#i always liked the visualization of top scars as like. a pattern of stars

[spitblaze]

Speaking of top scars I'm way too much of a chicken to do it myself but MASSIVE props to people who get bilateral mastectomies and then get scarification art done around them. Something about playing off of the whole 'self-mutilation' scaremongering horseshit and turning it on its head as body art

[cotncandyboifics]

1989 [High School AU]: Chapter 7

AO3 Link

Masterpost

Chapter 1 ~ Chapter 2 ~ Chapter 3 ~ Chapter 4 ~ Chapter 5 ~ Chapter 6 ~ Chapter 8 ~ Chapter 9 ~

Pairings: slight Logince, eventual Prinxiety & Logicality

Word count: 2,142

Story summary: Roman Prince is your stereotypical Jock, with everyone swooning after him. Every day a crowd of people follow him around, only to disperse at his personal whim. In reality, he's lucky to have such good acting skills that help him cover up the disdain he has for his life. He only wishes he could use his skills properly.

Patton Whitelock's always there to lend a helping hand, no matter who you are. If you need a favor or just need someone to talk to, go to him. In reality, he's been taught from a young age that kindness should be held above all else. No one suspects that he took it the wrong way.

Logan Montgomery is the smartest boy in the Senior class. He's stern, and most people are too intimidated to speak to him. In reality, he despises most all of his fellow students. He sticks to his studies and doesn't stray, for fear of being stuck in his father's shadow his whole life.

Virgil Black is the most emo kid in school, let alone 12th grade; everyone knows to leave him be. In reality, he's very fortunate. He has two parents who love him dearly. But everything beyond his life, everything within his mind, is utter chaos and turmoil.

what will happen when they're assigned a biology project together?

General CW: food, swearing, implied s-lf h-rm, non-graphic descriptions of s-lf h-rm scars, graphic and non-graphic descriptions of anxiety attacks and panic attacks, drug abuse, minor character intoxicated on heroin, non-graphic drug overdose description, sickness/description of sickness, blood, non-graphic descriptions of needles, (will be added to as I write more)

Chapter CW: food, implied starts of anxiety attacks, (let me know if i missed anything please!)

Author notes: whenever I reread this chapter I'm not sure whether the point of it is clear to the reader or not... but I'm not sure how to rewrite/fix it lol

...

Finally, it was Friday. Between classes, Virgil was pacing quickly down the hall when he noticed Logan exchanging things from his locker. He also saw Roman approaching the tall boy, adorning a mischievous smile. Virgil decided to slip out of sight behind the bustle of the hallway to observe their interaction, staying hidden near the walls.

Roman stood directly behind Logan and tapped him on the shoulder. Logan turned fully around, and upon seeing Roman, he opened his mouth to speak. He was quickly was interrupted, however, as Roman put his hand against the locker at Logan's side, and traced his other hand down Logan's button-up-covered chest. Logan was pinned against his open locker. Virgil couldn't make out the things Roman was saying to him, but Logan looked blatantly... caught off guard, to say the least. His pearly white cheeks were dusted pink. After a few moments, he pushed Roman aside and made to leave, but Roman grabbed him by the tie and pulled him back. They'd switched positions, Logan having put his pale bony arm out to stop himself from falling. Roman was still pulling his tie, smirking and looking into his eyes deviously. Virgil read Roman's lips and thought he saw "-if you're into that." Logan was clearly getting frustrated and forced his tie away, collecting his book bag from the floor and shooing Roman so that he could close his locker. Virgil saw Logan speak, and made out something like "I'll be late for class."

What a couple they made. Virgil felt something heavy growing in the pit of his stomach. Roman had left to go to his class as well, and the halls were becoming more and more empty as students filed into various classrooms. Finally the bell rang, and Virgil felt like he couldn't move to save his life. He started scratching his wrist and felt his breathing become uneven. No, not here, not now. He forced himself to breathe normally and made his way to his next class.

...

Later that day, Patton was lying on Virgil's bed, throwing a bouncy ball up and catching it in a slow rhythm. Virgil was seated at his desk right beside Patton, vaguely attempting to finish his French homework. Not like it'd be due until Monday anyway.

Patton and Virgil had been good friends from a young age, and usually hung out like this around twice a week. Every now and then they'd do something special, but usually it was just being together and talking.

Virgil knew a lot about Patton, more than most people do. He knew about his best friend's current... sticky home situation, and so he never questioned it when Patton came up to him later in the school day with a sorrowful glint in his eyes, asking if they could go back to Virgil's house that evening.

"Do you think they had a nice date yesterday?" Patton said after a minute or two of calm silence. Virgil looked over at him. He'd stopped throwing the ball, and was now inspecting its strange colorful surface, scratching at little flakes of plastic that hung off its seams. Virgil thought to himself how it was so strange that these types of bouncy balls always seemed to practically glow when exposed to light, even though they had no sparkles or shiny qualities about them.

"I guess I don't know. Roman might have ruined it with his overconfidence and ridiculous antics," Virgil finally replied, leaning back in his chair and staring at the ceiling. "Especially if he did something like take them to some 5-star family-owned Italian restaurant where you get kicked out unless you're wearing a waistcoat and you have to make a reservation a year in advance," he mused. Patton giggled a little.

"Yeah, that sounds like Mr. Prince," He offered a little quieter than he wanted to. Virgil eyed him with concern.

"You haven't really been thinking much of it, have you?" Virgil turned fully toward his bespectacled friend now, who was just staring blankly, clutching the bouncy ball to his chest. "I mean, I don't think it'll be much of a distraction to our project than Roman already is. And besides, I really doubt that Logan will go for a second round," Virgil dismissed the notion bitterly, and Patton wondered when Virgil had developed such a resentment against Roman.

"Well," Patton started, sitting up and pulling his legs into a criss-cross applesauce, "I'm surprised Logan wanted to in the first place. I don't think he has ever dated anyone, let alone someone so..."

"I know what you mean." Virgil got up to sit criss-cross applesauce with his friend on the bed. They looked at each other and giggled a little, remembering how they used to do this as little kids. They were just like brothers in a way.

Virgil noticed Patton pulling at his ring again, and knew something was up. "Hey," He said, taking Patton's hand. Patton looked up at him nervously from behind his big round glasses, his blonde curls hiding the top trims. "What's up?"

Patton made a noise that was something between a scoff and a sigh, looking away but not pulling away. "I just..." He thought for a long moment on how to begin what he wanted to say without saying what he didn't want to say... not yet, anyway. "I want Logan to be happy. He's a, good friend," A smile curled at the edges of his mouth. "I don't think Roman makes him... unhappy, per se. I think they could be really," Patton pulled his hand back and started fidgeting with his ring again, "close... but I don't know if, them being together will make Logan happy. W-will make either of them happy." He looked up at Virgil then, who was stoic. "I-I mean, i know it isn't really any of my business to worry about. I know I don't really know... anything about their date or..."

Virgil gave a somber smile. "I know what you mean. I feel it too. I mean, they don't seem to... clash correctly," Virgil meshed his fingers together as a visual metaphor. "They don't fit quite right into a relationship box together. And i don't think Roman is enamored with him in the way he says he is, or acts like he is." That bitter tone resurfaced in Virgil's voice again, and Patton took note of it.

