#i have only uncovered maybe a quarter of the map oh gods oh no | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

spectraspecs-writes · 5 years ago

Text

Korriban - Chapter 83

Link to the masterpost. Chapter 82. Chapter 84.

@averruncusho @ceruleanrainblues @chubbsmomma thank you for reading, you get a tag. @skelelexiunderlord thank you for support, you get a tag.

——————

youtube

Well, that’s interesting. The Star Map on Tatooine was obviously in a cave, but this one is more like underground. But not like a natural cavern. It was constructed, or at least constructed around. Bastila isn’t in the quarters when I wake up, so as soon as I get dressed, I head out into the main hold. Carth’s in there, sitting in front of an untouched cup of caff. No idea how long it’s been there, or how long he’s been there, but the cup isn’t steaming so it’s obviously cold.

Bastila’s in there, looking a little dazed, but when I come in, she sits up and looks at me. “You felt it, yes?” she asks, “Another vision? The Force continues to work through us; showing us the Star Maps unearthed by Revan and Malak.” She looks a little unsettled now. “There are some who believe Korriban is the birthplace of the Sith… this planet is an evil place. There are secrets here best left uncovered.”

I sit down next to her. “It looked like the Star Map was underground somewhere.”

“Yes, during the vision I felt cold and trapped, almost as if I was buried alive. It felt… it felt like we were in some kind of tomb. No doubt things will become more clear once we discover the Star Map's location.”

“Right, about that ‘we,’” I say, “I think if you go out there, the Sith might recognize you.”

She resituates herself. “Hmm…” she says, “…maybe you're right. Most of the dark Jedi would only know me by name, but there are a few among them who might recognize my face. For the safety of our mission I must remain on the Ebon Hawk while we are on this planet.”

“That seems wise,” I say.

She gives a small nod. “Have you thought about who you do want to accompany you?” she asks, “I know you prefer to have both a ranged fighter and a Jedi.”

“Yeah,” I say, “Obviously can’t bring you. And Juhani - she’s already been to the Dark Side. I don’t want to put her back in that position. Which leaves Jolee.”

“I agree, he is the smart choice,” she says, “He’s powerful enough in the Force to shield your presence from the Sith. And for a ranged fighter? HK-47 would fit right in, I’m sure.” She grins at that.

“I’m sure he would, but I’m taking Carth.”

“Damn right, you are,” he says. Which is the first indication I have that he’s actually awake.

Bastila’s not a big fan of that. “I see,” she says in that disappointed neutral tone she has, “Rena, may I speak to you in private?” I shrug and follow her. She goes into the communications room and closes the door. “Are you sure bringing Carth is wise?” she asks, “After all, your feelings for him are quite strong. Or are you going to deny them again and insult both our intelligence?”

Oh, God, this again? “It doesn’t matter how wise it is, I wouldn’t be able to keep him here if I wanted to,” I say, “Jordo said his son is here, if I don’t bring him with me, he’ll go off looking for him himself and get us all in trouble, blow our cover. No, he’s coming.” I hate that look on her face. “And by the way,” I add, “my feelings for Carth are none of your business.”

“Rena…” she says in that disapproving teacher voice she gets, “I’ve said before, and it’s even more relevant now. These feelings for Carth could lead you to the Dark Side.”

I hate that! Even after the conversation with Jolee last night, which I would love to tell Bastila about and explain to her all of that, even though I know she would never listen to me. And I - you know, I could be patient enough to explain it to her if she wasn’t so damn holier-than-thou all the damn time! “You’re one to talk!” I exclaim, “Listen, I know how close you’ve gotten with Canderous. Hell, I’m pretty sure I heard the two of you having sex the other night! And you’re telling me about my feelings and the Dark Side? Like hell! Why do you get to have something and I don’t? Huh? What the hell kind of double standard is that?”

“Rena, that’s not what I meant…”

“So what did you mean?” How is she going to back away from this?

“I only meant that, those feelings, here, are incredibly dangerous!” she says, “Anywhere else, they’re foolish but understandable. But here on Korriban - the homeworld of the Sith! The Dark Side is particularly strong here already! I don’t want your feelings to cloud your judgement when it’s so easy for you to fall.” She stops and looks at me. “You don’t believe my reasons, do you?”

“Get the hell out of my head, Bastila,” I say, and I start to leave. “And for the record, no, I don’t. I’m frankly sick of your holier-than-thou attitude about this whole thing, and in general. You’re not my master, you’re not my mother, and you’re making it difficult for me to consider you my friend!”

“Calm down, Rena,” she says. Like hell! “Anger can lead…”

“Shut up about the fucking Dark Side! I get it, okay? God!” I know, I know, I’m fine. I take a deep breath and try to speak more calmly. “If I want your advice, I’ll ask for it.”

“Very well,” she says with a big sigh, “I will leave you be.”

I walk out a lot angrier than I mean to. I just need to calm down a bit. I almost crash into Jolee, but I stop myself before I barrel full-force into him. “You all right, lass?” he asks.

“Just a bit riled up,” I say, trying to take deep calming breaths, “Bastila giving me crap again. Would you come with me onto Korriban?”

“Yes, I think that would be a wise idea,” he says, “When would you like to leave?”

“I want to swap out my implant, then we can go,” I say, “I’ll wait by the ramp.” He gives me a small nod and we part ways. I go back to the starboard quarters and swap out the adrenaline implant I’ve got in there with one that should calm me down a bit more. The adrenaline was great when I was having allergy problems - now, not so much. And no, I don’t think the adrenaline caused my reaction to Bastila. It didn’t help, but it didn’t cause it. Either way, going out this angry is not a good idea. I need to focus, on the Star Map mostly but also on finding Carth’s son. And on not standing out.

Czerka controls the docks here, like the last two planets, but it seems different here. We walk up to the dock master. “Ahh, I see,” he says, “Another Jedi come to small Korriban, yes? Good to meet you.” He’s a lot nicer than the other Czerka dock masters.

