#first passage is chapter 2 and second passage is somewhere between the middle and end of pt.1 of the dark au

[josephslittledeputy]

Willa really goes from

“Shame.” She watches them for a second, watches the realization wash over their face. Their muffled yell gets cut short when she smashes the butt of the gun against their temple, sending them to the ground. She knows she should have pulled the trigger—it was them or her after all—but she just… couldn’t do it. What did that make her? Weak? A traitor? What would she do when it was them or her?

to

The sound of gunshots, screams, and curses echo behind her and there’s a twinge in her stomach. Guilt. She pushes it down, down, way down, until it’s nothing but a passing flutter. She can't look back and she sure as hell can never get caught. Not again. Not even if it meant throwing someone else under the bus to save her own ass.

Goes from not even killing peggies to throwing civs under the bus in order to buy a few minutes of time to escape

[oh-hush-its-perfect]

Alex Fierro's Introduction Full Breakdown

Okokok so. This is going to go full English-professor mode, where I'm drawing conclusions that are gonna seem a little far-fetched. That's what's fun about media analysis! I can say something is a symbol, and even if I don't have enough faith in RR's competency to know if he meant for it to be a symbol, it's still true! That being said, a lot of these choices I'm sure are intentional, either at a literal or subliminal level. Page numbers are going to be used not to assert a kind of authority or whatever— this is a Tumblr post, not an essay— but to help readers find the pages I'm referencing in case they'd like to do some digging of their own. Also, this is going to be really long. Really sorry to anyone with ADHD; I might make an audiofile of this so you can get the information without having to read the whole thing. With all that, let's get into it!

To kick off, let's talk about Alex being in the form of a cheetah when she first meets Magnus. Of course, there's the obvious impact of him seeing her but only so breifly, as well as introducing the conflict between her and the rest of Hall 19. But that could have easily been accomplished by almost any animal. The choice of a cheetah being implicated implies two qualities of Alex that will be recurrent throughout the two books she's in: 1. She has a tendency to run away, as we'll later learn when she describes how she became homeless, and 2. To Magnus, she's elusive. She can't be caught or held down. The event that shows this so transparently is how Alex refuses to define their relationship at the end of the series, despite it clearly surpassing the normal bounds of friendship.

But the cheetah isn't the animal Alex is in the form of when Magnus first gets a good look at her; she's a weasel. Weasel's bring up all kinds of connotations: ferocity, slickness, a lack of charm. When we want to describe someone as an untrustworthy person, we call them a weasel. RR had Alex take this form to play up her comrades' feeling of distrust towards her. She could be a double-crosser. But paradoxically, the up-front and vicious mannerisms of a weasel also have a transperency. She does not try appealing to her Hallmate's sense of goodwill because she doesn't have anything to gain from it. So even though there is the implication that she might be an antagonist, there's also evidence from her actions and mannerisms that she isn't. The weasel's long and skinny frame also allow for a smooth transition into Alex's actual body, which is convenient.

As Alex transforms into her usual human form, Magnus describes her as "a regular human teen, long and lanky, with a swirl of dyed green hair, black at the roots, like a plug of weeds pulled out of a lawn" (pg. 50). That simile at the end is of particular interest. Let's compare it to another time Magnus describes Alex's hair, in Ship of the Dead: "Her hair had started to grow out, the black roots making her look even more imposing, like a lion with a healthy mane" (pg. 136). By contrasting these two different examples, we can see the development of Magnus and Alex's relationship. The first time he sees her, he thinks of her hair as something nasty— note the word choice "weeds." Later on, though, he becomes more affectionate towards her, more complentary. The immedient negative reaction is less his actual impression, though, and more the reaction he expected to have based on everyone else's reaction to Alex.

Her clothes are equally as interesting; as Magnus describes it, Alex wears "battered rose high-tops, skinny lime green corduroy pants, a pink-and-green argyle sweater-vest over a white tee, and another pink cashmere sweather wrapped around the waist like a kilt" (pg. 50). Aside from the obvious fact that this outfit is a) bizzare, b) fire, and c) Alex's signature colors, which add a layer of style to what can otherwise be a somewhat boring series fashion-wise (excuse me, Blitz), the outfit reveals a crucial facet of Alex's backstory in a kind of subtle way. These are expensive clothes, like the Stella McCartney dress in Alex's room. Note the mention of fabrics (corduroy, cashmere) and patterns (argyle). These indicate wealth and status. Even the high-tops; shoes like that don't come cheap. But I'd like to return to the very first word of the section: "battered." Alex's wardrobe show-cases a proximity to wealth, but also shows that that proximity has been strained and lengthened, maybe for an extended period of time. Alex dresses like a rich person, but she isn't one. Least, not anymore.

The last word of that outfit-introduction is also of interest: "kilt." At the current moment, Magnus thinks that Alex is male. No one has indicated otherwise to him. Everyone has been referring to Alex with he/him pronouns. Samirah called Alex her "brother" (pg. 29). His first thought in seeing what he at first perceives as a guy with a jacket wrapped around the waist is That looks like a kilt. This thought tells us about Magnus: despite being open and accepting, he still has some lingering notions of gender conformity from his years in wider American society.

Magnus also indicates that the outfit "reminded me of a jester's motley, or the coloration of a venomous animal warning the whole world" (pg. 50). This is rather self-explanatory, but it's still worth noting that Magnus sees the outfit as something bizzare, strange, and even perhaps comical. This places Alex at odds with the other people Magnus has met. It also reveals that Magnus has zero fashion sense. But we already knew that.

After finishing up staring at the ensemble, Magnus finally gets around to actually looking Alex in the face. First Magnus says that he "forgot how to breathe" (pg. 50), which, yeah, relatable. This is justifed by saying that Alex has the same face as Loki, but the very same sentence that asserts that that's the case also suggests an alternative reason: Alex has "the same unearthly beauty" as her father. Here we can see the beginnings of Magnus's attraction to Alex, though at this point, he still has a lot of internalized homophobia. Though there's certainly some truth in that Magnus was unnerved by Alex's resemblance to Loki, the idea that Magnus pointed out that Alex was pretty without elaborating on that thought until about a chapter later— after he was informed that Alex was presently a girl— can tell us a lot about how Magnus perceives sex and beauty.

Of course, Alex's eyes are given special attention. She has cool eyes; what can I say? But I'd like to focus in on how Magnus here depicts Alex's heterochromia as "completely unnerving" (pg. 50). Again, let's contrast this with how he describes them after getting to know Alex a little better in Ship of the Dead. In Chapter 3, Magnus describes "[Alex's] dark brown eye and his amber eye like mismatched moons cresting the horizon" (pg. 25). Once again, this shows the development of their relationship— but this time, it's in a much more personal way. Eyes are the windows to the soul; they are culturally important and biologically important in inter-personal connections. In you look into someone's eyes, you're giving them your full attention, and you're implying a kind of closeness. The way that Magnus describes Alex's eyes in the second passage is downright intimate. At this point, he is in love with Alex, and it is clear when contrasting the two descriptions.

As my last point, I'd like to discuss Alex's first words on page: "'Point that rifle somewhere else, or I will wrap it around your neck like a bow tie'" (pg. 51). First of all, Alex saying this with a "perfect white smile" (pg. 51) on his face implies that she is used to being threatened. She is not afraid of being shot; she counters the promise of an attack with a promise of her own. This pleads the question: why is Alex accustomed to violence? What events of her past or qualities of her life have brought her to this point? The threat itself reveals Alex's trauma from being genderfluid in a society with rigid gender norms, as well as her antagonistic relationship with her father. Magnus makes a comment that Alex "might actually know how to tie a bow tie, which was kind scary arcane knowledge" (pg. 51). Like Alex's wardrobe, the idea that she may have experience in high-class fashion also implies her former status as a rich kid.

I could go on. I could break apart Alex saying "'Pleased to meet you all, I guess'" (pg. 51). There is a wealth of information in this short page span that tells us things about Alex Fierro in the present moment, quietly demonstrates things about her past, and characterizes the narrator Magnus Chase. This passage is also effective in hindsight in marking the progress of Magnus and Alex's relationship.

But I'd like to take a step back and look at not the pieces, but the whole picture. Alex Fierro gets a full page of pure description— her outfit, her face— and about a chapter of introduction. This comes after several chapters of build-up. Alex Fierro is an important character you need to keep your eyes on. Alex Fierro is emotionally significant to the main character, Magnus Chase. Alex Fierro is one of the most developed and well-rounded characters that Rick Riordan has ever written— heck, she's one of the best characters in middle-grade books period. The extended emphasis on her and her alone tells us exactly what role she's going to play in this story: she's the star.

[dancingdimitri]

Well, it’s officially been a year. On March 23, 2020, I unboxed the secondhand Switch we had obtained by some incredible stroke of luck, solely for the purpose of playing Fire Emblem Three Houses, and started my first ever playthrough--Blue Lions route, of course--which I affectionately dubbed “Dimitripocalypse.” I chose this name because immediately prior to actually playing the game, I was aware of several facts:

- I was somehow already in love with Dimitri. - The Blue Lions story was both 1) centered on Dimitri, and 2) tragic. - I do not handle tragedies well.

(spoilers following, obviously. And lots of introspection.)

I knew about Three Houses since its release, but waited until many months later to actually play it for a few reasons: we (“we” meaning myself and my twin, Aki) didn’t yet possess a Switch; getting our hands on a system, plus the game, was an investment of several hundred dollars; there were no Switch games other than Three Houses we had significant interest in playing at the time, and besides, we were already plenty occupied with Fire Emblem Fates and the multitude of older games keeping us entertained on our outdated handheld systems. Our original plan was to buy a Switch for our birthday in May of the year following the release of Three Houses. Once the news of an impending lockdown started to spread, though, it became apparent that if we were going to get a Switch any time in the foreseeable future, that time was now. Our in-person shopping was mostly fruitless--no Switch, but we got our copy of the game while we were out (we like our physical copies)--but by some miracle we managed to find a previously used system for sale online: in retrospect, probably one of the last ones to be sold for a very long time after that.

By restraining myself from actively seeking out fanmade content, I managed to avoid significant spoilers for Three Houses. Inevitably, though, as months passed after the game’s release, I absorbed tidbits of knowledge that happened to roll by on my social media feed. I probably learned about the general concept and organization of the game (for example, obviously, the fact that there were three houses; more specifically, that it was a tragic story, and there was a timeskip somewhere in the middle), and the names of a few characters, but my recollections of my initial phases of information osmosis are fuzzy at best by now. My earliest memory of having a cohesive thought about anything in the game was sometime around September of 2019, when I happened upon Dimitri’s post-timeskip portrait. Immediately upon setting eyes on it, my heart went: He’s the one.

I still haven’t figured out what my heart does or how it works in such tight coordination with my eyeballs, but I have this tendency to abruptly fixate on one character in a given series, thereby selecting my single, immutable favorite character for that series. Yet, even as I subconsciously judge these characters based purely on appearance, when you also factor in aspects like personality and backstory, which I inevitably learn later, I somehow manage to also have a very consistent and predictable “type.” This was exactly what happened with Dimitri. Granted, it took me until February 2020 to form a significant emotional attachment to him, to the point where I was thinking about him constantly, but I never doubted from the beginning that it was Dimitri who would be the source of my “brainrot.”

I always wonder how things might have been different if I didn’t know about Dimitri beforehand: would I still have picked the Blue Lions house, solely because blue is my favorite color? Would Dimitri still have drawn me in through his many characteristic charms? Or would I have picked a different route, a different favorite character? How many things would be the same as they are today? But then I remember one of my favorite passages from what has been my favorite manga since my adolescence: [There’s] no point in thinking about the things I could have done, because there’s no guarantee that any choice is the right one. Alas, the timeline that exists right now is the only one that I know for certain, so it’s the only one I can discuss at length.

Sometime in the months that passed between finding that portrait and the beginning of lockdown, my knowledge of Three Houses had grown more cohesive, as vague as it still was. I knew that Dimitri was a tragic character who, due to some sort of traumatic events earlier in the story, became significantly more emotionally troubled after the timeskip. Looking back, I think this ended up being just the right amount of knowledge to have about the game before I started playing, because at any given point I had the faintest idea of where the story might be going, but no clue whatsoever about how it got there, and, perhaps most importantly, I still did not know how it ended. Nevertheless, another notable reason I hesitated for so long to play Three Houses was because I knew I was faint of heart and not adept at coping emotionally with even fictional tragedy; knowing what I did about Dimitri, I assumed playing Three Houses would leave me in a significantly worse emotional state than I had before playing the game. (I already struggled with generalized anxiety, a stressful family life, and recurring nightmares.)

Fortunately, I was very wrong. Even so, with no way of knowing this at the time, I figured that a lockdown would be the perfect time to start my playthrough. I was temporarily furloughed from my day job for the foreseeable future and obviously had no plans to go anywhere or do anything, so if I was going to get emotionally wrecked and needed significant time to recover, I might as well do so while I was stuck at home anyway.

(Side note: we could have gotten a Switch Lite with much less hassle if we wanted to, but we opted against it because we wanted to utilize the large television we had in our living room at the time. This ended up being an excellent decision. Second side note: it took me a few days to figure out there was a button on the system itself for taking screenshots, but I’m too sentimental to delete my lower-quality phone pictures.)

On the first evening after dinner I played for only about 45 minutes, enough to select my house. I ended up restricting myself to playing only in the mornings after that, because I lost practically all of my sleep to speculating. I primarily remember wondering about the deeper aspects of Dimitri’s character--what kind of person was he, really? I wrote an unnecessarily detailed paragraph about all of my guesses, based solely on his dialogue up to that (very early) point in the game, synthesized with things I knew about myself. I supposed, with the reservation that these were just wild guesses, that he might be very much like me. Every last one of my guesses turned out correct.

I experienced the story roughly one chapter at a time in two- to three-hour sittings, to allow myself ample time for emotional processing. I figured I might need it, and again, I was right.

As they say, the rest is history. Writing out all of the impressions I recall from Dimitripocalypse would make this post more needlessly long than it already is, and you can gather most of those from my regular posts, anyway. For the sake of as much brevity as I can muster, I’ll skip to the most important conclusion: I’m so glad I played this game.

Again, things could have easily turned out much differently. I very nearly stopped playing the game entirely after Dimitri’s sudden outburst at Remire Village gave me a panic attack so awful that I struggled to manipulate the controllers because my hands were trembling so badly. (I would have quit then and there, but I didn’t realize what was happening until after the fact.) But, after having Aki look up the ending to the route to confirm that it was indeed happy (for Dimitri, anyway--an important distinction), I persisted, also keeping in mind another favorite quote: something about the importance of continuously making an effort to understanding someone you love, even though not understanding them is “the greatest fear.” In retrospect, with how Dimitri’s character arc continued to develop, putting in the effort to reach that understanding at that specific point in the game saved my butt and made the vast majority of what happened later much, MUCH less of an emotional slap in the face. And with how the story progressed, I needed as much free cognitive space for emotional processing as I could get. The post-timeskip reunion with Dimitri led to my first good, cathartic crying session that I could remember in probably seven years. If I remember correctly, think it lasted a total of an hour and a half.

Even with that in mind, or maybe because of it, Dimitri’s renewal halfway through the second part was the single most cathartic moment I can recall ever experiencing. With how hopelessly attached I already was to Dimitri even before knowing the grisly details of his upbringing, the development of his story felt quite literally like something chipping away at my soul. Dimitri’s second peripeteia, then, wherein he realizes his past mistakes and decides to change for the better, evoked the sensation of my soul gently being reassembled, each broken shard softly being set perfectly back into place. I’m still not entirely why a fictional story felt so much more therapeutic than any therapy I had ever gotten up until that point. Somehow, though, just by experiencing that moment, I no longer carried with me a background-noise level of emotional anguish that had, at some point, become my default state.

With all of that said, I’m not entirely sure how to start wrapping this up.

It’s been a year since I took my first fateful step into the world of Fire Emblem Three Houses. There was no way of knowing where the steps after that would take me, even if I did predict a few aspects of the story. I’m certainly happy I was wrong thinking that I would end the game in a worse place than I started. Now I’m standing here looking back, one year later, amazed at how all of these experiences culminated into the present I know today.

I was always entertained by how, when you select which house to lead at the very beginning of the game, Rhea responds with “Your heart has made its choice.” My reply is always: “Yes... yes, it certainly has.” Maybe in some alternate timeline, it is true that this path was a choice I consciously made for myself. But in my current reality, that is not the case. Somehow, my heart makes its own choices independent of the thoughts in my head, and this particular choice is just one river joining the flow of time that continues to sweep me along.

My recurring nightmares never stopped entirely, but they significantly declined in frequency and severity. Moreover, for once, I even recalled a few good dreams I had: those, for me, are rare. I can count on one hand the number of such dreams in which Dimitri unquestionably appeared. One in particular sticks out in my memory to this day. I think of it whenever I have to negotiate with my estranged mother and I resort to perhaps unnecessarily diplomatic, emotionally distant and yet affable language; when I converse with someone about  how it is crucial to discern when to change what is unacceptable and when to simply accept it anyway, even if--especially if--when the thing in question is something about yourself; when I keep in mind that, as much as I’d like to care for others until all of their needs and wants are met, because it brings me joy to see them happy as much as it pains me to see them hurt, there are times when I have to care for myself first, or else I will have none of myself to give.

Oddly, or perhaps, just as it should be, this dream did start out more like a nightmare. I recall feeling very anxious. But the difference this time was that Dimitri was there. Though I seldom experience such vivid sensations in dreams that I still remember them after I wake up, this time, the physical contact our bodies made as we embraced felt real.

“Dimitri,” I murmured, though I didn’t know why, “I’m so scared.”

His response, in perfect tune with the sound of his voice in the game:

“It’s all right. I’m here. Even when I’m not by your side, I’ll always be with you.”

[thotsforvillainrights]

~Pivitol~

Summary: Today is a very special day unlike the others because today Kai has taken some initiative to introduce you to his father figure, Pops! Along the way, you end up learning even more about Kai’s past as well. 

Chapter: 9

Warnings: None

“Somebody is looking more eager these days, eh?” Yuko teased you and brought you back to reality before you drifted too far away from it. “Huh, wha?! Haha, nah! I’m just waiting on the time to finally pass so I can clock out. Got some important stuff to do.” Yuko smirked as you fumbled with some paper on your desk. “More like some ONE important to do.” She playfully elbowed your side and you cringed. “Ugh, what do you want huh? You want me to admit you’re right or...?” Yuko laughed at your semi-annoyed expression as she continued to type away at her keyboard. “Y/N it’s okay. I know you’ve been meeting up with the guy like every week. Lately we can all tell how happy you are to clock out. Even the boss thinks it’s cute. He calls it ‘young love syndrome’!” You rolled your eyes and smiled softly to yourself. It’s true after all; lately you’ve been so eager to see Kai that you get happy every time the clock indicated the end of your shift. Wednesdays were no different either! This was especially true with the show you two have been following looping around to it’s season finale. Your mind began to drift off again as you wondered what you two could possibly do once the show ended for the season. Would Kai still have fun with you when there were no strings attached? You shook your head at the fleeting worry and smiled when the clock hit 5 p.m. “Yes! Catch you later!” You rushed past Yuko, clocked out, and headed to the nearest train station to try and beat Kai to your apartment. Meanwhile the young head of the Hassaikai was preparing to make today rather special on his account. In other words, today was like a right of passage for you into his life. Date after date and he wasn’t fully confident on calling you his girlfriend/boyfriend/partner, but now would be the final test to this. Yes today was the day he would finally introduce you to his father figure...

“Pops!” Kai called out to the man as he trailed the halls of the house (aka the upper base of the Hassaikai). “Hmm?” Pops peeked his head innocently from around the corner, holding back a smile. Kai sighed and approached him, watching as the old man fully rounded the corner to face him with a now large smile. “Listen, please don’t make a single act of trouble upon me today okay? This is very important to me and I don’t need you embarrassing me alright?” Pops rolled his eyes and continued to walk past Chisaki as he headed to the kitchen. “Oh please my boy, I’m not a child so you don’t need to speak to me like one. Besides, I’m eager to meet dear y/n, so you needn’t worry about me scaring her/him/them away okay?” Pops reassured Kai while he began to brew some fresh tea and bake something delicious to have when you arrive. Kai sighed in relief before heading out to his car and leaving to pick you up. When he finally arrived at your apartment, you had just finished putting comfy clothes on when you heard a familiar 3 knocks at your door indicating his presence. A flooding warmth and happiness burst in your chest as you took long strides to quickly get to the door and open it. He was smiling under that black medical mask. You could tell by now after being with him for a while. His eyes always seemed to sparkle when he smiled. “Good evening y/n, I trust work went well?” He asked you...he wanted to hug you so badly and you felt the same, but kept your distance to respect his germaphobia. “Oh yeah! It was boring but I’m glad to see you. Anyway, come in and I’ll get the episode started.” You were about turn around when suddenly Kai cleared his throat and chuckled a bit. “No Angel, I actually have somewhere to take you this evening if that’s alright. We can always catch the replay of the missed episode later on if you want. Come with me?” 

“Angel?”

...shit... “Oh, did I say that? I apologize, I just...I was t-th-thinking...I...”

You chuckled and rolled your eyes. “It’s okay Kai. You let me call you by your real name rather than your nickname so I think it’s only fair you call me by what you want to. Anyway, where are you taking me?” You asked sweetly, trying to ignore the butterflies welling up in your tummy. He cleared his throat and adjusted his mask to hide the light blush creeping up. “I have someone I want you to meet.” You nodded, grabbed your phone, and headed to his car. “Oohhh this is nice!” You raved once inside of the luxury vehicle. “Thank you. Take a little time to look around if you wish. It also has Bluetooth capabilities so you can use the radio.” He offered as he started to drive. You had no patience to fiddle with the screen so you opted out for the Aux cord method. You opened the glove-box in search of a cord and out fell a tiny foil package. You gasped when you flipped it over and read the words ‘Condom’ out-loud. Kai almost slammed on the breaks. “Kai? Is this what you had planned for me all along? I had no idea you were such a naughty man.” You teased him and watched in amusement as his face lit up cherry red. “No, I swear it! It’s just...Damn that old man! That must be why he was smiling before I left earlier. Damn it, he snuck another one into my car again, UGH POPS!!!” 

“Wait, Pops? Like the man you told me about 2 weeks ago when we were watching TV? You’re dad kinda? Kai is that who you wanted me to meet today? Oh no! I’m not ready! I wore these comfy clothes because I thought you were gonna finally introduce me to your friends that were with you the first day we met. I had no idea you were bringing me to meet your dad! Oh God, I’m a mess too!” You started to panic when suddenly Kai reached over and laid a gentle hand on your leg...he was touching you...”Y/N, it’s okay. I promise you need not worry about Pops opinion of you because he already loves you. I’m the one that should be worried. That old man is on a constant mission to kill me from embarrassment, so please don’t encourage him. Also, get rid of that wretched thing.” You laughed at his words and placed the condom in the mini trash bag that hung on the back of your seat. In no time at all you had arrived upon the base. All of your worries dashed away when you saw how happy the elder was to meet you. He pulled you tightly into a hug and spoke loudly in excitement. “There you are! The only person that could seem to steer my boy in the right direction! Welcome my dear, make yourself at home! I’ll return shortly with some snacks and drinks.” And then Pops shuffled quickly and happily into the kitchen, leaving you and Kai standing in the living room alone. You began to check out the photos scattered about the walls and Kai sighed. “and so it begins...” He spoke under his breath as you started to giggle at a photo of him as a child standing next to Pops. “Oh my God Kai, you look so grumpy compared to him. What was wrong? Did you miss nap time, cutie?” You teased him and he groaned. Suddenly you heard Pops voice from behind you. “Ah I see you’ve found one of his childhood pictures. I have so many more if you wish to see them!” You immediately turned around and smiled widely at the elder. 

