#in total darkness the underworld babes use their powers to get around

[happyk44]

Percy, Jason, and Thalia can see ultraviolet

Nico, Bianca, and Hazel have superb night vision

[thedevillionaire]

Much Better

A supernatural soap opera moment, Cerberus and Kia, featuring Aera (Sorcery Leader) - and the Demon lord's nemesis**, birchbark. As always, any and all questions welcomed, and thank you endlessly for taking the time to read my fics and meet my darlings. 💗💗 **or one of them, anyway.

-- Aera answers the archive chamber door with a fair bit more force and a significantly more frazzled expression than Kia had been expecting, and she double checks the time because of it. Okay, she’s definitely early, but not super early. Still, these hierarchy meetings often didn’t run to schedule, so…

“Hey, sorry, I can wait if…”

“Oh, gods, you’re welcome to him.” Aera turns to yell over her shoulder, “DeVille! Your much better half is here!” before returning her attention to Kia. She smirks wryly at the sound of a violent sneeze and a muted blessing or two from further inside. “He’s been a total delight.”

She addresses this as much to Cerberus as to Kia, the Demon king joining them at the threshold, more than a little dishevelled, crumpled tissues in hand and any semblance of patience clearly a thing of the past.

“Don’t expect me to appease your ridiculous lack of foresight with unwarranted courtesies,” Cerberus counters, his tone one of vivid, seething finality despite the congestion blunting his consonants. “If you’d given any thought to this…how th…hH… HHAHTSSCHuu!” He pushes chaotic ebony back from his face, sniffles forcefully. “This entire place is an allergen!”

“Entire place.” Aera scoffs. “Right.”

Cerberus blows his nose with the rough impatience of someone who is entirely sick of having to do so, excuses himself all the same, and sniffles again immediately against an itch that refuses to recede. “You have the room temperature set to something just shy of subarctic for reasons I cannot fathom and a level of birchbark usage enough to permeate the damn walls, which frankly should count as an entirety on its own, and as per usual, the place is a dustbowl.” He challenges Aera directly. “What exactly am I missing?”

Kia remains in wide-eyed, silent observance, her attentions fixed, intent mesmeric, on her bonded in beautiful disarray. She glances across at Aera, whose reaction is…very much not the same.

The Sorcery Leader’s reply is clipped, curt. “This is not your department.”

“Of…” His breath snags on urgent need, desperate and overwhelming, and Cerberus against all his wishes is forced to abandon his riposte to consuming physical insistence. He Creates the latest in a series of handkerchiefs he’s completely lost count of now and buries his face in it. “Ah-TSSCH-uu! Ahh-HEHTSCHUU! Goddamn it.” Another determined sniffle and he presses the back of his hand against his nose with significant force, returns to his point forthwith. “Of course it’s not my department! My department gets dusted more than once a… hh-HH…once a centuryyiAAHTSCHHuu!” The relentless tickle escalates demanding, unstoppable, and there’s nothing he can do about it but sneeze again, heavy, powerful. “Hh-AHHTSCHHUU! Gods!” He sniffles repeatedly, infuriated, and rubs irritated, reddened eyes and nose, wills still-hitchy breathing to submit for long enough to conclude with a furious, “And there’s no damn birchbark in it!”

Kia offers him a quiet blessing as he excuses himself and blows his nose again, which he acknowledges with a Mindsent apology laced with frustration.

“I thought you didn’t have a dust allergy. That’s the official line, right? Until you do, that is.” Aera rolls her eyes. “Godssakes, Cerbie.”

Cerberus, with a quiet sound somewhere between a dark chuckle and a snarl, flexes a hand; miniature wildfires dartdancing across his fingers for the briefest of moments the only warning before the chamber door is wreathed in virulent flames, crumbling to smoking ash and embers in seconds.

Aera makes a small startled half-shriek that she quickly redirects to outrage. “Holy crap, Cerberus, what the hell?!”

“Oh, did that inconvenience you at all? If only I’d been able to foresee that somehow and perhaps take steps to prevent it.”

“Seriously?! Okay, fine! Okay! Point taken! Gods! You burnt down my door, you…”

“You know perfectly well you can fix that in minutes. I, on the other hand, am probably going to be sneezing all night.” An indignant sniffle follows, pronounced and determined, though despite his best efforts his breathing remains erratic, unreliable. His brow creases slightly, his attention momentarily diverted as Kia Mindsends him pure sensation sympathy, calmative and gentle, and he meets her gaze in an appreciative, already shaky pause he knows is not going to last.

“I can fix it in minutes eventually! The Create part of it, sure! But I have to measure and prep and redo the whole…”

“Ah-HEHTSHhuu!”