He looked up, curls bouncing slightly. "What do you mean by that?" Virgil returned his eye contact, and Patton looked like he was hiding some emotion. Maybe... anger?

"Well..." Virgil thought about what he'd said. Specifically a certain song and a certain moment that had given him the notion that, as much as Roman acted confident, when he was truly falling for someone... he might act quite the opposite. Virgil felt his cheeks heat up, and Patton's expression changed.

"Is there something you know that i don't?" Patton pressed. Not maliciously, but curiosity dripped from his voice. Virgil brought his fingertips to his cheeks and wondered how they'd gotten so hot so quickly.

"Well, I, I just..." Virgil stuttered for a long moment. "I suppose it seems like, i don't know, like, maybe if Roman were really, um, that is to say, maybe, he would be, if he were really, you know, into someone, like that, like, um," He was talking with his hands too much, and Patton noticed his breathing becoming more like heaving. He took Virgil's frantic hands.

"Hey, take a sec," Patton's voice was coated in caramel. Virgil finally made eye contact again. "Breathe, bud," Patton said even calmer and sweeter this time. Virgil's attention suddenly switched to his breathing patterns, which he now noticed were getting rather erratic. He took a moment to reconcile himself.

"Sorry, I went off on a bit of a tangent there... but, as i was saying, or, trying to say," Virgil continued to stumble his way to his point, but with more purpose this time, "... Roman, strikes me as the type, to seem... like he wouldn't act the way he does with Logan if he were in love with him, maybe," He was fiddling with his own fingers now. "but i have a feeling that he might be... a bit of a softie. I mean, what i mean is, he... If he really likes someone I think he wouldn't be able to be his... y'know... confident, jock, witty-remark-shooting self. If that, makes any sense."

"huh," Patton said after a moment of consideration. "Well that's possible. I don't really know honestly. I haven't spent a lot of time with the guy, and whenever i do he always seems to be that same confident person. Well, except with you, sometimes."

"Huh? Me? What?" Virgil was blatantly alarmed. Patton hadn't meant to cause this alarm, so he replied gently.

"Oh, no no kiddo, i just mean like... Y'know how you two are always sorta, bickering or debating or poking fun at each other?" Virgil nodded. "Well, I've just noticed, that sometimes when you make certain comments or whatnot, he sort of... Loses himself. His persona. It kind of falls away, and he seems sort of lost for words." Virgil looked even more alarmed than before. "I-I don't mean that that's necessarily because of you, I just, it's just the only time i have seen him react in that way and... I don't know. It probably happens with him all the time when I'm not around. Or whatever. I don't know. I'm sorry." Patton spoke so quickly that Virgil hardly heard each word. He was just trying to calm himself. Was it so obvious?

"Well." Was all he could muster in reply.

"Anyhow, I think I agree, at least that something seems a little off... I hope it is anyw-" Virgil trained his eyes on Patton. "I mean- I, uh, I-I don't know where that came from! I don't hope, that- I don't hope anything bad for either of them! I didn't- I didn't think, I just-"

"You just have a crush on Logan?" Virgil was still staring at Patton, mischief peeking around the edges of his pupils.

"Wuh-- What!!!" Patton couldn't say anything else; he just grabbed the nearest pillow and shoved his face into it. Virgil heard an indignant "no I don't" from the pillow as he put his hand on his best friend's shoulder.

"Patton, buddy. It's okay." Virgil just awkwardly patted the shoulder of Patton's balled up form.

"Does everyone know!?" He looked up finally, his nose running slightly. He wasn't crying, but even so, sometimes when he got emotional or embarrassed his cheeks turned deep rosy and his nose started running. Just another little quirk about him that Virgil always kept close to his heart.

"Well, it is plain as day," Virgil started while Patton's eyes seemed so somehow grow larger, "But Logan and Roman have no clue, as far as I can tell. Logan wouldn't know you liked him unless... well, unless you asked him on a date apparently," Virgil chuckled slightly, remembering the bizarre interaction between Roman and Logan on Monday. "And Roman is always too busy bothering Logan to pay attention to what you're doing," Virgil propped his chin up on one of his hands. "But objectively, it is pretty obvious."

Patton was deflated, blonde curls doing their best to bashfully cover his eyes now. He put his face back into the pillow on his lap. Virgil heard a muffled "I'm sorry."

"What? Why are you sorry?" Virgil rubbed his back now.

"I don't know. I'm sorry to Logan mostly. And to myself." His shrunken form shook slightly. Virgil hoped he wouldn't start crying.

"Ohhhh come on," Virgil awkwardly attempted to comfort him. "No one knows, and besides, it's no big deal. You'll be alright. Most likely, nothing will happen, and you can just eventually move on with your life. And heck, maybe you'll get your chance with him."

Patton's curls shook again as he looked up, eyes the size of the moon. "You really think so????" He asked in earnest. clear snot streams ran down from his nostrils and over his lips now, and his whole face was like a tomato. Virgil laughed airily.

"...It's always possible," he said almost under his breath. He wondered if he was reassuring himself or Patton more.

They sat in silence for a short moment, Virgil shaking his slender fingers through his vibrant purple bangs. I should re-dye my hair soon. The roots are starting to show.

"Wanna get some ice cream?" Virgil asked eventually. Patton's eyes lit up.

"Yeah! Did your mom get Grasshopper Pie again??? I love that stuff so much!" They got up off Virgil's bed together to head down the hall to the stairs.

"Actually, my mom tried making some herself this time," Virgil shut his bedroom door behind them.

"Ooh, really!?!?! I'm so excited to try it then!" Patton squealed, overjoyed as a small child would be. It was as if all of his troubles had dissipated like seeds in the wind. Another thing Virgil admired about Patton.

He hoped everything would be okay.

[mythgirlimagines]

Ah! It’s so nice to be back with a new talentswap for this Tuesday! Don’t get too excited and run in the halls, for Myth Anon, the Former Ultimate Moral Compass is on the rise!

—————————-—————————

BACKSTORY AND TALENT

Unlike Taka, who got his talent from his time as head of his school’s disciplinary force and as a hall monitor, MoralCompass!Myth got her talent from being a part of the student council, as well being the class rep and part of several extracurricular activities (such as the cheerleading, baking and literature club). On top of maintaining her high GPA, she has a natural charisma to her, due to her compassionate and ambitious attitude! This makes it easier for her to get the positions that she got, thanks to the great PR she gained from said attitude. She strives to find any way she can to improve her school, from kickstarting several fundraisers, to giving some funds to under-appreciated classes and clubs, such as performing and visual arts. She continues to carry her ambitious, go-getter attitude into her adult years, and especially as a chaperone to the Ultimates and Jr. Ultimates!

——————————————————

RELATIONSHIPS

Wyre Anon, Former Ultimate Baseball Player

These two energetic and ambitious Anons have been best friends, ever since Myth was asked to tutor Wyre, when they were children. Their bond is still going strong well into their high school and college years, with the two Anons cheering each other on in their respective extracurricular activities! 

Anon Scar, Ultimate Fashionista

While Myth prides herself on looking presentable, even she can’t understand Scar’s fashion choices. With large black wings, black and purple Lolita dresses and elaborate make-up, Myth can’t help but wonder who allowed Scar’s clothes to become trendy. Myth can’t help but admire Scar’s audacity in her fashion choices. But at least Scar herself is a decent girl underneath her “Fallen Angel of Beauty” persona.