“Yes...YES PLEASE.” Pops nodded and gently placed the tray down, leaving the cookies and tea between you and a blushing Kai. Then he rushed off to his room so he could dig out some of Kai’s ‘baby’ photos. “Damn it. This is what I was talking about.” Kai grumbled as he took a seat next to you on the couch and mentally prepared himself for the embarrassment to come. Pops returned with a dusty album and took a seat on the other side of you, leaving you in the middle of the couch. You and Pops proceeded to look at baby/child/teen Kai for at least an hour or so. “This one right here is one of the earliest pictures of Chisaki I have. It was donated to me by the orphanage that I adopted him from.” You nodded in awe at the chubby cheeked baby with the large golden eyes on the page. “Pops, had you always wanted a child? Is that why you adopted Kai?” Pops smiled and ruffled your hair (if not applicable towards reader, than he just rubbed your head instead). “No my dear. I had a daughter in my younger days before my wife and I divorced. Shortly after, my ex wife passed away from illness. My daughter cut ties with me, but I always wonder where she might be nowadays. I actually did not mean to adopt Chisaki on purpose. I came across the boy on a hot summer day when he was walking alongside the road, probably on his way back from a store or something. He was a little dirty, and seemed to be so troubled. I still remember the feeble voice he used when I asked him his name. He had no where to go, so I took the boy into my arms and under my wing. Of course I hadn’t known he’s cause so much trouble in his teen years.” Pops playfully glared at Kai, making the young head sigh in annoyance. “Was he a trouble maker?” You pressed on, smiling at the way Kai groaned on the other end of the couch.

“Was he a trouble maker? HA! More than I would’ve ever expected. The boy was constantly in fist fights back to back. Not to mention the way he always seemed to think dealing drugs behind my back would bring our organization from the shadows.” You peeked at Kai and noticed his uncomfortable shift. “Y/N my dear, had you not come along who knows what the boy might’ve ended up doing. I know he’s told you about his work here by now, yes?” Pops asked you and you nodded. About a week ago Kai came clean about his affiliations during a date between you two. You still remember how scared he looked and how worried he was that you might leave him behind. “I like him so much, so none of this stuff bothers me. I’m glad to have played a hand at the change in his personality. I really mean that.” You turned to smile sweetly at him and his eyes widened for a bit before getting brave and reaching out to touch your cheek...the second time today he touched you...”Oh well I think I’ll leave you two kids alone for now.” Pops winked and left in a heartbeat. “I love him Kai. He is now my designated father as well.” You joked and Kai laughed lightly. “Anyway, gonna show me your room kind sir?” 

»—————————–———————————————————–✄

TIp Jar: https://cash.app/$YuTakeyama

[phoenixrisesoncemore]

I was tagged by @wangxianbunnydoodles (oh my, this is long and you might regret it; also I don’t follow instructions well 😉). I tend not to be very good at these things (sorry to anyone else who has tagged me in these kinds of things before—this is a rare event happening mostly because I wanna talk about Tolkien books and ships) but here goes:

Top 3 Ships

I don’t actively ship characters that often. I’m not sure why that is. I do enjoy reading fic with pairings either canon or not, but I don’t often go “all in” on ships in most narratives I consume. There are notable exceptions (more than three but these are the three most recent—I have no idea how to identify my top ships):

WangXian (CQL). This is surely obvious from the current state of my blog, right? I blame The Untamed and its impossibly tender, only-subtextual-by-a-hair’s-breadth romance. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a show express ultimate devotion, deep affection, true appreciation, complete understanding (eventually), and the sheer *necessity of the other* between two people quite like this one has. Hell, I don’t think I’ve ever seen two characters and desperately wanted them together and happy as much as I have these two, so bravo to the cast and crew for generating such second-hand devotion in me.

Silvergifting (Tolkien). This is all @thearrogantemu’s fault. I’d read some Silvergifting before I read These Gifts That You Have Given Me, mostly out of curiosity (some good stuff, too!), but I had never read any Tolkien fic that convinced me it was *true* (on many, many levels, though the ship level is the one pertinent to this post). In any canon-like universe this ship hurts, but in the Gifts universe it hurts the most; it hurts like Hell. It hurts in the way only razor-sharp, sorry-the-universe-works-this-way, oh-are-those-my-entrails-on-the-floor-I-didn’t-even-feel-the-knife tragedy can hurt. And it’s so convincing that it’s just...a fact now. Tolkien just forgot to tell us. So now I ship Silvergifting, but most deeply, specifically THAT Silvergifting. (Meanwhile, 14 year old me continues to look at *significantly* older me like I’m insane.)

ZeLink (Legend of Zelda). Deep down I’m still 12 years old and no amount of fine lines and wrinkles is going to change that. When is Breath of the Wild 2 coming out?

Last Song

I listen to soundtracks and bombastic and dramatic orchestral pieces much more often than I listen to what people mean when they say “songs,” and a significant chunk of the “songs” I listen to are from musicals/operas.

Earlier today it was Hanz Zimmer’s soundtrack to Dark Phoenix (don’t start me up on the continuing disappointment that Phoenix adaptations continue to be to me—you don’t want to hear it; even I don’t want to hear it).

Before that it was Barbra Streisand’s The Broadway Album. (I prefer her outer space cover of “Somewhere” to the actual thing. Fight me.)

Before that it was Carmina Burana (One of my favorite things ever was when we went to a live performance of Carmina Burana and a boy who couldn’t have been more than 7 years old sat in the aisle in front of us and head-banged enthusiastically through “O Fortuna.” It was so metal. You go, kid. You get it.).

Before that it was a splattering of Billy Joel hits with emphasis on “2000 Years”, “River of Dreams”, “Scenes from an Italian Restaurant”, “The Stranger”, and “Only the Good Die Young” (thanks to that outstanding WangXian interpretation!).

Of course the soundtracks to The Untamed/CQL have been on repeat for weeks around here, particularly every single iteration of “WuJi” and the flute-heavy instrumental pieces (man, those are good!).

Not long ago I had Sarah Brightman’s covers of “Figlio Perduto” from La Luna and “Glosoli” and “One Day Like This” from Dreamchaser burning through my iPhone battery (yes, I like popera).

Enya, and especially Shepherd Moons and The Track Which Shall Not Be Named has been on repeat a lot.

Last Movie

I don’t sit down to watch movies that often any more. It just takes too much stillness and undivided attention and more resistance to multi-tasking than I have. The actual last movie that I watched (in a “have it on on another screen while I work” kind of way) was Raiders of the Lost Ark, which, of course, I’ve seen umpteen times and which followed a similar rewatch of the Back to the Future trilogy. The last movie I watched completely without distraction was Book Smart; I don’t watch comedies very often, but I really enjoyed it in an “OMG, I can totally relate to this” kind of way (except for the class president thing—that would have required that I interact with other people my own age and also not be homeschooled). Before that I think it was the Tolkien biopic. Man, I still haven’t written anything about that.

Currently Reading (in order of when I started them)

Oh dear.

The Familiar: part 1, Mark Z Danielewski. *sigh* For as much as I think Danielewski is brilliant and House of Leaves is one of my favorite books ever, I’ve just not been able to get into much of his other work. It’s universally a time and energy investment to penetrate and puzzle through, and I just don’t have as much of that as I used to. House of Leaves makes that investment worth it from early on and is absolutely a page-turner once you settle in, but other than The Fifty Year Sword I’ve just not been able to get into the rest of his work. The Familiar: part 1 is supposed to be the first in a 26 part series which is currently halted at part 4, I think. Without a guarantee of all parts ever being published, I don’t think I’m ready to invest more time into part 1 and may end up abandoning it, unfortunately.

History of The Hobbit, Douglas Anderson. Anderson did what Christopher didn’t and gave The Hobbit the HoMe treatment (if a bit less literal and opaque in format). It’s fascinating (I mean, there’s the Beren and Luthien name drop you were not expecting right there in the first draft), but reading essentially the same passages with only small changes over and over can be a slog, so reading it has been an ongoing project for over a year now.

Splintered Light: Logos and Language in Tolkien’s World, Verlyn Fleiger. This is Fleiger’s look at Tolkien’s Middle-earth in light of his association with Owen Barfield. Particularly, she is examining Tolkien’s work in conjunction with Barfield’s Poetic Diction and his thoughts on language and meaning. I have not read Poetic Diction, but I probably will now since it apparently addresses language formation as related to the origin of human consciousness which is SO up my alley.

New Seeds of Contemplation, Thomas Merton. My late sister-in-law had a masters in theology from Notre Dame and became a huge Merton fan. Meanwhile, my best friend actually spent a weekend retreat at The Abbey of Gethsemani. Between hearing about him from the two of them, I developed an interest in Merton. I happened to read “Moral Theology of the Devil” a couple of years ago. It was one of the most illuminating theological things I have read and deeply inspired my own Tolkien fic-writing (let’s just say the progress there is otherwise slow). This book is a collection of pieces which happens to contain that piece, and I’ve been skipping around through it for a while now.

The Lord of the Rings reread (Tolkien, obviously). I hate this, but I am so deep in so many critical Tolkien books that I’ve not had the chance to really sit down and relax into my reread for months and months and will likely just end up starting over. Plus I want to read it concurrently with the next entry in this list and the next entry is taking longer to get through because of its format. That entry being:

The Lord of the the Rings: A Reader’s Companion, Hammond and Scull. This is a treasure trove of data and insights for those really wanting to dig critically-historically into The Lord of the Rings on a chapter-by-chapter, passage-by-passage basis. The only issue with it is that jumping back and forth between the two (as you have to: this is a reference book) tends to kill the mood of The Lord of the Rings when read as it’s meant to be read: for enjoyment!

The Power of Limits: Proportional Harmonies in Nature, Art, and Architecture, Gyorgy Doczi. This has been an ongoing read here and there since Christmas, especially as I work on two personal projects.

The Gospel in a Pluralist Society, Lesslie Newbigin. To be honest I don’t think I am going to finish this one. I like a few of the things he says, things I think are truthful and which need to be confronted in American Christian culture in particular, but it’s just too much Calvin for my taste, too many assumptions I do not share being the heretic that I am, and I spend too much time anger-notating about theology to read it with grace.

In Full Measure I Return to You, thearrogantemu. This is a reread of the (relatively) happy AU fic for my most favoritest Tolkien fic (Gifts), but I’ve put my reread on hold while I finish one of the two projects, after which I am diving in and screw the rest of this list for the time being.

Food Craving

Sushi. My kingdom for some good sushi. I’ve only had sushi once since we got back from NY and while it was the best sushi I have had locally IT WAS NOT OMAKASE AT SUSHI NOZ. It also didn’t require a personal loan to pay for, but *shrug* I’m spoiled now and will forever crave what I can no longer have.

People I’d Like To Get To Know Better

I hate tagging people in these things because I’m awkward and shy and do them so rarely myself that it feels hypocritical for me to ask it of others. That being said: if you’re a follower of my blog and you want to do this, please do! And please tag me! I’d love to get to know more about you 😊.

[perditaalottachocolate-blog]

Spring Fever (17)

@adrinetteapril 2019 story

Chapter: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | art | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | art |  art  | 18 | 19 | 20 |

AO3 / fanfiction.net

A huge thank you to @goblin-alchemist for betareading this story! And thank you all for reading, liking, reblogging and for the comments. You make me very happy! <3

***

Chapter 17. Nightmare

In which Adrien is amazed

If Adrien had known her plan was to confront Nemesis and get attacked, he would never have agreed. This was by far the bravest and most reckless thing he’d seen Marinette attempt. Without batting an eyelash, with her chin high up, she faced the villain. The scene would feed Adrien's nightmares for years. His blood ran cold as he watched the love of his life challenging Nemesis.

'If you’re so sure I’m trying to use Adrien, why don’t you check it yourself?’ Marinette inquired. 'Is that because you’re afraid I’m telling the truth?’

'You’re not telling the truth,’ the villain shrugged, malicious grin on her marble face. 'See, I’ve been in this business all my life. I’ve seen it happening tens of times, I’ve heard of hundreds more. I know how it works.’

'You don’t know me.’

'Please, have you looked at yourself?’ Nemesis snorted out a laugh. 'What do you have that I don’t? What a girl like you could possibly offer to someone like Adrien?’

Marinette seemed to consider this for a moment. 'Talent?’ She offered. 'Honest friendship? Genuine affection? Baked goods? A killer partner in video games?’

Adrien saw a shadow of a smirk dancing on her lips. He couldn’t help but to think he liked this side of her very much and he wished he’d see it more often. Or maybe he just had a thing for strong women? She was playing with fire, demonstrating iron-clad confidence, a devil-may-care attitude and sass he had no idea she was capable of, clearly trying to vex Nemesis into making a mistake. And it looked as if her plan was working.

The akuma cackled. 'Baked goods?’ She parotted. 'Genuine affection? I think I’m going to give you what you’ve asked for, girl,’ she brandished the whip.

That was his cue. Adrien tensed, ready to intercept the weapon. He thought Marinette wanted to focus Nemesis’ attention so that he could sneak his way to her. He was wrong.

‘Show me what you got,’ the love of his life called out. She opened her arms, waiting for the crack. 

She didn’t have to wait long. With a banshee scream the akuma tugged at the whip. Marinette stared at her challengingly, not budging even one bit. The whip made contact with her skin. The crack was deafening in the narrow space of the underpass, masking Adrien’s frantic steps as he launched himself in their direction. Terrified he cast a look at his friend.

Marinette was still standing in her place, perfectly fine and unmarbleized. She raised a brow. ‘Your turn,’ she murmured.

Nemesis sent her a confused look. It only took a tiny fraction of a second and Adrien ripped the weapon out of her unresisting hand. Not thinking twice he threw it to Marinette, who caught it expertly and brandished it as if she’d been dealing with ropes her whole life.

‘Let’s see what you’re made of,’ she said.

Another crack thundered over the passage accompanied by Nemesis' cry of protest, both leaving an unpleasant ringing in Adrien’s ears. 

The space was suddenly short of villains. A stone statue appeared where Nemesis had been standing mere seconds ago. An outstretched hand, reaching for the whip. Lips opened in a silent shriek. Eyes blown wide and hair thrown back. Adrien was sure this was the least flattering image of Giselle he'd ever seen. 

Marinette limped to her. She weighed the weapon in her palm. 

'It's still dangerous, but if I break it and set the butterfly free while Ladybug is not here to purify it…,' she said.

Adrien shivered. 'The last thing this city needs is an army of Nemeses.'

'Despair not, civilians, who I see for the first time in my eternal life,' a familiar voice sounded from somewhere near the statue’s head. 'The cavalry has arrived! Well, metaphorically speaking.' 

Plagg's head popped from behind Nemesis' stone cold shoulder. Adrien suppressed a groan, while Marinette squeaked adorably in surprise.

'Sorry,' the kwami's ears dropped apologetically. 'I didn't mean to startle you.'

'What- who are you?'

Plagg tapped his nose. 'I'm Chat Noir's boss,' he announced with a toothy grin.

'Don't you mean "assistant"?' Adrien drawled. He had no idea why his kwami decided to show up to a civilian. Two civilians technically.

Marinette actually giggled at that, trying in vain to hide a smile.

The sprite sent him a flat look. 'I may be small in size, but I'm not some Santa's little helper,' he replied acidly. 'Anyway I'm here to offer my services as Chat Noir and Ladybug can't show up now,' he paid Marinette a deep bow.

'Your services?' The girl tilted her head, knitting her brows.

'I can relieve you of this cursed cargo,' he pointed at the whip, 'and take it to Ladybug for purification.'

'What are you going to do with it?' Adrien crossed his arms in front of his chest, his voice dripping with suspicion. First time he witnessed Plagg actually volunteering for anything.

The sprite looked between the two teens, then down at his belly and up at the ceiling. 

'You don't want to know,' he finally replied. 

'So you’ll get this to Ladybug?’ Marinette made sure. She passed him the whip.

'You bet,’ Plagg grinned. 'Cataclysm,’ he whispered and touched the weapon with a tip of his paw. The item turned to dust as the ground shook. A few cracks appeared where the whip lay on the ground, a few specks of dust fell from the ceiling. 

The akuma broke free. It fluttered its wings and took flight to sunlight. 

Plagg sighed. ‘Just think it tastes like camembert,’ he muttered barely audibly and leaped after the butterfly. Before Adrien could even ask what he wanted to do, the kwami swallowed the insect. He burped with an echo that should not be possible in such a small creature.

'Hey, since when can you-,’ Adrien started. 

Plagg sent him a warning look. 'I trust you two to keep quiet about this, okay? Now excuse me, but I have a Ladybug to catch.’ With one last grin he turned around and flew back into the metro.

Adrien watched until the kwami disappeared from sight. Marinette’s hiss of pain interrupted his plan to follow Plagg. 

‘Come on, I’ll help you,’ he offered, wrapping an arm around the girl’s shoulders and taking her weight. Once again he was stunned by her scent. He tried to ignore his spinning head and blood drumming in his ears. Ignoring the heat that ignited his skin proved to be more difficult.

‘Adrien, wait.’ Marinette stopped him. 

She put a hand on his chest. He wondered if she could feel the frantic beating of his heart.

‘F-for what?’ he stuttered, her proximity threatening to render him speechless. He squeezed his eyes shut and resolved to keeping his intakes of air in short, shallow breaths, not to get drunk on her essence. ‘Your leg is n-not going to get better until Ladybug finally arrives.’

‘The kiss,’ she simply said. ‘Before something or someone interrupts us again.’

‘The kiss,’ he echoed, the finality of it suddenly crashing on him. 

Adrien looked at her, for the first time in days seeing Marinette in an entirely new light. Not only was she a great classmate and a thoughtful friend. She was kind and accepting, loyal, sensitive and respectful. But also strong, determined, creative and resourceful. She was brave, fearless maybe, definitely selfless. 

And she loved him.

‘No, I- I can’t ask you to do that,’ he whispered. ‘I don’t want- Oh, this is a nightmare!’

‘A nightmare? Why?’ She frowned. ‘Don’t you want to break the curse?’

If she’d asked him that question the day before, he’d undoubtedly said yes. But now he was hesitant. Why didn’t he want her to kiss him? Why hadn’t he confessed the true nature of the curse earlier?

Because I don’t want this to end, he realized. I don’t want to stop loving her. Because I feel it in my bones I belong with her. Because she’s my soulmate. 

Was this the curse talking? Adrien no longer knew how he felt. Where did his original feelings end and the miraculous magic begin?

‘Adrien?’ 

‘Loving you… it’s not-,’ he murmured. ‘It’s the best thing that happened to me since-...,’ his hand went into his hair. He caught a fistful and tugged, hoping for the pain to give his mind back to him. ‘I love loving you,’ he ended lamely.

‘But you’re cursed,’ Marinette looked at him from under her long lashes, her gaze worried and kind. 

He could drown in her eyes. He wanted to be able to look into them every day. He wanted to worship her every day. The nausea and panic rose from the depths of his stomach.

‘That isn’t fair,’ she continued, unaware of his internal turmoil. ‘You need to - as you said - be your own man. You need to make your own choices, not have magic make those choices for you.’

‘I know.’

‘We need to do this,’ Marinette turned to face him. Adrien failed to remove the hand that rested on her shoulder. She blushed and smiled sweetly. ‘And I’m not saying that because I want a kiss from a cute boy.’

‘I know,’ he chuckled, despite his unease, blushing even more. ‘Just… let me have this…’ he ducked his head and pressed his forehead to hers. He wouldn’t have dared attempt such an intimate gesture, but he desperately wanted to savor those last moments. He wasn’t sure what he’d remember once the curse was removed. 

Marinette didn’t shy away, just like she hadn’t when they had been talking in her room. She leaned into him instead, wrapping her hands around his middle. ‘Whatever happens, you won’t lose me, Adrien. I promise.’

Each time Adrien thought she couldn’t be more perfect, she proved him wrong. How could she read him like an open book? How could she know him like this?

‘You’re wonderful, Marinette,’ he whispered, his voice cracking. ‘Thank you. For everything.’

She climbed to her toes and reached to his lips. The world fell still.

***

Author’s Note: If you like this story, please let me know!

[haberdashing]

The End Comes Near (2/?)

TMA AU where Jon isn’t entirely wrong when he asks if Martin is a ghost in episode 39.

on AO3

Chapter 1 / Chapter 2 / Chapter 3 / Chapter 4 / Chapter 5 / Chapter 6 / Chapter 7

Martin knew better than to assume that he was entirely out of harm’s way just because the worms weren’t actively going after him right this moment, but at the very least, it gave him a moment to take a few deep breaths (doing his best to ignore the pungent smell of the worm carcasses around him as he did so) and take stock of his current situation, much as the adrenaline in his system was urging him to pick a random direction and run before it was too late.

He was in the tunnels under the Archives. He still had the torch he’d gotten into the habit of carrying around, thankfully--and it hadn’t gone out when he’d dropped it in the fall, either, which was a small blessing, because this place was creepy enough without it being pitch black to boot--and his corkscrew, but not much else on hand. Jon and Tim were somewhere in the tunnels too, presumably, but he had no idea where besides “ahead of him”, and the way the previous passages had forked and curved as they had passed through left Martin convinced that such vague information was next to useless down here.

Martin took a brief moment to call out Jon and Tim’s names, on the off-chance that they were within earshot, might hear his call and return to his side.

No such luck, which wasn’t really much of a surprise. What was more of a surprise was that his cry didn’t even echo through the extended corridors of the tunnels, the quiet filling the space once more immediately after Martin ceased speaking. Vaguely disappointing, that, calling out into a nice big space like this and not even getting an echo out of the bargain.

His knee was, upon closer examination under the torchlight, not really that badly banged up. It was scraped, sure, a bit of blood in there, could probably use some peroxide and a few bandages when he was out of here, but hardly a serious wound. It hurt to walk on it, a small twinge of pain hitting him whenever he moved the knee, but what mattered right now was that he could walk on it, could probably even run on it if need be.

There were about half a dozen silvery worm carcasses forming a rough semi-circle around where Martin had fallen, which he still didn’t know what to make of, but right now he wasn’t especially tempted to look that gift horse in the mouth.

And Martin had no idea how to get from where he was back into the Archives proper.

He could run forwards, try to catch up with Jon and Tim, but even if they weren’t far ahead of him by now, odds were decent that he’d choose the wrong path the first or second or fifth time the tunnels branched off and he’d be no closer to them than he had been before.

He could try retracing his steps, but he hadn’t exactly been focusing on which turns he’d been making when running for his life, and trying to recreate them all could easily backfire as well.

Standing still had to be the worst option of all, though. The others might not guarantee that he’d get back out of the tunnels, but standing around doing nothing would ensure that he’d remain there, lost and alone and surrounded by worms both living and dead. Unless somebody came back for him, he supposed, but the odds of that were far lower than he wanted for something upon which his plan would rely.

After a bit of thinking and weighing his options, Martin decided to press forward, choosing which branch to take when he inevitably reached a fork in the road by just picking whichever direction felt right. Even as he implemented this plan, he could hear Jon in his head berating him for trusting what could be life-or-death decisions to his gut, but there was no clear way of logic-ing his way into figuring out where he was in relation to the Archives or anyone else, and he didn’t have any helpful tools for navigating like a map or a compass or even chalk to write on the walls with, so when it came down to it, Jon, going off a gut feeling couldn’t really be any worse than the alternative of going off of nothing at all.

