#hope you don't mind the ones in black and white aren't finished and look a bit sketchy

[florbe-triz]

[farahtissaiamyloves]

I've missed you

Jaheira x reader/tav

If you have any requests with Jaheira, don't hesitate to let me know! I've noticed that they aren't enough fics with her, so let's change this together!

You were an elven witch, residing in Baldur's Gate for years.

You were petite in both high and size, and you preferred to be dressed either black or black and red robes.

You were running a little shop with magical high-quality items, which included from weave-enhanced clothing or rare, well-maintained ancient tomes to fresh potion ingredients.

Many esteemed wizards and witches preferred visiting your little shop to both have a little chat with you and purchase whatever ingredients they wished over going to Lorroakan's huge shop, due to his diminished quality and greed to make as much profit as he can.

As your shop's reputation grew, so did your clientele. You were pleasantly surprised when sorcerers, warlocks, even some harpers, and a bunch of clerics started visiting your shop for their material restocking.

You were beyond happy and pleased with the success of your shop.

By having more clients, you had more income to expand your inventory even further by adding more magical tomes, already brewed potions, potion making equipment, rarer and more ancient artifacts that many collectors were interested in and much more.

You felt like you were experiencing your best and favorite dream.

One day, as you were cutting some knotgrass to add to the potion you were making; you heard the door opening.

You greeted your customer politely, telling them to look around and ask you when they needed help, as you continued concentrating on your task at hand.

The customer walked to your counter and told you she had a list with plants she needed.

You nodded, adding the knotgrass in the cauldron and turning around to look at her.

She was stunning.

Her white, braided hair was falling on her shoulders, and her piercing haze was drawn on you. There was a little amused smirk on her lips as she looked at your form over the cauldron. Her right hand was hovering over a list, which she had placed on the counter and probably was the list with her needed supplies as she was supporting herself on her other hand's elbow against the counter. She was dressed in green with clothing resembling a Harper's. You assumed she was one.

You didn't know why, but you immediately felt your cheeks heating up as you wiped your hands on a clean towel.

You walked over to her, standing at the other side of the counter, smiling at her. You introduced yourself, hoping to catch her name, and you did.

Jaheira.

Such a pretty name.

Jaheira pulled herself slightly away when you came closer, not wanting to make things awkward or look impolite.

She handed you her list with a variety of plants and potion ingredients. You quickly went through it.

"Mmmm. It's.... large, that's for certain." You commented as you finished reading it.

Jaheira chuckled. "I know. This is why I wrote everything down. I don't mind waiting a couple of days for such a large order."

You nodded as you went through it again. "It's alright. I just try to understand what you wish to brew with so many ingredients, that is all."

The woman smiled. "Just a general restocking. My son is a harper in training, so he empties my supplies rather fast."

You nodded as you examined the list a bit more before placing it back on the counter and starting to prepare her order.

"Like mother like son." You spoke as you started counting the quantities of various plants that were in her list.

Jaheira's smirk widened at your perception. "Indeed."

You smiled back at her as you started placing the appropriate quantities in small bags, writing on them the name of the herb it contained.

When you had placed all the small bags inside a larger one and placed it on the counter.

You raised an eyebrow, noticing that she was looking at you through the entire process of pocketing her order with a small smirk.

Jaheira smiled, giving you an impressive glance. "So fast for such a large order. Congratulations are in order."

You smiled at her, cheeks slightly heating up. "Thank you very much."

Jaheira noticed the slight redness in your cheeks, and her smile turned into a smirk. She didn't comment about it, though, not wishing to make you feel uncomfortable.

You walked to your cauldron to pour her a little vial of the potion you just brewed.

You then walked back to her and placed it inside her bag. "Due to your large order, I will gift you a potion of resistance to fire damage. Just in case your son experiments with it."

Jaheira smiled with appreciation. "Thank you, I'm sure he will make great use of it."

You smiled back at her before sorting your payment out. She paid you well, not attempting to steal you like some of the customers you had encountered or seeking better deals just because 'they were to come again'.

You waved her goodbye as you watched her leaving the shop, not knowing that the redness had grown on your cheeks and that it was all for her to see.

꧁☾︎❥︎☽︎꧂

For your great surprise and even greater pleasure, Jaheira came by the shop far earlier than you expected her.

Unlike the first time with the huge purpose, she started going to you for small stuff regularly.

You were charmed because it looked like she really tried to spend time with you without making it too obvious.

You built a steady friendship.

Jaheira was passing by two or three times per week by your shop to check on you and talk to you about everything while you were either working or taking a break and focusing on her.

It was wonderful.

Your relationship took a drastic turn when she came from a visit right before you closed, inviting you for a drink.

You obviously accepted and followed her to whatever tavern she chose.

You ended up at a small, cozy tavern where you got both food and drinks.

It was really amazing.

You were eating, drinking, laughing, listening to the bard's wonderful music, and speaking with her.

As the alcohol became more in more in both your systems, you noticed Jaheira, who was far more headstrong and extroverted than you, started slowly becoming more charming and seductive with her moving to sit next to you and positioning her body to lean over the table as her hand caressing your knee.

You liking her alongside her seductive demeanor, and the alcohol wasn't helping you very much.

Five minutes later, you found yourself making out with her outside the tavern in a dark alley nearby.

She had you pinned against the wall as she was kissing you passionately with all of her might.

You pulled away to breathe as she started kissing down your neck.

You whispered her name breathlessly as you caressed the back of her head.

The sound of her name coming out of your lips like that must have affected a lot because she suddenly stopped attacking your neck and took it more slowly, sweetly, caring.

After that night together, you considered yourself as her girlfriend.

Jaheira was making sure to pass by your shop every day, even if it was for a brief kiss on the cheek due to her immense work.

You didn't pressure her or anything, giving her as much space and time as she needed because the work of a high harper must have been tremendous.

After six months of seeing each other like that, Jaheira slowly started introducing you to her children; starting with the two oldest, Jord and Rion.

You were beyond glad that she started introducing you to her family as it meant that she saw you as seriously as you saw her.

Two months later, you got to meet and interact with the other three as well, Jhessem, Fig, and Tate; all of them were wonderful and extremely welcoming.

But everything was too good to last.

The cult of the absolute.

It erupted out of nowhere.

Jaheira was beyond worried and preoccupied with it that your time together depleted greatly.

You knew that she wanted it to end early and fast to return back to your lovely bubble.

You knew she wanted to hold you and kiss you with no worries in the world, and the cult was a huge worry that risked yours and her children's safety.

You tried countless times to get her to relax by messaging her shoulders, having her drink some wine with you, or even pulling her in her bed chamber to kiss her worries away and help her take her mind of with a variety of.... adult activities.

It helped to some extent, but you didn't have enough time to enjoy the warmth of her embrace as you both laid on her bed without any clothing before Jaheira started wondering how the cult came to be out of nowhere and hoping for Minsc's safety; an old friend who she had no choice but to let him die in their hands.

The whole thing started worrying you and annoying you slightly because it seemed that Jaheira was constantly working, without caring about her private life much.

You tried talking with her about it, but the outcome was always the same. Jaheira was apologizing, promising she won't do that again.... only for her to start over five minutes afterward.

The only good you found in the situation was the fact that she was holding her tongue in front of her children.... So you tried having her spend as much time as possible with them.

Whenever you ended up being alone with her, you were either trying to be supportive or if you were too tired, you were coming up with an excuse about the shop and going to spend the night at your house.

Things were tough.

You didn't know what you felt when Jaheira announced out of the blue that she and a bunch of harpers were leaving Baldur's Gate to confront the cultists.

You were beyond worried about her health and safety, and you were feeling beyond guilty with the slight relief that arose in your chest.

You cared for her tremendously, and you knew that she only meant well... but you wanted her to worry about other stuff too, not just the cult of the absolute.

You exchanged your goodbyes with Jaheira promising to write to you every week; a promise that both parties knew she wouldn't keep.

She hugged you and kissed you on the lips one last time before leaving the home with no intentions to return in the foreseeable future.

Everything was as normal as it could be without Jaheira.... until you were captured by one of these illithid ships.

You survived it, fortunately, but at a great cost.

You and all the people you met there, your companions, were all tadpoled and in desperate search for a cure to your condition.

You didn't show it to your companions as you wanted to be strong because most of them seemed to have far more problems than you; Gale had a giant orb in his chest, Karlach a disfunctional machine for a heart, Wyll a new pair of devil horns and it goes saying.... but you were scared.

You were beyond scared.

You didn't want to become a mindflayer and kill anyone you loved in cold blood.

Only now you realized why Jaheira was so worried about the cult of the absolute and wished that you had insisted on going with her.

Nothing of this would have been happening to you.

During your journey with your unexpected friends, you discovered that Moonrise Towers was the most promising place for finding the cure, so you all headed toward there.

You really hoped that you were going to find Jaheira.... or any of her harpers who would help you get in touch with her.

Your jaw dropped when you stepped in the shadow curse for the first time.

Your team was prepared for it; thank god. You and Gale had infused torches with light magic, resulting in their magical fire never ending until the annulment of the spell.

You walked through the shadow cursed place, remembering all the stories Jaheira had told you about the war between the druids, the harpers, and the Dark Jasticiars led by Ketheric Thorm.

You pressed your lips into a thin line as you were walking carefully through the remnants of what was once a nice, pretty path.

In your way, you encountered some harpers fighting the shadows of the curse, so you and your team helped them before learning of a safe place nearby.

The two remaining female harpers led you there as you tried to dimish your growing hope of seeing Jaheira again; harpers were everywhere, and Jaheira being there was highly unlikely.

You followed them in silence before reaching the entrance of the.... Last Light Inn.

You titled your head noticing that the place was surrounded by a huge shield that seemed to keep it safe from the shadow curse.

You assumed that the place must be a home to at least one Salunite Cleric.

You walked inside the shield, and you were immediately stopped by a harper who didn't seem very friendly of guests.

You tried to talk your way in, avoiding mentioning your connection to Jaheira because the harper seemed rather unfriendly, and you didn't wish to see what she would do if provoked.

The harper then surprised all of you by bringing a little vial with a tadpole inside. Your eyes widened in fear, realizing that you were doomed.

You tried to reason with her, telling her that unlike True Souls, you could all think for yourself, and that was why you saved the two harpers in need.

The girl didn't buy it as she used her druid magic to summon some vines to trap your feet and then brought the tadpole close enough for you to squirm.

All the harpers nearby raised their weapons against you and your team at the revelation that you were tadpoled.

"Jaheira!" The girl called, turning to look deeper in the space outside inn.

Your heart roared in the hope of your girlfriend being summoner.

A woman whose shadow was the only visible thing to you as of yet turned slightly.

She fully turned around and walked closer to the incident.

Jaheira was wearing a rather displeased face at the summon of her harper like that before her eyes fell on you.

The woman's eyes widened, and her step faltered.

In return, you reciprocated her gaze until the harper made the vines stronger and had them wrap around your hands and force you to your feet.

You grunted as your knees touched the ground with force, and your gaze fell to the ground.

Astarion discreetly pulled out his bow, ready to murder her as Gale was thinking of how he could undo, probably burn, the vines without hurting you, and fast enough for you to get out of there as unharmed as you could be.

You heard Jaheira approaching quickly and asking what was happening and why you were bound to the floor angrily.

You looked up to see the harper blink in surprise at Jaheira's irritation. The girl started explaining quickly how you appeared out of the blue before stopping when she noticed Jaheira undoing your binds and helping you up.

The girl scoffed and pointed at you. "She and her friends are tadpoled."

You were looking at Jaheira as she froze. Jaheira looked at the girl before slowly turning at you, eyes wide and skin suddenly paler than ever.

You reciprocated her gaze with a small sigh and a nod. "Yeah... But. But all of us are still ourselves!"

You defended as you heard a harper preparing an arrow from behind you.

Jaheira shook her head. "My dear.... I'm afraid that is not possible." The woman responded saddly.

You could almost hear the gears working in her mind. She was thinking of how she could end your torture in the most painless way possible.

You quickly shook your head and took her head in your hands. "Jaheira... my darling... it's still me." You avoided saying the nickname she had given you in public in case she didn't want people to know.

Jaheira sighed and placed her hands on your hips. "You want to go to Moonrise, don't you? Like all the True Souls..."

You swallowed hard. "We are searching for a cure." You explained looking behind you at your friends who were looking beyond confused at your closeness with the high harper.

Equally as confused as your team were the harpers who were beyond confused as to why Jaheira was actually behaving all sad and caring instead of her usual authoritative self.

Jaheira shook her head and sighed. "It's over, my darling.... They control you already." The woman spoke, looking at you deep in the eyes.

A tear rolled down her cheek, and you wiped it with your thumb. "No.... no.... look at me, Jaheira. Do I look mind controlled?"

Jaheira bited her lip. "It doesn't matter for the result is the same.... And i never got to tell you how much you truly mean to me... I know that my words probably mean nothing to your brainless brain, but I love you.... And i will make sure that you will rest in peace and remember you until my vert end."

Your eyes widened at her love confession. "Jaheira... no.... no.... it's.... me... your.... your partner.... your companion...."

Jaheira shook her head, looking down as another tear ran down her cheek. "Look at me." You whispered so only she could hear you. "I'm still your kitten, tadpoled or not... and you, Jaheira... you Are my love. My one and only. Let me explain to you, let me prove it to you."

The woman's eyes widened as she looked at you. You took her right hand in yours and pressed your forehead to hers. "We gonna find a cure. Haslin is traveling with us. He is just outside the shield, studying some dead plants or something. He promised us to help us find a cure for both this land and the tadpoles."

Jaheira pulled you into a hug, and you immediately hugged her back as she nuzzled your shoulder, breathing in your smell.

You smiled at her, finally coming to terms with how much you had missed her. "I've missed you."

Jaheira smiled back at you. "So have I."

[i-hate-people-1]

This is part three of my Warren Rojas fanfic I hope you enjoy!!! Also if you have any ideas for a name for this series let me know because I haven't been about to come up with anything good. Anyways thank you so much for reading xx

Masterlist

Warren Rojas X Reader

Karen "Now that I think about it, I don't remember seeing one without the other much after that."

It was true—you and Warren had been inseparable. You did everything other than work together. You needed to go to the store; Warren was going with you. He needed new drumsticks, and you were going with him.

The one exception is parties. Warren thrived at parties; he loved people and was loud, bubbly, and fun. always up for trying something new. You, however, hated parties. They made you anxious; they were too loud, and there were far too many people.

So on a night like tonight, when Karen had invited everyone to a party her friend was throwing, you politely declined, making the excuse that you needed to paint your guest room.

It was true; you had been putting it off for quite some time. Not going to a party just happened to be the perfect motivation.

"Are you sure you don't want to come? It's going to be really fun!” Warren asked, looking through his chest of drawers in the living room. You were laying on the couch, better known as Warren's makeshift bed. Helping him pick out an outfit for the party

"Yes, I'm sure," you told him, hoping it would be the last time he'd ask. You had stood your ground all day every time he had asked so far, but Warren had a way of convincing you to do stuff.

"Okay, fine," he sighed, holding up an outfit: a pair of flowy tan pants, a white collared button-up, and a black vest. "How's this?"

"Are you going for pirate?"

"Not particularly"

"Then lose the shirt," you told him, standing up to look in his drawer. You found a grey tank top and said, "Here, wear this instead." You threw him the shirt, and he caught it, holding it out with a huge smile overtaking his face.

"You're a genius!" he exclaimed, running over to you and picking you up, and twirling you around.

"Put me down," you laughed. "You need to change or you're going to be late," you told him, still laughing.

He sat you down gently, moving the hair that had fallen out of your face. His finger outlined your cheekbone, hand resting there. You swallowed nervously at the closeness, staring into his eyes as he inched closer. And despite your nervousness, you did too.

Just as you both started to close your eyes, you heard the front door open. You quickly jumped away from each other, your gaze falling to the floor.

"I should change," Warren chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck nervously.

“Yeah, I should go home anyway," you told him, standing still despite your statement.

  "Warren, why aren't you dressed yet?" Karen asked him as she walked in from the kitchen.

"I'm going," he said, walking away quickly.

"What's wrong with him?" Karen asked.

"Nothing," you said quickly, deciding to cut your losses and starting your walk home, leaving a confused Karen behind.