Aera sighs, genuflects ostentatiously before straightening and raising a defiant middle finger. “Bless you, Your fucking Majesty. I’m done,” she snaps, and re-enters the chamber, Creating a makeshift temporary screen where the door used to be as she does so. She dearly wishes she could slam it.

“AHTSSCHUU! *snf!* Gods, honestly!” Cerberus turns his attention to Kia in vexed apology, anger shifting to a frustrated weariness. “Sorry, love. Excuse me.” He blows his nose firmly, rubbing it repeatedly in another futile effort to quiet the demanding itch, takes a deliberately cautious, unsteady breath he doesn’t truly trust.

“Bless you, hon.” Kia moves to him, places a gentle hand on his arm. “Should I even ask how your day’s been?”

“Argued with Aera, sneezed a lot. I’m fairly sure that covers it.” With a sharp, strong sniffle, he pushes newly disarrayed midnight from his face, manages a sardonic half-smile for his bonded. “You, darkling?”

Kia laughs softly, empathically. “Aw, sweetheart. Come here.” She embraces him warmly, wrapping one arm around his waist and reaching up with the other to weave her hand through his hair. On tiptoe, she touches a series of soft kisses to his neck in precursor to honeysultry whispersoft suggestion of never mind all that forget everything focus on me babe just me come here honey come here forget everything else now just me babe it’s alright and a Mindsent sensorial aetherwave of calm, of sanctuary, skin-on-skin heat and she moves closer again, cups his face in her hands, kisses him with lascivious invitation unmissable, relax sweetheart it’s over come to me and all is imagery and infusion suggestion distraction seduction take me home babe in flame and velvet heat and hot tub bedroom hearthside blazing slip between warm satin sheets in early night slowdance splendour sweetheart breathe now babe just me just us and she is perfect, she is haven and boudoir and everything, everything, everyth…

Well, almost everything.

Cerberus, wanting nothing more than to immerse in such pleasures and reciprocate without distraction, is nevertheless unable to do so; with a fleeting frown and helpless inhalation his focus dissolves in sudden desperate need and he stifles two rapid-fire sneezes against his shoulder. “hpt-XCH! hh…HXTchu!” Not enough, it’s never enough, and there’s not a thing he can do save submit. He conveys apology as best he can through watering eyes, brings Kia’s head with one firm arm tight against his chest in protection, and turns to sneeze into crooked elbow, powerful and possessing. “Huh-AAHTSSCHHuu!”

Kia’s pulse spikes and she gasps a constricted, involuntary Mm! and inhales deeply before purring a blessing still more breathless than she’d intended, as her beloved excuses himself with a quiet, exasperated groan, sniffles in unreliable recovery.

Cerberus shakes his head just very slightly, wondering pointedly – and not for the first time – if there’s any way that he can just eliminate silver birch from the face of the Underworld and be done with this nonsense once and for all, and looks at his bonded in consternation. “Love, I meant it when I said I’ll probably be sneezing the rest of the...”

Kia curls her hand around the back of his neck, through his hair, silences his words with impassioned kiss, and Mindsends a resolute, heatcertain :It doesn’t matter.:

“It’s just… *SNF!* ...chances are fairly high that I’ll sneeze on you.” A hitch of breath he forcibly suppresses, knows it can’t last.

:Promises, promises.:

“I…I don’t…”

“It. Doesn’t. Matter,” she repeats, entwining herself around him once again. “Trust me.” Her touch heatseeking, direct, undeniable. “I am going to make everything—” An insistent, inviting certainty infused luxurious and redolent as she switches to Mindsend, the crimson charisma carnal.

:—so much better.:

--

[peachesandfiction]

BlackPink’s reaction to their girlfriend being a greek goddess

A/N: The lyrics in Rosé’s reaction are from a poem I wrote a while back, so like if you want, you can even ignore it bc writing poetry and lyrics aren’t my forte lol

Jisoo: Aphrodite

The two of you had been out at a shopping mall when you had noticed a pair of girls in a group of friends. They were both quiet, slightly bumping into each other with light pink cheeks. You couldn’t help the small smile that slipped across your face as your lightly waved your fingers towards them, causing the two to excuse themselves. They stayed close by where you were as Jisoo continued to look through racks of clothes, standing in a more secluded area. One of the girls reached for the others hand, her fingers nervously playing with a small charm bracelet on her wrist. You couldn’t hear anything between them, but their shy smiles told you enough before Jisoo interrupted you.

She held out a dress towards you, her smile wide and unaware of what happened, “babe, what do you think of this dress? Isn’t it cute?”

The two girls looked up at the sudden sound of Jisoo’s voice before quickly leaving the store and catching up to their group of friends. You sighed, annoyed that you didn’t get a kiss confirmation that your magic worked, “sure, sweetheart. You would look amazing in it.”

Jisoo caught on immediately to your mood, “is something the matter, babe?”

You shook your head, “everything is fine. Don't’ worry about it.”