The tunnels didn’t seem to change much, just stone walls stretching on and on. It was nigh-impossible to tell if he was getting closer to or further from the Archives, or even if he was just going in circles for hours on end. Martin tried to look for little things that would distinguish one bit of the tunnels from another, and there were a few--some had higher ceilings than others, some had stone walls that were more regular and brick-like while others appeared almost like natural rock formations--but even with these, it was impossible for Martin to make a mental map of the tunnels, or even to consistently tell whether he was in a part that he’d been in before. The only thing that really stood out was the set of stairs he found at one point, steep stone stairs leading downwards in a spiral that kept going until his torchlight gave way to darkness, but the last thing Martin wanted to do was descend further into the abyss, so those stairs weren’t really of much help to him except as a landmark that he only encountered the once.

The worms stopped showing up as frequently as they had been, appearing less and less until several minutes would pass between him spying a single one. This should have been a good thing. Martin knew that, logically, having less of the deadly supernatural flesh worms around was a good thing. But he had a pit in his stomach just the same, as he kept thinking that the worms were going after the Institute, so if there were no worms he must be far from the Institute now, far from getting back, far from getting out...

There was more dust, in this part of the corridors, and while there were fewer worms either alive or dead around there, Martin spotted more than one dead rat in the passages. There was other debris, too, things that were harder to explain away as natural--a few wine bottles, all empty, and what Martin would swear was a pack of mint imperials, even though that didn’t make sense, nobody knew about this place, let alone would sit around eating mint imperials in it...

Martin was trying to get back to where he had been, where there was less in the way of dust and more in the way of worms, even before he heard an ear-piercing, hideous scream ring out, saw only dead and shriveled worms on the ground from there on out, and knew Prentiss was dead and gone and the worm threat was well and truly over with.

Martin flung open the first door he saw, an unobtrusive thing sitting in the middle of the stone wall like it belonged there, and took a few steps forward without giving it a second thought. It felt right, it felt like he was getting somewhere, back to the Institute--or, or perhaps into some other building, given how long he’d been walking through the tunnels now, but he would take that at this point, would take a lot over continuing to wander aimlessly through the tunnels.

The door didn’t lead to the Institute, though, although the cassette tapes scattered about in thin cardboard boxes looked like the kind Jon was using in the Archives now; the dust covering everything in the small, square room made it clear that it wasn’t any kind of working space, and almost certainly hadn’t been touched for years before Martin trudged his way inside there. There wasn’t much to the room, really, besides those boxes of tapes and a plain wooden chair in the middle, upon which sat-

Somehow, Martin registered that the person sitting in the chair was Gertrude Robinson, missing former head of the Institute’s archives, a split second before registering that he was looking at a corpse, the gap between the two thoughts just long enough for him to form a half-baked speculation about her being a ghost before he spied the three gunshot wounds on her chests and realized that no, she was just plain dead, and not killed by some supernatural boogie monster, either.

The worms weren’t an issue anymore, sure, but somebody knew about these tunnels, somebody with a gun, somebody who had killed the previous head archivist, and who could say if that somebody was still on the loose...

Martin could feel his heart racing as he sprinted out of the room, desperate to get away from the dust and the tapes and the dead body of Gertrude Robinson.

[crushedbyhyperbole]

Promises - Chapter Three

A/N: I cried like a grieving widow when I wrote the previous chapter and this one sees Bucky running further from his feelings.  Guess we’ll see how well that works out for him XD

Warnings:  Angst and internal anguish, self reflection, and mentions of death in the family.

PROMISES MASTERLIST  |  MAIN MASTERLIST  |  MOBILE MASTERLIST

Belated Prologue Part 2 – Distance & Denial

As far as farewells go, it was horrific.  It was all he could do not to break down when Izzy had left him like that, so he just shut himself down and let himself be carried numbly through the process.

The flight was a couple of hours but it felt like mere minutes.  Bucky just stared out of the window, looking at the clouds below.  He didn’t really think of anything in particular, he’d already locked down his emotions so there was no point in dwelling on things.  The plane was full of recruits heading to Fort Leonard Wood, same as him, and he didn’t want anyone’s first impression of him to be a weeping mess.

The first couple of weeks were hard.  Not just the physical side, but the being alone, that was harrowing at first. Sure, he wasn’t really alone, he was never really alone but he was lonely.  Eleven years of being part of the Marvellous Three, always having them there with him, even if it was just at the end of the phone.  He didn’t know what it was exactly but something about this felt final.  Like when he got back, things would never be the same.

One night in the second week, Steve called him.  After all his training sessions and his evening meal, he’d settled into his bunk and stared up at the ceiling until his phone rang.

“How you settling in?” he asked.

“It’s not bad.”  Bucky said, making his Brooklyn accent thicker to make himself feel more at home.  “I mean it ain’t The Ritzz.”

They both chuckled. It was good to hear his voice, even though it had only been a couple of weeks since he’d last seen him, Bucky was grateful of the chance to talk to his best friend.

“Is Izzy there with you?” Bucky didn’t know if he hoped she was or hoped she wasn’t.

“Nah.”  Steve sighed.  “She’s been at home all day with her mom, baking something.”

Bucky’s heart felt heavy. He missed her and would have killed to hear her voice but at the same time he didn’t think he could talk to her and not tear up.

“Baking?  She doesn’t bake.”

“I know.”  Steve snorted.  “I think it’s meant to be a distraction.  The local church is having a coffee morning tomorrow.  I bet you’re sad you’re missing that.”

“Maybe I am.”  He laughed.

“Did you tell her? Before you left, I mean?”

“Tell her what?”

“That you’re in love with her.”

“C’mon Steve.”  Why was Steve breaking his balls like that? “I came here to get over that stuff.”

“So, you’re giving her up?”

“Is that what you called me for?  To find out if our pact was still in place or to see if the path was clear for you?”

“What if I did?  Would you care?”

Bucky sighed.  This was so fucked up.

“Nah, man.  Knock yourself out.”  He pinched the bridge of his nose hard enough to make it throb. “I kinda hoped you’d just called because you’re my best friend and wanted to check up on me.”

“I did.  I am.”  Steve said. “I just wanted to see where your head was at.”

“Sure, sure.”

“I don’t have feelings for Izzy.  You should know that.  Not anymore.”

“Then why ask?”

“I was hoping you’d at least be honest about it, just this once.”

Bucky couldn’t help but laugh bitterly.

“You didn’t see her, man.” Steve sounded far away.

“I saw enough.”  The memory of her kiss goodbye, her expression of anguish, her tears, the harrowing sob as she fled.  Oh, yeah, he saw plenty.

There was silence on the line which stretched a couple of seconds out into what felt like minutes.

“Hey, listen, I should go.” Bucky said.  “I don’t know whether I’m supposed to have open contact during training and someone just came in here so I’ll talk to you when I can, ok?  Tell Izzy I’m good, or tell her you didn’t talk to me, either way it won’t matter.”

They said their goodbyes and Bucky turned over on his bunk, hugging himself for comfort.  He was alone in the room and hated lying to Steve but he couldn’t carry on that conversation, it was too painful.  Sure, Izzy would miss him, just like he would miss Steve.  But for Bucky, being without Izzy was like having a hole in his chest that would never be filled.

She’d pretty much turned him down when he asked her out.  Pact be damned he’d went for it and failed.  He was her friend only and he had a lot of work to do to get himself to a point where he could be that friend for her, and not want anything else.  The distance between them now would help.

The next eight weeks were numbing.  Everything was so much more physical, and also mentally draining.  Up at dawn, drills, weapons training, endurance training, not to mention his additional engineer’s training.  He fell into his bunk each night exhausted.  It became easier and easier to forget.

He spoke to Izzy once and Steve twice in that time.  With both of them he just stuck to the facts; what training was like, what the food was like, what the people were like, the things he liked best and the things he hated. Izzy told him about college, she was doing well.  She didn’t tell him she was dating a guy from her class, he had to hear that from Steve. It hurt but not as much as it would have weeks ago.  He felt like he was growing.  Growing up, growing as a person, growing apart from his friends.

After that gruelling eight weeks, Bucky passed basic training and moved onto advanced training. It was tougher and more mentally taxing. He threw everything he had at it.

For Christmas he was able to go home.  He had one week leave but after seeing Izzy with Damien, smug bastard Damo, he cut his leave short and went back two days early.  His New Year would be spent how he meant to carry on the next year; by himself and working his ass off to rid himself of his unrequited feelings.

Bucky beasted his way through all the training he was required to pass, and became a full fledged combat engineer; a sapper.  He skipped his leave frequently and when he couldn’t he wouldn’t go home, he’d go somewhere else instead, anywhere he could that was different.  Once a month he gave himself a day where he’d get in contact with everyone, it was usually the first of every month.

His mom, Steve and Izzy always picked up the phone, like they were always waiting for him to call. Even when he was on mission, he’d find a way to call.  The routine kept him connected but distant enough that he could just focus on what he needed to do.

“I miss you.”  Izzy said to him when he called her on her birthday.

“I know.”  Was all he could say back.  He had to be distant, for his own benefit. Couldn’t’ let the feelings back in.

“Will you visit when you next get leave?  I feel like I haven’t seen you all year.”

It had in fact been one year, three months and nine days, but who was counting.

“I’ll try.”  Was all he offered.

And try he did, showing up at his Mom’s place for two days only.  It was just enough time to see everyone but not enough time to get comfortable again.  He decided he could manage more visits like those.

Missions in the middle east were crappy.  He hated it, not because of being shot at all the damn time, or even the shitty facilities. It was the heat.  He was always sweaty.  Sand and dirt got into all the equipment, into your boots and even into your ass crack.  The only good thing was the level of focus required of him.  He barely had time to think about meals let alone personal shit.

Bucky wrote his Mom often, knowing full well that she’d probably have Steve and Izzy over to read his letters out loud together.  They both still answered the phone, every single time he called.

By the end of his second year in the army, Bucky had himself a reputation as a bit of a badass.  There was nothing he couldn’t fix, no situation he couldn’t handle, flawless detonations, only successes on his sheet. They called him The Winter Soldier because he was ice cold, calculating and cool in all situations, no matter the heat or the heat.  Grandpa Joe would have been proud of him.

Joseph James Buchannan was his mother’s father, WW2 survivor, and his namesake.  The man had been Bucky’s role model all his life; fearless yet compassionate, kind yet firm, funny yet responsible; strong yet gentle. He was all the things Bucky hoped to be. The remembrance tattoo he recently got on his left pectoral was for the man whose love shaped Bucky’s early life. Sadly he had died when Bucky was only twelve but he remembered the man like he’d known him all his life.  Lest we forget.

Time is funny in a way. It slips by when you don’t want it to but sticks like grit in the gears when you want nothing but its hasty passage. Turns out that four years wasn’t all that long when you were as busy as Bucky was.  He volunteered for every mission he could, learned everything he was allowed to learn.  At the end of his service agreement he left the army as Engineer Sergeant James Buchannan Barnes.

Some things about him felt different, were different.  But at the same time he was still that same boy from Brooklyn who catapulted stones at bottles in the dirt with his two closest friends.

He would have been lying to himself if he had said he wasn’t nervous to be going home.  All the leave he’d given up had dropped his inactive service requirement down to zero; he was free and clear of the army if he wanted to be.

On the plane home for the last time he was restless.  Niggling doubts in his head.  Would Steve still want to spend time with him?  Would Izzy?  At least he didn’t have to worry about a job.  Before he’d even left Fort Leonard Wood he was offered a job in his Uncle Tony’s bar, Stark’s Penthouse.  Sure, he knew his Mom had pestered Tony until he gave in but it was good to have something to start off with.  He didn’t even know what he wanted to do.  He wasn’t even sure what his qualifications amounted to out there in the real world, not that the army wasn’t the real world but things certainly worked differently.

Walking through the security doors into the arrivals hall at LaGuardia had been nerve racking.  He was equal parts nervous and excited.  His Mom had insisted on meeting him off the plane and he knew she’d cry when she saw him.  What he hadn’t expected was to see both Steve and Izzy there waiting for him.

Bucky had no sooner passed the barrier than he had his arms full of Izzy.  She was squeezing him so tight he could barely breathe but when he did was acutely aware of two things.  The first was that the last four years spent trying to get over her had been futile.  The second was that he would never not love this woman.

Sweet Jesus, she smelled amazing.  He breathed deeply, face buried in her hair, her warm breath on his neck sending tingles down his spine.  She was laughing with joy right in his ear, drowning out even the hammering of his own pulse.

Soon Steve joined them, huge arms wrapping around them both.  Steve had really bulked up, now he was like a fucking superhero.  Bucky was bigger and stronger too but it was all functional muscle, Steve looked like he’d been on roids for four years.  Bucky couldn’t help but laugh.

Pulling away from his friends, he dashed to his mom who was waiting behind the railing with a huge smile on her face.  Bucky picked her up and spun her around.

“I missed you, ma.” He kissed her on the cheek fiercely. “So, what did I miss?”

Turned out he had missed quite a lot.

Steve was now employed by the FBI and, although he couldn’t say too much about the cases he was working on, he was happy.  Steve was always the one to do the right thing, moral, virtuous, good.  He seemed to get a sense of fulfilment from his job which few people can say they have.  Bucky was proud of him.

Izzy had been taken on by a Manhattan law firm on a trial basis where she specialised in white collar crime.  She too was happy.  The excitement with which she talked about the work she was doing was infectious and Bucky found himself rapt, not just by her passion but by the woman she had become in his absence.  Confident and exuberant, at twenty-four, she had grown so much from that nineteen-year-old girl he’d left behind.  Now she was radiant and beautiful on a whole other scale, it wasn’t just her ways that had grown, she had developed a knock-out body to go with it.  He was already drowning in rekindled love by the end of his first day back and that was before he added lust on top of it. She was single now though, citing being too busy with her career to deal with man-drama, so that was at least something.  Bucky was happy she’d ditched Damien; he was an asshole.

Bucky learned from his mom that his biological father had passed away recently; heart attack.  He couldn’t’ feel sad about it having never known the man, but it seemed to have struck Dolores deep.  His mom had once loved the man who had beat her and left her while she was pregnant with their child.  Thankfully she’d stayed away from him and raised her child as a single parent with the help of her father, the amazing man, Bucky’s grandpa Joe.

Dolores had already cried her tears long ago for Bucky’s father but knowing he was gone from this world with no possibility of any further closure, she had lost a little piece of herself.  It was true what they said that when you love someone they will always carry a piece of your heart with them.  In Bucky’s mom’s case, that piece had gone to the grave with Charles Barnes.

A door closed on part of his life then.  Like Dolores, he too had no further chance of closure with the man who had helped give him life.  Part of Bucky wished he’d made a point of seeking the man out, going just to show him that he’d succeeded in making something of his life; Engineer Sergeant Barnes had a nice ring to it.  But once you’d avoided contact for so many years it became easier to let it slide for the rest.  Now it was too late, but Bucky wasn’t cut up about it, it was just a passing thought he had that maybe he wanted to smugly say to the man ‘we didn’t need you anyway’.

Continue to chapter four >>>

[homiegeesus]

The Year of Magical Thinking, Ch. 2

Summary: Francis Sinclair believed Arthur Morgan had not finished living. In a second chance at life, Arthur discovers what it means to love himself.

At the edge of a precipice and nowhere to run, Arthur concedes defeat. In an extraordinary turn of events, he is sent through the ether to another time where his path crosses with a group not too unlike his own family. After discovering the fate of those he loved before, he races to find a way back. But what if he realizes that there is something worth staying for in this new world? Can two people separated by nearly a hundred and twenty years of living find their happily ever after?

AO3 Link

The Year of Magical Thinking

Chapter 2 - Spelunking, and Other Wacky Ideas

Somewhere in East Texas – August 2018

It was hot. Typical for this time of year, but this heat was on another level oppressive. Surrounded by tall pines and thick shrubbery, there wasn’t much of a breeze. Dr. Steven Nichols removed his aviators and wiped his brow. God, what he wouldn’t give to work in a cubicle with glorious air conditioning right now. As it were, he was stuck on a worksite at a cave in the middle of bumfuck-nowhere Texas. Deep down, he wouldn’t have it any other way.

An anthropologist by trade, since leaving graduate school he had been researching a series of interesting rock carvings discovered in the late 1930s to early 1950s. Found all throughout the country, one even in Mexico, they had baffled the most seasoned scientists. Originally abandoned and nearly forgotten, that is until a mysterious benefactor funded their little department at Blackwater College. With that funding came a series of government grants that had the operation surviving somewhat comfortably. It became apparent that whoever this person was, they were well connected.

Grabbing the front of his white t-shirt, Steven tried fruitlessly to generate some cool air. Nick was going to flay him alive for most likely ruining yet another shirt. His fiancé was nothing if not particular about his dressings-down. Tempted to grab the closest water bottle and pour it down his front, he watched as one of his student-assistants walked towards him.

“Got the lights set up if you want to go in.” Sweat dewing at his upper lip, Jeremy looked about as miserable as Steven felt.

“Thank you, sir,” Steven replied airily as he hopped up from his perch on a picnic table and tucked his sunglasses into the collar of his shirt. He squinted. “Is it at least a little cooler in there?”

“More humid, but yeah, quite a bit cooler,” Jeremy shrugged.

Steven just smiled, “Take what you can get, am I right?” He placed a hardhat on his sweaty mahogany-haired head then began the short trek to the cave entrance.

“Oh,” Jeremy called out, and Steven turned to face him. “I’m gonna head into town real quick to grab some lunch. You want anything?”

“Uh –,” Steven furrowed his brow and bowed his head in thought. He looked back to Jeremy, “Ooh, get me somethin’ from Taco Bell. A, uh – oh, a big burrito. Doesn’t matter which one.”

Jeremy laughed, “Nick gonna be alright with that?”

Steven just gave the kid a bright smile and said, “Nick can kiss my ass.” He turned again towards the cave.

Jeremy called after him, “You sure you’re gonna be okay alone?” Steven just raised an arm with a thumb’s up.

“I’ll be fine. Now, go get lunch.”

Walking through the entrance, and true to Jeremy’s word Steven felt the cool, damp air wash over him. Stopping at the fork where the cavern split into two directions, he took a moment to wipe the sweat from his face with the bottom of his shirt. As he prepared to restart his journey, he heard what sounded like a gust of wind come through the narrow corridor to his right. Odd, he thought, since the hall led to a small chamber with no exits or vents. Brushing it off, he began his walk through the passage. This time, a sound, unnatural in its characteristics, entered his ears causing him to halt. Steven quickly reached to turn on the headlamp attached to his hardhat. Seeing nothing except thick electrical cables and darkness beyond the scope of his light, he held his breath and turned his ear fractionally toward the source of the noise. Again, a tinkling sound reverberated lightly along the cave walls.

Thoroughly creeped out and thinking of turning back, Steven called out unsure, “Hello?”

When the echo of quick shuffling sounded out, Steven shrinked back. “Who’s there?” In a series of jerky movements, he tried to shine the light anywhere and everywhere. Then, as if in cadence with the beating of his heart, heavy footfalls combined with the same tinkling noise inched quickly closer. Steven’s fight or flight instinct seemingly left him at that moment, as he stood rooted in the spot, unable to move. Until a shadowy figure appeared in his line of sight.

“Jesus Christ!” Shocked, Steven jumped back, falling against the cave wall behind him. The shadowy figure, a man to be precise, then became more detailed. Steven first noticed his peculiar attire. Dressed in dirty western wear, the man at first glance looked like a John Wayne caricature. If not for the setting, Steven would have laughed at the absurdity. “What the hell, man! What’re you doing in here?!” Then, he noticed the gun. “The hell – ”

The man seemed to catch on and slowly raised his hands halfway. “I ain’t gonna hurt ya,” a deep voice echoed through the corridor. “I jus’ – well you see, mister, I am slightly confused.”

Steven scoffed, “You? You’re ‘slightly confused’? How in the hell did you get in here? We’ve had it closed off – ”

“Mister, I do not rightly know. I cannot even begin to explain.” The strange man looked around, and then back to Steven, “Where we at?”

Confused, Steven replied, “Wha – ”

Cutting him off, the man tilted his hands forward slightly, “Jus’, please, humor me.”

Growing even more uncomfortable, Steven responded, “Uh, Texas. We’re in East Texas.”

“Texas?” he questioned, sounding disbelieving. “Tha’s impossible. I was just in Roanoke Valley, in New Hanover – ”

“New Hanover?” Steven exhaled a laugh. “There hasn’t been a New Hanover in like, a hundred years.”

Silence engulfed the hall. The stranger audibly swallowed and shifted on his feet.

“What, uh – what year is it?” He asked quietly.

“What are you playing at, man? Is this a joke, or something?” In obvious frustration, the stranger took a step forward and Steven shrunk back once more. Seemingly noticing the frightened look on the other man’s face, the cowboy raised his hands higher and curled each into fists. He closed his eyes and clinched his jaw.

“Jus’ please.” Feeling an odd sense of sympathy, Steven relaxed slightly at the small desperate tone.

Steven responded in a similar way, “It’s 2018. Um, August.” A little louder, he expanded, “August 15th, 2018.”

The cowboy looked to the side, his clinched jaw slackened.

“Jesus Christ,” he sighed.

Not knowing what to say to that, Steven went for the basics. “What’s your name?” He offered lamely.

“Arthur Morgan,” he replied, distracted.

Without thinking, Steven joked, “Right, and I’m Billy the Kid.”

The man finally turned his eyes to him. “I seen Billy the Kid, an’ you don’ much look like ‘em. Additionally, I believe he is dead,” he shot back, tone dripping with sarcasm.

“Right,” Steven nodded and volleyed the sarcastic tone back at him. “If you’re the –,” he gestured wildly in the air, “famed outlaw Arthur Morgan, then how did ya end up here?” Maneuvering his arms into a questioning stance, he awaited an answer.

The man’s eyes narrowed fractionally. Steven’s confidence dropped with his arms. ‘Arthur’ just let out a sigh, “Look, I’ll tell ya everythin’, can ya jus’ please get that light outta my eyes? I’ll show ya the carvin’s I – “

“Wait, carvings?” Steven said quickly.

“Yeah, ‘car-vings’,” he enunciated. “I’m assumin’ that’s what yer here for, considerin’ the lights I saw back there?” He pointed a thumb over his shoulder towards the chamber behind him.

“Uh, yeah it is.” Steven’s brow furrowed, “I meant, what do they have to do with – ”

“Mister, like I said,” he gritted out, patience obviously wearing thin, “I’ll tell ya everythin’; show ya what happen’d.”

All was quiet as Steven studied the man. “Look, my assistant is coming back soon, and – ”

“Please.”

Said so quietly, Steven could feel as desperation came off the man in waves, and something inside said to hear him out.

He sighed, “Okay, just please – please don’t shoot me or attack me or whatever a crazy dude in a cave might want to do to me, okay?”

The cowboy stood straighter and cocked a slight one-sided grin, “I ain’t gonna hurtcha.”

Steven stared a moment and then nodded. “Alright then,” he stuck out his hand in an abortive gesture. “Lead the way.” With a nod, the stranger turned and started walking.

“You gotta name?” He asked unexpectedly.

“Uh, yeah. Steven. Steven Nichols.” He amended, “Dr. Steven Nichols.”

The man hummed, “Doctor, huh?”

“Yeah,” he quickly elucidated, “I have a doctorate in anthropology.”

“What’s that now?” He sounded confused.

“Anthropology. Um, it’s the study of humans, in a broad sense. There are multiple fields,” Steven explained.

The cowboy just hummed in reply.

Steven continued, “Like I, personally, am an archaeologist with a focus in parietal – um, cave art.”