“Jedi come here often, do they?” I ask.

“There are many people who come to Korriban from throughout Sith space, hoping to join the academy. Some of them are Jedi who have left the order. You will get into the academy for certain.” Who, me? “I understand Jedi who have left the light side are made very welcome.”

Seems like a cover has been established for me. Nice. “So I imagine.”

“But enough about that,” he says. Right, he’s about to ask me for money, I should get ready to tell him otherwise. “It is very nice to see that the Ebon Hawk has returned. I have not seen that ship for some time, indeed.” Wait, what? That really threw off my rhythm. “Since you're a regular to our little colony, the docking fee is only 25 credits.”

“Uh… sure,” I say, “Here.” I pull out my datapad and transfer the credits.

“Excellent,” he says, “Continue on through. Please be aware that the colony is under Sith jurisdiction. I'd advise you to stay out of their way.”

“We usually do,” Jolee says, and we walk on through. So now I’m out twenty-five credits. Which isn’t a big deal in and of itself, I can just sell a blaster pistol and make that back twice over. I’m just a bit more surprised that I gave it. But whatever, I shrug it off.

Trouble coming. The first of a lot of trouble. “No,” I hear a human man scold, “that is the wrong answer. Again! You pathetic hopefuls can't possibly all be this stupid, can you?”

“P-please, Master Shaardan!” someone pleads, “Give us a chance! We'll do anything to get into the academy!”

As we get closer, I can see this Shaardan. God, what a prick. He’s the kind of guy who would kick a puppy for laughs. And now he’s got three people feeding his ego. He huffs pridefully. “I'm no master… yet… but I like the sound of that,” he says, grinning, “Alright, one more question, though the lot of you are trying my patience. Alright. Let's say you become a Sith and I am your commanding officer. I give you an order to spare the life of an enemy. Do you do it?”

Hell, I know the answer to that one. In that situation you would kill both the enemy and your leader, who’s obviously gone soft. That’s the Sith way, anyway. But these guys are a bit desperate. “Oh, of course, Shaardan!” one of them says, “Anything you command us!”

“We would never oppose you!” another says.

“No, no, no!” Shaardan says with a sigh, “Do you honestly believe that the Sith are in need of such sniveling cowards? Mercy is a weakness. If your leader shows weakness, it is your duty to kill him and show true authority, true power! That is why the Sith are strong.”

Oh, God, he’s going to kill them and they know it. “Th-thank you, Shaardan,” the third stammers, “We, uh… we understand now!”

“No, you don't understand,” he says, “And you probably never will. You wouldn't survive five seconds in the academy - the other students would tear you apart!” They start to tremble, as hard as they’re trying not to. “Bah!” he exclaims, “I can't be bothered with fools! Perhaps… I should… hmmm…”

And then he turns to me. Oh, shit. “You! Jedi!” he says, “You're looking to get into the academy, are you not?” Then he scoffs a moment. “Of course you are - why else would you be here? Let me pose a question to you. These hopefuls will never survive in the academy. A lesson must be taught, here, but I am at a loss as to what form it should take.”

Carth scoffs and rolls his eyes. “Oh, this is rich,” he says under his breath.

Jolee takes a more adversarial approach. “Well, if you can't think of anything cruel you really shouldn't be out here, young man, should you?”

Shaardan sneers at him. “I wasn’t talking to you!” he shouts at Jolee. Then he acknowledges me again. Oh, good God, that look on his face, he thinks I’m attracted to him, because of course I am, he’s the greatest person and the strongest Sith on the planet, isn’t he? Maybe even in the sector, maybe even the galaxy! God, I hate people like that. I’d punch him, but that doesn’t seem like a good idea right now. Shaardan walks closer to me, and talks like he’s ordering a meal. “I'm thinking to spare them the effort of being killed and do it myself,” he says, “Perhaps I shall turn their skin inside out? Or Force Lightning? It is a most impressive display. Or perhaps a bit of humiliation is in order? I could easily strip off their tunics and make them run through the colony. Or they could lose all control of their bodily functions… What do you think, darling? I just can't seem to decide.” Did he just grab my ass?

Out of the corner of my eye, I can see Jolee holding Carth back. Which is a good idea - I’ve got this. “You know,” I say, leaning into a bit of a sultry voice, “I think you should let them go.”

He moves away, out of either shock or disgust. I don’t care - if it gets his hand off my ass so be it. “Let them go?” he repeats, “And what could possibly convince me to do that?”

“They aren’t worth your time,” I say, still with the sexy voice. He’s not as into it anymore, but it certainly helps feed his ego. I’m not going to take him down a peg now. I’d much rather get these people out of the way.

Shaardan sighs. “I suppose not, but you're as boring as they are.” Good, I can relax. He turns back to them. “Fine, fine, go on, all of you. Hopefully you've learned something here.” They run before he can change his mind. Shaardan touches me again before he leaves.

Carth is incensed. “If Jolee hadn’t held me back, I would have killed him,” he says.

“Believe me, I wanted to punch him, too,” I say. At least he’s gone and we can go.

More trouble up ahead, of the same arrogant variety. Thankfully, there’s no innocents to get out of the way this time. Just a group of Sith Academy punks who missed their chance to be bullies as kids. “Look here, my dear friends,” says their ringleader, a human - a woman who would be pretty attractive if she wasn’t such an asshole, “We have some newcomers to the colony… led by a Jedi, no less.”

“Great,” Carth mumbles, “just what we needed. Some punks come to steal our lunch credits.”

“I don't believe I've seen any of them before, have you?” she says.

Jolee does a small scoff. “Well, if you'd seen us before, we wouldn't be newcomers, would we?”

She laughs. “Smart-mouthed newcomers, to boot.”

“Looks pretty fresh to me, Lashowe,” one of her friends says.

