#like he's figured out dynamis can help here

[sunderedazem]

14 - bitter

Ancients? :)

You KNEW what you were asking for. So have some Elidibus POV of Azem and Emet-selch's break-up before the Sundering.

-

There are shards of red on the steps, and utter silence in the square. He blinks. Etheriys feels a little like a dream now, with the soft roaring of so many souls dulling his senses- but this sting of sorrow and shame he feels, distantly. It aches in a way he's sure he's forgotten, almost. And yet he and all those within yet remember…

The people are watching (not saved- but soon) stricken, frozen - all but one, whose cowl hangs down his back, whose silver staff is still tight-gripped in white-knuckled fingers. Who is walking away with a snarl on his lips and tears streaming down his bare face. Who has before the entirety of Amaurot denounced the Convocation, who has accused them of forgetting their duty, who has- has accused him of bias- 

They had to save the star. They have to save the star. And He was their answer. Is their answer. The roaring in his ears will never cease, now. He thinks the stretch of his very self was a small price to pay for the blue of the sky. He knows it. He volunteered.

So many had. And yet-

Azem storms out of the city center with his staff aglow in Light, wreathed round himself like a shield against- something, and he does not look back. There is only the sway of his long white braid as he departs, and Elidibus- watches it. Watches the narrow shoulders and frail stature recede into the distance, until shattered and broken and burning buildings obscure him from sight completely. Watches as one of Themis's closest friends turns his back on Zodiark and all the salvation he promises.

Elidibus does not understand it. He- remembers. Azem had pleaded with the Convocation to stay Zodiark's summoning, to give him time to find an alternative. Half the lives of their people was too awful a price for him - and Elidibus cannot condemn him for that love he has for their star and people, cannot condemn him for his dissent. Azem is the Traveler - the Shepherd. It would go against everything his seat stands for to agree. Lahabrea had not agreed - nor had Pashtarot - but in the end, Elidibus could not be partial. And thus Azem was given his time to find another way. But should Amaurot begin to burn- then they would have to act.

But he returned too late. Three days too late. And his solution was…incomplete. An effort commendable, to be sure. A solution worthy of gentle praise, and perhaps use later. But the star had fallen to ruin, and Zodiark could restore it. And then- then the star could restore their people. And Zodiark would save them all. He would save them.

He will. No matter if one man refuses to understand. Elidibus and Zodiark will save him too.

No matter how bitter that salvation tastes.

There are shards of red on the steps. Emet-selch is kneeling among them, his hands shaking, gathering the pieces one at a time. He is not crying, Elidibus thinks. Not yet, at least. He seems more stunned than anything. Of course, he is not the only one, if the way the silence still rings deafening has any meaning.

Azem has always had a temper, though it was not often apparent. But this- this by far had been the worst outburst Elidibus had ever seen from anyone, let alone from Azem. And worst of all, it had been a willful misinterpretation- a cruel misinterpretation, made solely to make a point about their plans to sacrifice the lesser creatures of the star to return those given to Zodiark to life. And- and perhaps Azem even had a point, if a misguided one.

He had always been thin of aether, incapable of all creation magicks no matter how simple, and sickly for it besides. His elevation to the Fourteenth Seat had been long delayed by a discussion of his health and the risks posed to his own wellbeing, rather than any disagreement with regard to his temperament or accomplishment as a researcher and theorist both. But to use his own recurring illness - which Emet-selch had cared for him through countless times - as a bludgeon to say that the Convocation must therefore count him among those lesser creatures-

I too am thin of aether. Weak, sickly- imperfect. Incapable of creation. Are these the only requirements for you to be willing to slaughter living beings in order to undo the willing sacrifice of half our people? I gave you another option! Those who are thin of aether - thinner than me! - may use this dynamis to restore our star, and you dismiss their capabilities save for their worth as livestock? You swore to hearken unto my solution, Emet-selch- you promised me you would have faith I would find a way and now you- you reject what I have found in favor of dishonoring your seat and returning the dead to life? Fine then! I count myself among these lesser beings freely, for I am more akin to them than you. And should you wish to wet Etheriys with their blood, you will start with me. And you will draw the blade across my throat with your own hands.

But even if he had a point- Emet-selch had only stared, utterly lost for words. The entire square had been quieter than death. Even Zodiark had seemed to still. And then, caught in the folly of sentiment, Emet-selch had stepped forward, had reached out a hand, had called- 

Helios- Helios, please-

There had been a whirl of black, a flash of red- and then Azem's mask had shattered on the wall above Emet-selch's head, had shattered into shards of his office even as his sigil had glared red over silver eyes.

I am Azem,  Emet-selch. I revoke the privilege for you to call me by my personal name- not only do I not know this man you have become, but us lesser creations have no names to speak of, now do we?

Elidibus had not known how to stop him. Emet-selch had just dropped his hand, jerking a little as if he had been struck by a physical blow.

And then Azem had gone.

And now he is gone. And Emet-selch is on his knees, gathering the shards of that shattered mask, cradling them carefully, as if he could piece together what was broken. As if he could repair a heart threaded with thorns, or another cracked down the center. As if saving the mask would save the man.

“...he will come back,” Emet-selch whispers then, staring at the bitter, broken ashes of Helios in his hands. “...I- I will have that much faith in him.”

And Elidibus- and in Elidibus, the dark waxes strong, and he lays a hand on Emet-selch's shoulder. 

“Nay- we will save him, my friend,” he promises, and watches as golden eyes behind a red mask snap to him and glaze over. There is weight in his words now - the promise of a thousand thousand souls and the hope of their people. “We will save him, and the star as well. We will.”

The doubt and grief in Emet-selch's eyes disappears, wiped clean by faith. And Elidibus smiles, heart heavy with certainty and the knowledge that in time, Themis's dearest friends will mend the rift born between them here. They will save Azem - they will - and the star he so loves, and all the people too. Elidibus will not allow for any end other than perfect salvation. The bitterness of these sorrowful days will fade, and Azem will smile again, and look upon Emet-selch with that loving mischief in his eye, and this will all be but a distant memory. 

They will. 

He will make sure of it.

-

Enjoy the angst/keep the change ya filthy animal

[eternalnexuswarrior]

Most chaotic MFB Beyblade AU to pop up into my head Part 2: Metal Masters/Fury

Alright, Continuing on from Part 1: Metal Fusion of my what if the legendary Bladers are all telepathically linked together AU. If you don't understand, link to part 1 will be right here: https://www.tumblr.com/eternalnexuswarrior/745518197057404928/most-chaotic-mfb-beyblade-au-to-pop-up-into-my?source=share

Okay then.

Metal Masters is relatively the same. All the battles, all the moments like that. The only two real thing that happen is 1) Ryuga involved in the Dark Tsubasa stuff as soon as they figure it out. Hyoma finds him, but he already is aware of it due to the group telepathy giving him the side commentary.

Gingka: Hey Ryuga? The darkness from L-Drago is possessing Tsubasa. Can you help?

Ryuga: You're not serious.

Kyoya: Nope, it just happened.

Gingka: And he kinda fled the hospital.

Ryuga: Alright, give me a bit to head out and find him

(Later)

Ryuga: When were you guys going to tell me he was in Italy

Kyoya and Gingka: He was in Italy?!

The other major thing, and this leads to the most goofy and chaotic moment, is Kyoya's stupid but good idea. And said idea is to visit Dynamis on Mist Mountain before the African team qualifiers. And the reactions are immediate.

Kyoya: “I got a stupid idea.”

Tithi: “Uh oh.”

Chris: “This should be good.”

Gingka: “Kyoya, let's not be reckless.”

Dynamis: “... For some reason I wanna hear it.”

Chris: “Dynamis!?”

Kyoya: “Where's Mist Mountain located? I'm looking at African qualifiers and I want to see if it's nearby to pop in.”

Gingka, Aguma, and Chris: “What?!”

King: “You can't just casually drop a bomb like that man!

Ryutaro (Again, see first post): “You just broke my cousin here! He is literally shell shocked.

So Kyoya goes a few days ahead of time, meets Dynamis’ family, comes to visit Mist Mountain with Ryutaro, and the first thing he does is give this Boi a hug. Dynamis gets emotional, and also gets a solar powered radio with some good frequency so that he can listen to the battles. Outside of those two Canon follows relatively smoothly.

Part 3 will cover metal Fury as I just found out Tumblr has a word/letter limit. Okay then.

[mrslittletall]

Well, here are my thoughts for Final Fantasy 14 Endwalker, so of course there will be spoilers for people who still want to play this game or are in the middle of it. First, I got told that the expansion was meant to be two but thanks to Covid got condensed into one and wow, you can FEEL that. I still don't think the expansion is bad, but it doesn't reach Heavensward or Shadowbringers and I think even the story of Stormblood is more coherent. Now, let's get into the different zones. I thought the expansion started a bit slow, with us going to Thavnair and the Labyrinthos. Thavnair at least had the goal with the talismans but Labyrinthos was pretty much "Hurr durr, the council is up to something but we won't find out what." At least we had the hilarious "Estinien is bad with money" scene and the thought of him having to take care of three very motionsick friends was fantastic. I also had a good laugh at Urianger just collapsing xD Okay, after we got the introduction out of the way, it was time for Garlemald. Wait what, already?! We had like one tower dungeon and we are already going against the big one? Yeah, that is where it is obvious they had to condense the story. The whole thing with the towers could have been its own expansion and end with a final boss against Zodiark and then they could have used another expansion for the Dynamis stuff. More on that later. Garlemald was... difficult. Mostly because of how close to home it hit. The garleans are pretty much fascists and well, I am German. It always stings to be reminded of the crimes of our past. However, I also figured that the garleans are kinda brainwashed and that the rift between Garlemald and Eorzea is just that high. It felt pretty powerful honestly. And then got ruined by Alphinaud and Alisaie being completely ooc! Like when the legatus asked us "Why don't accept garlean rule?" all my thoughts flashed to Stormblood, to Fordola and to Yotsuyu and what garlean rule means. Of course it can be argued that the twins just thought it was just pointless to discuss, but they looked like they legit thought Quintus had a point and I really really wanted them to at least say something. For Alisaie to go "Damn you, I have seen what garlean rule does" and for Alphinaud to stop her. Or for our WoL to have a little chance to say something and even if it was just "angry glare." And I also think the character of Jullus was underused. Yeah, you can feel in the Garlemald part that the story was condensed. We then go fight Anima as a dungeon boss instead of a trial. It was a damn good dungeon boss, but having freaking Anima as dungeon boss felt really bitter. And then the whole thing gets cosmic and we hit the moon. The moon had massive nostalgia, but it felt pretty stretched out to be honest. I figured out in five minutes that Sharlayan helps the Lopporit and well, there was not a big reveal or anything, it was played completely straightforward and I don't know... Oh forgot about Zodiark. Great trial, felt a bit anti-climactic. Nuff said. I liked the optional quests there though. The Lopporit are kinda wholesome and I loved how much they tried despite failing a lot. I also ate the blue carrot and got a reference to Douglas Adams which came back in the very last zone! Amazing! Then we had the second half of Thavnair. That was fire actually with the apocalypse and all! I also liked how the weather reflected it and how the theme was "Don't give into despair" but of course it was a violent cycle. I liked this part. Okay, so Elpis. First thing first, I don't consider the time travel to be a copout. It was clear it was difficult, there was no chance it would work and we wouldn't be able to save the source of the first final days.