You slid down your door as soon as you closed it, head falling to your knees. "Ughhhhh," you grunted loudly. picking your head up and walking into your guest room, trying to forget about what happened between you and Warren just moments before.

A few hours later, you had finished painting your guest room, and now you were just sitting on your couch watching TV, the events of earlier today still heavy on your mind.

Just as you were getting ready to go to bed, you heard the front door knob jiggle followed by a knock. You looked at the door slowly, standing up and grabbing a lamp off your entryway table, when you heard another knock. You held the lamp up, ready to swing, unlocking the door and opening it quickly, letting out a breath of relief when you were met with Warren's smiling face.

"Warren, what the hell, you scared the shite out of me," you told him, holding his hand over your heart in an attempt to calm its rapid beating.

"Sorry," he whispered, pushing past you, stumbling, and falling onto your couch head first.

"Warren?" you said, closing the door and walking to the couch. sitting in front of the couch, facing him.

"Yes?" he whispered, turning his head to the side.

"Are you okay?" you asked, moving the hair out of his eyes. It was the first time you got a good look at them and how bloodshot they were, and he smelled of cigarettes and booze. It wasn't a bad smell; it was very warren-like, like, actually, he had a way of pulling it off.

"No," he told her, smiling brightly and laughing despite what he just said. This made you furrow your brows in question.

"You really have no idea, do you?" He asked you with a frown overtaking his face.

"What are you talking about?" You asked back, laughing nervously, confused as to what he was talking about.

"Ughhh," he groaned loudly, sitting up abruptly and running a hand down his face, leaving it resting there. His change of position made you get up from the floor, pull your coffee table closer, and sit down on it. Pulling his hands away from his face gently, you lifted his face with one hand while the other held his resting in his lap.

"Warren, what's going on?" you asked, trying not to startle him.

"I can't do this anymore," he told you, his big brown eyes staring deeply into your soul.

Your heart started racing at his statement. You had so many questions do what life? The band? Partying? Or worse of all your friendship? You opened your mouth to say something, but Warren quickly put his hand over your mouth.

"I know you don't feel the same, and that's okay, I just needed to tell you so please don't say anything because in my drunken state I can take the rejection," Warren told you while lying back down on the couch. Your eyebrows furrowed deeper; you were trying so hard to figure out what the hell he was talking about. But your thoughts were interrupted by Warren's soft snores.

You smile down at him, covering him with a blanket and brushing the hair out of his eyes once more before leaning down to kiss his cheek softly.

"I love you," Warren mumbled, making you freeze in your place, eyes widening. You pulled away as your mind caught up to you.

"Warren," you whispered, wondering if he was awake at all. When he didn't respond, you just kept staring at his sleeping face. Despite all the thoughts running around your head, you just smiled and said, "You know, as insane as it may sound, I think I love you too." You told his sleeping form this while standing up and walking to your room, looking at him one last time before turning off the light and heading to bed.

You woke up the next morning with the sun shining brightly in your eyes. It was 9:00 AM on a Saturday, so you took a few minutes to keep lying in bed, taking your time to wake up.

When you finally did get up, you threw on a big t-shirt and headed toward the kitchen, surprised when you heard someone already in there glancing at the couch and relaxing when you didn't see him there.

"Good morning," you said, seeing Warren at the stove making some french toast.

"Good morning," Warren replied softly, not looking at you. The air in the room was awkward, and you felt like you could cut the tension with a knife.

After getting some coffee, you sat down at the table and waited for Warren to finish. After a few minutes, he came to sit beside you, sliding a plate of two pieces of French toast—one with a whipped cream frowny face and the other with a poorly written "I'm sorry."

You laughed at this, looking over at Warren, who was still avoiding your gaze. "Why are you sorry?" you questioned.

"I came to your house in the middle of the night, super drunk, and passed out on your couch," he whispered.

"Warren, look at me," you paused, moving his head gently to meet your eyes, frowning when you were met with his sad ones. "You have nothing to be sorry for," you told him, smiling when you saw a small one on his lips.

You both started eating your French toast, and Warren had a plate of greasy bacon.

"I also threw up on your blanket, so I'm sorry about that too," he said before shoving some bacon in his mouth. (It was all good, though, as he had already put it in the washer for you.)

 

Y/N "I just wanted to shake him and ask him if he really loved me that whole day, but he was asleep when he said it, so I couldn't really hold that against him."

Warren " yeah...” warren paused looking at the camera seriously “I was wide awake,"

[my-names-angel-but-im-not-one]

I DON'T LIKE YOU.....

Chapter-1

Pairing: Yandere gojo x Reader

Summary: You don't like gojo Satoru .....and you made it quite clear.

Warning ⚠️: Dark themes , Yandere theme, stalking.

You were Shoko's friend . You knew about gojo Satoru shoko told you about the man.

And you just decided that you don't like him. It's not unusual... you've always hated those Rich , good lookin' people who can get whatever they want from their birth . They do not have to suffer life problems, they do not have to cry for a toy , they do not have to ask for new clothes. They get anything they want just by touching it.

And you hated that because you couldn't.

But nevermind that it's not like you've actually met the guy or something .

Now a Little something about you. Well... you're not normal. You're neither a sorcerer nor a normal human. You can't see curses but you do see black smokey void instead . So you simply do not belong anywhere nor in the jujutsu world neither in the normal one .

But you've lived through it yet so that's not a problem.

Shoko is your best friend because she was the first person who believed you. Your mom thinks you're mental , your dad don't give a single shit , and other people who you've told ......they just want to send you to the mental hospital. You were tired of explaining people that you see black smokes sometimes but they don not believe. Shoko did . And here you were .

Standing infront of a cafe , you can make Shoko's figure but not the person she was sitting with . It was a man , sure. But his back was turned .

And like any best friend would think and do......you concluded that it was a date and decided to crash it.

Giggling evil you made your way in the cafe and stand behind the man's back and smirked at shoko.

"Well well i didn't thought my workaholic bestie would actually find a date~" you said giggling slightly but stopped at Shoko's unimpressed face .

Upon another one's appearance the man turned.....(and so was your life about too)

Snow white hairs, shiny lips , and oh those beautiful eyes that holds the ocean in them......you hate ocean.

The male smiled at you , a charming one . 'Fake'

You immediately thought. You know that fake, charming, and getting all the girls n boys smile . You have already mastered it. You smiled back. And did that eye thing to shoko.

"Well y/n i would've said it's nice to see you, but it's not -"

"ouch, my heart~"

"- this is gojo Satoru btw, gojo , this is y/n"

Shoko said um impressed.

Gojo turned to you and stand up , hold his hand out to shake hands with you . 'well damn that's tall' you yourself aren't short with the height of 5.6 you consider yourself tall and intimidating but this guy was a whole different case. "Hello y/n san~ it's very nice to meet you~".

You didn't took his hand . You'd not. You despise people like him .... everything's just so easy for them . " It's nice to meet you too, gojo-san, and i would prefer L/n San, if you would " you said with a cold tone.

Gojo seems shocked for a moment and retreated his hand back.

'hah , bitch really thought he had me swooning on the looks!'

You smirked victoriously in mind . "Y-yeah ofcourse,um I'm gojo Satoru and I'm a teacher!" He said recovering quick and smiled again.

"yeah i know you're a jujutsu teacher" he was shocked again. This girl was really putting him on time off. "I've heard a lot about you" you finished.

"All good i hope~" he said . "Hmm can't make any promises ~" you replied giving a smile of yours. You sure were giving gojo a hard time conversing .

"Ahem so...." Shoko started . "Oh yeah sorry I'll be going home i need to make dinner, bye shoko my love~" you said . "Ugh Don call me that" shoko said irritated but still smiled at your childish inact.

You got out the cafe and head for home walking with you groceries in hand.....well it was mostly instant noodles so....

"I'll head home too" gojo said and wore his jacked and cap.

You went your way walking and holding all you're things. Tap tap tap tap

'Huh' you thought and stopped right away . But you didn't dare look back. ' i heard footsteps and I'm sure of it . I'm not gonna neglect it thinking I'm paranoid ' you thought and continued to walk away planning to suddenly turn and found the stalker and you did turn away but there was no one there.

You huffed and locked your door not worrying anymore.

Though someone's else was worried, their heart was beating so loud in their chest because they were about to get caught following you.

' She's too smart, You intrigue me Y/N L/N' thought the sorcerer.

[thedepthsoffandomminds]

The lost Princess of the ocean. One

Masterlist

You look up and see a green haired man being tied up across the yard from you. Sun beat down into the dusty yard and you watched as Axehand taunted the man. His eyes met yours briefly. Your fatigue took over you once more and you dropped your head to the poll behind you. Axehand’s son, Helmeppo, stomped over to you. He giggled as he tightened the chains on your wrists pulling your arms higher. The strain on your shoulders doubles, though you grit your teeth against it.

“Don’t worry little girl, my dad will put you out of your misery soon enough.”

You ignore his taunts, but you see the white sword at his waist. ‘That is not his.’ you think to yourself.

You do not see the strange boy climbing out of the tunnel grate. You do not see him until the green haired man. You don't see them both leave in opposite directions. Nor do you see the green haired one stop and glance your way before he leaves. You do not open your eyes again until the sounds of a fight wake you. The two men are fighting Axehand and a girl is keeping marines away from a safe. It all happens so quickly that it's difficult for you to keep up with who is winning, until Axeman is in a heap on the floor. The green haired man held his third sword between his teeth and one in each hand. Once more his eyes reached yours.

“All great fighters call out their finishing moves.” You hear the one in the straw hat say.

“No they don't.” the other shakes his head.

The green haired man stomped past Axe hand Morgan grabbing a set of keys from his belt as he passed. He crouched in front of you and unlocked the iron shackles on your wrists. Your shoulder muscles screamed out with the pain if release.

“Can you stand?” He asks quietly, you nod and he helps you to stand.

“I hate to break up this beautiful moment but we need to get this safe out of here.” The red haired girl announces, “maybe we could find a rope or something….” Your saviour lifts the black safe onto his shoulder and starts walking. “...or we could do that.” She finishes her sentence.

“Come with me.” He says to you in a strained voice. Part of your mind wants to run, and keep running until you are lost in the depths of a forest somewhere. The groans of Axe Hand Morgan put fear back into your body and you hoped you were making the right choice. You follow the trio down through Shells Town to the dockyard. The straw hat boy introduced himself and the other two as you walked. He is overly happy about the situation. Your arms wrap around your body as you struggle to keep up with them. A small Sloop waiting for them. The girl explains that it's her boat. You aren't listening to their bickering. Just as you've all boarded you hear Helmeppo’s voice once more, making you tense.

“The Marines are already here. you're under arrest.” He huffed.

“What happened to his hair?” Luffy laughed.

“Yeah, I might have done that.” Your saviour grins.

Helmeppo presses his lips together huffing once more.

“I won’t let you make a joke of me. I’m taking you in and handing you over to my father. I’ll be the hero. I might even get a medal or something.” He taunts. At that exact moment a fist smacks Axehand's son around the head leaving a boy with large round glasses behind him.

“Ow, that hurt, but it also felt really good.” the boy had a kind face and pink hair.

“No time to explain, but we have to go. This whole town is trying to kill us.” You hear Luffy say.

The two talk further but you're not listening. You sat down on a small wooden box, looking at your wrists. Both were decorated with dark, purple bruises and oozing cuts from the iron. Zoro crouched in front of you, bringing his hand to yours. Your flinch is tiny, yet he sees it and pulls his hand away again.

“We should clean those up.” He says quietly.

The ship is pushed away from the dock and soon the four of you are in the wide open ocean. After cleaning and binding your wounds Zoro led you into the cabin and helped to settle you on a bed. In silence your eyes meet.

“You don't have to be frightened anymore, I'll get you back to your family.” He tries to assure you. Zoro sits beside you until you fall asleep before stepping out to the others.

“Has she spoken yet?” Nami asked him, keeping her voice low.

“Only to tell me her name. Y/n y/l/n.” Zoro announced like the others should know that name. When they looked as baffled as before he sighed, “she's the lost Princess. She was kidnapped ten years ago and no one could ever find her. Her father was a sea warlord, he went mad and killed himself.” Zoro explained.

“So she's just been here the whole time?” Luffy narrowed his eyes in confusion.

“I don't think so. She's frightened, really frightened. Axehand couldn't do that.” that they could all agree on.

Nami stood from her spot and walked over to the safe, pressing her ear to the door and beginning to unlock it. Luffy was making far too much noise as she worked. Zoro shook his head amused at the pair and moved back into the cabin. You were sleeping so he slid down and sat beside the bed, resting his head back, he let himself drift off.

[meowcats734]

[Soulmage] You have lived an unimpressive life, and died an unimpressive death. Surprisingly, Odin welcomes you into Valhalla, citing the many battles with depression you fought.

I'd always assumed that I would be the reason why I died. I'd muddled through life by hiding in corners and hoping that whatever monster I'd pissed off this time wouldn't try to finish the job.

But as it turned out, that wasn't how it started. I wasn't sent to Odin at the hands of a sadistic elf or an arrogant witch.

I met Odin thanks to a poorly-timed gust of wind.

It had been such a nice evening, too. I'd spent the night dragon-watching with a kind and lonely girl my age atop an ancient clock tower. The cold was biting through our clothes, and even though Lucet was an ice witch it was getting a bit much for both of us, so with a gesture and a spell she created the precarious icy handholds that we used to climb down the tower.

And as the wind picked up and the slippery ice shifted, I fell.

I hardly had time to think Really? before I slammed into the courtyard below and blacked out.

When I awoke, the world had the eerie, black-and-white quality of the shifting sparks I saw when I closed my eyes and rubbed them hard. I tried opening my eyes, found they were already open, and tried closing them instead. Nothing changed.

"We're in your soulspace, kid. Eyes aren't what you see with here," a man's amused voice said from behind me.

I tried to spin around, but even though I could swear my body was moving, nothing changed. The man walked into my field of view, and he was tall and barrel-chested and draped in Redlands furs.

I frowned at him. "Am I... dreaming?"

"You could call it that."

The memory of the fall replayed in my mind, and I bit my lip. "Am I... dead?"

His lips quirked up infinitesimally. "You could call it that," he repeated. "I'm Odin."

He paused, as if expecting me to... I don't know, bow? Squeal in excitement? Truth be told, I had no clue who the barrel-chested man was, and I told him as much. "I have no idea who you are," I said.

His eyes flashed in irritation, but he reined himself in. "You could have the rest of your life to learn," he said.

An odd turn of phrase for someone who was maybe-dead, but that sounded like he wanted something from me. I was used to that. I could play that role. "I could also tell you to go jump in a rift," I said on reflex. Something about the man set me on edge.

"There it is," the man said, a satisfied smirk on his face. "That self-destructive instinct that you've been choked by your whole life. Look at you. You're completely at my mercy, and yet you still insist on threatening your only chance at salvation in order to spit in my eye."

"I don't want any salvation you're offering—"

"The Academy," Odin interrupted, walking to one side. Idly, he studied the black, sticky thorns that seemed to grow from nothing in the soulspace. "They took you from your homeland and taught you the art of using emotions to fuel magic. Happiness to create light. Passion to create heat. Freedom to make wind."

"Odin to make bullshit," I muttered, but the man proceeded as if he hadn't heard.

"But you have such glorious reserves of the fell emotions," Odin continued, wrapping the thorns in my soul around his fist. "Your self-hatred. The enemy you've battled all your life. It can be a tool, a weapon, instead of something to be locked away and ignored."

Odin walked forwards and put a single hand on my shoulder. "I want you to become one of mine. Swear to find me in Valhalla, and I shall restore you to health. The Academy has done you no favors. See what me and mine can do for you instead."

I met Odin's eyes, and... well. I'd be lying if I said he didn't have a point. I did hate myself. I did hate the Academy. And there were some days that I felt like burning it all down, shrinking it into a point and crushing it in the palm of my hand.

But I didn't hate everyone.

"Hold on, Cienne! The nurse is coming!"

And not everyone hated me.

Odin's eyes narrowed as... something else... entered my soulspace. Crystals, blossoming from nowhere and shoving aside the thorns of self-hatred.

"I've got you. Keep breathing. Ice. Ice is good for after."