“That's what I thought,” she says, “Well, stranger, I don't know whether you're aware of this or not, but here on Korriban the Sith do as they please. And we are Sith. Quite literally, whether you live or die depends upon our whim. What do you think of that, hmm?”

“I think threatening a stranger is a weird thing to do,” I say, “Does that sort of meager power trip make you feel better about yourself?”

“Those are brave words for such an insignificant person,” Lashowe says, “Do you not realize how many Sith are here in Dreshdae?”

“Twelve?” Jolee says, “No, wait, thirteen!”

“Is this a raffle?” Carth says sarcastically, “How many guesses do we get?”

One of Lashowe’s friends gets pissed. “Let me kill this one, Lashowe! Let me do it!”

“Now, now,” she says, holding him back, “let's not be hasty. Perhaps our friend here could yet offer up some amusement.”

“You want amusement, hit the cantina,” I say, “I’m not a dancing girl.”

It feels tense between me and Lashowe for a moment before one of her friends laughs. “Looks like this one's not afraid of you at all, Lashowe.”

She gets mad at him. “Are you going to let us be insulted?!”

“Oh, get over yourself already,” he says, “I’m tired of this.”

A third agrees. “Yeah, this one's got some backbone, at least,” he says, “Let's go.”

Lashowe, obviously overruled and obviously upset about it, leaves with them. “Fine,” she says, not fine, “I'll deal with you later.” Ooh, I’m all a-tremble. Get real.

4 notes · View notes

jflashandclash · 5 years ago

Text

Tales from Mount Othrys

Magical Daycare IV

Axel let out a string of cusswords.

“Lou! Get her to the corner with her clothes!” From the shrill in Alabaster’s voice, Pax could deduce three things about Alabaster: he hadn’t realized Pax was a boy, he had never seen a naked girl outside of a magazine, and he was covering his eyes. Either that, or Alabaster had a thing or two to learn about girl anatomy, possibly true if Alabaster had never seen a naked girl.

Lou Ellen took Pax’s elbow. She pulled him towards the shelves. “Come on, before you give my brother a—”

When she quarter turned Pax, she went bright red and burst into giggles. “Oh!” she said.

There weren’t a lot of options on how to react. He could apologize for his nudity and for tricking all of them earlier. He could sprint to the corner and pretend to be embarrassed. (Nudity had never bothered him.) That felt disingenuous. What would Uncle Frasco have done? How could he keep Axel focused on reprimanding him instead of attacking the witches for exposing his face?

Pax winked his hazel eye at Lou Ellen. “My uncle said the best mornings are filled with surprises.” He tried to give her a charming smile.

Pain erupted in Pax’s ear. Axel might have been about to rip it off as he dragged Pax away from Lou Ellen, towards the corner with his clothing. “Don’t be a creep!” Axel snarled.

“Aye!” Pax complained. He switched to Spanish to whine, “I’m young enough; she might have thought it endearing and adorable instead.”

Uncle Frasco said Pax would only have a few more years that he could use age and ignorance as an excuse. Might as well use it.

“Get dressed,” Axel said. The tone cut off any more resistance.

Axel had handled killing the praetor. He’d handled chasing Pax down after Pax had run away—Pax knew Axel would. (Pax had just hoped the rest of their siblings would have been here with them.) Now, one of Axel’s last defenses had been robbed from him. Without the illusion, Pax could clearly see Axel’s massive canines, the gold glint to his eyes, and the way his tufted ears folded back into his hairline, several inches higher than a human’s would have been. Pax wondered if Axel could recreate the illusion when Alabaster was holding the old one or if Lou Ellen’s “Mist” weakening ward would make it difficult.

Without complaint, Pax slipped the huge band shirt over his head and tied the flannel shirt back around his waist. Although now wasn’t the time to investigate, Pax could feel something in the flannel’s front pocket. There hadn’t been anything before. Had Mercedes put something in there when she moved his clothing?

“They just seemed curious,” Pax said. “I don’t think they meant harm.” He was scared of upsetting Axel more. His older brother only ever showed his real features around the circus, where people thought it was costume make up or were performers that didn’t care. When their papa made a big deal about it, saying it showed favor from the gods, it made Axel even more self-conscious.

“Is she dressed?” Alabaster called.

Lou Ellen’s voice trembled with repressed giggles, “Almost.”

If she let him, Pax would hug her later for continuing the farce on the older boy. He liked making Alabaster flustered.

Now that Axel had accepted his features would be visible, he jammed his hands into his pockets. When the two of them approached the witches’ work table again, Axel scowled, making his elongated canines look more vicious.

Once, when their youngest sibling, Hiro, had cried at seeing Axel’s barred fangs, Pax had grabbed Axel’s jaws and opened and shut them saying, “Nom. Nom. Nom!” It sent Hiro into a fit of giggles. Pax hardly resisted doing so now, though doubted it would ease Axel’s tension.

Lou Ellen gave Pax a wink when they returned. “She’s dressed.” From the expression, Pax could tell it wasn’t a flirtatious wink but a mischievous one. Pax got the feeling she liked to mess with her sibling’s heads as much as he did.

Alabaster had uncovered his eyes to pick Axel’s fake face off the ground. He must have dropped it when Pax transformed. After clearing his throat and pretending his face wasn’t bright red, Alabaster held the illusion up. “This is excellent craftsmanship, though completely unnecessary. Lots of monsters on the ship have a combo of humanoid and animal features.”

“I’m not a monster,” Axel snarled, not helping the claim. Best way to convince people you’re not terrifying: bare your fangs at them.

Lou Ellen’s Mediterranean tan shifted to a deeper red. She seemed more enchanted with him now that she could see the shorter, spotted fur below Axel’s ears, where he pretended to shave his hair. “People have animal features too. You should see our sister, Lamia. What are you?”

The question wasn’t said with a scared or harsh tone, just curiosity. The Pax boys were used to hearing it in so many capacities. Pax and Lapis got it about their gender. Hiro, with his monolids, and Axel with his ambiguous bronze skin, got it about their race.