“Heh, I knew a scientist once. Well, a couple, but this lady in particular was somethin’. Kinda batty but meant well. She was diggin’ up dinosaur bones.” The man shook his head, “Wonder if she ended up findin’ ‘em.”

Curious, Steven asked, “What was her name?”

The cowboy pondered, “Oh, MacGuiness somethin’ or other.”

Steven laughed and looked over at the other man, “MacGuiness? Deborah MacGuiness?”

He nodded, “Yup, tha’s the one.” The corridor gradually gave way to a larger but still intimate room. Work lights cast the flowstone in the rear of the chamber in a muted orange tint. The pièce de résistance, however, was the large carving illuminated on the wall sat between two rock columns. The men stopped within feet of the insculpture. Steven removed his hardhat and looked back at him.

“You know of Deborah MacGuiness?” He asked incredulously.

“Mmhmm,” the stranger ran a thumb over the stubble of his chin. “Met ‘er, oh, I reckon it was in New Hanover thereabouts.” He looked to Steven, “In 1899.”

Deborah MacGuiness was ‘batty’ by all accounts but well respected by modern paleontologists. Unfortunately, women of the time were not taken seriously in a field dominated by men. She may have had some outlandish ideas, but many of her hypotheses were proven in the decades that followed her death from Spanish flu in 1918. Steven still could not believe this man actually knew her. He was a scientist, for Christ’s sake. He needed proof.

Steven started, “So, you were going to tell me how you ended up here?”

The other man nodded. “Well –,” he looked to the carvings, “I was knockin’ on death’s door, dyin’, an’ this feller I met awhile back showed up from God knows where. He took me to a cave with these carvin’s o’er near Roanoke Valley. Don’t know wh – ”

“Wait, what?” Steven interrupted. He furrowed his brow and held up a hand, “A carving in Roanoke Valley? In Appalachia?”

Arthur nodded, “I reckon.”

Steven huffed out a humorless laugh, “There aren’t any carvings in the southeast. Well, I mean, we haven’t found any, at least.” He was quiet a moment, and the other man just looked at him in waiting. “Ok, so let’s say that I maybe – maybe,” he emphasized, “believe you. Would you be able to find this cave on a map?”

The cowboy again nodded, “I reckon I could. I don’ know exactly whereabouts it is, but I reckon I could look.”

“Okay. Okay,” Steven replied, more to himself than Arthur. He glanced from the carving to the man beside him. “What else happened?”

Arthur continued, “So, this feller took me to this cave. Again, I’m dyin’, an’ he drags me to this carvin’. I remembered it lookin’ like the others I found for ‘em.”

“Do you remember what it looked like?” Steven asked.

“Like I said, I was very sick an’ waitin’ to die. I ain’t sure – it ain’t too clear.” He looked to the carving in front of him and shook his head, “It looked a lot like this, but different, ya know?”

Steven just nodded, “So, what happened when you got to the carving?”

“Well, Mr. Sinclair,” he looked to Steven. “That was the feller’s name, Francis Sinclair. Odd feller, with red hair an’ a birthmark over his eye.” He briefly pointed to the side of his face. “Had a funny way of talkin’. Said a bunch o’ words I ain’t never heard before. Anyways, he grabbed my wrists, an’ – now I’m in an’ out, can’t really understand what’s happenin’ or what he’s sayin’, but he grabs my hands an’ puts ‘em up against this carvin’. I dunno what in the hell happened or what he said, but –,” he then placed his hand against the wall, “this all started glowin’, like a blue color.” His arm dropped to his side. “Ain’t never seen anythin’ like it. Then, everythin’ went black.”

He was quiet a moment as if pondering something. He turned his eyes back to Steven and continued, “I saw my entire life flash ‘fore my eyes, like one a them picture shows.” A rueful smile formed on his face, “Trust me, Mister, I know how this sounds. Like somethin’ you’d read in a book by that English feller, but this is the God’s honest truth. Dunno how else to convince ya.”

Steven stared at him, slightly awed, as he absorbed the information. Then, something occurred to him.

“Your – Arthur Morgan’s,” he amended, “grave is a tourist trap on an interstate in Kentucky, or wherever. If you’re him, then –”

“Mister,” the cowboy laughed humorlessly, “I don’ know anythin’ ‘bout that, but I guaran-damn-tee ya there ain’t no body in that grave.”

Steven placed a hand over his eyes and held the other in the air. He sighed, “I gotta think.” He turned around and began the trek out of the cave, not caring if he was being followed.

[bluerosesburnblue]

Liz Liveblogs Bravely Second: Chapter 6, Part 1/2

Well, I said I’d shoot for Halloween, not that I’d make it. I legitimately wasn’t expecting the Yōkai sidequest to be so... dense. So, because of that, we’re splitting this chapter into two parts, too. I think the finale deserves an entry all on its own

We’re in the home stretch, folks. Get ready for Bravely Second Chapter 6, Bravely Second

Hey, welcome to my liveblog of Bravely Default. So Tiz, after the destruction of Norende wakes up... wait. Hmmm. Wrong brunet boy. How did we get to the Caldisla Inn?

Karl’s soothing voice is a welcome reprieve from... that scene

“Wait! Where’s Denys?” *noises of discomfort from Tiz, Edea, Magnolia, and me*

“We defeated Diamante...” No. We were denied the ability to defeat Diamante. Now it’s Denys’s burden, assuming someone can even survive at the end of time. The self-sacrificing idiot...

Magnolia is being called to return home, as the hero of her people... and the light of her communicator is clipping through her Black Mage hat. Whoops

Weird that Karl didn’t recognize Tiz until right now. What, was Yew the only one asleep? Was his hair so bad you couldn’t be sure until you heard his voice?

Even more insane that he recognizes Edea since I have her in her Ranger getup with a full face mask

“Me and Agnes and Edea and...?” “We always counted on him when we.. When we...” Tiz. Edea. Do you not remember Ringabel or the first game? I thought we just weren’t talking about him because it was a sore subject, but...

Tiz doesn’t even remember the king of his home nation. What happened to you kids?

Diamante’s bestiary states that when it fell, it destroyed a part of the Miasma Woods and split the continent in two. I assume that refers to the separation of landmasses between the Harena and Yulyana regions, since there’s... like... a crater there where I’m pretty sure there wasn’t last game. I never mentioned it, it’s just the spot where we keep boarding the Skyhold because Denys really liked parking over it?

Karl who are these two white-haired kids? Are they yours? They can’t be grandkids since Owen is...

Caldisla’s theme is still amazing. Feels like being home after a long journey. Love it when a game can do that to me.

Tiz really had forgotten his entire home and the start of last game. Edea couldn’t remember it either

Yew says he’s read about Caldisla, but he couldn’t remember what he’d read either

I am reminded of a plot point in the Korean webtoon Kubera: One Last God. In that, a person who uses time magic too much will “forfeit their existence” for a time. They disappear and don’t age, but as long as they’re vanished from existence, nobody can remember them. If someone tries to remember events surrounding them, they freeze up and then immediately think of something else, forgetting their original train of thought. I’m getting the same vibes here

I know that tinny tone, Alternis!

“I am the one who carried you out of the Skyhold and to safety.” But how did you get to the Skyhold in the first place? I can’t imagine it was still flying after we “defeated” its power source, so it must have crashed somewhere around the Yulyana/Florem area, in which case the party should be very, very dead. Dead beyond my ability to fix

“I would go to the very ends of the earth for you if you needed me, Edea.” Okay, Clearly-Ringabel, turn the charm down a notch and exposit for us

“That bloody witch... Yōko will pay!” So Yōko sealed everyone’s memories of Caldisla? How do you figure, Dim?

Ah, she gave him the cryptic message of “Go to Caldisla, the land of endings” and he had no idea what she was talking about but went anyway and his brain freaked out

He’s still wearing Edea’s bow! So at the very least it’s the same Alternis from the Geyser Grotto

You know, I’m just now realizing that it’s been two games and we still haven’t had party members from either the Yulyana region or the Eisen region. You know, one of the four main continents? Has a major magical artifact in the form of a capital-”C”-Crystal?

I mean, Tiz is from Caldis, Agnès from Harena, Ringabel from Florem, Edea and Yew from Eternia, and Magnolia from the Moon, which somehow got representation before Eisen did

...how dare they put a hidden item next to a child you can talk to. Do you know how difficult it was to get Yew to focus on the object and not the kid!? Yeesh

Hitboxes on hidden items are so finicky in this game I swear

And there was a Phoenix Down behind Owen’s grave. Thanks

Oh... oh no. Oh no I looked at Til’s grave. Oh god Tiz I’m so sorry

God he sounds like he’s gonna cry. “Til was a lot younger than me... Even younger than you.” I don’t think it ever occurred to Yew that while he was using Tiz to replace Denys... Tiz was doing the same thing back

And the Caldisla amnesia makes it worse oh no. Could you imagine? Walking through a town and slowly realizing that it’s your hometown. And then stopping in front of a grave and it’s your brother’s grave. And it only hits you while you’re looking at it that you even have a brother... had a brother

Til doesn’t get a big grave like Owen. His is one of the small, unassuming ones. The only person he meant anything to was Tiz

And Tiz is being lauded as the hero he deserves after his untimely coma after the defeat of Ouroboros. Can’t help but notice they aren’t celebrating Edea, who was also there, but eh. She’s got the entirety of Eternia to throw her a party. Let Tiz have his exotic cheeses

Heyyyyy, Egil! How’s my favorite kid who didn’t die in a mine!? Nice armor, buddy! Looking good!

Oooooooh a Junior Captain? Nice work!

A great beast at Lontano? It couldn’t be a Ba’al, could it? The only story-based one we’ve had so far is Urchin

That’s actually the one thing I think I prefer in Default over Second. The Norende Nemesis fights weren’t necessary for completion, which was good since I mostly played that game at college where my 3DS couldn’t connect to the internet thanks to how poorly set up the login information was. My 3DS just couldn’t handle it. I barely did them, and I really didn’t miss much because of it. Here, though, if I want to 100% complete the game I have to do the Fort-Lune Ba’al fights, and which ones I get are entirely up to chance. I have been doing them, though. Get a lot of Apparati (probably people sharing it because it’s the only one with a Catmancy skill), followed by Snowcap in terms of quantity. Heck, I only got my first Redshirt the night before writing this and the only Urchin I’ve seen has been the story one. Completing those Bestiary entries is probably the last thing I’ll be able to do just out of luck

“The Youth Brigade”? What, we doing child soldiers now or is this the Caldisla version of Boy Scouts?

“Tiz, would you care to introduce us?” “Of course! This is Egil. He’s like... um... a little brother to me.” Hey, Yew, meet your new favorite little brother. Egil’s family. Mostly because Tiz has chronic Big-Bro-itis, but still. He’s a good kid

Can Egil be a party member in Bravely Third, finally giving us our Eisen representation?

Tiz no. Don’t mention the Three Cavaliers. That’s still a sore subject!

Oh damn. “You must be, like, the best of the best! So why are you hanging out with someone like Tiz here?” Egil! Harsh! Tiz killed a World-Consuming snake demon, you know!

“Yew’s a good friend of ours. I guess you could say he’s like a slightly older younger brother.” These boys cannot stop taking in new brothers! It’s adorable! I love it! (See, Denys? This is what you miss when you needlessly throw yourself into a time vortex. You miss getting adopted by Tiz and having, like, 60 younger brothers.)

An earthquake? First reaction says it’s the “beast” but we are right near the Great Chasm. I hope it was just a rock slide, but it’s never that easy

It’s the Rubadub? Why the fuck did the Rubadub cause an earthquake!?

Damn, according to Sakura we’ve been out for over a week

Sakura is best team mom! She did the laundry while we were gone, fixed the damages from the Skyhold collapse, caught a ton of fish, and is already making dinner with it!

Oh... wait what? Wait. ...is that where Caldisla is? I... hrm.

So my poor geography sense ended up making the “Caldisla disappeared” plot point work because I misremembered where the whole continent was. I thought it was in the middle of the ocean between Eternia and Florem and just wasn’t on the map because the section it would be in would be cut-off and it wasn’t going to be relevant! I thought it was farther to the right! God, see, this is what happens when you change the orientation of the map on me. I can’t navigate for shit

So, hey, I read through my old Liveblogs to catch myself up for the finale just in case, and you know what I called out and had conveniently forgotten by the time I played the last chapter? Minette Napkatti is seventeen FUCKING years old. She’s OLDER than both Yew and Janne. I wrote everything last chapter under the assumption she was, like, 10! God, her being 17 is so much worse. Now it makes people treating her like a pet even creepier! How is Minette even worse than I gave her credit for! Stop enabling this girl and get her some serious mental rehabilitation!

Now, I should really look at that urgent Beast situation... buuuuuuuuut there’s a sidequest in Gathelatio!

Actually, Yew just brought up the Crypts in a Party Chat and now I’m curious. Where did the stairwell Denys was standing near... go? Does it just exit into the city somewhere?

Party Chat says Alfred said there was a secret passage between the Crypts and the Sanctum. I’m gonna go see if that’s what’s up with those stairs

“I’d rather we didn’t go blundering around the family crypts if we don’t have to” Sorry, Yew, I’m with Edea. It’ll be five minutes, max. Besides, it looks like the sidequest is in the Sanctum. I wanna sneak up on ‘em if I can

Uhhhhh... wh...

Denys? Denys did you leave this shadow-man ghost thing here? What the fuck is that?

Why is there a nondistinct shadow man near Foundar’s grave?

All it says is “Fear the Eye of Foundar... But I suppose it’s still too early for you to understand what that means. Heh.” Hey, don’t laugh! You aren’t the first person to give me awful, vague prophecies! Sylvie beat you to it by a whole timeline!

There are some bits of... probably hair dangling at the sides of Shadowman’s face. It looks kinda like Yew’s concept art hairstyle, honestly. Huh.

That’s it that’s unsettling I’m out

And hey, that was the secret passage into the Sanctum! I hadn’t even noticed a door there in my past visits. Let’s... uh... let’s just talk to Braev and forget that unnerving shadow boy

What’s the matter, narrator? “By what strange trick of fate do your paths cross anew?” getting too much for you? Braev’s been in the story for a while, I don’t think he needed an introduction

Ah. Well, the sidequest is still Edea-focused like all the others, but at least this one I can get behind. It’s Braev testing whether Edea’s ready to succeed him

And there’s still a choice, hm? Should you desire the power to cut down all foes, the Grand Marshal’s sword is in Everlast Tower. Should you desire the power to protect your subjects, the Grand Marshal’s shield is in the Central Command basement

I don’t suppose we could do both? They say the two are opposites, but I hardly see why. A true ruler knows how to balance the two. Knows how to change their persona to match the situation. To cut down your foes is to protect your citizens. To protect your citizens is to spite your foes. There’s no reason to limit your capabilities

Regardless, if they do make us pick one, I find the sword is the better option. A shield can only hold out so long without the opposing forces thinning out

“It’s a travesty! Ketchup is for burgers and fries!” God, Yew is a boy after my own heart. I’ll try any food or food combo once, but putting ketchup on a good steak seems like sacrilege

And Tiz is also a boy after my own heart. Keep it simple with your eggs. Salt and pepper is all you really need. Though I’ve never had hollandaise, so I can’t really comment on Yew’s choice

Aw, Tiz puts soy sauce on his oysters because that’s how Agnès did it when he first had them. Cute!

And it was all a ruse to distract them from the fact that she botched dinner! Oh, Magnolia, sweetheart. I appreciate the creativity but I think bringing up favorite foods was the worst thing to do

Edea thinks getting the sword was too easy... so she wants to talk to Elder Sirius? If I go, is he just gonna tell me to grab the shield as was my plan to attempt from the start?

Braev’s location is marked... but so is the shield still. I want both

“It’s what Heinkel would’ve done.” I have no problems believing that Heinkel would use an heirloom shield to grill food. That checks out

Aaaaand that’s why you ask Yew before you use his stuff to cook with. Leave my nerd son and his collections alone!

A true leader directly defies orders and grabs both heirlooms regardless! We make our own win states in the House of Liz!

And seek shield counsel with Goodman. ...screw it, let’s talk to Sirius and Goodman. I’m curious if either of them have new dialogue

Seems like they do! Unmarked cutscenes. Sirius warns Edea to be careful of all power, as any could be used for evil. But it can also be used for good. The power is not the issue, but the intent of its wielder. To cast aside any means of defeating all who would endanger those you seek to protect is foolish

And Goodman espouses the benefits of a shield. Separate the soldiers from the civilians, and have the soldiers become an unbreakable wall to repel all threats. The shield has no chance of endangering others (KH Goofy would like to have a word, sir)

Edea mentioned Dominus Harena, so I thought I’d check him out and lo and behold! He also has a scene. Ancheim makes weapons, but uses none. They fight instead with their knowledge, using the scholars of Al-Khampis to outbuild and outsmart their foes. And they can absolutely use those weapons if they want. “Don’t brandish a big sword - but be sure to have one ready when you need it” is pretty close to my life motto

Meeting Braev at Vestment Cave is the first relevant event in the Yulyana region, huh?

Vestment Cave is the place you were blessed with a daughter? Edea was born in this cave when Sage took you in? Did I know that or is that just some trivia you felt like sharing, Braev? Because if so uhhhh...? I don’t think I can get that out of my head

Oh? “I see you have the grand marshal’s sword AND shield. ...And yet you have equipped neither.” I... have Edea as a Ranger? Equipping either of those would do nothing for her. I was not aware you wanted those equipped

...you know what? Yeah! Have the big sword (and shield) but don’t brandish it! That is our answer!

“Justice must be supported by might and authority - but when it is delivered at the point of a sword it is naught but coercion. [...] A stout shield is needed to protect the people in times of war. Yet the true goal should be a world with no need for shields. The noble course is to believe in the ideal.” This sidequest is awesome

“But you have one more trial to face - together with the friends who stand beside you!” And you know what? Those friends are the only weapon a good leader needs! They keep you from swinging the sword with abandon or allowing harm to come passively! They balance you, keep you in check! Edea Lee, go and claim the position you have earned!

(I just wish that Edea was in a different outfit in that scene. Loses a bit of impact when her face is covered with an animal mask)

Damn! He revives more times than Diamante! You fucking hear that, Denys!? Edea’s dad is a harder fight than DIAMANTE

And now Edea receives the Stave of the Grand Marshall. She is, unquestionably, the Grand Marshall of Eternia. I’m so proud of my girl!

Ah! And we’re visiting her parents at Sage Yulyana’s old place! Seems Braev and Mahzer are moving out here to retire. Good for them

‘sup Alternis? ...still mad about the Grandship escapade?

Braev is taking up needlework, huh?

Okay, I love the way John Eric Bentley said “a new tea cozy!” He’s a good replacement voice for Braev in my book

That sidequest was EXACTLY what I had hoped the others would be! It was such a good character focus to showcase Edea’s growth from the beginning of the first game, and the actual elements of it were so nuanced! There were so many permutations of events. Did you obtain the sword, shield, or both? Did you talk to Sirius, Dominus, Goodman? All of them? None? Some combination of two of them? Were the items equipped when you talked to Braev? Ultimately, the structure was simple, but the narrative you got out of it was all up to you. I’d be interested to see every permutation of the talk with Braev, but I am so happy with what I got. And I’m so proud of Edea. She’s come a long way from the self-righteous, black-and-white girl of Default’s events. Eternia is in good hands

I love that Tiz being the king of cooking with leftovers is canon

...so I can’t help but notice that there’s a Fort-Lune Ba’al icon just sort of... floating there above Lontano. That’s weird.

What on Earth was that noise it made?

“I-it’s exuding a level of power on par with... No, even exceeding Diamante’s!” YOU HEAR THAT, DENYS? You didn’t even take out the strongest Ba’al!

“We can’t let Denys’s sacrifice be in vain!” Yew, honey. You’re sweet, but it was in vain the second he made it. We’re about to prove how useless it really was

Oh, it’s just a Turtle Dove? Not even, like, a special one? Alright

Not too bad. Only got close at the end there because Yew went down and I had trouble getting him back up

Certainly harder than Diamante, at any rate

So it seems the only two mandatory Ba’al fights in the game are an Urchin and a Turtle Dove, and I’m certain those were the only two that made appearances in Default as Norende Nemesis fights. So that’s why those two were added to the BD international release

Aw, Egil doesn’t understand how pendant-call works either and thinks we shoved Agnès in the jewel

Where is she? I can’t say I recognize that room. Wooden doors with a crystal-thing in the back?

And yet another person who just couldn’t remember Caldisla

I guess she was on an Airship?

And on the Magnolia Cooks sideplot: She’s really good! Her quest for recipes has led to her becoming a master of Luxendarc cuisine

“A bath has to be sot hot you can barely stand it!” I know Edea’s opinion is meant to be an extreme... but that’s how I take my showers so...

I will say I don’t jump out and douse myself in cold water, though. That’s a little much

I guess hot-bath-cold-bath followed by freezing iced lattes is an Eternian thing? Yew’s into it, too

Alternis and Agnès are already here talking to the king? We’ve almost got the whole family in one spot! (This Alternis doesn’t have a bow, though. Guess we’ve still gotta hunt down Ringabel and Denys if we want that family meetup. Why is it always the blond ones who are a problem?)

According to the king, the people of Caldisla forgot the rest of the world in turn. That’s some nonsense that’s going on

Bow-Alternis is absolutely Ringabel. Alternis doesn’t know anything about his arm being hurt or Yōko

It’s an interesting way of doing the Alternis-Ringabel thing. Last game they made them seem like the same person, too, up until the reveal by having them get injured in similar places and never on-screen at the same time. This game we’re able to tell them apart despite Ringabel actually trying to impersonate Alternis because of their differing injuries

Where do Ba’als come from and what are they? It’s a question that’s been forced to the background thanks to the immediacy of the Kaiser’s plot, but now with that settled it and Anne’s plan are all we have left to solve

I like how Yew and Magnolia got cut off in that shot, leaving only Agnès, Alternis, Tiz, and Edea. A version of the first party

Oh, Magnolia. She’s beating herself up because she never thought to ask what the Ba’als were, but still dedicated her life to stopping them. But no one knows what they are. She would’ve been asking a question no one could answer

I appreciate Yew trying to commiserate by telling her he didn’t know anything about the Crystalguard or Denys but I don’t think those situations are really... comparable? Magnolia is talking about unknowable eldritch horrors. That’s a little bit bigger than the Crystalguard stuff

“There must be someone out there who can give us a clue!” “Do not judge a carrot by its leaves, nor a man by his words alone...” Leave it to Altair to announce his timely appearance in the most dramatically dorky way possible

“It’s a ghost!” ...I mean, yeah? Technically? But we know Altair. Edea, chill. Team dad tire-man of the vegetable proverbs is here to enlighten us

So the Ba’als are Vega’s emotions given life. Born of her memories with Altair, and I imagine the fight with Geist back in Sagitta is what tipped him off. Diamante probably only confirmed it. I can’t imagine anyone else whose memories Diamante’s background could have belonged to

Altair theorizes that something found Vega’s regrets upon being left behind and gave them form to be used as weapons

And that just leaves one place the Ba’als could be from. The last place anyone saw Vega alive: the Celestial Realm

“Let’s go to the Celestial Realm!” Yew, if travel between Luxendarc and the Celestial Realm were so easy Vega wouldn’t be trapped there, Ouroboros wouldn’t have had to create a chain of worlds just to break through, and I would travel to Luxendarc just to hug you. It’s just not that easy

And Altair agrees. It’s just not... simple. Maybe not possible

“Never say never until you’re dead!” Okay, but Altair is super dead, though? He has every right to say “never” at this point

At least he’s got a good sense of humor about it

...3DS did the going black thing again

“Of course I do not... accept it...” This game does some interesting things with the concepts of acceptance and denial. To not accept something is similar to, but not the same as, denying it. I like that they brought it up like that

He’s getting desperate. Begging the party to help Vega. Altair...