And then... freaking Emet-Selch and Hythlodaeus in their original Ascian form! Fanservice? Yeah sure, but I don't mind it, Emet-Selch was fantastic here and I loved loved trolling him. Seriously, speak to him each time he just stands around, it is glorious ^^ I also liked to see the world of the Ascians and what and how they were. Meeting Hermes and Meteion... and the puzzle slowly being set together. Honestly, I think Elpis had the exact amount of time it needed to set up and let you figure out what the final days really are. And I had to do the dungeon with trusts and I don't regret it ^^ Loved that they discussed the second boss as if it was their work. However, that Venat solo duty?! Too difficult! I had to put it on very easy and I STILL struggled. Sure, I am not a pro at playing my class, but I at least can get enemies down in proper time and do my part in dealing DPS in trials and dungeons. The orb phase was just cruel and evil, they should nerve that. Even on very easy Venat got to like 67 % and people who bested it in normal said she is getting to 87 %. And that means they couldn't beat like 8 or 9 orbs. Yeah, that is a lot. So, we are done with Elpis, we know the truth and honestly, I don't think Meteion was pulled as the villain out of the ass. She had a proper build-up and it was more a concept. EW made this very clear. Hope vs. nihilism kinda. The second part of Labyrinthos was.... not good. That they changed the upbeat normal music with a song that felt like powering up and we had to listen to it on loop was annoying and it felt so stretched out... I agree with the people who hate the quest where you have to find eight scholars with fakes thrown in. Uuugh... I liked the dungeon there though. And I died a lot in the Hydealin trial.. sorry for failing you Venat. And then... Ultima Thule. I enjoyed this part, especially how the music was building up. However, after the second scion "sacrificed" themselves, I was figuring out it was a fake and they would be back. It still made me feel, so much that at the end I told the twins to not do it! Not you too! Because sure, I, the player, could see what was coming, but my character has no guarantee they come back... I liked the three civilizations on Ultima Thule and what happened to them. The Ea were especially interesting and apparently their truth is a truth for us as well? Eh, I don't think we should just sit and wait for the end and besides, I want to die one day. I want to live a good life and then go when it is my time until I can live another life, even though I won't remember this one. Then the trial. It was a fine one, but I was more touched by the cutscene after that. "Let's go home, Meteion." Just a child having to search for an answer that was too much for her... at least we could give her a flower. And that Zenos solo duty? It felt a bit like "Oh wait, Zenos was there, wasn't he?" At least the fight against him was amazing and not as frustrating and difficult as Venat's. I had fun dodging all his attacks and fight him to the death and even though at the end it was a simple fist fight, as a monk main I had to laugh. I am still good without weapons! Hm, now I forgot to talk about the Dynamis. I kinda liked the concept of "hopes and feelings" as energy. And that is what I think they could have used as a whole expansion. It could have started with the final days happening and then travelling to Elpis and it could have been... more.

But meh, I won't complain too much. I enjoyed the story still. The music in this? I actually prefer the zone music of Shadowbringers. Not that it was bad, but it didn't have the same impact as Raktika or Ahn Areng. The battle music however, THAT was fire and a lot better than Shadowbringers which was too samey. I really liked the dungeon mid-boss and final boss themes and the trial songs and the solo duty songs. Okay, I think that was it. Feel free to ask questions or give your own opinion. If I would have to rate the expansions and ARR, I would go like this... A Realm Reborn Stormblood Endwalker Heavensward Shadowbringers (pure perfection)

[the-littlest-kojin]

Identity

Kind of a long one, so putting it below the cut.

Walking slowly up the stone path towards the dead star, Shio lets her mind wander.

I know that I declared myself retired. But is it really that simple?

Gazing down at the crystal in her hand, the symbol of Azem, she frowns.

The Seat of Azem. I was once Azem. Maybe I still am? Is this the duty for me, now?

Scowling as she stows the small rock, Shio angrily kicks one of the stones off of the path, watching it spiral into the starry void below.

I am tired of this. Champion of the Scions. Warrior of Light. Azure Dragoon. Warrior of Darkness. Eikon-Slayer. Saviour. Hero. Azem.

Reaching her destination, the field of Elpis flowers, she sits at the edge, staring out over the firmament, letting her thoughts roll and emotions roil.

Why do I need to be Azem? Why me?

A sudden noise next to her makes her start, and a voice responds to her thought, deep and mellifluous.

"You don't need to be Azem."

Turning her head in shock, Shio gasps, seeing the taller figure in Amaurotine robes sitting next to her, her face reminiscent of that which she sees in the mirror every day.

"A-Azem!"

A slow smile passes across the Amaurotine's lips. "Of a sort. I'm... Here and not here. An Echo, if you will. This place... It's filled with what Fandaniel calls 'Dynamis', isn't it?"

The smaller woman nods, awe-struck and cowed by the presence of the legendary figure whom she is attempting to live up to.

"I thought so. But please. Do not call me Azem. I never wanted the Seat. My name is Thalassa."

Nearly in tears, Shio starts to talk, her words spilling out of her lips in a rush, languages bleeding together as she reaches for concepts in a frantic litany.

"You didn't want it either? Why do they expect so much of me? Of us? It never ends, there's always another stone, atop the mountain on my shoulders. Save him, kill her, free them, retrieve that. There's always another job, always another crisis, always another emergency. And I know, I have to help them because I can, and someone has to, and I'm you, and you'd help them. You're the Traveler, everybody in Elpis had such positive things to say of you. Emet-Selch placed you on a pedestal so high that I can't see the top from where I'm sitting. I don't know how to be you, and I'm letting you down, and everybody-"

Sternly frowning, Thalassa speaks, her voice imbued with an irresistible thread of command. "Stop."

Blinking tears away, her mouth hanging open, Shio stops, in awe of the Ancient in every way. "Let us start here, Shio Shinju. You are not me."

Nodding sadly, salty tears starting to spill, Shio opens her mouth to resume her litany, only to be cut off again.

"You are not me. But you should not be me. You should be you."

Confused and blinking, Shio waits for the shade to continue, unable to muster up any words at all.

"I am Thalassa. Holder of the Seat of Azem. Rogue member of the Convocation of Fourteen. Shepherd to the Stars in the dark.

You are Shio Shinju. Champion of the Kojin of the Blue. Granddaughter to Bunchin. Wife to Lett Fyth.

Shio is not Thalassa. Shio is not Azem. Hades said a lot of things, but his assertion that you are Azem, that you are beholden to the duties of the title, was and is wrong."

Turning her gaze back to the starfield, Shio tries not to break down bawling, Thalassa's words seeping into her soul like the most comforting tides.

Hearing her Unsundered self turn back to watch the stars with her, Shio listens to her comforting voice continue.

"I always chafed at the Seat. I wanted to quit immediately. But I was chosen for a reason. My mentor - Mitron - saw something in me. He saw my potential, my skill. And then..." Shio turns as Thalassa trails off, seeing tears start to roll down her face.

"And then the seas boiled, and the sky burned. The Final Days. I did all I could. Saved people. Tried to create safety. ...It wasn't enough."

The seas boiled. Shio turned the phrase over in her mind, the pain from Thalassa's description resonant, shaking her to the core. Closing her eyes, she could almost see the bubble of Tamamizu, roiling, steam hissing as it started to rupture-

"Don't. We need to be careful of Dynamis."

Startled at Thalassa seeming to sense her thoughts a second time, Shio turns to see a sheepish grin on the Ancient's face.

"It seems that my time here is coming to an end. Please know this more than anything else:

Shio Shinju. I'm proud of you.

If you want to take up the mantle of Azem, you have my blessing.

But if you want to refrain, and just help people as you please, then please know, from the bottom of my heart:

You have my blessing for that too."

Tears in her eyes, Shio nods, murmuring gratitude to the shade, even as she fades away with a grin.

(Once more, my photographer is the illustrious @snow-covered-moon! She's really great and has a great eye for this kind of thing.)

[scrollsfromarebornrealm]

Riven’s Unhinged Screaming of Dante’s Inferno Rings 5-8 (aka Panda 2.0 (part 1)

Me this entire raid tier

NATURALLY UNDER A CUT FOR SPOILERS.

HE’S PRACTICING!  YOU CAN DO EEET!

(Eric is a good bean he’s just got a little bit of a temper problem fite me if you dare and honestly as one who had a shitty father i can’t blame him really)

THIS.  WAS NOT GOOD.  ON MY NERVES.  I SHRIEKED.  CAN WE NOT START THE CREEPY BULLSHIT THIS EARLY

...uh...wut?

...

...

...

the man, the myth, the motherfucking evil bastard bird of hell maker

Anyway.  Wanted to clown on his ass, but honestly, need more information. 

WHY YES THANK YOU.  I NEEDED THIS ICLY, THANK YOU.  (Because guess who got yoinked Exarch-style to come help out?)

...

Oh HELL.

Anyone else feel their tetanus shot act up seeing this or was it just me?

...

CAN WE HAVE A FUCKING DISCUSSION

ON HOW THAT

TURNED INTO THIS

(day one of a new raid.  wiping was had)

Bruh.

At this point I’m used to people trying to kill me.  IT’S JUST A LITTLE BIT MORE COMPLICATED CUZ UM, WE GOT A WHOLE TIME TRAVEL THING AND AZEMS AND FINAL DAYS BULLSHIT-

...

I’M GOING TO FUCKING PUNCH YOU, OLD MAN.  HOW MANY TIMES HAVE I HAD TO DEAL WITH YOUR BULLSHIT BEFORE?! 

*SWEATS IN DYNAMIS*

SIR.  I MAIN SUMMONER.  THIN AETHER MY ASS LET ME SWITCH CLASSES SO YOU CAN GET TITAN’S ASS FACEFIRST

*gets Destiny’s Child stuck in her head* GODSDAMNIT

...

