate.”

“But… but…” I couldn’t find the right words to say, so I frantically waved my arms at the documents that were titled “Marriage Licence” and “Marriage Registration”.

He chuckled at my reaction, no doubt finding it extremely amusing.

“Don’t laugh!” I smacked him on the chest with the bridesmaid bouquet I was somehow still holding on to. “Explain!”

“You,” he pinched my cheek, “are asking too many questions. Just sign the papers!”

“No!” I object again, though this time it sounded more like a whine than anything.

“No?” He raised an eyebrow.

“Of course not! You’re wearing a hoodie and ripped up jeans, and I don’t have a wedding gown.” I gestured between him and myself, saying whatever that came to my mind. “You never proposed and there’s not even a ring!”

He burst out laughing again as I glared at him. “Is that why you’re saying no?”

Reaching towards me, his fingers circled my wrist and gently guided my hand up and that was when a saw it. A small elegant diamond ring and a platinum wedding band sat beautifully on my ring finger, the diamond sparkling under the lights of the wedding hall.

I looked back and forth between him and the rings. They weren’t on my finger before, so he must have snuck them on me when he kissed me a few moments ago. I blushed at the thought that he was able to distract me so much with only a kiss that I didn’t even know he had put the rings on me.

A small smile crept up my face as I stare at the rings on my finger, but I quickly suppressed it.

“You still never proposed,” I muttered with a pout. Why did he just assume I’d go with his spur of the moment wedding plan? “You can’t just assume I’ll agree to this.”

“Fine,” he announced before picking up the documents and holding his hand out to me. “Give me back those rings and I’ll go shred these marriage documents.”

Immediately, I shot out my hands to snatch the papers from him and held them against my chest with my right hand covering the rings.

“No way! You gave them to me, they’re mine now!” I declared shamelessly, throwing his pet phrase back at him. “You can’t take them back!”

“Oh?” He smirked at me knowingly.

Concluding that I was never going to win against this brat, I glared at him one last time before picking up the pen I threw away a moment ago and signed the papers.

“Congratulations,” the minister smiled at me as he took the documents and handed me a ring. “We’re doing this out of order, but you may still want to put the ring on him.”

The wedding band on my palm was bigger than the one my finger but was of the same style. As I held it up for a closer look, I realized there were small engravings on the inside of the ring.

It wasn’t anything fancy or romantic, just our initials and today’s date, but it warmed my heart. This was no spur of the moment decision, he had planned this in advance.

I smiled at him as tears blurred my vision. I should have known. After all, the rings on my fingers fitted perfectly.

“You look terrible crying and grinning at the same time,” he tsked and criticized as he normally did, but the hand that wiped the tears off my cheeks were warm and gentle. “Are you going to put that on me or are you just going to hold on to it forever?”

Letting out a little laugh, I slipped the ring onto his finger.

Shaw leaned in and kissed me again, this time tenderly. As I stood on my tiptoes to return his kiss, I heard Green Day’s Holiday being played in the background.

That was the song he was listening to when I met him for the first time on the bus.

Laughter bubbled inside me as I giggled into our kiss.

“What was that?” He gave me a face, but couldn’t stop smiling himself.

I stood on my tippy toes again, stretching towards him with my hand cupping the side of my mouth and whispered in his ear, “I was thinking, you’re turning twenty-two, what should I do to call dips on you. Who knew you were even more in a hurry than I was.”

He flicked my forehead playfully before interlacing his fingers with mine and started pulling me along with him, “Let’s go!”

I smiled as I jogged behind him, the film crew waving and cheering for us as we exited the venue.

Throwing his skateboard on the ground, he jumped on, dragging me along with him. I should have protested, but at this moment, I was so happy that I didn’t care. I hung on to him as we sped down the road.

There was no proposal, no elegant wedding dress, no romantic venue, no heartfelt wedding vows, not one thing I dreamed of for my wedding as a girl. Yet, it was absolutely perfect, because the groom was my one and only Shaw.

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More notes: *Since MLQC is a Chinese made game and Loveland City is based on Shanghai, I'm just going to keep the legal marriage ages of China, which is 22 for males and 20 for females. Hope there weren't any OOC moments.

[creator-zee]

198

I could help but fiddle as I sat in the chair, waiting. They had ten instructors administering the entrance exam. We weren’t told their names. They were just identified with a Roman numeral. We were also only identified by numbers. We were each given a random one. If we made it in, then we would learn their names, and them ours, but until then we were numbers. Anonymous numbers, with no titles, no names no reputations. That was the academy’s justification for the numbers. Then the instructors couldn’t be clouded by any preconceptions.

I glanced over at my sister who was laughing with her friends. They would have no problem passing this entrance exam. They were powerful witches. They aced every class, won everyone’s attention. I didn’t see how the instructors could possibly not know who they were. They were the poster children of our high school. She was the poster child of our high school. They would be sure to recognize her, she would pass with flying colors I was sure of it.

And I, I would fail. I always failed. I was the failure. The bastard child. The mistake. No matter how much I practiced, how much I tried, how many spells I cast, it was never enough. I could never be her. I could never match her.

I sighed. There was no way I could pass this exam.

“46, number 46, please come up. XI will be your proctor.” The announcer announced.

That was my number. I stood, my breaths shaky and walked toward the door. XI was standing by it, clipboard in hand. They were dressed like all the other proctors, in a plain white suit.

I handed them my slip of paper. It only had a single number written on it, 46. 

“Come with me, 46. The exam is in three parts: a written, a practical, and a duel. The written is a chance to show your knowledge, the practical is a chance for you to let loose and show your creativity, and the duel is to see how well you can work with another witch. You will not be dueling each other, but working together against a challenge.” XI explained as we walked down a long hallway.

As they finished, we stopped in front of a door. At least I might not totally fail the last part, since another witch would be helping me. Hopefully, it wasn’t someone I knew.

They opened the door. Inside, there was a single desk with a piece of paper and a pen.

“You have as much time as you need. Please hand over any electronic devices.” XI instructed.

I gave them my phone, and slipped off my watch to be sure, before sitting at the desk.

I picked up the pen and stared at the first question: What are the four main types of magic? At ;east that one was easy. Blood, Light, Dark, and Elemental.

