#in he previous one it was the Wing who was chasing them right?

[somerandomcockroach]

Savage

Monster hunter au part 5

Ratchet being worried that his fiendly beast got killed or decided to leave him while he’s actually just started his anime training episode👍

Oh my god this au is taking over my brain haha thank you all so so much for your kind comments and deranged tags. I’m eating them for breakfast>:D

Part 4

[hussyknee]

Trying to explain what the fuck just happened in Lankan politics today.

The leftist party has won 159 seats out of 218 in the Parliamentary elections. The single biggest landslide win since we broke from the British and achieved universal franchise in 1948.

Any party achieving a super majority in the executive and legislative is, objectively speaking, bad. It disables checks and balances, which is a catastrophic thing for any democracy, and the only two other times it's happened for us has irrevocably eroded the fabric of civic rights and democratic freedom. Also, the reason the NPP won the North and East is that the colonized, genocided and subjugated people there have no faith in electoralism anymore. The way this government has engaged minority issues has been utterly abysmal and now they've been rewarded for it.

On the other hand:

The winners. Are all. Grassroots. Candidates.¹

We have voted out every single career criminal that's been barnacled into the Lankan political arena since before I've been alive. The fascist party has only three seats.² The other fascists didn't win a single seat. The neoliberal legacy party won none. There are only forty people in Parliament that represent any sort of dynastic political legacy. After 76 solid years of nothing but political dynasties.

This is barely five years after the Rajapaksas swept in and absolutely glutted the Parliament with their family members and cronies end to end.

This is the illegitimate interim government we had for most of the last 18 months. We literally, physically, chased the Rajapaksas out of the country and this fucking demon set up a puppet government just so he could finally sit in that goddamn chair and be the despot he'd always dreamed of in exchange for letting them all come back. He's now gone. His entire circle is gone.

THEY ARE ALL FUCKING GONE.

In US terms, just imagine that, five years from now, when Trump's GOP has control of everything, the entire GOP and the worst of the Dems are all purged from Congress and Senate, the Green Party in control of all three branches of government under a pro-union left-wing President and an unmarried female LGBT rights activist Vice President, and the Dems reduced to barely 20% of the House.

This is my anthropology professor. She joined politics from the small nascent leftist coalition to help keep the government accountable. She's now the Prime Minister and the most popular Parliamentary candidate in the nation's history. (Edit: She was knocked off first place by a dude in the final result. Boo.)

(On the other hand— the woman who helped make me a radical anarchist and literally helped write a book on political dissent and resistance...now is the state. Uh.)

But there are so many women in Parliament! We had the lowest female representation in a South Asian Parliament and some of them were from the list of seats reserved for parties rather than elected ones. Most were either anti-feminist conservative embarrassments, widows and daughters of elite politicians and neoliberal shills. It's still only an increase of a few percentage points (Edit: from the previous 5% to 10% in the final result!) but now we have elected academics, feminist advocates, activists! There Is a representative for Malaiyaha Tamils in the Central Province for the first time in history and it's a young woman! (Edit: now it's two female Malaiyaha MPS!!) This is the plantation community that still live in conditions closest to the slavery the British forced upon them two hundred years ago!

I'm like. Completely mindfucked. To be very very clear, the NPP coalition formed around the nucleus of the JVP that used to be communist but haven't been in 30 years, they're now just social democrats who are left of places like the US and UK, whose "left" is now center-right. They're only threatening to the Western mainstream media for some reason who can't stop bleating about how we have a "Marxist" government now. In reality, the actual chances for radical reform are still quite low, and the opportunity for further erosion is quite high with a super majority government regardless of affiliation.

On the other hand:

What the fuck.

Sometimes living through historical events is really damn amazing.

---

¹ Well, nearly. There are a few career politicians and a nepo baby but they aren't so bad either.

² Goddamn it, Baby Rajapaksa and Sri Lanka's answer to JD Vance have wormed their way in using the list of Constitutionally reserved party seats for non-elected members. FUCK the National List.

[leonawriter]

Avian/bird whisperer Hakuba who hears about Kaitou Kid using doves in his thievery and doesn't just come to chase him but to figure out if the birds are okay, and ends up coo'd over by an entire dovecot's worth of birds who are all more than happy to tell him exactly how much they love their master and friend Kaito the moment he tells them that he won't (can't, the speech of birds can't be used in a court of law, after all) use what they say against him.

His impression of Kaito becomes rather more positive after that, and Kaito himself finds it hard to truly hate the detective when he keeps coming around to his house (he'd wondered if the guy had come with a warrant, the first time) to... pet and play with his doves? And bring them treats?

The chase becomes more fun than to actually catch and arrest Kid, although it is sometimes hard to explain to a flock of excited birds that no, they cannot use him as a perch or beg treats when he isn't supposed to know them right now.

It also becomes headache-inducing when the birds start to try and encourage him to spend more time at the dovecot-nest. To be friends with Kaito more. Birds don't see things the same way humans do, but when they spend enough time around humans they can... translate well enough back and forth that Saguru knows that it's the same effect as an extended family all trying to say want to stay for dinner, dear? Because one time hearing one of the birds ask when he was going to start giving nest-gifts to Kaito was more than enough of a hint. And unfortunately there's nothing he can say any longer to stop that kind of talk.

Equally headache-inducing is how Watson had outright asked to go with him to Japan at least once. He had thought that his own bird was more mature than a flock of doves, but apparently that was all a misunderstanding, because the moment Watson knew who Kaito was, the overgrown chicken started flapping wings and protesting that he "only wanted to talk." While the case was still ongoing.

From the sound of what he heard later, Watson had hunted after Kaito after he'd flown from the helicopter and, since Kaito couldn't talk to birds, had simply... stared Kid down for an apparently uncomfortable length of time.

It's only after Kaito ends up watching Hakuba talk his birds into doing things he'd never been able to teach them as tricks that Kaito realises what Hakuba is capable of and that he's not just known he's Kid all this time but Known, and had inside information, and- he lets himself explode a little, calling his birds "little traitors" and accusing Hakuba of only coming over to see his "information sources" rather than him.

They're both rather hurt by that.

Kaito more so than Saguru, after Watson decides to take matters into their own hands (wings, claws) and screeches in his ear, as well as "not being careful" with the claws and beak until Kaito agrees to go and apologise to Saguru.

A few of the doves go with him, and get rather excited, flying off ahead.

Saguru himself dryly points out that he's well aware that whatever happened, Kaito must have forgotten to return the target of the previous night's heist, because now most of their shared aviary is convinced that said gemstone is Kaito's first nest-gift to him. Which Saguru will graciously accept before handing it in to the police, thank you very much, even if he doesn't admit exactly how he managed to get his hands on it.

[writing-until-i-drop]

Wildflowers For A Hangman Ch. 4

Summary:

Daisy, a career novelist, moves in with her college best friend Phoenix who has been permanently assigned to Top Gun with Dagger Squad. She finds herself instantly connected with a cocky pilot who's soft only for her and Jake can't help but want to know everything about her. When the past comes knocking at both of their doors, will they stand together or fall apart?

Or: The Dagger Squad can't cook and Jake falls in love with a woman who makes a mean lasagna while they work their personal trauma.

Jake "Hangman" Seresin x writer!femOC | 18+ (eventually) minors dni. Fluff, smut (eventual), idiots in love, past trauma.

A/N: Cassandra isn't speaking to Daisy and her work suffers but a call from her brother should make everything better, right?

AO3 Link

Previous Chapter

Cassandra wasn’t cooperating today and I knew better than to try and force it. Instead, I tried my hand at writing something overtly and didn’t make it a full page before scrapping the entire project. I’d had a few boyfriends before but none of them had given me the foot-popping, sparks-flying, kind of romance people wrote about. 

In a desperate attempt to get something done, I wrote a few paragraphs more of an abandoned project about a kid detective trying to solve the theft of a neighbor’s lawn gnome. It wasn’t my most inspired piece of work, one of the many reasons Jason had told me to drop it, but it felt good to write something. 

After completely throwing in the towel, I cleaned the apartment and made a double batch of M&M cookies, snacking on the chocolate candies as I went. Once the kitchen was cleaned again, I realized that I had made enough cookies to feed an army without an army to feed. 

Daisy: Movie night at our place with the daggers? 

Daisy: I may have stress baked

After an hour, Natasha responded affirmatively and I decided to run to the store for more snacks. While debating between Dorito flavors, my phone rang, Harvey’s picture flashing on the screen.

“Hey, Harv,” I greeted him, adding both bags of chips to my cart. “How are my girls?” 

“Driving me crazy as usual,” Harvey laughed and I felt a bit lighter inside. There had been a point in our childhoods where I felt resentful that Harvey could be so happy but my therapist and a healthy dose of prescriptions had helped me past that. “How’s life in California?” 

“Hot,” I joked. “The sun’s insufferable but it’s good to be living with Tasha again. She’s got some great friends that I bribed with cookies into accepting me as one of them.” 

“Of course you did, your cookies could broker world peace.” I chuckled, waiting for Harvey to cut to the chase as I continued to throw all the snack foods I could find into the cart including frozen pizzas and chicken wings. “August is coming to an end.” There it was. I sighed but stayed silent, “How are you doing, DeeDee?” 

“I’ve already scheduled the flowers to be sent to their graves and-” 

“That’s not what I meant and you know it.” 

“I’m fine, Harv. I’m keeping busy, trying not to think about it.” Something fell behind me and I nearly jumped out of my skin, white-knuckling the cart. It was like a switch flipped, all of my nerves lighting on fire, the acute paranoia I’d worked so hard to rid myself of sprinting to the forefront of my mind. The hairs on the back of my neck stood on end as Harvey’s voice faded into a soft buzzing. Was someone watching me? No, no one was watching me. I tried to shake off the feeling, moving at a snail’s pace through the aisle. I looked down at my feet and I could have sworn I saw red despite the canvas being black. 

“Daisy?” I heard my name through the fog, “Daisy Louise? DeeDee, you’re okay. You’re okay, everything’s okay, DeeDee.” Harvey. Harvey was calling for me. Where was he? I had to get to him. “I’m okay, DeeDee. I’m safe.” The fog pulled away and I was on the floor of the frozen aisle, my phone beside me. 

“Harvey?” 

“I’m here, I’m alright, DeeDee.” He soothed, “Are you okay?” I grabbed the phone, tucking my head between my knees.

“I’m okay, Harv. I just…”

“I know, it’s okay. It’s normal but you should call Natasha and have her pick you up.” That was completely off of the table. I could handle this by myself, all I needed to do was get to my feet and everything would be okay. “I love you, DeeDee.”

“I love you too, Harvey.” I sat on the floor with my head in my hands for a few seconds after hanging up, evening out my breathing until I didn’t think I was going to pass out anymore. I struggled my way through checkout, my mind drifting and then snapping back to reality with everyone off-kilter sound I heard or thought I heard. But when my hands were shaking too hard to put the keys in the ignition, I put my pride inside and called Tasha. 

“Phoenix’s phone,” Coyote picked up and I nearly ended the call, “Daisy?” 

“Is Tasha there?” Fuck, I sounded like I had been crying. My voice wavered, full of emotion.

“She’s in the air, what’s wrong, Daisy?” Coyote was all business and I appreciated him for it.

“It’s fine, nevermind,” I even failed at convincing myself that things were fine. Coyote sighed then replied in a soft, quiet voice.

“Daisy, Nat told me that sometimes you have anxiety attacks. Is that what happened?” Damn it. Natasha had helped me through more than her fair share of them in college, it only made sense that she would tell someone important to her like Coyote.

“You can’t tell anyone,” I sighed, “I just, I’m at the grocery store and I don’t know if I should be driving home like this.” I heard Jake’s voice in the background and tensed, “Don’t tell Hangman.” Coyote chuckled,

“Yes, ma’am. Alright, there’s two ways this can go. I can ask Mav for permission to come get you or I can call Penny.” Neither option sounded preferable. “Penny’s going to ask a lot of questions because she’s a mom and then she’s going to tell Mav anyways. I will ask no questions because I’ve already got an idea of what’s going on.” 

“As long as Mav’s the only extra person in the loop,” I relented. “And Javy? Thanks.” 

Javy showed up in his flight suit not long after and I was distracted for a second by just how handsome he was. Natasha’s taste in men had gotten a lot better since college.

“Do you want to stop for food on the way back? Sugar will make you feel better after an adrenaline dump like that.” I nodded, thanking him again for showing up. “You’re part of the squad now, Daisy, no thanks necessary.” The sentiment warmed my heart, a soft smile appearing despite the embarrassing situation. 

“Can we get Wendy’s? It’s my favorite.” A spicy chicken nugget and a Dr. Pepper sounded amazing right now. Javy messed my hair like a big brother,

“Whatever you want.” After a few minutes of listening to the radio in silence, Javy glanced over at me. “So, what do you think of Hangman?” 

“What do you think of Tasha?” I shot back, not expecting him to answer but he took me by surprise.

“She’s one hell of a woman and a fantastic pilot.” Javy grinned like a lovesick idiot and I found myself smiling too, “I’m lucky she gives me the time of day if I’m being honest.” He glanced over at me again, still smiling and I rolled my eyes. “Your turn.” 

“Hangman’s a flirtatious ass,” Javy barked with laughter, pulling into the Wendy’s. “But Jake’s nice and he listens to me when I go on my rants about random shit. Like, I swear he probably listened to me talk about Sherlock Holmes for an hour the other night.” 

“Hour and a half,” Javy snickered, “We timed it.” I couldn’t even be mad, laughing with him.

“Not even Tasha would let me go on like that! So yeah, I think Jake’s pretty great.” I brushed my hair into my eyes to hide my blush, “Anyways, I’ll take a spicy number ten with a Dr. Pepper, please.” 

“Do you want a frosty too?” Yep. Natasha’s taste in men had definitely improved.

After cooing over me like a mother hen and calling Harvey to let him know I was okay, Natasha took Harvey to get his car. After taking a shower and finishing the large frosty Javy bought me even when I told him not to, I felt a lot better. Well enough to respond to the texts Jake had been sending me. 

Jake: Everything okay? 

Jake: Coyote told me to mind my business and that you were fine but I want to hear it from you

Jake: Phoenix also told to mind my business

Jake: Honey I need to hear it from you

Jake: If you don’t text me in ten minutes I’m coming over

I rolled my eyes but the butterflies in my stomach took flight, swirling in delight that Jake was concerned for me. 

Daisy: Listen to Javy, pretty boy. I’m fine

Jake: Too late

“If this boy isn’t careful, I’m going to fall in love with him,” I whispered to the empty kitchen, ripping open a packet of M&Ms. 

X

“Hey,” Daisy greeted me with a lazy smile, throwing back a palmful of M&Ms. Something was off about her but I couldn’t put my finger on it just yet. I was going to figure it out though, you could bet on that. 

“Hey, Wildflower. How are you feeling?” She rolled her eyes like she didn’t have a care in the world but her shoulders tensed. Coyote had been tight lipped over why he had left work early but with how both he and Phoenix were acting, I knew it had to be Daisy and that had spun me up into a twister of anxiety that eased a little seeing her.

“I told you I was fine, see?” She gestured down her body. Daisy was in cartoon pajama shorts that showed off her pale thighs and a tank top, her endless curves on display from top to bottom. I swallowed hard, my mind filled with thoughts of running my hands over her hips, spreading her knees, and eating Daisy for dessert on Phoenix’s counter. “I’m perfectly fine.” 

“You look fine as hell, sweetheart,” Daisy blushed hard, her chest and cheeks burning red. “But you know it’s not your body I’m asking about.” I crossed the room, needing to put my hands on her even if I shouldn’t.

“Okay, Hangman,” She grumbled, using my callsign like she always did when I said something flirty. My hands landed softly on her hip and her cheek, forcing her to stay close and look at me. Daisy relaxed, eyes fluttering shut. “I’ll be fine, Jake,” She whispered and I felt myself melt. This girl had no idea that I was putty in her hands.

“Of course you will be,” I promised, “Because I’m going to be right here by your side.” Daisy smiled, eyes still closed, nuzzling her cheek like a cat into my hand.

“You’re laying it on pretty thick again, Hangman.” God this girl. She didn’t believe a word that came out of my mouth if it veered even the slightest bit away from platonic. I had my work cut out for me but when she opened her dark eyes and smiled at me like I hung the stars and the moon, I knew I was up to the task. “Do you want a cookie?” What I wanted was to kiss her forehead but a cookie would work for now. 