...

I

FUCKING

KNEW

IT

!!

I KNEW IT I KNEW IT I KNEW IT!! BULLSHIT YOU BEING ‘THEMIS’ AND ‘INVESTIGATING ON BEHALF OF A FRIEND’

...

*Ancient Soap Opera Intensifies*

Yes.  Please.  I need a breather.  And more drinking.  Cuz WHAT THE FUCK

Dude, I figured this out at the start of the first raid tier.  WE ALL DID. 

SIR I AM JUST A SMALL AND INNOCENT FAMILIAR

THERE IS NOTHING TO SEE HERE

MOVE ALONG

...

‘Teehee it’s okay she’s a doppleganger! You know what they say, everyone has one!  She’s got to be a good person at heart so it’s okay to trust her!’

SERIOUSLY?!

THAT’S WHAT WE’RE GOING WITH?!

I’M A DOPPLEGANGER FAMILIAR?

BULL

FUCKING

SHIT

(side note:  Still feel this explanation even stronger for the ‘Azem knew about us’ theory)

...

i know where this is going o/’ and i don’t like ittttt o/’

AND OF COURSE WE GO STRAIGHT TO THE NUCLEAR OPTION

SIR.

I AM A SIMPLE LITTLE INNOCENT FAMILIAR

PRAY MOVE ALONG NOW

...

*sigh*

Greeeaaaaat.  We’re working out father/son issues it seems.

WHEN YOU ARE SO FUCKING TIRED OF LOOKING UP AT PEOPLE FOR FUCK’S SAKE WHY IS EVERYONE TALL

SIR.

I AM A FAMILIAR.

MOVE ALONG.

PLEASE.

...

-files this nugget away for later-

...

please stop starting shit with your son my guy.  please.  PLEASE.  WE HAVE ENOUGH ON THE PLATE AS IT IS.

we’re just going to stop here, because...OH MY FUCKING GOD THE BOSS MUSIC SOKEN FOR FUCK’S SAKE PLEASE AT LEAST TAKE US OUT TO DINNER OR BUY US A DRINK OR SOMETHING BEFORE YOU JUST SLAM OUT A MOTHERFUCKING ABSOLUTE BANGER OF A BOSS TRACK I’VE BEEN LOSING MY FUCKING MIND EVER SINCE I FIRST HEARD IT JFC JUST INJECT THAT SHIT DIRECTLY INTO MY VEINS JUST PLEASE ADMIT IT YOU’RE A FUCKING PRIMAL OR SOME NASCENT ELDER GOD BECAUSE HOLY SHIT THERE WAS NO REASON TO GO THAT FUCKING HARD I’M JUST A MERE MORTAL AND SERIOUSLY SQUARE ENIX PLEASE RELEASE THAT TRACK LIKE NOW

[inviouswriting]

Hero

Prompt taken from @witterprompts​   "I know I'm bad, but I'm not selfish. I know this world needs a hero as bright as you. I can't take that away from anyone."

Contains some additional character mentions from @snow-covered-moon​ ‘s Shuri. 

Also borrowed a quote from @witterprompts​.

Also some Endwalker spoilers after the return from the Moon. So if you are not pass that point skip over this story. Contains some subjects that can be hard.

This is long but I’ve been working on this when I’ve had time and energy to work on this.

Kivera is use to the nature of her role, in death, as death. She hardly bats an eye anymore when she has to act on it. Her mind buzzing for days with the inevitable calling that is presenting itself. She feels the world dying, her attunement in the world lets her feel it, and her eyes see the constant threads of life severing off left and right. 

She sits back watching things unfold, contemplating whether to step in, if she should step in and change things. She’d anger the fates, and their designs. She almost scoffs a laugh at the idea of upsetting their carefully constructed webs. They’re not there to witness what she sees on the normal basis.

A reprieve between Radz-at-han’s people learning to control their emotions, the last of the dyanims beasts dealt with. The orb in her scythe full with those that were cut down. The bodies they use to inhabit warped and changed because of their fears.

Kivera has seen this before, when she was called to Amaurot. She sat back the same way, just out of sight, miasma up to ward off anyone approaching her. Waiting for the dam to break, waiting for hell to break loose itself so she can begin. She’d know by then that it is too late to save it.

She was never meant to play the hero role, yet she does on behalf of her successor. She could rewrite the fate of a single star. She contemplates it, she wants to see what happens. Even now as she hovers the orb between her hands, it hums with her thoughts, remaining a beacon for the fallen.

“You’d be wise to not sneak up on me.” Kivera turns her head enough her awareness higher. She notices G’raha approaching her. He almost shrinks back seeing the orange in her eyes instead of the vibrant green.��

“We managed to stop them enough from turning. Still some are scared.” Kivera turns her attention back out to where the remaining beasts are, being dealt with by Estinien’s lance, and Thancred’s blade. They were the last ones, the fallen’s eyes shift again from orange down to in between green with a touch of blue to show her own sorrow.

“Of course they’re scared. and I wonder for how long. We can’t constantly be here.” Kivera fixes the orb back into Antares, she’ll have to go back to the underworld for the fifth time that day. 

“We’ll take what small victories we can achieve. At least the changing has stopped, and they’re starting to figure out their emotions of despair are the triggers.” G’raha looks up at her, Kivera had perched on top of her scythe’s blade, she looked more like a witch than she does an angel. She found a space where she wouldn’t scare the others. To not add onto the reality of death looming around.

“I wouldn’t use the phrase victories. There isn’t anything to celebrate.” They exchange looks, her reminding him he’s in the presence of an underworld servant and not to speak like that when she hasn’t ferried souls yet. G’raha steels himself.

“I know it isn’t anything to celebrate. Just bad phrasing, we’re taking what we can get around them. To not look grim that we haven’t found a solution yet. The oddities of what dynamis is except emotion.” Kivera drops down and collects her weapon. G’raha sees a range of emotions from her whirlwind in her eyes, flitting from green to yellow, red, even the whites of her eyes brief to match her anger before she lets it subside down to green tinged with orange in the centers.

“What about you, have you decided whether you’re going to help us? Or let this world burn? You said you needed time to decide, now we need to know. Are you on our side, or are you against us?” G’raha stares at her with the same resolve he had in the tower. Clear of himself and convictions. Kivera narrows her eyes.

“Why do you remind me so much of him. Selfless... and willing to sacrifice yourself.” Under her breath, leaving G’raha to wonder who she is referring to.

“You’ll meet him one day, and I’m sure you two can be idiots together. Running off nearly getting yourselves killed all to be heroes.” Kivera turns her gaze out to find Estinien and Shuri. They needed her answer too. Would she lend her scythe to them or on them. Did she love them enough to change and extend the life of a star she’s assigned to end.

“I’ll give my answer when I meet with you back at Sharlayan. I need to take them to their next plane.” She raises her scythe, and G’raha gets it.

“How many more linger here?” He sees her lift her head to meet his eyes.

“Too many were lost in that outbreak. It’ll take three more trips.” She answers him honest, she doesn’t disclose her worlds matters so easily. Maybe it is a sign of her trust extended.

“We’ll meet up soon, and await that final answer. I hope for our sake you’re on our side. We already know we’re not a match for you.” G’raha sees her fold her arms letting the blade of her scythe cross towards her side.

“You’re as bad as Thancred sometimes. You miss the clues already. You’d know if I wasn’t on your side. Looks like the crowd needs you down there.” The mild joy could be heard.

“Aren’t you joining us to take part of it?” He’s met with red eyes mirroring his own.

“That would not be wise since I spent the duration of time away. They don’t need a reminder.” Kivera snaps her fingers to create a gate for herself. 

“You can act the part of a hero once in a while, so others don’t think ill of you.” Kivera shakes her head.

“Unwise. Again, they don’t need a reminder. Besides that “victory” is for heroes not for beings like me.  "I know I'm bad, but I'm not selfish. I know this world needs a hero as bright as you. I can't take that away from anyone." G’raha sees her walk through the gate lingering to hear his words.

“We’ll meet up later then.” Kivera narrows her eyes in response. She has alot to think on. She needed to make a choice, one that decides a fate. 

Once she sets foot at Acheron, Kivera lets those trapped in the orb free, handing them coins for payment to Charon. The circumstances of their deaths did not allow burials or them to be given proper rites. She couldn’t deny them passage when they were flooding the underworld’s shores. 

“So tireless lately. Still dealing with Garlemald’s souls, still dealing with those lost in The First.” Kivera is frustrated with the ceaseless work, young and old, rich and penniless, all were treated equal. She has an opportunity to stop the underworld so overrun.

“Seems they have an answer?” She lifts her head to a voice she hasn’t heard in a while. Kivera meets the stare of Aiden, the other person that irritates her the same as G’raha and Alphinaud. He was a mix of both together. 

“How would you know? For all you know I could have decided to end them.” Aiden folds his arms.

“I know because you hate senseless killing. And this seems like senseless to me. Besides you’d never subject the ones you love to horrific fates if you know you can change them.” Aiden assists in helping smaller souls into a boat to ferry, he had been helping those going to Paradise.

“You and that damn miqo would get along with how you two probe me like this.” Kivera shakes her head, offering a grin.

“But you do know me well, I was not one for sitting idly by, while I can do something about it. Maybe I should give the underworld a break?” Kivera looks out along the shores, they were overrun, with the way some faded into nothing she is glad she can catch the few before they turned into beasts that look like they came from her domain she watches over.

“So like Purgatory...” Kivera feels a pull in her energy, a call to her. She recognizes the sound in Divinity’s bell. Something changed and Kivera gives Aiden a tired stare.

“I think you have your answer. You wouldn’t allow countless and unneeded deaths if you have the opportunity to change it. You do still retain alot of your former self after all.” Aiden walks pass her letting his hand pass on her white feathers. A subtle nod to her former rank.

“I was one to be a bit of a rule breaker. What’s one star? Even Antares could use a break from collecting so much. I feel almost in my fledgling days all over again.” Kivera hears the ping again, and without hesitating any further she dashes off back to Etheryis. 

Kivera focuses realizing the call is not within the city but outside, where she can see a swarm of beasts and flames. She doesn’t worry about those who see her, and drops down on a few creatures in front of the small group of her own. G’raha, Thancred, Estinien, and Divinity. She notes another draconic beast like the worm they fought earlier. 

“No wonder you were frantic.” Kivera can see Divinity breathe relief, G’raha had exhausted his mana, and Thancred was winded. Estinien could easily fend it off and Divinity was tasked with healing others. Kivera takes time to look at the group before focusing on the creature.