I moved onto the next question. It was also simple. I continued working my way through the test. The questions grew in difficulty as I went on. It wasn’t until I got to page ten though that I really started struggling.

God, I should be better. I was barely halfway through the test. Meghan wouldn’t be struggling yet. She probably sipped through the whole thing and aced it. My hand holding the pen shook, and my writing became almost illegible. I took a deep breath.

I always knew I was going to fail. I shouldn’t be surprised.

My hand still shook, but I got it under control, and my handwriting became legible again. I would just write down what I knew. What I knew was embarrassingly little as I continued on the test. Was I really so dumb? I thought I had studied.

Who was I kidding? Of course I was dumb. Everybody had been telling me that my whole life.

Just keep going. Nothing to lose. Probably going to fail anyways. Probably wrong, but what does it matter. Just write it down. God they’re going to laugh when they see this. Burn it without a second though. Throw it in the trash. It was pitiful. 

One page left. Just make it through. I’m almost done.... With the first part. I still have the practical. God. I was so going to fail.

Finally, I set my pen down, having done all I could. However pitiful that amount was.

XI kept their expression neutral as they collected my pen and paper, and let me out of the room. An assistant took my test from XI, as another reset the room. XI led me to another room. This one was large, bigger than an average classroom, but empty. It had small windows high up on the far side that provided natural light. I realized it was the only light source when XI closed the door.

“You have ten minutes to show what you can do.” XI instructed. “Time starts when you first use magic.”

My mind raced. No guidelines. What was I supposed to do? My heart was still racing from my disaster of a writing exam.

I took a deep breath, again.

Okay... what was I good at? Nothing.

Okay... what was I least bad at? Urgh. All I could think of was criticizing teachers, the scathing glare of my mother, and my sister’s taunting words.

I guess just do what I can, isn’t that what I always do. I already bombed the writing portion. I had already failed. I couldn’t fail more. I was already the bastard child, the failure. I was already rock bottom, forever shadowed by my sister. Nothing could ruin my reputation anymore than my simple existence had.

What was the first magic I learned? Blood magic. That takes time to draw the symbols though. I needed to use my time wisely. The symbols had to be natural. I could use elemental magic to form the symbols and then use blood magic for a grand finale.

Hah. Grand. Even that would be pitiful compared to what Meghan could do with a wave of her hand. No doubt she would blow away her instructor in this portion, in all the portions, who was I kidding.

Whatever. Deep breath, just do what I can, no matter how pitiful. Ten minutes. I could do ten minutes.

I crouched, pressing my hands into the floor, concrete, hard, unforgiving... familiar.

I let my magic pulse out of my hands into the concrete,  grass began to sprout despite the lack of dirt. Flowers continued to bloom all around me, creating a thick mass of plantlife, the base that I needed.

My eyes were closed, so I couldn’t see the green mass of plant life that surrounded me, but I could feel it. I changed my magic, fire carving intricate paths in the plats, burning precisely, the exact shapes of the sigils I needed. I extinguished the flames with a thought, and a flash flood of rain, cooled the ashes. I drew the water back up, leaving clear, dry channels in the plants.

I finally opened my eyes and stood, seeing the shape of the sigil in front of me clearly. I pulled a knife out of my pocket, and carefully cut my wrist. The blood dripped out of it and filled the channels of the sigil. Once the paths were complete, I began carefully chanting the spell, channeling my magic into the sigil. The sigil pulsed and glowed as my magic poured into it.

Out of it my magic began to form into a shape, a golem. A creature of magic that would fight and serve next to me until it was extinguished, by me or another. The one I formed was one of my own creation. It wasn’t like the ones in textbooks, white knights or angels. I could do those, but never correctly. I was technically wrong forming a golem like this, it wasn’t like in any book, but it was what I could do, and it was mine.

The white light of my magic solidified into the form of a hippogriff. It reared up in front of me. I let the plants wither away leaving me, the golem, and XI alone in the room.

My golem trotted around the small room, before settling next to me, standing tall and proud. I also stood up, I was tall, but far from proud. It was a weird golem afterall. Not much of a grand finale. At least I hadn’t screwed up the elemental magic.

The golem, sensing my unease, nudged my lightly with its head. I rubbed its face, reassuringly. The feather felt calming, as I stroked its neck, facing XI, waiting for them to speak. After about another 30 seconds they spoke.

“Time’s up. I will bring you to a waiting room, while we wait for another witch to finish.” Xi said, when they finally spoke. They glanced at my golem.

“You’ll have to extinguish it. No magic can carry over between rounds.” They said.

I nodded, I was expecting that. I severed the magical connection and the golem disappeared. I knew I could always summon it again.

They glanced at my bleeding arm. I followed their gaze. I dug around in my back pocket and pulled out a bandage, I quickly wrapped it around my wrist, as I followed them down a hallway to another room just like the one the practical had been in, but twice as big.

“The duel will start when the other witch is sent in.” XI said, before closing the door and leaving. 

There was nothing in the room, just concrete floor, and concrete walls, and windows. I missed the comfort that my Golem had provided. Technically, they hadn’t said I couldn’t do magic. I had already failed, the worst they could do was kick me out, and that was bound to happen sooner or later. In a less flashy way, I formed another sigil. I carefully cut my other wrist, and filled it with my blood and my magic. I summoned my Golem again, the hippogriff quickly forming.

I bandaged my wrist as my golem stretched. I sat against one wall, and it laid down next to me, resting its head in my lap. I ran my fingers through its feather, finding comfort in the simple action.

I closed my eyes leaning against the wall, and my heart finally stopped trying to hammer its way out of my chest. I just had one last task in front of me, and I would have another witch to help me. I could only pray that it wasn’t someone that I knew. I was going to be useless, but at least I could get through it. If the other witch was powerful, then it would go quickly.

The door opened and I opened my eyes. It wasn’t someone I recognised, that was something.

They remained silent as the proctor, who was dressed just like XI, but was a different one, instructed us.

“The duel round begins now. Work together to defeat the challenger.”

I stood, and my golem stood next to me, as I waited for this so-called challenger.

I felt magic begin pulsing through the walls of the room, and I tensed, so did the other witch.

Magic began gathering on the far end of the room, a golem, a large one. But, who was forming it. I glanced at the proctor, but they were as emotionless as ever.

