#mind: guy ( the sword is strength ;; but bonds with others are another kind )

[cpirits]

(( ARE YOU OKAY? || @phasmascript said: [ ❤️‍ to find my muse trying to hide and injury || guy and sync ]

★ ━━━━━━ His eyes were narrowed, what did his master care about his pain? He never showed anything before, so Guy's heart was hardened toward the one who gave him the curse slot that burned his arm underneath his shirt.

The blonde's voice held venom, but he still respected Sync as the other could make the slot more painful, or control him to an extent where he had no agency. "You don't care, why bother checking on me?" He didn't bother to uncover his leg, he had gotten sliced while fighting someone, and had slunk back to his master to give his report after he had taken care of himself.

[cpirits]

★ ━━━━━━ Smiling, Guy gave Mana a great hug and rubbed her shoulders before letting her go and waiting as Asch came outside with the tea and cookies.

"I have, yes. Asch has been busy trying new recipes! The cookies are actually something he made from scratch." He chuckled, leaning on his legs. "I'm not overworking Mana, don't worry." Guy had a small job repairing old fontech so he could travel a little and get his wanderlust under control.

"Don't worry, Mr. Bun Bun can share some of mine. If needed I can grab another cup of tea." He wasn't as tense as he used to be, though he still had his qualms about body contact, even with Guy things were tense in certain situations, but it was getting better.

"I guess we are having a tea party, and you and Mr. Bun Bun are esteemed guests."

◌・❀➵She didn't come at a bad time did she? It looked like they were about to have a... What's it called? Date! That's it. Being a third wheel was not fun. She's still giving Guy a hug though! He gave good hugs, and well, Mana loved hugs even if she isn't that vocal about it.

"Uh huh! I tried this thing called a milkshake not too long ago. It's not milk you shake though!" not that she needs the food. "You've been eating well too, right? Not overworking yourself?"

After a moment she steps back, breaking off the hug, before holding up her stuffed rabbit, "You have to give Mister Bun Bun one too." does she push her luck and ask Asch for a hug as well? "Are you guys having a tea party?"

[ellesliterarycorner]

What My Followers Want to See More of in Female Characters

My favorite thing in my WIP is all the badass female characters I have. I love writing about the bonds, friendships, relationships, and rivalries between them. It makes my little heart so happy! And, I will be the first person to admit that I hadn’t even thought of some of the things you guys suggested on our little instagram poll, but I cannot wait to add some of them to my story! Even though we’ve made so many leaps and bounds with the way female characters are portrayed, I still think we’ve got a long way to go, and if you guys include half of the stuff you suggested in your stories, then I think we’re gonna be okay. Once again, I didn’t change anything that you guys wrote, so there are gonna be some repeats on the list, but this time just because the list was getting so long, I did take out a few things if I saw that several other people had suggested it!

“Nerdy” or sporty girl who gets a love interest without a makeover or changing herself 

super girly femme characters shown as a complex person

making her own decisions, if good or bad

a strong female character without a tragic backstory 

gender non conformity!! 

Being openly children and not changing her mind about it

chubby and flaws and not having a crush with every cute boy they see 

girlie girls who are still really powerful 

self reliance but still having emotion, not being ice cold but not needing a a man 

lesbians who’s entire character arc isn’t about them being a lesbian 

having body insecurities eg wanting to be flat-chested

women in politics and women that have classic “man” as well as “woman” characteristics 

independence 

be less oblivious lol and more like real people who pick up hints 

not dead caring moms.

comic relief female characters

not minding about liking “girly” things/ having a bunch of friends who are boys but there is no romance between them 

being a mother doesn’t mean giving up ur dreams and settling for less,

having mcs that actually make smart decisions 

a bad ass character that loves kids and wants to have them in the future

not taking abuse cause they think it’s love 

ball gowns and pretty stuff for themselves and not for a mission or anything 

more bold female characters since many females are shown as shy 

having a big appetite 

female characters who can be cool without having to wield swords 

willingness to do domestic work with a cheerful heart 

women whose strength is their intelligence 

women who are not afraid to be feminine or strong 

strong mother figures 

girls that are the lead in their relationship over the boy 

more actual girly interests 

the women you least expect to sing the best 

strong women who like feminine stuff 

being happy without a romantic relationship 

black females being protected or vulnerable for once 

ending up single 

hanging out with male friends with no romantic subtext 

females who aren’t super pretty

ultra femininity (pink, dresses, glitter, makeup) that isn’t seen as bad/evil/weak 

allow them to look up to/admire male peers rather than feel inferior or as if they have something to prove 

traditional “femininity” isn’t regarded as weak! Can cook/sew/clean and it’s normal : )