“Maybe some sort of massive cat?” Lou Ellen continued, not seeming to realize how rude her question was. “You don’t have slit eyes—”

“Large cats don’t have slit irises, Lelly,” Alabaster chided.

Axel cut off their conversation by motioning towards his face. “This was not for the public to see.”

Alabaster’s gaze went from distantly considering Axel’s face to narrowing at Axel’s eyes. He cleared his throat and held the illusion out for Axel.

Axel snatched it from Alabaster and began smoothing the mask of brown eyes, human ears, and shorter canines back to his features. He muttered in Mayan while he worked.

“I—I’m sorry,” Alabaster said, “I let my curiosity get the best of me. I’ve never seen someone tweak just a tiny bit of their face before. Lou Ellen is right though. You don’t need to hide your features here.”

“You’re even hotter with your real ones,” Lou Ellen said.

Pax glanced at Axel to see if the older one blushed.

Axel cleared his throat. His mouth moved like he had a response.

He didn’t.

Pax gave Lou Ellen an appreciative grin. That was the best way to disrupt tension: shocking it out of people.

“You guys are cool,” Pax said.

This time, Alabaster blinked in surprise. “That’s not the typical response we receive when turning people into small mammals.”

Most people, Pax decided, didn’t naturally have the disposition for cute, furry things the way that Pax did.

Pax scurried up to Alabaster’s side. The boy didn’t flinch back when Pax tugged his lab coat sleeve. Pax tilted his chin down and batted his eyelashes at Alabaster, the way he’d learned from Kouta’s girlfriends and some of the prostitutes their dad occasionally hired for parties and business meetings. “Can you really do magic?”

Alabaster stared at Pax for a moment, his brow furrowing in confusion. “As can the two of you, apparently?” his question was directed more at Axel. “Are the two of you children of Hecate?”

“Half our siblings are monsters,” Lou Ellen said, seeming to forget that Axel really didn’t like the M word.

“No,” Axel said.

Neither Axel nor Pax knew what to say about their parentage. Pax didn’t like saying who his mother was. Not with the mini-cult his father had formed around her and the way that cult treated Pax.[1]

Could they talk about Axel’s heritage with anyone on this ship?

Lou Ellen tilted her head to one side. The black locks of her ponytail tumbled against one shoulder. “Are you even Greek?” she asked. “You two have some other magic that interfered with my vial.”

Alabaster appeared to forget Pax for a moment. “I haven’t read of cat people in Greek mythology. Maybe—Egyptian? Though I suppose that would be your full head. Mesoamerican?”

If Alabaster were throwing at a map of the world, he would have been hitting way too close to home. Axel flinched, like each of those metaphorical darts could blow up the country of Belize. To be fair, Pax thought, Belize was a tiny country.

Something high-pitched chimed.

All four of them jumped.

After a moment, Pax realized the sound had come from a ship’s intercom in the corner of the room.

Alabaster sighed. He went to write something on his flip notebook. “I want to test your magic and how it interacts when combined with Greek magic,” he said. “They’ll want you on the top deck to test you for sword prowess, combat training, and knowledge of mythology. I’ll be up shortly to help with the assessment. They’re split into specific skills afterwards. I expect you to report back here during that time.”

When Alabaster tore the piece of paper out of his flipbook, it glowed green. Axel hesitated to take it. At his pause, Pax snatched the sheet.

He couldn’t read anything on the page. As they always did, the letters looked like abstract art to him. The sheet itself felt warm. “We get to come back!?” Pax asked. He failed at keeping the excitement from his voice.

Alabaster gently removed Pax’s other hand from his lab coat. The motion wasn’t angry, just awkward, like Alabaster wasn’t used to people touching him. Him and Mercedes. Pax vowed to give them both more hugs. “Willing test subjects, especially in their rarity, are always welcome back to the lab.”

Pax wanted to say that Alabaster could test on him all day. He rather liked turning into a weasel and was excited at whatever else the witch boy might have up his white lab sleeves.

Instead, he grinned at Alabaster’s emerald gaze.

Axel took Pax’s arm and pulled him from Alabaster’s side.

Alabaster shook his head, his expression unreadable. “Surely, if you were capable of killing the praetor, Luke will be most enthusiastic to assign you into the Assault and Battery unit. However, it would be a waste to exclusively delve into the sword with talent like that.” He motioned towards Axel’s face. The bitterness to his words reminded Pax of the conversation they overheard between him and Luke. The sentiment was so strong, he almost overlooked the compliment.

Axel grunted. “Don’t touch my illusion next time.”

Pax gave them a shy wave goodbye. Lou Ellen giddily waved back as Axel backed them towards the exit. Pax wanted to point out that the two witches could have turned them into weasels easily, and that Lou Ellen was much more likely to do so to have Axel transform back naked than for any other malicious reason. But, since Uncle Frasco and Aunt Nilley’ murders, Pax knew there wasn’t any reasoning with Axel’s paranoia.

Once outside with the lab doors shut, Axel relaxed.

“They were awesome!” Pax said, “And they want us to come back! They—”

Axel snagged Pax’s ear. “Do NOT drink something without asking what is in it. What would you have done if nuts were in there? Did you even think to bring an EpiPen from home?! And what if they’d wanted to drug you?!”

“Your imagination is boring!” Pax whined. He didn’t want to consider the idea that his new friends could be bad people.

“Yea, and if they were going to drug you, they would, like, totally slip it into the cafeteria’s fountain machine,” someone said directly beside them.

Axel jumped and dragged Pax behind him.

The blond, sunburned Nordic boy stood outside the doors, exactly where they had been eavesdropping before. His grin was so wide, Pax thought you could sell advertising space on it.

“Matthias Severe Hanson,” he said and extended a hand.

Both Axel and Pax stared skeptically at the hand. It clearly had an electric buzzer strapped to the palm.