The other witch glanced between me and my golem. “I assume that can fight?” She asked.

I nodded, eyes darting between her and the form the magic was forming into. It looked to be a stone giant.

She began chanting, and I recognized the spell. It was a dark magic enhancement spell.

When she finished chanting I could practically see the magic radiating from her. She was powerful, very powerful.

She turned back to me, her eyes glowing with dark magic. “How many golems can you summon?”

I shrugged. “How many do you need?”

“That depends, can you just do the one shape?” She asked, glancing at the golem that was almost formed.

I shook my head. “I can do others.”

“Perfect, then can you do a dragon, and a griffon as well?” She asked, as she began chanting another spell.

I nodded, and got to work forming the sigils. I unwrapped my left arm and cut it again, using the blood to fill both sigils. I channeled my magic into them. I had done two at a time before, but this was different. A dragon was a huge golem, and a griffon was also big. It took all my concentration as I poured my magic into the sigils.

My hippogriff golem protected me from any debris headed my way as the other witch began her attack on the golem.

I released a breath I hadn’t realised I’d been holding as the golems were formed, the sigils disappearing. A dragon roared and a griffon shrieked as they gained form.

“Attack.” I commanded, softly, and they rushed forwards to join the fight. 

The room which had felt impossibly large at first, now felt stiflingly small with all the bodies in it. I felt useless, standing and watching the battle. I couldn’t help; I was useless. I re-bandaged my arm as my golems and the other witch successfully tore the giant’s arm off.

It disintegrated into magic, but another quickly replaced it. The only ways to kill a golem were to use up all the magic being channeled into it, or to cut off that source.

I closed my eyes and concentrated on the magic flowing through it. I could feel it pulsing from it’s heel? Yeah, it’s heel was the epicenter of the magic. An achilles heel. The proctors must think they’re so clever.

“Go for the right heel.” I called out. My golems immediately heeded my call, but the other witch gave me a strange look.

“It’s the epicenter.” I explained.

Understanding lit up in their eyes. And they leapt from their perch on its shoulder to the ground, grabbing its leg and tugging, strengthened by magic she toppled the lage form.

My dragon immediately pounced on its chest holding it down, as its icy breath trapped its head in place. The hippogriff and and griffon pinned the nearbuy leg and arm, as the witch yanked the leg off. The giant disintegrated back into magic.

I breathed a sigh of relief. Finally, it was over. Now I could go home, and start looking for a job and an apartment, and maybe, finally escape from my wretched family.

The witch dropped her spell, and the glow of magic left her.

“I’m glad I got paired with a powerful witch.” She commented, as she turned to the dragon, running her hands along its snout. It was docile now, without something to defend me from.

I turned to her in surprise. “You must be mistaken.”

“Why?” She asked, looking up from the dragon to me.

“I’m not powerful.” I muttered.

She opened her mouth to say something, but was cut off by the proctor. “You’re free to go, results will be posted when exams are done.”

I nodded, and extinguished my golems. I didn’t need to hear the jeers. I headed towards the door.

“Wait, what’s your name?” The other witch asked.

I glanced over my shoulder at them. “Kiri, Kiri Wolf.”

“Wolf?” Her eyes widened. “Your?”

I nodded, and opened the door. At least now she knew how wrong she’d been. I wasn’t a powerful witch. I was a disgrace to my family name.

“I’m Jaye.” She said, as I left. The entrance was clearly labeled and it led to an open field, with a path, I followed the path and it led back out front, where families and friends were waiting.

My mother found me, her expression of boredom shifted to irritation. I walked over to her.

“I suspect that you failed miserably. No reason for you to stick around. Go home and pack your bags. You have until the end of the week to move out.” She ordered, as cold as always.

I shrunk under her piercing gaze. “Yes ma’am.”

I knew she would kick me out when I inevitably failed, but I had hoped for a little more time. Hopefully I could find a job in a week. It was doubtful I would be able to find a place to stay though.

I weaved my way through the crowds, as my failure pressed down on my shoulders. I had known I was going to fail. I had always known. I was useless. A failure, a dissapointment, a disgrace.

The sidewalk began to swim in front of me. I stumbled. Great, I couldn’t even walk home correctly. I glanced around. At least there was no one nearby. I stepped off the sidewalk and slumped against the wall of the building. I slid to the ground. Bushes were between the sidewalk and the building, so I was out of anyone’s way.

I glanced at my arms, the bandages were soaked with blood. Three golems was just too much blood I guess. I just needed to rest a little bit. Then I would go home, pack, and figure out what I was doing. Someone, somewhere would need a grunt to do basic menial labor. I just had to hope that it would pay enough for me to find a place to stay. Unfortunately, that was unlikely. I would end up on the streets, finally looking like the failure I was.

My eyelids felt heavy, it wouldn’t hurt if I just closed them Just for a little bit, then I would get up. 

198.1

When my eyes next opened it was dark, and I was soaking wet and freezing. Who knew how long I had been sitting in these pushes. I pushed myself to my feet, still unsteady. I just needed to walk it off. I stumbled and caught myself on the wall. I was so weak, so useless. Meghan wouldn’t be reduced to this from just a few golems. I needed to be stronger, but I wasn’t. Tears joined the rain running down my face. What had I ever done to the world to be cursed to be so weak and so useless. 

I should’ve just died with my father in that wreck. It would’ve saved so many people so much trouble. By the end of the week my mother and sister would be free of me, but I would just be someone else’s burden. Maybe it was better if I just didn’t make it home. If I just stayed here, if I just disappeared. I wouldn’t be missed. They would probably throw a party.

But, someone would find me here. I should find somewhere else.

I began walking again, unsteady, but there was no helping that. I made my way to the edge of town, not far from the academy. I stumbled and fell again, scraping my hands, as I tried and failed (as if I could ever succeed) to catch myself. I only bother to right myself in a sitting position, legs hanging over the edge as I looked down at the rushing water of the river.

That was more like it. No one would find me there.

All that stood between me and it was a steep hill, slick with mud from the wind, and air. I just had to push myself off the path. I would no doubt slide down the hill and fall into the water. It would carry me away. I would be forgotten. I snorted. As if I wasn’t already.