The rest of the daggers showed up a little bit later and while Daisy played the role of the perfect hostess, I pulled Coyote off to the side. 

“Should I be worried?” Coyote glanced over my shoulder to where Daisy was and then shrugged.

“I don’t think so, at least, not at the moment anyways.” My heart clenched, needing to know more but he shook his head before I could ask. “Nothing about this situation is my business to share, man. When she’s ready to tell, she’ll tell.” 

“We should watch a horror movie,” Bradley suggested, the loud agreement of the squad interrupting our conversation. Coyote patted me on the shoulder, heading for the kitchen. When she was ready to tell, she would tell me. I had to trust that that would be the case. Right? 

“Hangman, get some food before Bob eats it all!” Rooster shouted for my attention. Bob was blushing with a plate piled high with food, praising Daisy’s homemade mac and cheese so that’s what I scooped up first. I didn’t miss how Phoenix was hovering behind Daisy, watching her like a hawk. I said a little prayer, hoping that Daisy would find the right moment to tell me what was going on sooner rather than later.

With a plate full of snacks, we all scattered around the living room. Daisy came right to me with a blanket, a blush on her cheeks, not looking me in the eyes as she took a seat beside me. She was the one person without a plate of food and turned me down when I offered her some of my chips,

“I’m not hungry,” She whispered, bringing the blanket up to her chin. “Javy got me Wendy’s.” He was Javy to her now? I glanced over at my best friend, who was not so subtly making eyes at Phoenix while she and Rooster argued over what horror movie we were going to watch. Rooster won when he threatened to tell a story that had Phoenix slapping a hand over his mouth.

It ended up being about some demon who was influencing people to murder others but the special effects weren’t all that believable. I much preferred a 90s action flick or, when alone, a Hallmark movie on occasion. With every passing minute, Daisy inched closer to my side, the blanket moving higher up her face. Seizing the opportunity, I dropped my plate on the table and wrapped an arm around her shoulders, bringing her close. 

“Not a fan of horror?” I whisper, she shook her head, eyes locked on the screen as the possessed man picked up a hunting knife. 

“Murder,” She whispered back, her hand tentatively resting on my thigh.

“Aren’t you a crime novelist, sweetheart?” I teased, trying to ignore how good it felt to have her hands on me.

“That’s different,” Daisy insisted, jumping at something on screen but I wasn’t watching the movie anymore, my focus was solely on her. Daisy looked terrified. I shifted sideways and pulled her face into my chest, forcing her attention off of the movie and whatever it was that was scaring her so much. Her hand moved from my thigh to my chest, fingers digging into my shirt. 

“It’s okay, I’ve got you, baby,” I whispered into her hair, kissing her head. “It’s just a movie.” Daisy went limp in my hold and I pulled her sideways onto my lap, Bob looked and quickly looked away but it didn’t seem like anyone else noticed. Not that I would care if they did, if this was what Daisy needed, then it’s what I was going to do. I squeezed her thigh gently and began stroking my thumb back and forth, “I’ve got you.” 

“I know,” Daisy whispered into my shoulder. After a moment she added, “If I’m too heavy-” She stopped when I squeezed her thigh,

“You can sit on my lap whenever you want, Wildflower.” 

“My gentleman,” She sighed and I felt a glimmer of hope. She didn’t call me Hangman.

Next Chapter

[asvterias]

𝖢𝗁𝖺𝗉𝗍𝖾𝗋 𝟥: 𝖮𝗎𝗋 𝖥𝖺𝗍𝖺𝗅 𝖥𝗅𝖺𝗐𝗌

the cast // series masterlist

chap. 1 || chap. 2 || chap. 3 || chap. 4 || chap. 5 || chap. 6 || chap. 7 || chap. 8

‼️ DISCLAIMERS FOR THIS CHAPTER ‼️

Main Characters Deaths, Just An Overall Sad Chapter & Angsty Ending

word count: 4.5k+

tag list: @s0r0ws @starvviss @kjisbae17 @lov3rgiiirl @starless-nightz @random-girls-loves

author’s note: anyways, i hope you liked this chapter! please don’t be a silent reader and interact within the chapter. also, i hoped you cried immensely because that was the ideal intention of this chapter; to make it as depressing as it could possibly get (for now 😉)

🌊 🐚 ✘ 🔥🗡️

CHAPTER 3, EPISODE ONE

Everyone’s huddled up in the car with your parents in the front seats and the children in the back. You hated the middle seat so you told Grover to get comfortable there, for the greater good, and you sat on the left side, right behind your mother.

Right now, Grover is updating you and Percy about everything demigod-related.

“My job has been to guide you to this moment. It’s always an emotional rollercoaster for young demigods, so providing a support system is really–“

“Who are you?” Percy interrupts him.

Grover stared blankly at your brother, “I’m Grover. I’m your best friend and–“

“What are you?” The blonde recorrects.

“That is a very good question,” You chirped up, “I would like to revisit my previous question.”

“No, Y/N, let it go!”

“I’m asking the important questions here!”

“Irrelevant questions!”

“To answer your question, Y/N, no, I was born like this,”

“You sure? You know parents tend to lie a lot too,”

“I’m fully aware of adult tendencies to lie frequently, but I was born like this. I’m serious.”

He removes his tam, revealing two small goat horns. “I’m a satyr, and I’m your protector, both of you.”

“You’re our protector?” Your brother asked rhetorically.

“If I hadn’t gotten you kicked out of school, you’d never have survived the night. And what’s chasing us now would have found you there easily.”

“Oh, because that’s so comforting to hear.” You cross your arms.

Percy turns his head to the car window and Grover looks dejected at the action.

“I’m sorry.” Grover breathes out, sincerity laced in his tone, “Usually, I can sense danger coming a mile away, but this time…Well none of us saw Dodds’ coming.

“So you knew about that…creature?” You inquired, gaining Percy’s attention back onto his friend.

“That thing that Dodds turned into, you saw it happen? Why didn’t you say anything?”

“I saw some of it.”

“What part did you see? Where she flung me across the sky or when she attacked Percy?”

“Well, yes and no. The Mist kept her hidden even from us until it was too late.”

“I think I have a concussion from that,” You wince at the memory, holding the back of your head. “Besides, what the hell is Mist?!”

“The Mist is a veil that hides the magical world from the human world. My legs, Dodds’ wings, Even Dodds’ absence, but it isn’t supposed to hide things from me. That never happens. Something more powerful is at work here.”

“Maybe we’re the power sources.” You shrugged.

“Yeah, right,” Percy scoffs.

“The sooner we get you two to camp, the better off you’re–“

“Camp?! Who’s going to camp?!” You backtracked.

With a baffled expression, Grover turned to your parents, completely unimpressed by their timing, “You told them about camp, right?”

“We were getting there!” Your parents shouted simultaneously at Grover.

Grover nods his head, leaning back into the seat.

“Camp is a sanctuary for half-bloods. A safe space where you can learn who you are and what the world is like on the other side of the Mist.”

“Wait, hold up this an actual summer camp with mosquitoes and other dangerous animals lurking in the woods?!” You deadpanned. “Nah, you can keep that, I’m not going.”

“You don’t have a choice.” Your mom states.

“Uh, it’s not far, actually, just a little way past the bend up there.” Grover directs your mother.

“Mom, what else haven’t we talked about?” Your mother, Sally stayed quiet, anxiously glimpsing at her son. “What else haven’t you told us?”

“There are more secrets?!”

“Oh, there’s more like you wouldn’t believe, sweetie.” Jessica grins.

“Jess, that’s not helping whatsoever!” Sally exclaims.

“Sorry, it just slipped out of my mouth.”

“And you wonder why Y/N is a mini you.”

A flash of blinding light appears from mid-sky and disposes of a creature, which instantly starts running on all fours, chasing after the speeding car.

“Is that the Minotaur?!”

“Holy shit!” You and your mom said simultaneously in bewilderment.

“Once the attacks start, they never let up. Okay? Dodds was just the beginning.”

“Then who’s the freaking ending?! Because I’m ready to slain as many monsters as necessary.”

“He is next. He- he is brutal, he is relentless–“

“He’s still wearing underpants.”

“Out of all things, you could have noticed, Percy, you chose that?! Us trying not to die should be your main priority, not if the Minotaur is playing goddamn dress up!”

Percy and Grover kept their eyes on the large bulky monster.

“It’s gone!” Percy shouts, astonished.

“Gone?! Gone where?! I hoped it vanished back to wherever it came from!”

“Like it’s ever that easy!”

Then, the Minotaur’s loud footsteps and rough grunts halted and it almost calmed everyone’s racing heart rates.

“I think it’s gone for good now.”

Until it reappeared, now gaining up on the speeding car, The Minotaur ran up closer to the car front, beside Sally’s car door, aiming for severe damage.

“You just had to say something, didn’t you?!”

“How was I supposed to know that would happen?!”

“Because you jinxed us!”

“Don’t blame me because I’m stating the obvious!”

“I will push you out of this car!”

“Do it! I dare you!”

“Little Blondie, don’t tempt me with a good time!”

“Who are you calling Little?!”

“Someone who hasn’t had their growth spurt yet.”

“Hey, I’m still developing!” Percy gasps.

“Yeah, just very, very slowly.”

“Can we sacrifice Y/N to The Minotaur?”

“Oh please, you don’t have the balls to do it anyways,” You scoffed, “Besides, you need me. I’m always saving your dumbass, you can’t get rid of me!”

“Stop! Nobody is going to push anyone out of this car!”

“He started it–“

“No, I didn’t you, liar–“

“That’s it! Don’t make me come back there! I don’t care who started it, just know that it's ending!”

“Is there any more insight you’d like to add, Grover?” Sally calmly questions, acting like her children and wife didn’t have a screaming match a few seconds ago. Your family was truly a chaotic mess whenever they wanted, dismissing the matter as if impending death wasn’t lingering over their shoulders.

“Yes, I do.”

“Then, go right ahead,”

“The Mythomagic cards were training. Everything has been training for what’s still ahead of you.”

“What’s ahead of us?!”

“Kids…”

“I’m actually 24,” Grover confesses quickly, causing two heads to turn in unexpectancy.

You and Percy shared the same shocked expression, “Wait? What?”

“Hold on, please.”

The Minotaur roars loudly.

“Moonlight…listen to me.” your mom looks at you through the mirror as your gaze hesitantly meets hers. “You and Percy are forbidden children, monsters are going to attack you every day, this camp can protect you both.”

“Why can’t you and Sally come with us then?” you bargained with her, tears forming in your eyes. You couldn’t imagine, much less experience your life without your mother and Sally. The same women who nurtured you since you were babies and taught you everything you knew. You refused to give up on them, everything they did was to protect and love you, and now it was your turn.

Sally starts to talk, eyes stuck on the road, “We humans are not allowed there. Only demigods like you two.”

“But we don’t wanna leave you two.” Percy persisted.

“You’re our moms.”

“You’re gonna have to, that Minotaur isn’t gonna stop until he kills both of you.”

All of a sudden, a collision hit the car with enough brute force to send the car off the road and everything went black. It was all so quick, the collision, the swiveling of the car and landing on the side of the road, far from bypassers to rescue.

The rain pattering against the car turned into a heavy rainpour as everyone in the car, hanging upside down with the seat belt anchoring them, remained still, all unconscious.

After a while, the dulling pain in your head sharply woke you up, being the first to recover from the crash. Holding your head in pain as you slowly opened your eyes, feeling the blood trickle from your head, surveying your surroundings as you saw Percy and Grover still unconscious. Quickly unbuckling your seatbelt, you got out of your seat, repeating the same action to your younger brothers.

One by one, you carefully got everyone from the car as they began to wake up. A growl from the distance urges you to move faster as you help your other mother, Sally, get out of the damaged car.

Sally, Percy, and Grover were recovering, standing on their feet, checking for any injuries and your mom was the last one who needed rescuing.

“Mom…” you shake her but her body is motionless as the tears well up in your eyes.

You felt Sally’s arm pushing you back, sending you into Percy’s and Grover’s embrace as you nervously observed.

“Come on, come on, Jess…” Sally murmurs, kneeling down, searching for a pulse. “You gotta survive, we have children together, we can’t lose you right now.”

“Is she okay?” Percy chirps up, deciding to speak for you.

You found everything incomprehensible around you, your senses became deafening and a high-pitched ringing in your head matched the loud heart beating in your chest.

When Sally stayed silent, it only worsened your anxiety, “Mom, is she okay?!” Percy speaks again, adding some base in his voice yet his tone slightly wavers.

“She has a fading pulse…” Sally whispers, sparing a sad glance at you and quickly turning back to Jessica, “It’s decreasing rapidly,”

Dropping to the muddy slippery ground on your knees, tears quickly filling the brim of your eyes, threatening to fall as you moved closer to her.

“Mommy…” you cradle her face into your chest, saddened by her face, eyes closed as blood trickles down her forehead.

“We can revive her, right!” Your voice cracks, whipping your head to Sally, “Tell me we can revive her!”

“Y/N…” Sally sighs deeply, trying to contain her tears. You turn around, looking down at your mother, resting on your lap, body motionless yet her face looks peaceful.

“No! We- I can save her. We can do heart-to-heart compressions,” you shake your head, starting to do heart-to-heart compressions. “Why isn’t she waking up? Mommy, this isn’t funny anymore now, you have to wake up and help us. Please I can’t do this without you, I can’t do this whole new demigod thing without you.” your voice was dry, as you leaned down, blowing air into her mouth, hoping for a miracle to occur.

You didn’t truly believe in miracles, but for your mother, you’d start believing it. Right now, you would do whatever it took to bring her back even if it meant wishing on the impossible.

“We didn’t do plenty of things yet, I wanted you and Sally to meet my first girlfriend, attend my graduation, be there when I move out and eventually get married, and get grandkids from Percy because we both know I’m not going through that torture.”

Your senses became intensely heightened, catching onto Grover’s whisper to Sally, ignoring him as you spoke up.

“I refuse to leave her alone, she isn’t dead, just having some problems waking up and getting a pulse back.” You were in extreme denial, “Come on, mum, you focus on her face, giving her air and I’ll do her chest,” you beckoned Sally forward.

“Sweetheart…she’s already….gone.”

“She’s my mom and Percy’s mom, your wife. She wasn’t supposed to die this early. If all you’re gonna do is stand there and be useless, don’t bother talking to me.” It wasn’t intentional to snap at your other mother, but your emotions were driving you crazy and brazen.

“You’re the sun to my moon, Mommy, I can’t shine when you’re not there with me. Y-you promised me, you pinky promised that we were all going to survive, but you lied. Why did you lie to me?” You sobbed. Despite being physically exhausted, you weren’t giving up on trying to revive your mom, she would have never given up on you so you would stop trying until you had something, anything; a pulse, a gasp, her eyes shooting up. “Remember…” You weakly asked, holding onto the moon-shaped necklace on your neck, staring at your mom’s sun-shaped necklace.

The sky crackled with slight thunder as the rain poured down heavier. Finally understanding the meaning of your nickname, you sobbed desperately until the broken cracks of your voice gave out.

There was no sunshine without her moonlight, always them being in a pair, nothing without the other. Sadly, you lost your sunshine, darkening your moonlight to its deepest depths, harvesting it into something vengeful and heartless. Something that even scared you to a certain extent, like this was another new side flourishing because of the horrible circumstances.

You rested your mom on the ground, ignoring the cold rainpour.

“She’s gone…” Sally cries, grabbing your arm and pushing you into her body for a hug. You cried into the hug, tightening your grip as your wails echoed throughout the forest. Maybe this was all a nightmare, where you’d wake up and relax in reality. This was the time that your mom needed to wake you up and reassure you that she was right there, staying with you and protecting you.

Your chest clenched against your rib cage, devastation wracked throughout your entire body as the tears relentlessly spilled out.

“But she- she can’t be gone!” You hiccup, eyes glossing over with fresh tears, feeling another arm snuggle around your side.

“I know, sweetheart. I’m so sorry,” she caressed your face.

“What kind of demigod I am, if I was blessed with all these supernatural powers, can’t even save my Mom from death? What kind of daughter am I to just stand by and watch her own mother die? I don’t want this demigod life anymore, please take it all away if it means my mother is coming back, to me, to home. I’m so fucking tired and I just wanna go home! Home is wherever the four of us are!”