Female characters who are funny and make quips 

soft, kind women, who are still powerful. I don’t like the mean strong girl stereotype : (

Not forced strong women. Just relatable and human ones. We all have strengths and weaknesses 

less insecurities. Yes, we all have those, but it’s becoming stereotypical, mostly in YA 

I want them to be strong without being upright bossy 

strong women who also embrace their feminine side 

a girl with menstruation

ego actions- I feel like only male characters can throw ego actions while fem characters are classified selfish 

nonbinary female characters 

has a twin 

sarcasm and general impoliteness without making them the bady guy 

them being warriors or soldiers and that’s normal, nobody questions it 

villains and manipulating 

autistic female characters 

being single throughout the story. Some people like being single, thank you very much 

not being the perfect pretty little thing. Having an interesting personality and thoughts, dreams outside of relationships and being a badass 

a morally grey female character like y r those only men 

girls and women in healthy relationships with personalities aside from their S/O

girls who can be strong and confident while still being emotionally vulnerable 

also, girls who own huge “aggressive” dog breeds

groups of girls doing really impulsive things together like all guy friend groups do 

strong, but not jerks about it and not looking down on things like sewing/cooking/etc 

shyness that doesn’t need to be “fixed” or overcome 

well written romances- straight and gay (ie not ones that objectify one partner or the other) 

“strong female characters” who are gentle and caring! Tough doesn’t mean heatless! 

women who care more about the plot than their inconvenient love life 

girls who empower other girls and don’t play into internalized misogyny 

i’d love to see women putting forward their ideas and having their voices heard more : )

Strong in their own way, not just hands on fighting stuff. Like mentally strong 

less who are arrogant and rude to the male protagonists who they fall in love with anyway 

More LGBTQ+ women! 

Oh and more female protagonists who stay single 

being average looking, not a hot model and being okay with it 

Not falling for “bad boys” 

saving herself or another character from a dangerous situation 

not wanting marriage or children and people being okay with it 

not obsessed with  looks 

being good at math and sciences 

not being sexualized constantly (or at all) 

being just friends with straight male characters 

being like other girls 

having a life outside of romance 

to not need a man, but also not to be a stereotypical “bad girl, I don’t need man” authors need to find a medium between the two 

drinking, swearing, anything deemed “masculine” 

confident women who embrace both their femininity and masculinity

empowering other women

somebody with variety of interests and skills that are shown to be important to her badass female characters who are genuinely kind/even loving 

strong women who don’t discredit the model of the ideal woman of the time in historical fiction 

older women protagonists! I’d love to read about middle aged female heroes

females that aren’t afraid to be themselves 

strength without being a “baddie” or at the expense of others 

emotional sensitivity that isn’t linked to mental illness, men, or a weakness in character 

a chaotic neutral female protagonist 

physically strong/skilled female characters that remain feminine and aren’t femme fatales 

female characters that don’t particularly fit into a trope as that’s not really realistic

[violettelueur]

RYŌMEN SUKUNA || BONDED FOREVER

| featuring : ryōmen sukuna ft. itadori yuji and fushiguro megumi from jujutsu kaisen

| warnings : grammar errors and some graphic/violent actions

| form : imagine 

| word count : 1749

| published : 03 december

| request : Can I a request a imagine where it’s super fluffy for Sukuna? I was wondering it can have a story of how he had a wife and she had reincarnated into someone who’s a powerful sorcerer? But she’s the soulmate for Sukuna..does this make sense at all? I hope you know what I mean😭😭

| barista’s notes : hey hey hey guys~ sorry for the really sort upfates, i’ve been having som difficulties writing some of these imagines due to a lack of ideas and writer’s block ʕ ᵒ ᴥ ᵒʔ but i hope you all had a good day today ʕ≧ᴥ≦ʔ but for me, other than coming home at around 5pm in the dark winter night, i had a decent day ʕ – ᴥ – ʔ also i don't think i answered this request properly, so i really do apologies ʕ ꈍᴥꈍʔ other than that, i hope you enjoy you cup of classic black coffee (jujutsu kaisen request!) and please come back soon!