I heard voices. What would anyone be doing out here this late?

I glanced over my shoulder. They were still far enough away. They hadn’t noticed me. If I went now, they never would. Who was I kidding? I was invisible. They wouldn’t notice me if I didn’t move. I could always go after they had walked by.

“Kiri?” One of the voices asked.

Crap.

“What the hell are you doing out here?” I recognized the voice, unfortunately.

“You were supposed to go home.” Meghan chastised. “Not drown your sorrows in the rain. Mom’s being generous enough to give you a week so I suggest you take it.”

She laughed. “You have the rest of your life to sit crying in the rain.”

Her friends laughed.

I felt a yank on my arm, she pulled me upright. “So, get your sorry ass home and apologize. You’ll be lucky if she even lets you stay the week after this.”

I nodded, numbly and began walking back, while my sister and her friends went the other way. She had smelled of booze. She must have gotten drunk celebrating her acceptance. I should be happy for her. But... I didn’t have the energy to be happy. I didn’t have the energy for anything.

Somehow, I made it home. I opened the door with a key in my pocket.

Mother was waiting for me, arms crossed and foot tapping. “You're a disgrace Kiri. I shouldn’t be surprised anymore but you continue to astound me with your stupidity. Wandering off. After I gave you a week to prepare. Well, I’m done being generous for an ungrateful bastard like you. You have ten minutes to grab what you want, and then I’d better never see you again.”

I nodded numbly, stumbling up the stairs to my room. I grabbed a backpack and shoved a change of clothes, my wallet, and my toiletries in it. I don’t know why I bothered. It was pointless. I was just going to disappear.

Nonetheless, I grabbed the backpack and left. I wandered through the streets, and found myself back at the path above the river. I sat down, shivering by this point, bandages pink with the mix of water and blood.

I glance at the water. It was so peaceful. Could I be peaceful if I joined it? Finally end my misery. No more jeers, no more taunts, no more disappointed stares. No more teachers telling me once again that I could never be like my sister. That I was a disgrace. The whispered words.

What can you expect? She’s not even a full wolf.

My mother would finally be happy. She would be able to stop pretending she didn’t have another daughter. It would be true. She would only have one.

I just needed to do it. To just push myself over the edge. 

I don’t know how long I sat there, staring at the water, but it was long enough that the water turned golden as it reflected the morning rays of the sun.

I was startled out of my trance by something nudging my shoulder. It was a bird, a kestrel I think. It had a tiny note attached to its leg.

The tiny falcon landed on my leg. I carefully untied the note from its leg. Once untied, it expanded into a regular sized letter. A message from a witch then.

I opened the envelope, while the bird began preening its feathers. It was sealed with the symbol of the academy, a talon.

I didn’t think they took the effort to send rejection letters to all the witches who failed to gain acceptance. It was a prestigious academy and thousands tried their luck each year. Only 500 were accepted each year. That was a lot of rejection letters.

Congratulations Kiri Wolf!

That didn’t make sense, congratulations for what?

You have been accepted to Eagle Gate Academy. Your excellent performance in the entrance exams have led to you being placed in the top ranks of this years incoming class. As with all high-rankers, you are awarded a full scholarship with an additional thousand dollars of spending money each semester.

Unfortunately, you were absent at the acceptance ceremony, but if you would like to accept your scholarship and your place among these walls, please report to the front office, show this letter and we will take care of you. You have until the end of this week to decide.

Congratulations again, and welcome. We are glad to have such a powerful witch join our ranks.

Sincerely,

Eduardo Butler (XI)

I stared at the letter in absolute shock. My hand were shaking. This must be a prank, some kind of mistake. I wasn’t a powerful witch. I was a failure. I had failed. I had messed up. I wasn’t deserving of this. There had been a mistake. A typo, they had messed up with the numbers. This letter must have been meant for my sister. It couldn’t be for me. That didn’t make any sense.

I was weak. I was useless. I barely passed my classes in high school. I was a failure of a witch. I had messed up the written portion. My demonstration for the practical had been pathetic, and Jaye had done everything in the duel. I had just stood there.

I remembered my sister last night. She must be pranking me. She must be waiting in the bushes. Or she’s waiting at the academy, waiting to see them laugh when I present the letter.

But, she didn’t have a kestrel. She didn’t have the academy's seal.

No, no. It was just a prank. She was a powerful witch. She must’ve figured out how to fake it. Maybe the letter would burn my hands, or dissolve into acid or something. Maybe the bird would turn and attack me.

I glanced at the bird. It had its head tucked under one wing and looked to be sleeping.

Tears began falling from my eyes, again. Why did my sister have to be so cruel? Why did she have to rub it in. Why couldn’t she just leave me alone? Why not just let me disappear? If she hadn’t sent me this stupid letter I probably would be floating in the river by now. I would’ve been out of her hair finally.

I was tempted to tear the letter up and finally push myself over the edge. But, I glanced at the bird. It looked so peaceful. I didn’t want to wake it. I could wait. A few minutes, or hours, didn’t matter.

I heard more voices. Early risers. Dammit. Hopefully, they wouldn’t notice me.

The bird heard them too, and woke with a shake of its small body.

I spread its wings. Was it finally taking off? If it hurried I could be gone before the voices got too close. It did take off, but only to land on my shoulder.

I sighed. I suppose I would wait.

The voices were close enough for me to make out.

“I can’t believe that you were partnered with Kiri Wolf.” The first voice said.

“You saw the rankings.” A second voice added.

“She beat her sister, and you know how good her sister is.” The first spoke again.

“I would never have guessed she was that powerful.” A third voice admitted.

“I know.” One said, agreeing. “I’d heard that she was pretty much useless.”

“She was far from that.” Three said. “She summoned three golems, three. And not the textbook ones, hard ones, a dragon, a griffon, and a hippogriff.”

“Three? That’s a lot of blood.” Two commented.

“Is it? I don’t do blood magic. I focus on light and dark.” Three said, surprised.

“Yeah, especially ones that big. The sigils have to be big, and blood has to take up the whole sigil.” Two explained.

“Hey, guys.” One said, quietly. I almost couldn’t hear them.

“What?” Two and three asked, confused.

“Does she look... okay?” One asked, still quiet.