“Such trouble they are... all from people who give into their despair. Warped beyond recognition, and further seek relief from the pain.” She observes a few encroaching on her, Thancred about to lend his help if it weren’t for Divinity to hold him back keeping them all in a protective ball of light.

“She does not need our help. We need hers.” Divinity tends to Thancred to heal injuries while Kivera takes a good look around her. She lures these creatures out and away from the group, her pace above a sprint.

“G’raha, Thancred. Here is my proposition.” The reaper changes herself with horns and eyes glowing amber under the red sky. She points one hand up while the starshowers keep coming down.

“Do you have a choice in accepting my help? Your answer right now determines whether I will help now or leave you to the inevitable.” Kivera swirls a foot on the ground to create a miasma to keep the beasts back enough but roots entangle on their feet to keep them in place.

“You’re right, we don’t have a choice. So let’s stop it together.” Kivera smirks at G’raha’s words, and gets to work with pulling the beasts down into the ground while using her scythe to rend them to nothing.

“Wise decision. Are you still too much of an old man? Or are you going to help now?” Divinity lifts her shield on them and they all get to work to help end the ones already turned into beasts, while Divinity tries to calm down the ones who haven’t, leading them away from the violence.

“I knew you would come to our aid. But can you not cut it so closely next time?” Estinien chides her a little, when he lends his lance for her to stand on to deliver a power attack on the worm beast.

“I’ll think about it. Are you worried I’ll betray you all?” Kivera looks down to him while perched, letting the arch of the heels hook onto the pole itself.

“I know you wouldn’t unless you know it is something you can’t interfere with. You have your reasons, and you’d never willingly betray us this late in helping.” Kivera lets her eyes flit between green then back to the yellow she is using. 

“You know then. I was going to help regardless of everyone prying, but sometimes the scion’s have to get a physical answer.” Kivera jumps to end the current mob of beasts sending a shockwave of flames unstabling their spirits. She uses a similar method when dealing with the mass beasts of Purgatory. To dissipate the bigger in hopes of collecting the souls of those already lost from being devoured.

Kivera works fast to find a main source, noting how some of them are almost of a hive mind, similar to the sin eaters, but only with hunger to drive them. She’s reminded alot of how between the undead beings and purgatory beasts they are. She briefly wonders if Kiya is fairing well against those that plague Ishgard. She knows her abilities are as strong as hers, she gave her that shard of herself. Kiya would never allow a rampage in her own, just as Kivera wouldn’t allow one to remain where she walks.

The reaper ascends to the sky and delivers a massive barrage of pure energy on main sources of mobs. It works to subside the changings, while they work on getting the survivors free of the epicenter.

Kivera looks at the surroundings on her group, and lets a sigh escape seeing far too many in the main vicinity. She takes her weapon and tosses it down so the snath is embedded. From where she hovers in the air, she creates a sphere to contain the beasts.

The small party looks up to see her stand on her scythe, while a stranger is pulling the guys to run to the center where Kivera stands.

“She could have at least ported you guys outside, damn her!” Divinity is already under the arch of Kivera’s scythe with Estinien having seen this ability before, while G’raha, and Thancred are being pulled by Aiden dragging them almost as Divinity forms a protective ball around them.

“Who are you!” Thancred looks at Aiden, then glances up to Kivera who is already focused on one of her annihilator attacks.

“Saving your arse apparently. Just word for wise, if you see her throw that scythe for any reason. You’ve two options, run away far and fast from her, or towards her. Name is Aiden.” Aiden adopts the form of a red headed miqo, dressed in ravel keeper clothes, and adorned with gold horns. He tugs Thancred down further getting them all to crouch right under the arch of Antares.

“Aiden, you know she wouldn’t hurt them.” Divinity reminds him, and Aiden points to the blade as Kivera finishes setting up the attack, lightning concentrated within her scythe, concentrated in the air itself. 

“I know, it’s the best seat to watch her though.” As he finishes his words, Kivera lets loose the attack, a concentrated blast of fire and lightning, engulfing the area around to snuff out the remaining beasts in the area. The air inside the sphere is sapped out, Aiden taps on both Thancred and G’raha to look up at Kivera, and a sight they won’t forget.

Kivera looks exactly her namesake, angel of death. She is glaring down at Aiden, crimson irises while a swirl of purple lightning surrounds her and them. Her weapon changed to something else even resembling something an angel of the heavens would use. 

Once the attack subsides, the ashes she creates lifts and Antares changes back into the former scythe they recognize. The land around them is scorched from the flames that already were blazing, but the rest of the forest remains where they thought it would be nothing. Beasts were gone to nothing, and those that were trapped in the sphere she created were unharmed. G’raha and Divinity break away instantly to go tend to them, while Estinien and Aiden run off to fight the remaining beasts in other areas. Thancred remains behind having witnessed the reaper use a catastrophic attack while not harming those around her, or those still fleeing.

“You could have done that from the start you know?” Thancred chides, and she only gives him a stare.

“Remember, there are certain things I can and can’t do. Those already meant to die in this.. you know my laws are absolute.” Kivera reminds him, before she agreed to help them.

“It’s good to have you on our side now.” Kivera lowers the intensity of the glow in her red eyes down. 

“You’re still an idiot. I’ve always been on your side. Who do you think kept you alive for so long? Kiya may have helped in The First, but I did keep your spirits tethered.” Thancred shakes his head at her reminder.

“And ever grateful for your help. I won’t ask further, but I also won’t make you regret turning your scythe to aid us.” Kivera eyes him then folds her arms leaving her scythe to act as a beacon for the fallen. 

“Good. I have a lead I am going to follow. You go assist this world while I traverse others.” Her eyes flit back to green. 

“We will be waiting and doing our best from here then.” Kivera collects Antares after the orb is full again already.

“You’re in good hands with Aiden. I’ll send you one more. Three of my kind should be more than enough to protect you and yours. You’ll have Divinity, Aiden, and Killian. Keep watch over Aiden. He tends to rush head first and nearly get himself killed.” Kivera uses a bell to summon this other person, a lance in hand, almost close to Estinien and gives Kivera a weary look at being summoned here.

“Understood.” Killian only needed a look from her to know what she is doing. Thancred and Killian head off to help where they’re needed. Kivera leaves them to break another taboo, time. To traverse its river to find answers on dynamis.

“Kiya, be glad we swapped places. Now I know this was not your path, but mine.” Kivera’s thoughts are wild as she follows the lead she has to search a time period, the remaining link in Elidibus, and one more. 

Kivera tenses feeling the swirl of emotions from Shuri, they met up together at the entrance to the Ocular. They also entered the room together, Shuri being quiet while Kivera handled the coordinants. She had her own on her plate the whole duration of events. 

Kivera handled any matter that related to realm shifting and time or death, while Shuri helped among with Estinien and the selected few she trusted without doubt. 

They barely had a chance to sit down together after Lilith returned fully, let alone bond, it was almost like they were looking at different people. Kivera looked like her name sake, as an angel of death, Shuri resembled more of her former unsundered self.

Both drawn to the small room for the same thing. Answers. Kivera sought to save a star, Lilith and Shuri sought more of who and what she is. After Elidibus leaves the two together, Kivera looks to Shuri, she had to warn her.

“We may uncover truths that are hard, and they must happen regardless. You might see my hand be destructive again, since we’ll be reliving that past before the sundering. I hope you know, the me of that time is not the same mind of who loves you today. Do you trust me enough to guide both you and Lilith?” Kivera presses her forehead to Shuri’s.

“I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t trust you. I am aware of what might be ahead. I need to know.” Kivera lets Shuri run her hand on the white feathers, the only other person even allowed to touch them. 

Kivera closes her eyes letting herself feel the whirl of emotions within her own self and from her partner with her. They were both on the same path in the end to save the star they call home. 

“I know, I just have to go through my normal warnings. Tampering with time does have its limits and we’re here for dynamis to understand the changes of emotions. At least to give the scion’s answers.” Kivera could cut things off here, doom the star to its path. Shuri grasps Kivera’s hands sensing her uneasiness in changing fate for a world.

“This is entirely your choice to help us. I can go it alone from here if you are still struggling with the choice. I need to go through that gate.” Kivera lets her eyes shift from their green hue to a flit of purple. 

“It’s not easy to do this, go against what I’m suppose to do. I’m not suppose to be a hero, I end them... I shouldn’t be doing this.” Kivera stalls them longer to keep her forehead to Shuri’s. Sharing with her memories of a distant past for the reaper, a flashed warning of what time meddling can do in losing the memories of someone she loves, and have to watch from afar them to live happy.

“Yet you are here with me, you know that this world has so much more life left in it. I seek the answers that lies in Elpis for my history, and what I really am. We must go now, otherwise Estinien is going to get himself killed on the field.” Shuri reminds Kivera of their shared love, the one that brought them in together and further to be almost inseperable.

“Right, forgive me, it’s been a while since we had time like this, specially with the world the way it is. Let’s go, I’ll guide our hands together.” They both share a brief kiss, Kivera leads through the gate, set for a time period to learn how to alter this worlds fate. 

Traversing the shards and rivers of time is natural to her, she’s seen it many times with her coming and going to different worlds. She views the different memories as they drift pass her and Shuri, she glimpses some of Shuri’s, some of Lilith’s with Lucifer in Amaurot, each playing through her mind like a movie reel, recorded in her own mind. She can see tears to Shuri revisiting shards from Ardbert, some of her own drift to Shuri. Allowing her to see Amaurot through her own eyes.

Memories of Shuri’s tribe flit in, from when some were captured for experiments, some completely wiped out from Garlean forces. Kivera had no hand there, she doesn’t kill senselessly or participate in massacres. The ones involved in ordering and have died since then have passed through her domain on Purgatory where they reside in one of the regions she designated for those that participate in such wars.

Kivera doesn’t hide them from her, she never did anything wrong with her hand involved with sundering an entire realm and star. She saw a world dying, and she was the one meant for it. The former angel lets an internal laugh at how one role she played would mean she gained more people the cherish in her time again. One step below committing an ultimate taboo to her. She would never do that unless it was Vanth. She’d defy that one to her very last breath.

“While we drift through. It’s important that I express this, part of my role as a guardian I have to say this. I know I touched on it briefly at the threshold. We do not interfere with the past. We let the roles and everything play out as they’re meant to be. The one exception you and I have, is gaining knowledge from this time. If either of us are caught violating this condition. We know the outcome.” Kivera’s voice as she speaks echoes through their space, Shuri able to hear her out loud, and in her soul itself, resonating.

“I know Kivera. We know. You have a role, and so do we. We won’t do anything that jeopardizes this opportunity.” Shuri speaks on behalf of herself and Lilith. She understands that Kivera has to talk like this, and toss warnings about her realms laws.