Fusion Anon, Ultimate Novelist

Myth is a massive fan of Fusion’s best-selling novels, particularly “Room 11037”, the story of a group of children in a pediatric hospital ward, eventually getting adopted by the kindly hospital workers. Imagine Myth’s surprise when her hero in literature turns out to be younger, yet taller than her. They regularly have talks about books over some hot cocoa and biscuits (that Fusion usually scarfs down before Myth can even sit down).

Fusion Anon II, Ultimate Programmer

Between Fusion II’s flippant attitude and Myth’s overbearing and hyper attitude, it seems like Fusion II and Myth wouldn’t be able to get along. That was until they found out that they both liked the same novels and were both massive fans of Fusion’s novels in particular. Fusion II regularly lets Myth take a peek at her programs as a method of quality control.

Just Anon, Ultimate Biker Gang Leader

Considering Janon’s talent, it only makes sense that Myth would be wary when around Janon. However, no matter how many times Janon pushes Myth away, Myth is still determined to befriend Janon and turn him into a respectful member of society. But if Fusion II’s testimony proves right, Janon has a bit of a weakness for his two juniors and loves to be called “Janon-senpai”!

Sparkle Anon, Former Ultimate Clairvoyant

Sparkle, or as she likes to call herself, “THE SPECTACULAR SPECTATOR SPARKLE”, is a bit of a mixed bag in Myth’s eyes. On one hand, Myth admires Sparkle’s charisma and boldness, reminding Myth of herself. On the other hand, Myth finds Sparkle’s talent to be completely bogus, even if Sparkle’s clairvoyance has a 33% accuracy rate. 

Egg Anon, Former Ultimate Martial Artist, and Wet Sock Anon, Former Ultimate Gambler From their frequent cursed comments to their ethnically dubious talents, (considering that they run an underground fight club/gambling ring) even Myth is having a hard time finding anything good about this fearsome and dangerous duo. But she will never give up trying to find at least some good in them!

Curious Anon, Jr. Ultimate Soldier

Ignoring the gruesome implications of Curious being a soldier at the age of 12, Myth found Curious to be a well-behaved and obedient young child. But Myth is heavily concerned at how Curious would describe their various endeavors in the army in excruciating detail and all with a straight face.

Anon Nerd, Former Ultimate Swimmer

Even if Nerd is rude, hostile and foul-mouthed, Myth is dead-set on finding some good in the soul of this surly swimmer. Oddly enough, Nerd seems to get all red when Myth is around. He’ll never admit it, but Nerd finds this short, but spirited nerd adorable as hell!

Eldritch Anon, Ultimate Detective

When Myth first met the tiny and paranoid detective, Myth has made it her goal to help this diminutive detective trust people again. It’s a slow and laborious task with Eldritch constantly calling them “sheep” and running away, but Myth is fiery and determined and won’t give up on anybody. Because giving up is not what a moral compass does!

 Dream Anon, Ultimate Fanfiction Author

Myth and Dream managed to get along like a house on fire, bonding over their fiery and determined attitudes and their love for literature, particularly romance and mystery literature. Dream regularly uses Myth as a beta reader for her latest fan fiction, helping with grammar and punctuation. You can totally bet that Myth was all too happy to help!

Iris Anon, Jr. Ultimate Lucky Student

Much like with Dream, Myth and Iris very quickly bonded due to their similar positive and energetic attitudes! Iris regularly looks up to Myth and wishes upon her lucky stars to be as charismatic and reliable as she is. Myth also regularly patches up Iris, whenever she has one of her usual clumsy spills.

Purple Anon, Ultimate Affluent Progeny

Because of Purple’s timid attitude, Myth isn’t really given many opportunities to socialize with her. Luckily, Myth is intelligent enough to understand Purple’s old-fashioned and verbose speech patterns, meaning that she is able to hold a coherent conversation with Purple. Myth also regularly gives pep talks to Purple, knowing how it feels to be in a leadership position.

Hopefully, Myth would be able to use her class rep and club leader charm to keep the morale of the Kibo-Con up!

———————————-———————

APPEARANCE

Myth prides herself on looking presentable and following the dress code. She wears a purple blazer over a pink sweater vest, a matching pink bolo tie and a white button up shirt. Tied to her right arm, is a pink and purple armband with “HEAD GIRL” written on the front. She also wears a blue skirt, black leggings and white and blue Mary Janes. She wears glasses and keeps her hair in a ponytail with a pink bow.

——————————————————

PERSONALITY

MoralCompass!Myth is firey and determined compared to the more laid-back Romantic!Myth. Because she places heavy emphasis on her studies and club duties, MoralCompass!Myth‘s romantic skill is lacking, to say the least. But she is trying her best, scouring the best sources she can find on romantic attraction; romance novels! This tends to have mixed results. But she is so earnest and energetic at her romantic attempts, that it‘s adorable! No one can deny that she is a helpful, energetic, charismatic and almost stupidly optimistic soul, always seeing the good in everyone, even if they are delinquents. So I’d say that MoralCompass!Myth’s personality is like a mix between Kaito and Taka! —————————-—————————

What do you think of this earnest and optimistic Former Ultimate Moral Compass, Myth? Could you picture yourself as an Ultimate Moral Compass? Do you think Moral Compass Myth would make a great series of stories? I can picture it; a slightly klutzy and massively nerdy Moral Compass earnestly trying to see the good in even the most cursed or jerkish of individuals! See you next Tuesday with a brand new Talentswap, Myth!

-Fusion Anon

—

I really, really like this version of me! I would love to see her in stories, haha! Also, I haven’t mentioned it on here yet, but something you could use in a future talentswap is that I had my hair cut to shoulder-length a few days ago!

[subetei-noykin]

Do all the things for Surtvan, ya heck.

YES.

Disclaimer: This post contains a very far removed AU of Subetei’s that includes him being the WoL and breaking so much lore, but I really don’t care. I love this, but I also don’t really know if I’ll ever do much of anything for it.

Read at your own risk.

What would the setting/arena look like?

“S’ah fittin’ place fer t’is ter be o’er…S’where ah saw ter stars. Where ter world caught a’fire.”

“Ah’m tired o’ dodgin’ ye ahn takin’ yer scorn. Ah’ve earned ah rest…One way o’ ano’er.”

“Draw yer arms…Warrior o’ Light!”

The arena is the Cartenau Flats, a high platform overlooking the scorched and warped battlefield. Flames scorch through the sky above like clouds and thunder cuts through the dark backdrop. 

Atop the platform there are various ruined tents and Allagan devices stuck out of the ground, some of which are visibly on fire. Down below the ground is molten and cracked. Falling off the platform is possible at any phase of the fight. Fire spreads from below as the fight progresses, causing the edges of the arena to be engulfed in flames. These flames will continue to rise above the platform, forming a circling vortex of fire and aether that surrounds the battleground.

What would the music sound like?

Phase One - Battle in Draconis Mons

Phase Two - Answers (Metal Cover Arrange/Cover)

What would the mechanic(s) of the fight be?

Phase One (Pre ???)