I realized with horror that they had stopped walking and were probably talking about me. Just keep walking, just keep walking. I chanted in my head. Their conversation was confusing enough. Maybe they were friends of my sister, roped into this prank. It was oddly elaborate though. And I didn’t recognize the voices, and she would never say I was better than her, even for a prank.

I glanced at the letter in my hands again. Was it real?

“Hey are you okay?” Three called out, as one and two shushed them.

“Fine.” I responded.

The bird on my shoulder chirped, startling me. I slipped. 

I was right, the hill was muddy, I couldn’t get any traction. The bird flew off my shoulder in surprise. The letter flew out of my hands, as I suddenly found myself plunging towards the water. And suddenly, I was afraid. Wasn’t this what I had wanted?

I stopped, an iron tight grip around my wrist stopping me from falling.

I glanced up. “Jaye?”

“Kiri?”

“What are you doing here?” We both asked at the same time.

She yanked me up, back onto the path. “You first, are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine.” I muttered, as I pulled my arm back, wincing. She had grabbed my left arm, and the cuts had broken open again.

“You don’t look fine.” She said.

“I’m fine.” I said again, standing, grabbing my backpack. The letter was gone anyways. It didn’t matter if it was real. I would find another spot to disappear, another spot to die.

The bird flapped in front of my face and landed on my arm, which I held out for it. It had the letter in its beak.

“What are you doing sitting out here by yourself if you got the letter?” One of her friends asked.

“And you’re soaking wet. Have you been out here all night?” Her other friend asked.

I snatched the letter from the bird and crumpled it in my hand.

“I’m fine.” I repeated, brushing past them.

I just wanted to disappear.

“You’re turning them down?” Jaye asked, aghast. “Did you get accepted somewhere else better?”

“I just - just leave me alone.” I snapped, turning to face them. “I’m not the powerful witch you think I am. I’m a failure. I’m useless.”

I held my fist up with the crumpled letter in it. “This, this is a mistake. They must have messed up with their stupid numbers. It was meant for my sister, not me. I’m the bastard child, she's the prodigy. I failed at every single step of that entrance exam, there's no way I made it in.”

I turned on my heels and began walking away. I just wanted to disappear, needed to disappear.The letter was a mistake. I was a failure. They would realize that. The bird was still following me. I held out my arm, it landed on it, chirping gratefully. I carefully moved it to my shoulder. I uncrumpled the letter in my hand, staring at it again. I reached back and slipped a pen out of a pocket in my backpack meant for a water bottle. I crossed out my name and wrote in Meghan’s. I folded the letter back up, put it back in the envelope, tucking the flap back in.

I cast a simple spell on it and it shrunk into a tiny roll. I tied it carefully to the bird’s leg again.

“Take it to Meghan Wolf.” I told the little bird, and moved my arm, urgin it to fly away. It remained firmly in place.

“Kiri.” Jaye called after me.

I ignored her. She didn’t know me.

“Kiri wait.” She tried again.

I paused, but continued. I didn’t need to disappoint anyone else. And that’s what she would be once she found out that there was a mistake.

“They wouldn’t have sent your sister a letter, because she accepted her place at the academy at the ceremony.” She said. “The letter is meant for you. You’re the only person who wasn’t there to accept their place.”

“Because I failed. I failed the exam. I shouldn’t be accepting any place. They made a mistake. They must’ve mixed my name and number up.” I argued over my shoulder, still walking away.

“Why do you think you failed?” Jaye asked. “The results say you passed, and you passed by a lot. Are you calling all the proctors liars?”

“I couldn’t answer the writing questions, by page ten I was basically just guessing. My practical was pathetic. I did some stupid elemental magic and summoned a deformed golem. And you did everything in the duel.” I listed as I continued to walk away from her, but she kept pace. Her friends trailed uncertainly behind us.

“I did everything? You summoned three golems, and you pointed out the weak spot.” She argued. “And page ten. The questions were ridiculously specific by page 5. It’s designed to be way too hard. You’re not supposed to know every answer. It’s to see if you’ll try to cheat on an exam designed to make you fail.”

“I stood in the corner.” I shot back. “I didn’t do any fighting. And how do you know that about the exam?”

“They told us after they finished announcing who was accepted. We were sworn to secrecy, but you can know, since you were accepted.” She explained.

She didn’t push it until she ran ahead and stopped in front of me, stopping, and looking me in the eye. “Who made you think you were such a failure?”

I laughed, but it was dry and lacking all humor. “The entire world. I’m Kiri Wolf, the useless bastard child who should’ve died with her father, not leaving the poor widow to take care of a child that’s not even hers.”

“What?” Jaye mumbled. “You weren’t trying to - is that why you were...? “

I stepped past her again. 

“Just forget you ever saw me.” I mumbled. “Soon I’ll have disappeared anyways. The whole world will forget me then.”

“Kiri, wait.” She grabbed my arm. I pulled it out of her grip.

“Just go back to your life. Forget about me.” I repeated.

“I’m not going to just let you kill yourself!” Jaye shouted.

“Well you should. I was always doomed to die amounting to nothing. I'm just skipping the dreadful middle parts.” I said, ignoring the bird who chirped on my shoulder with... concern? That shouldn’t be possible.

I heard Jaye say something to her friends, but I couldn’t make out the words. I did hear though that Jaye's footsteps suddenly quickened. I side-stepped as she went charging past, trying to tackle me.

I was once again dangerously near the edge of the path. One misstep and I would be in the river.

“Kiri, don’t.” Jaye pleaded as she turned to look at me.

I didn’t move, staying in one place. Frozen... by fear. Stupid, stupid fear. I should just take the step back. It made sense. I wanted it, I wanted to disappear. But, I had remembered falling. That had been terrifying.

Suddenly, someone was next to her, XI, Eduardo. They were out of their white proctor suit though, and dressed more casually.

“Kiri.” They began. “I can assure you that the letter is not a mistake.”

“I don’t understand.” I mumbled. “All my teachers have told me that I can’t do magic properly.”

“I believe that they were clouded by their prejudice. They saw you only as Meghan’s bastard sister instead of actually looking at your magic.” They said, slowly, carefully. “You are one of the most skilled witches I’ve had the honor of proctoring in a while.”