When neither bit, Matthias lifted his hand, shook the buzzer back and forth in their faces, and tapped his fingers together. Pax wondered how often Matthias shocked himself with the device if he tapped his fingers together so often.

“You two are good. Pax, right?” He pointed a finger gun at Pax. “Did you get it?! That Mercedes Benz chick said that you got it.”

For a moment, Pax didn’t know how to respond. This was the first person to properly introduce themselves, but he’d glazed over the introduction so rapidly, Pax was still back by “Matthias Severe Hanson.” But hadn’t this boy already said that he knew his name?

“Got what?” Axel asked.

The answer hit Pax with a bead of sweat. He puffed up his cheeks and popped them, reaching into pocket of the flannel shirt tied around his waist. As he feared, he withdrew a vial.

Axel was going to kill him.

Matthias bent his middle and ring finger down in some weird hand motion. “Awesome!” he cried.

Pax darted to the side when Axel went to slap him across the head. “Ajax!” he snarled. “When did you even have time to grab that?! You were a weasel!”

Pax dashed behind Matthias as the blond pointed out, “Actually, that’s kind of weasels’ thing.”

“I didn’t!” Pax squeaked, “Mercedes!”

“Yea right,” Axel growled.

She must have slipped it into his pocket when she moved his clothing. He’d unwittingly been part of a smuggling operation. And he’d just stolen from two witches. He knew what happened to people who stole from witches. “These aren’t…. drugs, are they? Am I going to be cursed?!”

Matthias laughed again, snatching the vial from Pax’s fingers. He didn’t seem to mind his meat shield status between the two brothers. “Na, man. This is the perfect thing for a prank! Ohhhhhhh!!!!! Chris is going to owe you some drachma!”

“No, he won’t. You are going to owe Alabaster and Lou Ellen an apolo—”

Axel never got to finish his sentence.

Someone threw an arm around Axel’s shoulder.

Like any normal teenager would, Axel judo-flipped Jack over his shoulder and onto the floor.

Jack’s butt and legs smacked loudly against the carpet. He clutched at the arm Axel had mangled. “Ow—holy titans, kid! That was—”

Axel paled.

He and Pax scrambled to help Jack up.

“Don’t sneak up on me!” Axel said. He puffed up his cheeks and popped them. Clearly, losing his face once today had left him on edge.

Jack gave him a pained grin as the brothers each took an arm. “We finished up our vocal practices and wanted to check on how you boys were doing with your caretaker. You got your dad good.”

“You’re not my—” Axel bit back his own comment. Pax could tell Axel didn’t want to both physically and emotionally assault the redhead within minutes of each other, especially with Jack’s eyes watering the way they were.

A few feet behind them, Flynn stood. She was in the middle of slipping her hair blades back into her bun. Pax realized, in alarm, she must have withdrawn them to use on Axel if things got out of hand. Their new mother was terrifying. Awesome, but terrifying. “You’re late to sword practice,” she said, crossing her arms.

Pax tried not to feel disappointed. He would rather help with the witches all day. Unlike Lapis and Axel, he never did as well during fighting practice, though he did excel at evasion and running away. Running away was his favorite, next to eating Reese’s Sticks.

During their altercation, Matthias must have slipped the vial into his pocket. He’d taken a few steps back, to stay clear of their new parents.

“Are you coming to sword practice?” Pax asked.

Matthias grinned. “If by sword practice, you mean lay down and prostate myself…? I find it discourages people greatly from stabbing me.”

Flynn scowled at Matthias. Unlike most other people Pax had seen, Matthias didn’t cower away from her.

“He doesn’t have to come to this training. He makes the traps for it,” Flynn explained.

Matthias pinched his thumbs and forefingers at his collarbone, like he was wearing suspenders. He rocked forward. “I’m a mechanic.”

Pax’s mind buzzed with ideas. He could be part of this violent cult and not fight? That sounded awesome. Mercedes mentioned the Spy Unit that she wanted to create, but how long would that take to make? “How do I become a mechanic? Or a witch?!”

Jack choked on a laugh. He ruffled Pax’s hair. While talking, he shooed Axel and Pax towards the stairs. “Be a child of Hephaestus or Athena, usually. Or Hecate for the other. There are some people that are naturally skilled at it—”

Matthias scurried alongside them. He, like Pax, struggled to keep up with Jack’s long strides. “Ximena is a daughter of Ares and she’s really naturally adept with engines, so she helps us a lot.” Matthias bobbed his head to unheard music and tapped his fingers in the air.

Pax’s shoulders sagged. His mom definitely wasn’t one of those gods. He liked to sew and draw; he’d never been good at fixing the beat-up cars that their Chiich’s boyfriend brought back to their house.

“Does Luke run all the fighting drills?” Axel asked.

From what Pax had seen of Axel’s fighting, his older brother would be genuinely curious. Axel always wanted to learn more so he could better protect Pax. After seeing how powerful the witches were, he probably wanted a confidence booster.

Jack beamed at them and looked at Flynn, his bright eyes wide. The way he whipped his head made his red locks flop into his eyes.

“I run them,” she said, staring ahead as they twisted up several flights of stairs. Pax wished he would have counted how many they descended so he could make a countdown going up. “And, since I can’t show favoritism towards our… children,” she said the word with distaste, “I will need to be harsher on the two of you.”

Axel beamed at the thought. Leave it to his brother to be excited about a good ass kicking.

Jack grinned back. He poked Axel in the chest and nodded to Pax. “Before Flynn beats you up, you two are in for a surprise today.”

They finally crested the last flight of stairs, to a pair of glass sliding door. As their sensors went off and they automatically slid open, allowing a burst of warm air to blast Pax in the face, he almost squeaked.

Waiting outside the doors was a smirking Luke.

He tossed a sword to Axel, then Pax.

Matthias, seeming to sense the gravity of the situation, bolted.

“You’re getting private lessons with me today,” he said.

Remembering what Alabaster said about Luke’s mood and the way he’d struck the witch, Pax swallowed. They were dead.