“I know you won’t budge even for me if it came down to it. I wouldn’t make you either.” Kivera glances back to her, green eyes flit between purple and gold. 

“Thank you for understanding.” There is a warmth in the echo that speaks into Shuri’s soul, while the space around them is devoid of sound.

 “I’ll be splitting us into two parallels upon our landing. You will experience the same path I will, but for the sake of things, it is how it must be done. You have to uncover the truth the same as me alone, without me interfering with your progression. I will keep an eye on you through our tethers. If you should need me, just call my name.” Kivera grips Shuri’s hand brief before they pass through the shard they were searching for. 

“Make me proud.” Kivera’s voice rings through before she resumes her role as her charge’s former self in Hecate’s similar while retaining her own appearance. 

 “I for once will have hope that this truth to learn will be beneficial.” Kivera uses the reprieve time she has before she’s discovered, letting things play out how they’re suppose to.

“The underworld will understand. This star does not need to see horrors akin to Hell on earth. Not even I will tolerate a mad apocalypse like this.”

[nutley-rp]

Endwalker commentary - part 3!

SPOILERS. So this is pretty much just going through the 5th zone from start to finish.

Elpis

Ok I did NOT expect this at all. My god. This is just going to prepare me for a heart shattering, to see an older incarnation of Fandaniel / Hermes

Ahhghfhsdfsl Hades / Emet and the man whose name I cannot spell. They’re so beautiful they kind of look like modded sim characters AHAHA

Meteion is cute, so small. And Hermes seems like a cool dude

Interesting soul lore. Like, things just...get souls and no one knows how or controls that. If it seems like a living thing then it probably has a soul, otherwise it’s an arcane entity but regardless, both will act to prolong existence. I still wonder what this means for primals

Huhh dynamis. It’s not aether just, another form of energy. So having less aether makes you more sensitive to it, which is why the sundered straight up turn into monsters while the unsundered simply had their creation magic go crazy? And Meteion is a very strange creation. I wonder how she’ll show up in the present day

HERMES Hfhjdshfksdf SO BEAUTIFUL EXCUSE ME

Oh interesting, Meteion (creatures of dynamis) are meant to travel the stars and there are already a bunch of ‘em doing that

Venat is the previous Azem! And she mentored...past WOL Azem! She seems really badass! Also lmao Emet....stop making that sighing sound fdskjlfjdslk grouchy DISTRACTING MAN

Interesting to try to piece together the future with the past selves. Venat is certain she’d fight, as opposed to run, so maybe there’s something left for us in the present to help us? And also ahahah Emet being mad at who he becomes

Getting my shit kicked in and loving every second

Hmm these conversations...Hermes’s flying creations somehow utilize celestial currents. What’s the connection between dynamis and celestial aether currents?

...the echo is something all Ascians can do, by reading the “carvings” left behind in ambient aether, or as someone else is recalling. It’s interesting to have it called out as something very normal. Then again, it’s an ability that awakens in the sundered so. Similarly was fun how the “blessing of light” is just like, Venat’s “traveling ward.” Everyone used to be so jacked.

My prediction - Meteion lures some bad aliens back home. Or that she somehow is like...twisted into some big bad.

So the ascians couldn’t figure out the source of the final days due to them being so aether-based, and dynamis didn’t transform them due to them being dense (only affecting their magic). Whereas the sundered are more acutely affected due to being less dense and transform. 

Oh. 

........YYYYYEAHHHHH..........

And here comes the sus music. I wonder what Meteion found...and I hope this is the last time I have to find her lol. Wait. Nevermind, gdi, I have to find her again. I hate this.

Wonder if Fandaniel’s desire to end all life stems from a desire to help Meteion find peace? Hermes is critical about how flippantly souls outside of men are treated, feels existence is flawed, so maybe? That’s why he wants to see it all end?

Ohh will he be a trial? Oh boy. (Also I wonder how everything I’m doing will impact, or lead up to the present)

So Meteion is the source of the Final Days, because she’s so full of despair and has control over dynamis. And it just seemed like the celestial currents were the source because...uhh, I’m not actually clear on this, but maybe just since that’s where her influence can be felt the easiest first? Either way I predict she’s like, literally in the core of the planet or something. Final zone prediction is literally Meteion somehow. (That’d be kind of funny, mining her for like, rocks to make a nice helmet)

Huh they did mention how Hermes has access to a memory altering machine, or something similar earlier. So maybe he uses this to make people forget about the cause because otherwise, I’d trust Venat/Emet to deal with him and Meteion.

Aaand then I stopped before doing the dungeon because it’s 2 AM AND I KEEP DCing. But looking forward to watching Emet get KO’d!

[beybladefanfictions]

Ryuga’s Return - Chapter 8

(Description: AU where Ryuga survives Metal Fury but loses L-Drago. He reunites with Kenta and struggles to figure out what he’s supposed to do without Beyblade, his purpose in life for so long. Character’s thoughts are in asteriks.)

Ryuga’s POV

Ryuga and Kenta were sitting on the couch in the living room, watching the dumb show that was Yugioh: the dumb, entertaining show that was way better than it had any right to be based on the concept alone. In the middle of an episode, Ryuga’s phone rang.

“What the?” Kenta asked, pausing the show. “Who in the world is calling you?”

Ryuga picked up his phone. “Madoka,” he answered standing up. “It must be about the bey.”

“Wha…?” Kenta tilted his head to the side.

Ryuga walked to the kitchen, answering the phone as he leaned on the wall. Madoka was on speaker. Ryuga could tell by the distinct whirring sound of her equipment through the receiver.

“Yes?”

“Hey, Ryuga!” Madoka greeted, the whirring sound of her tools suddenly stopping. “I’ve got good news. The WBBA just contacted me about your bey. It’s done! They want you to pick it up at three o'clock today!”

“Okay…?” Ryuga raised an eyebrow. *Why did she call me to say that? She could’ve easily said that over text like she normally would.*

“You’re excited to try it out, aren’t you?” Madoka prompted.

“I’m going to,” Ryuga replied, dodging the question.

“Okay, well you’ll need two people around when you do-”

“You and Kenta,” Ryuga replied, cutting her off.

“Uh… okay, sure! I wanted to see you use your new bey…” She let out a groan. “But I have so much work to do…”

“Take a break.”

Madoka sighed, “Yeah, I could use a break… I just hope Chris, Dynamis, and Tithi don’t mind waiting longer… Well, I’ll see you later, Ryuga.”

Ryuga hung up and walked back into the living room.

“They finished the bey,” he answered, sitting next to Kenta again.

“Wait, really?!” Kenta’s eyes lit up. “About time! Are we picking it up or…?”

“At three. We have time,” Ryuga replied, unpausing the show. Kenta gave him a weird look before looking back at the TV.

*This is it… I’m really going to be getting the new Beyblade.* Before this moment, the idea that Ryuga was getting a new Beyblade seemed intangible or too far in the future to consider but it was happening today. He would have the chance to finally Beyblade again. The thing that had once been his passion, his entire purpose for living, he would be able to do it again. The idea sparked some joy for Ryuga. However, it was short-lived as he remembered that it wasn’t L-Drago. *Can I truly connect with any other bey as I did with L-Drago?* He would find out soon…

-------------------------------

Ryuga walked beside Kenta and Madoka, his white jacket flapping behind him in the wind. 

“This better be worth it,” Ryuga grunted.

“It will be,” Kenta insisted, looking up at him. “I mean, the bey took a week to make. It’s gotta be good.”

“From what I heard, most of that time was spent trying to figure out how to get it to rotate left,” Madoka informed with a smile. “It’s never been done by the WBBA.” She looked up at Ryuga. “You should be grateful, Ryuga.” She spoke in her normal cheerful tone, yet her words alone were enough to annoy Ryuga.

“Don’t tell me how I should feel,” he growled, his eyes narrowed.

“That’s not-” Madoka looked away, clenching her jaw. “Ugh, whatever, you’re impossible.”

Kenta pushed the door to the building open, allowing Ryuga and Madoka to walk inside before following them. The three of them stepped into the office. The director was sitting at his desk.

“Ryuga…” There was an edge to his tone, like usual. “Here for your Beyblade, I presume?”

Ryuga rolled his eyes. “Why else?”

The director’s eyes narrowed.

“Uh…” Kenta stepped in front of Ryuga. “Do you have it?”

“I do.”

The director held up a red and white bey. Ryuga stepped closer to gaze at it. It was predominantly red and white though there were bits of black on the fusion wheel, along with a depiction of a black dragon on the facebolt. The colours brought to mind Meteo L-Drago: Ryuga’s second bey. His heart suddenly ached.

“Its name is the Jet Black Dragon,” the director informed, dropping it in Ryuga’s hand. “Not the most creative name but it was the best we could come up with.”

Ryuga stared at the bey. It was much lighter in his hand than L-Drago Destructor had been, with a thinner spin track and performance tip. Ryuga dipped his head. Clutching the bey, he turned and walked out of the office. Kenta and Madoka followed.

“Can I see the bey?” Kenta asked.

Ryuga handed it to him without a second thought. Madoka and Kenta both stared at the bey. Ryuga stopped beside them, gazing at the new bey with a chill. *I never would’ve handed L-Drago over like that to anyone, not even Kenta…*

“What did he say it was called?” Kenta asked, looking up at Ryuga.

“The Jet Black Dragon,” Ryuga scoffed. “What a mouthful.”

Madoka rolled her eyes. “Says mister ‘Dragon Emperor soaring flight.’”

Ryuga couldn’t help but smile. “You mixed up my dark move and my ultimate move.”

Madoka looked away, folding her arms. “Whatever.”

“If you’re going to make fun of me, at least do it right,” Ryuga teased, continuing to walk. Madoka and Kenta followed.

“So…” Kenta’s eyes were fixed on the bey in Ryuga’s hand. “Are you gonna rename the bey?”

“I’ll call it something for short…” Ryuga stared at the dragon on the facebolt. “Draco?”

“As in the constellation or the character?” Kenta asked, smirking a bit.

“The constellation, of course.” Ryuga glanced up at the sunny sky. *The same one L-Drago was named after…*

Madoka began giggling to herself. “Ah yes, Draco Malfoy the Beyblade.”

Kenta laughed a bit. Ryuga was too confused to counter them. *They’re clearly talking about something I’ve never heard of.* He turned to his bey, Draco.

“So, uh, where do you wanna test out the bey?” Kenta asked.

“Outside the city. Away from people.” Ryuga growled the last word.