“But, but I - I guessed on over half the written. And, and...” I ended up trailing off, overwhelmed. I collapsed to my knee, burying my face in my hands, as sobs overcame me.

Arms were around me almost immediately, gently leading me away from the edge.

“Come on, we’re taking you back to the academy.” A voice, Eduardo, gently urged.

I didn’t fight them, as they teleported us in front of the academy. They led me through the school, until we ended up in a long room, with beds on each side, an infirmary.

They slipped my backpack from my shoulders, and talked with one of the nurses. I didn’t pay enough attention to make the words out. Everything was a blur. 

The nurse exchanged my muddy clothes for clean ones before laying me on the bed. The nurse then patched up my arms, cleaning them and bandaging them better. She offered me something to drink, and I sipped on it, it was a glass of water.

The bird never left me for reason, perching on my leg. Eventually, I drifted off to sleep.

[eponymous-rose]

Fic: Changebringer [Mollymauk | T | 2400 words]

[FFN | AO3 | Campaign Two Stories | Campaign One Stories]

The past is a tyrant. Mollymauk Tealeaf, the fates, and change.

Changebringer

Luck favors the bold.

- First Commandment of Avandra

"It's New Dawn the day after tomorrow, is the thing," Gustav says, beaming a smile that's just a little too for-show, just a little too bright around the edges. He hasn't stopped talking since he and Molly started working three hours ago, which hasn't exactly come as a surprise. Gustav is the sort of man who fears silence the way cows fear going down a set of stairs: it's so fundamentally alien to his nature that getting into it means he'll likely never find his way out. "You know that much, surely."

Molly shugs and smiles, leaning on the signpost he's just hammered into the ground and shaking out his freshly blistered hands. Never worked a day in his life, technically, and now here he is playing 24-hour man with Gustav, plastering the roadside ahead of the carnival with signs promising the show of a lifetime. There's bound to be a couple of aches and pains.

"What do you think about papering the house?" Gustav isn't actually waiting for a response, but he pauses, politely, before launching back into his spiel. "Give away enough free seats to fill the house on night one, might be able to get some interest going on night two. Anyway, I doubt we'll pick up that much business straight away. Hasn't been much entertainment in these parts. People will be wary, I think, rather than excited, though I suppose it's always hard to tell which way it's going to swing."

Molly narrows his eyes, scrunching up his face. It takes Gustav a second, but once the penny drops, he laughs. "You're saying they might be suspicious? Yeah, that's a fair assessment. Someone shows up offering you something for nothing, you take a second look. Still, I'm thinking we seem harmless enough that nobody's going to be looking too hard. These folk are nothing if not good at making assumptions about people, so we'll just make sure we come across as simple, frivolous, fun-loving people. Which is, mind you, broadly accurate."

Stretching out the aches in his back with a yawn, Molly bends and scoops up the rest of the signposts, cocking an eyebrow at Gustav. "Yeah, two or three more down this way," Gustav says. "I'll show you the kinds of spots where the crownsguard won't notice soon enough to tear 'em down. You'll be able to do this yourself next time." He squints at Molly. "Hey, you get more ink since last week? I run a job for five days and everything changes."

Craning his neck, Molly shows off the peacock, the green even more vivid against the still-reddened edges of his lavender skin. It's one of the rare tattoos he's had that's actually going to look less impressive the longer he has it. Gustav whistles, soft and low. "Great work, that one. Mona introduce you to her artist? Lovely, lovely." He stops in his tracks. "What were we talking about? Oh! Yes, New Dawn. The Changebringer. You heard of her?"

Molly has, but he's found that not knowing things tends to lead to infinitely more interesting conversations than the alternative, so he shakes his head.

"Not an approved deity, mind you, but I've found that this close to the edge of the Empire people tend to be a little more relaxed. New Dawn's her holy day. Change and rebirth and the open road. People mostly just treat it as an excuse to get hammered, and enough of the locals are not-so-locals that they remember some of the old prayers and such. Good business for a traveling band of folks wanting to make some honest coin." He winks. "And we'll do pretty well, too."

Molly's been giving it some thought, actually. So far he's been operating on the principle of leaning into what feels right, but gods are, well. A lot. But there's something appealing about the paradox embedded in the notion of a changeless, immortal divine being dedicated to the concept of change. Doesn't make much sense at all, which feels right in a way that makes his heart race with excitement.

Experimentally, when Gustav has his back turned to resume monologuing, Molly glances up at the sky and sketches a quick bow. The flashy moment lingers a little longer than he'd expected, and he catches himself staring down at the dirt, at the tiny grains pounded by hundreds of feet and hooves and wheels into a path, a road, a thoroughfare formed by a communal desire to be elsewhere, to be in transition, to be transforming. After a moment's hesitation, he nudges off his ill-fitting boots and stands with the chill of the dirt soaking into the bottoms of his feet.

And then he laughs, loud and long and hoarse, and sprints past a bewildered Gustav down the wide-open roadway, moving forward, forward, forward.

Rise against tyranny.

- Second Commandment of Avandra

Molly's mouth is dry, his voice hoarse from yelling in Infernal. He's also got a weird pain in his back from sleeping wrong on his bedroll the night before, and, well, he's got a sword in his shoulder, which isn't exactly what he was going for when he woke up this morning, but he's aware that it's now a thing that he's going to have to deal with at some point.

The bandit who'd owned the sword is long-dead, Yasha having considerately separated his head from his body, but the battle's become frenzied enough that Molly's not sure he'll be able to snag any friendly attention without simultaneously broadcasting his position to someone who might be inclined to add another sharp, pointy object to his collection.

So he slumps back against a tree stump, dropping his own swords to get a more careful grip on the hilt of the blade, holding it steady as he sits down heavily in the grass and waits for the battle to turn one way or the other.

It's a new experience, bleeding this badly, being in this much pain. He keeps trying and failing to focus his eyes, which makes him think about the way his heart is slamming into his ribs, which makes him think about the throbbing in his shoulder, which makes it hard to focus again. This is new to him, absolutely and unambiguously not an experience he has had before, but he also knows that the person he's not, the one who lurks deep in his bones, knows this kind of pain all too well. He's breathing slowly and carefully in such a deliberate way that it had to have been learned somewhere.