“You’re our friend, Altair.” “Your... friend? Oh, thank you, my dear children!” Altair, I nominated you for team dad. You’re not a friend now, you’re family. We live to make the impossible possible. We have (or most of us have) defeated Ouroboros. Let’s go get Vega.

So who could help? As Altair said, Anne. A fairy who can control the Ba’al and who spoke of a Master. She clearly knows something about them the rest of us don’t, and I’ve still got a bone to pick with her

I’d know that place anywhere. She’s at Norende’s Great Chasm

Norende has a path between the Celestial Realm and Luxendarc... right where the Dark Aurora was... I should’ve known Ouroboros would use the weakest point in the barrier to get through

So that’s your plan, you little shit? Use this path as an express lane to get Ba’als to Luxendarc without interference from the Moon people? And then maybe get your boss in? Not happening. Nope. I refuse. Yew, Tiz, and everyone else deserve better

Funny you’re monologuing, Anne, since I know you know I exist and can, presumably, hear you. What’s their secret if it’s not the hourglass that let them keep their memories? I think you already know

They are directly using the fact that we, the player, saw that scene and now know where to go next and the party doesn’t. Party’s got no idea. That scene was for our eyes only

And the last sidequest has opened up. Yōko Yōko Yōko Yōko Yōkaiiiiiiiii

Oh thank god the Vampire Castle’s unlocked. I would’ve cried if they made me do the dragon fights again

Why should only Magnolia dress warm, Edea? You’re wearing about as much as her!

I don’t like Alternis’s helmet sitting at the door like that. Ringabel, you’d better be okay! You were my favorite last game, don’t you die on me!

Oh! My encounter rate is locked at standard. Guess I have to fight, huh? That’s... it’s never done that before

There’s a painting no one ever noticed before. Yōko in both human and Yōkai form, with a blonde child

And there’s the girl of the hour! You gonna pull a DeRosso and give us your backstory while we climb the tower?

I have never heard Vampire Castle called the Hall of Truth? Did I forget? It’s been a while. Hall of Exposition, more like

“Tiz! Do not think you can avoid the dangers that you encounter in this place.” AKA: no. You have to fight the encounters. Also, I forgot setting the encounters was a Tiz thing

“The powers of Luxendarc’s gods will not avail you.” So it’s a Celestial power Tiz was using. Assumed as much. And according to Yōko, this is Luxendarc. We play by Luxendarc rules this time (unfortunately)

So either Ringabel or Alternis can work the pendant call. He didn’t have the bow, but he talked like he knew what we were on about. Suspicious

So Yōko slept. And slept for quite a while. Twenty years ago an ambitious man came to wake her up, and with him came a girl with the Plague. The man in the painting is wearing Crystalguard clothes, and came to plunder the offerings at Yōko‘s shrine. The man was so determined to take those treasures home that he ignored the girl’s grandfather, who asked for her to be quarantined due to her sickness and pleaded with the church to let them sail. The church sent Geist. Once she was exorcised, the fleet could move. His ritual didn’t cure her at all, though. She doesn’t need to say it. I can already tell that the man was Yew’s father, Greide

Greide Geneolgia, whose greed sparked the Great Plague

She gave us his journals.

Foundar left behind texts for his descendants, texts that Greide managed to decode and use to locate Yōko’s shrine. The girl was the granddaughter of their patron from the church, sent to help them find the shrine that the Orthodoxy wanted so badly to find.

Greide used the girl to house Yōko’s soul, so she couldn’t stop them from raiding her shrine. It was there that they found the statue of Cú Chulainn that Bella would one day animate. The girl only fell sick with the Plague after the raid on the shrine. Griede’s writing comes across as paranoid. He thinks they’re being manipulated, and that his “enemies” are behind it

Judging by his outfit, the figure in this painting seems to be Geist

Hey uhhhh. Yōko? How long have you been staying here that you managed to replace a ton of DeRosso paintings?

Geist’s report went through, despite Greide’s attempts to stop it. The girl was put under quarantine and banned from travel. But another man and Greide decided to change tactics to get their plundered loot back. They asked to bring the girl to Eternia so that she could get the best medical treatment available to her. So they let her travel. And at every port they stopped at on the way back, they spread the Plague. To many continents. When the sailors began to freak out, Greide poisoned everyone aboard, including the girl. He was the only survivor, returning home with perhaps not all of the loot he wanted, but certainly enough. And one year later, Denys was born. Right on the heels of his dad murdering a whole crew of people for some sick loot

(I wonder if the timeline actually works out)

So Norzen and Braev were the ones opposing Greide the most, besides the elders. Greide looked into their pasts to see what he could use to... convince them to come over to his side

So if this happened in 2379... Denys was probably born in 2380-ish. Which seems about right? Definitely not 2384 like the Final Fantasy Wikia says. That would make him younger than Agnès and I’m very sure she isn’t over 23, which is Denys’s canon age as confirmed in the Bestiary (What are you guys doing, FFWikia?)

And this is just a painting of a huge area of gravestones with ravens.

The first deaths were in Eternia. “A sleepy border village.” And now we hear what we know from Default. Braev begged the church to help his home, and in return they sealed off all roads. Quarantined the smaller villages and left them to die. The incident that sparked Braev and the Anticrystalists’ revolt against the Orthodoxy. Braev gave Norzen full authority to investigate the Plague, where Minette’s mother would eventually discover a cure, but not before the first wave had killed more than could ever be counted

On the timeline: Greide’s 4/11, 2379 journal entry mentions a woman bringing her son and claiming he was Greide’s. Since he recognized her, he figured yeah, sure. Kid’s probably his and he can’t prove otherwise. So he took her and their son Denys in. So at the very least we can confirm that Denys was born before April 11, 2379. Unfortunately, I have no idea what year this game takes place in and can’t do math, so... I still have no idea if that date checks out?

And Denys’s mother... “left them” by 5/25 2380, and Greide became engaged to who I assume is Yew’s mother just over a year after that. And, like, jeez, Denys’s mom died when he was 1 or 2 years old? The way people talk about her it sounded like she was around for longer than that

Greide pretended to be loyal to Braev’s Duchy, but was appalled by how... businesslike they treated him. Like the idea of people not groveling at his feet because of his family name was repulsive

“There has been no warning from the Eye of Foundar...” God, is the Eye a prophecy machine? Why did a shadow man have to tell me about it in the Geneolgia corpse basement?

Hah. When Greide met with DeRosso and Sage Yulyana they called his ancestor a “sickly man” and a “monster,” respectively. And for the first time in his life, Greide felt true fear, but only at the potential loss of his status

Bestiary Tiz described DeRosso as “the pretend vampire with the baritone voice” which is really all you’d ever need to know about DeRosso

And here’s a painting of a burning Crystalguard banner. Greide disbanded the Crystalguard after Braev’s successful uprising, since the church was no longer in power and Greide wanted to keep himself and his allies out of the way of the rebellion. Houses Geneolgia and Camlann destroyed any who wanted to keep the Crystalguard together. Their biggest opponent: Janne’s father. His dying words were giving custody of his son to his squire, Angard. And Nikolai watched it all. After that, he tried to reinstate the Crystalguard and get himself and Janne a place in it. And just as Nikolai explained, the now unemployed soldiers went and looted the few villages left with survivors. And the Geneolgia and Camlann families formed private armies to save their own asses by taking down the bandits that they caused

Yew’s so shaken he collapsed. Hey, someone help my boy up? He’s having a rough day and I only see it getting worse

According to the Journals, Yew cried the whole night the attack on Jerome Balestra happened. Empathetic beyond belief, even as a baby

Seems Greide at least entertained the notion of choosing Denys as his heir. He says it himself: Denys had all the courage and skills he could want in an heir, but Yew had the superior bloodline despite his seemingly lesser talent as a kid

And he dies with some unspecified “promise” left unfulfilled

...I don’t even need to examine that painting to know who that is on the left. That’s Denys. I’d recognize him anywhere

Ah, a symbolic painting. On one side we have a young Yew grasping the Sword of the Brave, with Denys behind him. On the other side is Yōko and Danzaburō mirroring the Geneolgia brothers. It’s so obvious now that Danzaburō was just Denys in a hat and with two real arms. And I think with a different voice actor, maybe?

Yōko is a different kind of being. They called her a Yōkai, but that confuses her as she is the only one of her kind she knows. Her goal is simply to achieve true growth and lift the world into a higher plane of existence. True growth? It’s looking at yourself in the most open sense and accepting all that you are. By doing so, you become truly and fully realized, able to be the person fate wanted you to be

Girl, you didn’t have to switch forms on me

“Brave the dark depths within their heart”? Is that what you tried to do at the Geyser Grotto? Show everyone the parts of themselves that they deny to try and get them to accept those flaws and grow?

Yeah, I think that’s it. And she remembered that she never looked at Edea’s heart. Yōko... is absolutely right. Edea says she defected in the last game because she was appalled by their actions, and to an extent I’m sure it’s true, but it was also a ploy to get her dad’s attention. Selfless and selfish in equal measures. So often are actions both, and all it takes is a different angle to see it

And her other secret is exactly what I called out last liveblog: she misses Ringabel more than anything, and it kills her to see all of her friends and family and even enemies pair off while her love is probably in an alternate reality, loving an alternate her. Her love is a version of a man she should never have had the ability to meet if the worlds had stayed intact. The version of a man who wouldn’t have existed without that universal fabric being breached

“And what hurts most of all, is that he chose to leave you.” He did. He left the Edea he’d journeyed with to go try and save the Edea he’d failed. Just like Alternis is probably dismayed that she loves an alternate him, Edea probably can’t help but fear that Ringabel only saw her as a temporary replacement for her alternate self

Yoko’s being so mean since I am fairly certain she knows Ringabel is here. She called him interesting at Geyser Grotto. I know she knows who he is

OHHHHHH FUCK YEAH THAT’S LOVE’S VAGRANT

EDEA QUICK CHANGE OUT OF THE RANGER OUTFIT. GET SOME GOOD CLOTHES. UNLESS HE’S INTO RABBIT GIRLS? HE PROBABLY IS, ACTUALLY

That’s my last game fav! How’s it going, ‘Bel? Good to see I correctly identified his appearances, too. Geyser Grotto, then Florem, then Caldisla

Cute hug. CUTE HUG.

I don’t know why the revelation that it’s Ringabel means anything to Yew and Magnolia. I mean, it’s basically “You thought I was Alternis, but it’s actually me, his twin who you’ve never met!” but with the added bonus of “how did you dimension hop?”

A painting of Yōko fighting unidentified warriors. Ringabel calls them the Planeswardens, the group he’s taken up working for. They... warden planes. Which is to say they defend alternate realities. According to him, Yōko only wishes to create chaos, nothing more

“Growing as a human being is about more than drudging up old fears and traumas...” God, I missed ya, Bel

And the Planeswardens have classified Yōko as an S-rank Malevolent Spirit of Concern. So she’s dangerous, though I’m willing to listen to her spiel, at least. The most she’s done so far is emotionally traumatize us, right?

She’s over 4.6 billion years old? Because that’s just how long she’s been on Luxendarc, she’s actually older than that. Do... do you people know how time works??? (Evidently not because no one in the Glanz Empire did, but still) That’s a LONG TIME, GUYS!

No. NO. Do NOT cut to Ringabel, standing alone, going “No matter what the cost, I must defeat her!” I already had one unexpected favorite dumb blond boy sacrifice himself this game, I’m not letting you do it to the other one, too!

So Ringabel and Denys for Bravely Third party when?

And according to Greide’s journals, Foundar’s dying message was basically “If you have more than one son, have them duke it out. Winner gets his inheritance, loser is either his brother’s servant or dead. That applies to every generation after me. Have fun, losers!”

“Fear the Eye of Foundar.” What IS IT. What can it DO. Do I have to worry for my boys because I’m already worrying you don’t need to make it worse

To enter Yōko’s shrine, you have to decipher Foundar’s code using the symbols carved into the walls of the crypt. And you have to do it on your own. You cannot tell anyone how. Only then can you hope to know if you are even qualified

...Greide didn’t write “Fear the Eye of Foundar.” It simply appeared in his locked journal after he deciphered Foundar’s texts

YEEEEEEEEEW I think your family’s cursed. There’s some fucked up demon magic going on here and I DON’T LIKE IT. We gotta go get Denys. Like, now. I think you’re both doomed but he’s doomed and without Celestial guidance. And also trapped with a horse

Year AO 3. I think this is from Foundar. Proposed to by the pope’s daughter, then he spoke to Yōko at her shrine, describing her as “pitiful”

The “promise” was Foundar’s to Yōko. A task he needed someone with “the vast wealth needed to support a million souls, great military strength enough to strike down a thousand political foes, and technology advanced enough to grant a hundred men hundred-year lives” for. Greide suspects that those who failed Foundar’s request for his descendants gave up on the last part, with the Eye warning them of failure

Yōko was put to sleep to contain the first Plague. If you seal her inside the girl... the Plague returns because now the girl has it

Greide what... “Well, I didn’t get an ominous demonic message on the last page, so I should be good to go on the fulfilling Foundar’s promise thing!” N... no???

So first he wanted fame. Then he wanted the “power” Yōko bestowed on Foundar that caused his meteoric good fortune and rise through the ranks. Not a single shred of selflessness, as befitting a man named “greed”

Confirmation that Yōko had the Plague sealed within her and was put to rest in the shrine to keep it from infecting Luxendarc. I see we’ve got a morally grey fox demon here. For all she tries to help, it may do more harm than good sometimes

Greide was legitimately shocked that the Origin Plague spread as the Great Plague. His decision to poison those on their ships was due to a message from the Pope claiming he wouldn’t let any potential carriers dock

The Plague had one clear physical identifier on the effected: a star-shaped pattern on the pupil. He killed anyone he saw with that mark, and apologized to both the girl and Yōko sealed within her, who Foundar had wished to save and who he had failed

God, that star mark is just... ripe for a scene of someone turning around and having it in their eye as a dramatic reveal. If it doesn’t happen in this game I feel it’ll probably happen in a potential Bravely Third

“To my sons, and my son’s sons... I leave you this message: Blame me. Hate me. And then lead the church and this world on to a path which will ultimately eradicate the Plague that the fox girl so desperately wished to contain. To my sons... To all who come after me... Fear the Eye of Foundar. But do not fear failure.” And in the end... a moment of clarity. Who is right? Yōko or Greide, two tellers with biases that are different but no less strong?

I have never felt the pull of a sequel hook so strong in my life

Oooooh hello! Tent event with Ringabel!

And after giving him coffee, Yew and Magnolia make a hasty retreat so the Default crew can get some reminiscing done

Yes. Call Agnès. Get the quartet together again

Oh fuck Alternis picked up ABORT. ABORT.

So Agnès had him take her calls while she was in the bath, and now The Dim Twins are arguing

So Ringabel saved Braev and Alternis after the Kaiser’s attack during the first timeline. Alternis, did you not recognize your own damn voice when he saved you?

“Did you say Agnès was in... the bath?” *Edea whips her head to look at Ringabel faster than I can blink* Boooooooy you’re in... hot water now

...never change, Bel. Never change.

Did Yōko eat the team’s breakfast? The monster. Now she’s done it!

I’m gonna kick her ass and become a fox demon myself!

Yōko, that’s an amazing sword. I super love it. God, the pale pink fire theme? So rad

OH HOLY SHIT. Ringabel jumps in at random points in the fight to do his special attack!? THAT’S AMAAAAAAAZING. Love’s Vagrant may as well just be the battle theme at this point and I looooooooove iiiiiiiiiit

So, hey. Game. I see you can do this? Have a guest party member during a fight? Why couldn’t you do this with Denys!? Especially during the Diamante fight! It’s like literally every boss in Chapter 6 is designed to remind you how stupid Denys’s sacrifice was!

And Yew and Yōko‘s conversation is really something. She accuses him of bearing the sins of his forefathers, and when he tries to assert that he is himself, not Foundar OR Greide, and therefore shouldn’t be held accountable for their actions, she accuses him of denying his family. And that he sounds just like all the rest of them. Full of sentiment and idealism... and ultimately just as flawed and helpless and self-serving

So, hey, first of all leave my boy alone? Yew’s doing his best and has been this whole game. He’s the sweetest kid. You are not allowed to speak to him like that. I’ll kick your ass

Second, it just really goes to show how both Yew and Denys have spent their whole lives trying to fix a problem that shouldn’t have been theirs to fix. And it goes to show what great foils they are to each other. Denys instantly took the weight of their sins on himself, accepted them as a problem he had to fix, and dedicated his life to doing so by actively denying any good that came out of their actions and trying to undo it all. Yew is the one denying that it should be his problem to fix, yet he’s the one who accepts that what happened happened and is trying to fix the problem by looking at what went wrong and what went right and trying to smooth out the rough edges. It’s an interesting dichotomy of the acceptance-denial theme present in the narrative, where you could say that Yew’s denial led to a form of acceptance, and that Denys’s initial acceptance led to a form of denial that later had to be worked back into acceptance, but a less extreme kind

I LOVE YOU RINGABEL

God, he’s going, like, every turn! He’s using every weapon in the book! THIS MAN IS UNSTOPPABLE

Man, and a boss that doesn’t revive? I love this quest

And changing jobs back, I see we’ve unlocked something I’ve known about for a while: Job Level 11, the hidden level. 9999 JP? That’s actually not an awful requirement

The final truth. The song of Altair is playing (and his bestiary entry has him mention that Yōko is familiar). One day, two people appeared on a glimmering ship, travelers from another world. Yōko aided them, as they looked for a way back to their own world. But a disease from their world that they had been studying in their ship’s lab escaped, and mixed with a disease from Luxendarc to create the Plague. Yōko feared for the people of this world that she loved, so she sealed the Plague inside herself and then sealed herself away, so that none could get sick again. People began to worship her as a god and built her a shrine, until eventually they, too, fell (I imagine this is Wa, the nation that sank beneath the sea eons ago, mentioned in various weapon notes, most notably katanas and other Japanese weaponry. It would explain the Japanese aesthetic of Yōko). 2400 years ago, the subject of our final painting (maybe? Nice mustache either way), Foundar, found her (..heh) and promised that while he didn’t have the means to help her, one day he would have one of his descendants free her from the Plague and her self-imposed imprisonment. Greide sealed her inside the girl to transport her to Gathelatio so that they could use their medical equipment to cure her... and we all know how that ended. It all destroyed any sense of goodness and love left within Greide, the would-be savior of a doomed spirit whose overconfidence led to a Plague that destroyed half of his world’s people

Hey, somebody hug my crying boy? Somebody hug Yew for me? Please? ...please?

Yōko is grateful to both Foundar and Greide. Foundar couldn’t save her, but could inform her that an old friend of hers was safe. Greide freed her, and even though he killed her host and left them beneath the sea, he did help end the Plague as she always wanted

Yew doesn’t even have anything to say. It’s his turn to shape the future? It is. But I know he’s gonna make it a better place

And Ringabel has to go. He wasn’t even supposed to let us know it was him; his superiors forbid it. But Yōko essentially turned this castle into a pocket-dimension that she regulates, so he figured he could reveal himself without his bosses knowing

“Edea, I never left you and I never will. Wherever... whenever you are in peril, there I will be!” ...Edea has died more than anyone else in my party, to the point where she’s a full half a level down from everyone else, even in the mid-70s. You’re sweet, but you’re doing a terrible job, pal

And to Magnolia, a job: with Yōko gone, there isn’t anyone to hold her Sins back, and they have been unleashed. (Dark summons!) No one knows fighting unearthly demons like Magnolia!

And his request to Tiz: tell Agnès he says hi. She’s the only friend he never got to see again (thanks, Alternis)

Wow, way to just warp out in a flash of light. Later, ass! You couldn’t just escort us to the door? (Trash fav)

WOW that was a dense quest. Goodness. And it’s still technically not done! I’ve got Sins to snag! But holy shit, why couldn’t the other sidequests in the game be like this? I mean, there was plot relevance! Character focus! Backstory! I’m so glad the Chapter 6 quests managed to be so good, it’s just a shame there weren’t more of them!

So the Adventurer’s fox opened a high level magic shop and... taaaaalks? This isn’t Persona 4, why is there an entrepreneurial fox here?

Hey, you shadowy DICK. What’s the Eye of Foundar!? I read the notes, fess up! Do I have to start worrying for my two favorite boys or what!?

And now he says nothing. Cool. Thanks. If anything happens to Yew or Denys I’m coming after you first

(So I think the reason my 3DS screen goes black when I put it down sometimes is because I’m putting it down on on my computer, where there’s magnets to keep it closed when I fold the screen down)

Ooooooooh looking for the Sins I found the hidden village of Chompshire in the Yulyana region. That’s what that owl guy meant during the Grandship quest

I mean it’s really pretty. Seems like an easily missable area unless you’re going for completion. Not bad, just not super important

So let’s get this show on the road and see what these sins are all about, huh?

The first sin is Asmodeus, the embodiment of lust. I mean it’s freaking sick looking? Like a floating cloak with a bunch of snake heads? There’s a blood moon rising in the background. And the battle theme rocks. I mean that literally, we have wailing guitars and some riff that sound like old-school Final Fantasy songs. Which, I mean, I guess that makes sense, since I think these guys are supposed to be cameos from Final Fantasy: The 4 Heroes of Light (I have a friend who played that game a lot). The Adventurer’s a cameo, too, since Bravely was originally envisioned as a spiritual sequel to that game. Neat trivia

Okay??? It can imprison people in the Infernal Realm??? Not my boy! Bring Yew back!

Hey, he did. Thanks, you demonic monstrosity!

Guys, you look winded. That fight wasn’t that bad. Bit worrying, I guess, what with the Infernal Realm nonsense, but not awful

Sin 2 is Beelzebub, the manifestation of gluttony. I honestly have no idea how Magnolia knows what these guys are and their names, but whatever. It’s a head wearing a crown with some squid tentacles. The sky is red. He’s classified as a bug? Do enough damage while it’s in Gluttony mode (all attacks heal instead of hurt) and it dies instantly. Which is what I did. Later, doofus!

Next up is Mammon, the being of avarice (aka greed for non-pretentious folks). It’s a chick with wings, fox-like ears, and four, clawed arms coming out of her back. Her Avarice attack lets her steal the whole party’s BP, so it’s a bit of a waiting game at times.

Died the first time after getting very close and then getting wiped, level grinded everything to max in between then and the second time. I don’t forsee any more combat deaths, I’ll tell you that much

Oh, it’s a “he” according to the Bestiary? Alright.

And now we have Belphegor, a creature of sloth. And... hey, I thought I recognized this guy when fighting Yōko! It’s a weird furry guy sitting in a wheelchair. I fought this guy as a Norende Nemesis last game! He was one of the few I did. How do you like us now, man?

Okay, scratch that “no combat problems” thing this asshole absorbs anything that isn’t magic of the specific element he’s weak to. Yew? Darling boy of mine? Think you can Spellcraft Summon him into oblivion?

Atta boy

Well kids, let’s go kill Satan, the manifestation of wrath. With all the ranting I do sometimes, you guys sure I’m not the manifestation of wrath? I will say, this is probably the coolest depiction of a wrath-based foe I’ve ever seen? I mean, it’s a buff guy with four arms each holding swords, a torn black cloak, and his head doubles as a helmet and a full blown furnace! No wonder we’re fighting him near the Eisen volcano, he fits right in!

