#me for all of 2023 YEOWCH!!!

[brandstifter-sys]

These Dreams

Chapter 3: Amarante and Berylus                  (Ao3) (must be signed in)

For @dukexietyweek 2023 Day 3 - Mythology

Word Count: 1178

Rating: T

Characters: Remus, Virgil

Warnings: Genderfluid!Virgil, mtf Virgil, ftm Remus, death mention, fake mythology, dreams

Vi has a strange dream in which she is the god(dess) of storms and she needs help. How many places is she going to see the same person she’s never met?

---

Vi was not exactly thrilled about this. The deity of storms was used to getting visitors begging for rain. She was not a fan of coming to the ground to seek out help. 

As her bare feet grazed the sand, she thought about why she was even at the beach. It was a desperate plea. A prayer for one of her most devout followers. 

The frail old woman was weak with age, burdened and weighed down with the life she carried in her. She had one son who was still alive. One grandson who still visited. And that young man was expecting a child. He was going on a long trip to trade goods in a foreign land. 

For days on end she stayed in the temple, praying and begging for her grandson's safe passage across the sea. She did not eat, she refused to sleep, not until her desperate pleas reached Vi. 

Vi had personally gone to her to assure her that her grandson would see no storms. He would be safe. She needed to eat and rest. 

But Vi knew that reassurance was far from enough. To keep anyone safe on the sea, the sky could only do so much. She had to find him and ask for his help. Just the thought of seeing him made her heart race. 

She looked up at the stars, breaking through her clouds, wishing she could go back and sleep instead of dealing with an influx of feelings. But the tides licked at her ankles, reminding her that she had a mission. 

She descended into the depths, letting her purple aura glow around her. The currents rustled her loose flowing gown, but not her long dark hair or her hood. 

Despite the vast expanse of the sea, Vi knew she wouldn't have to travel far to bump into the mysterious god of the depths. 

It was strangely beautiful in the deep darkness. The odd creatures that flitted past her were misshapen and some could glow in the dark. 

They were a distraction.

Vi jolted when she suddenly appeared before a large cave. A green glow emanated from it, setting her on edge. 

Then a pair of glowing green eyes opened and landed on her. Slick tentacles curled and crept out of the cave, bringing a strange man into view. His torso was human, though his chest suggested he was a little different from the average man. His lower half was a mass of tentacles. And then his face came into view. 

He was grinning wildly, showing off his sharp, jagged teeth from under his curly mustache. But there was something almost childish about his expression, something sweet that was more than endearing.

"Hello gorgeous!" the being cooed and winked at her, "What brings a beauty like you from the clouds?" 

"I need your help," Vi bristled. 

"Me?" he gasped and rolled onto his back, "Only one goddess ever needs my help! And you don't look like Death!" 

"You don't recognize me?" 

"I would remember someone as enchanting as you!" he had the nerve to giggle, "But I would love to remember you and all of your curves!" 

One of his tentacles snuck around her and latched onto her hip. Vi growled low in her throat and zapped the tentacle with enough electricity to kill a human. 

"Yeowch!" the sea god yelped and pulled his tentacle back to nurse it. He pouted at Vi for a split second before his grin returned. 

"Stormy!" he cheered and flipped over, holding his head in his hands, "I didn't know you switch! You're too hot as a man and too hot as a woman! How do you expect me to survive?!" 

"You can't die," Vi scoffed and crossed her arms, "And I still need your help." 

"What do you need? I'm more than happy to provide a tentacle fantasy! Or if you just want to—" 

"I need to guarantee that a mortal doesn't die at sea. And that's your thing." 

"Again? How desperate was the person praying?" he pouted.

"No food or sleep for four days, and she was elderly and frail." 

"Damn! Okay, okay, I'll keep the meat sack safe—for a price!" 

"What price?" 

"Take me to the clouds and marry me." 

"Are you insane?" 

"A little bit! But that has nothing to do with my price!" he giggled, "Think about it, if we're married, you don't have to make the trip to ask me to protect mortals. You can just come here directly! It's a good deal for you!" 

"And what do you get out of it?" she pressed suspiciously. 

"A beautiful wife, a handsome husband, and I can pretend that you love me!" the sea god hummed and blinked at her innocently. 

"Why would you want to pretend that?" 

"Because you're one of the few people who keeps coming by and lingering. Because you're so kind and understanding even with me, even if you aren't always patient. Because I love you," he shrugged and floated up to her, to be at eye level. 