***

Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed :D Next week, I’m taking a short break, but I’ll come back the week after with Luke’s two-parter Big Boy Conversations.

***

Footnote:

[1] Mel betanote: “cults everywhere!” Jack, “Now you get a cult! And you get a cult!” the Greeks will be so pleased XD

#Tales from Mount Othrys #Percy Jackson and the Olympians #Heroes of Olympus #PJO #hOO #TFMO #fanfiction #Axel #Alabaster #Pax #Lou Ellen #Matthias #Jack #Flynn #Luke #Axel needs a leash for Pax #And a restraining order for Lou Ellen #He doesn't yet realize she can sneak into his room at any time with Pax's willing help

4 notes · View notes

thegeminisage · 8 years ago

Text

today’s zeldablogging which is full of spoilers:

the sight of my new sword sends a thrill into my heart tbh

if i ever replay this game, which tbh idk if i will, it's so Big, SS was only a third or a quarter of this size and i've only beaten it twice, im going to get it as soon as possible next time

anyway im back at the tower i suppose i'll crawl down and check out the enemies properly

i dont like gliding to towers i've discovered bc it feels like i've been plopped down into the middle of nowhere with no context

vs if i walk to them i know "where" i came from/am, if that makes any sense

(it doesn't)

i can see that flying thing closer than ever from here and it's DEFINITELY a divine beast no doubts left

yk tho. i dont WANNA check out the enemies. i wanna find that weird blanked out place at the top of my map!

haha i can feel it already

i'm so anxious to get to the end of the game and uncover the plot im gonna be like "FUCK EXPLORING" for the rest of it and only go to the places i need, now that i've got this map

i can always do more thorough exploration after, i've been spoiled that there's postgame content, but even if there's not like any other zelda game it'd put me right back before the final battle

god im having to go ALL THE WAY AROUND the lost woods i can't even glide over the nearby river to make the path shorter i bet there's an easier way to do this from the other side but i havent been there yet

ah, another forest covered in fog. black fog. how inviting.

ohhh, it's a shrine trial. wonderful. in the pitch blackness!

this is already worse than eventide

luckily i have the weird glowy skeleton suit i bought from the boy gerudo clothes store

i forgot to mention it bc i had no IDEA what it was for, but here we are

like. this has to be lmao

i keep dying in my first six steps what am i doing wrong??

oh, maybe bc i'm gliding in, i see a bridge on the map

ohhh god i hear a hinox...why, lord

haha im like.following the ways the statues point and. they're pointing at the hinox! wow!

lol when i realized the stone birds had torches on top i started over so i could light them all

OHHH I WOKE UP THE HINOX I DIDN'T EVEN GET A SURPRISE ATTACK IN

MASTER SWORD HELP ME

oh god this glowy armor has no defense!!

i'll just leave the helm on, then

oh thank fuck i used an atk+ elixir and it waasnt so bad

see, like, i COULD explore that upper ridge but thanks to the map i already know it's full of silver lynels. no thanks.

oh my god the yiga clan is RELENTLESS right here i guess bc i'm going around the back of (shudder) hyrule castle

oh!! a stable, thank goodness, i was starting to get wigged out

i guess all those people on the road had to have meant something

this isn't even on the map!!

oh wait lol yes it is

aww, i don't see beedle here...i was sure he'd be at everyone, i don't think i've encountered one where he isn't yet...

i'll be honest, i've grown kind of bored of combat

and know i'm biased but i genuinely i don't think it's me, i think it's the game's difficulty/"difficulty"

i used to see monster camps and think STRATEGY, is there a beehive, barrels to blow up, a place i can glide down from, this is so fun!

which gradually morphed into "okay this is gonna be a bit of a long haul but there'll be Treasure and sniping from afar is still fun"

idk if the black bokoblins/moblins/etc show up after you've done more things or bc of the area you're in but i'm noticing more enemies with more health, higher defense, and higher attack, and the barrels/metal boxes/beehives/etc becoming rarer, and when they do appear, being almost pointless to use because you're more likely to blow yourself up than do any real damage to the mobs

and like i love this game. it absolutely deserves every bit of its raid reviews, and this feeling COULD just be because i've been marathoning it for 12 straight days and i'm anxious to see the end and get back to my life

but to me, attacking a flat area full of black moblins and bokoblins isn't fun even with the stealth/snipe element bc you can't take them out in 1-3 shots, you have to stop and slash at them, and that alerts EVERYONE else, and it's just pointless

(lol i found some flat ruins by the stable which triggered this rant)

like, even the yiga clan hideout - my instinct was to snipe the enemies as i went, which would have made it a bit more fun imo, even though the stealth bit wasn't bad and i enjoyed that section quite a lot

i just don't like the—idk a better term for it unfortunately—"fake difficulty" thing where you just have to slog your way thru 1000s of random battles, i don't like it in rpgs either

kind of like almost wherever i explored at first i would run into minibosses rarely and then almost constantly

which, yeah, most of them aren't as hard now, But Still, it's the point of the thing

maybe i'm a bit defensive about "real gamer" bullshit and "women can't game" stereotypes while being super bad at games my whole life while my brother was fantastic at them

but like i just don't find that fun?? sure a good challenge once in awhile like eventide isle would be fine (even tho that was hellish and i'll never do it again) but that should be. every once in awhile, not. EVERYWHERE

anyway

frankly @ this point i'm REALY tempted to speed thru it before my surgery

bc i would hate to be laid up in bed and still have to worry about mobile browsing bc botw spoilers and tumblr's interface being awful

anyway i can;'t travel further in this direction without getting over near rito/hyrule field territory

and not only are those towers further away than i'd like but i wanted to do gerudo highlands first so back to the desert i go i guess rip

oh my god the wastelands tower goes down into NOTHINGNESS you're SUPPOSED to apporach from above

also i heard kass!! kass, buddy, where are you ;_;

oh i LOVE these cliffside structures i've been looking forward to them for so long

but i can't find kass ;_;

ALL tower shenanigans must CEASE until he is located!!

wait, he's...i see him! he's at the top of the tower! oh my god!