Jisoo didn’t press on any further until later in the car where she stole the keys from you before you were able to push them into the ignition. Her eyes were a bit hard, her mouth pressed into a line as she pulled them out of your reach, “whats wrong.”

You rolled your eyes, “nothing’s wrong. Can I have my keys back please?”

“Not until you are hones-”

You hushed her, catching sight of the two girls again. They were alone, one was leaning against a car as the other one leaned into her. There was distant giggling followed by hushed whispers before their lips met. Sighing, you felt satisfied, a job well done.

Jisoo’s eyes bounced back and forth between the girls and you. Her head titled in confusion, “do you know them?”

You shook your head.

“Then why were we watching them?”

Falling silent, you sighed and finally gave in. Whispering, “Zeus, I swear if you zap me right now, I’ll tell Hera,” you turned towards a bewildered Jisoo. Softly, you told her, “I am Aphrodite.”

“Um, what? Y/N if this is another joke, I get it. You are the most beautiful person in the-”

“No, Jisoo. I am Aphrodite,” you looked deeply into her eyes and she watched as a light pink swirled in them.

She shook her head, “how?”

“I-…” you titled your head, “I can’t explain it right now.” You looked out the windshield and at the darkening sky, “we should get home.”

Jisoo was quiet on the ride home, but the moment the two of you sat on the couch, she pestered you with questions before she finally asked, “did you use a spell on me to make em fall in love with you?”

“No,” you started, “it was by luck, but you are the first mortal I have found myself deeply in love with.”

Jennie: Persephone

“Let’s go this way,” Jennie excitedly pulled you down a different path on the trail route, bringing you guys into dark trees. With the sun momentarily blocked off, you could feel your heart beat increase and your breath shorten.

Pulling on Jennie’s hand, you look into her eyes, “please, let’s just continue on the route before.”

“Come on, baby. Let’s be adventurous this time,” Jennie pulled you into her arms, “I’ll protect you.”

Your eyes glance once more into the dark area, a chill running across your skin as you thought about the underworld and the darkness it held as you sat down there for half a year, alone and freezing. Then your eyes slide back to Jennie, her smiling shining even in the shadows as her eyes begged you to come. Sighing, you let her lightly pull you further down the path, “alright.”

“Yay! This will be fun, I promise.”

The two of you are quickly surrounded by darkness as your chest tightens and your stomach drops. Your grip on Jennie tensed while your eyes darted over at every shadow, feeling as if they are mocking you.

Finally, Jennie pulled you out into a bright area that was decorated with flowers. The sun warmed your stiff arms as you relaxed against Jennie. She smiled at you, pecking your cheek, “what did I tell you? It was totally worth it.”

Breathless, you smiled back, “yeah. It’s beautiful here.”

“Not as beautiful as you are.”

Your cheeks heated up, “stop it. Let’s sit down and rest for a moment.”

“I want to look around a bit more, but you can wait here. I’ll be right back.”

Nodding, you sit in the soft grass, admiring the flowers near you as Jennie disappeared behind a few trees. Your eyes caught the sights of a dead, swaying  flower. Hovering your fingertips over it, the beauty it once harnessed flowed through you. Quickly checking that Jennie wasn’t around still, your power sprinkled over the wilted flower and you watched with a small smile as it sprung up a beautiful gold.

“How did you-”

You turned around to find Jennie with a small bouquet of similar flowers. her eyes were wide as shock slacked her grip, the stems and petals slipping from her fingers and onto the soft grass. Fumbling to get up, you stumbled over words, “Jennie. What- when- how- It’s not what it looked like.”

“You brought that flower back to life,” her eyes looked into yours, filled with horror and wonder.

“I did, but-”

“How did you do it?”

“I- Well.. I can’t explain it.”

“Why?”

“Because- I- If I do, I have to leave.”

“Baby? What are you talking about?”

You could feel the ground tremble below you. Fear rooting up from the ground and into the soles of your shoes. Glaring at the dirt, you looked back up at Jennie, “I am Persephone.”

“The goddess?”

You nodded, feeling the tremble shift into a rumbling. Your lip quivered as you looked at Jennie, “I love you.”

“Wait, but how are you-”

Then the wind turned icy cool as you slipped through the dirt and under it. The sky flickered in lightning above as Jennie watched the empty spot, so much to say on her lips only to be met with silence.

Rosé: Erato

You overheard Chaeyoung in the other room with the soft strumming of her guitar and her sweet, light voice following it. For a moment, you leaned against the wall, just listening to her mellowed music as the melody is carried into the air. It felt as if the weight had been taken off your shoulders from the last few stressful days. Chaeyoung had been frustrated, not daring to even look at her guitar as she tried to come up with lyrics, but today she seemed to have given in.