His arms get a little tired holding up the sword, so he tries letting them slump to his sides, which makes the sword shift, which makes him draw in a muted hiss of breath that almost throws his rhythm off altogether. But he slips slowly, inevitably, back into the metronomic, almost hypnotic pace of breathing, in and out, in and out.

"Hey," Yasha says, staring down at him. Time must have passed, because she wasn't standing there before, and Ornna certainly wasn't crouched at his side, and, hey, no more sword, many more bloodied bandages, all good things.

"Hey yourself," he says, dreamily. "They gone? We win? That's nice."

Yasha blinks, looking nonplussed, then hesitates, as if searching for words. "You're pretty tough," she says, finally. "Looked like it hurt a lot. You didn't even yell when they pulled it out, but you were still mostly conscious for that part, I think."

He shifts, turning to meet Ornna's furrowed-brow scowl. "What did they want?"

She shrugs. "By the sorry state of their coinpurses, probably gold. Maybe some of the silks we picked up last stop. Maybe our tents. Maybe our horses. Assholes like that always feel owed the things they don't have." She sees the next question in his eyes and the hard lines of her face soften. "Nobody hurt, aside from you. Nothing serious, anyway." Apparently done with her quota for kindness for the day, she swats him on the bad shoulder, making him yelp, and walks off.

Yasha is watching him still, looming like a particularly stoic monolith. There's blood on her face that she hasn't bothered cleaning off, though her damp cloak has obviously just been scrubbed clean. "You fought really well, like you'd done it before. Scooped up those swords and just-" She motions with her hands. "-really went at it. You know?"

"Beginner's luck." Mollymauk winks. "Give me a minute to get used to not bleeding to death and I'll tell you all about how I learned that."

She snorts. "You mean, give you enough time to make up a story to fool me with." But he's pretty sure that's a smile cracking the solid wall of her face.

Unlike Gustav, Yasha appreciates the value of a good silence, so Molly lets himself fade out a bit, listening to the quiet murmur of voices, smelling the sharp tang of blood in the air, while Yasha just stands, watching him, like she's trying to make up her mind about something.

He snaps back to himself when she finally crouches down. Granted, she's still looming, but he appreciates that she's making the effort. "A friend of mine used to call the past a tyrant," she says, slowly, like she's testing each word. "That it rules cruelly when it doesn't even have the right."

Molly thinks of a half-dozen glib responses and swallows them all. "I think your friend and I would have got on well."

Yasha hesitates, then drops a heavy hand onto the top of his head, between his horns. She looks panicked for a moment, like she hadn't thought this far ahead, then clumsily ruffles his hair. "Keep the swords on the outside of you from now on," she says. "Just a suggestion."

Dazed, he watches her push to her feet and walk away.

Change is inevitable.

- Third Commandment of Avandra

Lying flat on his back some distance from the campsite, Molly cuts his deck of cards with one hand and traces new constellations in the sky with the other.

It's a habit he's been cultivating, reminiscent of children seeing familiar shapes in clouds: this little triad of stars is a stone, clearly, and the larger cluster that sprays from it is a gush of water meeting its unyielding surface. Probably deeply symbolic of standing fast in the face of overwhelming odds. Deeply symbolic of something, anyway. These things always are.

Jester, perched on a log beside him, is sketching something in her notebook, squinting to make out color in the flickering firelight, but the sounds of her scribblings are more careful and deliberate than usual, and he can feel her eyes on him. He blinks, then props himself up with one elbow, smiling. "Are you sketching me?"

"No," she says, "I'm on watch with you and doing a very good job of it and definitely not getting distracted. Definitely." She narrows her eyes. "Stop moving around."

Obediently, Molly drops back and stares at the sky again. The fog of his own breath in the cool night air is making it hard to pick out individual stars, so he has to imagine pinpricks of light in the spaces he's missing. "I wonder what it's like out there."

Jester pauses. "What, up in the stars, you mean? My momma used to tell me the night was a big blanket, but someone knew we were scared of the dark and poked some holes to let the light in."

Molly smiles, drawing back to shuffle his deck with both hands. "Thus the great theological quandary: who poked the holes?"

"I think it's different for everyone," Jester declares. "We all see the stars a little bit differently, probably. For me, it was definitely the Traveler."

"That's a nice thought," Molly says, and waits for her scribblings to slow again before sitting up. "All right, I've waited long enough. Let me see."

She grins, not a hint of shyness about her, and hands over her journal.

He was expecting something silly or obscene or both at the same time, and while there are admittedly a series of surprisingly lifelike dicks scribbled in one corner, the main subject of the painting is untouched by anything objectionable.

The figure on the page is prone, reaching up to the stars with one hand, but eclipsing even the vastness of the stellar landscape is the peacock tattoo. It runs from the side of the tiefling's face, down the shoulder, and bleeds into the earth behind and beneath, stretching outward in vivid greens and red-eyed circles that anchor the figure to the earth, with long, colorful feathers sprouting from the dirt all around like cattails.

"That's lovely, Jester," he says, softly, and hands it back to her.

"I think it's such a nice tattoo, I wanted to make it as big as your personality!" Jester frowns. "Don't you like it?"

Something of the chill down Molly's spine must have shown on his face, but he shakes it off, beaming wide. "Like it? I think it's genius. A fabulous work of art. We'll have to look for a place in town to see about converting it to a fully fledged mural or tapestry of some sort."

Jester's eyes go wide. "A tapestry? Do you think they'd do that?"

He makes a show of considering the painting. "Absolutely. Make sure they include the dicks, though. That's a vital part of the artistic oeuvre."

That sparks a genuine laugh from her. "Anyway, I think the Traveler liked it." She lowers her voice to a stage whisper. "He thinks you're weird."

Molly blinks. "He thinks I'm weird?"

"I know, right?" She winks at him, then stretches, pushes to her feet, and starts meandering in her usual first-watch circuit around the edge of the camp.

Molly stays where he is for a while longer, trying to recapture the complexity of the constellations in his mind, but all that comes to view now in the spray of stars is a set of parallel lines: long, thin feathers in the sky, planted firmly and immovably into the blackness of the void behind them, the unblinking red eyes of his tattoos drawing him down and down and down into the uncaring earth.