“Don’t you ever say that again, you did everything you could, your perseverance is one of your strongest qualities that Jessica adored very much. She wouldn’t want you to doubt yourself like this nor would I,” Sally reassures you, resting a thumb on your cheek, “Our beautiful daughter, she’s so proud of you, I want you to know that.”

Your eyes were puffy and red from tears as you listened to your mother’s words of encouragement and reassurance.

Much to your dismay, another loud roar broke the semi-family grievance, reminding them of the harsh reality.

“We have to go now!” Grover hastily urges.

“I’m not leaving my mom here like this,” you point to her still figure on the ground.

“We won’t, I promise you, sweetie. I’ll give her a proper burial, but right now we have to go!” Her tone was urgent as she quickly scanned the dark forest with the illumination from the car light.

You hurriedly rushed towards your mother’s still figure on the muddy ground, leaning down.

“Goodbye, Mom,” you whisper hoarsely, kissing her forehead for the last time. You stared down at her neck, gazing at the sunlight necklace she wore yanked it off, and shoved the meaningful jewelry into your back pocket. Your heart broke again, realizing she can’t respond, despite being in extreme denial.

Percy struggled to plant you on your feet as Sally walked over to Grover.

“Grover, I am entrusting you to protect my children, my only son and only daughter.”

“Don’t worry, Mrs. Jackson, Percy, and Y/N will be totally safe at camp–“

“Swear it.” She commands.

“What’s happening?”

“Swear it, Grover! Keep my children safe from anyone or anything that comes for them, that wants to harm them, that looks at them in the wrong way. Do you understand me?”

“I swear!” Grover persists, with determination and sincerity in his voice.

Sally nods at the boy, venturing over to you and Percy.

“I gotta go now,”

“Go? What do you mean go? Y/N stop her from going on this suicide mission,” He stares at you, waiting for a response. The first time you didn’t respond to your brother’s words caught him off guard, knowing you’ll always be his first defender.

The boy winces seeing your shaken body and red puffy eyes. It didn’t take a genius to know that you were still traumatized from witnessing your mom’s death. Seeing this sad broken-hearted face of yours, devastated Percy beyond any words to ease the pain. All those times, you’d reassured and defended him countless times, and yet he was speechless about how to comfort you right now. He felt like such a horrible brother to you.

“Your sister isn’t in charge, I am and what I say goes!”

“But–“

“This is no buts! You’re gonna be brave now. Remember what I taught you, remember the stories I told you. Especially the stories, they will tell–“

“No way! Mom, I’m not leaving you, not like how we left Mother stranded and alone to die.”

“Perseus!” She snapped, tired of his persistent attempts, cupping his face, “Listen to me! You…are not broken. You are singular. You’re a miracle and you are my son. Hold fast, brave the storm.”

“And Y/N,” She caresses your face, her saddened expression increasing at your blank eyes, “You are not neglected in this family, you’re just as important. You are one of a kind, my beautiful baby girl. You are my daughter and I don’t ever want you to forget that.”

Those words melted in your heart and words rambled from you without hesitation, the guilt of everything came crashing down.

“I’m so sorry, mother, for not being able to protect any of us. I failed at what I was best at.”

“You’re a kid, be a kid, stop worrying if you’re not going to save everyone. That’s too much of a heavy burden on yourself, it’s not good for your mentality. Live life, get a girlfriend and don’t force yourself to grow up too fast because you'll regret it. Let me tell you something unfair; you can’t save everyone all the time. I love you two so much,”

“We love you too.”

Just like that, The Minotaur had the worst timing of moments erupting with a loud search roar.

“We need to move!”

“Give me your coat.”

“Why?” Percy asks but removes his coat anyway, “What are you gonna do?”

“He smells half-blood, that’s what he’s tracking, yeah?”

“That’s right.”

Sally grabs the coat from her blonde son, “So if he smells you in two directions at once, maybe I can confuse him, buy us both a little time to get away.”

“Mom, please don’t…we can’t afford to lose another parent on the same night.” Percy pleads, stepping forward, gesturing to you, “Y/N is one of the strongest people I know, and a few hours into this demigod madness, she’s broken, possibly going to recover from trauma at the camp where we’re supposed to rediscover our true potential for a man who wasn’t even here our whole lives.” He whispers, a string of desperation in his voice, “You can’t do this to us��please don’t do this to us. You’re all we have left.”

“Hey! It’ll be okay.” She reassures the blonde boy with a weak smile, “Y/N bounces back, she always does. For the first time, she needs you more than you need her right now, so be her anchor for right now, and don’t ever let go.”

Another yell echoes throughout the forest and trees falling down a few feet away meant the Minotaur was getting unbelievably closer. Your heart raced in your chest, once you saw the bulky overgrown monster, standing on its hind feet, intimidating everyone who bore witness.

Sally wastes no time, giving Percy a forehead kiss and then moving over to repeat the same action with you.

“Go now!” She shoves you away into Percy’s and Grover’s arms, now facing the Minotaur as the trio escapes into the rainy forest night.

Her plan for using Percy’s coat as bait to seemingly distract him and draw him away from the two demigods was successfully executed.

After maintaining some far distance from your mother, Sally, and the Minotaur, the trio still kept on running, nobody turning back. Until a loud roar reverberated across the forest broke your concentration on getting to safety and intensified your worries for your mother. You stopped running, turning around as your heart hammered inside your chest, the adrenaline pumping.

Despite being miles away, you and Percy viewed the fight, flinching when the monster knocked your mother down with its horns.

The Minotaur held in its hand, lifting up something in the air…someone more life-like…that’s someone who was your mother, Sally! You gasped and shoved at the revelation, wondering about your mother’s fate and you continued to watch the heartbreaking scene. Your body wasn’t acting upon cooperation with your mind, telling you to run away before it gets you next or attempting to save your mother. Having already lost one parent was devastating as it is, and losing your other parent would cause a lifetime of trauma for you.

Your heart clenched in fear as Sally struggles to escape from his grasp.

You felt Percy’s scared face hide into the fabric of your cotton shirt, clenching onto the shirt as he squeezed his eyes as tightly as possible.

For the last time, your mother, Sally looked over at you, stretching out a hand, guiding you out to safety, content you’ll be fine. Just like that, she closed her eyes, slowly disintegrating into gold ashes. Huh, that was weird. Humans don’t shrivel up and fade into ashes like that. That definitely was magic.

It was quiet, the rain pattering over you was now a background noise as you struggled to process the incident.

You gulped down the harsh lump in your throat. “It’s…mother’s gone, too…” You informed Percy, tone hoarse as he slowly pulled away from your body.

He looked ahead again, seeing nothing, Sally wasn’t there and the Minotaur was staring into nothing, seemingly distracted.

“Where did she go? What happened to her?”

“…She disappeared into gold ashes.” You whispered slowly, trying to comprehend your mother’s demise in your mind. Once again, your vision becomes blurry and the tears start to form at the loss of yet another parent. “It looked so unrealistic,”

After that Percy began to speak, but your focus wasn’t even directed on him, but rather at that charging furious Minotaur, hungry for more blood.

The pain and suffering became a dangerous mix of anger and hatred directed at the Minotaur.

Grover’s statements fall on deaf ears, partially drowned out by the heavy rainfall. “Y/N and Percy come on, we’re almost there.” you glance at your blonde brother who holds the same on his face.

‘So what happens when the protector is unable to protect? Do they give up instant hope and cower in shame? Or do they fight back, willingly seeking a second chance to redeem themselves? Whether you make a change or just be a bystander like others? This time the answer to that is simple, mourn your losses later and avenge them now. For all you can do right now is fight on the battlefield, because this is no place to cry and admit defeat.

No, you refused to give up hope and you weren’t going down without a fight. This monster had already taken your worlds away, so you had nobody else to lose.

Grabbing the pen from your pocket, holding it out, and witnessing it transform into a golden sword at will. The fight with the Minotaur was brutal and intense, alongside the heavy downpour of rain that attempted to slow down the intensity of this fight. Despite double-teaming the monster, he resisted surrender, determined to win and kill you both. Surprisingly, you gained the agility to climb onto his back while Percy distracted him.

Somehow, you gained the ultimate advantage with the lighting sword in your hand and stabbed the monster in its eye, ignoring his roar of pain. If anything, its pain only further encouraged you to continue.

Too full of adrenaline, you grab his two horns, gripping them and pulling them out with your utmost strength. A new sudden strength you just obtained. Gasping in shock was quickly outlived when your sword slipped out of your hand and dropped onto the muddy ground, disappearing from your eyesight. Stumbling onto his feet, inflicted by the pain, you groaned, gripping the monster by his rough skin as he attempted to shake you off.

“Percy the sword!” You yelled at him. Your brother throws the sword upwards as you catch the weapon.

You stab the monster in the neck, wincing at his loud screeches, but continue to stab his neck. Once the monster was deemed weak enough, you sliced the sword right through his neck, seizing the opportunity of successfully killing it. To be certain of killing that wretched monster, you deactached its horn from its head with your uppermost strength, then using it to pierce its own eye, another terrifying wail leaves its mouth.

This was all this stupid monster’s fault. If it hadn’t chased after you or slammed itself into the car, your mom would be alive. If it didn’t have such a bloodthirst for demigods, Sally, your mother would still be alive. Alive. Alive. Alive. You just wished your moms were alive, to see you mature into such a courageous daughter to avenge their deaths.

Soon enough, the monster staggered on its feet and its body began to disintegrate into black dust before your eyes.

“Y/N!” The voice becomes disoriented as you stumble on the ground, two arms catching you as you faint, everything fading away into a black abyss.

“Is she okay?”

“Did she do it alone?”

“Is the blonde boy, okay too?

“How is that possible?”

“I don’t know.”

“Yeah, he’s okay.”

Grasping onto your fading eyesight, there were four shadowy figures above you, all their voices sounded childish except the girl’s voice which sounded very mature.

“They must be the ones.”

“Hush, Annabeth.”

“They’re waking. Everyone give them some space, please.”

Obeying the command, the four unknown kids gave the siblings some space, revealing a half-man with the…bottom of a horse. Okay, it’s finally official, you’ve completely lost it!

“Welcome to camp, Percy Jackson and Y/N Matthews. We’ve been expecting you two.”

Oh my god! Who are these people?! What in the absolute fuck is going on?! This demigod shit is not cut out for me.

likes, comments, and reblogs are highly appreciated!

© asvterias, 2024. please do not copy, repost, or translate any of my works onto any other platforms without my permission.

[missbuckyhellfire]

This Will Be My Year: Eddie Munson

Part Seven: Halloween Part One (18+)

Warnings: Some Language, Flirting,  Oral (F Receiving), Blindfolds, Handcuffs,  Non Penetrative Smut ahead

PREVIOUS PART

Audra did not want to admit it, but she loved Halloween. She loved the parties with friends, but she especially loved dressing up into different costumes. She never was the one who would dress overly  slutty, but she was one who would try to be extra flirty.

She did not deny that she has gotten closer to Eddie in the past few weeks during their tutoring sessions. Of course, there was nothing that was going on between them, but she couldn’t help but think about him more and more.

But she wouldn’t say she loved him of course.

Maybe a small crush, his puppy brown eyes were getting to her.

Audra didn’t know why she agreed to this, but she somehow ended up in the back ally of the Hideout with Corroded Coffin after their gig in a fairy Halloween costume. There was not much to it, just a pair of elfish ears, medium purple iridescent wings with a light blue frilly low cut dress that rested to her knees. She had let her hair down as the tips of her hair rested in the top of her breasts.

The guys hadn’t gone as far as she went this year. They only had put on devil horns and a dark top. They told her that they did not have much time to get something together but she knew for a fact that they just didn’t want to.

She was confused as to why Eddie didn’t want to dress up. Audra thought this would be right up his ally. However, he claimed that his costume was at home, waiting for him to put it on when they get there.

“How are your grades going Eds since Tinkerbelle here has helped you?” Gareth had asked taking a swing of his beer.

“Eddie is getting there,” Audra had muttered. They have tried and seems like his papers were getting passing grades, a “c” typically. But that did not do for her. She wanted to help him develop his skills more.

Eddie had chuckled. All he was thinking about was how cute she looked in that outfit and also how pissed Jason is going to be when he sees her go to the Halloween party with him. Eddie was never a party person, but he definitely wanted to make Jason take note to fuck off.

Eddie had intentionally had asked Audra to go to the party as soon as he heard about it.  He wanted to piss Jason off and spend time with her. Consider it as two birds with one stone if you will. He did have to admit that she was growing on him.

The Halloween dance proposal was not anything too extreme.  Audra was by her locker and noticed the bright colored rose by a single word written in sharpie with some pumpkin and ghost drawings.

DANCE?

Audra had turned around and noticed that Eddie was next to her locker with a Cheshire cat grin across his face. “Well?”

“Yes!” She squealed then it followed by a list of different costume ideas that she was planning to do that year which had resulted in the two of them giggling and a scowl by Jason and the jocks who just so happened to be walking by. They also missed the “going as friends part” which made Jason fume.

After some small talk, Eddie had cleared his throat “ I think we need to head out to the party. We will plan the DND session to be next week?”

All of the guys agreed and watched Eddie leave with the girl, they knew something was definitely going to happen tonight. Everyone, especially Jeff and Gareth noticed how he was getting nervous around her while she seemed to be helping him for the better with his academics.

************************************************************************

The two didn’t want to get to the party too early so they just decided to  take it easy and watch a scary movie in Eddie’s RV . Audra was alone on the couch and was busy watching the movie while Eddie had  went to the washroom.

Her brown eyes were fixated on the screen, enjoying the tense atmosphere as she watched Laurie Strode being chased by Michael Myers. She didn’t notice that Eddie just got out of the washroom with his Halloween costume on with a quick twist to it.

 It took him forever to plaster the elf ear tips onto his own and the pants and top was from a costume shop that he begged Wayne to stop at a few months back. The black leather pants were comfortable enough but not tight enough to flash his junk in the public. He grabbed a green loose top with wide sleeves and a drawstring on top to adjust how revealing he wanted his chest to be. He didn’t want to go too far with it so he just made it open enough just to tease his dark chest hair. His long hair was dangled free  giving him the appearance of a elvish prince.

In his hand he had a cheap Halloween mask that he got when he was small. He just wanted to fuck with her before they went out. He slipped the devil mask on and oh so quietly had snuck behind her then just tapped her shoulder as fast as he could. He did not expect the hard smack that followed.

SMACK!

Audra was scared out of her shit. She was pissed of being startled this bad. It was only an automatic response that he got slapped across the face.

“OW!”

“DON’T SCARE ME LIKE THAT” Audra had scolded him but stopped when he took off his mask.  She took in the details of the costume from the ears to the top and the scent of woodsy cologne.

‘Now I know to not scare you, you got bite “Eddie had smirked.

“Why did you not want to dress up for your gig you look great!” Audra’s eyed did not leave Eddie.

“Don’t you think Elvish prince does not go well with a metal band?” Eddie had giggled but he didn’t loose contact with her either being gorgeous as always. But he couldn’t get his eyes on the upper part of the low-cut dress she was wearing. The sweet smell of vanilla and candies had brought her in too.

“I think it is pretty metal Eds”

“Your pretty metal yourself Princess”.

Both Eddie and Audra did not know how there was so little space between their lips right now. Perhaps it was the tension between them as they spent more time together or the close call a few weeks back when they just met. But their lips were mere inches away from each other now. Their presence and dark eyes meeting one another just felt so comforting for them.  At this point they were under each other’s spell, yet Audra was considering her options.

Do it or Not. There may not be another chance.

Audra had separated the distance between the two of them and their lips had brushed against each other, just to test out the waters. They were soft inviting even to her. She blinked twice which had tickled Eddie a bit. All that she was waiting for was for him to take the next step.

Eddie froze on the spot, not knowing what to do. Sure, he has kissed a girl and slept with a few, but this was someone who he grew closer to. He saw her everyday and was a decent human being. Did he want to ruin it?

Fuck it, he would suffer the consequences later.

He cupped her cheek as he crashed his lips against hers, listening to the soft moan that Audra had let out from the touch and feelings of butterflies that were in her belly.  She took a step closer so there was hardly any space between them as she playfully tugged on the soft curls of his hair. He grunted in response.