The music continued until there was a harsh strum and the sound of Chaeyoung grunting. Getting up, you hurry over to the room that she was in to catch her in the corner, her eyes glaring at the instrument and paper. Your feet were quick as they made their way towards her, your arms wrapping securely around her, “sweetheart, why don’t we-”

“I can’t,” she interrupted you, “I have to turn these lyrics and melody in tomorrow or I won’t be able to get my own music on the album.” She took in a deep breath, “It’s the first time as a group that we get to write our own music and I can’t even do it.”

Her eyes started to well up, but she lightly pressed her fingers underneath them, preventing any tears from slipping over her eyelashes. Your fingers run up and down her back, “I can help you baby. That’s why I am here.”

Her eyes looked up into yours, her lashes were slightly damp, “I don’t want to be a bother.”

“You could never be,” you smiled before making yourself more comfortable next to her, your fingers slipping under the pad of paper and lifting it onto your lap, “alright. Let’s see what you have already.” Your eyes scanned the pages, reading, “The moon//That was gently resting in her hand,// Once warm with a soft glow// Soon became too hot.”

Chaeyoung followed along to your spoken version of the lyrics she had splattered across the page among doodles and x’s, her fingers strumming the melody she had wanted for it.

Smiling you nodded, rolling your hand for her to continue playing. The rest of her page was blank, so you closed your eyes as you took in the music, “The longer she watched it// Waiting for something to happen in the midst of // The stars// The more it grew, turning a gentle burn// To a brilliant blaze.”

Chaeyoung continued to play, but her eyes glanced up to yours before locking on them, in unison, the two of you sang together as your eyes held the last of the lyrics, “It was a beauty she couldn’t understand// That was within herself.// She took the moon, // Gentle,// And with it created the sun.”

Chae’s fingers fell from the guitar strings onto her warm lap as her eyes stayed on yours, “how did we do that?”

You shied away, unaware of what you had done in the moment. You had forgotten your powers and they take control of you. Pushing up, you had started to walk away, but Chaeyoung pulled you back down.

Her face was filled with confusion, “do you know what just happened?”

Sighing, you repositioned yourself, grasping your beloved girlfriend’s hand, “promise that you won��t leave me?”

“Why would I leave you,” fear crawled in her voice.

“Just promise, please?”

Chaeyoung nodded slowly,

“Alright, I am a goddess… well to be more specific, I am a muse. My real name is Erato.”

“A- a muse? How? They are just a-”

“Myth, I know, but I am real.”

For a moment, silence evaded before Chaeyoung started giggling, “alright… well you are my own personal muse. Okay?”

Lisa: Iris

The water in the pitcher that you kept in the corner of the room began to shake, and you froze as you watched drops of it start to sputter over the lip and onto the ground. Dropping the stack of clothes you had just folded, your fingers found their way to the heralds rod as you felt your wings ruffle out, ripping your shirt as they slowly flapped behind you.

The water built up to a small mirror and within it was a distorted image of a tall man with a strong jaw that was set. His eyes flashed as his voice rumbled the floor beneath you, “Iris. What is taking you so long?”

Lisa had just stopped by you place to drop off her anniversary gift for you when she witnessed the small earthquake that came from inside your house. Rushing, she found the door unlocked and began to check around the house for you, her voice almost shrill as she called out, “Y/N?”

“WHO’S THAT,” Zeus’s hands clenched as his eyes hardened onto you.

You shook your head, “I have no idea, sir. Shall I-”

The door opened behind you and Lisa rushed in the moment she saw you only to freeze as her eyes darted between the water and you. The hair on the back of your neck began to rise as you ran your hand through the floating water, causing it to cascade back into the pitcher before you dropped the heralds rod and turned towards Lisa.

“Haven’t you heard of knocking,” you breathlessly asked as you fell against the wall. Your heart was starting to finally slow down from the uncomfortable pace you felt. Being in a mortal body for so long was starting to take its toll on you.

Then Lisa slowly walked over to you, “I thought you were in danger.” The look in her eyes surrounded by her soft, colorful aura, let you slip down the wall, sighing in relief.

“I’m glad to know that you would protect me, but I will be fine. Don’t worry.”

She nodded before she cleared her throat, her eyes glancing over at the pitcher of water, “so, um, what was that?”

In the fear of Zeus smiting Lisa the moment he saw her, you realized that you had just exposed yourself as the goddess Iris. You studied her, trying to find signs of fear, but all that were in her eyes were curiosity and worry for you. Sliding up from the wall, you gently cup her face, “let’s go sit down in the living room. I have a lot to explain.”

[a-damson-in-distress]

From Dusk Till Dawn - Chapter 5

Pairing: MadaSaku

Plot: Sakura was searching for a purpose. Madara was thirsting for revenge. Little do they know their fates intertwined centuries ago. Once he broke free from his banishment, he would usher in a new dusk. Until he realised that she was his dawn. Historical/mythological AU.