The sweet aroma invaded your sense of smell, as you blissfully admired the array of flower petals that surround you in the warm water that you were sitting in right now. Gently, you glided your hand across the water, watching the petals also softly move with the direction of the current causing some of them to stick to your hand like a tattoo. However, before you could even move your hand again to keep you somewhat entertained, you felt an unexpectanted grip on your wrist, only for the same hand to be pulled up as the person behind you placed a kiss within your inner palm causing you to turn around to see what your husband was intending to do.

The man behind you, who still has his lips on your palm, opened his eyes to showcase his charming scarlet eyes as he looked down upon you only for him to smile softly at you - a rare smile that he only reserved for you and you only. Smiling softly back to him, you took the opportunity to caress his cheek as you admired the black markings that were permanently painting on his skin.

To him, at this current moment in time, you were at your most beautiful state as the water glistened beautifully on your bare skin with some of the petals stuck on to you, making you look like a painting made by the greatest artist with your hair stuck upon your neck due to it being soaked with the water that you and him were in right now.

“What’s going on in that little mind of yours?” Sukuna quietly asked as he leaned forward to place a heavy kiss upon your lips, leaving you no room to answer his question as you were so concentrated on the euphoric feeling to which then you felt his arms slowly wrap around your small figure, entrapping you in his embrace, leaving you no choice but to completely turn your body to face him as you then placed your leg on either side of him causing some of the water to overflow over the wooden bath, but that left no concern for you or the King of Curses.

“Nothing,” you answered him with a heavy breath once your both pulled apart, but still this little thought of yours was still plaguing your mind. “Don’t lie to me little one, you know better than not to lie to me ever,” Sukuna muttered, as his hand snaked from tracing your collarbone to having a light hold on your neck. However, it wasn’t the usual hold he would have against his opponent where his grip would tighten to disturb the airflow leading to the suffocation the unfortunate victim but rather a comforting gesture as his thumb moved up and down, expressing to you that you were able to open up to him about anything that was troubling your mind.

“When I pass, I came to the realisation that it won’t bother you at all,” you admitted to him with a soft smile, as you run your hand through his dampened hair. Although, the curse himself, exhibited the opposite reaction to what you were expressing right now making him wonder what caused you to question your importance to him. 

“Little one, when you state that absurd comment, it does nothing but infuriate me,” Sukuna voiced out to you as he leaned forward towards you - to the point where you were chest to chest - before leaving a few kisses upon your jawline. “When you pass, I will have no idea how to control myself. I may be sadistic in nature but you have calmed me down to extreme lengths that sometimes I am scared to admit. When you pass, I have nothing left to hold, no other person can take your place. Ever.” Sukuna expressed to you as he then leaned back to look at you in the eye, only to see your surprised express to his admission, “don’t ever, let that ridiculous idea come to plague your mind again Y/N, you are mine for eternity as I am yours, there is no escape from it, we are bonded forever,”.

“Forever ha?” you repeated him in a light breath, only for him to pull you into another heated kiss as his hands began to wonder around your body as if he was tracing everything to memory. Your body, your heart and your soul was entirely bonded to him as the same goes for him to you. As he said, there was no escape from it.

                                              ꕥ

“Sorry, but he’s not coming back” 

Stood frozen, you didn’t have the strength to look back on who was behind you nor did you want to lose sight of Fushiguro, knowing out of the both of you, he was in the most danger. 

“Don’t be so frightened, I’m in a good mood right now, since I get to physically see you again Y/N, so let’s chat for a bit” Sukuna cunningly commented, causing you to widen your eyes while the cold sweat behind your back began to intensify, fearful on what the King of Curses intended for you.

‘I need to quickly get Fushiguro to a safe place….but how? Damn it! How?’

However, before you could even move, the King of Curses decided that he would move for you to present himself to both of yours and Fushiguro’s view. “This is what he gets for trying to use me without any kind of pact, feels like he’s having some trouble switching back,” Sukuna stated as if he was explaining on why Itadori couldn’t gain control even after showcasing back in Sendai that he could.

“Still, though it’s a matter of time,” Sukuna continued to talk as he casually ripped off the top of Itadori’s uniform, showcasing the black markings on his body. On the other hand, what happened next caused you and Fushiguro to widen your eyes in terror as Sukuna suddenly viciously stabbed himself in the chest with his hand before slowly taking out the beating heart that was inhibiting Itadori’s body.