I'M COMIN, KASS

awww he wants to play the song for the hero who fell 100 years ago! he doesn't know it's me! ;__;

oh gross level two cold here and i didn't bring much cold food...just my warm doublet

wait

i have food AND the jacket and im STILL cold? this is level THREE? wtf wtf wtf

good thing i also have the ruby circlet but jeeeesus

i still have no food so i can't stay long

oh shit i found some guardians

still ones thank god

dude i found a HUGE cool mural for one shrine!!

yeah, this game is definitely still as full of fun secrets and as deslightful as when i first began playing it

and it came at a good time bc i just lost angela and it helped me feel Real Joy again

most displeasure i find with it now is because "AAAH ZELDA AT SOME POINT I NEED TO GET BACK TO MY FUCKING LIFE"

i'm so worried about spoilers and being behind now that some of the fun is draining away

i think after a bit of time has passed i'll either go back and finish exploring properly or straight up start a new file

and do it Thoroughly

when i can relax and go at my own pace instead of feeling like i'm racing the internet, my dashboard, my friends, my brother, etc

this region is soooo cold and i am so certain i'll get better cold gear in the rito area that im just activating the shrines and not even going inside to use my little food as efficiently as possible

im lit not even going inside

oh it's dropped to level 2 cold...thank god

THERE i got them all now to rush to ritoland

wait...i thought i read the 10k fairy wrong but i see ANOTHER on the map!

i bet SHE wants 10k and i have four thousand fucking rupees UGH

i thought there were only 4 and the horse fairy counted.......

ohh my god the divine beast is much closer from where i'm gliding...it's so big

I SEE DINAAL BUT I'M ON A FUCKING GLIDER SLKDFJGH

oh i've been typing it wrong all this time. dinRaal.

ohhh this region is so pretty so far...unlike the highlands which is miserable, i HATE snow in this game, i actually do wanna explore around here, i wish i didn't feel so hurried

oh god that divine beast is just So. it is So Big

god i passed the fairy on my way to the tower...10k! and i haven't been watching my cash bc i thought i misread something

all this time i've had 12 and 13 thousand rupees and i was blowing them on dumb shit

SILVER bokoblins...? come ON

good loot, tho

got the tower!

ohhh man. tat divine beast. oh boy. oh dude. big. so big. jesus fuck

oh hey i see rito village!! just where i wanted to go first

they better have good cold gear here :|

OH FUCK THERE'S THE BEAST SCREECHING

oh my god it's SO BIG im SO SCARED jesus FUCK

i wonder if kass will be here

IT'S RITO ISLAND MUSIC

IM GOING TO CRY

IT REALLY IS!!!! IT REALLY IS RITO ISLAND MUSIC

oh god it's BEAUTIFUL

aw omg the goddess statue here has a flower crown!

all right, fifteen heart containers...the rest will be stamina 5ever

no wait fuck i should have gotten stamina this time!! i'll get a heart from the beast

well i know you can trade them, somewhere out here i think

this beautiful too tbh this is all nice and orchestrated Damn

geez the armor will set me back even more money! not TOO much but when you're saving up for 10k...

well, against my brother's advice, i'm selling monster parts...i know i'll regret it later if i need them to upgrade armor, but i'm trying to stick to the common ones i have like 100+ of, so

aaand 10! woohoo

awww all the little baby rito in the hammocks :')

OMG the biggest rito looks like an owl! kaepora reference

oooh here comes a memory

AHAHAHA

revali and link were rivals. ok. im down with that for sure

and his specisal ability! an updraft!! PERFECT tbh

aww teba's husband doesn't want her son to be a warrior

tho i like the idea that ritos are hotheads hahahaha

zoras and gorons are both kinda collected we needed some assholes

HA i look forward to when revali gives me his special ability

i'm crying teba is such an asshole i LOVE him

wow i guess it's time to fight the beast already...? that was so FAST

omg i get to ride him!!!! yessss

oh my gosh we're up so HIGH oh man oh man the world is so tiny but i know it's really so huge oh god the divine beast is so BIG

lol i probs should have upgraded this rito armor.......

oh well too late now lmao

ohhh i love it when they talk to me

TEBA?

HE'S HURT OMG ):

nintendo would never kill him but omg im so worried about him

AAAAAH THERE'S REVALI

ohhh he's a DICK i LOVE HIM

ooh the master sword DOES glow when it's near the malice blight stuff

lowkey tempted to go back and upgrade this armor lol but i don't wanna leave and who even knows if i have the mats...

i'll just brave it thru like this and it'll be something to brag about later since apparently i suck at everything else

like doing eventide with five hearts on the blood moon

LMAO REVALI IS SO SMUG "you'll need to activate all the terminals, think you're up to it?" he's a DICK and i LOVE HIM i LOVE THE RITO

the music in this one is SO COOL?

i feel more like i'm fighting for my life/against something larger here, rather than just trying to creep through gently without disturbing anything and solve a puzzle for the others

and it's 100% bc of the music jesus christ

i LOVE how much gliding is involved this is EASILY my favorite divine beast so far

lol revali's tone of surprise in "there are two terminals remaining" i love him so much

"just one terminal remaining hmph what do you know" pls

all five down now the true test is can i beat the boss LMAO

the last 3 weren't nearly as bad as i expected, tho the lightning one's teleporting thing was almost too fast for me with my one-handed weapons

so maybe hopefully with good food this will be OK too

ok, i got level 2 cold food so i can get by with just wearing the pants :U not as much defense as i'd like but better than nothin

"it only defeated me bc i was winging this"

"can't believe i'm saying this but avenge me link!!"