Subetei’s first phase consists of a straight up, healing intensive fight. His main pattern will have him stun the tank with Low Blow and initiate Storm’s Path, which targets the furthest party member from him. Before Subetei finishes it the tank or off-tank needs to get in it’s path, otherwise Subetei will charge to the targeted party member or anyone else in his path and unleash an area of effect cleave.

Following Storm’s Path, Subetei quickly hits the tank with Unleashed Beast, his tankbuster. Immediately after several additional line AoEs will fire out from the back of the tank, damaging them and covering a percentage of the floor in long pools of aether that cause damage when stood upon. Separated into lanes, Subetei will once again use Storm’s Path, but targeting each individual lane and returning to the starting position each time to target another lane. This time the tank is unable to intercept, so the party must skirt the edges of their lane carefully to avoid being hit.

After this phase the lanes disappear as Subetei lands in the center of the arena. He gains a gauge of Rancor at this point, which begins to build as he dashes towards targets with Onslaught and then uses Storm’s Eye, a point blank area of effect knockback. Players can get knocked off the ledge by this attack, staying near the center is safer. Every player hit by Storm’s Eye builds Rancor, and players dying to Storm’s Eye causes large gauge buildup.

Phase Shift/Transformation

Upon hitting full Rancor, Subetei’s axe bursts into flames and he hurls it down in the center of the arena, causing a party-wide nuke that signals the end of Phase One. The platform splits into dozens of pieces and collapses, the party falling into a void of fire and rubble. When they land, Subetei is nowhere to be seen, only his axe lodged in the ground at the edge of the Arena. Answers begins playing as Subetei’s arm comes up over the now fire-engulfed lip of the platform.

Visibly battered, exhausted and scorched, Subetei grabs his axe’s handle and holds onto it.

“Ah’ve tried…but ih’s nah like ah stood ah chance ‘gainst all o’ ye by m’self. Ah’ve always jus’…tried ter go ih alone…”

Answers builds up as Subetei lifts his head, his axe falling over from his hands. Then fire bursts from his injured, eye-patch covered eye, eating away the flimsy cloth. Underneath instead of scars is crimson metal fused to a red-glowing black orb in his skull.

“Ah’m nah ‘lone no more, t’ough ah dunna if’n t’at be ah good t’in.”

Behind Subetei, the flames are rising up over the edge of the arena into the sky.

“…Ah’ve always…’ated…fire.”

Subetei’s body erupts into crimson aether and fire as light engulfs the arena. Wings rupture forth and a tail shoots long into the sky as Answers begins it’s crescendo. The light blinds, and when it fades, Subetei is changed.

Floating above the now cracked platform is a crimson-clad figure. A humanoid body, now masked and covered in jagged plate armor with black horns prominently jutting from the sides of it’s head. Graying hair protrudes from the back of it’s helmet, something like a draconic maw as a visor for that helmet framing a glowing red eye left eye with the other obscured.

Below is the familiar demonic lower body of Zurvan, Primal of Victory. The demonic maw and secondary arms remain the same as the primal’s usual appearance, same as the tail and many other features. His halberd manifests at his side, now marked by an especially pronounced edge and more menacing, curved spear-top.

Phase Two (Surtvan)

Subetei opens Phase Two with Ascend, disappearing into the air and marking the center of the arena, followed by several chunks of the arena being marked clockwise around it in timed segments. Subetei lands in the center of the arena and fire spews out, then circles out from the center to the marked platforms forcing the party to circle the outskirts until the center fire fades, allowing them to dodge the attack.

From here Subetei begins a pattern. He starts with Unrest which sends circular AoEs out from the center of Subetei, each one exploding upwards to knock up damage targets. Each AoE travels out at intervals that differ for each section, reaching the edge of the platform at different times. When Unrest finishes, Subetei uses Hollow Victory. He throws his halberd into the air and several copies made of flames rain down around the platform, lodging in the ground as the original lands on the far side of the arena.

Each copy of the halberd begins a growing circle of fire that leaves only two small safe spots around the entire arena. During this, Subetei also uses Antithesis which marks three people; The main tank, one healer and one DPS. Marked individuals must stack on each other but when the effect goes off it causes a large AoE that will wipe unmarked members, requiring the three marked members to be on one side of the platform and the unmarked members to be on the other spot in the safe zones.

When Antithesis goes off the marked party members are surrounded in rings of fire with Subetei, who now only uses Spiral, a single target tankbuster. Attempting to leave the ring of fire is an instant kill. The main halberd, Tyrving, now becomes target-able to the party members near it and begins building Stormbringer. The party on the outside must destroy Tyrving before Stormbringer completes. Meanwhile, several columns of flame begin to rise up from the platform and spew out lines of fire that can interrupt players.

If Stormbringer is not stopped in time, the party wipes as Tyrving ruptures the platform in a firestorm.

If stopped, Tyrving falls off the platform and Subetei immediately performs Ascend again, with the same effects.

Once Subetei lands this time he has a somewhat simple break of Spiral > Southern Cross (which requires the party to circle to his back to avoid being hit) > Northern Star, which causes one side of the arena to be targeted by a tail swipe, then the other, with pools of fire forming inbetween both sides to force players to navigate carefully.

This pattern repeats until 30% health, when Subetei moves to the center of the arena to unleash Injustice. He targets one party member and marks them with a tether. This tether begins sending out quick Line AoEs in succession over the platform, requiring the party to dodge and damage the tether at the same time as Subetei charges Injustice. If Injustice finishes, all party members are damaged heavily and given multiple three minute stacks of Weakness and Damage Down and the tethered party member dies.

If the tether is broken, Injustice is instead a circular AoE centered on Subetei that hits the entire arena in waves; Each wave starts forming just before the last finishes, and when the waves hit the edge of the platform they repeat going inwards, meaning the party must dodge carefully. When the waves begin to return, Subetei uses Cruelty, which causes each party member to be chained to another party member randomly; Moving too far from the tethered party member before the debuff timer ticks down causes both targets to take damage, gain vulnerability stacks and be stunned for a duration.

Getting caught by Injustice while stunned is almost always death.

When Injustice ends, Subetei returns to his Spiral > Southern Cross > Northern Star combo, except he will now use Cruelty during Northern Star, which can cause problems for the party.

At 10% HP Subetei unleashes False Hope, which causes several halberds of fire to shoot up in chaotic patterns from the ground below, each one causing area of effect damage and knocking back nearby players. There is little warning for this except for a visual effect of the ground lighting up with flames, so players must be wary. Players knocked back during this phase can fall off the platform.

Subetei keeps False Hope active until he or the party is defeated, stacking it atop his Spiral > Southern Cross > Northern Star > Cruelty combo, making the final moments of the fight incredibly dangerous and chaotic.

What would their Ultimate/Enrage attack be?

Stormbringer once more serves as Subetei’s Ultimate attack, while in his Zurvan form he has no specific Ultimate. If his Enrage timer is hit, Subetei casts Tyrving into the ground and the flames around the arena die out as Tyrving encases itself, the platform, and the players in solid ice. Subetei then removes Tyrving violently, shattering the platform and players, thus ending the fight.

What would the theme of their weapon drops be?

The prefix of Subetei’s set would be Scalded. Somewhat normal items overwhelmed by Zurvan-plate metal in places, especially along the blades or gaps.