This followed by another kiss.

Then another until their lips were plump and swollen.

Then Audra had traced her lips to his neck and let out a soft moan as Eddie had grunted in pleasure as she began to suck on the skin. He cried out when she had let go of him and gave him a breath of life with another kiss on the lips.

Eddie couldn’t think anymore as Audra had guided his shirt off his body. They parted lips as she admired the tattoo’s all over his body. Her previous love did not have any tattoos like this but to her, they all told a story of pain or joy. It was also a way that Eddie could express himself. So to her, the tattoo’s had complimented him.

“You sure you would like to move forward with this princess? I probably wont stop”

Audra had placed her hands on his chest, feeling his chest hair. Eddie had watched her reactions as he leant down to leave a couple pecks on her neck.

“Let’s just test the waters tonight” Audra suggested. “ I am unsure what we are, but this just feels so right to me.”

That was good enough of a answer for Eddie but he needed to know Audra’s limits. “Oral then we leave for the party?”

“Sounds good to me.”

Eddie kissed her neck again getting a soft moan from her. Audra appreciated that he was at least setting boundaries with her but she paused feeling the small smirk on her neck.

“Get on the bed, I want to make sure you enjoy this.”

************************************************************************

Audra obeyed and lied down on Eddie’s bed  and covered herself with the blankets to keep her bottom half warm. She watched as Eddie had two things in his hand.

First was a pair of silver handcuffs from a “misunderstanding” that Eddie described.

Second was a blindfold.

“Oh shit your kinky” were the first words that came out of Audra’s mouth but it was replaced with a chuckle from Eddie.

“Yea and you’re the one who is so horny for this? A DND player dressed as a fairy” Eddie shook his head as he rubbed his thumb on her cheek. “Princess, this is going to be an experience you won’t forget, I wont hurt you.”

“Hurt me? Please you only break my heart during your DND sessions” Audra chuckled as Eddie blindfolded her. There was nothing in sight, only darkness and heightened senses. Smell was more focused on the smell of cigarettes and the feeling of Eddie’s breath on her skin. She felt his calloused hands grab her own and handcuff them together so she couldn’t touch him.

She was under his control.

He had smiled at the sight of it. He didn’t have a girl that agreed to do this. So he was excited that some one could be a freak like him. For a moment, he had a thought that he shouldn’t be, her body bare without anything on it with only a blindfold and handcuffs to allow him to take advantage.

But, he needed to focus.

He traced her body from her clothed hips, feeling the curves of her hips while taking in her body figure. Her thicker thighs that hid the treasure that he desired the most. He slid his hands under her skirt to remove the thin pair of white lacey underwear that she had on. He tossed it to the side as he gently pried her legs apart.

She gasped in shock from the cool air and hands but welcomed it. She could feel his hair and head ich closer to her core. After a very short pause, she felt something wet lick a strip from her opening to her clit, getting a soft moan in response from her.  He focused his attention on her clit, that was pleading and pulsing for his attention.

Each moan that she gave him, was an indicator that he was doing a good job. She was encouraging him to give him the constant attention to her clit. He was not rough on it, he was acting as though his tongue was a broom and it swept in a circular motion around her  clit. In response, she felt her stomach knot inside as it pleaded to be let go.  

Her moans gotten more and more intense, her toes had curled, and she felt her heart start beating out of her chest. She never felt this before, this euphoria of pleasure and desire was only growing more and more.

Until her body had let go. It was a sense of release but a wave of intense pleasure that immediately calmed her body as her core had continued to pulse her juices out heavily.

Impressed with his work, Eddie had pressed his hand on her pussy and licked a swipe of her cream and put in on his lips “delicious”.  He kept an eye on her the entire time. Fascinated with how her body works and wanted to see how she would react.

“How was that?”Eddie had asked, but she gave him an answer enough as her brown eyes were blanked out. He knew that he did good.

“I enjoyed it too, but we got to figure out what we are.” Eddie pointed out.

All he could get from Audra was a soft nod of her head. She was too much in shock with what just happened.

NEXT PART

[ahllohehn]

Mayhaps Doc and Scar for the prompt? <3 Please and thank yee

"Sir, I'm starting to think you're not really our guidance counselor," Scar had said while Doc was carrying him on his back, his hooves working overtime to get them away from the Fury that was hot on their tails.

Here Doc thought he'd be able to leave the Furies chasing demigods thing behind after the whole thing with Etho, but he's quick to realize that the Fates like to play with his life. The Furies may be more merciful to Etho, but not to his friends. And not especially to demigods with origins such as the one on his back.

Now he's stuck with an overly naive child who had no sense of danger. Doc was tired. He literally just got out of a Titan war just a few days ago. It seems satyr work really waited for no one.

"Yeah, what makes you think that?" Doc said sarcastically through gritted teeth, trying his very best to not snap at the kid squirming on his back.

Scar hummed like he was absolutely oblivious to huge winged monster flying after them while shrieking, "Well, first, you made my classmates cry more rather than cry less. You were also able to find me even when it's summer vacation."

Doc ignored the way his eye twitched in annoyance at that as Scar continued to list down his observations like he's Sherlock cracking the case, "And you told me to beat up the kid bullying me instead of gently calling him to make him say sorry like the previous counsellors."

"You can excuse the hooves, the horns, and the magic, but not the lack of emotional empathy?" Doc sighed exasperatedly.

Scar went quiet, turned his head to make eye contact with the Fury chasing them before turning back around and tightening his hold around Doc's neck as panic finally settled in, "You're right! I'll consider those next time!"

[echo-goes-mmm]

Moonflower #14

Masterpost

Previous

Next

Warnings: implied domestic abuse

Iris had a meeting, and Kit decided to hole up in his room to practice his magic. 

To his surprise, there was someone already there, in his bedroom. He could smell them from the entrance to the sitting room.

A snarl bubbled up from his chest, and he rounded the corner.

It was only a maid, and he dropped the rag he was holding. The maid froze in fear, and Kit forced himself to stop growling.

Kit relaxed. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I didn’t know you were in here.”

The maid nodded, still nervous, and Kit picked up the rag and offered it to him.

The maid took the cloth from him. There was a bruise on his wrist. “I, um, I was just cleaning,” he said.

Kit shifted. “Okay. Why?”

“It’s my job?”

“Right.”

They stared at each other, equally uncomfortable. “Would you mind… not doing that?” offered Kit.

“You don’t want me to clean?” the maid’s brow furrowed.

“Uh, no. I don’t like people in my-” territory “-room,” he said. “It’s… a fae thing.”

“I’ll tell my manager,” said the maid.

“Thanks.”

The maid turned to go, but as he passed Kit noticed another bruise on his upper arm. It was suspiciously shaped like a hand.

“Wait,” he blurted.

The maid turned back. 

“Are- are you alright? Those marks don’t look like they’re from cleaning.”

The maid stepped back. “I think I should go,” he said. “I’m sorry for disturbing you.”

He fled the room, and Kit decided not to chase him down. 

___________________

Kit paced in his room, magic practice the last thing on his mind.

He should tell Iris right away. After all, this was his intended purpose:

‘I just want to know if my cousin is being an ass to a maid. Or if an advisor calls me a bitch and I just didn’t hear him mutter.’

But Iris was in a meeting, and he hadn’t even gotten what the maid was called.

Who would he ask to figure it out?

Maybe one of the guards? Since they were basically security, surely they would know who cleaned this wing of the castle.

Maxus was a night guard and not working yet, and Brennan was with Mistress. Maybe he could ask Jen in the gardens?

It was a long shot, but if she didn’t know he could always circle back to Brennan.

___________________

“I’m sorry, but there’s a lot of maids on that rotation.”

“Doesn’t seem very secure,” Kit muttered, disappointed.

Jen shrugged. “We haven’t had any problems with it. Why do you ask about maids, though?”

“I was curious,” he said.

“Well, sorry I couldn’t help more. I’m sure Captain Brennan would know who specifically was assigned to your room today. You should see his spreadsheets.” Jen shuddered. “His organizational system makes the librarians look sane.”

“Uh, thanks.”

___________________

Kit peeked around the corner. Sir Brennan was stationed outside the door of the meeting room. 

His eyes landed on Kit immediately, his eyes narrowing.

Kit hesitantly walked up to him.

“What are you up to?” Brennan asked, voice level.

“I, uh, there was a maid in my room earlier.”

Brennan waited.

“I was wondering what he was called.”

Brennan thought to himself. “Redhead?”

“Yes.”

“Sounds like David. Why do you want to know about the staff?”

Stars, couldn’t he just ask a simple question?

“Wouldn’t you like to know who’s been in your space?” he asked, defensive.

“Alright, alright. That makes sense, and I’m sorry,” said Brennan, holding up his hands in mock surrender. “Just thought I’d ask.”

Kit shifted. “Is Mistress going to be finished soon?”

Brennan shook his head. “Public works likes to drag things out. You know how it is.”

Kit did not know how it was, but he nodded along anyway. 

“You could probably go rescue her, if you wanted. They’ll probably cut it short if you interrupt.”

“You don’t think she’ll mind?”

Brennan shrugged. “The dam project has been finalized for weeks. I doubt it’s a productive meeting. Go ahead.”

Kit slipped into the room, and people turned to look at him.

Iris was sitting across from the door, at the head of the large table. Kit edged around the room.

“What is it, Kit?”

“Um,” Kit glanced at the other people around the table. “I need to talk to you about something,” he said quietly.

“Alright, can it wait a minute?”

Kit nodded minutely, and sat on the floor, tucking his legs underneath him. Iris’s hand came to rest on his head. Her fingers threaded through his hair, and it felt really nice.

___________________

Iris waited until they were long gone to speak up.

“So what’s going on?”

Kit sighed a little, his head still leaning against her chair.

“There’s this… maid,” he said. “He’s called David. Someone’s been hurting him.”

Iris paused. “How do you know?” She didn’t doubt Kit, but she needed some evidence that was more than a hunch.

“He’s got these bruises,” Kit explained, “Like he’s been grabbed. I don’t think it’s… uh, nevermind.”

“You don’t think it’s what?”

Kit blushed, a peach pink on his cheeks and the tips of his ears. “You know,” he said, “love marks. He was too scared when I asked. If… if his lover left them and he liked it, he wouldn’t be so frightened.”

Iris’s face grew hot. His word choice, ‘lover’, made her think of scandal and risque novels. It was unintentional on Kit’s part, but it made her flush anyway.

“Right. Of course. Did he tell you who was hurting him?”

“No. He, uh, ran off. I didn’t want to chase him down for answers.”

“Good idea,” she nodded. 

They fell into silence.

“What are you going to do?” asked Kit, quiet.

Iris opened her mouth to respond, but truthfully she didn’t know. She had suspected there was something with the staff for years, but she’d been too busy working to think about what could actually be done.

“I’m not sure,” she admitted. “I’d like to talk to David, but I doubt he’d be willing to. If he won’t tell you what’s wrong, he definitely won’t tell me. And there’s not much I can do to protect him if he refuses to say.”

Kit turned to sit on his knees and face her.

“What if… I talked to him? I could coax him into it,” he offered.

“Are you sure?”

Kit tucked a piece of his hair behind an ear. “I think so. I just need some time alone with him.”

Iris hesitated. “Are you going to use magic?” Kit’s eyes went wide.

“No! I wouldn’t, I pro-”

Iris held up a hand. “No need for promises,” she said, the tingling air calming down. “Just be careful, okay?”

Kit nodded. “Yes, Mistress.”

taglist: @paintedpigeon1 @cupcakes-and-pain @loserwithsyle @cepheusgalaxy @thingsthatgo-whump-inthenight @virtualbreadtale @bitchaknso

[crystalninjaphoenix]

Deeper Through the Wylderness

Fantasy Masks AU: Chapter Forty

A JSE Fanfic

Who's ready for more Wyldwood? :D The guys continue their journey, encountering a few strange things. Unusual animals, unusual fruits and plants, unusual beings, even. They're making progress, but this strange place might wear on them over time. Yeah this chapter, much like the last, is basically an anthology of weird things that the guys encounter in this magical forest. But next chapter, if all goes according to plan, will be VERY important to the plot :3 Hope you guys enjoy reading!

Previous Part | | From the Start | More AU | Read on AO3: CrystalNinjaPhoenix

Taglist: @brokentimewatch

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

Marvin was woken up by the familiar feeling of something fuzzy against his face. He stayed totally still. The best way to get Draco to stop doing something was to ignore him. But the fuzzy thing persisted, pushing against him. He couldn’t help but groan. “Draco, nooo.” He rolled over, but the fuzziness climbed over him, sniffing at his face. Keeping his eyes closed, he reached out, trying to push Draco away... but felt something odd. The texture—that wasn’t fur. It was more like... feathers?

Mrow. And that was Draco’s meow—coming not from right in front of his face, like he expected, but instead from over by his feet. Draco wasn’t here?!

His eyes flew open. Instead of seeing Draco’s blue eyes and off-white stripes fur, he was staring into a pair of Hazel animal eyes surrounded by orangish-red, its black snout longer than a cat’s—

“What the fuck?!” Marvin shouted, scrambling backwards.

“Huhwhatdanger?!” Next to him, Jackie sat bolt upright, lunging for his swords.

Henrik yelped awake, blinking wildly. Chase was next, lifting his head from the ground. JJ was already awake, though he was blinking blearily.

“Fox!” Marvin said. “There’s a fox!”

Indeed, a fox had wandered into their camp in the Wyldwood... but not an ordinary fox. Its front legs were more in line with bird legs, tough-skinned and taloned, feathers sprouting along the upper length. On its back were a pair of large wings, brown and black striped. It leaned forward, trying to sniff Marvin some more, and Marvin quickly scooted backwards.

“Oh! I know what that is!” Chase sat up, wriggling out of his bedroll. “That’s an enfield!”

“Enfield?” Marvin repeated, puzzled. “I’ve never heard of them.”

“Is it safe?” Jackie asked, raising one sword in preparation.

“Um... as safe as foxes are normally, I think. Don’t bother it and it won’t bother you.”

The enfield stepped forward again, and Marvin continued to crawl backwards away from it. “Why does it want to sniff me?!” He hissed.

“Maybe you smell interesting?” Chase guessed.

Henrik frowned. “How did it get close? Jamie, I thought you were on guard.”

Jameson rubbed his face. I was... I remember hearing this strange flute music. And seeing something... small? Out there? He gestured at the woods around them. The music was trying to put me to sleep, I think, but I threw a rock at the small thing and it stopped. But I still felt really sleepy... He shook his head. I don’t think I actually fell asleep but I must have been really close if I let a fox with wings through. Sorry, everyone.

Jackie sighed. “It’s fine. There was no harm done, I guess. But in the future, we should wake someone else up if something like that happens.

Jameson nodded slowly... his head drooping...

“Jair! Wake up.” Marvin grabbed some magic from his amulet and flicked it at him. He only intended for it to be a shower of sparks. But instead, clouds of bright light slammed into the side of Jameson’s head. He shot straight up, eyes wide, immediately not tired anymore. “Oh—sorry. That was supposed to be a simple wake-up spell, like the one I sometimes use. I suppose it came out a bit stronger than I wanted.”

It’s fine, Jameson said, hands shaking slightly as he spoke. The spell must have shit him full of energy.

The enfield trotted over to Jameson and started sniffing him instead, licking the fading magical light around his head. Jameson looked at it warily. “I think it must be interested in your magic, Marvin!” Henrik chuckled.

“Great. Great.” Marvin clutched at his focus. “Good to know. Be interested in something else.”

Jackie looked around. The group had made camp in a slight clearing in the Wyldwoods. Trees surrounded them—of course—these ones with bark that was so dark brown they were nearly black, which contrasted with the leaves that were a pale pink color. The pink leaves covered the ground in a soft layer, so soft that Chase had inched out of the bedroll over the course of the night and hadn’t even realized that he was on the ground. Large flowers with purple petals and centers the size of dinner plates also dotted the ground, glowing softly. “We should probably start moving, shouldn’t we?” Jackie said. “We don’t want to waste any time.”

Henrik sighed. “I suppose. Though this is a beautiful area. I am reluctant to leave. Where else will you see pink trees like this?”

“Well there’s going to be more amazing things to see as we go deeper,” Marvin said, still eyeing the enfield suspiciously. “I promise you.”