I looooooooooove Meteor Raiiiiiiiiiiin

And on to Leviathan, the manifestation of envy. AKA a bunch of wiggly serpents that go offscreen. Joke’s on you, jackass. I have Yew Geneolgia, destroyer of all on my side. Boy’s a terrifying spellcaster now

See, this is what happens when you let Yew do what comes easily to him instead of trying to make him be a swordsman like his brother. He becomes THE MOST POWERFUL BOY

Guess he had a turtle shell head? I dunno, he died too fast

And for the last one, no one’s surprised by their appearances anymore. Heck, the team’s enjoying it! It’s Lucifer, the manifestation of pride. Guy took the “fallen angel” thing and ran with it. It’s a suit of armor with a double angel wing on one side and a feathery sword-wielding arm on the other. And a dog head on its belly that bites? A’ight, man, you do you

I love my powerful magic son

And it seems Yōko’s left Yew a note thanking him. Good! You’d better thank Yew, specifically, because he did all the work!

That was an interesting sidequest... related thing? I will say, the most interesting part of it is the Bestiary entries, which take the real-world stories of these demons and comes up with Luxendarc analogues for the stories. It paints a really interesting picture of their world, but other than the references to real-world religious figures I don’t have much to say about it

Okay, I know Agnès’s hint line of “Yew... where are you going!?” is supposed to be referencing the fact that he shouldn’t know where Anne is and the player does, but considering that since we left Caldisla we’ve:

Trekked down to Vampire Castle and hung out there for a long while for seemingly no reason to an outsider

Flown across the world, stopping at various points to fight high-ranking demons in no particular order

Walked around in circles in Florem Gardens for, like, 10 or 15 hours to level grind (and bounced around to various shops to blow off the excess cash)

And gone in for a few last-minute Bestiary entries that I knew the locations of

I mean... it’s a valid question. Like, from her perspective we probably look completely insane. Or, since it’s Agnès, like we’re just as directionally challenged as she is. I didn’t do anything here I didn’t do with you last game, Agnès, but I promise. Next time...

We’re gonna go save Vega.

[eddygould]

Renaissance: The Dark Cult

Renaissance: The Dark Cult is a fictional action-adventure videogame. The main feature of the game world is that alchemy is a real chemical science. In this case, magic does not exist at all, and all the principles of the work of alchemy are explained by the characteristics of the biochemical structure of Earth.

The Plot and Gameplay:

Rome, Papal States, 1521. The Four Years' War is about to break out, golems are fighting in the Colosseum, alchemists are trying to find the philosopher's stone, and High Renaissance artists are working on their masterpieces. The protagonist Santi De'nilzo graduates from the Medical Faculty of the University of Sapienza and moves to the outskirts of Rome to his elder brother Gilberto. He is a sly artisan-alchemist with great relations to artists, inventors, and some scammers. Shortly before the events of the game, he was receiving threats from strange people who, he believes, belong to the same organization. Meanwhile, there are kidnappings and ritual killings in the city, which gives rise to rumors about some kind of "dark cult". Together with his friends, Gilberto begins an independent investigation into which he draws the protagonist.

In the sewage system of Cloaca Maxima, Hemera, a society of non-conformists, thieves and scammers who rejected the emerging manufacturing work and organized their own society of independent creators and artisans, resides. Most of them are poor, but prideful. The church treats alchemy with caution, considering alchemists to be sorcerers, but at the same time secretly uses their developments. Some alchemists, however, deny magic and rely on a scientific approach, but many of them use the esoteric picture of the world for simplified systematization. The scientifical difference between the game world and ours is the presence of aether, one of the forms of dark matter, which began to stand out after the Big Bang and has been reacting with matter at the subatomic level, allowing the plastic change of matter, including organic one. Thus, the creation of artificial life has become one of the most promising discoveries of the Middle Ages. Arabs have made golems, and soon they were imported to Europe. Despite the fact that these creatures did not possess self-awareness, they were easily trained as dogs. In 1520, the famous alchemist and iatrochemist Paracelsus went to Rome, where he was able to grow the first homunculus, making a real breakthrough in alchemy.

From the point of gameplay, the game is a third-person adventure with elements of interactive cinema and a free camera, something resembling games by Telltale. The player has to solve riddles, use stealth, alchemy skills, and fight both in close and in long-range combat. Hemera plays a role of the hub with the tasks given by its inhabitants. Nearly all missions take place in open spaces, where in addition to the main goal, which can be achieved in various ways, there are NPCs that give "quests in the quest", as well as secret passages. The system of such "micro-tasks" allows the player to study the game world more thoroughly, find more information about the cult and learn the secrets of alchemy. After each successful micro-task, the player is given some experience points, which accumulate into leveling points. These points can be spent on 3 branches of the skill tree: Oratory, Alchemical Knowledge, and Military Skill. The level of each branch depends on the playstyle. For example, in a stressful situation, the player can either literally "talk the enemy to death”, make a special alchemical mix and blind them, or simply knock them out. There is a separate parameter called Deduction, which is filled after the successful execution of a deductive (usually secret) micro-task on the level. The higher the deduction level of the character, the faster Santi will find a cult. Thus, it allows the player to skip some parts of the plot and achieve the necessary ending. Another important aspect is Hemera's attitude to the player. If they pass all side quests, their reputation rises, if they ignore them — the attitude quickly falls, and Hemerans want to have less and less to do with the protagonist.

During his adventures, Santi will visit the Colosseum, return the blind alchemist who has allegedly been to another world, his healing treatise, solve the mystery of the dark cult, and much more. The game is divided into acts (chapters): "Arrival", "Falling" and "The Cult". The first chapter begins with the reunification of Santi, "Falling" with the abduction of Gilberto, and "The Cult" with the burning of Hemera by the priests. After a tipping point in "Falling", the player can become the new leader of Hemera, if they have reached the required level of respect, as well as Oratory. The same thing happens in chapter 3: it depends on the reputation of the player whether Santi's comrades will help him solve the last mission. Following the footsteps of his brother, the protagonist finds the base of the cult, located under the church. Bypassing the guards, in the dungeon he sees exhausted Gilberto who reports that the leader of the cult, using a special machine, pumps out all the liquids from him and a couple of other prisoners. Studying the lab, Santi finally meets the antagonist. He turns out to be a man named Velimir, a Russian alchemist who almost 200 years ago brought out the elixir of life and gained longevity with the side effect of rotting alive. Earlier Velimir had lived somewhere in the vicinity of Novgorod, and after meeting with some Arab merchant he became interested in alchemy. Subsequently, he became a skinny, charred, literally black creature with a naked skull, and therefore served as a real prototype of the character of the Slavic folklore Koschei, horrifying brave adventurers who often visited his hut to kill him and become a hero. These heroes were sent by his wife, who ran away from him because she thought that his mind had been captured by evil. The brain of Velimir continued to function, but he seemed to be burning from the inside, receiving incredible pain all the time. The alchemist had set a goal to get rid of the suffering and left his native land. All these 200 years he was travelling and learning the secrets of alchemy of various nations, gathering cults and burning cities, collecting wisdom and knowledge bit by bit. He visited the Great Ming Empire, Tibet, India (Kashmir), Persia and the Ottoman Empire, developing his own ideas of alchemy and philosophy. It was he who pursued Paracelsus, trying to elicit from him the secrets of homunculi growing. In Rome he met the European alchemy. Gaining wisdom from the best monks, Velimir eventually developed his own concept of gaining immortality: in order to achieve that it was necessary to create an aetheric apparatus that works on primary and secondary fuels. The device consists of three fuel tanks (with three sub tanks) and one central and sealed capsule with water for immersion. Water evaporates and turns into aether which soaks the body and is inhaled by a scientist, after which he becomes a new form of life. The primary fuel was salt, mercury and sulfur, the secondary one was the elixir of life, the homunculus and the philosopher's stone. After entering the main hall, the protagonist starts a conversation with Velimir, during which the game checks the player’s perks. If Santi has developed Oratory, this can lead to the first ending. If he has developed Oratory and Alchemical Knowledge — to the 2nd, and so on.

Endings:

1) Oratory. The player reveals all the secrets of Velimit and convinces him that his ideas are worthless, and the people whom he killed or sacrificed to his experiments were lost in vain. In fact, all this time he was trying to get rid of the pain by inflicting pain on others. If successful, Velimir agrees in his inconsistency and adequately accepts death by the hands of the protagonist, dissolving the cult before this.

2) Oratory + Alchemical Knowledge. If Santi has these two branches well developed, he can convince Velimir that his machine cannot exist, understanding that, in theory, it would cause great harm to the city and the reality itself. He insists on some miscalculations and, winning his confidence, says that for Gilberto’s release he will help him. "Repairing" the machine, Santi breaks it, and Velimir gasps in poisonous vapors. The protagonist frees Gilberto and escapes from Rome.

3) Alchemical Knowledge. Seeing Santi's extraordinary knowledge of alchemy, Velimir offers the protagonist either to help him with the machine in exchange for the release of Gilberto, or die. When choosing the first option, the character is forced to help the antagonist, and when choosing the second one, the battle will begin. However, the cultist deceives the character and pumps out all the fluids from him, starts the machine and ascends to the aetherial state. In the final scene, it is shown how the half-dead Gilberto lies on the ruins of the city and sees in the sky a greenish flash which blinds him.

4) Battle. With necessary level of Military Skill, the player enters an open battle with Velimir. In order to win, Santi needs to deal with two golems and four cultists. Successfully defeating enemies and killing Velimir, the protagonist destroys the machine and frees Gilberto who is planning to rebuild Hemera in the future.

5) Collapse. The player does not have time to stop Velimir, or dies in battle, and the antagonist successfully starts the machine, ascending to the state of the aether itself. The final scene is almost the same as in the ending of Alchemical Knowledge.

[portfolio-liora]

It Ends with Us is a contemporary drama-romance novel written by Colleen Hoover, published in 2016. It tells the relationship between a troubled businesswoman named Lily Bloom and Ryle Kincaid, a neurosurgeon with a haunting past. The story unfolds in the walk of their blissful and horrific relationship laced with recurring themes of abuse, and a former lover who returns and disrupts her life.

We are brought directly into a woman’s mind who witnessed first-hand abuse in her family, and who is facing a possibility for it to repeat in her own relationship. Hoover knew what message she wanted to tell and she did not just tell a story to achieve that–she pried directly into our feelings. Ryle was built into this near-perfect character. Hoover had us fall in love with him like Lily did, only for her to pull the rug underneath.

In the middle of the story, she shocked us with a “fifteen-second” attack. This switch in personality was lightning fast, but it did not last long. Instead, Ryle’s string of apologies and promises is what brought us into the rotation.

Further into the book, it is revealed that Ryle has PTSD as the stem of his abusive behavior. Like Lily, I found myself rationalizing this. His promises were so convincing and it’s clear that he shows remorse, then he continues on to become the near-perfect version of himself. Ryle showers Lily with affection and care more than before until the second incident comes. That’s when I realized that is how most abusive relationships work out. It’s a spiraling cycle of hurt, remorse, and affection.

When they made it to the third incident, that is when things have crossed the line. The contents of this book overwhelmed me for a few times, and for the safety of my readers, it is better to leave this one unsaid. Lily had to leave; she feared for her life, and that speaks a thousand volumes on this matter.

You may think, why didn’t she just leave the first time? Truthfully, reading the story, I felt how it was to be in Lily’s position, and dare I say that I agreed with her to give Ryle another chance.

Here is an excerpt from the book that explains this well:

People on the outside of situations like these often wonder why the woman goes back to the abuser. I read somewhere once that 85 percent of women return to abusive situations. That was before I realized I was in one, and when I heard that statistic, I thought it was because the women were stupid. I thought it was because they were weak. I thought these things about my own mother more than once.

But sometimes the reason women go back is simply because they’re in love. I love my husband, Ellen. I love so many things about him. I wish cutting my feelings off for the person who hurt me was as easy as I used to think it would be. Preventing your heart from forgiving someone you love is actually a hell of a lot harder than simply forgiving them.

“How could she love him after what he did to her? How could she contemplate taking him back?”

It’s sad that those are the first thoughts that run through our minds when someone is abused. Shouldn’t there be more distaste in our mouths for the abusers than for those who continue to love the abusers?

A detail I would like to highlight is when Lily met Ryle, he was described to be angry and furiously kicking a chair. This is also called property damage, a common occurrence in abusive relationships. Property damage is a form of emotional abuse considered “symbolic violence” (Engel, 2002). We were already given a major hint on Ryle’s abusive nature from the beginning of the book.

Another detail is how quick and impulsive Ryle’s decision was to marry Lily. This is a warning sign in abusive relationships: quick involvement. Many people in abusive relationships dated or knew their abusive partners for less than six months before they were married, engaged or living together (Milligan.edu, 2014).

The book ends with a powerful line that serves as the title: “It ends with us.” says Lily to her newborn daughter. She breaks the cycle of abuse that started in her family before it could enter her own.

Truly, each chapter and passage of It Ends with Us holds incredible substance that could teach young minds the warning signs of abuse and the steps they should take when encountering one.

Sometimes it is the one who loves you who hurts you the most.

And if they truly love you, they would do everything in their power to not harm you, even if it means ending the relationship. Abusers and abusive relationships should not be tolerated.

Source:

CNN Editorial Research. (2021, June 2). Domestic (Intimate Partner) Violence Fast Facts. CNN. https://edition.cnn.com/2013/12/06/us/domestic-intimate-partner-violence-fast-facts/index.html

Dwiastuti, Winda & Yamin, Harumi. (2020). The Simplification Domestic Violence in Colleen Hoover’s It Ends with Us (2016). 10.2991/assehr.k.200729.015.

Karakurt, G., & Silver, K. E. (2013). Emotional abuse in intimate relationships: The role of gender and age. National Center for Biotechnology Information. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3876290/

Katthebookbloggerblog, V. A. P. B. (2016, August 13). It Ends With Us Spoiler Review. Katthebookblogger. https://katthebookbloggerblog.wordpress.com/2016/08/05/it-ends-with-us-spoiler-review/

Melissa @ BookNerdMomo. (2016, August 19). It Ends With Us//A Discussion. BookNerdMomo. https://booknerdmomo.wordpress.com/2016/08/15/it-ends-with-usa-discussion/

[starboundfic]

Chapter 3

Change

Chapter 2 - Chapter 4

Jordan was pretty sure that Molly’s latest stunt almost gave him heart failure, given that they didn’t even know what that freaky blue thing even was—hell, he hadn’t even seen it until she’d turned the lion-ship to fly right into it.

The inside of it was the same color as the outside, but he couldn’t tell much more than that since it felt like being in the Arrow’s turret with the hyperdrive engaged; he’d had to grab onto the back of the chair along with Shiro to keep himself from being thrown backwards.

It ended as abruptly as it started after several seconds, with inertia kicking in and making his face hit the chair hard enough to send stars flying across his vision.

To the side, he heard Stan make a sound that was like something between a wheeze and a whimper before saying “Never do something like that again,” in a rushed breath.

Molly didn’t respond, and to the side, Shiro frowned before saying her name. She jolted roughly that time, blinking up at him before seeming to realize that she’d even been spoken to, before saying “I—it’s nothing, I was just—wondering where we are now.” There was a small pause before she added “You can let go anytime now,” in a vaguely-reproachful tone, half-glaring to the side at Koji, who complied after a bit.

Their technician was still ashen-faced and shaking a little, and Stan moved to say something quietly to him, placing a hand on his shoulder.

Where were they. That was a good question. The larger ship that had been pursuing them was nowhere in sight, which was a relief to Jordan. Aside from open space around them, there was a single planet, blue and green with white clouds painted over its surface—in other words, not Elpis.

It wasn’t Alwas, because there were no moons, and entirely too much landmass. The former detail ruled out it being Earth, too, along with the fact that there was only one visible continent.

Given that Jordan knew next to nothing about the geography of the other planets in the coalition—Elpis was an exception because of how unique it was—and honestly hadn’t paid much attention to the starmap lessons, he had no idea where they were.

Shiro didn’t look like he had any thoughts either, judging by his expression. “Molly, does the lion have a navigation system?”

“Um, let me check.” She stared at the keypad, one hand hovering over the various buttons, before tapping one toward the right end of it. It prompted a new screen to show up on the front monitor, but it was in whatever alien language the ship is coded in.

“Do you recognize any of that?” Koji asked, some color having returned to his face.

“No,” Shiro replied after another minute, brow furrowed. “Nothing. Wherever we are, it must be a long way from Earth.”

Oh, wonderful, Jordan thought sarcastically, rolling his eyes. Then he stumbled when the ship jolted, suddenly pitching forward to dive down toward the planet below.

Any sort of remark he had in mind promptly petered out when he saw Molly pull back on the handles a few times, looking just as disconcerted as Jordan himself was feeling at the sudden movement. “Uh, Molly? What’s…?” he started anxiously.

“I don’t know, it’s like it’s on autopilot or something,” she said, giving up on the handles and looking up at the screens instead.

“How, though?” Stan sounded exasperated at this point.

“I just said I don’t know!”

Flames washed over the outside display before it hit a layer of frosty white clouds, with the ship ceasing to shake after a few seconds. The landscape below was open fields, which transitioned into a more desert-like area to one side, a mountain range to another, and a forest in a third.

There was also a rugged-looking coastline, with a few high cliffs—and sitting on the largest one was a gleaming white building with cyan highlights (kind of like the lion’s, actually) and matte-black accents, having four bordering towers following the same color-scheme.

The lion made a beeline for the courtyard in front of what looked like the main entrance, lowering its head to the ground upon landing. There was a long pause, before there was an uncertain “Maybe it has some kind of AI?” from Koji. “And this place had a homing beacon for it?”

“Whatever the case, the lion seems to know more than we do right now,” Shiro said. “If it brought us here, there has to be a reason for it.”

They’d dealt with glowing cave-carvings, found a giant red lion-ship, went through a maybe-wormhole—and now they were in front of some alien castle-looking building in the middle of nowhere. The aforementioned building also absolutely dwarfed the lion.

Jordan had a nagging feeling that today was going to be outlandish enough to put the past week or so to shame.

The stone tiling of the courtyard was weathered, with weeds growing between the cracks, and a breeze coming in from the ocean countered what felt like summer heat. Aside from the wind and the distant sound of the ocean hitting the shoreline, it was quiet.

A little too quiet, in Jordan’s opinion. At least, until the lion-ship stood up straight and let out a deafening roar, staggering all of them and leaving Jordan’s ears ringing. It had the additional effect of making the door open, somehow.

“Am I the only one starting to get creeped out by that thing?” Jordan asked, throwing a suspicious look over his shoulder at the lion. (It didn’t react, of course.) No one answered verbally, but both Stan and Koji looked about as uneasy as Jordan was feeling. There wasn’t anyone in the lion right now, so how had it done that?

Maybe it was an AI, like Koji said.

Or maybe it was haunted. It better not be haunted.

“Well, what’re we waiting for?” Molly asked before starting in. Shiro chuckled quietly before following her, and that really didn’t leave the rest of them with much of a choice.

In a case of extreme contrast to the outside, the interior of the building was completely dark, and there was a thick coating of dust on everything. “What is this place, anyways?” Koji asked.

“I don’t know, but there’s bound to be someone in here somewhere,” Shiro replied.

“You sure about that?” Stan sounded dubious as they reached the staircase at the end of the hall. “’cause it doesn’t look like anyone’s been here in a long time.”

Right on cue, a set of overhead lights blazed on, with a computerized voice intoning something that Jordan’s translator didn’t compute. It was followed a second, blue-tinged light washing over each of them, like some kind of scanner. After it faded, the hallway at the top of the stairs was lit up, too.

“I guess we’re considered friendlies,” Jordan shrugged a bit. The question was, was that a good thing?

The hallway led down a few stairways, and the patch branched off into other passages more than a few times, but those areas remained darkened. “This place is huge,” Molly commented after a few minutes, when they passed by the fifth four-way intersection.

“I think you might be right about this place,” Jordan remarked to Stan after another minute.

A fancy high-tech castle in the middle of nowhere with absolutely no one inside of it? Yeah, he was definitely getting a bad feeling about this.

“But why would the lion bring us here if it was?” Koji asked.

Jordan halted mid-step for a second. Good question.

Eventually, the hall ended with a room that was mostly featureless, save for a small stand in the center of it, and eight circular hatches set in the floor. “Looks like a control room,” Stan noted after a minute, stepping over to get a closer look at the device in the middle of the room.

“What does it do?” Molly asked.

“There’s only one way to find out.” Shiro moved to press the one visible key. The console blinked cyan a few times in response, and a hissing sound preceded two pod-shaped objects that slid out of the floor.

There was a long pause, before Stan said “I think those things have bodies in them.”

“What?” Koji scrambled back a bit towards the entrance, with Molly looking like she was seriously debating on following him. Shiro was giving Stan a startled look, and Jordan swallowed reflexively when he noticed that Stan wasn’t wrong—he could only make out vague silhouettes behind the opaque glass, but they were definitely humanoid.

Maybe he made something of an undignified sound when the glass of one of the pods abruptly dissolved, with the very-much-alive occupant stumbling out.

At first glance, she seemed human, head bowed and one hand on the edge of the pod to steady herself. Then Jordan noticed her ears, which made him think Nourasian…and then she lifted her head up to look at them, and he saw the pink markings under her eyes, which ruled that out too.

The aforementioned eyes were a crystalline blue, catlike pupils being that same shade of mauve. Her silver hair stood out starkly with her darker skin, but she didn’t look too much older than they were. The tiara and blue dress implied that she might have been nobility of some sort.

Her expression was completely blank for a total of two seconds before transitioning to shock, and then she readjusted her stance to a combative one, and snapped something in that same new mystery language.

“I, uh, didn’t catch that,” Molly said, putting her hands up slightly in a placating gesture.

It didn’t seem like the alien understood what she said either, if her confounded expression was anything to go on, but she at least seemed to understand the gesture.

A few moments passed before her brow furrowed slightly, and she said something else, the syllables being just different enough for Jordan to recognize it as yet another indecipherable alien language.

From the corner of his eye, he saw Stan fish a screwdriver out of his bag. It wouldn’t be much of an emergency weapon if it came to it, and the alien’s eyes were on it briefly, so it probably wouldn’t do much good anyways.

The fourth mystery alien language sounded coarser than the others, and at that point, Jordan was fully convinced that whatever planet this was, it was in some backwater corner of the galaxy.

At that point, the alien regarded them all with obvious frustration, before exclaiming something that, while still gibberish, apparently wasn’t to Shiro, with how he jumped.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

“What exactly are you, then?”

That whoever this was spoke Galran was, in this case, a blessing, even if the enunciations were different from what Shiro had heard before.

Her attention had zeroed in on him when he’d started, eyes narrowing before saying “You are not Galra.”

“No,” he replied in turn. He didn’t know much concrete Galran. Bits and pieces heard enough times to make sense of over a year coalesced into a working vocabulary, he supposed.

She relaxed marginally, the narrow-eyed look being more quizzical now. “Who are you, and where is King Alfor?”

“I don’t know who that is.” Better to get that one out of the way first. “My name is Shiro.”

She’d paled in response to the first answer, but only momentarily, quickly vanishing under the professional look again, before saying “I am Princess Allura of planet Altea. How did you get here?”

Recognizing that the explanation that the story would need required words he didn’t know, Shiro settled with “We were brought here by a ship. The Red Lion.” The last part was an afterthought—the commander that had attacked them on Alwas had demanded that they surrendered the lion, referring to it with that name.

The princess went stone-faced before turning to the console, bringing a screen up and rapidly typing a few things on the holographic keyboard, which summoned a video feed of the courtyard outside. “Were you the one who flew him?” she asked, not looking away.