“I’m taking this brat hostage”

Finally having the guts to move your body, using the extremely little gap of time you had, you swiftly grabbed onto Fushiguro’s sleeve before speedily using your curse energy to form a protective sphere around his body leaving you alone in the open to any attacks the special grade curse could use on you now.

“Y/N!” Fushiguro shouted while beginning to violently bang his arms on the orb that you had manifested around him, trying to obtain a crack or a weak spot to let him out. “What are you doing you, idiot?!” Fushiguro then questioned you in a state of panic, trying to gain some understanding of what you were planning. However, you didn’t answer.

“Your goodwill stayed with you even after 1000 years, there’s nothing more than I expected from my little one, though I am frustrated at the fact that it isn’t reserved for me” 

Still somewhat fearful but now confused, you quickly used your curse energy to construct a black katana out of thin air, before raising up to point the tip to Sukuna’s neck. “Oh?” Sukuna expressed before smiling at you with such pride expressed on his face, “it’s been such a long time since you have threatened me like that Y/N, you were powerful in words back then but now you gained powers of a sorcerer, what a magnificent discovery,”.

‘What can I do? I have a limit of summoning 20 weapons at the same time but is that even enough to even get a single scratch on him?’ 

“Do you not remember me? Little one, you look as beautiful as you did that night, your hair wet from the rain and your skin still beautiful glistens then the water hits your face” Sukuna playfully commented, as he took a step closer to you causing you to take one step back.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” you finally spoke to the man in front of you, only for him to smirk even wider. However, before he could even get another single word in, you immediately summoned another 19 weapons - maximizing your limit -  from spear, swords and axes behind him, only for all of then to immediately come down with a powerful strike causing a large explosion to erupt as dust from the ground suddenly flared up, blinded your view as well as Fushiguro’s causing his anxiety to heighten on what was going on and where you were.

“You always somehow impressed me, little one. There is never a day where I am disappointed,” a deep voice commented, causing you to widen your eyes once you saw Sukuna standing right in front of you with an uncharacteristic soft smile on his face - leaving you in an extreme state of confusion once a blurred image of a man smiling at you slowly constructed in your mind.

“Why?” you question yourself in a perplexed tone.

‘How?’

“Why do I suddenly feel like I've seen you smile at me like that before?” you quietly questioned, still engulfed in the dusty smoke that was surrounding the both of you. Slowly and gently gripping on to the wrist on your other hand, Sukuna slowly raised it up before placing a small kiss within the palm of your hands causing an almost unnoticeable tiny electric current to travel up your arm to the kissed palm - as if it was something that your body suddenly remembered.

“We are bonded forever, remember that little one” Sukuna declared to you in a softer tone than he had expressed earlier before the black markings slowly started to fade indicating to you that Itadori was steadily coming back, causing you to drop your katana and open your arms once you felt his heavy body fall upon yours.

“Itadori?” you quietly called, still hoping that he was alive somehow even without the use of the vital organ that was now out of his body.

“Y/N?” Itadori called out to you just in time as the dust around you began to fade, “I’m almost done for, but I guess I don’t have to worry you, Fushiguro, Kugisaki and Gojo-sensei anymore, live a long life,”, but before you could even get a single sound in to tell him that he was going to be okay, you felt his body slowly go limp indicating to you that he was now gone.

“Bonded forever?”

[fandompride101]

Girls Gone Wild

Raven's POV:

"Exit on the third floor. Take a left!" Kori's voice guided me on the intercom. I followed her directions and took a sharp left. I ran down the long hallway, the lights flickering as I went. "The door on your right!"

I swung open the door and chased down the stairs as fast as I could. I could feel it though. This place was about to blow and I was still in it. I couldn't portal because I didn't have the strength, but I ran with all my might.

I reached the first floor of the building, pushing the door open with all my strength. The light from outside blinded me for a few seconds, but I ran anyway. I got past a building and sunk into the alleyway.  

There was a loud explosion.

I sank to the ground, keeping my back against the cold building. I took a few seconds to breathe and get my head on straight.

"Rachel!" Kori's voice cried out in panic as she searched for me. "Rachel!"

"I'm over here, Kori," I said weakly.