Rubbing some warmth back into his arms, he stands, casting an unsettled glance at the camp behind him, and stares out into the deep, dark woods, hunching his shoulders against the cold.

[writinglodge]

-Kinetic Abilities Prompt List C Edition

Carbokinesis - Control Carbon

As someone who happened to buy a lot of coal, I end up with a lot of diamonds.

You know those carbon filters in fish tanks? I never have to change mine now. I just sort of wave the guck out? It’s an easy chore.

Don’t forget, there’s carbon in steel. If I take it out, this whole city’s going down.

Cardiokinesis - Control Hearts

I don’t know why you think this has to do with love. Hearts are organs that only pump blood. I mean, I guess if your heart beats faster, you feel like you’re in love.

I spent years in medical school specializing in heart surgery just so I could discretely fix people’s hearts much faster than they should be able to. But whenever anyone asks me what my secret to fast and perfect surgery is, I have to lie and it’s eating me inside.

I can see everyone’s relationships, but sometimes it gets really distracting. All these fibrous lines keep obscuring the cinema screen.

Caelestikinesis - Control Celestial Bodies

Is it weird I can tell you’re an aries? I’m getting that you’re an aries. 

Okay, so making the night sky spell out “will you marry me?” was awesome but I think I ruined a bunch of aliens’ homes. I really hope they don’t know I did that.

Being a god of the stars is generally really boring. Nothing’s ever been happening. But this little planet seems to be starting something... Better get closer to watch.

Caelumkinesis - Control the Sky

I can hide as anything that flies. So if you happen to see a bird in my room, don’t chase it out with a broom. 

If you’re going to be like that, I can make sure you always get rained on.

The world is so boring. I finally found out how to make dragons and I’m gonna take the initiative and just making this happen.

Chemokinesis - Control Chemical Substances

If it’s on the periodic table, I can mess with it. People generally aren’t ready for their oxygen to become iron.

The hero can’t come and vanquish me if I’ve given them depression.

Now that I’ve trapped you in my moat... It’s acid.

Chromokinesis - Control Colors

A magician’s biggest trick: Turning the entire performance center blue.

I have a grudge against someone who somehow muscled their way into my personal art show. I’ll makes sure they never see color ever again.

So I can fly... But it’s very... Flashy. Yeah, it’s a rainbow.

Chronokinesis - Control Time

So, even if I manipulate time, I can’t manipulate space. And Earth moves, so... I kind of killed most of the population. They’re either in space or the mantle. 

I’ve been stealing time from everyone and it’s all stored deep underground.

I’ve tricked a constuction crew through a time-portal and now they’re building me a castle in 16th century France. I’ll be king and my castle will never fall.

Cibumkinesis - Control Food

You don’t even know how much pretentious people like to eat my��‘innovative’ foodstuffs. Milk jerky is as weird as it sounds and only comes in 2%

I’ll win every cooking competition, no matter how much I mess up. 

May your harvest be blighted and your water poisoned. Think twice before crossing me again.

Cthonikinesis - Control Nether

Powers adapt to new meanings for the word. I’m gonna send you to minecraft hell.

Your nether regions are so fucked.

How do you feel, facing your own late father in battle?

Cukinesis - Control Copper

When NYC falls into peril again, someone with the ability to manipulate copper calls upon the ultimate defense... The statue of liberty.

Yeah I can make a shield, but it’s gonna be copper. Sorry I can’t do anything else. 

I’ve gotten into the habit of driving by old neighborhoods and making all the copper wiring and pipes be sucked into my truck. It’s only slightly villainous. 

Cogitokinesis - Control Thought

If you’re going to be so angry about my favorite song, enjoy it in your head forever.

I make quite the racket erasing unwanted thoughts. Where those thoughts go though is only for me to worry about. 

My robots seem too mechanical. I should steal someone’s thoughts to give them a bit of personality. 

Cognikinesis - Control Perspectives

Most of the time I just force video games to let me play first person, I’m not sure what you expected.Forcing people to look at what they’ve become is a lot like judgement day.

When people make me upset, I like to make them see my actual point of view. 

It doesn’t matter how far away something is, if I can see it, I can touch it.

Comakinesis - Control Hair

My stage production of rapunzel is the best in the world. How I found a continuous 20 foot braid is anyone’s best guess. I’ll never tell.

I’ve created a new breed of naturally pink poodles. I’ll be in the lap of luxury for all my days.

No I only have one of these wool sweaters. I can just change it’s color because it’s technically hair.

Combokinesis - Control Combat

Any battle goes may way, from a simple argument to an election. I’ve become the most influential person in the world.

My personal feelings are always above any actual evidence of winning, so seeing that I may be wrong is terrifying. What if I was wrong before?

Now that you’ve shown me what your attack will be, let me eliminate that possibility.

Coronakinesis - Control Corona Energy

Yes, it’s basically like that one godzilla. No, I’m not secretly the kid of godzilla. 

You think you’ve seen global warming? You’ve seen nothing yet. 

Stars tend to move with their corona, so don’t mind the new stars. They were already there before.

Corrokinesis - Control the Power of Corruption

I really don’t like corruption, so I keep combing the internet for instances of corruption to take it out, hitman style.

I’ve condensed corruption into these special bullets. I want you to shoot all this list, no matter how nice you think they are.

Wait, I can basically make this into a hell-dimension? Awesome. Sin for everyone.

Cryokinesis - Control Ice

If you keep annoying me all the liquid in your body is gonna freeze.

I’ve got the polar ice caps fixed, Antartica is looking good, and I’ve got enough snow cones today’s day at the park. 

You’ve gotta believe me, officer! The icicle just plain fell on them! It skewered them!

Crystallokinesis - Control Minerals and Crystals

My modern witchcraft store is stocked full with crystals and stones. And it’s all homemade.

If I really tried, I could get my crystal healing techniques to go towards a doctorate.

You picked the wrong mineshaft to battle me in. You’be basically given me the battle. 

Cytokinesis - Control Cells of Organisms

My friend wanted to be a cryptid so we brainstormed for a while and they decided on their form. We still chat when I’m in town.

Even if I’m terminal, I can just fix it. I don’t see why I shouldn’t be allowed to fix you too.

Changing what shape my cells take is the ultimate camouflage. No one suspects the dog.