"Thanks for the offer, old man," I said. "But you forgot one th—"

My eyes flew open, and I was in the Academy infirmary, Lucet white as a sheet to my left, a stern nurse to my right.

They'd brought me back from the brink of death before I could deliver my one-liner to Odin. Ah well. I meant what I would have said, and that was what mattered.

My self-hatred is mine. Not a weapon for you to use. You cannot take this from me.

"Are you okay, Cienne?" Lucet asked.

"His heart stopped. Legally, he died back there." I noticed I was undressed, sat up to try and grab my binder, but the nurse firmly shoved me back down. "And he would've died if you hadn't cooled him down as quickly and evenly as you did. He should recover with rest and magical therapy."

Lucet weakly smiled, and I caught her eye. "Hey," I said.

"Hey," she replied, relieved.

I hesitated, then lowered my voice, and asked, "Can I ask you a question?"

She shrugged. "Go ahead."

"Who... or what... is Odin?"

A.N.

Soulmage is a serial written in response to writing prompts. Stick around for more episodes, or join my Discord to chat about it!

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[dansconcepts]

A Day in the Life of a Gamer!Kaede

Or: my talentswap au in a non-despair setting with a focus on Ult. Gamer Kaede and some moments feat. a Reserve Course Tsumugi, Ult. Bartender Shuichi, and an Ult. Magician Kokichi.

Being at Hope's Peak is strange, but in a good way. Of course, she gets to meet all kinds of people that she wouldn't have met unless they were watching her stream or are in the same lobby as her. And they're all with some quirk one way or another, which makes her feel less like a "Gamer Freak" around them.

Experiencing the diverseness of the people in her classes and even outside of it is something she loves dearly. But... of course, there's always going to be something slightly strange...

・┆✦ʚ♡ɞ✦ ┆・

Every so often, she notices a girl with very long blue hair and glasses standing in the doorway. She wears the signature black ribbon and long-sleeved white dress shirt that Reserve Course students wear. While RC students aren't banned from being around Ultimates or anything (how messed up would that be?), their classes are in different areas. It's just inconvenient for them to be walking back and forth unless they've got friends here. And evidently, this girl does, because Rantaro meets her out in the doorway. He always invites her in, but she always rejects it.

Today, she's out there again. She's almost like an NPC, following her designated pathing outside of her class door. Unfortunately for her, Rantaro had stepped out. She must not have known, because she's standing there in her idle animation.

She could:

> Go back to her game [which would probably lead to the girl just standing out there until Rantaro comes back] > Tell her about Rantaro [which would probably lead to more interesting dialogue options]

“Hey, um, Rantaro went to the bathroom, he should be back in a few minutes.”  

The girl looks up at her and quickly looks away. She frowns. Did she do something wrong?

The girl meets the blonde's stare, and her eyes widen considerably. “A-ah, please don’t mind me, I’m just very plain…” 

“Hey!” Kaede pouts. “Don’t say that, I’m sure you’re amazing! You’re very pretty, to start!” 

Tsumugi smiles, pity in her gaze. “That’s very kind of you, but I don’t have a talent. I really am plain boring…”

“No, it makes you the most interesting person here!” She gets a skeptical hmm, and she figures she'll need more interactions with her to convince her. “I’m Kaede Akamatsu, the Ultimate Gamer. Nice to meet you…?” She pauses with a tilt of her head.

“Tsumugi Shirogane, just a plain ol’ person.”

“Yeah, we’ll work on that.” She even sounds like an NPC…

・┆✦ʚ♡ɞ✦ ┆・

She's finished up a map on Project Sekai and about to start a new one, only acutely aware of the familiar purple blur that always comes up to her seatmate when-

“No, Kokichi, I’m cutting you off.” Shuichi frowns, moving a cup with dark liquid away from the boy whose arms are crossed on his desk.

Cutting him off-? 

“But Shumai!” He whines, even crying hysterically.

“A-are you serving Kokichi alcohol?!” Kaede screeches. She believes in Shuichi, but she knows he has drinks in his lab to mix with...

“He is!” Kokichi giggles.

Oh goodness, this is way worse than she thought!

Shuichi only lets out a heavy sigh. Upon catching her highly concerned look, he shakes his head. “No, he’s lying. It’s just Panta with some root beer. I don’t even know how he can drink so much of this stuff…”

She lets out a huge sigh of relief. She couldn't imagine dealing with a temporarily debuffed Ouma, and an inebriated one at that...

“Nishishi~! It's because of your amazing skills!”

“That's very kind of you, Ouma...” The boy flushes.

Kokichi frowns. “Yikes, you really believed me? It was a lie.”

“I doubt it.” She interjects. “You're very talented after all, Shuichi, so-” She yawns. “-don't listen to him.”

“Kay-ay-day, he knows that lie was a lie! Righttt, Shu?”

Shuichi blinks slowly. “...Right.” He turns to her. “You stayed up again, didn't you?”

The reminder has the bags on her eyes feel heavier than ever. “Ah, is it that obvious?” She chuckles sheepishly.

“A little.”

“Ha! More like really obvious!” Kokichi snickers. “Here, I have just the thing!” He hands her a flower. It's a sunflower.

She takes it gratefully. “Thank you Ouma, this is quite pretty.” She holds it up to her face and-

“EEP!”

Drops of water drips down her face.

“Kokichi!” Shuichi gasps.

“Kokichi...” Kaede warns lowly.

“Wow, you really are tired if you fell for the easiest trick in the book.” It comes out as a tease, but Kokichi's frowning. He pulls out some cloths from his sleeve and offers it to her.

She takes them gratefully, wiping her face off.

“Are you alright?” Shuichi asks, his brows furrowed.

She stares down Kokichi, who stares back at her.

She hears Shuichi gulp.

“Ultimate Magician? More like Ultimate Clown.” She grins.

Shuichi sags in relief.

“Heh, you really were worried, weren't you Shuichi? Haven't you dealt with tension between patrons before?”

“I have, but it's more unnerving when it's between friends...”

“Aw, you consider me as a friend, Shumai? How adorable!” Kokichi coos.

“I do too!” She pauses. “Sort of...”

“WAHHHHH! You're so mean Kaede!” Kokichi cries. “Did gaming so often make you forget how to interact with people or something?!”

Oof. She frowns. That was super effective...

She stares back down at her phone and thumbs at it.

“Quit it Kokichi.” Shuichi firmly snaps.

“I guess...” Kokichi sighs dramatically.

Later that day, she finds a tiny Kirby in her dorm. It would make a great charm for her phone.

But how did it get here? Her brows furrow.

Alas, she knows a magician never reveals his secrets.

[braveclementine]

Dear Father, Let's Chat

Warnings: 18+readersonly

Copyright: I do not own any Marvel characters or locations. However, I do own my OCs, which consist of Penny Fury, Elizabeth Nelson, Elijah Chan, Katya Venice, Violetta Moscow, Lan Le, Josh, Trang Tien, Ahni Jallow, Mai Ito, and Ghaida Kashual as well as other OCs that will come up throughout the story.

"Penelope." Her father pulled her into a tight hug in front of all the other Avengers. She hugged him back just as tightly, feeling both extremely happy with seeing her father again, while also feeling an underlying current of anger as well as just the slight pinch of guilt.

"Hi daddy." Penny mumbled, feeling like a little girl again. The Avengers were moving around them, being greeted by their friends and family- and sex partners she had to keep reminding herself. They were all sleeping together.

She watched as Wanda hugged Pietro as he came off the plane, the both of them smiling. But when she reached out for Sam, he dodged her touch, and murmured something to her. Penny watched Wanda's smile become sad, nodding in understanding, and turning back to Pietro.

A different sort of guilt seemed to punch her gut. She quickly looked back at her father. "Dad, I think we need to talk."

"Are you alright?" Her father asked, putting an arm around her shoulder and started to lead her back towards the tower. It was far colder here in New York than it had been in Sri Lanka, almost as though- ha!- she'd traveled across the world.

"Are you hurt? Did they touch you? Rape you? Should we run pregnancy tests and tests for HIV and AIDS?" Her father asked with no filter at all.

"I'm not hurt. I was never raped. I was touched a bit, yes, but never actually, you know." Penny let the thought finish. "So no, the tests are unnecessary."

Her father relaxed just slightly. The doors to Avengers Tower were opened and Penny looked around as the hot warmth of the building enveloped her.

She'd always wanted to come to Avengers Tower. She knew Tony Stark had built it- well had it built- and that it was Avengers Headquarters. The lower fifteen to twenty floors were filled with the non- Avengers who did other work. Mostly SHIELD agents, but also High School and college interns for engineering projects. There was also a side lab for students in sciency fields like bio-chemistry or microbiology.

The lobby was open and sparse, looking nearly like any other lobby of a grand building with white marble tiled floors. The furniture was all black leather, about six TVs, and two huge chandeliers.

"I hope you don't mind," Her father said as they nodded to one of the men outside of the elevator and they stepped into it. They clearly had the elevator all to themselves, which was made of glass and she could see out across the city as it started to ascend, "I would like you to stay in the tower for a week or two while everything gets sorted out. We still have to track down Blonsky and the folks that Rumlow used to kidnap you. The Avengers will be your best line of protection, though they all know to leave you alone."

Penny sighed, "Dad, at least one of the Avengers is my soulmate. You can't think that I shouldn't see who else is, right?"

"I would've preferred you not to interact with them." Fury sighed. "As good as they are at heroes, they are terrible at keeping relationships and I already know that you'll get hurt. They aren't loyal Penny."

"Agent Wilson told me about their endeavors." Penny replied.

"That's surprising. I would've assumed Stark would've spilled." Fury muttered.

"Agent Wilson said he was willing to give up the- er- orgies for me. Be loyal to me." Penny replied. "He also said he believed the others would do so too. And I think I should be allowed to at least give them a chance."

Fury glanced over at her and Penny stared back. Her father sighed, running a hand over his face. "Penny, I don't want to see you get hurt. Physically or emotionally."

"I'm old enough to make my own decisions, especially about my soulmates." Penny answered. "I'm more warning you. I'm not really asking for permission."

"I know. You're way to much like me." Fury muttered. "But at least heed my warnings. They've been used to simply doing just about anyone who lives in floors sixty to seventy whenever they want. Adding you as their soulmate to the mix is going to shake things up one way or another. As much as I love you, things will be shaken in their bonding's and ranks. Things might even get awkward between some of the heroes. So make sure you're swift in the rules you set with your soulmates."

"I will, don't worry." Penny replied.

"Are you sure you don't need anything from me?" Fury asked as the elevator started to slow.

"N-" Penny started and then looked at her father, "A psychiatrist. I. . . well I can't really talk about some of these things with you. A female psychiatrist preferably."

Fury nodded, pulling her into his arms once more and kissing the side of her head, "I'm glad you're safe."

"I love you dad. Thank you for sending them to rescue me." Penny whispered.

"I love you too."

The elevator doors opened and they drew apart. Fury nodded to her and then Penny exited the elevator.

"Penelope?" A dark skinned man asked. He was slender, pretty tall- probably 6'1- dressed in a simple T-shirt and jeans.

"Yes." She said.

He held out his hand, "Colonel James Rhodey."

"Nice to meet you." She said, now recognizing him. He looked very much like his picture, but she hadn't been able to place him right away without his army uniform on.

"Glad to see you're alright." James replied, yet Penny also saw that hint of worry behind his eyes. Probably wondering how her presence would affect the rest of them.

Penny wondered just how many of the Avengers she could possibly be mated to, and wondering if she was mated to anyone outside of the Avengers. What if it was just Sam?

Yet, somehow that seemed worse. Then Sam would have to watch as everyone else continued on the same and he was left out. Almost as though he was being excluded. It would be better if Penny had more soulmates so that they could all be together and it would be somewhat the same.

"Anyways, I can show you to your room if you'd like." Rhodey suggested.

"Yes, thanks." Penny replied quickly.

It was a trip back into the elevator and she noticed they went up to floor seventy-one.

"No one is on this floor yet." Rhodey replied. "When Kamala, Peter, and some of the other high school superheroes join in, this'll be their floor as well. Of course, your room might change depending on if you go from staying temporarily to permanently or what not."

Penny nodded and Rhodey opened up the room. "It's got all the basics- or what Tony considers basics anyways. If you need anything more personal though, all the girls are staying on floors sixty-four and sixty-seven. Except Elizabeth and Katya. They stay with Elijah and Lan on floor sixty-nine."

"Thank you." Penny replied.

"Any announcements or smaller questions F.R.I.D.A.Y. can answer." Rhodey said, lingering in the doorway. "I'll let you settle in. I have no idea what we're doing for dinner, but F.R.I.D.A.Y. will tell you when it's decided."

"Okay, thanks again." Penny said. Rhodey smiled and he closed the door behind him as he left.

Penny looked around the room.

It was very large, with thick white carpets. The bed in the center of the room was also extremely large, perhaps to fit five or six people in it. Then again, it probably was.

The dressers and accompanying furniture was all white to match everything else in the room. The closet already had basic T-shirts, jeans, and skirts in the closet. There were also several agent wear.

There was a minifridge that had rootbeer, Pepsi, Coke, Sprite, Dr. Pepper, Orange Fanta, green and blue Gatorades, different flavors of Bangs and Monsters, along with Milky ways, 3 Musketeers, Milk Hershey, Mr. Beast chocolate bars, and Recess Peanut butter cups.

"Nice." Penny muttered, taking out the Mr. Beast chocolate and a Coke.

She put both on the bedside table and sat down on the bed. She rubbed the spot on her arm where the Falcon tattoo had appeared.

There was a sudden knock at the door.

"Yeah! Come on in!" Penny said.

She was surprised when Elizabeth stepped through the door. She'd changed out of her superhero attire and was dressed like she was about to head out. Blue jeans, an olive green long-sleeved shirt tucked into her pants. A thick black belt with a chipped bronze buckle, cinching the pants tight. She had a simple small silver necklace with a cross around her neck and was wearing small black heeled boots about an inch and a half. Her long brown hair had been pulled back into a neat ponytail.

"I wanted to check in on you." Elizabeth said quietly. "You had a hard flight from what I understand."

"You're the one who almost died." Penny pointed out.

Elizabeth shrugged, "So a daily occurrence. What's new? My fault anyways, I'm usually much better at the missions than that."

Elizabeth paused, looking down at Penny. Penny felt the strangest feeling she was being analyzed. Elizabeth sighed, putting her hands in her pockets. "I know the atmosphere is weird. It's because we don't know where you stand. Nick has made it completely obvious that if you're with your soulmates, they're no longer able to participate in the orgies. Which is fine, you know? You should be able to have loyal soulmates. What hurts you here, in everything not just the relationships, is indecision. It's okay to think something over, but you have to be quick about it. I know you're going to need time to get to know your soulmates. They're great people, trust me. And we're all extremely relaxed here. If you want your soulmates. . . loyal is a weird word. We're all loyal to each other. But if you'd prefer to be their only partner, they're going to do it for you. And the rest of us aren't going to have hard feelings over it. But we did just get back from a very stressful mission and feelings are going to be running high. Now, what do you want for dinner?"

Penny blinked. She'd taken in most of what the girl in front of her had said until the last bit, "Did you. . . did you just give me a heartfelt speech and then completely change the subject?"

"Yep, I do that a lot. I'm OCD and ADHD and I can't focus on only one thing. I'm scatterbrained, I know way to many weird facts, and I'm pretty sure I'm crazy. What do you want for dinner?"

Penny knew she liked the girl at that moment. "No idea. I'm not really hungry."

"Of course you aren't." Elizabeth responded and Penny was once again swept up into confusion. "You're used to eating in a different time zone, not to mention there probably wasn't a lot of food that they gave you to eat. You know, because the submissives who are known as 'pets' aren't allowed to have good food or a lot of food in large quantities. So you're stomach has been shrinking from a lack of food. But you should eat now anyways just to restart your schedule. Come on."

She didn't even wait for Penny to respond, already half-way down the hall as Penny darted out of her door and caught up to her.

"Where are we going?"

"Kitchen."

Elizabeth responded calmly, stepping into the elevator.

"Who cooks?"

"A couple of us. Usually Wanda or me. If it was left to the guys, they'd order junk food every night and then we'd be a bunch of fat superheroes."

"I thought you were a small town superhero."