“Um…” Madoka raised an eyebrow. “We’re people, Ryuga.” She gestured to Kenta and herself.

“You don’t count.”

Kenta smiled.

“Wha-” Madoka’s eye twitched. “What is that supposed to mean?!”

“Madoka, it’s a compliment,” Kenta explained, turning to her.

“How do you know?”

“I know him,” Kenta snickered. “He hates people.”

Ryuga smiled a bit, keeping his gaze focused on the path ahead. They walked through the city before reaching the forest where Ryuga would frequently take walks to escape the chaos of Kenta’s family. The trio stopped in a glade, where there were fewer trees to get in the way of his Beyblade.

“You sure this is where you want to use your bey for the first time?” Madoka asked, looking around. “The ground is really uneven here-”

“Nothing I’m not used to,” Ryuga replied with a shrug.

“Here, you can use my launcher for now.”

Kenta handed him a ripcord launcher, very different from the string launcher Ryuga usually used or rather, once used. Ryuga placed the bey on the launcher. Kenta and Madoka immediately backed out of the way. Their gazes were fixed on Ryuga.

A wave of anxiety hit him like a slap to the face and he suddenly froze up. Ryuga looked away. *Where is this stage fright coming from?! I’ve never been nervous about Beyblading, even in front of a large crowd!* Then again, Ryuga had always had full faith in himself and his L-Drago.

He cast a glance at his bey. *Draco… don’t fail me.* Ryuga closed his eyes and took a deep breath before launching the bey.

For a brief shining moment, fire blazed in Ryuga’s spirit, as strong and fierce as a fire breathing dragon. It was almost as if he were still fighting alongside L-Drago. Then he opened his eyes. The bey spinning before him on the forest floor could be mistaken for L-Drago at first glance but the longer he stared, the more the fire in his spirit fizzled out.

“Go Draco!”

Even his words seemed almost empty. The bey drifted to the left with as little effort as Ryuga had put into the command. Madoka and Kenta gawked at the bey.

“They actually got it to rotate left…” Kenta sounded somewhat shocked.

“Well yeah,” Madoka replied, matter-of-factly. “That’s what Ryuga asked for.”

Kenta shrugged. “I didn’t know if they’d actually do it.”

Ryuga struggled to focus on the bey as Kenta and Madoka chatted. Draco’s spin was somehow already slowing. He growled. There was power in this bey, Ryuga could feel it, yet bringing it out was like trying to set fire to water. He silently urged the bey to keep spinning.

“Put your heart into it, Ryuga!” Kenta called.

Ryuga’s focus shattered and the bey wobbled before stopping completely. He let out a grunt.

“Ryuga?” Kenta and Madoka both gazed at him in confusion.

“What happened?” Madoka asked, tilting her head to the side.

Shame washed over Ryuga like a wave in the ocean.

“I’m still getting used to this bey,” he replied, kneeling down to pick up the bey. “It is new after all.”

However, as Ryuga stared at the bey in his hand, he knew what the true problem was. *This bey isn’t mine. How can I connect with this bey if I don’t even consider it mine?* Ryuga’s head hung low. Standing up, he began to walk away.

“Where are you going?” Kenta called, chasing after him. Ryuga stopped. Kenta stopped beside him, staring up at him desperately.

“I need time alone,” Ryuga informed, starting to walk again.

“You’re not allowed to use your bey without at least two other people around, you know?!” Madoka called.

Ryuga tossed the bey and launcher to Kenta, who fumbled a bit before catching them. Like before, Ryuga felt no remorse departing with the bey, this time for a much longer period of time.

“I’ll tell mom and dad that you’re out on a walk,” Kenta informed.

Ryuga nodded his thanks. Even once the two were out of sight, Ryuga’s shame didn’t fade. His failure with the new bey was implanted in his mind, playing on loop. *It must have looked like I wasn’t even trying.* Ryuga had tried: tried desperately to connect with the new bey, but something had prevented him from properly doing so. It was like there was a wall in his brain.

Ryuga couldn’t connect with this bey as he had connected with L-Drago. His original bey had been the only thing he cared about before Kenta came along and somehow found a way into Ryuga’s heart. Ryuga had L-Drago at a time when he had no one else. Maybe that was in part why Ryuga couldn’t imagine ever connecting with another bey in the same way he had with L-Drago.

The entire time Ryuga used Draco, he just felt dumb. He knew from the start he couldn’t replace L-Drago, yet this new bey resembled it in colour, type, and structure. He had even named the bey after the same constellation L-Drago was named after. In retrospect, Ryuga thought it was kind of pathetic. *I have to see Draco as its own bey… that’s the only way I can become more powerful with it.* The idea sparked nothing within Ryuga.

He let out a growl. *Beyblade was my entire life for years and now I get the chance to do it again and I don’t even want to take it?! What am I even doing without Beyblade?!* During the now two weeks Ryuga had been living with Kenta’s family, he had spent most of his time trying to take his mind off his former bey. Sometimes he didn’t have to try as hard, like when he was watching that show with Kenta, but nothing he was doing had any sort of purpose. Beyblade had been his sense of purpose. However, it was abundantly clear now that Beyblade couldn’t do that anymore. Ryuga let out a sigh. *I told Kenta I’d try… My promise is fulfilled.*

Ryuga stiffened when his phone went off.

-Kenta’s dad: Dinner’s almost ready.-

*I guess that’s my cue to return,* Ryuga thought, rolling his eyes. Besides, he was hungry. Hunger was the most powerful motivation Ryuga knew of, whether it was hunger for power or simply hunger for food. Somehow the latter was even powerful enough to make Ryuga deal with Kenta’s parents.

Although it had been a week since he had accidentally fallen asleep at Madoka’s shop, Ryuga was still convinced that Kenta’s parents were mad at him. So rather than annoyance, anxiety grew within Ryuga as he walked to the house. If he put even one foot out of line, it could lead to Kenta’s parents taking their anger out on him, like Doji always had.

Ryuga took a deep breath before pushing the door open. Kenta and his parents were all sitting at the table, gazing up at him as he entered the house.

Kenta’s dad greeted him with a wave. “Hey, there he is.”

*Yeah, I can read.* Ryuga bit back the words. He sat next to Kenta at the table, where a bowl of soup was already waiting for him. It looked a bit like ramen. However, the broth was much lighter than ramen broth and there were far fewer toppings.

“What is this?” Ryuga asked aloud.

“It’s pho, a Vietnamese food,” Kenta explained, holding up some noodles in his chopsticks.

Ryuga looked around the table, but he didn’t see any forks. His blood ran cold when he noticed a pair of chopsticks next to his bowl. *I never properly learned how to use these things…*

Ryuga held both chopsticks close together as if they were a pencil, his fingers bunched up and close to the bottom of the sticks. The few noodles he picked up repeatedly slipped back into the bowl. Ryuga let out a growl.

“You’re… holding them wrong you know?” Kenta’s dad informed, tilting his head to the side. Beside him, Kenta’s mother was covering her mouth with her hand, looking as if she was trying not to crack up.

“I knew that,” Ryuga growled.

He wanted to snap his chopsticks in half. *I must be the only person in Japan that can’t use these stupid things.* He bunched his fingers close together, trying even harder to grip some of the noodles. One of the sticks was flung backwards. Ryuga winced as it hit the table, taking a chunk of noodles and broth with it. Kenta yelped in alarm. Across the table, Kenta’s parents were chuckling.

“You’ve never used chopsticks, have you?” Kenta’s mother asked.

“What gave that away?” Ryuga grunted, doing his best to clean up the broth and noodles with a napkin. Kenta’s parents laughed a bit more. Ryuga glared at them. “Yeah, laugh it up, why don’t you?” Ryuga burned with shame, fighting the urge to duck under the table and hide.

Kenta’s dad snickered. “Sorry, it is a little funny.”

“Do you need help, kiddo?” Kenta’s mom asked, reaching across the table.

Ryuga stiffened, quickly turning to Kenta. “Kenta.”

“Oh, uh, hold them like this.” Kenta held up his chopsticks. His fingers were higher up and much more spread apart, with his pinky and ring finger on one chopstick and his rest on the other.

Ryuga mimicked the position. His fingers instantly felt awkward, but he was finally able to grab some noodles and a piece of chicken in the chopsticks. The soup was, admittedly, delicious, but definitely not worth all that effort. In all his struggling with the chopsticks, Ryuga hadn’t noticed the spoon leaning on the edge of the bowl. He glared at Kenta’s parents.

“Never make me use these again,” Ryuga growled, using his chopsticks to push some noodles onto the spoon.

“You could’ve just said something, kiddo,” Kenta’s dad replied, clearly trying not to smile. “We’ll buy more forks for you to use.”

“Thanks…. Ryuga grunted.

“You could also try using your right hand,” he suggested.

Ryuga dropped his chopsticks to facepalm.

Kenta let out a sigh. “Dad, he’s left-handed.”

“Oh…” Kenta’s dad shrank back a bit, looking away. “Nevermind, sorry.”

“Did you seriously not notice?” Kenta asked, resting his hand on his face.

“I dunno,” Kenta’s dad replied with a shrug. “I thought he was ambidextrous or something.”

“That’s literally less likely, honey,” Kenta’s mom teased, nudging her husband’s shoulder.

Ryuga tuned out their conversation, trying to focus on his food. He didn’t bother using the chopsticks properly. He scooped the noodles and garnishes up with the spoon and stabbed the pieces of chicken with his chopsticks to punish them for their crimes.

“So, Ryuga-” Ryuga stiffened when Kenta’s dad said his name. “-we heard you got your new Beyblade today.”

Ryuga nodded.

“Oh!” Kenta perked up. “Here!”

He grabbed the red and white bey out of his pocket, placing it on the table. Ryuga gazed at the bey. He stiffened, casting a glance at Kenta. *I have to tell him…*

“What’s its name?” Kenta’s dad asked.

Ryuga glanced at Kenta’s parents. *I’ll tell him later, when we can be alone.*

“Draco,” Ryuga answered.

“Like Harry Potter?” Kenta’s mom asked, tilting her head to the side.

*What is she talking about?* “Like the dragon constellation,” Ryuga corrected, pocketing the bey.

“Oh…” Kenta’s mom chuckled a bit. “Yeah, that makes more sense.”

“It’s okay. Madoka and I thought the same thing.” Kenta turned to Ryuga, his gaze suddenly lighting up. “Ooh Ryuga, we should watch those movies.”

“We don’t need another series, Kenta,” Ryuga sighed, resting his hand on his forehead. *Yugioh is more than enough.*

“But Yugioh is really long,” Kenta protested.