“I know, I know. I am not saying we get lost in the pretty landscape. I am just saying it’s a shame.” Henrik stood up. “Let’s go.”

The group packed up their supplies into bags and headed off, Marvin and Draco leading the way. The enfield trotted after them for a while before some smaller enfields with little fuzzy wings ran up to it—Its children?! Adorable!—and then it diverted its attention to herding them, letting the group leave them behind. This was the morning of their third day into their journey, and if everything went well, they’d only have four to five days left. Almost halfway there! Chase wasn’t sure if he was excited about that, or nervous. Both, probably. No, definitely both.

Just as the last couple days, the Wyldwood was silent, the undergrowth mysteriously moving out of their way as they walked. Two days straight of this meant they were starting to get used to it—which meant some of them were starting to get restless. Jackie constantly wove back and forth through the group, taking up a position on the left before moving to the right a few minutes later, his hand always on the hilt of his sword as he glanced around uneasily. Henrik’s eyes also darted back and forth, and he couldn't help but occasionally reach back to check that Vsevna’s axe was still there. He occasionally muttered something under his breath in Alterdan. Were his symptoms bothering him again?

Jameson kept practicing his fighting skills as they walked, slashing with his knife for a while before reaching back to grab the bow he’d packed and practicing firing it. Chase watched him do that, smiling a bit. “I don’t think practicing without an arrow is all that helpful.”

I suppose, Jameson said, awkwardly gesturing while still holding his bow. But it’s probably not a good idea to shoot wildly in a magical forest. Remember the screaming flowers?

“Ah. Riiiiight.” Chase winced. “The trees might not take kindly to being shot. Well, at least let me help you with your technique. Here, hold the string like this...”

They soon left the section of the Wyldwood with pink trees, and the colors of the trees slowly shifted. The branches began to droop downwards, their dark green leaves becoming long and skinny. For once, it became difficult to walk through the area, as the tree branches didn’t move out of the way like the undergrowth did. Jackie quickly got frustrated with this. After one too many times of being hit in the face with leaves, he growled and pulled out his sword, swinging it wildly. “Out of the way! Out of the way!”

“Whoa!” Marvin’s head whipped back around to look at Jackie. “Hey, calm down!”

Jameson grabbed onto Jackie’s shoulder, trying to stop him. Once he’d gotten Jackie’s attention, he signed, We don’t want to hurt the trees!

“Well what if the trees want to hurt us?” Jackie asked.

THEN we can do something! But we shouldn’t make the first move!

Jackie growled, glaring at the branches around them. “Fine. But still, we’re losing progress.” He gave his sword one final, frustrated swing—

Smack!

Jackie went still. “I, uh... I hit something... solid.”

Frowning, Henrik walked over, grabbing the branches and sorting through them. His eyes went wide. “Oh! Look at this!” He turned the branch around. There was something shiny attached to it. A fruit of some kind. It looked like a plum, but its purple skin was reflective and crystalline, like it was a jewel.

Chase gasped. “Oooo!” He looked around. “Are there any more of them?”

“Let us see!” Henrik continued to search through the branches, and the others joined him, curious about these strange crystal plums. There weren’t many of them, maybe three for each tree, but they stood out for how strange they were. “So fascinating!” Henrik said, eyes lit up. “Can we pluck these? Eat them, maybe?”

“Hmm.” Marvin narrowed his eyes. Then he bent down and picked up Draco, holding him up to one of the crystal plums. Draco sniffed it, then turned away, uninterested. “Well I don’t think they’re dangerous, at least.”

Jackie sighed. “Alright... we can take a break to look at these.”

“Come on, don’t tell me you’re not curious!” Chase said, grinning. “When are we going to get another chance like this?”

“I just... I-I don’t know. I’m sorry.” Jackie shook his head. “Alright. What are these things?”

Jameson is trying to pull the plum off the droopy branch, but its stem is really strong. He pulled out his knife to slice through it, but even that took a minute. Once the plum was free, though, he turned it over in his hands, tapping it. This is practically stone, he said.

“Well plums are stone fruit,” Chase said jokingly.

Marvin blinked. “They’re what?”

“Huh? You’ve never heard that phrase before?” Chase grabbed one of the plums; Jameson was right, the fruit’s skin felt more like glass than fruit. “A stone fruit is a fruit that has a pit in the center instead of seeds.”

“Really? Interesting.” Marvin looked at one of the plums still on the branch. “So these are... literally stone fruit. Or, more like crystal fruit.”

“How do we eat them, if they’re made of crystal?” Jackie asked.

“Maybe we do not?” Henrik said. “Or maybe it is like nuts. They must be cracked open. Here, Jackie. Since you are so concerned about moving, we can take some off the trees and examine them while we walk.” He took his bag off, reaching inside. “Let us put some in my potion supply box for safekeeping.”

They continued walking, pushing aside some of the drooping branches. Occasionally one of their hands would hit a solid crystalline plum. Chase took out his hunting knife and tried to find a weak spot in the solid skin. He was pretty sure there was something inside. He could feel it when he shook the plum. But the whole thing was solid, deflecting his knife like a regular bauble made from jewels. 

When they walked out of the grove of droopy-branched trees, Henrik immediately started looking around for a rock or something else to smash the plum with. But... “Huh. I am seeing something unusual. There... are no rocks anywhere.”

“Oh! That’s right!” Marvin nodded. “I didn’t notice the first time I was here. But there aren’t any random rocks or stones anywhere like there would be in regular forests. The undergrowth is all plant life.”

“Aw. But then how will we open these?” Henrik asked, disappointed. “If they can be opened at all.”

“Use Vsevna’s axe,” Jackie suggested. “It has that spike on the end, maybe it could pierce the skin?”

“Hmmm... perhaps.” Henrik stopped walking and bent over, placing the plum on a spot clear of long grass. Then he pulled Vsevna’s axe off his back. He aimed the spike on the back at the plum, a hand’s width above it, and narrowed his eyes as he concentrated—then brought it down.

Crack! There was a loud sound and the plum went spinning off to the side. A spray of bright red juice covered the ground—and Henrik’s legs. He yelped in surprise and backed up. Jackie laughed. “Well I don’t think any of us expected that!” He said.

“We probably should have,” Henrik grumbled. He walked over to the plum and picked it up. There was a crack in its crystal side, through which dripped that bright red juice. Unnaturally bright red, almost pink even. “Do you think this is safe to eat?”

“Who knows?” Chase said. “I’d be cautious.”

What does Draco say? JJ asked.

Marvin picked up the cat and held him up to the plum again. Draco leaned forward to sniff the juice. His nose wrinkled up and his eyes narrowed. “That’s not a guarantee of anything,” Marvin said. “He makes the same face when smelling that linseed oil Jackie and other warriors clean their weapons with. I think he just thinks it’s a strong smell.”

Henrik sniffed curiously. “It is very sweet. Almost like candy. Hmm... Perhaps we should not eat it.”

“Why were you so insistent on getting it open, then?” Jackie asked, exasperated.

“Just to see if I could, honestly.”

Jackie sighed. “Well now it’s probably going to leak juice everywhere. And maybe it will rot. We don’t want to carry rotten fruit around, even if it’s magical. “Here, just... Give it to me.”

Henrik did so, though he was a bit reluctant. “Are you going to do something foolish?”

“Possibly.” Jackie swiped up some of the juice with his finger and stuck it in his mouth.

“Wait Jackie no—!” Chase lunged over, grabbing Jackie’s wrist and yanking his hand away from his face. But it was too late. “What if it’s poison?!”

“Draco would’ve stopped me,” Jackie said. “Marvin said he would stop him from eating dangerous... um... stuff. Like... fruit and... stuff.” Jackie’s eyes slowly widened. Not as a response to how he was feeling or anything. It was almost like they were being pulled wide by invisible hands. A pink film glazed over his irises. 

“Oh no,” Chase whispered.

How do you... feel, Jackie? Jameson asked hesitantly.

Jackie looked at him. “You’re glowing,” he said slowly. He looked at Marvin. “And you’re like... like really bright. Like really glowing. And whoaaaa, Draco looks strange.” He giggled. “He’s a ghost. Ghooost cat. Glowing ghost cat.”

“Oh elders, it’s like he took amarita blossoms,” Marvin muttered.

You’ve met someone who took amarita? Jameson raises an eyebrow.

“Not anyone who took them regularly, but I’ve been on the run for the last year, practically, I’ve met a lot of people.”

“Guys guys guys, it’s not a problem.” Jackie kept looking around. “It’s all good, it’s like—so good. I feel great, and whoaaaa... pretty.”

Henrik sighed. “Damn it. If only I had my medicine I could snap him out of this really quickly. I suppose we will just have to wait for him to come down normally. He had a small sample, surely this won’t last long.” He took the plum out of Jackie’s hand. Jackie didn’t react at all, spinning in a circle so he could look at everything. “Let’s keep walking.”

Luckily, the effect of the crystal plum didn’t hinder Jackie’s ability to walk—though he did slow the group down a bit because he kept stopping to stare at random spots in the air. But after about two hours, the pink film faded from his eyes, and he stopped looking at stuff. He mumbled some apologies to everyone, but they all assured him that it was okay—though Henrik and Chase did point out how foolish it was to try juice from a magical fruit. Even if Draco didn’t intervene, that didn’t mean they were safe!

Nothing else of note happened on that day. They continued to walk through the Wyldwoods, occasionally swapping stories and memories to pass the time, always listening for sounds that would break the silence. Sounds like rustling, like distant voices, like footsteps that seemed to pass right by the group but without any sign of a person or animal. All of those happened at least once during this day. When they did, the whole group went dead silent for a minute before continuing to talk.

They made camp near a lone hill in the middle of the forest. Though it might have been an advantage to camp on top, where those on guard would have a good view of the surrounding area, none of them dared to get too close. The Fair Folk were said to live under hills. Not always literally. Some stories said that the hills were merely an entrance to a Faerilynd, the world where the Folk gathered. Either way, a lone hill in a magical forest probably wasn’t safe to get close to. Who knew what it could be? They settled down between two tall trees nearby, keeping an eye on the hill but not approaching.

“Maybe we should have two people keep guard,” Jackie suggested as they set everything up.

But then if we keep going in our shifts of three, eventually someone will be woken up again, JJ pointed out. Everyone will have only one shift, but someone will have to have two.

“I’ll take two, it’s fine.”

“No, nobody is taking two shifts at night,” Marvin said firmly. “We all need to be in the best shape possible in case something happens.”

“But—but there was that incident with the party!” Jackie protested. “And this morning, the enfield was able to just walk right in! We need to take precautions!”

“We do, but we need to take care of ourselves too,” Henrik said.

Chase frowned. “Is this because of the fruit thing? Jackie, it’s okay. I know me and Henrik already gave you shit for it, but it’s in the past. And hey, now we know what those plums do, don’t we? You don’t need to make up for an impulsive decision.”

Jackie slumped. “I... I just...” He looked to the side. “I thought that... we’d need to see what they do, didn’t we? Because what if they were harmful?”

If they were harmful then it was even more foolish to taste one, Jameson said. You could have gotten hurt.

“Well—better than losing our doctor or our guide or our oracle or the guy who needs to make it to the end of this journey!”

“Jackie,” Henrik snapped. “Are you implying you are expendable?”

“No,” Jackie said. “Honestly, no. I know I’m not. I’m a Masked Phantom leader and the best physical fighter here. But I...” He shook his head. “I don’t know.”

Marvin stared at him silently. “Just remember that we don’t want you to get hurt.”

Jackie nodded. “I will. I’ll be more careful, promise.”

“Please do be,” Henrik said quietly. “Now... Let us all get some rest.”

Little did the others know, but Jackie stayed awake as long as he possibly could, one hand out of his bedroll, clutching the hilt of his sword.

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

When the group woke up in the morning, the hill was gone.

“Well that is worrying,” Henrik muttered. “Marvin? You had last watch, what happened?”

“It just sort of...” Marvin held up a hand parallel to the ground, then slowly lowered it, like he was pushing something down. “Sank.”

“When???” Chase asked, concerned.

“Not too long ago, actually. It was surprisingly silent.”

The whole group looked at the space where the hill was, unnerved. We should walk around that spot, JJ said.

“Agreed,” Chase said. 

They started walking again. This section of the Wyldwood had trees with reddish bark, occasionally streaked with lighter, almost yellow stripes. Tall bluebell-like flowers sprouted from between their roots, their soft glow joined by specks of light that floated through the air. As the group brushed past them, the flowers made ringing sounds, like the bells their shapes were named for.

“Do you remember all of this, Marvin?” Henrik asked, fascinated with the flowers.

“I remember it when I see it,” Marvin replied. “Honestly, the whole first journey I had was so strange that it all sort of... blended together into an overall oddness. But now that I’m back in here, I do know where to go and recognize some of this. I didn’t recognize those crystal plums yesterday. But maybe I just didn’t see them. They were pretty hidden in those branches.”

“And... there are truly no records of the Wyldwood at all?” Henrik asked.

“None in recent memory, and no records of anyone going this deep,” Jackie said. “You should know this, Henrik. I know you’re from another kingdom, but you’ve lived here for years now. You know that the Wyldwood is dangerous.”

“Yes, but people make records of going into dangerous places all the time,” Henrik said. “And this is half the island!”

I suppose having the Dragon’s Teeth mountains as a barrier dissuaded exploration, Jameson mused. I’ve heard of other Wyldlands in the world that are more explored. Wyldsands, Wyldmounts, Wyldmarshes... I can see why you’re surprised that there aren’t any records.

“I think that part of the reason people avoid the Wyldwood is because of the Fair Folk,” Chase said. “After all, people say that those who didn’t retreat to their own world live here now.”

“You know a lot of stories, right, Chase?” Jackie asked. “Do you know any about the Fair Folk or the Wyldwood?”

“Hmm... well there are a few,” Chase said. “For example, the story of Lasta and Caba is said to take place in the Wyldwood. Supposedly, when most of the Fair Folk decided they wanted to leave this world for their own, two of them, a leprechaun and a bodacha, refused to stop playing their card game to help the others move. So they were cursed to keep playing forever, never finishing the game. Supposedly, if you join in, you have a chance to win some sort of prize. But be careful, because time outside of the game will pass faster than time around you and them.”

“Fascinating,” Marvin said. “I don’t think I’ve heard that one.”

I think I’ve vaguely heard something like that, Jameson said. I remember the bit about time passing differently very distinctly.

“Well, time being different around the Fair Folk is common in stories,” Chase said. “There’s also the one where a man falls in love with a beautiful Fair One. A princess or prince.”

“There are two versions of the story?” Henrik asked. “So... does that mean it is not true?”

“No, it could be that it happened a long time ago and the details of the Fair One got lost over time. Or maybe the Fair One was both. Who knows? The point is, the Fair One invited the man to their palace for a night of partying, but when the man returned after one night, a year had passed.”

Jackie glanced around nervously. “Do you think that... that same time strangeness affects the Wyldwood?”

Marvin shook his head. “No. I walked through the woods for a week, and when I was out again, a week had passed for everyone else.”

“Oh right. I forgot about—” He paused. “Do you all hear that?”

The group stopped walking, listening for strange sounds. In the otherwise silence of the Wyldwood, it stuck out easily. A thundering sound. But not actual thunder. Was it... hooves? From a horse? Chase frowned and looked at the others, noticing as they all came to the same conclusion around the same time. “Strange...” Henrik muttered. “Where is it coming from?”

“Get to the side,” Marvin hissed. “Out of the way of any open paths!”

They all scrambled to get close to a tree, away from the open parts of the Wyldwood. In the distance, something dark was forming, quickly approaching—

Jameson gasped and fell forward, sprawling across the ground. Jackie spun around. Without hesitating, he ran towards Jameson. The dark thing was suddenly much closer, streams of orange-red light streaming from it as it got closer—within a second it was bearing down on them—

“Jackie!” Chase gasped.

Jackie dove at Jameson and the two of them went rolling across the ground. The dark thing galloped past them, inches from their bodies, smoke and light following it in a trail. It looked like a horse and rider but something was wrong with the rider: he was missing something. By the time Chase realized what it was, the creature was already galloping into the distance.

“Elders!” Jackie breathed, visibly shaken.

Henrik ran forward, and Marvin and Chase were right behind him. “Are you two okay?!” Henrik asked.