"I was." Elizabeth agreed. "Till I found out my mom was part of HYDRA and she sent my brothers- who weren't actually my brothers- as super soldiers after me. Lovely, yay. Nick promised to protect me and my friends. I still get to do my small assignments and everyone's happy. Nick likes to send me on missions as a secret weapon. Everyone always underestimates me."

"I can see that, no offense." Penny replied. Elizabeth didn't really look like a fighter.

"None taken." Elizabeth said. "I don't look like a warrior. But then again, I rarely have to deal with hand to hand combat. I just call up water waves and drown people. It's more of a mental strength. And then the people who do know about my powers assume that if there's no water around, I'm useless. But I'm not." Elizabeth flashed Penny a wicked grin, "I can use the water in their bodies to choke themselves. You know the body is made up of sixty percent water. It's a handy trick."

As the elevator doors opened up in a large common room with basically every Avenger imaginable, Penny made a side note to never get on Elizabeth's bad side.

Suddenly, a giant shadow swooped down on the two of them. "What's for dinner Queen of Ice?"

Elizabeth smirked as Penelope stared up at Thor. "I don't know yet. What do you want?"

"You." Thor smirked.

"Ha." Elizabeth teased, rolling her eyes. "Elijah wouldn't let you after this afternoon."

"Isn't Elijah your soulmate?" Penelope asked in confusion. Elizabeth grabbed Penny's arm to drag her past Thor and into the kitchen which- compared to the other room- was completely empty.

"Oh yeah. Soulmate, Husband, dom, master, handler." Elizabeth rattled off, pulling open cupboards and pulling out things in a seemingly sporadic manner.

"Handler. . ."

"Look, like I said, we're all together. Elijah is my soulmate and he's my master. So he decides when, where, and who I get to interact with." Elizabeth said this all calmly and unconcerning as though they were simply talking about the weather.

"Which can be a right pain in the ass when I have to become aware of how I treat him whenever an orgy comes up, otherwise he makes me sit and watch and I can't participate." Elizabeth complained. She looked over at Penny. "He's got a voyeuristic kink so he likes to watch. Especially watching me with other men."

"Isn't that. . . strange to you?" Penny asked uncertainly.

"Maybe at first." Elizabeth shrugged. "But now I like it. You find that with all of us, there's just about every kink here. So you find the kinks you're okay with and you stick with 'em. No one makes anyone travel outside their comfort zone. And for every person that's got a kink, there's at least one person to reciprocate it. It's a complex and beautiful system."

"And I'm going to screw it up?"

"I didn't say that." Elizabeth shrugged again. "I'm guessing you've never had a lot of true interaction. But tell me, how would you feel about joining us? Not me, obviously. I'm straight as a board. But most of everyone else out there is either straight girls or everyone else is bi. And you could even have Ahni, she's only into girls. If you're into girls of course, there's no shame in being straight either. But is that something you'd even want?"

Penny had no idea. She'd never even thought about herself joining in. She wondered how her father would feel about that.

Before she could say anything, Tony Stark strolled into the kitchen. He shot her a wink and then tried to grab whatever Elizabeth was making.

"Anthony!" Elizabeth scolded, hitting him over the head with a heavy wooden spoon. "Hands off."

"Damnit." Tony muttered, sitting down next to Penny. He looked over at her. "I'm Tony Stark."

"Penelope Fury. You can just call me Penny." She responded, flinching harshly at the tattoo that was appearing on her left shoulder. She pulled her shirt sleeve down and glanced over to see a peacock there.

"Fitting." Elizabeth commented slyly.

"I like peacocks." Tony pouted. He had pulled his shirt off and was trying to look at the tattoo on his back.

"Yeah, I bet." Elizabeth continued, "Handsome, proud, and a pain in the ass."

"It's a red panda." Penny informed him as he paused looking at his tattoo, glaring at the ice princess. Penny giggled a little.

"Cute." Tony grinned. "So, what are you girls talking about?"

"Sex and orgies." Elizabeth stated bluntly before Penny could even think of a topic to lie about.

Tony chuckled, "Already? Good lord Elsa, she's barely been here for an hour."

Elizabeth smirked and Penny was suddenly aware of the thick smell of cooking meat floating through the kitchen. Hamburgers, by the smell of it.

"Alright." Elizabeth said and Penny watched as several dishes full of food were flung onto the table. She was vividly reminded of Beauty and the Beast with the dancing dishes, except these dishes were floated onto the table by water waves. "Dinners served."

[lividria]

Saw your post about that one ttyd dream you had… Tell me more about your other dreams that you’ve had

okay so naturally having been alive for 16 years i've had a lot of dreams, given the specific mention of the blavio post i assume you mean more video game dreams, most of my notable ones related to games are about games made up in those dreams and not existing games, and the ones usually taking place in existing games aren't actually that interesting, the blavio dream was a rare example of a funny one so i'd need to dig through my dream logs to see if i can find any others that are actually entertaining and not just "huh. that was odd" that you forget in 5 minutes

so i'll get around to it since blavio is on his way to becoming my most popular post, i just need to find the good ones, i have plenty of non-game dreams that are interesting that i'll probably catalog along the way though, there was an entire period of time where every other dream of mine was an entire quest with an actual "consistent" story arc

but to not leave this ask actually unanswered, i'll talk about a personal favorite of mine that isn't a video game dream (video games do come up but they aren't the focus) but is fucking crazy, under the cut because it's several paragraphs

In the dream, I was living in some weird coastal town where my backyard (and everyone else's backyard) was like a straight slope down a couple feet and into the ocean, i know it was the ocean but there wasn't any sand or anything

an apocalyptic force called The Mind appeared over this town, taking the form of a giant black & purple smog cloud thing vaguely resembling a giant face, but like the face of the lava giant from moana not like a detailed face, and it would "steal people's consciousnesses" which is basically just randomly inflicting brain death to anyone in it's region and it would get bigger each time it did that

for some reason it would create this weird like white glassy/icy material it'd coat the ground with that i remember being called Ivory and build structures out of in the main smog cloud, like weird robot things that would bring something into the cloud, later in the dream there were entire people just inside of it somehow despite it not being solid so they might've been fucking dragging people into the mind, and there was one robot that looked like an E.M.M.I. from Metroid Dread if it was bulkier and it was somehow supposed to be benevolent but it didn't do anything in the dream lol

the mind stole my stepdad's consciousness so he was just unconscious in the middle of the road as everyone just kinda stood around but apparently he got over it because he woke up later in the dream and was completely fine lol

there was a cut to the white house because apparently this was a movie, where the government was panicking in the white house trying to figure out what to do, so they called in a guy from a previous movie in the saga because he was their only hope, it was adam sandler dressed as the nostalgia critic that's basically this dream's blavio actually, and apparently his deal was he was super lucky, and he took one look at the mind and wanted nothing to do with this shit obviously and i think he actually turned them down and that was it

meanwhile me and my family casually drove away from the mind and into a town just called The Village which was for some reason completely desolate besides for a family friend who we were going to stay with until the fucking apocalypse ended i guess, i accidentally left my ipad back at home so i just played on my nintendo switch instead trying to S rank the final level in Nefarious, an actual game i had finished around that time and i actually took like a month trying to S rank that level, great game go play it but don't try and S rank it jesus christ

and the dream just kinda ended there, i have the mind recycled and reworked as an antagonist in vivlore if anyone saw my posts about those but they won't come up for a while as i work on more of those when i work on more of those

hopefully this satiates you for now

[dat-silvers-girl]

You're my friend now

Summary: Okay but seriously, Sarahi works on her own at the palace, barely speaking to anyone. The animals are a welcome respite. Thank goodness, the animals won't be her only friends going forward. Barnaby exists.

A/N: I wrote this and other fics while I was bored out of my mind waiting for paperwork to get done. So it isn't proofread, probably nonsense, and mostly written for funsies. If I make art I'll just post it seperately. If I make any.

HPHM Cardverse AU by @ariparri

XXX

Sarahi had only been working in the palace for a week when one day she was assigned the stables to clean. And while most maids would groan at that, Sarahi was excited, because it would mean finally being able to see the horses. Ignoring everyone's confused looks, she made sure to sneak some sugar cubes from the kitchen to feed them.

Creatures are friends, and friends are meant to be spoiled with affection after all. The only other time she'd seen the horses was when she was watching them graze, and this one white horse with black hair came very close to the fence and let Sarahi pat him. Sarahi had been wanting to go to the stables since, hoping to make a friend.

She'd come out with two.

The stables… they smelled bad. But that is to be expected when animals are involved, so Sarahi wasn't too bothered. The horses let out some curious whinnys at the new person in their stables.

As happy as she was to be surrounded by horses, Sarahi was well-aware that she would have to finish cleaning up first. There was hay all over the floor, hoof marks from when the horses were brought inside, and the unfortunate consequences of the horses that went number two a little too late.

Sarahi let out a sigh and began cleaning up.

XXX

The cleanup took nearly three whole hours. But every time Sarahi would get tired or annoyed, a random horse would nose at her for a sugar cube, or give her an encouraging whinny, which instantly brightened her mood. That white horse she met earlier got most of the sugar cubes, given that it was the one who poked Sarahi the most.

"I'm going to run out of sugar cubes if you keep eating them bud." Sarahi giggled, as the horse ate it's third sugar cube in a row. The horse huffed, and still nosed at her face for more.

"Stars above, bud! Let the others have some too!" Sarahi laughed. She pulled away to feed the other horses before this white one could eat them all.

XXX

Most of the horses seemed content with the amount of sugar cubes they had eaten, and had long since gone back to their own food. Except, of course, the white horse, that still stubbornly nosed at Sarahi's back for more sugar cubes.

Sarahi let out an amused sigh. "Oh alright. Don't tell the others, but I saved this last one for you, okay?"

Saying so, Sarahi held out her palm with one more sugar cube, which was instantly eaten by the white horse. It let out a pleased sound, as if it was satisfied about getting the last cube.

Sarahi chuckled. She was never more comfortable than she was around animals. For some reason, every time she was with a group of creatures, one or two members of that group would take to her. Like the one black puppy in that litter near her house, that gray horse named Moor in the University stables that kept trying to chew on her hair, the light brown rabbit in the gardens, and now this white horse in this herd.

As if trying to express his thanks for being treated as special, the white horse nosed at Sarahi's face politely. Sarahi took this as being allowed to let him, which he seemed very happy about, as he let out a soft huff.

"Awww… aren't you just a lovely, absolutely spoiled boy? But you're a good boy! Yes you are!"

Sarahi was so into babying this horse that she didn't notice the stable door open.

"Hey, Dash!" Came a cheerful voice. "Did you make a new friend?"

The white horse, named Dash, looked over to the newcomer and winnied loudly in reply.

Sarahi, however, had all color drained from her face as she instantly realized that the horse she was patting away belonged to Barnaby Lee, the Ace of Hearts. She immediately backed away from the horse and neatly clasped her hands in front of her to appear as small as possible.

"I am sorry. I was just finishing up cleaning in here. I'll leave."

Dash was clearly having none of it, because it prodded Sarahi again to demand more pets. The Ace laughed.

"Aw, but Dash seems to love you already! How many sugar cubes did you give him?"

"Too many… Wait! How did you know I gave him sugar cubes!? Was I not supposed to!? Well… I know I wasn't actually supposed to but he was such a friendly boy and I thought-"

"Hey hey hey, slow down." Barnaby said, as he approached to pat his horse too. "Dash will just take to anyone that gives him sugar cubes. Though this isn't the first time he's let you pet him."

Sarahi hesitantly continued petting Dash. After all, her own fear of talking to other people (especially important people) was no fault of the horse.

"Uh…"

"Hey, you're new to the palace, right? Dash let you pet him earlier too! When he was grazing? Yeah, I think he was grazing."

The Ace looked thoughtful, but quickly beamed at the maid. Sarahi didn't notice, as she didn't look at his face, and kept her attention on the horse.

"Say, do you like creatures?" He asked.

Sarahi was startled. "Huh?"

"Do you like creatures?" He asked again. Unlike most people, the Ace showed no annoyance in having to repeat his question.

"Why… uh… why do you ask?"

"Oh! I know I love creatures! Just wondering if you liked them too!" He replied.

Sarahi blinked. Wasn't the Ace of Hearts said to be a tough, ferocious guy? This man seemed so innocent, and sweet. He was still smiling, and patiently waiting for her to give an answer.

Sarahi took a deep breath. "Yes, uh… I do love animals and creatures and all. They're all really lovely. Dash is very polite."

"Right!?" Barnaby squealed. "Dash is my best buddy! He's the dashiest of horses! Aren't you buddy?"

Dash answered with a loud whinny.

Sarahi had forgotten to hold back her chuckle. The Ace of Hearts was absolutely radiating with joy.

"Have you ridden a horse before?" He asked.

Sarahi smiled. "I have! I used to ride a horse from the University stables sometimes, back when I was still there."

"Oh, were you the one riding Moor?"

"How did you- yes, I did ride Moor. He… uh. He wasn't the fastest so a lot of students just ignored him. I felt bad for the buddy, so I wanted to make sure he felt good too. I hope he did…"

"Great, I've been out of University for a week and I already miss him." Sarahi added under her breath.

"I'm sure you riding Moor cheered him up, really!" Barnaby said. "He was always happy to get out of the stables. Have you been riding horses long?"

"Huh? No. The only other horse I rode was when my grandmother took me to a farm once and I got to ride a big brown horse. I remember his name was Blue."

Barnaby raised an eyebrow. "Why would one name a brown horse Blue?"

Sarahi shrugged. "The world may never know."

XXX

If anyone told Sarahi earlier that day that she would be discussing her favorite creatures with the Ace of Hearts that afternoon, she would have called them delusional. And yet, this man had somehow pulled out from Sarahi, her bucket list of every creature she wanted to meet, while he told her of his own.

"Unicorns." Sarahi had added. "They're extremely skittish. My father tells me tales of how a unicorn used to eat out of my grandmother's hands when he was a boy. I have never seen any, alas, but someday…"

Barnaby nodded. "Did you know that unicorn foals are golden?"

"I do! And they're horns are just little nubs. I'm sure they look absolutely precious!!"

"Oh you'd love the Abraxan Derby! It's an event in the Land of Clubs!"

"I've heard of it. I've always wanted to see an Abraxan up close. I really want to see how big one is compared to me. And do you need a huge saddle to ride on one?"

"I don't know but I'd love to participate in the Abraxan Derby! I like to think I'm pretty good at riding."

"I'm sure you are, I mean… Dash wouldn't love you so much if you didn't ride him well. I'd probably fall off the saddle. Moor just didn't seem to mind my fidgeting, I think.."

"Well, given how much Dash likes you, maybe he would let you try?"

"Pfff… He only likes me because I gave him one too many sugar cubes. More sugar can't be good for his health."

"Are you sure? Because he hasn't stopped whining for your attention since we started talking."

Dash huffed in response to his rider and prodded at Sarahi's face again. That was all it took to remind Sarahi where she actually was and who she was rambling about Unicorns and Abraxans with.

The maid sighed. "I have to leave now, buddy. Maybe I'll be assigned here again next week."

Barnaby nervously chuckled. "Oh. Right… we were talking for too long, huh?"

Sarahi gave a polite nod. "I must get to my other chores before I get yelled at. I do apologize for taking up your time, sir."

The confusion on the Ace's face was almost amusing.

"What?" He asked.

Sarahi blinked. "Huh?"

"Was me rambling on about creatures getting annoying?"

"What!? No!" Sarahi yelled, shaking her head in disbelief. "If anything, this was the most fun conversation I've had in a long time!"

Barnaby clapped "I feel that way too! That's great! So… what were you apologizing for?"

"Uh… taking up your time?"

"Shouldn't I be apologizing for taking up yours?"

"No! Your time is more important than mine, isn't it?"

It was like more question marks were appearing over Barnaby's head with every passing question.

"Why would my time be more important than yours? Also… how did we go from unicorns to… time?"

"Well, to start it's because you're the Ace of Hearts, and I'm just some maid. And secondly… you're right. Um… how did we get here?"

Barnaby's face slowly broke out into a smile before he started giggling. Sarahi looked around nervously, not sure what exactly he was amused by.

"I just remembered that I forgot to ask your name. What's your name?" Barnaby asked, now that his fit of giggles stopped.

"Oh. I'm Sarahi."

Barnaby beamed. "I like you, Sarahi. You're nice!"