She rushed over to me and helped me to my feet. I put my arms around her for support as the tall Tamaran helped me over to the Titan car. Once we got close enough to the car, I let her go and climbed into the passenger seat.

"Kori, the next time you ask to have a girl time..." I turned to look at her as she started the car. "Remind me not to go." I sank into my seat and clutched my aching side. Even though it was already healing, I was so weak that it would take time for this bruise to heal.

Kori chuckled and shook her head, as she started our drive home.

Kori had begged me yesterday to go for a girl's day out. She had in shopping and spas in mind, not almost dying. I had said yes on a whim. I really don't get to spend much time with other girls and honestly, I didn't have anything better to do.

What started off with eating lunch on a nice pear, ended up being a chase down with some bad guys that robbed a bank. They ran from the bank to some wear-house, where we followed and caught them. Of course, they bombed the place and a few of them got away.

"Dick will not be very pleased." Kori shook her head. "He had told me not to go on any calls today and enjoy the day with you."

"Hey, we had fun." I smile. "You kicking that ogre of a guy's butt was pretty awesome."

"And you are getting quite good at hand-to-hand combat, Raven." She smiled at me. "You are right, it was a pretty good day."

"But next time we should stay in and do a movie night," I tell her, being completely serious. Today had been a close call and had drained me more than I cared to admit.

"You are right." Kori gave a tired smile. "When we get home how about we watch movies. I can get the guys on patrol for the night."

I forgot I was even on patrol tonight.

"That would be great, but I might fall asleep during the movie." I chuckled. As I did that my side started to ache more so I grasped it with both hands. "And maybe some ice tonight?"

"How bad was it?" She gave a concerned look.

The ogre man had kicked me in the ribs and gave me a bad bruise. I am sure it is already purple by now. After the ogre did that, Kori came in like a badass and kicked his butt.

"I'll be fine," I said, trying not to worry her. "All I need is rest."

She nodded and pulled into the drive of the Titan Tower. She opened the garage door and parked the car. When the car had stopped, I slowly climbed out of the car, holding my side. I let my cap fall over me, hiding my arms.

Kori and I walked into the tower together. When we stepped into the living room, the TV was on and showed us fighting on the screen. Garth and Jaime were commenting on something before they turned and saw us.

"Kori, Raven!" They jumped to their feet.

"You're on TV." Garth pointed to the screen.

"You did good work," Jaime commented.

"Where are the others?" Kori ignored their looks. I did the same.

"Dick and Damian are having a training session." Garth sat back down. "I am pretty sure one of them has killed the other by now."

"I bet Damian killed Dick." Jaime joked.

"Boys, have you don't your homework?" Kori eyed them.

The boys stood up and slumped out of the room. I followed Kori to the training room.

"If they have been in here the whole time, there is a chance they haven't heard." Kori turned to me. "Let me explain everything."

I nodded and followed her in.

Right away my eyes caught Damian slash at Dick's feet. Dick jumped up and narrowly missed Damian's sword. Dick countered with his bow staff, hitting Damian's side with it. Damian hissed in pain and then swiped the feet out from under Dick.

"Do you yield?" Damian said with his sword to Dick's neck.

"Yes." Dick coughed and sat up. Damian put away his sword and offered his hand out to Dick for help. The brother took it and stood to his feet.

Both of them seemed to notice us standing there.

"Ladies." Damian nodded to us.

"Hello." Kori stepped forward. "I want to explain before you hear it on the news."

Both of the boys looked at Kori. "What?" They both asked. Dick was confused and Damiana was a tad annoyed.

"Well, you see..." She turned to me. "We were going out to eat when we heard of a bank robbery."

"You didn't go... right?" Dick stepped forward, looking right at Kori.

"Well..." Kori backed away.

"We went," I confirmed. "The bank robbers ran from the bank to a warehouse, where we caught up to them," I explained to Dick. "We took care of it."

"Took care of it?" Damian said, pulling up something on his tablet that he had grabbed without me noticing. "It blew up!" He handed the tablet to Dick. Dick started reading.

I was glad for my cap now. I knew that if I had shown any of the guys that one of us got hurt, we wouldn't have heard the end of it. I stood up taller, trying to hide my injury. I wasn't going to let them know.

"We hadn't known it was more than just bank robbers," Kori argued.

"And you didn't call for help?" Dick said, handing back the tablet.

"We didn't have time." Said Kori.