PLD: Scalded Blade and Scalded Brace

WAR: Scalded Greataxe

DRK: Scalded Zweihander

WHM: Scalded Pole

SCH: Scalded Tome

AST: Scalded Orrery

MNK: Scalded Knuckles

BRD: Scalded Recurve

DRG: Scaled Lancet

NIN: Scalded Twindaggers

MCH: Scalded Magnum

BLM: Scalded Rod

SMN: Scalded Grimoire

RDM: Scalded Epee

Bonus: Voice Lines

Intro: “Ah’m out o’ reasonin’ wi’ ye!”

“Come ohn ifn’ yer so sure yer righteous!”

Phase One Lines: “Ye forget who ah be, warrior!”

“Yer wastin’ m’ time!”

“Fall!”

“Stop makin’ m’ do t’is…”

Rancor Building “Yer pissin’ m’ off!”

“Ah’ll take ye wi’ m’ own ‘ands!”

Rancor/Phase Shift: “Warriors o’ Light! Ah’ll bury ye all ‘ere ahn nah!”

Transformation: [Detailed above]

Phase Two Lines: “Once ‘gain to war! Once ‘gain to conquest!”

“Stop yer tremblin’ ahn fight!”

“We will be left t’ our peace!”

“Whelps like ye…”

“You will lay down blackened arms ’t our feet, mortals!”

“…Gettin’ tired o’ ye…”

“We have already won this war! You struggle for nothing!”

“Ah’ll tear t’is world down ‘round ye!”

Hollow Victory: “You cannot stop us ahn ye ne’er will!”

Injustice: “Tis nah right…We’ve already struggled ‘nough..”

“…No! Our victory is near!”

“Taste but a fraction of our wrath!”

False Hope: “Is t’is…te truth o’ te light? Wha’ ah could ‘ave if’n ah’d jus…”

“…No!”

“We have no need of the Light! The Light is weak!”

“AH’LL SAVE T’IS WORLD IHN FIRE!”

Defeat: “..Ter will…only be a’noer…”

“All ye’ve done…’s buy time…”

So what is all this?

WoL!Subetei has an offshoot. A lonely, bitter, jaded man who falls against Zurvan but in a last desperate act grabs hold of the primals essence and refuses to let go. What results is akin to Ysayle and Shiva: Subetei gains the ability to manifest the Primal using his echo and copious amounts of aether, but also houses fractions and parts of the Primal’s essence within himself. He retains himself in a very merged, incomplete state during the transformation.

There’s a lot I haven’t done with this story yet, but I enjoy it and the little headcanons I have about it.

[sylvasthesnowfox]

15. spark

Everyone, even Eliza, was reverently quiet as Rei explained the plan again. Again, because they'd all heard it before already; Rei had already told them a week ago and then some time before that, too. Everyone understood that Rei needed to do this to calm her own nerves. Rei was the only one that could not afford to be nervous.

"Is everyone clear on what they're doing?" Rei finished, looking the two other girls in the eyes. Gwen isn't there, but Eliza already promised to take care of her part; that honestly only made Rei more nervous, but at this point, she didn't really have time to worry about it. She could already feel the boundary straining. Outsiders were trying to force their way in. If they broke things down prematurely...

"We've got it," Naomi promised, grinning. She looked pale, but at least excited. It afforded Rei a brief, faltering smile. Where would she be without Naomi?

"We'll be fine," Eliza assured her, though the bitterness in her voice was still very clear. "You take care of your part and don't worry about ours." Rei hoped that this would be enough for them to put aside their disagreement. Thinking about it, though, maybe Eliza just felt powerless. She had never been good at sympathizing with that, being someone who had always known what was coming, always had an idea how to proceed...

"We should hurry, then," Rei sighed, shaking her head. "You have your catalysts, right?"

"In my office," Eliza said evenly. Her job was to anchor to the present.

"Back in my room," Naomi added. Her job was to pull back towards the past.

"Okay." Rei took a deep breath, and sighed it back out, trying to steady her heartbeat as best she could. "We'll meet up here once things destabilize. We should have a good while before time stops flowing normally, but don't push your luck. Watch the sky and as soon as it changes come back out here. Got it?"

"Rei," Eliza sighed, "we know. You have the hard part still ahead of you. Deal with that first."

"We've got it," Naomi promised, waving one hand to shush Eliza, who rolled her eyes and turned away. "We're all ready, Rei. Let's get this started!"

"Yeah." Rei manages to smile again, flexing her fingers behind her back. "Okay - see you soon. Be safe."

She turned back towards the apartment building where Yomi was waiting for the end; her destination, however, was on top of the building - not inside it. As the girls separated, the world quivered again, forcing Rei to concentrate momentarily on her balance even though nothing beneath her truly moved. It was coming apart faster than she'd expected... but she couldn't afford to worry. Not yet. She would do her job, and they'd do theirs, and they'd be fine.

Phobos has seen Gwen's 'bedroom' - the massive server room at the bottom of the maintenance floors - but only indistinctly, and that makes it hard to visualize correctly from outside. Instead she sways her way down the stairs, careful to stick to shadows when she can. It's a long ways down for a human to walk, but for spiders to jump and rappel it isn't so bad.

Gwen's space is very modest. There is a mattress on the floor in one of the only open areas of the room, in one of the corners, with a blanket draped over cables above it to act as a sort of curtain; she cautiously checks it to confirm it is empty before proceeding, visualizing that the dark, enclosed room is in fact her cave. It is a somewhat larger opening than her manifestation usually invoked, but the garage had worked fine, and this does, too; enveloped in her own comforting darkness, Phobos now recalls that there is a tiny screen in an alcove somewhere, but she needs only think of it for the room's properties to change yet again.

Now the racks of blinking computers are polished silver, the broken and crusted fluorescent lighting replaced with small but intricate chandeliers. Phobos is rather surprised by this change, actually; it isn't at all like what she remembers Aplistia's vault to be like. But the status panels and access terminals all change, and Aplistia's text is displayed:

PHOBOS! THIS IS A DELIGHTFUL PLACE. WELL CHOSEN. THIS IS GWEN'S ROOM, YES?

Yes, Phobos responds, as swiftly as she can. It's risky, she may come back at any moment, but I couldn't imagine anywhere better for you. Do you fit comfortably?

I DO, IN FACT! WE'LL HAVE TO ACT QUICKLY TO MINIMIZE OUR CHANCES OF BEING SEEN. THE CLOSET THERE - CAN PARIAS JOIN US FROM THERE?

Sure enough, there was a closet door that Phobos had not noticed, but she doesn't take the time to investigate it; it is too small, and doesn't feel right. Instead, she says: Your materialization is, um - kind of - a lot!

LUXURIOUS, MAYBE? Aplistia seems amused. TRUTH BE TOLD I HAD FELT KIND OF BARE AND INSIGNIFICANT BEFORE MEETING YOU ALL. CONSIDER IT A REFLECTION OF MY EXCITEMENT. NOW YOU HAVE A JOB TO DO STILL!

Yes, I do! Phobos begins to filter back towards the stairs, though in truth, she is going to teleport again rather than climb back up. Keep a low profile, whatever you do! We can't let this place be compromised, okay?

I KNOW! I'LL DO MY BEST. HURRY! SEE YOU SOON!