"Huh…?"

Barnaby tilted his head at the lack of response. "Hello?"

"May I ask you a question?"

"Sure!"

"Why are you talking to me?"

"Oh, is that all? Well, I was coming in here to see Dash, and he seemed to like you. So that made me think that you were nice and liked horses. And turns out you like creatures, just like me! And that's great! I've always loved creatures, and it's always nice to meet more creature lovers. The more love for them, the better, right?"

Sarahi turned away and frowned a bit. "I see. It's just that… didn't you hear what I said earlier? You're the Ace of Hearts, and I'm…"

"What? You're just Sarahi, right?"

"I'm just a maid."

"So, just Sarahi. Me being the Ace and you being a maid is important… why? Head's getting a bit muddled."

Sarahi turned to the man to see him so genuinely confused that she wanted to laugh. "You don't think that someone as great as you shouldn't have to interact with or be close to anyone of my level? You know… the maid that just spent 3 hours cleaning up after the poor horses whose lunch didn't sit right?"

Barnaby giggled again. "No, I don't think that. In fact, I can't think of any reason I'd possibly think that. You're nice, so why wouldn't I be nice to you?"

"Huh. Important people usually aren't."

"Then let me be the first to change that." Barnaby smiled, and extended a hand to the maid. "I'm Barnaby."

Sarahi hesitated for a bit, but then decided to take her chances. She shook his hand.

"Sarahi. Nice to meet you, sir."

"Huh? No no no! You're my friend now, why would you call me sir? Just Barnaby, okay?"

"Uh… okay? Nice to meet you then… Barnaby? Look, I'm sorry, but I really need to leave. Heaven forbade me from ever being on time since the day I was born, apparently."

Dash, who had just been an observer for most of the conversation, let out a sad little huff.

Sarahi gave the horse another reassuring pat on the snout. "Oh it's okay, bud! I'll be back next week. Just don't eat all the sugar next time."

The maid picked up her bucket and then looked back. "It was a pleasure to meet you, both of you."

"Same here. Dash and I will see you here next week then?"

"Huh? You'll be here as well?"

"I'm sure it'll be a lot more fun if you have someone other than the horses to look at. And I can introduce you to the other horses too!"

Sarahi grinned at the idea. "Really!?"

"Yes!" Barnaby answered, mirroring her excitement.

"I'd love that! I'm so excited for next week! See you then, Dash and Barnaby!"

XXX

Sarahi had already gotten scolded by the Senior maid and gotten her next list of chores when she actually thought harder about what happened at the stables.

"Mama seems to be wrong." She thought. "Maybe not everyone hates me? Maybe he won't drop me? Too early to tell, I guess. But a friend? Here, at the Palace? Eh... Who am I kidding, he won't show up. But imagine… a friend here…"

XXX

"You're… you're actually here."

Sarahi let out that thought without thinking as she entered the stables, only to see Barnaby pacing back and forth.

Barnaby noticed, and gave her a big smile and a wave. "Sarahi, hi!"

The maid beamed at him in return. "It's nice to see you again."

I think I have a friend in the palace. I have a friend.

[hoshi-y]

hii i hope your doing well! could i maybe request hanako and kou with a male reader who has pet rats? :D

Three Musketeers

Genre : Fluff

Characters : Hanako, Minamoto Kou

Pronouns : He/Him

TW : None

A/N : Me personally, I am terrified at rats HWUSHSHAKKD yet I find them cute 😭😭

I hope you enjoy 💗

"Well that's... Interesting.. ^^"

It was a slow and peaceful day at Kamome Akademy, a boy with black choppy hair with the most beautiful amber eyes sits boredly at the window seel, as if he was waiting for something to happen to spice up his ghost life. Just as he wished for that to happen, his three favorite humans finally slipped in.

"Good morning Hanako!" A girl with creme to teal tipped long hair greeted him, two other people entered, one with blonde spiky hair, and the other with [hair color] [hairstyle], Hanako noticed you were holding what seemed like a box covered with a fabric. Curious as he is he floated to you and stared at the mystery box in curiosity.

"Whatcha got there [F/N]?" Your eyes lit up when he asked.

"[F/N] show him, show him!" Kou and Nene said excitingly, now he was more excited to see. You placed the box down as the three watched you take off the fabric and it showed—

Three little mouses! One brown, a white one, and a black one, you called them the three musketeers, hehe get it?

"These are my pet rats! I brought them here for a art project, we were tasked to make a maze for little animals and I brought them to test it out" You excitingly exclaimed. While Kou and Nene were fawning over your pet rats, Hanako had this.. shaken up expression

"Hanako? Are you alright?" You placed a hand on his shoulder as he snapped back to reality "Y-yeah! yeah, why wouldn't I be fine?"

"Hanako come here! Look they're on their little wheel!" Nene watched with adoring eyes while Kou cheered them.

You were expecting Hanako to instantly go closer but he stayed in his spot, a few meters from your oet rats. "Hanako, are you scared of rats?" He tensed "No I'm not!"

"Reaaalllyyyy now" You smirked, an idea in mind. You walked over to the two and excused them. "Hi, I have to get one because Hanako couldn't see"

"Oh were we crowding? So sorry!" Nene said, they watched you as you brought to rat to Hanako making him take a step back. "Hanako stop backing away, His rats aren't gonna swallow you whole."

Kou snickered "Oi, Hanako don't tell me you're scared of rats"

"I am not!"

"Then why are you hiding in your stall?"

Hanako is practically peaking from his stall, you dashed forward going in before he could close it and closed the door behind you. "You're too fast!!" Hanako screeched

"Come on just touch him see?"

"WAAHHHHH"

"WOOAHH THAT IS SO COOL!!"

What were you so depressed about exactly? Right. You had stacks and stacks of work to do, ever since you joined the soccer team your schoolwork has been slowly piling up, you wished you could be like your senior, Yamabuki who didn't give a damn about his schoolwork

A knock was heard on your day making you drop your pencil. "Sweetie, your friend is here" Your eyes lit up, you walked downstairs to see Kou. "Kou hey! let's go upstairs" You invited him into your room as his eyes instantly landed on the stacks of work you had

"Damn, you have THAT many to do?" Kou sat on your swivel chair as he looked at what you are doing now. "I don't know if I can finish this all man, I get so fed up sitting down for a long period of time" Laying on your bed groaning. Just then your phone beeped

"Aiightt.. I have to feed my pets"

"Pets? I didn't know you had pets."

"Yah, I have pets, wanna go seem em?" Kou's eyes lit up and nodded his head excitingly. He wondered what type of pets you have, a dog? a cat? or one of those exotic pets like a snake!

You stood up and grabbed a box what he assumed was a cage, it was covered with a fabric

'Maybe hamsters? Like Senpai!'

Kou sat excitingly as you slowly took off the fabric to reveal–

Squeaking rats.

.

.

"LOOK AT THEM SO CHUBBY SLEEPING AND PILING ON EACH OTHER" Kou said in awe as he sat infront of the cage

"The brown one is Jerry, that little grey guy beside him is Nibbles, and I just call the other one muscle mouse, he grinds running on that wheel everyday"

"LIKE THE THREE MUSKETEERS!!" Kou exclaimed, you laughed at his fascinated look "I was surprised you were willing to see pet rats, usually others would run away"

"Naahh, I don't judge with whatever makes you happy [F/N]" You slightly open the cage door to let Kou touch them as one of them hugged his finger. He looked like he was holding back an explosion.

What was supposed to be a study session to force, yes force. Force Kou to help you with your stacks of assignments, you just told stories on how you got the three musketeers and eventually wasted the whole day.

But it was for a good reason aye?

Its 2 in the morning and I have 3 quizzes waiting for me later

[ryker-writes]

Hello! Your flower event looks like fun, so I thought I'd hop onto the bandwagon (it's okay if you don't want to do this also)

Personality: I'm pretty calm, collected and hard-working for the most part. People say I'm intelligent, quiet, and polite. I can be sarcastic at times, although people often say it's hard to tell. I'm probably the most emotional unemotional person I know. I don't really show a whole lot of facial expressions, but I do feel things more deeply than people give me credit for. I also tend to get overwhelmed easily, especially when I'm in really noisy places for prolonged periods of time (RIP ADHD and Autism (or symptoms disorder idk)). I'm also a bit shy, but that can be mistaken for being brooding or being done with everyone's shit (someone told me I radiate black cat energy. They also aren't wrong about me being done with everyone's shit). When people get to know me, they say that I'm a good listener and that they feel safe to speak their mind to me. They also appreciate my straightforwardness when they ask me for any advice. I also have a tendency to overestimate my own capacity to do work, so I often bite off more than I can chew and end up burnt out. I do this because I can usually do a lot of things without breaking too much of a sweat. Regardless, I still finish what I set out to do.

My favourite hobbies include reading, playing video games (especially indie rpgs like Yume Nikki and Off), listening to classical and lofi hip-hop, and making art. I especially like to draw and paint things that radiate a sense of comfort, nostalgia, and serenity. Someone also told me that my artworks also hold a sort of innocence in the composition of the shapes, colours, and overall vibe of what I draw/paint.

Likes: Classical music, lofi hip-hop, indie rpgs (Yume Nikki and Off have me in a chokehold, though not as tight as Obey Me, Court of Darkness, and Twisted Wonderland), tea, creative outlets

Dislikes: Cruelty, anyone who would dare to threaten my family or friends, loud noises, red meat (The texture is too much for me to handle), bright lights

I hope this is enough information. Take however much time you need to write this if you choose to do so

Hello again! I'm happy to see you here again especially for the event!

Ryker's flower garden event

I would give you...

A magnolia!

These flowers represent nobility! I chose this for you because you have a very noble and admirable personality! Your personality is very well balanced and it's one that I feel is easy for others to get along with. It's also the kind of personality typically given to royals in fiction, so it fits the nobility part very well!

A daisy!

A flower meaning innocence and purity! It can also mean beauty and fun. I chose this for you because of your art and love of video games! You mentioned that you make art that radiates comfort and serenity, and someone else even mentioned they have an innocent feel to them. The innocence and beauty of your art also gives it a sense of purity! The fun aspect of the daisy also fits how you can enjoy the art and video games and have fun doing it!

A white heather!

This is one of the flowers that's meaning changes depending on the color. A white heather means protection and wishes will come true. I chose this for you because of how you offer others a feeling of safety, and how you dislike anyone who threatens those you care about. In a sense, you're very protective of them. It's a really good trait to have!

Thank you for submitting your ask for the event! You actually got all white flowers! White flowers often symbolize innocence and pure love too!

[halikyon]

The morning air was cool and crisp at Rhalgr's Reach as Ryune sat upon his outstretched hand. Her eyes were closed and her body relaxed as she breathed deep and evenly. The people below bustled about doing their morning tasks, distributing food and orders, mustering patrols and guards. Soon, it would be time for the first lessons of the day, but there was time yet to simply be...

A slight change in the air mixed with the softest sounds of fabric alerted her that she was gaining company. She could feel whoever it was approaching, no, there were two she felt, which actually narrowed down who it was very quickly.

It wasn't like them to come out here to meditate, but she didn't mind. Ryune could hear slight shuffling and shifting as they sat down.

"Hello, girls, good morning." Ryune said without opening her eyes. The cessation of noise made her certain she had hit her mark.

"P-pardon our intrusion, Mistress Ryune." Came the voice of O'tchakha.

D'zentsa spoke right after, "Apologies, we didn't intend to interrupt your meditations."

Ryune slowly opened her eyes and turned to look at them. They were dressed as they usually were, with O'tchakha in white and D'zentsa in black. They had sat down together a few feet away facing Rhalgr's fingers.

"Chakha, I told you that you really don't need to put 'Mistress' in there, just Ryune is fine." Said Ryune. "And you have nothing to apologize for, Zen, this space is for all." Ryune found it still so odd to be given such deferential treatment from fellow Monks given that they were only a few years younger. "Tell me, what brings you out here? I know you two aren't usually ones for sitting quietly."

"We had hoped to wait until you had finished." Zen said, "Though it seems we need more practice in moving quietly."

"Hardly. I trained with Doman ninjas and Gridanian conjurer's alike. If I couldn't detect you coming, then it would be I who needed the practice." Ryune shifted around to face them. "But that doesn't answer my question."

"We wished to speak with you, M- Ryune." Chakha said, almost calling her 'Mistress anyway. "If now isn't a good time-"

"It's always a good time to speak your mind." Ryune interjected. "I know your former master was much more strict and demanding, but he is gone, and I am not him. So please, speak, I'm all ears." She knew how hard it could be to break old habits and behaviors. She had seen much worse versions when trying to help the people of Garlemald. Right now the best thing she felt she could do was be as open and accepting as possible to them.

"Well... we were wondering..." Chakha began.

"Our elevations. Were we really ready, or did you need the extra hands?" Zen spoke plainly.

Ryune was slightly taken aback. "What do you mean? You passed the tests."

"Yes, but they were of your design." Chakha said, "and we overheard you talking to Widargelt."

"You said it needed to happen and that you could use the help." Zen added. "We feel that we have been given these honours and new responsibilities out of necessity rather than by earning them by our own merit."

Chakha was looking away sheepishly, letting Zen do all the talking. Clearly this had been weighing on them, and it seemed there was a fair bit of explaining to do, Ryune thought.

She took one last deep breath before beginning. "Yes, I did say those things, and yes, we do need the help." Ryune looked at them both, measuring her words, "But we have needed the help with instruction for some time now. There simply aren't learned monks around like you two." Ryune stood. "Furthermore, it was was not just me who made those tests, but Erik and Widargelt as well. We wished to test your wisdom, knowledge, and abilities to see if you had what it took, and you did."

The pair regarded her quietly, seemingly unsure what to say.

Ryune gestured to them, "Come here, let me see you both." She realized she was going to havectocbe very direct and very open to reach them properly.

They came closer, and as they did, she grabbed one hand of theirs each and brought them even closer. "Girls, I need you to know this. I want you to hear me and understand that I mean this with all my heart." She looked them each in the eyes in turn. "You are strong, intelligent, and considerate beyond your years. You have shown your commitment to the Fists and to your peers time and again. You've both been through your own trials and hardships and overcome them all." Ryune gave their hands a squeeze. "You deserve to be recognized and deserve to be here. You are no longer apprentices of Widargelt and I, but fully fledged Monks. Fists of Rhalgr."

Ryune could see she was getting through to them through their body language, that their doubts seemed to be subsiding. She pressed on speakingly slowly and soflty, "Beyond that, I trust you both completely. I have watched you two grow from manipulated, misguided trainees to a pair of wonderful and dependable young women whom I am proud to call my friends." Chakha actually seemed to be tearing up a little bit, and now it was Zen's turn to look sheepish. "I know what you were put through, I saw it with my own eyes. You are so much more than your old master ever could be." Ryune leaned in, "I truly believe you have what it takes to rebuild the Fists with me, and I will tell you all of this again and again if that's what it takes to make sure you know that." She released their hands and drew them into an embrace.

There was a long moment of comfortable silence between them before Ryune released them.

"I-I don't know what to say." Said Chakha, her voice quivering slightly, "We were so foolish."

"No, you were not. You are victims of internal wounds, and, much like every wound, it takes time to heal." Ryune reassured her.

"It seems like such a dumb excuse, but I know you're probably right." Said Zen, "We grew so accustomed to the manipulation and insincerity of our previous master that it became second nature for us to assume an ulterior motive." She took a step back and bowed. Ryune braced for another apology but was pleasantly surprised instead when Zen said, "Thank you, Ryune, for taking the time to speak with us." She straightened up, "I suppose we should get out of your hair so you can finish your meditations."

"She told us this place was for all, and I, for one, would like to spend some more time here with her." Chakha interjected, finding her voice. "Won't you join us?"

A small smile passed Zen's lips. "Yes, I would like that." She looked at the hand and found a spot, patting the stone next to her as she sat. "Come here, Chakha."

Chakha followed suit wordlessly, seeming to be much less stiff than before when they had first come to speak. Ryune was glad for their company, though she hadn't really been alone to begin with.

"Well, I'm glad that was worked out." Widargelt, sitting upon the tip of the index finger, spoke, "Ryune is much better at speaking than I, but know that I share her sentiments."

The girls looked up at him, their eyes wide. "How long have you been here?!" Zen asked, mollified.