“I-I’m fine,” Jackie said. “Jameson?”

Jameson raised his head. His eyes were wide enough to see the white all around his irises, but he nodded. Shaken, he said weakly.

“Wh-what happened?” Marvin asked. “Did you trip on something? What was that thing?!”

“I-I think that was a dullahan,” Chase said.

“A what?! Aren’t those an omen of death?!”

“Huh? No, th-that’s not what I’ve heard about them. Though they are often linked to it... h-having no head, and all. And they, uh, often show up where people died, I-I think?”

Henrik shuddered. “So... someone died here?”

“I have no doubt that a lot of people died in the Wyldwood,” Chase muttered.

Jackie sat up, one arm wrapped around Jameson, bringing him upright as well. “Are you sure you’re okay, Jameson?” he asked gently. “What about your foot? Did you twist your ankle when you tripped?”

“Hmm... I thought the plants were making way for us,” Henrik said, frowning.

Jameson laughed silently, darkly. It wasn’t a plant or root or anything. I just... tripped on... my own foot.

“...ah.” Henrik blinked. “...well that is... unfortunate.”

I suppose I was thinking too much about moving, if that makes sense? Jameson sighed. I’m not hurt, though.

“Alright, if you’re sure.” Jackie stood up, and reached down to help Jameson up. “Are you good to keep walking?”

Are you? Jameson asked.

Jackie laughed. “Of course I am. Come on. We have to keep going. Ideally, away from where that dullahan went.”

And so, with nothing else to do and nobody hurt, they just... kept walking. Until, eventually, it was time to settle down for the night once again.

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

The next day passed normally—or as normally as things could be in the Wyldwood. They continued to pass through vibrant trees and grass, surrounded by glowing flowers, glowing mushrooms, and occasionally glowing insects. Henrik was quickly getting overwhelmed with the variety of plants, and quickly running out of room for samples in his potion ingredient box and other bags. He soon learned that he couldn’t take all of the glowing plants. Some of the samples from the first day had stopped glowing—though not all of them—so he exchanged those for others.

Draco kept walking steadily through the forest, occasionally waiting for the humans to catch up. Chase still wasn’t used to him acting so... smart. But it wasn’t like he was acting oddly human. He was still clearly a cat, with the same mannerisms and behaviors. When some glowing blue dragonflies showed up, he chased them, tail wagging, just like any other cat would. But still... it was odd that a cat was leading them.

Chase’s thoughts started to swirl, thinking about what was waiting at the end of this journey. At this blasted heath that Marvin mentioned. He asked Marvin to tell him everything about what he saw there again, and Marvin told him all he remembered. There was a building in the circle of dead earth, along with some strange trees. The ghost of King Samuel said that this was related to something unspeakable—something that literally couldn’t be spoken of. Something that Chase needed to find out for himself, something that would help them defeat the King. It was frustratingly vague.

He wasn’t sure if anything he’d find in the Wyldwood could help him defeat the spirit possessing the King... but he had to try, didn’t he? He had to help Jack. And so, he kept going on, despite the doubts trying to worm their way in.

Another day of walking passed. Their fifth day. They were almost there now. Just two more days of walking... or was it only one and a half? Maybe a little more than that? Would they have to walk for two days, rest for the night, and then walk a bit more in the morning?

“Hey... Marvin.” Jackie glanced around as the Wyldwood around them started to grow dark. “Maybe we should walk through the night. Or... a little bit into the night, I should say.”

“Huh?” Marvin glanced back at him. “We never walk through the night when traveling.”

“I know, but that’s because it gets too dark to see where we’re putting our feet,” Jackie explained. “With all the glowing things in here, it never gets darker than what would be evening outside the Wyldwood. We could probably keep walking.”

Henrik frowned. “I... wonder if... if there are creatures that come out at night, here. A-after all... that strange party happened at night. The music that Jameson heard, too. And the hill disappeared during the dark. It may be dangerous.”

“It... i-it may be,” Jackie agreed slowly. “But we could protect each other. I... I think the faster we get there, the better, right?”

The others all glanced at each other. Perhaps we can walk a bit more? Jameson asked.

“I really think it is not a good idea,” Henrik insisted.

Marvin looked down at Draco, who was stretching and yawning. “I agree. I think we’re supposed to stop for the night.”

“Just a bit farther couldn’t hurt,” Jackie said. “Chase? What do you think?”

Chase hesitated. “Um... just a bit farther, maybe? Ten or twenty more minutes?”

Henrik and Marvin looked at each other and sighed. “Fine,” Marvin said. “If all three of you want to keep walking for a bit, you take the majority. But... let’s be careful.”

Jackie nodded. “We will be. I’ll lead the way.”

They kept walking. Draco didn’t want to continue, so Marvin reached down and scooped him up, carrying him as they went along. The trees around them rustled, and Chase glanced up into them uneasily, instinctively searching for animals that weren’t there.

After the twenty more minutes of walking that Chase suggested, the group came across something... unusual. A... path. The sort that was worn into the ground from people or animals walking in the same place over and over. It dipped into the earth slightly, the dirt a bit muddy.

Marvin frowned. “I remember this. It was daytime when I came across it the first time. I didn’t want to cross it, but Draco had no problem, so I walked from one side to the other easily enough.” He looked down at Draco in his arms, whose eyes were currently closed. “Hmm... don’t know if I’m comfortable walking across it when he’s not there to make sure it’s safe.”

Chase looked back and forth, tracing the path to the left and right. Then he crouched down to look at the dirt, trying to figure out if there were any tracks in there. No good. Despite the mud, he couldn’t make out anything clearly. “I don’t know if this is a deer trail or a wolf pack or something magical,” he reported.

Jameson blinked. Is it just me or is the air... shimmering?

Chase stood up, and he and the other three guys all stared at the air in front of them. Yes... it was shimmering slightly. Like the air above a heated rock. As they stared, things became clearer. The air was moving. No, not the air. They were... people? Translucent at first, becoming more and more solid, glowing slightly. Jackie backed up, holding his arms out in front of the others as if to push them back as well. But there was no need for that, as everyone was scrambling backwards away from the glowing strangers.

“Wh-what is this?” Henrik whispered. “Are you all seeing this as well?”

“Yes, Henrik, we are,” Marvin confirmed. “Who are these people? What are they?”

They watched silently for a while, tense and waiting. But the glowing people didn’t bother them. They looked at the group, a few waved, but they didn’t stop their procession to attack, or even to speak.They just kept walking. And just as the group started to relax—

Jameson inhaled sharply. He ran forward, running along the path, eyes locked onto something. “Jair!” Marvin gasped, running after him.

“Wait you two!” Jackie rushed after them, and Chase and Henrik glanced at each other and followed.

Jameson came to a stop, staring at some of the people. A man, looking to be in his forties, walking with a woman of the same age, their arms linked together. The woman was smiling and laughing at something, and the man nodded.

“What is it?” Marvin asked, shifting Draco into just one arm and putting a hand on Jameson’s shoulder. But Jameson didn’t even bother to look at him. He just kept staring at the man and woman. What was so special about—

The realization hit Chase all at once. The brown shade of the man’s hair, the shape of the woman’s face, the blue of both their eyes... they both looked a bit like Jameson. And as the man and woman noticed them, the man raised his hand. There was a ring on his finger. A signet ring of some kind. “...oh,” Chase breathed.

Jameson was shaking slightly, trembling beneath Marvin’s hand. Behind the couple walked three others. Young women, all around the same age. The eldest walked in front, auburn hair shorn short. Behind her was a woman with her hair pulled back in a tight braid, a pair of fancy riding pants, the sorts nobles wore for long horse rides. And behind her in turn was the youngest, her light hair curling, smiling as she skipped along. She looked at Jameson and waved.

“Oh... oh no,” Henrik whispered.

Jameson’s mouth formed words, but of course, no voice came out.

And then Jackie’s eyes widened. “G-Grandmam?” An older woman was walking along the couple, using a cane to support herself, bent over with deep lines on her face. 

“Oh!” Marvin started. “There! Isn’t that Miarch? H-he was—we lost him s-so early on... A-and there’s Kieron, and Ilsa, and...” The people he was pointing out all had white plaster masks with them, on their face or hanging from their belts.

Chase tore his eyes away from the procession. It was clear now who these people were, and he didn’t want to see anyone he’d known.

But Jameson... he started to step forward.

“No!” Henrik lunged forward, grabbing the back of Jameson’s shirt. “Do not get too close!”

Jameson spun on him. Why not?! he demanded, eyes welling with tears.

“We do not know what will happen if we touch them,” Henrik reasoned. “What if we... what if we join them? Jamie, please tell me you do not want to join them.”

That seemed to get through to Jameson. He blinked, then shook his head. Of course not. I just... He turned back to the procession. It’s been so long since I’ve seen them. Mam and Dad... Emer, Orla, Mairead... those are their names. He spelled them out in handspeak so that the others would know what to call them. I never got to...

Chase took a deep breath. He walked over to Jameson and put an arm around his shoulders. “Well... this is the time to do it, isn’t it?”

Jackie and Marvin were also staring at the people they recognized in the procession. Henrik, like Chase, is trying not to look, though his eyes can’t help but glance back every so often at the ones with white masks. But they all hear what Chase said. “Y-yes... th-this is the time... to say goodbye,” Jackie whispered.

“I-I don’t think we should actually say anything,” Marvin said quietly. “Just in case... that starts a conversation we... don’t want. W-we don’t know how they’ll... react to us.”

Jameson shuddered. As much as I don’t want to stay silent... you’re right. Best to be cautious. We don’t know what effect the Wyldwood would have. He looked after his family. They seemed... happy. As they waved at him again, he waved back, a slow, sad farewell.

And after a moment, Jackie, Marvin, and Henrik all waved as well. Chase saw no one he recognized... and he didn’t seek them out.

After a while, the friendly faces disappeared down the path. But the procession didn’t stop. They watched them continue appearing, walking left to right, an endless parade. “We... we shouldn’t interrupt them,” Marvin whispered. “Let’s... go back and make camp.”

Jackie nodded. “I-I’m sorry I made us keep walking.”

Don’t be, Jameson said. You didn’t know this would happen. And... maybe it was a good thing, in the end.

“...maybe,” Jackie said quietly. “Let’s... go.”

The group turned and walked back the way they came, setting up their bedrolls around a large tree. The procession was a slight glow in the distance, a line of light. They went to bed, said their good nights... but none of them fell asleep. They all knew they were watching the procession. Watching it until exhaustion caught up to them.

As Chase drifted off, he reflected on who he saw in the procession. The Masked Phantoms. Jameson’s family. Were others in the procession... because of the King as well? Or... because of the spirit possessing Jack?

...He would remember them. Remember why the King must be defeated.

There would be no more of them. Not if there was anything they could do about it.

[abarbaricyalp]

A loose interpretation of the @samsseptember prompt memories // Rated: M (ish) // CW: thinking of previous violence and injury // suffer my inability to use proper tense throughout

Sometimes, when Bucky is straddled over Sam's hips and his hands are everywhere on Sam's body, Sam remembers watching that hand, this arm, punch through his windshield and rip his steering wheel right out of the car. It had been too chaotic for him to really be afraid. He'd searched after the phantom before doing anything else. The first of many times he chased after a shadow in his periphery in the shape of Barnes.

Despite everything else about the fight on the bridge, that night, he'd sat on the edge of a cot and stared at his own arms. There were tiny cuts littering the skin of his forearms. The reminder of the glass shattering inwards sent a wild, bubbling laugh through Sam's chest. His left thumb had been dislocated when the steering wheel disappeared. Steve had reset it, but the bruise and ache were still ugly and obvious.

Just a few days ago, Bucky had held that same hand between both of his, pried out a splinter that Sam was being a baby about on purpose, and then kissed away the teeny well of blood that followed.

Sam wondered what Barnes' hands had felt like all those years ago. He'd become a big fan of skincare--the slippery slow from haircare--but Sam had seen his hands back then. Long fingered and elegant. Wrapped around a gun or clenched into a fist. Strong and sure, unhesitating. He bet they felt great when they weren't being controlled by marionette strings stitched into Barnes' mind.

Bucky touches him now every which way. Sometimes how Sam asks and sometimes how he needs without asking. He taps Sam's hip to step behind him in the kitchen. He grabs his shoulder to move him in a fight. He trails teasing, tickling lines up his thigh during meetings. He brushes along Sam's neck while they're watching a movie and Sam is slowly falling asleep beneath Bucky's arm. He puts his hand over Sam's chest to count his heart beat.

Sometimes, he grabs his shoulder and Sam feels a wing ripping away. The air rushing past him as he freefalls, stomach aching from a phantom kick.

Sometimes, he touches Sam's face and Sam is back in Germany, about to be thrown into an elevator shaft.

They're weird bursts of memory. Sam's interrogated it. He's not scared. There's no twitch or jump or moment of confusion or suspicion between them. It's not all the time. He trusts Bucky with his life, with his body, with his soul.

But still. There's this weird impression down through the muscle and bone of him, a bad bruise that isn't on the skin anymore but still twinges at the most random of times. A scar in the wood of him that has been buffed out but still, impossibly remains.

Bucky kneels behind him, pulls him off of his elbows with a gentle, firm hand around the neck and Sam moans and jolts and trusts him. Bucky puts his teeth to the meat of Sam's shoulder and Sam leans back into it. Bucky takes him in hand, the metal hand, and strokes him over the edge while Sam begs for more.

And then they fall over in bed and he brings his fingers up to Sam's temple to wipe away a drop of sweat and suddenly Sam is behind a glass wall in a prison beneath the ocean with a throbbing bruise across his face. He's on a jet and Barnes is looking at him, really looking at him, for the first time. And his fingers come up to the same spot.

"I'm sorry," he says for the first time.

"You didn't do this one, cyborg-brains," Sam answers. He's still running on fumes of insults and school yard names after seventeen hours in a car.

"No, I'm sorry for all of it. All the way back to your rental."

"Who the hell told you it was a rental?" Sam asks. And Barnes doesn't look over to Steve, but Sam knows anyway.

Bucky has said sorry a million times over. Sam had expected each one to erase a bruise, but it always seems to tattoo them down lower instead. A shadow in the water, the unexpected nip at his ankle. Never bad, just surprising. And Sam wouldn't dig them out for anything. They're not just a tattoo, a scar, a bruise. They're the foundation of growth exponential.

Bucky's fingers are on his cheek now and he leans over to kiss Sam's eyebrow. "Thank you," he says this time. "For all of it."

All the way back, Sam thinks. And all the way forward too.

[onethverse]

OC-Tober catch-up! days 2-5

Prev: Day 1 | #loz oc

oops all LoZ ocs.

2: NEW OC

Oneth (wunth) ([wʌnθ])

Oneth is dying of memory. A spirit whose power flourishes in darkness, it was weakened as Hyrule left the Calamity behind and entered a new era of peace and enlightenment. Although every mouth that utters its name brings it closer to its death, Oneth still revealed itself to Sabel, and the two formed a pact. To erase the burden of memory from the world, easing Sabel's suffering and grief while saving his mysterious friend's life. It cannot be seen. Oneth is a small, slight creature that glows with a faint light, much like a fairy; absent is the cheery tinkling of fairy bells. It is nearly a foot in height and has wings and long, tangled appendages. Its fish-like gaze betrays a desire to see all swallowed by the abyss. Its domain is oblivion and the lightless abyssal depths of the sea.

how recently did you make them?

Last November probably. So I do have newer ocs. But they needs images :( regarding its design:

i had the idea of an anti-fairy with fish attributes for a little while, but it clicked into place after playing some Ico recently. I had to draw the thing at the intersection of Yorda, Seath the scaleless, and rabbit fish (chimaera monstrosa.) One of my other inspirations for this character was Jenna Moran's oeuvre of RPGs like Nobilis and Glitch. Never even played them I just follow people on tumblr who post about them nonstop

3: OLD OC

now this is crazy. via: maples.im

how long ago did you make them?

Seyches began as my MapleStory character when I started playing around 2005.

Sorry, I've had to reread that sentence about a dozen times now. It's been how long?

In his first iteration, he was an exiled prince with eyes that changed colors based on emotion, in a love triangle with two or more demon boyfriends, and eternally escaping some dungeon or being caged somewhere.