Note: Salutations, my lovelies. I’m back from the dead. So I know most of you will have probably forgotten this fic even exists (hell, even I forgot lol), but guess what - IT’S BACK BITCHES! I honestly have no idea what came over me today, but somehow I got reminded of this blog and the fics I started here, so I decided to dig it up out of the depths of my browser history, and you know what? I totally forgot how much fun I had writing these and that daaaaaaamn I had some good stories going on, which were in desperate need of updating, if only to ease my guilty conscience. 

Speaking of which, I honestly have no excuses for going AWOL for so long. I know some of you may have been bummed, because I think this fic did have a teeny tiny bit of a following, but honestly guys, this writing blog was only one of my many hobbies and it was never meant to take up too much of my time. It was one of these things I occasionaly devote my time to, but that was always doomed to be second place to my life/relationship/university responsibilites. But on the bright side, I did finally get my Bachelor’s degree, whoooo! Buuuuuuuut I am still at uni doing my Master’s, sooooo ya know - still not going to be a regular thing here. 

Anyways, TL;DR: I wanted to update this little nugget here out of pure nostalgia and curiosity to see how many of you will still remember the story, to see how many will appreciate and like this update and depending on your reaction, I might actually take up writing again. Goodie, I’m excited to be back. Have fun! :)

Oh also, please check out the first 4 chapters before reading this one, since - you know - I let so much dust settle on this story none of y’all will probably know what’s going on. 

EDIT: I had to delete the links to the first 4 chapters, because this chapter wasn’t showing up under the madasaku tag or any of the other tags, but as soon as I deleted the links it did? Soooo yeah whatever, fuck you Tumblr links. You’re gonna have to scroll through my blog to get to the other chapters, I’m sorry. I’ll figure out a way to post all of it in one piece, promise. Have fun and let me know what you think! :)

500 years ago…

The heavens stood still.

Silence.

Death.

Victory.

Tsunade watched a tired Jiraiya fall to his knees and let out a pained groan. Allowing a nervous sigh to escape her lips, she closed her eyes.

They did it. They finally did it. After decades of warfare, bloodshed, and carnage, they finally managed to seal away the bane of their existence.

The last of the dusk gods had fallen.

Opening her eyes again, she let her tired gaze wander across the scene of their final battle. Slain gods lay scattered across the barren field, the ashen ground beneath them stained in the colour of their blood.  Giant craters burning with the dreaded flames of the underworld tore through the otherwise idyllic scenery of the heavens like wounds from blade. The black flames of the dusk god’s feared Amaterasu eating up what little was left of the trees that once made this surrounding a forest.

It matters not, she kept telling herself. He is gone. And the dawn gods shall rebuild.

Just as Tsunade was about to join Jiraiya to take a look at his wounds, an ear-piercing screeching tore through her head, forcing her to her knees. Barely managing to open her eyes against the penetrating pain in her mind, she watched the other surviving gods around her writhe and hold their heads in agony.

All of a sudden, the screeching ebbed, giving way to a low hissing sound before a mysterious voice whispered into all of their ears:

At the fall of dusk, at the fall of old, spring shall bring forth his keeper,

who will call to him until his return at the night the darkness swallows the heavens.

Young and weak, the Eastern light shall seek out the old power in the West,

who will envelop her in darkness to unleash their true might.

Dawn will be his light, and dusk shall return.

It was only when the throbbing pain in her head finally dissipated that Tsunade dared to look up. The remaining gods looked at each other questioningly.

They were familiar with this pain, with this feeling. The hissing voice in their head. The dawn gods all knew what this was.

A prophecy. Foreshadowing the return of Madara.

The survivors did what they could to tend to the wounded on the battlefield. When no one else could be saved, the gods set them aflame and watched their bodies dissipate into golden dust, releasing their divine essence into the vast expanse of the universe, praying for them to be reborn again. Then, they retreated to their respective homes – or what was left of them – to lick their wounds, celebrate their survival, and grieve the death of the fallen.

Tsunade felt a heavy sadness weighing down her heart that night. Despite their unimaginable victory over the mightiest god to ever grace the face of the heavens, they had lost so many. She knew more peaceful times lay ahead of them now, and yet she felt restless. It had been ages since the universe had whispered a prophecy into their ears. And this one was particularly unsettling.

Dusk shall return.

But they sealed him, Tsunade reminded herself. And with one of Hashirama’s seals, no less. She was the one who studied the dusk god’s inscriptions, who knew his incantations like the back of her hand. She was certain Hashirama’s seal would be enough to imprison Madara for the rest of his miserable days.

And yet, mere minutes after the dawn gods managed the unthinkable and sealed away the last dusk god, the universe decided to warn them of his return. And prophecies always came true, the dawn goddess knew that much.