"I was here before even Ryune." He stated calmly. "I enjoy the sunrise."

Ryune held back a laugh. They had been so concerned about speaking with her that they hadn't even bothered to survey their surroundings, the poor things. She took a seat near them. "I'm glad we had this talk, girls." Ryune felt a kinship with them different from the Scions. She felt it might be nice to spend time with them outside of Monk activities sometime, really get to know them more. They were her friends, and she really should give them more of her time. They had more than earned it.

[oldfangirl81]

20 Questions for Fic Writers

@sugdenlovesdingle this seemed to fun to pass up.

And I'm procrastinating writing.

How many works do you have on AO3? 50

What's your total AO3 word count? 115,555 (lots of wips)

What Fandom do you write for? Marvel, 9-1-1, 9-1-1 LS, Teen Wolf, Top Gun, DC comics, RWRB, Prodigal Son, Doctor Who, BtVS, Eureka, Due South and some SPN.

What are your top 5 fics by kudos? High Flying Adventures in LA (Top Gun/911), 5 Times Tony Stark Did Not Want The Evil Person To Flirt With Him and 1 Time He Did Not Mind (Marvel/SPN/Doctor Who/True Blue), Walk Me Home (911/Eureka), Buster The Gay Dog (911), In The City (Top Gun/911/SWAT)

Do you respond to comments? Why or why not? I try but sometimes it does feel silly to just keep saying Thank you if there isn't anything else I can respond too.

What's the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? If I Fall (BtVS/Doctor Who). Look I was reading a lot of a certain kind of BtVS fic so this one has Xander deciding to join The Master.

What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? Maybe Buster the Gay Dog (911) or A Thousand Good Stories (Top Gun/911 Lone Star). The first Eddie & Buck get together at the end. And the second Bradley & Jake are engaged by the end.

Do you get hate on fics? Rarely. But the funniest one to me was on the 5 Times Tony Stark fic. I was called both a misogynist and homophobic.

Do you write smut? If so what kind? I very rarely write true smut. I do fade to black often. I did write a fic once where Starfire gave Jason a blowjob in an alley. And I swear it isn't exactly what it sounds like but it is at the same time. She was trying to make him stop risking his life by giving him something to live for. Look there is a reason I don't write much smut in over a decade.

Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've written? Yes, I write crossovers. It's kinda my thing really. As for the craziest one? I honestly don't know because a bunch are probably considered odd. Maybe the Marvel crossover with Red White & Royal Blue. Or maybe 9-1-1 and Eureka. Or maybe 9-1-1 Lone Star & Marvel. Or 9-1-1 Lone Star & DC comics. Or maybe my recent Danny Phantom and 9-1-1.

Have you ever had a fic stolen? Yup. It was copied word for word. But it was so long ago I couldn't actually tell which of my fics it was. It might even be one of the ones I orphaned in the years to follow because I don't touch that fandom anymore, nor do I want it associated with me.

Have you ever had a fic translated? I don't think so. I'm not against it.

Have you ever co-written a fic before? Nope. The closest I've come was Tumblr RP over a decade ago now.

What's your all time favorite ship? I can't really pick. I rarely abandon ships for good. I still love Benton Fraser/Ray K, Blair Sandburg/Jim Ellison, Xander Harris/Spike, John Sheppard/Rodney McKay, Stiles/Derek Hale, Steve McGarret/Danny Williams, Danny Messer/Mac Taylor, Danny Messer/Don Flack, Kaylee Fyre/Simon Tam and most of those have been off the air for years and years now.

What's a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will? Something About That Boy (Marvel/BtVS) or Where Me Demons Hide? (Marvel/BtVS)

What are your writing strengths? I'd like to say my dialogue. And ridiculous chaotic plots in a fun way.

What are your writing weaknesses? Finishing a story before starting ten more. The non dialogue parts.

Thoughts on writing dialouge in another language in a fic? Be careful there be dragons there. I know I've done it in some fics. And a sentence here or there isn't the worst if you aren't fluent. But be open if someone ever corrects you. And more than that maybe find a beta that is fluent in whatever language you are hoping to add to the fic. I know google translate can be rough.

First fandom you wrote in? Ugh, I don't want to answer but if googling my penname is accurate it would have been May '05 so it appears to have been a Harry Potter and BtVs crossover.

Favorite fic you've written? Toss up between Won't You Come See About Me (Top Gun/Marvel) or Wild Angels (9-1-1 Lone Star/DC Comics). Both are WIPs that are NOT abandoned in the slightest.

If you read all this thanks for supporting my procrastination. And feel free to answer these questions yourself.

[moby-writing-and-stuff]

Project T.R.I (NSFW)

This fic is collab between me and my good friend HorusAlpha. I hope you all enjoy

=====================

Ash groaned as he blinked to adjust to the new light of the room he found himself in, as he 

slowly adjusted he could hear gears twisted in the walls, and zaps of electricity.

To his left he could hear his friend and rival Ritchie waking up.

“Augh….. Did a Tauros hit me or something?” the brown haired 18 year old asked as he blinked.

“No… don't think so anyways. Arceus my head hurts.” Ash muttered. He wanted to raise his hand up to his head, but he couldn’t move it. Looking down, he frowned as he saw his arm was strapped to the chair. The binds were extremely tight and seemingly made of latex or some other kind of rubber.

“W-What happened?” Ritchie muttered as he looked around, equally confused about his surroundings. From what they could see there was some sort of machine nearby, what it did they couldn't tell. They could tell it was huge. Easily the size of a small house, with wires and tubes connected to it from every direction. The thing hummed constantly, with an occasional higher pitched noise escaping from it.

With that noise Ash blinked as his head felt funny, as if it was being smothered in cotton for a brief second. Before anything else could happen, a door in front of them opened, and two people wearing what seemed to be black hazmat suits walked in, pokeballs at the ready. The people didn’t say anything as they approached the machine and started tampering with one of the control panels sticking out of the side.

“Where are we?” Ritchie muttered, trying to tug his hands free of the restraints. “This place feels strangely familiar….” he blinked as the same cotton mushed his head. “How did we get here? Last thing I remember is meeting up with you at…”

“The Lake of Rage…” Ash finished the thought. “Yeah, we met up there, went to get some Candy Bars…. Then….” Ash groaned as the cotton stayed in his mind “Th-there was something else… but I can’t remember….” Meanwhile the strange Hazmat suited men were comparing something to paper on a clipboard.

“Yeah…. I-I can’t remember either…. D-Did we hit our heads?” Ritchie muttered, less concerned about their situations and more about this weird gap in their heads.

“Don’t think we did…. And if we did, what are the odds we both forgot the exact same thing?” Ash muttered as the cotton kept building up around his brain. As they spoke one of the Hazmat men pointed something out to the other before flipping a switch, increasing the sounds coming from the machine.

“W-Wait… what were we…” Ritchie blinked as his eyes went hazy for a split second and he groaned again, as if he was just waking up again, blinking rapidly.

“Alright that’s enough!” a voice rang through a PA “Shut it down! We can’t have them be exposed that long! This is the base sample you two."

The two guys in hazmats nodded and headed back to the machine, flipping a few more switches.

Instantly Ash’s eyes went wide as the cotton evaporated from his head and growled “TEAM ROCKET!” he shouted as everything that had happened rushed back into his head.

“You were doing something to the Magikarp!” Ritchie shouted, once again struggling against his bonds “You were injecting them with something!” After a moment the voice said "As you aren't getting out of here I don't see the problem in sharing our plans…."

The two guys in the Hazmat suits walked up to the pair and stood behind the chairs. Looking down, Ash realized they weren’t bound on regular chairs. 

“Wheelchairs? How thoughtful” Ritchie muttered as the two guys wheeled the two trainers into the room they came from, The room was filled with different instruments, including massive, wall sized monitors, desks cluttered with laptops and various other bits of technology. Scientists in white lab coats with red Rs stamped over their chests were hard at work, focused on the screen and barely gave the two a glance.

They were wheeled closer to the biggest monitor, where a tall, pale man with a bowl haircut and a goatee was reading some readouts from the machine, a cup of coffee in hand. He grinned and turned around.

“Wait a minute” Ash muttered, glaring at the scientist “I know you…”

“Heh, glad to see you haven’t fully forgotten me” the guy said with a smirk “Though I imagine my name did.”

“Yeah, it did. We’ve met a lot of assholes who wear red R’s on their chest” Ritchie spat at him

The man laughed "But none are quite like me. After all…. Did anyone else figure how to force pokemon to evolve without stones or the like?”

“Wait…. YOU'RE THE CRAZY ASSHOLE WHO FORCED THE SHINY GYRADOS TO EVOLVE!” Ash shouted

“Well, a bit more crass than I was expecting, but yes. I’m Doctor Sebastian, in case you forgot” the guy said with a smirk “Welcome back to my lab. It's been quite some time” As he spoke one of the other scientists finished compiling the data and said "Doctor. The baseline and 2 hour exposure data sets are ready for your review."

“Exposure? What the fuck are you talking about?” Ash growled, trying to break out of his bonds again

“Wait… Two hours!?” Ritchie screamed, his eyes wide as he looked around. He finally found a clock on the big monitor and indeed. It read 7:47 PM, exactly two hours after they met up in the Lake of Rage.

“Indeed. You’ve been in the chamber for two hours” Sebastian said with a smirk

“T-That’s Taurosshit!” Ash stammered out, his eyes wide at the reveal and then yet another bomb was dropped as a different scientist walked up and talked to Sebastian

"Sir. Their Pokemon are progressing as expected. A 60% and 30% increase has happened.” he said, not clarifying what he was talking about to the captives

“O-Our Pokemon?!” Ritchie hissed “What did you do to them!?”

“Just like the last time we met, we’ve taken your pokemon to use in our experiments.” Sebastian said

“However sir, that does prove an issue in this case.” the other scientist stammered “The Pikachu has managed to get free of his bonds four times now. We’ve had to post two Kadabra’s outside the lab to stop escape attempts”

“HA!” Ash grinned, only to receive a kick to the shin by Sebastian

“We always knew this was a possibility” Sebastian sighted “Right, which other pokemon are currently in the chamber?” 

The scientist checked the sheet "Subject 01’s Riolu and Subject 02's Charmeleon, Sir."

“Hmm, two to one? Grab another one of subject 02’s Pokemon and transfer them to the secondary chamber. The results may be a bit slower, but its made to suppress Pokemon abilities, and the one way electronic lock should keep them inside”

“Yes sir” the scientist said with a nod and headed off to do as he was ordered, leaving Sebastian alone with his two captives.

“So, what are you planning this time?” the 19 year old raven haired trainer asked the scientist “Still working on that Evo-Wave thing of yours?”

“Oh no, that thing was proven to work!” the guy smiled “As a matter of fact, you spent the last two hours next to it!”

“I’m still calling tauros-crap on that” Ash said “You could have just changed the clock on the computer to fuck with us!”

The doctor shook his head and pressed a button on the console. A loud creak rang out as a skylight opened up above them, revealing the moon shining in the sky, and stars twinkling around it.

“Believe me now?” Sebastian said with a smirk as the two captive trainers stared up at the night sky, dumbfounded.

“But… that makes no sense… It doesn't feel like-” “Any time has passed? Yes that’s due to your close exposure to the device” Sebastian said “We’ve been studying its effects on Pokemon, and recently we got an order to start testing its effects on humans as well. Turns out, very close, short term exposure will cause memory issues.” the doctor said as he brought up some random charts that meant nothing to the two bound guys. “It also has some very interesting effects on Pokemon when we put them at distance to it. I think it would be best just to show you” he pressed a few buttons and brought up a security recording.

Ash’s eyes went wide. He could see Pikachu locked in a room with Ritchie’s Charmeleon, Zippo, alone and chained to a wall.

Ash gasped as he Pikachu spit something out and grabbed it. It was a hairpin he probably got off one of the guards by accident. With a motions he didn’t even know Pikachu could even do, he bent it and slid into the lock, his ears twitching as he listened to the tumblers inside.

“Holy shit, he’s actually picking the lock” Ritchie muttered, as both of them stared in shock at what the little electric type was managing.

Pikachu soon grinned as the chain clicked and fell to the ground, and he dashed over to Zippo’s, ready to unlock his chains. Only to be frozen in place with a light blue glow as a Kadabra walked into the cell. 

“Indeed” Sebastian said, as he cut the recording “As you can see, it increases intelligence on an amazing level. In Pokemon anyways. We have yet to see exactly what it can do on humans. Hence why we’ve grabbed you”

“So, your plan is to make Pokemon smarter? So smart they can break out?” Ash asked with a look of confusion on his face

“Oh our plan goes beyond that” Sebastian said with a nasty smile “But I don’t see the need to explain every detail to you. After all, you’ll get to experience them live.”

“What?” Ash spat at him “If you think I’m gonna let you use us for you experiments, you’ve got ano-” his rant was cut short by a sudden prick to his neck. Suddenly, everything went blurry as lethargy ran through his body “Wha….did….you……”

“Just something to help you sleep while we prep your cell. Have a goodnight” Sebastian laughed as everything around Ash went black.

==================

ONE DAY LATER

Ash groaned as he woke from his drug induced sleep

“Sweet Lugia, that’s sucked” he muttered as he slowly sat up, rubbing the lethargy out of his face.

“Yeah…. And the guy wasn’t gentle with the needle either” Ritchie muttered right next to him. Ash looked around, taking in exactly where they were.

They were in a small cell with very little inside. It was two cots on the left wall, a couple of chairs in the center along with a rickety table and on the right wall a sink, and a toilet. That was it. The only other thing they could see was the door for the cell. It didn’t even have bars, instead it had thick steel walls with a red R painted on it.

Ash groaned and stood up, clutching his head as it felt a bit weird. Like there were little puffs of cotton inside his skull, bumping against his brain.

“You ok?” Ritchie asked as he got up

“Yeah… head feels…. Weird” he muttered, turning around to face his friend and cellmate. It was at that moment they noticed they both were only in their underwear.

“The hell?” Ritchie muttered, groaning as he grabbed his head too “Gah...I feel funny too...think it's the drug?”

“No” Ash shook his head and turned around, not wanting to stare at Ritchie’s boxers “Remember that weird machine from yesterday? He said he wanted to see what it did to humans.” he sighed and sat down on one of the chairs, the cotton in his brain becoming less annoying the less he focused on it, and focused on doing anything else. “My guess is we’re locked a few rooms away from it”

“Why would he want to do that? All it does is make our memories fuzzy. And I remember everything, it's just a bit hard to focus on them…”

“Yeah… Try focusing on anything else, alright?” Ash said with a smile

As time went on the cotton seemed to grow in amount, but before either of them could say anything about it, a small slot in the bottom of the door slid open and in came two metal bowls with sandwiches on them and a pair of water bottles.

“At least they're not letting us starve” Ritchie muttered, getting up and grabbing the bowls with one hand and the bottles in the other

“That’s one upside” Ash muttered as he grabbed one of the bottles and looked it over and frowned “How dumb do they think we are?” he pointed at the broken seal.

“Yeah, but at this point we don’t really have a choice,” Ritchie said with a shrug as he sniffed the sandwich. “Plus, they want us as test subjects. I doubt they’ll just poison us”

“Fair…” Ash muttered as he sniffed the water.

“Look Ash, it's either this stuff, or passing out from dehydration” Ritchie said with a frown “Plus, we need water to flush the drug out of systems”

“Alright, fair point…” Ash muttered as he sighed and took a swig from the bottle. He emptied half the bottle in one gulp, not realising just how thirsty he was.

The water tingled on the way down, but he didn’t really notice due to his dehydration. Ritchie grinned at him and handed him the sandwich.

“Here, I’m not sure what they have in store for us” he said as he swallowed his bite “But facing it on an empty stomach is not a good idea” Ash shrugged and grabbed the bread, taking a look at it. It was a seemingly innocuous grilled cheese sandwich, without any strange smells or looks.

He sighed and took a bite of it. It was exactly what he expected taste wise, a bland cheap grilled cheese they probably bought at the gas station.

“Well, they ain’t giving the good stuff…” Ritchie muttered as he finished his sandwich.