Also, he was called into duty as a silly pirate's first mate and pyrotechnics expert; such are the demands of irc rp.

credit: cata_dioptric, trubadui (via picrew)

Seyches (I already have his IPA right here, so I'll drop it: [sɛʃ]) is a lonely 30-year-old dude. He has a job as a scrivener, but moonlights as a forger. In his spare time, he’s writing a historical play about Gerudo kings. He likes coffee and cats. He is a trans man, born female and living as a man; a move regarded by some as “not Gerudo-like.” Irrelevant.

He's a former "business partner" of Domri, who pretends not to know Seyches despite being well acquainted. He has an ability to suss out people's secrets, so after meeting Sabel and Ark he becomes aware of both their bizarre obsession with each other and the potential doom they intend to bring upon the world. Well, he's neither a user of powerful magic nor a ninja swordsman, so the best he can do is play mind games with them.

⭐ 4: UNDER-APPRECIATED OC

an oc you feel like you don't talk about enough, or you haven't fleshed out as much as you would like

Anika, whose name I misspelled in my previous post, and who I fridged...Um, if there's anything I'd like to say to women, it's this: I'm sorry women.

Here's what we know: she was a girl who liked to sing, chase boys, and privately harbor grandiose dreams. After the birth of her only child, he became her primary obsession. Btw, the father is unknown, but according to genetic testing on the only chromosome he didn't inherit from her (wait, I count 47 here?) we have narrowed down the most likely candidates to Jareth the Goblin King and aliens from ufos. So anyway, Anika and her parthenogenetic clone were able to comfortably get by once the child started talking to fairies, who would lead him to places where caches of treasure had been hidden long ago by people who hoped to retrieve it after the apocalypse.

credit: z idk their socials

This is just another picture of Sabel but they're almost identical to each other. Sabel is taller and has smaller tits I guess

At least Anika has tumblr posts I can associate w/ her even if it's 1. an x-files gifset: “But the baby’s father is an alien?” / “No, no, I didn’t say he was an alien, I said he was from another planet. His name is Luke Skywalker. He’s what’s known as a Jedi Knight.” 2. "splish splash, hobbit overboard"

5: RE-DESIGNED OC

credit: The Illoganatii

an oc who has changed a lot (what changed about them?) or, if you haven't redesigned an oc: is there anything you might want to change about an existing oc?

Ark has been around about as long as Seyches, originating as a doodle based on the main character of Pokemon Trozei, which I read about in Nintendo Power and have never played. Regrettably it was drawn on the back of my state standardized test so I could never have it back.

He was a ponytail girl with a blue beret. and a blonde. He became a copium ranger/repressed ninja. For my own satisfaction, I thought I could make a strongly ftm-coded cis male character, but something else happened.

He's a man but he's a child. He's in love with his murderer. He knows he's being manipulated and he can see through Sabel’s lies. He's a puppet he's a doll. He's sick and full of twisted grief. And he's your next president/owner of the Triforce of wisdom. Wisdom?! I wish I’d been born a… The wanter.

if i redesigned an oc now it would be oneth bc if i had to draw that thing repeatedly i would simply replace it with a fish head with wings

Thanks for reading :3

[kinderartifact4]

TD Magic AU assigned species: Reboot Cast.

I’ve skipped the RR Cast for now, because I hardly have anything down for them, yet I had almost everything done for this cast.

❗️Species suggestions for the RR cast would be appreciated, even if it’s just telling me who should stay human❗️

-

-

-

MK- Angel

+Magpie wings

+Has inherited magical abilities

+Hydrokinetic

Raj- Halfbreed

+Angel/Ajror Demon

+Magic-born

Wayne- Halfbreed

+Faun/Satyr

+He and Raj have to wear special skates to play hockey

Emma- Halfbreed

+Mer/Human

Chase- Halfbreed

+Drider/Human

+Magic-born

Scary Girl/Lauren- Halfbreed

+Shapeshifter/Human

+The only shifting she can do is making minor adjustments to her body’s proportions, and she oftentimes uses that ability to land herself right in the uncanny valley

+Everyone else fucking hates it

+Nobody knows if she’s Magic-born or not

Axel- Halfbreed

+Human/Dritë Demon

Priya- Human

+She wants to learn healing magic, but her parents think it’s a waste of time.

+She has been slowly teaching herself healing magic behind their backs, but she hopes to get a proper teacher one day

Julia- Neko

Ripper- Human

Zee- Halfbreed

+Harpy/Töke Demon, Plant Variety

+Primarily harpy

+Sun Conure looking feathers (might change, open to other suggestions)

Bowie- Elf

Caleb- Human

Millie- Satyr

Nichelle- Human

Damien- Mer

-

-

-

A good portion of the characters are kids of previous cast members for this AU, if you wanna guess which ones.

[0asterous0]

The Chase, Part One

Previous chapter.

“This is stupid,” Grian muttered, looking in the mirror. He spent an hour arguing with himself and trying to avoid looking at the stupid black-pink costume in the box, but his attempts ended unsuccessfully. Now here he was, staring at his own reflection inside the mirror, fully dressed in the new clothes with a domino mask covering his face.

It was dumb. He knew it was, he looked ridiculous in this. What was he trying to achieve right now, dressing up as some kind of a hero? He’s not a hero– and he doesn’t mean it in the “I’m just a person, I’m no hero” way, no, he doesn’t even have a license to be one. If you ask Grian, he does not trust licensed heroes. All of them are government-trained and approved soldiers, cops, who mostly act for the sake of said government.

 If you weren’t important or “like everyone else,” they would gladly leave you behind and let you rot. 

That’s why Grian always liked most of the vigilantes. Yes, unfortunately, there are a few bad cases sometimes when people pick up the mask to act as a vigilante; but out of selfish reasons, not caring about anything but approval and fame. And then there were the vigilantes who made a move, trying to make things better for people.

Sometimes, Grian wished he could make a change. Maybe that’s why he is doing this right now.

He… doesn’t look bad in this suit. He surprisingly likes it. He spins around for a better look, when it finally dawns on him that this suit doesn’t hide his identity very well, considering the giant wings on his back. Yes, not a lot of people know about them, and he usually hides his wings under clothes when going out, but still a very noticeable feature…

Vigilantism is punishable by law– if someone recognizes his wings, it will get him in trouble. 

Grian lets out a long and annoyed sigh, lightly hitting his fist on his head and turning his back towards the mirror, trying to come up with a way to hide it. He doesn’t have much time to dwell on it, because the door to his room suddenly opens, startling Grian.

“Hey, Gri, I decided to bake something and-” Ren stops at the entrance, even his tail standing up in one place, confusion on his face while he looks Grian up and down. 

He forgot to lock the door… Gods, why is he so dumb, he doesn’t live alone! Why did he think that wearing this with Ren around was a good idea? Deep down Grian hopes that maybe, just maybe, he can pass it as a fan costume, but he’s not that stupid. His first thoughts won’t be “Ah yes, Grian got into cosplay!” Theater maybe... Are you dumb? Agh shut up, voices.

“Grian, mate, I know we just talked about your want to help people, but don’t you think you’re jumping in far too quickly?” Ren asked, brows furrowed. 

“Aaahhh..”

What can Grian even say in this situation? Ah, no actually, on the contrary, I think I’m running very late and I should be on the chase after some suitcases because I think someone that can see the future told me to. He doesn’t even know if the person behind the “gift” box is the same person he thinks it is, or if that person can actually see the future. How can he be sure that he’s not doing something for a villain? 

No, that would be strange; Static, a villain, is already going after the suitcases. Doesn’t that mean that someone is trying to get it before him- which can be even worse if the Oracle is a second villain. It just means that the suitcases are even more important than he thought and multiple people will be after them, probably for world dominance! Ha ha, so funny.

“Aaaahh?” Ren mimics back, a slight grin on his face. 

He doesn’t know what to do. He has known Ren for years now, and he knows that Ren can be trusted, but can he share with him something like this? Even Grian himself has no idea what he’s doing! His conscience might be right, it is logical for more villains to go after the suitcases if they are so important, and if Static of all people finds a partner in crime and kills someone for them then yes, they are important. 

“I… don’t know what I’m doing, okay? I have no idea what this is–” He spats gesturing towards the mirror reflection, “–or what I’m planning to do, I just…”

Looking back at Ren, he meets eyes full of pity that makes his guts twist. Don’t look at me like that. I don’t deserve pity.

“Grian, mate,” He slowly moves to the bed once again, just like he did almost two hours ago, and flops down on it to look back at him. “I know I told you that you need to do something with your life and that you have this spark of a hero in you, but I also said that you need help,” He said, biting inside his cheek as if trying to find a way to explain his thoughts without possibly offending Grian. “Are you sure you want to take this step right now? What… What are you going to do? Just go out and see where the wind takes you?”

“I might do just that,” Grian bites back, ignoring the ‘you need help’ comment. “I-”

He freezes for a second, thinking about it. Should he..?

_______

'-.° Masterpost - Next Part [soon] °.-'

[bold-writing]

The One With Whiskey Eyes || 23 || Fly Away, Away on Coloured Wings

Words: 2700

Warnings: none

Previous || Next

~23~

Iris counted the cracks in the sidewalk absentmindedly. A tea warmed her hands and the sun chased away what would otherwise have been a chilly day. The wind swept through and reminded her occasionally that it was not as warm as the sun would like people to believe. She had remembered to pull a knitted hat over her head, keeping in the warmth and protecting her ears from the chilling breeze.

“Iris!”

The shout of her name drew her attention away from the sidewalk, turning to look toward the main gates to the Philadelphia Zoo. Luke was making his way toward her with a blinding smile on his face. He was dressed down compared to her, wearing his jacket from work that had a nametag clipped over the left side of his chest.

Smiling, Iris stood up from her seat and reached over to where she’d kept Luke’s preferred coffee in the cardboard tray. “Hey, Luke. Black, as you requested,” she started, holding out to tray. He reached forward to take both and stepped in closer until he was able to lean forward and ghost a kiss across her chilled cheek.

“Thanks, Sweetie. Hope you weren’t waiting for too long?”

Iris flushed at the caress of lips across her skin, the sensation steadily becoming familiar. “No worries, only a few minutes. It was nice to get some fresh air away from work. How was your day?” she inquired as she reached up to gently tug on the collar of his work coat. The coat itself had the name Kevin stitched into the fabric, but the alters also had an additional clip-on name tag whenever they were working and covered over Kevin’s name so as not to confuse anyone that tried to read it.

“Pretty quiet today,” he shrugged, turning to face the entrance he’d appeared from while holding his arm out to her. She smiled as she looped her arm through his snugly while taking a sip of her perfectly cooled down tea, saving her tongue from scalding. “Middle of the week is always a good catch-up time for us.”

“It’s usually the same at the store,” Iris responded casually as Luke tried to wave at the man operating the entrance gate, still holding his coffee cup and making it more of a ‘cheers!’ gesture. “Jess went home sick this morning so it was a bit short staffed, but it couldn’t have worked out better than on a quiet day.”

“Aw, she alright?” Luke asked immediately, concern colouring his tone and drawing his brows down. he hadn’t even met her and he was already concerned for the young woman that worked with his soulmate—who clearly cared for the other woman.

Iris smiled at his worry and squeezed his arm comfortingly, and happily. “Just a start of the flu, I think. She tried to work but I think she was starting to turn green so I called her a cab, told her to take off tomorrow and let me know if she needs more time.”

Luke leaned down suddenly and pressed a soft kiss against her hair. “I’m glad you’ve got a friend there, Sweetie.”

Iris smiled against the warmth that took over her cheeks. She turned her face in to press her cheek against his shoulder, inhaling the delicate smell that clung to his jacket. It was an interesting mix of scents—some of which she recognized from her time with BT and Barry. Finally, she forced herself to turn away from his chest and looked at the many pathways that split away from the main area of the park, leading to the various enclosures.

“So, where would you recommend first?” she asked instead, looking up at him through her lashes as she smiled invitingly.

“Oh, the Tigers! No brainer!” he answered immediately, motioning to a path to her right.

Smiling at his enthusiasm, she allowed him to guide her along through the quiet Zoo. The combination of a weekday and a cooler day had most people staying away—occupied with work or preferring the warmth of the indoors. It gave them plenty of space and allowed them to linger in front of the enclosures as Luke told her stories from the past decade working at the Zoo. She listened avidly as she leaned against the railings, or into his side when the wind drew her to his warmth.

Some of the other people working at the Zoo paused in Iris’s peripheral when they spotted them. She wanted to look, wondering what could make them pause, but she forced herself to remain with her focus on her soulmate. She was sure that her soulmates’ situation made it impossible to date so it may make for a strange sight to see Luke—or any of the alters—with a woman pressed into their side tightly.

“I mean, I love animals—they’re beautiful, and Barry loves to sit and draw them when he can—but I’d never try and crawl in with them,” Luke was saying as they were sitting at the bench in front of the large Gorilla enclosure.

Iris’s eyes widened as she looked away from the enormous beasts to where he remained to her left, an arm draped over the back of the bench to encircle her shoulders. “Someone tried to what?” she demanded, shock colouring her tone as clearly as her expression conveyed.

“Oh, yea,” Luke answered, looking over with a matching look of disbelief. “We have to make regular rounds along the perimeter fence because kids come along and cut the locks, thinking they can sneak in sometime through the night. Nothing’s happened while I was here, but I’ve heard horror stories of kids sneaking in, thinking the animals were tame and getting badly hurt.”

The look of horror on his soulmate’s face had Luke paling, immediately tightening his arm around her shoulders so he could draw her in closer. “Not here, Iris. We’re really careful about preventing that.”

Nodding slowly, she tried to remove the mental image of some poor teenager getting mauled by a tiger because they thought the animals were somehow tamed. “That’s terrible,” she mumbled, looking back toward the Gorillas. They were huge, and easily capable of harming some unsuspecting kid that might wander into their domain.

“Sorry,” Luke winced. He hadn’t meant to say something so horrifying; it was just a constant concern for them at work and had slipped out. “Iris, I’m sorry.”

He slipped his hand under the hefty weight of her braid, his hands somehow still warm even against the windy chill, to wrap the comforting weight of his hand at the back of her neck. Iris didn’t acknowledge him right away, still looking over to the animals she had previous thought majestic. However, once the warmth registered and settled, she leaned back against the comforting weight as she heaved a long sigh. “It’s not you, Luke. Nothing you did.”

Turning into his hand, she smiled in reassurance while scooting herself closer to him on the bench.

Luke ducked his head bashfully. “Can you tell I’m not very good at this while dating thing?”

She had suspected at her soulmates had as little amount of dating experience as her. It was heartbreaking to have it confirmed, though. Even those with soulmarks would date the odd person or two before the met their destined one—or multiple. “Luke.” Her stronger tone drew his focus, meeting her eyes with the beautiful blue against whiskey. “I’ve never dated. Not once.” Admitting it aloud pulled a burden from Iris’s chest that left her smiling at his shocked expression. “With how I grew up, I never wanted to open myself up to the chance that someone would hurt me. BT was the first person to ever take me out to dinner—on a date or otherwise.”

Luke’s lips parted to speak, but words seemed to escape him and he simply gapped at her for a silent moment.

“I’m just as clumsy at the whole dating thing,” she assured, angling herself on the bench to face him better while she placed a hand on his chest. “So, we’ll fumble along together. And if someone messes up, there’s nothing wrong with that.”

He continued to stare at her in shock for a moment more before his expression transformed with the blinding smile that he sent her way. It lifted the weight that had settled over her chest and Iris was powerless against smiling back.

“So, where would you recommend we go next?”

“Aviary?” he proposed, still smiling brilliantly.

Iris bounced where she sat, her smile growing from reassuring to pure happiness. “I love birds! Yes!”

Luke stood quickly and hauled her up to her feet, getting a chirp of a laugh from Iris before he was turning them in a new direction and walking her down another path that led toward some of the housing structures.

Majority of the birds were tropical, requiring a warmer climate. Iris was quite pleased by that since she was able to shuck off her coat and chase the chill from her bones. Luke stuck close by, but he let Iris flit from display to display, reading the plaques in front of each enclosure as she looked in at the brilliantly coloured birds. Iris smiled as she watched the birds fly around their habitats, darting in and out of the trees.

There was an option to go in and stand among the birds, but she opted not to—unable to shake the thought of the birds flying overhead and possibly messing her coat.