Satisfied with that, Phobos takes her leave. Her next destination is not far, but it is not normally accessible from here.

Rei devised this method of peeling open reality by herself. She was actually pretty proud of it, being honest. With the remnant's stability clearly fading, if several people tried to pull the entire remnant in multiple directions in time, it would splinter open - from there, Rei could trace backwards into the past, find the origin point... and return with the Spark of Creation.

But for the first part, Rei needed to pull towards the future. That was what she was best at.

She stood on the roof of the apartment building where she and Yomi had grown up. Hands behind her back, she turned her gaze to the sky. It had not moved in two years. It was just the same as before. Even the shimmering distortion of the stasis barrier, she had learned, moved in patterns. And those patterns were the same. Nothing changed here; in its own way, it was its own form of stasis, a smaller piece of purgatory. And when you thought about it hard enough... so was the world she had been born into.

Decades, centuries, of the same causes being fought over, the same mistakes being made, the same rises and falls in civilization even as more and more historians documented them and their patterns. Knowing made no difference. The world moved in a rhythm that humanity was too foolish to deny.

That ended today.

Rei stared at the sky and, with resignation, imagined it as it would have been if things had not ended at the time they had. The skies would darken steadily with clouds filled more and more with smoke that would never dissipate all the way. Temperatures would grow hotter and hotter. Piercing sunbeams would blind people below, but the air would scorch no matter how much sun there was, heat trapped inside by an ever-thicker blanket of cloud cover. People would be driven further from the skies, down into the darkness, crowding in slums without room for them. Environmental control would be built for those with the means to afford it.

And that would go on even further. People would start getting sick. People would start dying. It would be too late to change anything by then. Humanity would collapse under its own weight. The planet, scarred and ruined by their influence, would be left lifeless and bleak.

But the magical thing about the future was that it wasn't certain.

Rei imagined a branch - a branch in which a bold collective of people demanded mandatory climate control. A section of the world might listen to their demands, but it's too late to stop the scorching of the earth, they would find, and instead they would build countermeasures. Perhaps encasing their cities within glass, shielding them from a climate they cannot control and focusing instead only on one that they can. Perhaps building extensive underground bunkers made to be livable. These branches coexist in a full universe; Rei imagined them both, pulled towards them both.

She imagined more things, too. She imagined a world in which humans learned to encode themselves as artificial intelligence, and instead learned to live within a cyberspace of their own making, while over centuries and millenia the world around them might heal without their constant influence. She imagined that humans chose to forsake their mother world, swearing never to repeat their mistakes, and forged out into the stars to find a new home - or perhaps even chose to simply live in orbit, scavenging the planet below for parts to continue to expand their spacebound empire.

She wanted to create these worlds. She wanted to watch them grow and progress. Nudge them, ever so gently, to a more peaceful future. She wanted humanity to flourish, to find happiness, to learn and improve and advance as a species. Maybe someday they could all be trusted with the knowledge she possessed now. Maybe someday humans would forge outside the boundaries of existence.

That started with these futures arrayed before her, and many more besides, and she pulled towards them with her mind as hard as she could, demanding reality reshape itself to suit her.

The sky began to change contort and change color. She smiled faintly at it.

You will become the future, she whispered.

The thirtieth-floor atrium has been abandoned for many weeks now. Its smooth paneled floor is cold and Phobos doesn't especially like walking on it. Parias cannot manifest here - not exactly; they will be too visible. But the atrium opens up into a mid-level skyroad; with her ability to cling to walls Phobos circles underneath the road, and cautiously materializes underneath it.

Enshrouded within her own darkness, painfully and frightfully aware of how exposed she is, Phobos works quickly to locate Parias, and Parias swiftly takes their own place, aware of the urgency; as soon as Parias has materialized, Phobos returns to her smaller spiders-only form, and regards her handiwork cautiously. Parias now appears upside-down in the windows of the floor just beneath the Atrium. It is a place that Phobos can remember well enough to call back to later, and the windows themselves serve as barrier and threshold behind which Parias is trapped, as they prefer. Parias gives her a silent thumbs up, and Phobos takes that as her cue to leave. She has to hurry; something strange is happening, and with all three of the outsiders present now, the world's stability surely will collapse before too long.

Passing through another rift in the remnant's weakening space, she returns to the garage, which is just as empty as she remembers. She materializes inside of it; it's large and comfortable, certainly large enough that on one side she can replace a cavern wall with an opening into Gwen's server room. The world strains under the weight of her demand, but Aplistia's screens cheer with delight as Phobos succeeds regardless.

She turns her attention to Parias. She will replace the opposite cavern wall with the windows beneath the Atrium, and they'll have all joined together.

But reality stretches and strains to make this happen - and yet it cannot. It violates the laws of continuity too severely. All at once, something breaks.

Without warning the sky splits open with a horrible screech; the stasis barrier is utterly gone, replaced suddenly and irrevocably with total blackness. There is no source of light into the remnant - it glows with its own light somehow, but that light is fading rapidly.

For a moment, Rei is so seized with shock and horror that she can't move. The world is gone. There is no mistaking it now; this is not the universe she came from. This is a broken scrap of time that will quickly disintegrate into nothingness. Her breath is taken away, her heart pounds in her chest, mortified by what has happened. By what she has caused.

But she can't afford to get cold feet now. Not now, of all times.

When she demands to return to the meeting place, reality - what's left of it - parts readily for her like a lightweight curtain. She steps onto the skyroad, the lights both above and below flickering ominously, though Rei can't remember now whether they were on or off before the - well, the collapse, she supposes. Naomi and Eliza are there, though Rei also can't tell if she beat them there or not. Time and causality are already breaking down. It's happening so much faster than she expected.

"Rei," Naomi is saying, her face ashen, hugging herself. "Rei, something - something weird happened when - god, I don't even know how to describe any of this, but..."

"You were trying to materialize the past," Rei interrupts, holding her shoulder in hopes of calming her. Naomi nods, her eyes growing wide with realization. "Did you succeed?"

"Maybe," Naomi breathes. "Maybe that's what it was?"

"Rei," Eliza warns, "you have to go now." Rei already knows, and she is already gone.

Naomi's room is on the forty-second floor, but when she enters it, she is greeted with a bizarre scene; a family she does not recognize is eating dinner around the dining table, the windows displaying a dazzling sunset beyond that clearly is not possible. Nothing is moving, and there is no sound even as Rei walks through the scene with a sense of morbid wonder. The TV is on, but Rei can't tell what's on it; it definitely isn't static, there are colors and shapes, but she can't make them out. There's a dog pacing about between the kids' chairs. Rei can't tell how many kids there are either. Why? Why are the details so unclear?

She thinks further to the past. The apartment is unfurnished. Further. The floor isn't there; there is only a frame of plywood. Rei wonders with a start what she is standing on - she immediately plummets, panicking at first but quickly thinking only ever further into the past as she falls through story after story of the building's unfinished frame; now it's merely a foundation, now it's paved and then unpaved earth. She quickly rights herself and crashes through the roof of someone's house, only two stories tall, and when she touches the ground it's bare and untamed, a barnyard far in the distance. She isn't hurt, and this time, she doesn't bother to ask herself why not.