“I’d be worried if they were” Ash said as he finished his own, blinking again as felt a bit woozy for a split second. He tried to focus on that, only to find the cotton in his head crowding around it even more

The raven haired young man smacked the side of his head and turned his thoughts as far from the cotton or the drugs as he could. He blinked as he managed to clear enough of it to focus on Ritchie’s face, as his friend was staring down at him.

“Ash, you ok?” Ritchie asked, looking at him with concern clear on his face.

“Y-Yeah, I am. Just a bit of a-” before Ash could finish, a loud buzz rang out through the entire cell from an unseen speaker made both of them jump in shock.

“INMATES” a robotic voice rang out of it “PLEASE STAND BY THE DOOR. YOUR ESCORT HAS ARRIVED”

“Escort?” Ash muttered, a bit confused at the choice of words as a click rang out, and the door swung open. On the other side was two grunts in latex uniforms, and two rather angry looking Arcanines.

“Get out” one of them growled at the pair.

Ash blinked, the cotton in head parting to make way for that sentence. Getting out of his cell sounded like a good idea.

There’s no way to find a way out of here if we stay locked up he thought, trying to rationalize why he wanted to do as he was told. Plus, those Arcanines look pretty mad…. 

Ash nodded and stepped out of his cell, blushing a little as the two grunts looked over his almost nude body.

“Man, how can someone travel around for like, nine years and still be that much of a twig?” one of the grunts growled at him with a nasty smirk on his face.

“W-What?” Ash asked, completely taken aback by the comment

“You heard him twig.” the other grunt said, shoving Ash and forcing him to walk down the hall, his socks slippery against the metal floor. Ash frowned again at the comment as he was led to another room alone. Looking back, he saw that the other grunt was leading Ritchie in the opposite direction 

“Hey! Where are you taking him?!”

“Shut up!” the grunt barked, and the same weird whole in the cotton washed over Ash as he nodded, closing his mouth. He was led down the steel hall for five minutes, the Arcanine never letting him move too far to one side, with the grunt making sure he kept pace and didn’t slow down. The trek through the facility was mostly quiet, thanks to his escort, until they reached another door.

Like every other door in this place, it had the big red R splattered on it. The biggest difference was a plaque next to the door that read Test Subjects Only. The grunt pressed a button next to it, opening it up and pointing inside.

"Get going, twig" he said with a nasty smirk. Ash gave the guy a quick glare as he stepped into the room, the door sliding shut behind him, and locking with an audible click.

"Guess I'm leaving when they want me to leave…" Ash muttered, shaking his head. He turned around and took a look at exactly where he was locked up.

It looked like a gym of some kind. There were weight machines, treadmills, stepmills, and other typical workout tools. He walked closer to them, his socked feet sinking into the matt coated floor. There were screens all over the walls of the gym.They all showed the same screensaver, a pulsing red R on a black background. And the ceiling was nothing but a mess of pipes and tubes, all of them with scientific gibberish Ash never had any chance of understanding.

“A private gym? Seriously?” Ash asked, groaning abit as the cotton in head began to start up again, now that he wasn’t focusing on doing what the grunt told him.

After a moment a voice said from a speaker "Subject 01, please begin exercising."

“Wait, what?” he asked, the cotton in head starting to fill it up more and more. It was getting hard to focus on things, but he shook his head “You want me to do what?” he looked at the nearby treadmill then at the screen, wincing as he felt the cotton smack against his brain “Seriously? You want me to work out for you?”

There was no answer from the person on the other end of the PA. Instead there was a low buzz that began to ring out through the room. The raven haired prisoner groaned and grabbed the side of his head, as the cotton in his head began to grow

“Gah” he groaned, blinking rapidly as he looked around. Everything was starting to look fuzzy, like he had been wearing glasses and they had just gotten knocked off.

“01” the voice said again, cutting through the cotton like a hot knife through butter. Ash looked up, his eyes red and looked around, trying to find out where that came from

“A-Are you talking to me?” he asked, still grabbing the side of his head.

“Yes” they said, a lot more calm now. The young man blinked and looked around confused

“W-Why are you calling me 01? T-That’s not my name…” Ash muttered

“Yes it is” the voice said again, being the only thing clear in between all the cotton “You're 01. That’s what we always called you. Now, please get on that machine 01”

The screen over the treadmill began flashing, a sign to his clouded brain that it was the machine they were talking about. He nodded and walked over to it, stepping on it and looking back up at the screen.

“There’s something on top of it. Put it over your ears”

“Ok…” Ash muttered, grabbing a pair of earbuds with bright red Rs and slipped them on.

Run

The words from the earbuds cut through the cotton, and the young trainers started running without question, staring ahead at the screen as he did so.

The screen itself changed. It went form the red R to a red and black spiral that caught the attention of his clouded mind, and he couldn’t look away from it.

Ash groaned and grabbed the side of his head. 

The cotton was starting to recede slightly, and while that let him focus, it also left him with a splitting migraine. He frowned as he heard something that sounded like static in his ears, and he pulled out the two earbuds, frowning down at them before throwing them to the floor. He stepped off the machine and groaned, his muscles aching as he did so.

“W-What the? W-Why am I so sore…” he groaned and clutched his head again. The cotton made it hard to remember exactly what he had been doing a few minutes ago, but judging by his aching limbs and the sweat running down his body, he’d been at it for quite a while. “Gah, this sucks!” he shouted and turned away from the screens and workout equipment. And gasped at what he saw.

On the wall opposite to the gym equipment, was a window. And inside that window was Pikachu!

“Buddy!” Ash shouted, ignoring the ache in his body as he ran over to the window and stared inside. His pokemon was sitting alone in a rather empty looking room, chained to the wall by a collar of some kind. He growled and pounded on the glass “Pikachu!”

The pokemon’s ears twitched and he looked over to the glass, his eyes wide with hope. But the moment he did, his ears dropped and he frowned. A frown that shocked Ash.

It wasn’t the normal type of frown Pikachu did when Ash did something dumb. This one was filled with a rage Ash had never seen in his life. He turned back, apparently having not seen Ash. 

“Pikachu?” Ash asked, pounding on the glass again. Even though the mouse’s ears twitched, he ignored him, instead he was fiddling with the collar, clearly trying to find a way to take it off. “Damn it.” Ash muttered, sweat still pouring down his face “Must be one way glass or something…” he sighed and took a step back “At least your safe buddy.

He turned around and headed for the door, which slid open. The same grunt from before smiled at him

“Well well, looks like you’ve actually done some work, twig” he said. Like before, his voice cut through the cotton without issue.

“Yeah? What’s it to you?” Ash growled, glaring at him “Just take me back to my cell”

“No. I’m taking you to the showers first” the grunt said with a smirk “Follow me”

Ash blinked as the cotton shifted again and started following him without comment

He is right… he thought as he followed him to another room right next to the gym I smell like a Trubbish on a sunny day. The grunt led him to something that could barely be described as a room. It was the size of a broom closet.

“Get in” the grut said, shoving him inside.

“WOAH!” the raven haired trainer exclaimed as a cold glass door slammed shut behind him.

“Hey!” Ash shouted, smacking against the door “What’s the big idea!?”

“01, please stand back still.” the voice from before rang out. Ash growled and looked around. But before he could really do anything, he was blasted with a jet of hot water right on the head.

“GAH!” he screamed, not expecting the water. But right as he started  getting used to that, two nozzles sprayed him with a strange smelling, thick green soap. 

That went on for about 20 minutes of non-stop scrubbing and water jets hitting him until a large blast of hot air flew out of every spot in the shower.

With a loud hiss, the glass door slid open and Ash stumbled out, panting as the grunt grabbed his arm.

“Heh, come on twig. Let’s get you back to your cell” he said as he led Ash down to his cell, opening the door and chucking him inside. “See ya tomorrow!” the grunt called with a nasty laugh as he slammed the door shut and locked it.

“Guh…” Ash groaned, getting back on his feet slowly and looking around. The cell still looked the same, and Ritchie was laying on his cot, groaning and rubbing his arms “Ritchie…?”

“Ash?” the brown haired trainer asked, looking at him “Shit, looks like you got thrown through the ringer too…”

“Yeah” Ash muttered as he stumbled over to his cot and collapsed on top of it “Arcues…. I haven’t been this sore in years….”

“Same…” Ritchie muttered “L-Lets try and get some sleep, alright?”

“Yeah….that sounds good” Ash muttered. To be honest, even if he didn’t want to, his body had other ideas as he could barely keep his eyes open.

“Goodnight Ash” Ritchie muttered

“Night Ritch…” Ash muttered, closing his eyes and falling asleep instantly.

==================

TWO WEEKS LATER

Ash groaned as the alarm rang out through the cell, snapping him out of the sweet embrace of sleep.

“Ugh, are we out yet?” his cellmate asked as the two slowly sat up, rubbing the sleep from their eyes.

“Nope” Ash groaned and stood up, his back cracking as he stretched. He and Ritchie had been here for weeks, at least as far as he could count. 

Without being able to see the sky or a clock, it was hard to tell the passage of time. He shook his head as the cotton began to cloud it up again, and sighted.

“Cotton head again?” Ritchie asked as he got up too

“Yeah…. It's starting sooner lately” Ash muttered, just shaking his head. By this point, the cotton was just an annoyance the two had long gotten used to.

“That blows” Ritchie said, as he walked over to the table and grabbed his pants, tossing Ash his own. The raven haired young man thanked him and started putting on what little clothes he had.

Both he and Ritchie had begun to change body wise, for some reason Ash couldn’t really understand. They had both begun to bulk up a bit, not a lot, but a bit. 

Ash wasn’t quite the twig he was when he got snagged two weeks ago. His arms now had lean muscles to be expected of a cyclist, and the small amount of flab he used to have on his stomach was gone. Still confused about this, I mean I haven’t touched a single one of the machines in that weird gym they keep taking me to… Ash muttered, groaning as he felt the cotton in his head muddle up his thoughts.

“More cotton?” Ritchie asked, walking over. Like Ash, he was wearing nothing but his underpants and a pair of socks, and he was also slowly starting to bulk up. Only he was a little bigger than Ash, with the beginnings of a six-pack on his stomach.

“Yeah…” Ash wheezed, grabbing the side of his head.

“Remember...Scrub head” Ritchie said, his tone suddenly going more dopey as he spoke, a dumb grin on his face “Scrub head. No thought, no cotton”

“No thought, no cotton…” Ash repeated, taking a deep breath “No thought, no cotton. No thought, no cotton” he repeated the mantra, forgetting what exactly he had been thinking about. That didn't matter. “Thoughts don’t matter. Memory doesn't matter. Imagination don't matter. Scrub head, clean head” he finished the mantra in the same dumb sounding voice that Ritchie had, not really remembering where he learned these words.

“Clean head is good. Good boys have clean heads. Good boys let the cotton scrub their heads” they both repeated, staring ahead with a dumb look on their faces for the next three minutes.

BANG BANG!

The two blinked at the smacking against the steel door of their cell, as the slot at the bottom was opened up and food slid in for them.

“Right, time for our big meal” Ritchie said, smiling at Ash and smacking his friend’s back. Ash smiled and sat down to eat, the mantra still ringing in his head

Again, it was two bottles of water and a pair of bland sandwiches. The two just sat and began unwrapping them

“So, any idea to get out this time?” Ritchie asked as he took a bite of the sandwich, any thoughts about drugs forgotten. Thinking about things like that made cotton. Better to keep their heads scrubbed.

“Not really” Ash muttered as he drank his water “If they keep us apart, we can’t exactly plan…”

“Yeah… Team Rocket is smartier than we thought” Ritchie muttered

“Wait, what?” Ash blinked, confused about what his friend had said

“Huh?”

“You said smartier” 

“Yeah, so?” Ritchie asked, a look of genuine confusion on his face

“That doesn't sound right” Ash muttered, groaning as he felt cotton smacking against his brain. “Ow…”

“Member Ash” Ritchie said, his voice going back to the dopey sound from earlier “Scrub head!”

“No thought….. No cotton….” Ash repeated, a stupid smile on his face as he began eating faster, keeping the mantra going as he ate “Scrub head, clean head…”

The two finished their food a few seconds after that, and just sat there, repeating the mantra and laughing a bit.

Soon, the cell’s door opened and the same grunts looked at the two with a smirk.

“Well well you two are looking well” he said “Now come on, follow me!”

Ash nodded and stood up, still lost in his mantra as he followed right behind, Ritchie following the other grunt.

==================

“Here’s the coffee you asked for sirs” the grunt said as he delivered two steaming mugs to the chief scientists.

“Thanks” Sebastian said as he handed the other cup to his colleague, the grun leaving the room quietly “Thanks for coming on such short notice, Namba.”

“It was no issue” the red-haired, balding man said as he took a sip “My projects have stagnated, so I’m happy to get out and speak” As they spoke Sebastian's Personal assistant was compiling the final bits of the data of the past two weeks for them to compare and investigate. “Though I am curious, any particular reason you called me?”

“Well, you are Team Rocket’s biggest expert in neurology, both human and Pokemon. So I thought it would be fitting to bring in for this one” Sebastian explained as he grabbed a remote and began flicking through the security cameras. “Here we are” he stopped at the one taking Ash to his gym room.

“Is that who I think it is?” Namba asked, receiving a nod from his friend “Well well. This project just got quite a bit more interesting”

“Heh, thank you.” Sebastian said with a smile as he turned to the screen “Now, we’ve taken to calling him Subject 01. He’s been under constant exposure to the device for about two weeks and three days.”

“What have been the effects? Increase in intellect?”

“Completely the opposite actually” Sebastian said with a smirk “We’ve detected a loss of intellect, and an increase in physical attributes. Their bodies seem to try to compensate for their lower intellect with making their muscles grow faster”

“Interesting, but I fail to see the point of this.” Namba said, crossing his arms 

“Oh my friend, think about it. We’re doing more to them than just making them dumber” Sebastian said with a smile “After all, grunts have never been known for their brains”

Namba’s eyes went wide, and a smirk formed on his lips “Now that sounds like a very fun idea. Have you made progress?”

“We have been moving slowly, but we have made some progress. We’re planning on stepping it up with some new methods”

“Hence why you called me” the other scientist smiled “Well, I believe I can come up with something” he smiled and drank more coffee as he saw Ash get on the stairmaster.

==================

Ash panted as he blinked and looked around.

He was standing in the gym again, sweat pouring down his body.

“W-What was I doing?” he asked, blinking rapidly, his eyes strangely sore. He tried to think back to what he was doing, only to get a wall of cotton in his head. He groaned and started muttering without hesitation

“Scrub head, clean head” he muttered “Empty head. Empty head is good head. Me want good head, so me must have empty head….” he said, not realizing what he was saying, or how weird it sounded. All that mattered was that the words helped with the cotton, and all other thoughts didn’t matter.

He smiled, for the first time in two weeks an actually legitimate smile and turned around, looking for that window that let him see how his best friend was doing. For the past few days, Pikachu had been trying harder and harder to escape, and it seemed the Grunts were moving more and more equipment into his room. 

“Hope he okay…” Ash muttered, not realising the flaw in his speech as he approached the window and peeked in. He frowned as he saw that the room was dark and empty “Damn it! They move him!” he punched the glass, not feeling any pain as he did so, and turned around. 

He sighed and headed for the door, but before he could leave, one of the many screens around him flashed in various colors, catching his eye.

“01, please approach the screen” the voice on the PA said, and did so without question. After two weeks, he responded to his number in an equal manner as his actual name. “Now, listen carefully 01. We’re going to ask you some questions. If you get them right, you can leave, if you get them wrong, you have to keep going until you get enough right answers. Understood?”

“Understood” he said with a nod. Ash blinked as he just stared at the screen, an image showed up

“What is this?” the voice asked. Ash blinked and looked at the image, and grinned as he recognized it

“It pokeball!” he said with a big smile. However, the screen flashed a bright red color and a nasty buzz rang out from the speakers, making his ears hurt a bit

“Wrong”

“W-Whut?” Ash groaned, rubbing his hears as he looked at the screen. It was a regular pokeball, there was nothing else it could be. A small sphere with a red top, a white bottom, and a black band on the center. “T-That pokeball!”

Again, the buzz rang out, making Ash wince and his teeth hurt due to the loud sound.

“I-It…. It just ball!” he shouted over the noise. The screech ended instantly and he panted, looking up to see the screen flashing a bright green spiral. The moment his eyes locked onto it, staring into it. His pupils went wide as words flashed on the screen, too fast consciously read.