“Do you have a favourite?” Luke asked when he came to stand in front of the Rainbow Macaws, the large parrots currently preening as they pulled their feathers delicately through their beaks. She stared in awe at how gentle they were with such large, sharp beaks.

“Hm, I don’t think I have one. They’re all so beautiful. Such magnificent colours. Do you have a one?” She glanced at the tall man over her shoulder, seeing that his soft blue eyes were settled on her rather than the enclosures. The attention made her cheeks warm.

Smiling down at her, he gently wrapped an arm around her shoulders and led her over to another exhibit. He’d noticed it when he’d been in a few days before to replace a rusting hinge on one of the employee access doors. The enclosure was a bit smaller, as were the birds inside, with bright balls of gold fluff flitting about inside.

Iris leant into Luke’s side as she looked down at the placard. Golden Palm Weaver was titled above a small summary of the birds. The picture showed a smaller bird with beautiful golden feathers and a crown of whiskey reddish gold encircling the face of the bird.

“The reddish hue around the face reminded me of your eyes,” he answered semi-sheepishly.

Iris blinked in surprise for a moment, looking at the picture of the bird then up at the little creatures inside the enclosure. She hadn’t noticed the similarity before. It brought the flush back to her cheeks as she fought against the bright smile that wanted to break across her features. “They’re beautiful,” she mumbled bashfully. His arm tightened around her shoulders, pulling her in closer to his side as he repressed the urge to chuckle at her timidity.

“So why do you like birds so much?”

Her head came to rest against his chest as she continued to watch the small birds in the enclosure, her expression soft.

“They can fly,” she answered. “Their wings and their feathers are so beautifully composed, it’s amazing to think that something like that happens naturally.” Her head bowed slightly in the next moment, obscuring his view of her face. “And their marks are beautiful. Everyone always talks about the brilliant or intricate colours and marks being so pretty and attractive.”

Luke’s heart broke a little.

Turning to press his lips to the top of her head, he inhaled the soft scent that wafted off of her hair. “I can’t teach you how to fly, but I can assure you that your marks are gorgeous; we all love them. Scars and all.”

They spent the next thirty minutes looking over each of the individual bird enclosures and the plaques situated in front of each. Luke never let her stray too far from his hold, keeping his arm around either her shoulders or her waist as she read the plaques to him or gushed about the beautiful colour of each of the birds.

The staff that passed them by would greet him with either a silent nod or a brief shout in greeting on their way passed. Iris always ducked her head down or turned away to pretend as though she was reading or marvelling at the birds. These were his coworkers, people who saw him day after day, and she wasn’t sure they even knew he had met his soulmate.

“They know about you,” he finally declared when he’d noticed her duck her head down the third time.

Whiskey eyes snapped up to him, coloured with her surprise.

“I mean, how can a guy not brag a bit when he finds his girl?” he admitted bashfully, then stuttered when he realized what he’d said. “Not that…not that you’re mine or anything but-”

Iris took pity on him and gently snagged the edge of his coat, tugging him down just enough to ghost a kiss against the corner of his jaw. “Only if you’re mine, too.”

His cheeks flushed against his will, but the smile that lit up his face made it easy to ignore the burning in his cheeks. “Every bit of me, Sweet.”

Again, Iris ducked her head down bashfully. However, Luke could still see the beautiful rose colour that had taken over her cheeks. At least they matched, blush for blush.

Continuing to tour throughout the rest of the Zoo, Iris’s hand stayed fitted snuggly inside Luke’s. He never relinquished it, even when he would move to point at something, he lifted their joined hands and only freed one finger with which to point. It made Iris’s pulse speed erratically, her happiness manifesting with the simple gesture.

Her fascination with the colouring of the birds continued on to the snake enclosure as well; although, she refused politely when the handler told them it was nearly feeding time. They were beautiful animals, but she was not sure she could stomach seeing a baby bunny—dead or not—being fed to the long, elegant creatures.

They finished their journey back at the front entrance where they had started, Iris smiling tiredly as she leaned heavily into his side. Starting the day with work and then following it up with several hours of walking throughout the Zoo had leeched away the last her strength. Luke had no complaints, however, and leaned down to press a kiss against the top of her head whenever the desire struck him. The city was dark around them when they stepped through the front gate—Luke sharing a short wave with the guard watching everyone come and go—and Iris made an adorable attempt at supressing a yawn.

“It got colder,” she mumbled into her coat collar, leaning into him more.

“Nice and warm downstairs,” he assured, leading her to the entrance she had used the past days when staying with her soulmates. The entrance she and Barry had shared their kiss in front of as the snow blanketed them. “Patricia cooked something for dinner, left me instructions to throw it in the oven but warned me about peeking under the lid.”

Iris laughed softly to herself, imagining Patricia’s neat, meticulous writing expressing her warning clearly. She had no problem picturing what the letter would look like. Her mark had appeared so many years ago; she has since traced her finger endlessly over the words on the back of her palm. Iris was sure she could identify all of her soulmates’ printing at a glance by this point—whether she knew the name to each mark or not.

“So you didn’t peek?” she teased, tipping her chin up so she could meet the softness of his gaze. He looked so happy, the streetlights catching his dimples in shadow as he smiled down at her.

“And call on Pat’s wrath?” he joked, recoiling slightly as though the very thought was frightening. “I’m not that curious.”

Iris laughed again, ducking her head to press her temple against Luke’s shoulder, welcoming his warmth and feeling his body shake with his own mirth.

Previous || Next

[sonarstories]

MHA|Hawks x Villain GN!Reader

Warnings: None

Summary: Y/N returns to their small apartment after another night of activities, but upon arriving they realise they aren't alone. Finding a hero in their kitchen who had helped themselves to their food during their wait. But instead of apprehending them- instead the hero asks for help...

A/N: I had this in my head for awhile and I'm not entirely proud of the end result. I'm still getting used to writing a gender neutral Y/N. I wasn't sure who to pair them with for this but decided on Hawks because- yes. No thoughts just- feathered boi. Also on another note V/N= Villain Name. This also took longer then I'd like to admit- and if you'd like to request something go ahead! I need more ideas of things to write.

A mastermind they called them, someone who had a strong distaste for heroes and society. They received a name from the public, V/N; the one who would finish the job. The name ended up sticking, as the barer grew to like the name bestowed upon them by the public.

Managing to slip away on countless occasions, each time the villain would send them on a wild chase as if it was nothing more then a game. It had been going on for weeks, like a game of cat and mouse.

They slipped back into their apartment through their bedroom window, the apartment itself was small but accommodated for everything they needed.

Y/N stripped themselves of their villain attire, changing into more comfortable clothes as the early hours of the mornings light crept through the curtains of their window.

It had been a tiring but long night that consisted of a load of work and running from both the heroes and the police. It was like they were closing in on them, it felt suffocating. Knowing they could be getting closer to their capture felt anything but pleasant.

Once Y/N finished changing they threw their villain clothes into the nearby clothes basket before exiting their room.

"Guess I was right after all wasn't I?" Someone asked, the voice coming from somewhere behind them. They knew that voice, they heard it a few times before on the news.

Y/N whipped their head around to be met with a blonde man with red feathered appendages leaning their arm's on the kitchen island. The current number two hero; Hawks. Who was best known for the efficiency and speed.

"This is a nice apartment you got here, seems like the work pays well huh?" He asked, as he stood up straight and walked towards them. Several feathers detached from his wings.

Hawks wore an innocent smile across his face as he stepped away from the dimly lit kitchen. Y/N glanced at the kitchen island he had been at, seeing a plate with what they could only guess was a half eaten slice of the leftover pizza from the previous day.

Y/N wondered how long the hero had been there for, just wait for them to get back and confront them.

Y/N found that they were walking backwards upon the hero growing closer to them, until they stumbled. Nearly falling back when the hero caught them.

He couldn't help but laugh, "careful, don't want to be damaging the cargo." He joked, as if he was deliberately toying with them to try ease their guard.

"I didn't expect the great V/N to be this easy to find."

"Alright, you found me. Now what do you want?" Y/N snapped, jerking their hand free. Keigo laughed, he was laughing?- Y/N appeared caught off guard, wondering why he was laughing.

"Sorry for scaring you, I had to see for myself what you were like and- honestly? You don't look like much." Keigo shrugged.

"Well here I am, in the flesh. So out with it."

"Fine, fine... Straight to business I see, here. Take a look at this, it might be of interest to you."

Keigo held out a folder, but pulled it back when they went to grab it.

"Not to fast, if I hand this to you? I want you to work with me. Let's catch this guy together, got it?"

If anything he had them right where he wanted, as he finally handed them the file.

Skimming through it Y/N's eyes darted to meet Keigo's.

"Fine, count me in bird."

[screamintoad]

Lost Souls

Chapter Fourteen

Arianrdom

  “Yo, you with us girl?” The tall woman bent down to examine Karissa’s face. Wynter pat her shoulder a few times. “Didn’t Ruth fix ya?” “I…” Wynter sighed. “They did. She’s just still trying to get her bearings.” He replied. The woman quirked a brow at the uncertainty in his voice. “A’ight. Neither of you look like much. Certainly not with those potato sacks on.” Karissa finally noticed that her and Wynter’s clothes were almost identical. “Where’s your sword and armor?” She wondered. He shrugged, “They took it.” He stated flatly. “They said I could get them back once we got cleared to stay.” The woman hummed in acknowledgment. She stood straight and proud as she led the way. Her strides radiated quiet confidence that complimented her sharp features. “Come along.” She called behind her, “Let’s find you some clothes and some food.” Wynter was the first to follow her as Karissa turned back to where they had come from, “What about…Onyx?” The corridor that they emerged from was completely empty.

  “Hurry up, girl! We don’t have all day.” Karissa hurried to catch up with them. 

  The warm sun was a gift to feel after the previous events. “You’re a girl, no? Do you have a name?” The woman asked. The sunlight reflected on her hair in a way that showed off the darker gray streaks amidst the lighter shade. The black capelet around her seemed like an odd choice to wear in the end of summer but Wynter kept quiet about it. “Karissa.” “Karissa. Simple enough. You can call me Araceli, catchy I know.” As they went down some stairs the wind picked up and under Araceli’s capelet he noticed severe scarring on her back. He stopped in his tracks as he was taken aback for a moment.

  She is an arial. An arial, who’s wings were clipped. A sight that takes him back to his childhood, or, whatever remains of it.

  Karissa quite literally pushed him to keep moving. Without missing a beat, Araceli continued speaking. “So, Karissa, got any special powers I should know of? We were expecting the Blood Reapers but not a soul reaper. The mage left a message detailing that a shard would be delivered to here. Yet, not by what or who.” Wynter should’ve spoken up to correct her on the nickname but, she wasn’t wrong. He merely got too used to not having to be a part of a feared duo. He focused back on the conversation. “…Only that the Life Weaver itself might chase the one with it. He got that part right, at least.” “I don’t know the full extent of my powers. I’ve only recently been able to use them at all. When we had the encounter with Vhae-the Life Weaver, I was able to use my soul strings to conduct…electricity? I think?” She rubbed her right arm where she remembers the scars are, “It took a lot out of me though.” “Electrical energy.” Wynter finally spoke up. “The shard turned the kinetic energy from you manipulating your soul strings, into electricity. That’s what it simply did. Specifically, it amplifies what’s already being emitted.” Karissa gripped his shoulders, “You’re just now explaining that?” Wynter’s eyes sharpened into a glare as he pried her off of him, “It hasn’t come up until now.” While Araceli merely nodded along. “Well then. We have two rules in Arianrdom. Two main ones, at least. Should be easy to memorize.” The continued walking across different bridges, “If you stay here, you can’t be a threat or a nuisance. You’re lucky that Arianrdom’s council already discussed your usefulness as soon as you arrived, and Ruth backs this up.” She threw them a hard look, “But we have little tolerance for anything, or anyone, who can directly harm our people or mission. So I hope this isn’t the case with those powers of yours…understood?” “Yes.” 

  “I don’t want a reason to antagonize you both. You seem alright, Wynter, Karissa.”

  “Thank you ma’am?”

  “…Thanks?”

  Araceli led them across multiple canopies. Various other people passed by them and waved to her, some addressed her as “Captain”. Wynter nudged Karissa’s side to get her attention, in a hushed whisper he spoke, “When we get Émeric, we have to talk about what happened in the forest.” She nodded, “Definitely. I’m still trying to rack my brain around it all.” He straightened up and they continued walking until they came to a covered hut. Araceli walked over to the woman sewing together some fabric and gestured towards the two. Without any questions the woman smiled and walked over to them at the doorway. She waved them inside and looked them both up and down. She walked around them, keeping her brown wings close to her body to not accidentally hit them. “I’ve got just the things for you both.” 

  In a flurry she pulled pieces of clothing off of racks and shelves and shoes from what Wynter assumed is a back room. When she handed them the change of clothes, Wynter finally got a better look at her face. She wasn’t as sharp as Araceli, her round face a stark contrast. Her facial markings were also different, instead of two triangular shapes under her eyes was small circles. Braided into her hair was a gray feather. 

  When they finished getting changed Araceli spoke up, “My boy said you saved his life.” Karissa’s eyes widened at the memory of the arial from the night prior, “He did?! But we didn’t really-“ “Said you protected him somehow. I believe him, kid’s the honest type. For that I thank you all.” The two remained silent, neither of them use to being thanked. As Karissa used a ribbon to tie her hair back she asked, “So…how is Aleksha?” Araceli waved off her concern, ”He’ll be fine. Nothing some rest can’t fix.” Karissa finished tying up her hair. “Can I see him?” She wondered, “I’d like to thank him. He saved me, too.” Araceli shrugged, “I don’t see why not. It’ll be a while before we figure out what to do with you both, anyways.”

  They followed her back towards the house until Wynter finally piped up, “When can I see Émeric?” For once the woman froze, “Who?” She asked, concern present. “The other ghoul that entered with us, I’m worried about him. He tends to be more…aggressive.” He explained. “Entered…with you, you say?” “Yes.” He replied sternly, “Is he okay?” Araceli rubbed her temples, “Well, fuck.” She groaned. Karissa and Wynter looked at each other in a way that said, “Is that a no?”

*****

  Deep in one of the mountains, Émeric stood chained to a wall as one of the arial who found them last night…interrogated him. 

  “How old are you, boy? Twenty? Forty?” The supposed general’s voice was rough. Whether he spoke like that to everyone or just ghouls, Émeric couldn’t figure out. “Should I even call you “boy”?” The chains wrapped around Émeric’s arms tightened and burned where his sigils were yet, he remained silent. The general harshly gripped his face, “How many people gave their lives for that face of yours.” “…None.” Despite the pain he felt Émeric refused to seem weak. His body was ridden in bruises and scrapes. “Liar.” The general’s face hardened. “Liars, all of you.” 

  Ah. So it is ghouls.

  The general swung a punch at Émeric’s side at his ribs. No reaction other than a wince. “I won’t kill you. Not yet, at least. But I’ll make sure you regret ever entering these mountains.” 

  He then kneed him in the stomach. “Do you have a family? Do you even know the concept?” Émeric thought about a familiar face but still didn’t reply. As the general grabbed his dagger out of his belt a hand grasped his shoulder. “Dalyn.” Araceli’s voice was laced with frustration, “Dear. Let’s have a chat, shall we?” She grabbed his ear and dragged him away to talk but Wynter made out a bit of her scolding.

  “Next time you decide to use our guest as a punching bag-“

  As soon as they passed by, Wynter rushed to Émeric. “How hurt are you?” He asked as he reached out to his face to inspect his wounds. “I’m fine.” “You’re bleeding!” “It’s nothing, Wyn.” The chains loosened and finally let go of Émeric. It was as if all of his strength gave out as he dropped to his knees. Wynter reached out his arms to help keep him steady. Karissa rushed over with a green jacket, where she got it from they didn’t ask. 

  “It has been brought to my attention that you are both this lady’s responsibility.” Dalyn’s voice broke out. “What?” The trio questioned in unison. Araceli stood beside Dalyn with her arms crossed and a proud smirk gracing her features. Whereas Dalyn looked like he was being forced to say these things. “And she is Araceli’s. So, you will be allowed to stay in Arianrdom as honored guests. Until a decision is made for further action.” He explained. Dalyn stared at Émeric as he finished speaking.

  “Don’t push your luck.”