“No. Molly did.”

Allura gave him another quizzical look, while Molly straightened at hearing her name. Noticing the movement, the princess looked over each of them, until her attention wandered more to the side, at the other pod.

She hurried over it, opening it without pause. From where Shiro was standing, he couldn’t see that one’s occupant—at least, not until there was a short scream, followed by the occupant launching himself toward Jordan, who ducked out of the way just in time.

He stumbled when he hit the floor with an exclamation of something that sounded like “Quiznak!” while windmilling his arms so that he managed to stay on his feet, whirling around to face them. There was frost coating his mustache, which was the same bright-orange as his hair.

The tirade he’d barely had a chance to start was interrupted by an amusedly-exasperated “Coran,” from Allura.

There was a brief exchange between the two of them in the first language they’d heard from the building’s computer system, presumably Altean.

The others were staying quiet, at least—from the corner of his eye, Shiro could see Jordan eyeing them both warily, and that Stan looked tense.

Allura stepped over to the computer console after a minute, while Coran (Shiro was guessing that was his name) turned his attention to them. “Where did you come from?” he asked, using the same form of Galran that Allura had spoken in.

“We come from Earth,” Shiro replied. “Though we were on a planet named Alwas before now.” Coran’s eyebrows raised slightly at the mention of Alwas, and Allura stopped typing to look at them again, but there was no vocal interruption. “The Lion was on Alwas, and the Galra were trying to find it.”

“They attacked?” Something like alarmed disbelief had crept into his tone there, but only momentarily.

Shiro nodded, which prompted Coran to ask something else, tone guarded and a touch uncertain—but the words used weren’t ones Shiro knew. The most he got was that the question involved if a certain event was happening.

Then an idea struck him. “I have a translation device,” he said carefully, reaching behind his neck to detach the object. It felt like pulling a bandage off, in terms of how it stung a bit, but the sensation faded after a bit.

Coran took the device swiftly, turning it over in his hands a few times in a way that indicated he knew his way around tech, before making the universal wait-one-moment gesture and jogging over to a wall.

A blue screen appeared on a panel, and a light on the translator device blinked on for a few seconds, before Coran muttered something, sliding a part of the wall aside to show a few earpieces on a shelf. After seeming to count how many of them there were, before taking several and handing one to each of them.

A quiet “Qu’est-ce que c’est?” from Stan confirmed that the device really had been a translator, and might be what the earpiece was.

Aside from beeping twice after being put on, the earpiece didn’t do anything—at least, until Coran said something else, and a small holographic screen appeared roughly a foot away from Shiro’s face, reading “This is a temporary measure until the castle’s translator figures out your language.”

“It’s a translator,” Shiro said, glancing toward the others; he realized seconds later that they might not understand English, but only Jordan hesitated before putting the earpiece on after that.

“Right then, now that that’s settled…the Galra—you say they attacked Alwas?”

“Yes.”

“But why were you there in the first place?” Allura asked.

“I’m not exactly sure how I got there, aside from being in a ship that crashed,” Shiro admitted, giving a furtive sideways glance toward the other four.

Molly picked up where he left off, thankfully. “Jordan and I found Shiro after he crashed. We’re…” She trailed off, face falling a bit before finishing, “We were in the Pre-Selections, but then the Galra came in and wrecked the place, trying to find the lion, but we found it first.” The translator worked for making out what the others said too, thankfully.

Allura’s gaze sharpened. “The Pre-Selections,” she repeated. “For the Great Race of Ōban?”

“Yeah,” Stan affirmed. “We were in the playoffs, until—well, what she said.”

“But that doesn’t make any sense,” the alien princess exclaimed. “The Pre-Selections ended phoebs ago!”

There was a quiet “Huh?” from Molly at that, along with a muttered “I think those things scrambled them,” from Jordan.

“Ah, princess?” Coran started, having paled a few shades. “It actually could make sense, if we were in the cryopods for as long as I think we might’ve been.”

Allura stared at him for a few long moments, before whirling around to face the computer again, pulling up a new screen. Then she went rigid, a quiet, shaken “That’s…impossible,” being barely heard.

“Impossible, yet here we are.”

Allura blinked once, twice, and seemed to physically wilt before saying “We’ve been asleep for almost ten-thousand decaphoebs.”

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The last time she had been on the bridge of the castle, Altea had been burning around them, a Galra fleet commanded by Zarkon himself closing in.

Now, Altea no longer existed.

Nalquod, Rygnirath, the entire Dalterion belt—all were now marked as uninhabited.

And to top it off, there was a nigh-on incomprehensible amount of backlog of distress beacons, covering nearly the entire starmap.

“It’s a bleak picture, I’ll admit that,” Coran said quietly from behind her.

A dry laugh escaped Allura. “Bleak is an understatement. There’s two of us, the castle, and one Lion.”

She’d checked the other cryopods before leaving the infirmary, but they were all empty. The only other living things in the room besides the two of them and the Earthlings were the four mice she’d occasionally seen around the kitchens; they’d somehow ended up in the same cryopod as Allura herself.

“One Lion’s better than no Lions,” Coran pointed out gently. “And we have a paladin for that Lion, too. It’s a start.”

She sighed. “I suppose you’re right. What did my father do after…?”

“He transferred his connection to the Lions over to you. I’m not sure how, he didn’t explain any of it. Then they were sent away.”

Just as he said had to be done.

“He put a protocol in place for when a Lion became active, for the castle to use stored energy to create a wormhole from wherever it was to bring it here,” Coran went on.

Allura tensed. “And if the Galra had been the ones to awaken a Lion?”

He smiled thinly. “I think it’s best to not consider that.” She nodded in agreement. It didn’t happen, and that was what mattered.

There was a pause, before Coran exhaled quietly. “They actually interfered with the Great Race.”

That revelation had caught Allura off-guard, being disturbing at the least. Ōban, even if its existence hadn’t been actually proven to them until her father had decoded some coordinates in an ancient ruin uncovered by pure chance on Altea, was a sacred place. As were the three planets closest to it.

That the Galra would even consider launching an attack on one of them just proved how far they had fallen.

“Where are the others?” Allura asked.

“I told them to stay in one of the common rooms for the time being.”

They were a new species to her. She’d initially thought them to be Altean, until she’d realized they’d lacked facial markings, and seen that their ears were different. Their eyes were generally duller in color as well, there only being one exception among them.

Not to mention the language she’d first heard from one of them was equally unfamiliar. It was no different with the second one; the rhythms to the words were just different enough for her to make that distinction.

It would take some time—hopefully not long, given that their translators had provided a base lexicon—for the castle’s translator to decode what they said, so until then, they had to rely on the portable translators.

Allura looked over her shoulder at him. “The one that knows Galran—Shiro—said that the Red Lion’s paladin was named…Molly, I think. Do you know which one that might be?”

“Well, I know as much about their kind as you do, which is to say nothing aside from what we saw a few doboshes ago. But given the sound of the name, I’d say it’s the young lady.”

Allura dismissed the starmap without a word, starting down the hallway. The main doors opened as she approached, midday light streaming in, with a notable shadow cast by the Red Lion, who was defensive before she could even start.

She returned metaphorical fire with the vision of destruction she’d witnessed from the bridge before her father had sent her into unconsciousness. “You know exactly what we’re going to be going up against, and yet you bring a child?”

A child that has a natural talent for piloting was the Lion’s counter. She has untapped potential.

“Potential means nothing if you don’t live long enough to grow into it.” The first ones to fall in the last attack on Altea had been the regiment that Commander Raible said had the most potential.

The Lion growled audibly, leaving Allura’s ears ringing. There would be nothing keeping him from protecting his paladin this time.

This time.

Allura looked up, meeting the Red Lion’s eyes. “You wanted to stay?”

No response came, but the silence was an answer in itself. Her father must have had someone pilot the Red Lion away from Altea to safety—but the only other one that Red would even consider allowing to pilot him would have been…

“Princess!”

Coran’s voice jolted her out of her thoughts, and she turned to see him jogging over to her. “The good news is that, aside from all the diagnostic reports we’ll have to sift through, a full system reboot of the castle is in progress.”

“Good news?” she repeated, tensing.

Now he grimaced. “The bad news is that we’ve got a Galran battlecruiser heading straight for us.”

“What?! How did they even find us?” Heat surged over the lines distinguishing herself from the Red Lion, in a way that should have felt alien, but the link had ten-thousand decaphoebs to settle.

“I’m not sure, but we have a few quintants before they get here. Give or take a varga.”

Her breath caught in her throat. One battlecruiser could very easily turn into fifty, and they would need Voltron if that happened—but they were four Lions short of Voltron at the current tick.

“Coran, what should we do?”

“I’m not sure,” he replied. “But I know someone who might have an idea.”

Coran led her into one of the deeper parts of the castle, one of the few areas she didn’t venture into very often, not saying a word until they’d nearly reached a single doorway at the end of one corridor. “Your father left this for you, in the event that things didn’t end as well as he hoped.”

Allura knew exactly what she was looking at even before it came online, the room’s walls being replaced by a field of juniberry flowers, her father in the center of it.

“Allura. It’s been far too long.” King Alfor sounded weary, his smile bittersweet. If it weren’t for the fact that he was a holographic projection, Allura would think it was really him.

“Father, I—I don’t know what to do. A Galra ship is coming for us and we only have one Lion and five strangers who I can’t even understand without a basic translation device.”

“The basic translators is how we started off with the Eridians, don’t forget,” was the wry comment given.

“I—guess I did forget that,” she admitted, taking a deep breath. “But I don’t know what to do now. The Galra’s current leader is no better than Zarkon, if they interrupted the—”

“It still is Zarkon,” Alfor interrupted, his tone grave. “The castle’s picked up on enough public broadcasts for me to tell that much.”

“He’s still alive?” Allura whispered, voice hoarse with disbelief. “But how?”

“I’m not sure, though I have my suspicions.” Alfor cleared his throat quietly. “Allura, listen to me. You were right, all those decaphoebs ago. I made a catastrophic mistake in scattering the Lions, one that’s cost countless lives. You must be the one to assemble the Lions once more.”

“But how? We only have one paladin, and she’s still a child.”

“Then she must have made a very good impression for Red to pick her over everyone else on Alwas. He brought four others back with him, didn’t he?”

She realized where her father was going with this in a heartbeat. “Will the other Lions accept them?

There was a quiet sound in response. “As much as I wish I could take this burden from you, you’re going to have to be the one to make that call, Allura.”

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Eva wasn’t sure how much time had passed, just that it was long enough for it to probably be afternoon on Alwas. We should’ve been racing right now, she thought, staring vacantly up at the ceiling.

The room they were in now was easily the most retro non-photograph thing she’d ever seen, having a horseshoe-shaped couch set in the floor with a table in the middle and a screen against the opposing wall.

“Where the heck are we, anyways?” Jordan asked finally, looking sideways at the rest of them from where he was sitting by the edge of the couch.

“I don’t know, but we could ask either Allura or Coran when we see them again,” Shiro replied. Jordan rolled his eyes a bit in response.

As if the mention of them had summoned them, the two Alteans stepped into the room. Allura had switched out her dress for a mostly-white outfit that had pink accents, and her hair was tied up in a bun now. “If the five of you could follow me, please,” she said evenly.

(Eva had to remember to look at the screen that appeared just below her eye-level; she was quietly hoping that they wouldn’t have to keep using these translators for long.)

They went up more than a few flights of stairs, enough to leave her feeling a bit winded, until they’d reached a wider hall. Beyond the double-doors at the end of it was a dimly-lit room, which featured a large blue crystal affixed to the center of the ceiling. It lit up brighter when Allura stepped onto a slightly-raised part of the floor right below it.

“What’s she doing?” Stan asked, looking sideways at Coran.

“Trying to locate the other Lions,” was the response given—the way he said the word lions implied that it was a capital-L.

Then Eva processed what exactly he’d just said. “Wait, there’s more of them?”

“There are five in all,” Allura replied, right as the entire room lit up. It looked like the navigation screen that the Lion outside had, except blue and three-dimensional, with five markers throughout the room.

One was just a darker blue and floating almost aimlessly in front of Allura, while the red and violet ones were practically on top of each other. The green and yellow ones were on opposite corners of the room. Paired with each marker was a hologram of each Lion.

Jordan squinted around the room before pointing out the detail of two of the markers being in the same place. “An astute observation. That’s because the Black Lion is in the castle already,” Allura said.

“She was kept in her hangar, so Zarkon wouldn’t get to her,” Coran elaborated. “But the hangar won’t open until the Red, Blue, Yellow, and Green Lions are all present.” Shiro had gone rigid off to the side at the mention of the name Zarkon, but dismissed it quietly when Stan gave him a questioning look.

Red Lion. Not the most original name out there, but Eva liked it.

“Okay…so how are you gonna get the other ones here?” Jordan sounded generally disinterested.

“I was just about to get to that.” There was a steely glint in Allura’s eyes now. “As you’ve already experienced, the Lions choose their pilots.”

“How does that even work?” Koji asked. “Is it some kind of security measure, or…” He trailed off, seeming to realize something, before stuttering out “Uh—s-sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt.”

She smiled in response. “That’s a good question, though also one I can’t exactly answer. My father understood how the Lions worked better than anyone else, but I do know that each Lion looks for certain qualities in their pilot. The Black Lion, for example, requires a leader whose team will follow without question. The Green Lion has an inquisitive personality, and needs a pilot whose wit can complement her own.

“The Yellow Lion is the most caring of them—his pilot must be one who is willing to put the needs of others above their own. The Blue Lion is adventurous, and more prone to acting on her own whims; therefore, she calls for someone who is equally bold, and can readily adapt to whatever situation they find themselves in.”

It all sounded pretty cool, though there was the nagging detail of the events surrounding them finding the Red Lion to begin with. They picked their own pilots—and everything leading up to them finding Red had only been triggered by her doing something. Something about that just wasn’t adding up—and her train of thought was then broken by Shiro saying “You want us to pilot them.”

Eva looked up sharply, now noticing that the holograms of the Lions had all drifted from their initial locations, with the one for the Black Lion now floating about five inches away from Shiro’s face.

“H-Hold on a sec!” Stan exclaimed sharply, backing away from the Yellow Lion’s image. “I never said anything about agreeing to this!”

Koji stammered some nonsense that ended in “But I’m just a mechanic!” before holding his tablet up, trying to keep it between him and the model of the Green Lion.

Jordan stared at the Blue Lion’s hologram for a few seconds, face paling while muttering “But I’m not a—” Then the words seemed to sink in, with him shaking his head before saying “You really don’t want me in that thing! It will end badly! Uh, M-Molly, back us up here!”

“He has a point,” she said, remembering Jordan’s near-disaster of an attempt at flying the Arrow. “We’re just a racing team.”

“That may be so, Number Five…” Coran paused, glancing up at her (he’d practically bent at the hip to hold a hand flat near the top of her head) before adding, “I have you all ranked by height, but nonetheless—am I correct in guessing you flew the Red Lion?”

“W-Well…yeah, but—”

“That means it that even with a large selection of pilots to choose from, he picked you over everyone else in the competition. And given how temperamental he is, that’s saying something about your skill!”

Despite the situation, Eva felt herself puff up a bit at the compliment, and while she was putting some conscious thought in keeping a smile down, she felt the bridge of her nose go a bit warm. She wasn’t used to people directly telling her she was a good pilot, least of all a stranger.

“And the rest of us?” Stan asked, voice strained.

Allura sighed. “While it is up to the Lions themselves to make the final decision, I believe that the four of you have the necessary qualities.” At that, the three boys that Eva was more familiar with all paled a bit (in Jordan’s case, moreso) when they realized there wasn’t any getting out of it.

“Jordan brought up a good point earlier,” Shiro spoke up. “Both the green and yellow ones look like they’re pretty far away.”

“That’s nothing to worry about. The castle’s teludav is clearly still operational, given that you’re all here to begin with.”

Eva was going to assume that whatever a teludav was (the translator just did not offer anything for that word), it had to do with the blue sphere-thing they’d flown through before.

“Alright then. Molly, you and Stan go for the Yellow Lion first. And when you get back—”

“Hold your gazurgas there Number One,” Coran cut in. “The castle has shuttles you can make use of to go retrieve the Green Lion. It’d be better to get them all here sooner than later.”

Shiro nodded after a moment. “Alright, in that case, Koji, you’ll come with me then.”

“Uh—okay,” the technician mumbled, still looking anxious.

“What about the Blue Lion?”

“Y-Yeah, what about it?” Jordan piped up. “It’s just—floating there in space.”

Allura eyed the corresponding marker. “I can’t seem to locate her right now. It’s likely that the castle needs some repairs done.” She chuckled humorlessly. “Everything in the castle is long overdue for a maintenance check, after all.”

“I’ll get started on that after readying the pod,” Coran said while fiddling with his mustache. “They didn’t call me the Coranic for nothing! …get it? Coranic, mechanic?” No response was given, aside from two extremely-flat looks from both Stan and Koji. “Ah, right then. This way, now.” They set to follow the Altean down the hall, with Shiro pausing to tell Jordan to wait there.

It wasn’t until Stan had almost walked into the corner of the wall at one of the turns that Eva noticed that both he and Koji still looked something beyond tense. She mulled it over for a few seconds before saying “It’s, um, not as hard as it looks. Flying those things, I mean.”

Both of them started, with Koji quietly saying “Thanks Molly,” with a small smile. “I’ll try to remember that.”

“And here we are!” Coran announced at another turn, a doorway opening to show a hangar featuring several identical monochromatic ships all lined up. There was an open space at the end of the row, though—and then Eva remembered something completely different.

“Wait, could we keep our star-racer in here?”

“Your—ah, I’m going to assume you mean your racing ship.” Coran nodded. “I’ll have to track down some cargo drones for that. First of all, how big is it and how heavy is it?”

“She’s about the size of one of those,” Stan replied after eyeing one of the shuttles. “Weight-wise, something close to ten tons.”

“Ten—oh.” Coran looked startled, and coughed a bit. “Right, that’s—that’s probably going to need the heavy-lifters, then.”

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

It hadn’t taken Shiro very long to figure out how the Altean ship worked—he’d said that it was actually a lot like some of the standard aircraft back on Earth. So the first piece of good news was that the ride was almost guaranteed to be a smooth one.

The second was that Stan had reported that the damage to the Arrow—at least in terms of what was sustained by being in the Red Lion’s cargo hold—sounded worse than it really was. The paint on the sides of the reactors had been scraped off and the metal had been scratched, but those would be easy fixes compared to everything else.

What Koji was wondering about now was how the Altean ships worked. Particularly in terms of how the covering for the cockpit simply materialized in place.

There was also the detail of those strange blue spheres being confirmed by Allura as being legitimate wormholes. So far all Koji knew for sure about those was that the teludav thing she’d mentioned before had something to do with them.

His first impression of the planet on the other side of the wormhole (he’s officially been on three different planets other than Earth) was the sheer humidity; it was enough to instantly fog up his glasses. The second was that it was very…well, green, with the immediate environment being a rainforest.

A lot like the thing they were supposed to find here, actually. That was the bad news half to the aforementioned good news—that he had to figure out how to pilot a giant metal cat was one thing, but Coran’s parting statement to them had been another.

“We can only keep the wormholes open for about two vargas. The good news is that according to our reports, both planets are relatively peaceful. So if you do get stuck, they could be relaxing places to live out the rest of your lives!”

No pressure or anything.

To the side, Shiro held up the tracking device the Altean had given to him before they’d left, turning back and forth a few times, before saying “This way.”

Alwas had been okay enough. There had been days of triple-digit temperatures, yes, but the team’s pit had air-conditioning. The air had also been relatively clear of any pollen and such, given the astounding lack of obvious vegetation.

This nameless planet was a whole different story. To go with being a veritable jungle, a few minutes’ worth of walking had left Koji constantly feeling like he was about to sneeze, but nothing ever happened.

Not until he walked into Shiro, anyways. Koji hadn’t realized that he’d stopped walking until then, though it probably had to do with the fact that they’d reached a river. “Is everything okay?”

“Huh? Well, yeah,” Koji replied, voice unintentionally dropping into a mumble toward the end. Nope, that was obviously a lie, and if the dubious quarter-smile Shiro had there was any indicator he’d figured as much too. “I mean—I’m not a pilot! The closest I ever got was programming the Arrow’s flight controls, a-and we’re trying to find some ancient robot cat that’s been sitting out here for who knows how long!”

“Well, we know they still work, since Molly got the Red Lion running,” Shiro pointed out. He paused, seeming to be mentally debating on something, before adding, “And to be honest? I was a nervous wreck a few hours before I first flew one of the Garrison ships.”

Koji gave him a baffled look at the last part. “Really?”

Shiro nodded, looking mildly sheepish, then puzzled. Then he smiled again. “And there’s something the commander on the Kerberos mission always said: if you get too worried about what could go wrong, you might miss a chance to do something great.”

That…was somewhat reassuring. And a valid point.

The rest of the walk was quiet for the most part, save for the rustling of the foliage to the side—the only things Koji had seen so far were these little yellow three-eyed four-armed rabbit-like aliens that kept their distance, but otherwise looked almost happy to see them. He had a nagging feeling it wasn’t just them, though.

Then they reached where the river went through a cavern, which had some lighting in the fashion of carvings in the wall lighting up emerald. “Well, we’re definitely going the right way,” Shiro remarked. To go with the trail of lights, the tracking device Shiro had in hand was steadily beginning to beep faster, and all that was really doing for Koji was making him feel apprehensive all over again.

No, he thought, shaking his head a bit. This’ll work out. Besides, it didn’t look…too hard when Molly was flying the Red Lion…

The Red Lion, which was coded in what Koji assumed was Altean, and was far more complicated than the Whizzing Arrow II—the fact of every single visible key having no label as to what it did notwithstanding.

Something was strange about that.

At the end of the tunnel, the river turned, but continuing to follow it wasn’t necessary, given how fast the tracker was beeping now. The sandy soil gave way to stone tiling, with the pathway being more clearly-marked by two identical stone statues facing each other halfway down it. They were both worn smooth by time and covered in moss, but they vaguely resembled what they were looking for.

The end of the path featured a large, crumbling ruin overgrown with large wood-like vines. If the Green Lion was anywhere around here, it was probably in there, and Koji swallowed reflexively at that observation. I just have to…get up there first.

The steps were stable enough, if considerably steeper up close, and the vines were on the slippery end of the scale, so it took longer than he would’ve liked to reach the top. The view from there was pretty nice, at least.

Then something made him look down.

Through the vines, he could see a barrier much like the one that had been around the Red Lion, save for being (obviously) green in color instead. It vanished almost as soon as he saw it, and the Green Lion’s eyes lit up in bright gold. Clearly, it was still operational.

They probably had some sort of optical recognition system to know if something or someone is in front of it, hence it turning on…although the Red Lion hadn’t activated until Molly had touched the barrier around it.

Allura had implied that the Lions could limit their own controls, dependent on who was trying to pilot it.

From what Koji understood about computer AIs, discerning someone’s entire personality on first direct contact was impossible, simple as that.

Something was definitely strange about these ships.

Maybe I’ll try looking at the Green Lion’s coding later, he thought after finding his way to the cockpit. That idea didn’t stop him from abruptly finding himself momentarily breathless when the display screens all came on as soon as he’d situated himself in the chair.

It really had seemed simple, in terms of Molly handling the Red Lion’s controls. One thing the Lions shared in common with a star-racer was that there were two steering consoles, so just moving them forward a little should get a response small enough for him to gauge how much movement was needed—

Needless to say, he wasn’t exactly expecting both being moved forward not even an inch resulting in the Green Lion crashing through the vines like they were paper, coming to a heavy landing meters away from Shiro, who stumbled back in surprise.