He was so open and vulnerable. Vi could see it in his eyes, the hope, the longing, the adoration. 

"Get rid of the tentacles and get dressed," she ordered with a little smirk, "You don't have to pretend." 

“Really?!” the sea god gasped. Before she had time to react, Vi was trapped by his tentacles in a tight hug and he was holding onto her with his other arms. He was so giddy and giggly, she couldn’t stay mad at him. 

“Really, really. But, seriously, lose the tentacles when we go. They won’t work well on the clouds and I’m not carrying you.” 

“Aw, but you’re so strong and pretty and I want you to cradle me like a dead lover on the battlefield! Pretty please?” he pouted. Vi shook her head and sighed fondly.

“I’ll carry you some of the way. But you still need to lose the tentacles if you want me to balance.” 

“I think you just want to see my naked lower half so you can get ideas for later!” he teased and wiggled his eyebrows.

“If I say ‘yes’ will you do it?” 

“I was going to either way!” he laughed, “But it’s nice to hear you admit it!” 

Vi woke up and groaned. She knew she should have had another coffee. She peeled her face off of the book she was reading and rubbed her eyes. She could research for her novel later. The tale of Amarante and Berylus really didn't fit the vibe she was going for, and it just led to yet another strange dream. 

"I'm not admitting to anything," she jeered and set off into the darkness to return home to the clouds with her new husband to be. 

---

She was getting tired of wondering who she kept seeing in her sleep. If she could bring herself to focus on anything other than that mustachioed bastard. She was going to have to do a little more research if she wanted to figure out why he kept showing up.

[fuckinorangecat]

Today was a good day.

11/09/2023

I'm contracted to teach at three different schools. My base high school, an extension school of the base school situated in the mountains and an agricultural one. Today I visited my extension school. The bus was a 45 minute journey from my base school, costing 790 yen (yeowch). I had some preconceptions about this school - I simply thought it was a school for students too rural to commute to the base school but I noticed a few of them on the bus. They got on at the town's main station which confused me. I thought "Why not just go to the base school"? Although I don't know the historical reason as to why it was actually established, it's now become a safe space for those unable to fit into the base school. It definitely gives me mixed feelings, I'm both delighted for the students to have their own space to thrive but heartbroken to find out that some of them went there because they were bullied. I guess without truly knowing the language, I haven't actually gotten a clue as to what or how anyone communicates in Japanese. But ignoring all the sad shit, the kids were absolutely wonderful. They were kind, welcoming and happy. I've only met them today but I want to try my absolute hardest for these kids. At the very least I want to show them that there are kind people all over the world, maybe they'll want to study more English if I can make them properly trust and talk to me. The classes are extremely small, second years only has two students, third year about four but today three of them were absent so I literally taught one to one. It's so strange to me that this is their reality but I'm so open to it. Due to the size of the classes/years the students all mingle together. We had sports day rehearsals today and everyone could talk to each other. There was a really quiet student who was the spitting image of a bookworm archetype. Hair that covered most of the face, facemask and a meek voice. She struggled with her volume, but no matter what she still tried to engage with me and speak English. I'm so proud of her. Everyone I called out to her to respond, every other student respected her too. No pressuring comments like "c'mon A-chan", just patience. After teaching all my classes we had lunch together which was so nice, I couldn't understand a word of Japanese but they laughed just as they always have. The history and P.E teacher joined us too. Oh yeah, it was a student that took the initiative to invite me for lunch too. Thank you so much H-chan! Oh yeah, an interesting thing about this school is that there are 4th year students. The Japanese structure for highschool only goes up to three years normally but there are some kids who obviously need more support. I met a student that graduated last year and she still visits everyone despite studying in University in the neighbouring prefecture. It really does emphasise how tightknit everyone is, in a school built in the middle of nowhere. I had this one student in particularly who was really into anime, he was so shocked to find out anime was popular overseas. He kept naming animes to see if I know or watched it and was in total awe at the amount I knew. We spoke about anime for a good hour after school finished, we also went on the same bus home so at the he took out his phone and recommended me some animes. I can't wait to study more Japanese so we can have a proper conversation. My heart feels so warm after today. I can't make it for their sports day this saturday because I'm in Osaka but I promised them all I'd bring back gifts!

I've been here for just over a month and I've only taught two lessons but I can't emphasise enough how unbelievably grateful I am for the JET Programme and the experience it's given me. The people are wonderful here in the countryside. The world really is big and I want to do everything I can here before moving to another country.

Anyway, that's enough for today. Thanks for reading.

Goodnight.