Not only that, but the prophecy also spoke of some Eastern light, who would supposedly help him unleash his true might. A cold shiver ran down Tsunade’s spine at the thought of Madara teaming up with such a force of nature that will grant him even more fearsome powers than he already had.

Yet the goddess of healing had no time to dwell on her worrisome thoughts, as her mind picked up the desperate prayer of a mortal couple. Never one to abandon the ones in need, the blonde goddess raced down into the mortal realm and materialised unseen in the living room of a small hut. She watched the couple on their knees, huddled together in front of the fire. They were rocking back and forth, with the woman holding a small bundle in her arms and the man raising one arm pleadingly into the air, calling out to the goddess of healing to save this poor baby.

This baby? Is that not their own child, Tsunade thought suspiciously. Babies do not just fall from the heavens.

Taking one step closer to the fire, the goddess suddenly felt a divine glow emanating from the bundle in the woman’s arms. Tsunade would recognise that anywhere – the essence of the gods. This was indeed not the mortal couple’s child, but a newborn of the dawn gods.

Still hidden from the mortal’s view, she leaned down and caught a glimpse of pink hair and emerald green eyes, staring knowingly, yet tiredly at her. As Tsunade stretched out a hand towards the babe to check its body temperature, a tiny chubby fist suddenly enclosed her index finger. This little touch was enough to flood the goddess with a feeling of warm motherly love.

Tsunade knew in that instant that this deity shall be hers to raise, care for, and love.

With her divine power, she mentally reached out to the mortals and willed them to lay the small bundle on the floor by the fire. She watched them carefully lower the baby and step back from the fire, worriedly glancing around the living room and waiting for something to happen.

In the blink of an eye, the small bundle was gone. The couple sighed in relief and fell into each other’s arms, knowing their beloved goddess of healing would take care of that weak little girl.

“Do you really think that was a wise choice?”

Tsunade ignored Jiraiya’s incessant nagging and kept bouncing the little babe on her arm. Immediately after taking the young goddess from the mortal’s hut, she returned home to her half-standing palace in the East, where some of the surviving gods have retreated to recuperate. One of them being Kakashi, the feared god of lightning, who was pinning her with a scrutinising gaze.

“Jiraiya’s right, you know. Tonight, of all nights, with this new prophecy looming above our heads… Have you even thought for a second that she could be this Eastern light, his keeper that was prophesised?”

Tsunade scoffed and shot him a challenging glare. “Please, Kakashi, don’t be paranoid. It was just one of the millions of prayers I receive every day. Only this time, it happened to involve a newly born dawn goddess, instead of a weak mortal. Just because she is one of us, does not mean she is tied to the prophecy. In fact, we should be thankful our pantheon is growing again after we lost so many.”

“The prophecy clearly said that at the fall of dusk some kind of keeper will emerge who is destined to help Madara unleash his full power upon the heavens. The fall of dusk was tonight, and after decades of no new deities, tonight is the night the universe decides to give us a new goddess, during spring no less? Coincidences like these might happen to the mortals but not in the heavens,” Shikamaru grumbled before taking a well-deserved puff from his ivory kiseru.

Rolling her eyes at the god of wisdom and strategy, Tsunade switched the little bundle to her other arm and kept bouncing her up and down, before she said, “What you all fail to see is that she cannot be the Easter light from the prophecy, since I found her in a mortal village in the middle of nowhere, not even remotely close to anywhere East. And don’t you think that if such a powerful force destined to be tied to Madara emerged that we would not have felt its birth? Elemental abnormalities, time standing still, earthquakes – anything that might indicate a new divine force has emerged. But there was absolutely nothing when this little goddess here was born. In fact, she is so tiny and weak, I honestly doubt that she will have a purpose grander than making flowers grow, that’s how harmless she is.”

Tsunade saw the uncertain faces around her, their doubtful gazes boring into her determination to keep the babe. She had to convince them, somehow. She could not just leave a part of her divine family, especially now that her kin was nearly wiped out. As soon as the young goddess had touched her, Tsunade felt responsible for her. She had to ignore the nagging feeling at the back of her head screaming at her to listen to the prophecy.

Yes, there were too many coincidences, Tsunade had to admit that herself. The prophecy clearly talks of a female, emerging during this particular night, during spring. All of which applied to the little dawn goddess in her arms.

But there was no way she could be the Eastern light; the goddess was not tied to any particular region. And Tsunade could not – for the life of her – imagine this tiny, frail little thing would be capable of stoking the fire of Madara’s wrath to the point that she would be the one to unleash his true might.

Shaking away her doubts, Tsunade gazed into the tired emeralds of the little girl in her arms. A smile spread across her lips when the tiny goddess snuggled closer to her chest.