“Exactly.” Ryuga stabbed a piece of chicken and bit it off the chopsticks.

“Alright, alright, one series at a time…” Kenta returned to his own food, using his chopsticks like a normal person. “Wait, you’re willing to watch all of Yugioh?!” He gasped, dropping his chopsticks.

Ryuga didn’t answer.

“You do like it then,” Kenta replied, smirking a bit.

Ryuga rolled his eyes. “Shut up,” he grunted, nudging Kenta’s side. *So what, I like one of the characters? The show is still stupid.*

Kenta chuckled into his hand. “But, uh, anyways.” He suddenly sounded serious. “Once you get more practice with Draco, I’d really like to battle with you.”

Ryuga stiffened. “Battle me?” he asked, turning to Kenta.

“Well, yeah.” Kenta tilted his head to the side. ���Don’t you want to?” There was disappointment in his voice and on top of that, he was giving Ryuga that stupid puppy dog eyed look.

Ryuga looked away. *I promised him I would try…* He let out a sigh. Ryuga had tried earlier to connect with his new bey, but it had only been for a few minutes. *I can try harder. I never gave up on a bey battle and I won’t start now.*

“I need more practice first,” Ryuga replied, taking a bite of his pho.

“But battling strong opponents is the best way to practice.”

“Kenta, you’re a strong opponent and I can barely control my new bey. I need more practice on my own.” *Well, as alone as I can get with two people constantly watching me.*

“Well…” Kenta nodded. “I guess that makes sense. Is… a week enough time?”

Ryuga fell silent for a few moments. “Sure.”

“Thanks.” Kenta smiled, nudging Ryuga’s side. “I’ll get you back for last time, just you wait.”

“We’ll see,” Ryuga replied, dipping his head.

*He’ll completely destroy me if I don’t figure out how to connect with my new bey.* Ryuga held up the bey. *I have a week… maybe this fight is the push I need.* Despite having no attachment to this new bey, Ryuga couldn’t stomach the idea of losing to anyone.

[ladyryukyo]

Always awesome to find another MFB blog!! Thanks for the follow btw 💙 Consider this ask an invitation to share any of your favorite MFB headcannons👀👀

omg hi! thank you for the follow, dude, your blog is awesome 💛,, hmm my favorite mfb headcanons...

I think I'll have to say the legendary bladers keeping in touch after defeating nemesis. I just don’t think it makes sense for them to split up without another word after saving the world from being destroyed by an angry, ancient god bey. I can’t imagine a more profound bonding activity lol.

it’s not initially the bladers’ idea to keep in contact but the WBBA’s. they wanted a way to contact the legendary bladers in case of emergency since they are the most powerful bladers in the world presumably.

(you never know when the world might be destroyed next. could be in the far future. could be next week. the WBBA just wants to be prepared.)

so they give every legendary blader a brand-new phone and hope no one accidentally destroys theirs in whatever crazy dangerous training plan they come up with.

gingka is the one who suggests creating a group chat with everyone which is of course a terrible idea which is why ryo absolutely loves it.

it goes well for about two hours and then yu finds out about the gc and wants to be in it. tsubasa joins to keep an eye on him and madoka joins to keep an eye on everyone. hikaru joins to supervise for the WBBA and after that no one can stop benkei from joining no matter how many burgers kyoya tries to bribe him with. then aguma argues that it would be unfair not to let bao in and suddenly there are way too many people and the gc is way too chaotic.

the first thing kyoya does is mute the chat, put his new phone on Do Not Disturb and proceed not to check his messages for the next two weeks. he only ever writes in the gc when he has another win against a legendary blader to report and to ask who wants to be his next opponent. other than that one message every few weeks, he doesn’t really exist in the gc.

benkei travels with kyoya from legendary blader to legendary blader but at least he lets everyone know that they’re both still alive. he sends a lot of photos in the chat, mostly sneaky, blurry pictures of kyoya, some selfies and pictures of the many different types of food they encounter. he makes everyone jealous with the last one and has to promise to cook some of them for everyone once he’s back.

tsubasa entertains the group chat w daily updates about everyone’s favorite pet eagle (whose name i don’t know but i’m pretty sure tsubasa just called it ‘eagle’ in the show?? it’s so no one figures out he actually calls it cutesy pet names in private. no one can know). eagle is a riot because she is well trained but also has a mind of her own. i just decided eagle is female. you can play catch with her as long as you’re respectful but in exchange she is allowed to land on your head and try and feed you the fish she just caught. yu likes to message tsubasa suggestions what he should make eagle do next. one time he asked tsubasa to put a wig on her and see what happens. she was very regal about the whole thing.

(i could write so much abt tsubasa and his pet eagle, this whole concept lends itself to so much ridiculousness. i’m going to write a separate post abt them another time.)

you know who the most hilarious texters of the group are? dynamis and aguma. everyone expects them to be as collected and serious as they usually are but. wrong. dynamis lives in a temple on top of a mountain that is protected by many deadly traps. he lives pretty far from human civilization and we can assume he never got many visitors so. i can’t imagine there’s good cell phone reception at mist mountain. has he ever used a phone before? does he even know what the internet is??

same with aguma: beylin fist is an exclusive organization forced into exile and obscurity for many years. their sole goal was to train until they could defeat beylin temple and prove themselves to the world. once again we can assume there was not much surfing the internet going on here.

expectation: dynamis and aguma text with proper punctuation and grammar, do not use emojis, do not understand memes, do not send gifs or anything that isn’t a fully formed sentence you could copy and paste for your essay in school that would make your english teacher weep with joy.

reality: dynamis: OMG!! 😱 The ✨ say you are super 🍀 this week, Aguma!! 🤩 You should 💪 a lot LOL!! 🔮 (trans: the stars say you are super lucky this week aguma. you should train/fight a lot) (also it’s a tragedy that there’s no spinning top emoji)

aguma: k iuss l2g l8er? (trans: okay, if you say so. would you like to go [fight] later?)

dynamis: YES!! (trans: yes)

aguma: gr8 cul (trans: great, see you later)

everyone is so confused. at least they can understand what dynamis is saying but what is with the exclamation marks?? the emojis replacing words? the abbreviations in all caps that make the texts look like a middle-aged wine mom on facebook wrote them? don’t get them started on aguma and the unintelligible mess he calls a text message. does he just take a bunch of random letters and numbers and throw them together however he sees fit? apparently not because dynamis understands everything he sends even if he is the only one in the gc that does.

dynamis and aguma bonded over their mutual ignorance of everything technology when the gc was first created. yu said lol once in the gc and that was the moment dynamis and aguma learned about chat speak which is why everyone blames yu for this disaster. dynamis thinks the emojis are very helpful and aguma straight up memorized a list of more than 1,500 internet abbreviations. no one has the courage to tell them that nobody actually speaks like that on the internet and that they took it a little too far than is normal.

you know these people that are super nice and soft-spoken in real life but swear like a sailor over text and reveal that they have like a really obscure humor? that’s yuki. although he usually doesn’t say much in a group and feels shy around other people, especially when they are as loud and extroverted as for example yu or king, over text when he’s not face-to-face with them he doesn’t feel like he has to watch himself as much. he is usually overly conscious of his actions and words but through the virtual barrier between him and everyone else it makes it much easier for him to just say what he thinks and what he thinks is actually really funny and weird.

yuki actually has a pretty large online following for his fandom blog about various books and tv shows where he very passionately argues over fandom meta and character analysis. because of his active interest in fandom his references can be... a bit obscure and specific. there is always one person in the gc that understands the references and finds them hilarious but everyone else is left thoroughly confused and questioning their sanity.

that is all i have for this for now but i’ll add more when i think of it. everyone is of course welcome to add their own ideas!

[walker-journal]

Pyrrhic Transfiguration (Adam Solo)

Participants: Adam Walker (Hunter) Danica Vassliev (NPC Spellcaster) 

Context: Adam’s strength is fading fast as cult infiltration, wounds from Bloody Mary, and Apoleia Dynamis bring him close to bodily and metal collapse. Calling in favor with one of Penelope’s covenmates leads to more questions than Adam can answer about his relationship and malady. 

Follows: Into the Fold Part 1, Deep Sea Blues

Content Warnings: Body Horror (Medical Transmutation), Chronic Disease (Apoleia Dynamis),  Mention of Drug Use (Elixir), Animal Sacrifice, Allusions to Physical Abuse

Sorry its long

“How long has it been since your last drink Adam?”

“Why,” Adam asked from where he lay in the exact center of a ring of river clay, the Hunter so maimed from the tender mercies of Ma’al’s cult that he could barely stir from where Danica’s assistant had set him down. One half of the circle’s interior was covered in lush grass while the other half was dead burnt ash. 

“I don’t want to transmute your blood into red sugar syrup by calculating the toxicity incorrectly,” Danica pointed out as her basilisk fang stylus scratched more runic equations into the soft clay circle. 

“Three months.”

Danica looked up from where she had been drawing sigils on Adam’s right wrist with Lampade blood ink. “You? Adam...you’re shitting me.” 

“Nope,” the fraternity captain confided, hoarse voice a wane attempt at being cheerful, “been straight edge lately. Don’t tell anyone, I’ll lose all dudebro cred and have to go into soyboy exile.” 

The sorceress took one of Adam’s bare legs in the business-like fashion of a medical professional who was too familiar with wounds and physiology to be made bashful by her patient’s state of undress. “Tragic,” she affirmed, “any other stimulants, tobacco, or…”

Adam watched as Danica painted diagrams on his calf and thigh in Fae blood, eldritch mathematics evidently meant to guide magic through his body like silicon traces channel electrical currents through a circuit board. “Well I had to pop some Elixir during those hauntings a while back..”

Danica made a guttural sound of disgust and frustration in her throat. “That’s poison Adam! It’ll rot you from the inside!  Jak mogłeś! Próbuję cię utrzymać przy życiu, durniu!” Danica continued to heap imprecations on Adam in Polish for his stubbornness and general dumbassery as she smoothed some calculations on the clay circle with an iron spade. She began scribing new sigils to account for any necrophage elements that still lingered in Adam’s tissues. 

“Why not ask Penelope to perform regeneration rites,” Danica asked later as she took skin, hair, and saliva samples in order to account for the specific concentration of enzymes and other proteins in Adam’s body. “I can sense her power all over you, and the connection between you both would make this easier.” 

“Uh her ...what...all over me?” 