ohhh there's accordian in this version of the fight song

KASS ;_;

i wonder if kass's teacher WAS revali, or knew him

LMAO revali trash talks me when i get hit

KEEP YOUR HEAD IN THE GAME i didnt even watch that movie and im laughing at the meme

lmao "broke" the master sword with the last bow

eeeewww

DAAAAAMN

wouldn't even look at link as he left "your job is far from finished you know zelda has been waiting an awfully long time"

haha "i'll be plucked" as well thanks nintendo

"we've been ARTFULLY patient these last 100 years you won't suffer a feather over a few more moments"

geez i love him so much

that was definitely the best divine beast

tho the zora one is a close second

i gotta go make sure teba is ok

IM CRYING ZELDA JUST TOLD ME TO GO TO HYRULE CASTLE

soon i promise ok

time to go see the great fairy :U man i really thought my armor had been improved all it could be...

and 10k down the drain...

omg she's pink :3

im ALSO warping back to akkala to see if i can get any guardian armor yet i've collected a fair amt of parts!

LMAO I FINALLY HAVE THE MATS AND I DON'T HAVE THE CASH rip

ohhhh i see a new storm over hyrule field...DNW

lol maybe i SHOULD have explored it before now...too late now

holy shit i almost ran straight into a flying guardian going after this soul piece

ok, i need a plan...if i wanna beat the game before friday i gotta be Smart

i still need to finish exploring all the provinces, at least at the sursory level i gave to the highlands, but hopefully maybe a little better

i need to go back and do shrines and sidequests

and obviously i need to actually finish

counting today i have three days left so i guress i'll assign one task to each day, the last task obviously being on thursday

less than two hours left for playtime today, but i guess today i should explore, tomorrow i should shrine/sidequest, and i can do a LITTLE of that thursday if needed, and thursday i'll storm hyrule castle. ok

slkfjgh

SDLFGJHDLFKJG god. ok

aaaah the ruins music makes me so sad ):

pffft cute i got a memory where zelda was like STOP FOLLOWING ME I DONT NEED A BODYGUARD at link how adorable

i wanted to get all the memories before i beat the game but they're like ALL in/around hyrule field/castle and i'm afraid if i go there now that i've gotten all the beasts freed i'll trigger endgame events that i can't stop

so i guess i fucked myself over

i think i'll go ahead and get all the towers tho

so i can move around freely

i have time for like one MAYBE two before stream starts

aw this tower in the cold place is so cute and short

looked it up & apparently the heart/stamina swap is in hateno so im gonna go find it!

oh i came at night but that monster store guy is here!!

omg DUDE he sells DARK LINK gear?!?!

and apparently your movement speed goes up at night

the mask and bridles are pretty cool but i HAVE to have this

lmao and i just sold all my parts for that 10k...!

man he doesn't give you a lot tho...like, it has its own currency...i could never sell enough to get even one :/

ok, i can buy the tunic or the legs...but not the face. hmm

i guess the legs alone would look pretty dumb, but i have black pants and a hood that can kinda go with the tunic, so

this is kinda outta nowhere but i wish there was a recipe book for everything we've unlocked or read about, i just can't keep it all in my head

LOL omg that was freaky

okay but now i gotta quit

i didn't get all that i wanted to done, but maybe more later tonight but def tomorrow!!

playing a bit more bc bad choices

oh hmm it looks like i was mistaken and that storm isn't over the castle afterall! thank goodness

oh my god there's SO many shrines in the hebra peak range?? why???

LMFAO im thawing blocks of ice to get to this shrine and one has a moblin in it

me: stops thawing

OH MY GOD

THIS RANGE HAS AURORAS

IM GONNA CRY JFC

and i missed snapping a picture because of enemies!!! im so mad

too bad SO sad i am going back to those fires that started and waiting for night again i WILL get a picture

ugh and now it's snowing

i guess i could unlock this nearby shrine in the meantime

ooh, is that a cabin

;___; old man

end of the game and i still miss you

O: shield surfing

oh man i didnt actually wanna DO it now but

i actually dont know how to do the thing lol

lord, i had to google it. no one said a thing about pressing A

that was fun!! also i was worried i'd get lost so maybe i'll just. not do this for now

THERE! YES! AURORAS!

ooh god there's a silver lynel down there

i know i've been bitching over and over about fights but i lowkey wanna fight it to see if i can

i won't though bc my cold armor isn't very upgraded and my defense would be shot probably even with def+ food

as an aside im glad rivali's ability recharges so quickly i was afraid they'dmake me wait ages like the others

ohhh my god there's SO MANY silver lynel around here WHY

they have such a long detection range and such a scary roar )))):

thank god for rivali's gale i can fly right over him...otherwise i'd have to Run

there's another maze shrine here and im highkey like Ugh

idk if i'll quit when i get to the entrance or after i solve the maze...

i guess i'll give it a quick try and if it's horrible i'll stop until later

naturally i'm wondering if i can solve it on my map first and/or get to the top

if i could before with as little stamina as i had then: sure i'd be able to

probably there are guardians and the answer isnt THAT easy but

the entire maze seems to be one path which is absolutely useless to me like it doesn't look like a maze you solve on paper so i obviously have to find a door or go above or below all that somehow

there are no guardians up here at ALL

in fact i think i even see a hole down to the shrine...

ok, what's the catch, what gives

ah no the hole only goes down a couple of feet and has a chest with a diamond in it

the devs saying "nice try but no" lol

i did find the entrance pretty quick from the top tho! and now i can warp back anytime

or no wait this WAS the challenge i can just go get my orb and ches

DUDE THE ATK+ LEGS......DUDE

ok i gotta figure out the shrine the chest is in and get it i NEED it this armor plus a def+ elixir? i'd be unstoppable, no more dodging fights for me!

well, less dodging fights

ok, so i looked it up and the chest is in a gerudo maze which i didn't even know existed bc i either missed it on the interactive map or it wasn't ther

but it looks Difficult so im gonna save it for tmrw

#personal #loz blogging #botw spoilers

2 notes · View notes