There was absolutely no way she would abandon this little thing, not now after she lost so many of her family.

Raising her head, she shot a determined glance at all of the surviving deities in her presence and exclaimed, “I will not resign this precious goddess to a prophecy we have not even fully deciphered yet. None of us know what half of that steaming pile of donkey dung even means, so nobody is going to determine her fate based on any of that. Besides, even if she really is this keeper of his, this way we can at least raise her on our side. Teach her our story, our ways, our kindness. She will never be corrupted by him if we have the power to tell her the things we want her know. If he really does come back and they really do cross paths, there is no way she will choose him. I will tie her to me as tightly as she tied me to her.”

Lowering her caramel eyes, she cast a loving glance at the newest addition to her family and whispered softly, “I will protect my daughter from him. No matter what.”

Went to him… willingly … kidnapped … she chose him … sacrifice …

Sakura’s muddled mind started picking up fragments of speech as she slowly started to wake from her slumber. Forcing her weak body to sit up, she cast a disoriented glance around her only to find herself in her chambers at her mother’s palace.

All of a sudden, memories started flooding her mind and she felt her heart rate pick up.

Madara.

She finally met him. She was in his palace. She was so close to getting some answers. A blush crept up her neck at the thought of his calloused fingers holding her chin in place as he was leaning closer to her, before… Before the dawn gods laid siege to his palace to take her away from him.

Wait, from him? Where did that thought come from? Since when did Sakura think she belonged by his side? She had only known him for a few moments and from what she had seen on the battlefields, he was not a god whose company she should be yearning for. And yet, she had never felt so strong, so alive as when being close to him.

And now that they were separated, her old familiar frailty had returned as well.

The young dawn goddess could feel frustration bubble up inside her. Rarely did she get mad at something or someone, but her constant state of weakness had been a source of anger for all of her short life. And the one being who could rectify that just had to be her mother’s mortal enemy and the one who had been waging war against her kin for the last weeks.  

Sakura felt like throwing something against the wall. Alas, all the smashable things in her room were solid gold or heavy ivory, all of which was too difficult for her to even pick up now. In Madara’s presence, however, she felt like she could carry the entire heavens on her shoulders.

Her depressing thoughts were interrupted when she felt the voices on the other side of her door grow louder.

“Look what Tsunade’s tying down has brought us. She went to him, willingly. All that keeping her close was for nothing!”

“She is so weak, she cannot even open doors without struggling, and you really think she made that trip all the way to the Western end of the heavens on her own? He clearly kidnapped her. We are lucky he left her alive for whatever reason.”

“Then tell me why she was reaching out to him when I-“

The angry voices were silenced when her mother suddenly burst through the doors and stomped into her room, glowering at Sakura with a furious expression.

“What in the heavens were you thinking?!”

[lawchan89]

5 with ship of choice!

5. “You’re burning up”

Hope ya like Jantom, sis, ‘cause I couldn’t resist the pun ;)

“You’re burning up.”

He let out a low sound almost like a purr, tracing his finger along her chest as she lay sprawled across his lap, staring up at his stupid charming three-eyed face. He smiled, “That’s just the smolder.”

“No Tom really, you’re burning up–OW!”

“Sorry!” he cried out, jerking backwards as Janna rolled out of his lap, clasping the back of her neck where a shining red mark appeared. “I’m so sorry Janna, I didn’t mean it!”

“What the hell?!” she cried, not exactly angry but more dumbfounded. “You mad about somethin’?”

“No, I’m–I’m not, seriously.” Far from it, Tom Lucitor was happy. Happier than he’d been in a long time, to be honest. “It’s not just when I’m mad. S-sometimes I flare up a little when I’m…nervous. Or worried.”

“What’re you worried about?” Janna asked, swiping her long raven bangs to one side so she could see him clearly. They’d been seeing each other off and on for over four years now, steadily “on” for about two of them. How this total arrogant hotheaded demon had captivated her, she had no idea. Well, he was a demon for starters. Janna had always dreamed of being swept off her feet by a dark supernatural being ever since she was a little girl, while most girls were waiting for prince charming. By a coincidental twist of fate, she got both. A demon and a prince.

But he was a fixer upper, no doubt about it. And what struck her was that Tom wasn’t doing it for her, but for himself. He’d stated that repeatedly, and Janna was blown away. The fact that he’d grabbed the bull (in this case, his controlling anger issues) by the horns, looked it dead in the eye and said “You don’t own me” was so empowering that Janna couldn’t help but fall totally head over heels. So much so that it got harder for her to play it cool like she usually did. And soon her heart, black and shriveled as it was, was more open than it had ever been with anyone else before. Like his own resolve had brought out the best in her as well.