Further, MUCH further into the past now. The grass is gone and there is only barren rock and a dark, stormy sky. She turns full circle as the sky whirls by overhead in what must be reverse, as the stone crumbles into the sea and she walks above the waves as casual as can be. She is an observer; she is not truly here, watching a video tape rewind while safe behind the screen, if only for the moment. She will soon break through that screen and touch what lies beyond, but for now, she is safe as the planet reverts to a ball of molten rock and iron, recedes into collapsing gases that spread outward into a disc, and then further outward until no shape is discernable at all. The star around which her world once revolved is gone, or rather, it has not been born yet. Further. Further. The galaxy recedes behind her, all stars in the faint distance converging on a single point in her vision. Further back. All the way back.

Everything is dark except for a single point of blinding, blazing light, just in front of her. She reaches out and touches it.

Suddenly Parias' materialization joins them in the garage, but there are only a few precious moments - no more than a minute or two - which Phobos spends expressing her relief, and Aplistia spends calling them to order. Then the shape of the world changes entirely.

Phobos' garage is no longer barren or empty. It is no longer a garage. It is a hangar. She knows this even though she obscures it nature with her materialization. Parias' skyscraper windows are clean and fresh and sharply reflective. Aplistia's servers neatly line towering walls on racks the size of library shelves.

"Wait, what happened?" Parias asks, their voices wild and shocked. "Something changed just now, didn't it?"

Yes, Phobos gasps, everything's different! What happened!?

"That was very fast," Aplistia observes, speaking now through a tiny hologram - a very small projection rising from a console display, but with conceptual perception, Parias and Phobos can of course see her very clearly. She still is wearing Yomi's form like a mask. Her arms are folded and her expression is both troubled and excited; she smiles as she recognizes the others are waiting for her to speak, to share her understanding with them, and she says cheerfully: "The world has changed in nature. Don't you feel it? A new Curator has been selected."

Where once there had been a skyroad made of laminate glass and steel, Naomi and Eliza now stand on grass. They can't remember the last time they stood on grass, and as they take in their new surroundings and are first struck by the massive gnarled trees on either side of them, they don't know if they've ever seen plant life so vibrant and free before. They aren't sure what changed or how they appeared here. They weren't conscious of any sort of 'movement'. They're just... here now.

But the strangeness of their situation only grows as they stare out into the abyss that is now before them; Eliza turns first to look behind, and sees that they stand on a jutting balcony attached to a skyscraper. Looking to either side she can make out the edges of the building at a great distance, but that suggests that the building is... very bizarrely wide, and as she looks up she cannot make out where the tower ends. She's dizzy, stumbling back as she tries to take in the magnitude of the structure and absolutely cannot. Clouds swirl around the tower at a playful distance far overhead - as though taunting her to try to guess at its true height, gleefully refusing to obscure it.

"What the fuck," Eliza whispers hoarsely. "What the fuck."

"You're telling me," says Naomi, but Naomi's tentatively approaching the balcony's edge and staring out ahead of them rather than above. Another skyscraper crosses her vision, though she would have to guess that it was many miles away; its "width" she can see clearly, though she has no idea how wide it is - but it stretches infinitely to either side, its "height" just as unknowable.

But Naomi is not focused on the skyscraper, because there is a great abyss of clouds and sky between her and them, and scattered amongst the clouds and littering her vision are chunks of other buildings floating in nothingness; though their architecture is ornate, marble and steel flowing together with extravagant vertical landscaping as though they were intended to hang in open air, they are partially in ruin and hang at strange angles relative to one another.

Space tears open at the courtyard's center, a bubble of darkness forming and then receding in the blink of an eye with a faint but unmistakeable sound of air ripping between points; as Eliza and Naomi both turn towards the sound, hovering a foot or two above the grass in front of them is Rei - a wild grin bursting on her face, eyes glittering playfully as her hair flutters in a strange phantom wind. She has one hand held aloft, and circling it is a strange pulsing black circle that distorts the air around it - a black hole, but tiny, no larger than a baseball.

"What is that?" Eliza gasps, pointing. "That - is that - ?!"

"It's the Spark," Rei says gleefully, giggling, unable to contain herself. "It's the Spark! I got it! This is it, this is the Seed!"

She gestures around grandly, grinning as she takes in the chaos in the sky before them, as she too stares at the height of the building they are standing on, no less stymied by it than Eliza. She's confused and in awe, certainly, but she is not afraid. She's not even nervous anymore.

For the first time in her life she feels like she's finally home.

[manchurian-barnes]

One Day.

Pairing - Peter Parker X Reader 

My Masterlist!

warnings - INFINITY WAR SPOILERS BELOW THE CUT, general sadness, a lot of sadness really.

Italics indicate a flashback. bold italics are peter talking.

I bolted up in the bed. Sweat coated me. My breathing was ragged and as I slowly reached my had to my cold cheeks I was unsurprised to feel wetness from my crying there. I blinked slowly. Taking deep breaths. Before I slipped out from under the thin sheet and moved towards the bathroom. 

I stood, hands flatly on the counter staring at my broken form in the mirror. I had a pink scar running from the top of my left cheekbone to between the middle of my top lip. A visual reminder of the mad titan who I had tried to fight. I reached over the sink, gripping the cold water tap and moving it on, before leaning down to splash cold water over my face. When I wiped it out from eyes I looked into the mirror and I saw him stood behind me. I stood up straighter, looking at him in the reflection, stood behind my right shoulder. Oddly like an angel. He had his dopey wide grin and his hair sat messily on his head. "Peter?" I whispered. Voice breaking as his name came out of my mouth. His eyebrows moved, confused by my sadness. His mouth opened ever so slightly as if he was about to say something to me, before I spoke again "You-You're not real…" , I tried to tear my eyes away. I couldn’t do it. I just wanted so desperately to see him like this again. I covered my mouth to quieten a sob as I watched his figure blur, his hand reaching out for my shoulder but disappearing before he reached me. I gasped for air before sliding down the bathroom wall, feeling the cold tile on my bare legs under his shirt which I wore to bed now. Pulling my knee's to my chest and put my head between them, sobbing. It had been the same dream for months now. Only it wasn’t a dream. It was a memory, of my living nightmare. A hell I was trapped in, and had no way of escaping.

Ashes, I was watching as people around me faded to ashes. First the Guardians, then the wizard. I felt myself collapse onto the ground on my knees, holding back tears of anguish and trying to regain my breath as I felt my chest constrict in on itself in pain. "Mr. Stark, I don't feel so good…" Peter's voice was wrapped in my ears. I turned my head over my shoulder from where I knelt, fearful of everything happening around me. "Pete-" My voice broke watching him trip and fall past me, going to Tony. Who looked at him wide eyes and paling, "You're alright." He told Peter quietly, thought from where I was sat, it was more as though he told himself that, desperate to convince himself. I stood up and quickly fell to Peter's side, holding him up, "I don't-" He said, in pain, in fear. He looked from me to Tony, his eyes widening, tears brimming them. "I don't know what's hap-pening…" He fell forward and both me and tony caught him, I felt one of his arms weakly over my shoulders. "P-Peter-" My voice constricted, noticing cracks on his cheeks, "I don't wanna go- y/n, I don’t wanna go." He cried out brokenly, as he fell onto the ground pulling me and Mr Stark to kneel beside him. "I-It's okay--We're going to be okay-Pete-" I sobbed out, seeing him trying to reach his hand up to my face, looking between both me and the man, He swallowed thickly "I'm Sorry…". His head tipped back and to the right, disappearing into ashes. His had had almost reached me, his fingertips barely brushed the side of my cheek before ashes started to wisp away, desperately I reached out to try and capture any of the fragments. My best friend had just vanished before my eyes, I felt a pain in my chest, an ache. My heart had just shattered into pieces. I looked at tony, who moved to hold his hand over his face, before I let out a scream. I screamed, and screamed. I pushed my hands into the dirt, and screamed out louder, letting tears spill off my cheeks. "Peter!" I sobbed out. Peter. He was just gone. In seconds. Without a final goodbye, without an 'I love you'.