After about two minutes of that, the spiral got cut off and the young man blinked, not realizing at all that he had been standing there, drooling at the screen.

“I’ll rephrase the question,” the voice asked. The image showed up again “Is this a pokeball?”

“No! That magic ball!” Ash said with a big dumb smile, the words pokeball not meaning anything to him at all

“That’s right!” the voice said, and Ash giggled. A low, dumb giggle that he would never have made in his life before getting sent in here. Not only that, he started to grow a tent in his pants. “Now, next question!”

Ash nodded and smiled. Answering the question felt good, so he was gonna do it more!

==================

THREE MONTHS LATER

Ash blinked as he woke up, slowly sitting up on his cot and yawning. He looked down and giggled as he saw the mast standing up in between his legs.

“Hehe, Ash hard!” he giggled, poking it, which made him shiver and moan. He didn’t hear the steps of his roommate, too focused on own member until another one, with orange hair on the base.

“Ritchie hard too!” his roommate said, with the same dumb laugh that Ash had. The raven haired man grinned and leaned closer, kissing Ritchie’s rod, which made him moan loudly

“Morning Ritchie!” he chirped as he got up and smiled at his roommate. Ritchie had bulked up quite a bit, having a fully made six-pack, some good muscle growth on his arms and legs. He wasn’t an overinflated balloon, but he looked like a swimmer who liked to work out.

“Mornin Ash!” Ritchie stammered out, giggling as he spoke and kissing Ash. The raven haired man grinned and shoved his friend off

“Stop! Not time for kissy!” he giggled and stood up, stretching the knots out of his back, his now big member swinging freely. “It time for food”!

“Right! Food when we wake!” Ritchie said with a big dumb smile, rushing over to the door, still buck ass nude. Ash smiled and followed him.

The two left their now more tattered and stretched pants and underpants just thrown on the floor, forgotten and worthless to them now. They didn’t care about walking around naked anymore, their minds so dimmed and shifted.

All they cared about was the things that cleared the cotton from their heads. The two sat down on the floor, giggling and rubbing each other’s muscles as the flap at the bottom opened up and their food was slid at them.

The two jumped at the food like animals and tore the wrapping off and devoured the sandwiches in mere seconds. As the two dumb himbos tore into their food, the door to the cell creaked open, but neither of them noticed.

The cotton only let them focus on eating, and that’s what they were gonna focus on. 

“BURP!” Ash belched after finishing his food. He stared ahead and blinked for a second before breaking out in stupid, low laugh, along with his roomate.

“Lovely” a voice said from ahead, making both prisoners look up, confused. A guy in a white lab coat with an R over his heart and small glasses was standing over the two. Ash frowned as he looked at him

“Who you?” he asked, frowning as he felt the cotton bounce around in his head “Do me know you?”

“Me not know him” Ritchie said, shaking his head “And you not know someone me not know!” Ash blinked and nodded, the dimnes in his head accepting the logic that came out of Ritchie’s mouth. 

“Right… Me not know him either” Ash said dumbly

“Heh, looks like their ready. Any further exposure and I fear we run the risk of causing too much damage for them to be useful. Shut down the generator” he told someone out of sight. 

“Yes sir” whoever he was speaking to responded. Suddenly Ash and Ritchie groaned as they heard a loud clanking ring through the entire room. It felt as though something was lifted off their heads, like a hat with weights tied to it was suddenly taken off.

“Gah…. Head feel funny” Ash muttered, grabbing his head

“Me don’t like!” Ritchie screamed, pulling at his hair as if that would bring back the weight.

“Um, sir” a grunt said, walking up closer to the scientist “They don’t exactly seem….ready”

“Oh believe me. I know they're not” Sebastian said as he ordered two grunts behind the two. While the two captives had gained quite a bit of muscle, they weren’t overly big. It was a decent amount of muscle, but the grunts are still much bigger than the two. They forced the two to their feet and out of the cell “But we have a fix for that. Just like we did for their pokemon”

“P-Pokemon?” Ash muttered, frowning “M-Me know that word…..”

“No you don’t, my boy” Sebastian said, patting Ash’s head

“M-Me don’t?” he asked

“Course you don’t. If you did know that word, you’d know what it means”

“R-Right…. Me not know what Pokemon is…” Ash nodded, once again accepting the logic without issue.

Sebastian smiled at that and led the two to a small room. It was a simple black room with two chairs in the center, a projector and nothing more.

“Sit down” the grunts ordered. The two himbos nodded and did so without objection.

“Perfect. Shall we leave them to it?” Sebastian asked the grunts, who nodded and left the room “Don’t worry boys. Soon everything will make sense” and with that, he slammed the door shut. As soon as the door was shut, metal bands expanded over the boy's arms and legs as a red gas was vented into the room and the projector started up. The gas made their minds extra malleable and moldable. The projector meanwhile showed a hypnotic spiral, the same one that now instantly brought them into a mindless trance. After a moment two sets of ear buds lowered into their ears and started playing a hypnotic script…. "Forget your name. Dumb Grunts don't have names. Dumb Grunts only live to Serve and Obey orders….." As the words entered their minds they were easily absorbed, overwriting whatever was there before….

“Dumb Grunts don’t have names….” the two repeated, drooling as they stared ahead

"Dumb Grunts like to be fucked by their Pokemon. Dumb Grunts serve Team Rocket." The voice said

“Dumb Grunts like to be fucked by their Pokemon. Dumb Grunts serve Team Rocket” they reapeated, stupid smiles forming on their faces as their brains took in the information as gospel.

"Dumb Grunts love to wear tight latex, Dumb Grunts love having null bulges." The voice said as machines moved around the chairs, what seemed to be nozzles dripping shiny black liquid.

“Dumb Grunts love to wear tight latex. Dumb Grutns love having null bulges” they repeated, shivering and suddenly feeling naked. As they shivered the nozzles went to work, coating them from the neck down in tight unremovable latex suits with even tighter null bulges. Robotic hands appeared and slipped a pair of heavy gery rubber boots over their feet, and thick grey gloves over their hands. One more nozzle also appeared, this one dripping red rubber, which applied the R to their chests.

“Dumb Grunts don’t have names…. Dumb Grunts like to be fucked by their Pokemon. Dumb Grunts serve Team Rocket” the two kept repeating staring ahead at the screen as their names, memories and everything was wiped away, leaving only what Team Rocket wanted in there.

==================

THREE HOURS LATER

“Right I believe our newest grunts have been in there long enough. Crack her open” Sebastian said, grinning and holding to two black and red balls in hand. 

The grunts nodded and punched in the codes, the door opening with a hiss. Inside were the two boys, who could now only be described as latex wrapped himbos. The latex grunt suits showed their new muscled physique quite well, while their packages were trapped in rather big but tight bulges. The two were staring ahead, their eyes glassy and still repeating their brainwashing

“Dumb Grunts like to be fucked by their Pokemon. Dumb Grunts serve Team Rocket….”

“Heh, looks like the program worked. Get them out of there” he ordered his two subordinates. They nodded and headed for a nearby console, releasing the two himbos.

The two groaned as the earbuds were pulled out and the chairs titled, sending the two sprawling to the floor, the rubber squeaking as they landed.

“Heh” Sebastian smirked and walked in front of the two and looked at the two “What are you two?” the two himbo grunts blinked for a second, before realising the man was speaking to them

“We dumb grunts!” they said with massive smiles

“What do you do?”

“Dumb Grunts serve Team Rocket!” they said with the same dumb smiles on their faces, the large bulges between their legs twitching as they said that. He smiled and pointed at the black haired one 

“What’s your name?”

“Name?” the himbo asked, confused as he started at the man “Me not have name…..”

“That’s right” Sebastian said with a smile “So, what are you called?”

“Oh! Me is Grunt 01!” he said with a dumb smile “Me is good grunt!”

“And you?” he asked the brunette

“Me is Grunt 02!” he said with a dumb giggle.

“Perfect” he said as he gripped the two pokeballs tightly “Now, you two are missing something to be perfect grunts for Team Rocket”

“What we miss, sir?” 01 asked, genuine confusion on his face.

“Your bosses” he said “Dumb Grunts like you can’t do things right on you're own. You need someone to tell you what to do. And that’s their job” he threw the two balls into the air, where they popped open and released the pokemon inside, who formed in front of the two himbos.

The first to form was a mouse like pokemon, with a long thin, black tail with a thunderbolt on the end, orange fur on most of his body except for his belly and paws. The second was a large winged dragon like lizard, with a fire tipped tail. Both of them had a black bandana with an R on the front.

“Raichu, Charizard, meet your new charges” Sebastian told the two mons.

Raichu looked down at the black haired himbo, grining. There was no trace of anyone the pokemon would know, since he had gone through the same brainwashing that the two morons drooling and laughing on the floor had gone through. Any memory of Ash, having a trainer or anything was long gone from his brain. All that was there was obedience to Team Rocket and the advanced intellect the experiment had granted him.

He had the mental capacity of a Gym Leader now, with all the needed strategies to advance Team Rocket’s goals. And all those strategies were at the command of his masters.

He walked closer to 01 and smiled, shoving his paw onto the himbo’s face

“Rai!” he said, in a commanding tone. The grunt just stared at him confused, much to the mon’s frustration. He gave him a kick on the face and glared at the moron.

“Me sorry sir” 01 said, rubbing his sore cheek “Me no understand…”

“Ah of course” Sebastian said, grinning “I nearly forgot. Here” he handed the two pokemon some earbuds. Raichu looked at him with an evil smile as he took the devices and shoved them into the himbo’s ears. He then shoved his paw onto his face again

“Rai!” he ordered again. This time, the moron’s eyes went wide and he kissed the paw, exactly as Raichu had commanded.

Charizard meanwhile looked over his human with a grin and quickly put the earbuds in his human's ears "Char!" He ordered and 02 quickly obeyed, falling to his knees and spreading his legs wide so that the Charizard could play with his bulge.

“Heh, good to see you two are enjoying them” Sebastian said as he headed for the door “I’ll let you all….get acquainted”

The two pokemon smiled at that, and the last thing Sebastian saw was the two forcing the grunts to their feet before the door slammed shut.

“Heh, well all in all I’d say this project was a brilliant success” he smiled as he headed back to his office for some relaxation “Actually, I’ll ask the boss if he’s interested in expanding it. Those two idiots might be good at….recruitment…"

==================

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[jam1ru]

" THE LAST TUNE "

"You good for nothing!"

!! SLAP !!

As mother's hand layed down my cheek, I looked and remained looking down at the floor - desperately trying to hide my tears. If I were to show my tears, mother would slap me again. Or it might be even worse. I don't want to make this situation even worse.

"Have you forgotten?! You're the daughter of the world's most successful violinist! You are known as a violin prodigy!"

Ah. Yes. Those words - I've been hearing those exact statements ever since my father died. Yes, my father was a great violinist. He was the pride of many violinists. But... I'm not my father. I remained silent. I'm too tired to defend myself. My defense wouldn't be justified anyways, so what's the point right?

"That performance you just showed . Was that a performance of a prodigy? Was that a performance of an expert? Those amateurs who competed before you did a much better job than you!"

Please. Stop.

"I'm sorry, mother. I will do better next time."

"You better be! Go back to your room and practice your next piece, pronto! I do not want to see such a floppy performance ever again!"

There she goes.

I walk up to my room. I have to practice. It's not like i have any other choice right? I picked up my violin and tried practicing.

I practiced. And practiced. And practiced. I kept playing, and playing, and playing. Before I get to finish the last stroke of the piece, my vision suddenly began to blur. I couldn't see anything. I feel dizzy. I feel like I'm about to-

-- THUD --

I woke up, lying down on a white space. Everything surrounding me is white. Am I dead? I believe I only fainted... I don't even have any health-related problems. As I was trying to recollect what happened, I saw someone approach me. It was a beautiful lady wearing a white, flowy dress. She is also wearing a gold headpiece. Words cannot even describe how beautiful this woman is.

"Hello there, Aria."

"Who are you?"

"You need not to know who I am. I am only here to deliver you the news."

"What news?"

"....Aren't you curious why are you here?"

"Of course, I am! What happened to me? Why am I here? Am I dead? Is this even real?"

"Yes this is real my dear, hence this conversation we are having right now."

"....."

"You asked if you were dead already. For now, I'd say no... not yet."

"... i'm sorry.. what?"

"To simply put, you are cursed. You are the chosen one, Aria. As you play the violin,

your body will become physically weak"

I remained silent. Everything seems like a joke.

"Each tune you play will trigger the curse - your body will slowly solidify and will turn you into a stone. If you need proof, take a look on your left feet"

I did what I was told. And there, I saw my feet - covered in stone. It has yet to crumble.

".... why me?"

"You cannot question fate, my dear. It is just how it is.. I'm sorry"

"I see.."

I don't know what to feel. Should I be sad? It's not like there is someone who sees me as an important person. All ny mother cared about is reputation. So I guess dying won't be a bad idea?

"Why do you play the violin?"

I got startled by her question. I looked at her. She looked back at me. Why can't I give an answer right away?

"I-"

"It seems we have lost track of time. It's time for you to wake up."

"But-"

"You can answer my question on a later date. For now, we shall part ways. Take care, Aria"

My vision started to blur again, and then everything was black again.

Beep. Beep. Beep.

Are the first things I heard. After a few moments of regaining my consciousness, I felt someome holding my hand. Could it be... mother? With little hope, I turned to my right - there I saw not my mother but my nanny who has been with me ever since I was a child. Ha! Of course, she wouldn't come here. Who am I to her anyways? I tried to move my left feet, and it felt stiff. Ah. Then it is true. Well, I don't mind dying....

It is now the day of the competition. I didn't rehearse nor took any preparation at all. It is now my turn to perform "Caprices" - a very difficult piece. My mom chose this, as this was one of my father's masterpieces. Of course, I have to at least reach her peak of expectations. But... can I? I walk out to the stage, with the audience clapping loudly after seeing my prescense. Then, I saw my mother sitting at the back row. I could tell that she is telling me to just get over it and ignore the people cheering for me.

Ah. I can't do this anymore.

I went on to start the piece. I raised my bow then started to play the first tune. It was very fast. I shouldn't lose my grip. I must ignore the pain. I managed to finish the first half - now comes the second part of the piece. I played and played and played. I can feel my head covered in sweat. My fingers are starting to feel numb. But despite those, I continued playing. I must show my mother that I am worthy.

As I continue to play, I feel my lower half stiffen up. It was painful. I couldn't feel a thing. I must continue playing. My body started to feel heavy. I accidentally knelt down by my knees, but I still continued playing. The show must go on. I looked at my mother. She looks horrified? Is it because my performance got floppy the moment I slowly turned into stone? Is it because of my horrifying appearance?

I don't care anymore. I just need to finish this piece before I die.

The curse rapidly sped up to my torso. It is getting hard to breathe, but I must keep playing. I can feel my feet crumble. I can feel the curse to my throat. No! I have to finish this!

I raised my bow, and just as I was to play my last tune - everything went black.

Ah. This is my fate.

I woke up again, on the same white space I was before. There, I saw the same woman right in front of me.

"I see you already reached your limit huh..."

I looked at her in the eye.

"I was young when I started playing the violin. My parents saw potential in me thus, I was personally trained by them. However, my father died. It was like, my world has crumbled into pieces. But I still have my mom so everything will be all right..... is what I thought"

The woman continued to listen to my story and looked at me in the eye.

"Ever since my father died, my mother became very strict. She wants me to rehearse and rehearse and rehearse. That I shouldn't ruin my reputation. Because of that, I started to hate the violin. I'm not free to play as I desire anymore. All my mother care about is my reputation as a prodigy and the daughter of the violin pride. I couldn't be myself when I play. I just want to rest"

Without knowing, I saw my face covered in tears. I felt embarassed. This is my first timr opening up to anybody. The woman hugged me and whispered to my ear,

"It's ok, Aria my dear. You are now allowed to rest. You are now allowed to be yourself. You are now free. I am very proud of yoy of holding up til now."

After hearing those words, I cried even more. Those are the words I wanted to hear from my own mother, but it never came out of her mouth. I cried and cried and cried on the woman's shoulder. I feel myself drowsing.

"Rest well, my dear Aria."

And everything went completely black again.

-- THE END --