“Is this about me moving?” she asked more quietly, sliding closer to him as he breathed heavily, trying to cool down his scalding lilac skin. “Tom, that’s not gonna affect us. I’ll still ring every time I wanna see you.” The little silver bell that packed so much sound when she tolled it had become one of her most prized possessions. The prince of the Underworld didn’t hand that out to just anyone.

“Nah, I get that. And I know you’ve been trying to get into that coven for years. I just…” He sighed. She knew everything about him, stuff he’d never told anyone, not even Star or Marco. The human girl claimed she was darker than any of his darkest thoughts in an effort to console him, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. She was his light. He clung to the image of her sultry amber eyes, glowing tan skin and smooth blue-black hair on the really bad days, when he wanted to give up completely. She made him laugh, she’d seen him cry, he was entranced by how dedicated she was to her witchcraft, and how well-versed in demonology she was. How there was this gentler side to her that loved the color pink and ice cream sundaes and putting on a pretty dress once in awhile because why not.

He knew everything about her, and she him. Except about the little velvet ring box he had concealed under his pillow.

“Dad summoned me the other day,” Tom finally said, lowered his gaze. “He’s stepping down.”

“Really?” Janna’s eyes widened.

“Yeah, in a year or so. He’s getting old.”

“Coulda fooled me.” He didn’t look like he’d aged at all since Janna met him when she was fourteen. She shook her head a little, feeling like she’d been bowled over by a truck. “So you’re, uh…you’re gonna be king then.”

“Yup,” Tom nodded expressionlessly.

“Oh…oh geez.” She brought her knees up to her chest, wrapping her arms around her head. This was it. They were over. Between her move and his ascension to the throne, there was no way they could keep this up. They weren’t like Star and Marco; eternally bound together, willing to sacrifice everything to maintain that bond, even compromising royal duty. Those two were so in love they were freaks. She and Tom didn’t have that, and the Underworld was way stricter about their traditions than the Butterflys were. 

Tears soaked into her sleeves. Janna Ordonia, crying over a guy? The fates had to be having a good laugh over that one. “Okay j-just get it over with.”

“Um–uh, okay,” he spluttered, taken aback. His hand fumbled under the sheets until he closed his long-nailed fingers around the box. “I mean, this isn’t required or anything, but it’s definitely recommended–”

“Faster, Tom. Like rippin’ off a band-aid.”

“Will you be my queen?”

Janna’s head snapped up so fast she nearly gave herself whiplash. “Your what?!”

“My dad said it’s time for me to get serious, and ‘quit fooling around with that Earth girl’. So I said ‘Fine, I will.’” He shrugged with a little half smile that exposed a fang, his eyes solely on his girlfriend’s stunned face as he produced the ring box. “I’m not fooling around here. I’m dead serious.”

“You want me to marry you to get back at your dad?”

“No! Well y– okay, that’s a tiny part of it, I’m not gonna lie,” Tom deflated, his hands shaking a bit. “Listen, I…I know you have all these aspirations and wanna hone your craft, and I don’t want you to feel like I’m getting in your way.”

“Why would I…geez Tom, don’t say stupid stuff like that,” Janna muttered dazedly, still not daring to believe this was happening.

“Janna, babe I-I can offer you a lot. A crown, status, security, more power than you’ve ever had. But you probably don’t care about that–”

“Are you fucking kidding me?! Of course I care about that!” Janna cried, springing up and diving towards him, pressing her forehead to his with her arms latched around his neck. “I love you, Tom, I really do, and that’s important to me. But you’re literally asking me to be Queen of the Underworld, surrounded by demons, lava, torture dungeons and dead people for the rest of my life.”

“And?”

Her face broke into the widest smile he had ever seen on her, her eyes sparkling with ecstasy. “That’s everything I’ve ever wanted since I was a kid.”

A relieved laugh escaped Tom’s throat before her lips captured his in a sloppy wet kiss. Falling backwards onto the mattress, he kept the box gripped tightly in his hand until she pulled back enough for him to present the ring to her: Black gold, the most valuable in the Underworld, encrusted with rubies of all sizes from tiny as a speck of sand to large as an almond nut. Janna held out her left hand, and Tom slipped it on her finger before reaching up to dash away the tears in the corners of her eyes.

“Hey Tom.”

“Yeah?”

“If you’re not gonna be king for awhile, why’d you propose to me now?”

The demon grinned mischievously. “’Cause Marco told me he’s gonna propose to Star and it sounded like a good idea. It’s gonna take that nervous wreck forever to work up the guts. Wanted to make sure I beat him to it.”

“You little shit, I love you so much,” Janna growled like a tiger, seizing him by the front of his shirt to kiss him forcefully again. Still snickering to herself, she pulled out her phone.

“What’re you doing?”

“Pissing Marco off more than I ever have before,” Janna chortled, holding her ring hand out in front of her as she tapped the phone screen, the camera shutter going off. “And…send.”