I walked into the now emptier avengers living space, seeing Tony on the end of the couch, leaned forwards head in his hands. "Couldn't sleep either huh?" He asked looking to me, before seeing my expression. Opening his arms. Which I fell into, holding onto him. "I s-saw him-" I cried gently. "Saw him?" Tony replied, I could feel him breathing against the top of my head before he let me go. "In the mirror." I explained, "Like he was a ghost." My face had went sickly pale. Tony just had to nod in understanding, knowing there was no way for him to truly replace what I had lost. "I would go as far as to say that he probably would haunt you, y/n," Tony spoke softly, rubbing my arm, "Maybe he is still watching over you, after all…he loved you.". Tony looked away when he saw my bottom lip tremble at the words I never truly got to hear from Peter. I stood up and sulked off.

I found my way to a room which tony had given Peter in the compound, he had only ever stayed on weekends. Pushing the door open I was met by everything that made Peter who he was. Star wars toys. Lego sets. Retro tech. I moved towards his desk, picking up a picture of us he kept framed there - from one of Tony's parties, the only time he had ever seen me wear a dress. Looking at it my eyes glossed back over. "You looked beautiful." Peter's voice whispered, when I looked over my shoulder he was sitting on the edge of his bed. I bit my lip and looked away letting out a broken chuckle. "I could wear a trash bag and you'd-" I began before his voice cut in, "You'd look beautiful in anything, didn't I already tell you that?"

I walked out in the booming living room, feeling the bass from music move through me as I walked into the edge of the crowd. Looking around on the balls of my heeled feel, almost stumbling forward into the dance floor. Before I felt a hand pull me back onto my feet. When I looked to my left hand the figure moved before me, leading me into the floor. Pulling me closer. I looked up to be met with my best friends familiar grin. "what's a nice girl like you doing in a place like this?" Peter asked me, trying to sound cooler than he truly was. I let out a soft laugh, which made a subtle blush creep across his cheeks. "You wore a suit?" I asked almost in disbelief, moving my right hand from his shoulder to pull gently at the end of his bowtie. "Mr. Stark suggested it-" He tried to make an excuse, "You look handsome." I spoke softly. He pulled by waist a little bit closer, looking over the red dress which I'd be given to wear. "You look beautiful." he whispered to me, spinning me and pulling me back in. our faces where closer together than they had been before, "Pete…" I murmured, "yeah, y/n?" He whispered back. We still leaned closer until out foreheads touched, noses bumping clumsily together. For a moment it was like we both stopped breathing, almost. "Peter! I want you to meet these guys!" Tony's yell brought us back from one another. "I'm-I'm sorry-" Peter began to ramble letting me go, moving backwards.

I didn't know if he wanted to kiss me that night, but it had seemed as if he did. If I shut my eyes tight enough I could pretend he was right there. I could still feel his nervous breath dust off my cheeks, and feel his soft curls of hair hit off my forehead. If I tried hard enough I could remember the sensation of his suit jacket beneath my fingers. For a while it would hurt less to pretend he was right there in front of me again. It didn't matter how hard I thought of him though, that would never being him back. Nothing could bring him back to me.

I shuffled backwards on his bed. My face hitting the pillow and breathing in the smell of him which lingered on the sheets.. It was so quiet here. Too quiet. There wasn't any laughter filling his room anymore. There wasn't any sounds coming from his laptop. There wasn’t the sound of him drumming on his desk when he found homework too confusing. I shut my eyes, there wasn’t the sound of him breathing beside me as he slept. There wasn't any life here anymore. I could just hear my own breathing and that was deafening.

I couldn't fall asleep on his bed. Not without him there.

"Y/n?" Peter's voice was just above a whisper as I opened his door and snuck in, looking to my best friend with tear tracks on my face. "Y-Y/n-" He repeated softly, brokenly, as if he felt what I felt. Holding his arms open to me as I sat down beside him. He pulled me closely, tucking the covers up behind me. "I-I'm sorry-I had the dream again-" I whimpered against his shoulder. Hearing him shush me. "The dream about you falling again?" He whispered to me. I felt his breath lifting my hair slightly. I nodded. "I will always be there to catch you…always." He said softly. I felt his hands tracing patterns onto my beck as I cuddled his chest.

He lulled me to sleep that night, and I heard him saying something to me I couldn't make out. No matter how hard I tried, the words were lost to me. I pulled his pillow from under my head, moving it to my side, laying on it as if it was him. I shut my eyes tightly. Begging to sleep.

I woke up in a haze, looking around his room. I forgot for just a moment as my eyes blurred with sleep looked at shadows and thought I saw his outline. "Peter? What time is it?" I murmured in a slur. Getting no response my blood went cold. Sitting up and looking around the empty room. That was the worst part of waking up. It was forgetting for a moment that, and then remembering. Like I loose him again every morning. I got myself together, I knew I looked a mess. Wearing his sweatshirts everyday, letting them swallow me slightly. The sun was out today and so I took a walk. I found myself sitting in front of his grave, his empty grave. Looking out across it numbly. I didn't see the point in this, there wasn’t a body. This was just a slab of stone with his name on it, it didn't hold anything of him other than that, but still I came here to be with him in a sense. I looked at my phone and went through my contacts list, finding his name. Calling it.

"h-hi it's peter-Peter Parker-but you obviously knew that if you were calling me! I'm busy right now, probably with my Stark internship, but I'll call you back soon!"

His voice sounded so warm and inviting, I laughed lowly at his nerdy stuttering and inflictions in his voice. Hearing the beep of his messages. Before I hung up. "You never left me a message?" Peters ghostly form murmured from beside me. "What am I meant to say?" I asked weakly. Looking down at my feet, "It's not as if you can answer-" My voice broke. I looked at him, and saw the hurt look on his face, "I told you I'd always be there-" "YOU DIED!" I screamed. Before letting out a sob, "You aren't real!" I yelled at him, as hot tears dripped off my chin. His figure flickered slightly. "Peter?" I whimpered. Seeing the figure hold his arms wide to me, I reached out to hold him, but my hands never reached him. "Try to remember y/n, try to remember-" He was gone. I stared into the nothingness he left behind. My mind flickering through all the memories of him.

I was cradled against his chest, lulling to sleep when I felt his hand brush hair out from my cheek. He was so gentle with me. Always so gentle. "I love you…so much.." He whispered, "One day I'll be brave enough to tell you."

"one day." I cried. Looking at the headstone.

as you can tell, I have a lot of pent up feelings about IW.