Okay, so the controls are very sensitive, he noted to himself, after taking a minute to get his nerves under control. Another strange thing: the Green Lion sounded almost like it was purring, even though the red one had been almost completely silent. Aside from the shock, there was also something like a detached sense of excitement, though it had faded into near-nonexistence almost as soon as he’d noticed it.

Koji shook his head. He could wonder about that later. Right now he just had to figure out how to get this thing into the air.

And, well, maybe asking Molly for some actual advice was on the table now.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

At this point in time, Stan was one-hundred percent convinced that the Altean definition of “peaceful” was the opposite of the human definition, because they’d been jumped by a whole swarm of those gray ships as soon as they’d even gotten close to the large asteroid.

He tightened his grip on the back of the seat when the Red Lion rolled to the side to avoid another laser barrage. Molly briefly glanced over her shoulder at him, asking “Are we near him yet?”

Stan checked the tracker. “We should be, but I don’t see anything!”

“Maybe he’s underground like Red was?”

“Maybe.”

That’d make sense, actually, but it left one glaring problem, in that they were caught up in a one-sided fight. The Red Lion shuddered when a few blasts made contact, plunging toward the ground. Molly pulled back on the steering handles hard, and the Lion righted itself almost immediately, rocketing through a narrow canyon that opened up into a large quarry after a few seconds.

Stan was beginning to think that the Lions had gravity-generators under the floor of the cockpit, given that there had been a few instances of them being upside-down for a few seconds.

There also had to be some kind of inertial dampeners or something—he hadn’t really noticed until now, but despite all the various sharp turns and rolls that were being performed, he wasn’t being thrown around nearly as hard as he probably should’ve been.

He still had to hold onto the back of the chair though, at least until the Lion switched to running on the ground instead of flying.

There was large machinery scattered around, with the most being grouped by a single opening on the other end of the clearing. If Stan had to guess, they’d figured out the Yellow Lion was here and were trying to look for it themselves.

Which meant they had a time constraint. Great.

“I don’t think Red’s gonna fit in there,” Stan noted, eyeing the rapidly-approaching cavern entrance.

“Well, maybe I could just—huh?” Molly muttered the last word, looking almost confused. Stan didn’t get a chance to ask if anything was wrong, though, because the next thing he knew, he was falling, and then tumbling roughly on the rocky ground.

Stan stayed there on the ground for a few seconds, stunned, before a worryingly-close-sounding explosion convinced him to get up. The Red Lion was crouched close by, effectively acting as a barrier between him and the Galra ships—but that sure as hell didn’t mean he was okay with what had just happened.

“Yeah, just throw me into the middle of all of this,” he muttered irritably to himself, running for the cavern. At first glance it looked like a dead-end, but a look at the floor showed it to be some kind of lift, with the control panel being off to the side. “Never mind that we were being shot at.”

Nothing displayed on the screen made any sense, but the wiring in the panel itself looked similar enough to what Stan was familiar with; it was moving a minute later, with the Red Lion jumping back into the air, the swarm tailing it.

They’d gone from having an overbearing manager in a competition that had been the craziest thing Stan had even considered going along with, to having some alien princess telling them to go fetch a giant metal lion from a hostile planet.

The whole lift shaft rattled when another explosion sounded somewhere back up by the entrance. “I never signed up for this shit,” he hissed, glancing back out before glaring at the wirings.

He could hear that it had started, but it wasn’t moving. Not to mention none of the buttons on the screen even reacted to being pressed—but if there was one thing he assumed was universal, it was that things like these usually had a manual override somewhere.

There was just enough space in there for him to take a look at what was in the back of the panel, at least once he was shoulders-deep in the thing, though it took a bit of fumbling to find the switch-and-button combo that was the override.

The lift didn’t go as far down as he’d been expecting, though that also meant it was still close enough to the surface for there to be some skylights in the ceiling of the cavern. Several tunnels branched off in different directions, looking too neat to be natural, with purple lights strung along the support beams.

Picking a few at random led Stan to the conclusion of everyone in here having gone out when they’d shown up—not that he was complaining about that. According to the tracker, the Yellow Lion was somewhere to the right.

Which would’ve been great, if there hadn’t not been any tunnels going that way.

He heard a muffled explosion, dust being shaken loose from the ceiling, and he glanced up for a few seconds. Was Molly okay up there? The Red Lion was obviously made from some kind of extremely-resilient materials, but nothing could hold out forever.

Maybe I’m missing something, he thought, looking around again. The lighting honestly wasn’t the best, so there were weird shadows everywhere. One of those shadows moving suddenly almost made him jump, but it wasn’t a Galra.

It looked kind of like a ferret, if a ferret could be the size of a large dog, though its ears were more like a rabbit’s. It also had hooked claws that he could see pretty clearly. For a few seconds it just sniffed around the wall before noticing him there, staring for two seconds before bolting…into the wall.

At least, that was how it looked—there was actually a small opening by the ground, just big enough to crawl through, which led into another part of the cave. Which was completely dark.

Hopefully the flashlight he’d held onto didn’t lose its charge.

Picking another tunnel at random led through a couple twists and sharp turns before opening up into a second sub-cave, distinguishable by a single stalagmite in the middle of it, and five more tunnels.

The second random choice led back to the first one, and rapid light footsteps signified that there were more of those ferret-rabbit things in here. In fact, those things were probably how this whole cavern system even existed. It had just been opened up more by the Galra in their apparent attempts to dig up the Yellow Lion.

But that didn’t mean it was any less of a natural maze.

The second option went in one giant circle. The third one led out to a third area that only had two options—one being a dead-end, and the other leading into the second room. The fourth went back to the first room.

Stan actually felt one eye twitching a bit when he saw the crawlspace leading back to the mine half of the cavern, and stumbled when the ground shook again, harder this time.

It was a pleasant reminder as to what kind of situation Molly was in right now—but then again, he’d already seen more than a few cases of her out-flying pro racers. She’ll be fine for a few more minutes.

But if he didn’t find this thing within the next half-hour, he was heading back out.

The fifth option led to another new room, which had a new set of tunnels to go with it, the first of which went to another dead-end. He let out an exasperated groan before going to try the second tunnel over…which just went right back to the first room again.

At that point, Stan turned and punched the wall in frustration, the action being regretted as soon as the decision to make it had come, before he backtracked to the fourth room.

None of them had any distinguishing marks between them, and for all he knew, there could be multiple other sub-caverns like this one that all went in circles.

He was seriously hoping Koji was having an easier time than they were. It was a good thing the Green Lion wasn’t here, because Koji would not do well in this kind of situation at all. It wasn’t like Stan himself was doing any good right now though…and then he paused abruptly, attention catching on one of the pathways.

Specifically, the fifth one from the right, with a sudden clarity that wasn’t unlike someone having pointed it out aloud.

As weird as a hint it was, Stan wasn’t about to ignore it. He almost missed the crevice in the wall that was just barely wide enough for him to slip through, and a glance at the tracker showed it to be going in the right direction. It was doubly proven when the walls of the hidden passage lit up yellow at various points.

There was a small slope and one right turn before stopping short. He’d had a basic idea on what the Yellow Lion looked like, but he wasn’t expecting for it to be quite a bit bigger than the Red Lion.

The red one was smaller and streamlined, optimized for speed. This one was built like a tank and meant to take hits, and would probably win in most metaphorical games of bumper-cars.

Stan shook his head a bit. He could think about how this one was put together later. First of all, he had to figure out how to fly it.

The barrier dropped as soon as he’d touched it, and the Lion letting him in quickly, moreso than how the Red Lion had first moved. The interior was pretty much identical to the Red Lion’s, too, save for the difference in color when it came to the displays.

From watching Molly, he figured that the handles were the steering, and the pedals were…what, brakes? Thrusters? Both? He hadn’t really been able to tell, and the thought of asking hadn’t occurred to him then.

He huffed a bit, thinking Whatever, before pulling the handles back. The action resulted in the Yellow Lion leaping up at the ceiling of the cavern, plowing right through the bedrock like it was nothing more than mud—and right into the path of something that exploded against its back, though the Lion barely budged.

A screen appeared on the center display; Molly appeared both a bit ruffled and more than a bit miffed, but she was otherwise okay, and Stan heard himself sigh. “Took you long enough,” she said tetchily.

“Blame the maze,” Stan replied, before scowling. “Did you really have to throw me out like that?”

“That wasn’t me!”

“What, so it was the Lion?”

“Well—yeah.” Molly was frowning at the Red Lion’s dashboard now, adding “I think,” in a puzzled whisper.

Something really did seem weird about all of this. Like how Coran had seemingly implied that the Lions went and picked their own places to hide all that time ago, and…and how a small background part of him (at the same time it didn’t really seem like it was himself) seemed to just accept that the Red Lion had thrown him out like that, in a way that it made sense that it happened.

Something was weird about that. Then again, Allura and Coran had also talked about the Lions like they were people and not machines.

Yeah, something was definitely weird about that.

Molly looked up again, seeming to notice something, before saying “And, um, your cut reopened.”

“Huh?” He placed two fingers next to his right eye, and the skin there stung at the contact; the fabric of his glove came away red. Stan hadn’t noticed that the gauze had come off, probably during the tumble. “Oh. Well, that can wait until we’re—” He was interrupted by something shooting by on the display screens.

“Oh great, they’re back,” was the sarcastic comment given to that. “We better get out of here!”

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Jordan was used to the ambiance on Alwas. The weird birds, the wind in the nearby trees, the distinct sound every star-racer within earshot of the team pit made, the gong from the Starting Area, the sounds of power tools being used—but right now all he could hear was a few consoles beeping quietly now and then.

Two “vargas” was the time limit for the others. The translator hadn’t touched that word, which meant it didn’t have a close-enough meaning to a human word.

So Jordan actually wasn’t sure how long the others had before they were trapped wherever they’d gone to.

It wasn’t too boring, though, what with the mice; he was assuming they’d been pets or something, given that Allura seemed completely fine with them being there.

He broke off from the staring contest he’d been in with one—specifically the one with periwinkle fur and blue eyes, which was named what sounded like Chulatt—and turned to look at Allura before asking, “So uh…how do those wormhole things even work?”

He doubted he was going to understand the answer, but it was just too quiet, and something was pinging away in the back of his head—something important, but he couldn’t quite think of what it was.

Allura glanced sideways at him before replying, “The teludav generates an electromagnetic pulse that’s directed to a specific point in space to open a wormhole. The destination is calculated at the same time.”

Yep, none of it made sense. Teludav still wasn’t touched by the translator. “It sounds kinda complicated.”

She smiled a bit. “I don’t completely understand it myself. Coran knows more than I do. He’ll have to teach you about all of the primary systems, in case something happens.” Her voice faltered at the end, and now Jordan was starting to consider smacking himself.

As much like Nourasians that they looked and as much as that automatically made him wary of them, he had to remember that she and Coran lost their entire planet ten-thousand years ago and only pretty much just found out and might be the last Alteans alive.

He might as well give them a chance. Or at least try to. “Stan and Koji would probably get it more than I would,” he said after some thought.

“So they’re the technical ones, then…what about you, Molly, and Shiro?”

“Molly’s, well…” Molly was as stubborn as a mule once she got set on an idea. Kind of like Don Wei, actually.

Sometimes it seemed like she wasn’t sure how to interact with them. Jordan had witnessed a few attempts at her trying to talk to Stan and/or Koji that had always ended with an awkward silence.

Whenever Jordan himself had talked about his family (did they even know where he was going?) she would get a faraway look in her eyes, which more often than not left him feeling worried.

Jordan wasn’t sure how much she’d be okay with him sharing, so he instead asked, “When you were going on about the Lions and how they pick certain people—what about the Red Lion?”

Allura raised one eyebrow a bit before replying, “Like Coran said, he’s the most temperamental of them, but he’s also faster and more agile than the other four. The Red Lion needs a pilot that relies more on instinct than skill alone.”

“That does sound a lot like Molly. She can be a little…explosive, sometimes. Though I—I guess she’d probably be able to understand how the, uh, wormholer works too.”

He kept forgetting that she’d gone and modified the Arrow II behind all of their backs on Alwas, so that she could use her rocket-seat in place of the standard seat.

“And Shiro, he was one of the best pilots in the Garrison, before Kerberos happened. That’s when he and his team disappeared.”

That had also been around the time when Commander Romain gave up on having someone teach Jordan how to pilot something, which brought to mind the thing (one of them, that is) he’d been meaning to say to Allura, and it was a good thing that he’d just found that it was actually easier to talk to her than he’d initially thought it would be.

Before he could say anything, there was a beeping sound from the display screen, and the shuttle that Coran had set up appeared through one of the wormholes.

It was followed by what was definitely the Green Lion, which was set down in the courtyard where the Red Lion had previously been, and not even a minute after, it was followed by the other two from the other wormhole. The Yellow Lion was bigger than both of them.

The fact that their mechanics were flying those things struck Jordan as bizarre, because he clearly remembered when Don had tried convincing them to be the stand-in pilot for Rick, and…had he and Rick made it out of that mess okay?

Jordan hoped they did, and that they were safe on Alwas. Or maybe Earth, since they were definitely out of the race, given that they’d brought the Arrow with them.

The Red and Green Lions were roughly the same size, being almost identical save for the color difference and the green one having a shield on its back, but the yellow one was bigger than both of them.

If Jordan had to guess, the Blue Lion was the same size as the Yellow Lion. And boy if that didn’t unnerve him even more.

Jordan took a deep breath, making sure the thing he had to say was firmly in mind, and metaphorically ripped off the bandage: “I can’t be a pilot.”

Allura turned to look at him directly now, not taking her hands off of the two pedestals, her relieved expression being replaced by confusion. “What do you mean?”

“I wasn’t kidding when I said you don’t want me in that thing!” Jordan exclaimed. “My first flight instructor retired after trying to teach me, and he’d been in the Garrison for years!” Not to mention the thought of being in a pilot’s seat just…freaked him out. A lot. And—

“The Blue Lion is all the better of a match for you, then.” His train of thought was promptly derailed yet again. “She’s the most free-spirited of them,” Allura went on. “Like I said before, her pilot must be someone that isn’t too controlling over her actions. She’s more prone to acting on her own whims.”

Jordan stared at her, processing the meaning of that, before deciding that destiny must be hellbent on punching him in the face today.

The door opening got Jordan to turn around in time to see the others all file back into the room. “Peaceful my foot,” Molly spat irritably, looking around in what was probably a search for Coran.

“I’m going to assume you had some trouble,” Allura guessed, a weary smile on her face.

“Some,” was all Stan said, though the emphasis he put on the word had Jordan thinking it was more than that. The gauze that had been on his face was gone, and that cut had clearly reopened at some point if the dark-red smudge on his face was any hint. There were dirt smears on his face and arms as well.

“Any luck with the Blue Lion?” Shiro asked.

“Not yet.” Allura scowled at the holoscreen. “I’ve scanned all of the planets she likely would have been on, but she’s not on any of them.”

There was a brief silence before Koji said “I don’t get it,” in a tone somewhere between puzzled and disbelieving. “The—the Lions, I mean. The controls for them are obviously complicated, but it’s like they’re designed to be simple at the same time.”

“He’s got a point,” Stan agreed. “And I can’t understand a single word on any of those screens, either.”

I think we knew those things defied logic already, Jordan thought, glancing between the others. Then his head backtracked to the thing Allura said that had stuck. “H-Hey, wait a second—you said the blue one was more prone to flying itself. What do you even mean by that? Are they alive or something?”

Allura was suspiciously quiet.

“Are they?” he repeated, looking at her.

“In a way, yes,” she answered finally, seeming distant. “My father never understood how it happened to begin with, just that the Lions developed minds of their own at some point during their creation. Haven’t you noticed?”

The room was completely silent for a few seconds, and then everything figuratively exploded.

“Wait, seriously?!” Molly exclaimed—Jordan was really not surprised at how excited she looked about that. Shiro’s eyebrows had almost vanished into his hairline, and Stan had this weird look on his face that gave the impression of being distracted by something.

Koji just stared at her for a few seconds, looking like he’d thought he’d misheard her, and Jordan could tell the exact moment the technician realized he hadn’t misheard that. He never got a chance to start asking about it though, because then the door opened again and Coran bolted in, face pale and expression something akin to sheepish.

“Ah, princess?” he started, tugging on the collar of his suit a bit. “I may have made a slight miscalculation when it came to the Galra battleship’s ETA to Arus. It’s orbiting the planet as we speak.”

“They followed us?” Shiro’s voice had an edge of alarm to it, matching the others’ expressions. Allura’s expression darkened, turning back to the holoscreens and bringing up a display of the battleship.

Then things happened almost too fast to process.

First, the Altean’s shoulders tensed, and Jordan heard a quiet, dismayed “Oh,” from her.

Then one of the big display screens at the maybe-front of the room flickered, and was replaced by a video feed, showing a purple-furred alien that looked considerably bigger than the other one they’d seen before, with another major difference being that one of their eyes was a red cybernetic.

“Princess Allura, this is Commander Sendak of the Galra Empire,” he said briskly, in an all-business tone. “I come on behalf of Emperor Zarkon, Lord of the Known Universe. I am here to confiscate the Lions. Turn them over to me, or I will destroy your planet.”

[jackpot807]

Warrior - Act I Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Aetheas stood at the edge of an immense, round eggshell-white table. On this table were hundreds of little plaster buildings, with little avenues and roads and streets criss-crossing in grids. Several sizable flood lights hung from the ceiling, illuminating the faux city. Flanking Aetheas were two close advisors and surrounding the table were men in their dress blues. Some gesturing to something on the table, and some deliberating with one-another. The room was silent except for the quiet chatter that echoed off the solid walls.

Aetheas remained still, tracing the roads with his eyes. Making webs. He made note of the different sizes of each and every building and he held a quiet reverence for the poor son of a bitch that spent so much time making this replica. Looking down at his watch, he saw the big and little hand strike twelve, noon time. With a bit of a sigh, he looked back up to the small crowd of officers around the table and said with a slight hint of exhaustion, “Is everybody here?”

If you didn’t know Aetheas, you would have thought it was the acoustics of the room that made his voice so loud. But to those who have been working with him his entire life, they would tell you that he didn’t need a room like that to make himself heard. Whenever he spoke, his voice demanded the attention of all those within earshot, and it carried far.

The officers looked away from the table and to him. Some of the most powerful men in the world were looking at him like a child looks at their parents when caught doing something bad. After all, who are they compared to him, the most powerful man in the East? He, who commanded every man, woman and child from the Atlantic to the Hellespont. He was the great and wonderful ruler of one of the greatest unions in the world. They were but sheep to him, grovelling and vying for his attention. The chatter settled. All eyes were upon him, and he spoke,

“Gentlemen in two year’s time today, we are going to begin a journey. A journey to reclaim what belongs to us, and a journey to reach new, untold heights of glory and prosperity. In two year’s time we, along with our Soviet allies, will begin coordinated military movements into the Middle East. Aethosian forces will move in from the West from Cyprus into Lebanon, while Soviet forces move into Afghanistan from the North.”

He made a gesture to the table, “The map before you is Beirut, the capital of Lebanon, and landing sight for our expedition forces. The defenses of the Continental Lebanese Army, hereinto referred to as ‘CLA’, are thickest here. But, they do not have the technology to sustain air superiority, and that is where we will overpower them.”

Nodding to the man to his right, “Consul Marcus has the floor to detail the grand strategy. Afterwards, you will all be given your orders and given two weeks time to muster and prepare your men.”

Marcus stepped forward. A man of 45, Marcus had joined the Aethosian military right out of school. Distinguishing himself in the Second World War defense of Italy against Allied forces, Marcus became the youngest Consul in Coalition history, taking orders only from Aethosian Royalty - Aetheas Stronos, who had himself been born into the position. Marcus’ hair was normally a bush of thick, black curly hair, but had been cut down to a crewcut for this occasion. He looked to the men around him with his stoical doe eyes,

“The rallying point for all Coalition forces are the naval port in Bafra in Cyprus. The sixth fleet has been moved there from the Black Sea to open a corridor for transporting men and supplies if need be. Three units, the 1st Cypriots, 32nd Spartans and 2nd Airborne, will depart from the port on the 19th of December and arrive on the coast of Lebanon either on the 20th or 21st. There, the Sixth Fleet will coordinate with the Air Wing to neutralize crucial hardpoints and coastal emplacements while the 1st Cypriots make a beachhead.”

Taking a two-meter-long stick that was leaning on the table, he points to the port area of Beirut. Emplacements and battleships were modeled out, and he gestured to them with the stick, leaning over the table,

“A small group of naval ships are currently docked in Beirut for refueling, but they are on an extended leave, and are expected to stay there for the next four weeks as their crews are changed. The first targets will be those ships and the coastal guns defending the city. From there, the…”

Aetheas tuned Marcus out. His mind drifted to Europa. It has only been a week since she died and left him with Aage. He was always a serious man to everyone around him, but not as much to her. She was the only human being on this world that Aetheas didn’t treat as a means to an end. Even still, he was cold to her. There was no love between them.

Europa and Aetheas married politically following the Second World War. Their fathers were both Aethosian royalty and decided their marriage was a good way to consolidate power in the frightening, changing landscape of a war-torn world. There was simply no chemistry between the two. Aetheas tried to make it work once, but all he got was the proverbial cold shoulder. He never would accept the truth but, somewhere in his heart, he knew that Europa saw the malice in him. That machiavellian streak that made him such a great leader. Because of this, Aetheas knew he would always be alone.

And he hated that more than anything.

Still, though, he would be lying if he didn’t say he had some feelings towards her. She was extraordinarily beautiful, after all. Like a crush, he yearned for the woman that would only feel resentment towards him. And that, too, he hated. But it wasn’t an angry hate. It was more of a sad hate. He always used the analogy of a cancer patient. They hated the fact that they were going to die, but they weren’t angry over it. Just sad over the fact. Maybe it was the wrong example to use, but Aetheas could think of no other. He felt ashamed that he was caught crying by the nurses, even if it was just a few solitary tears. He thought he barely felt love for Europa. So why does he feel so empty now that she is gone?

Marcus was going on about the Cypriots pushing to some police station on the east border.

What about Aage? What is he going to do with him? Aetheas put his hands in his pockets. His father had drilled all those horrible things into him using ‘tradition’ as the excuse. And it was tradition. His father had to go through those rites of passage, and his father, and his father’s father. Going back all the way to ancient times. Those are some of the most vivid memories of his life, even now. The hot sun, the occasional beating, having to kill your own food. Was the conditioning still all that necessary in today’s modern world?

Aetheas decided the answer was yes.

The world is a dangerous place. Even as the leader of an empire as great as Aethos, you must be the strongest, or you will die. He will raise his son to be a hard man - a strong man. Someone worthy of leading Aethos, and carrying it to greater heights. It’s all he has left.

Marcus was bringing the discussion to a close, “...Where the airborne will rendezvous with Soviet forces and hold in place until a provisional government can be established. Now, I am going to go around the table and hand out your individual plans. These are for your eyes only.” Marcus took a pile of manilla folders in his arms and walked around the table, handing them out to each respective person. It took him about two minutes, the table was so large. He came back to Aetheas’ side, and Aetheas spoke one last time,

“Gentlemen, you all have your orders. We will reconvene the War Council seventeen days from this date, where we will go over final preparations. You’re all dismissed.”

The officers left the room, a small crowd piling up at the one doorway, until they eventually all got out. Marcus turned to Aetheas, “I know we’ll make her proud, sir.”

Aetheas looked over the expanse of the table and, without looking at Marcus, replied, “Marcus this would only have made her hate me more.”