Danica helped raise Adam up to a sitting position, gingerly trying to avoid the lacerations and bruises that covered the athlete’s body like livid craters. “Relax Casanova,” she teased, stylus tracing a geometric web of interconnected eye-like runes up the length of Adam's spine while trying not to wince at jagged slashes, claw marks, and yellowed contusions that lined his back. “She’s used sanguimancy to put you back together a couple times now right,” she posited, earning a nod of confirmation from Adam. “Magic like that is all about bonds, an exchange of essence that catalyzes a change in reality. It’s in your marrow now Adam.” 

The Hunter thought back to that night of that cursed full moon when Nell had performed what she thought would be her last full moon. She’d used both their blood to enkindle new flowers to bloom and that evening had left Adam with an inkling of the grand unity of life her arts entailed. “Yeah, that makes sense I guess.” 

“There's another connection too,” Danica began, “emotion is a higher…”  

Adam’s snort of jocular derision turned to a hacking cough as his broken ribs sent shuddering spasms of pain up his chest. “Sorry, I’m shit at talking about that stuff,” he admitted. 

“Well you might need to start,” Danica snapped. She pressed Adam’s head down to start on a greater symbol of cerebral warding on the nape of his neck, the closed eye surrounded by a Solomonic temple and pentacle serving as a sort of occult circuit breaker that’d stop the spell’s energy from liquifying Adam’s grey matter. “Look Adam I’m not trying to slut shame you here,” she began more gently. “But Nell’s exile now, the support structure we grew up in is closed to her. We’re forbidden from even speaking with her...” 

Adam met Danica’s grey eyes and comprehended that he was the sorceress' only point of contact with the woman she had to publicly denounce as an apostate. “Nell’s more than just a good time to me,” he rasped quietly, breathing shallow. “I know I’m a piece of shit when it comes to girls but I wouldn’t lie...not about that.” 

Danica’s soft exhalation of relief might’ve been a bit insulting, but Adam had never been shy about explicitly stating what he wanted and what he had no interest in. “I know Esther raised all you Walkers to survive the zombie apocalypse or whatever,” Danica sighed as she began tracing the veins and muscles of Adam’s battered left arm in symbols. “But maybe drop those defenses a little for Nell? She needs more than a soldier.”

Adam bit his split bottom lip, watching Danica’s expression with bloodshot eyes. “You’re really worried about her aren’t you,” he noted, choosing not to take offense at this butting into his personal life. 

Danica brushed dark tresses of hair away from her face, bracelets inscribed with aspects of the many-faced goddess letting out a metallic click on her wrists. “Necromancy, exile, hooking up with a Hunter, and getting into ...this…” Danica held up Adam’s arm to his own face, giving him a clear view of livid lesions and fingers snapped by blunt force trauma. “Yes I’m worried!”    

“I’ll make sure she makes out, no matter what,” Adam assured, before raising both lacerated eyebrows at Danica’s fervent curse in Polish that he was probably luckily not understanding. 

“That's exactly what I’m afraid of,” Danica sighed as she wrote equations in alchemical script across the Hunter’s forehead and temples. “Look I’m about to rip your body apart and put it together again.” The witch nodded to the human corpse and stone slabs with struggling animals tied to them that formed a sacrificial perimeter around the clay circle, raw fleshly materials for the spell. “Even with all this? There's a good chance you won’t make it Adam.”   

“I know.” 

Danica met those dark bloodshot eyes, so eerily devoid of fear or hesitation. “Fuck Hunters,” she exclaimed under her breath while placing a ward on Adam’s right pectoral that’d hopefully keep his heart from suffering a corner spasm during the impending ritual’s trauma. “Whatever took your powers? It’s a wound in your psyche, your soul even, and I don’t mean that figuratively.”

“That’s a thing?”

The healer nodded as she drew an intricate branching tree of overlapping runic circle’s down Adam’s sternum, with its roots twinning around his abdominal muscles. “Whatever you and Nell are doing is making it worse...like alot worse,” she emphasized. “There’s nothing I can do for that, the soul can’t be transmuted,” the medical alchemist admitted. “The best thing you could possibly do right now is stop whatever this mission is before …”

“I need to do this,” Adam said with quiet firmness, unmoved even after realizing the cults’ attempts to break his and Nells’ will to resist were hitting deeper than he’d even thought possible. “I just need to last long enough to see it though.” 

“Does that still take priority over everything,” Danica prodded, as if holding out hope that Adam would fight harder for the people closest to him rather than the abstract of humanity.  “Even with your powers gone?” 

Adam’s silence and thousand yard stare at the sanctum’s cold stone walls was answer enough. He didn’t stir at the shrill screams of rabbits having their throats slit by Danica’s sanctified athame. The high squeal of slaughtered swine joined the last braying of a goat rasping into silence. 

Blood slid down long slanted groves in the stone floor, flowing into the alchemical equations that Danica had scribed into the circle of river clay.  A hiss was followed by an eruption of viscous scarlet vapor, as if the blood had become a silken cloud. The clay began to writhe and shift of its own accord. Animal bodies and a human corpse wriggled down through groves in a grotesque parody of animation, melding into the roiling clay in a sickening crunch of bones and sloshing meat. 

“Last chance Walker,” Danica said, almost pleadingly. 

Adam looked at the roiling ring of earth, blood, and flesh that’d become a single promethean substance. Nausea filled his gut at the thought of whatever the hell this was getting inside of him. But Adam hadn’t been raised to flinch from duty’s cost. 

“Whatever it takes,” he answered. 

Bowing her head, Danica spoke the concluding sequence of the grand equation written through the room and Adam’s very flesh. 

Adam watched in sweat-soaked shock as his own arm ripped open, the slick strands of nerves, veins, and tendons uncoiling like unspooled thread from his bones. Adam’s world went white as ocular nerves and muscle were torn from his skull. The ring of flesh clay rushed inward, smothering Adam’s flayed body in a glissading mass. Everything became pain, sickening warmth, and the bodily alienation of things slithering around inside of him. 

Danica’s chanting rose as ambient power thrummed through air, incantation harmonizing with Adam’s agonizing screams till all was one. 

[bonjovian]

Blood Ties Chapter Two

Masterlist

Chapter I

Chapter III

"Speedwagon..." Grace mumbled as she thumbed through her mother's journal. "Mom brought that name up a couple of times in here. Ah yes. Robert EO Speedwagon. Founder of the Speedwagon Foundation and loyal Joestar companion. Though it's stated he was a bachelor, there's no way this Neil kid just happens to share a name. Hope dad's doing alright." She sighed and closed the journal. "Robert knew my father... well, fathers. There has to be a bit of documentation in the Speedwagon Foundation database." She found herself yet again pacing to the main floor, waiting for Hol Horse to come back. "Though Neil seems familiar, the name at least," she hummed.

What felt like an hour had passed, though it was at most only half. A voice drew her from her distracted pacing.

"Ah, Grace Brando," A blond young man about her age was standing in front of her. He smiled and offered her his hand. She shook it cautiously.

"Neil Speedwagon?" She asked as she raised an eyebrow.

"Yep, that's me," He chuckled, bowing slightly. "I can't believe you don't remember me. Our moms used to be friends. You know, before that night."

"Hm," she paused, trying to remember him, "Oh, yeah. I have vague memories of us playing together as kids. Sorry, it was like 11 years." She laughed.

"It's nice to see you again, Grace. Anyways, my foundation was wondering if you were continuing your mother's research. If so, we can assist."

"Yes, I am. Though there is another issue I am facing," she sighed, grabbing a handful of envelopes. "There's this group that is harassing me, and I was wondering if you can help me get to the bottom of it. None of these have return addresses, and it's all written by different people. I can tell by the handwriting."

"We're thinking the letters are from a part of Dio's little group he had back then," Hol Horse said calmly. "No one else other than Jotaro and the people who went with him all those years ago would know where the mansion is."

"I see. My foundation is always willing to help, no questions asked," Speedwagon said with a nod.

"Thank you," Grace sighed and nodded. "We might have to take you up on that offer, Neil."

"That's what my foundation's for! So, can you tell me what they have been saying?"

"I'd say you should read these for yourself," She said, handing Neil some of the envelopes she was holding. Neil carefully grabbed a couple and took the letters from the envelopes. He only read one before handing them back to Grace.

"That's the Agents of Dio alright," he sighed, "My foundation has been trying to track them down but they are so widespread. We can't even really calculate the ratio of stand users or even other vampires in their ranks. We've heard of some in a town called Morioh in Japan a few years ago, though mostly it was just due to Enyaba delivering a Stand arrow there."

"They can create Stands?" Grace asked.

"Yeah, they can," Hol Horse nodded. "I don't know how it works, but if you get hit by a Stand arrow, you will either die from your injuries or awaken a Stand of your own. But there are some people, like you, Grace, who have a Stand awaken at random."

"I personally have had my Stand since I was born," Neil chuckled.

"You have a Stand? What is it?" Grace asked, tilting her head slightly. Neil nodded and grabbed a sledgehammer. Was it always there, Grace asked herself, no, I would remember a random sledgehammer laying in the kitchen.

"Ogre Street Special, named after where my great-great-grandfather met Mr. Jonathan Joestar, shows itself as a simple sledgehammer," he said calmly, "It is what is known as a bound Stand. Stand users and non Stand users alike can see it, but it has special reactions when I hold it."

"Interesting," Grace hummed. "I don't know what kind of Stand Holy Diver qualifies as. She doesn't go too far from my side but she sometimes appears on her own."

"Sounds like a close combat automatic Stand type," Neil said calmly. "I've been researching the types of Stands that the Joestars have encountered."

  "I see," she nodded. "So the Agents of Dio? Do you have any idea about some key figures?"

"Well, there are some hints about some," Neil said. "Even though it seems the main group has disbanded following Dio's death, I am aware of some still being out there. The D'Arby brothers, Dynami, and a few others."

"Some have turned over a new leaf, so to speak," Hol stated. "Though others might not be so happy to have no leader, and Grace might be the closest thing they could get their hands on."

"That explains a lot," Grace laughed, though it was dry and unamused. "Find the next best thing, Dio's daughter who doesn't want anything to do with him and his followers. If they're so desperate for leadership, why not appoint someone already in the group?"

"That's the thing, some of the groups do have appointed leaders, but overall, they are a very scattered group with no dedicated leader."

"And that's where these letters come in?"

Neil nodded. "It appears that is the case, though it makes them seem super desperate. No offense, Grace."

"None taken, don't worry," she laughed. "So, how are we going to take these guys out?"

"That's where some friends of mine come in. We all have a history with Dio in some way, and I feel like it would be the best way to take down this group," Neil smiled. "One of them is already eager to meet you."

"Well, I want to meet them, too," Grace smiled back. Neil nodded and grabbed his phone.

"Hey, can I speak to Shani Avdol? I have a friend I would like her to meet."