Damian didn't say anything. I turned to look at him while Kori and Dick squabbled. Damian's eyes were on me as if he was searching for something. For some reason his eyes made me feel naked and exposed. I looked away.

"It says here one of the girls was injured." Damian interrupted Kori and Dick.

Dick looked at Kori and then at me. I looked at Kori, pleading with her not to say anything. She understood.

"It was a lie," Kori said confidently.

Damian looked at her. I prayed that she wouldn't crack.

"Well then, if no one got hurt, why does Raven have her cloak on?" Damian didn't turn from Kori.

"I am fine," I say. I knew to sell this lie I had to show him, so I opened my cloak and held myself up, telling my hands not to reach for my side. When Damian seemed satisfied, I put the cloak back around me.  

"Look, it was a small brawl and everything is fine now," I assured them. "We just came here to see if you guys would allow me off patrol tonight. I am beet."

Dick stood up straight and looked between Kori and me. After a second he nodded. "Fine. I'll fill in for you tonight."

"Thank you, Dick." Kori smiled.

He turned to her. "I am still not happy neither one of you saw the need to call us."

"We handled it," I told him.

"The building was destroyed." Damian stepped towards me. "If one of you had been in there, then this would be a whole different conversation."

If only I told him right there that I only escaped by seconds. I could just see his whole head-turning red and steam coming out of his ears. But I won't tell him. I mean what he doesn't know won't kill him.

Shortly after that, Kori and I went up to our rooms and changed into something more comfortable. I was already gaining my strength back, so I teleported downstairs and snuck up a cooler of ice.

Kori and I went to her room and watched The Office. Kori had shown me this show a while back, so now when we have girl bonding time, we usually watch it in silence. Kori and I shared the ice and nibbled on snacks that she hid up in her room.

"Damian was very angry when he read that someone had gotten hurt today." She spoke while the show changed to another episode.

"He did?" I tried to focus on the intro of the episode.

"It was almost as if he cared one of us had gotten hurt?" She said in an almost suggestive tone.

I looked at her, and she was smiling back at me. "I don't think..." I didn't know how to play it off. Her gaze on me made me turn red with embarrassment. "He was just angry, there is nothing to it."

"Hmmm." She said and turned back to the episode.

I tried to focus on the show, but my face was still red. The way she made it sound almost like Damian cared, but that can't really be. It was just an illusion.

We spent the rest of the night watching shows and soon fell asleep. I woke up around one in the morning and teleported to my bedroom for the rest of the night. I was already feeling better, but when I looked the bruise was still on my skin. The bad thing about bruises that even when my body heals, the bruising color stays on my skin for a while.

******

The Next morning I got up like normal and took a shower. I didn't really feel up to an early morning training, so I decided to go on a walk around the grounds. It was a lovely morning with the birds calling and no one in sight.

I was past the gate before I even realized it. I turned back to look at the giant 'T' in the sky. Titan Tower has been my home for many years now and looking back now, I was lucky to have Zatanna watching over me when I came to earth.

Zatanna was the first person to show me kindness when I came here. She was the one who saw the good in me and got me on the Titans. I owed her so much.

"Rachel?" A voice spoke out from behind me.

I turned and saw Damian in his workout gear. He lowered his sword that he was apparently training with and stepped towards me. I stepped forward, closing in the distance between us.

"Damian." I nodded to him.

"What are you doing out here?" He put his sword into his belt.

"I could ask you the same." I nodded to the sword.

"I was training." He stood straight. "Now you."

"I am going on a walk." I stood straight to mimic him.

He nodded in understanding. I turned back, thinking the interrogation was over. I heard his footsteps behind me before I saw him. He was soon walking my pace by my side.

"What are you doing?" I gave him a sideways glance.

"I am walking with you." He said, looking straight forward.

"Okay." I nodded and continued on my path.

"Where are we going?" He said after a few minutes of silence.

"Not sure," I say, brushing my hands across a bush on the path. It was the perfect time of year where the trees were turning green and it wasn't yet too hot out.

He just nodded and we continued on our walk. Honestly, it was nice to have him walking next to me, and even though we weren't talking, it wasn't boring. If it was anyone else like Garth or Jaime, it would be a long and annoying walk, but with Damian I was fine.

"What are you thinking about?" Damian turned to look at me.

"Nothing." I shrug.

"So are you going to tell me the truth about yesterday's events?" He gave an all-knowing look. I tried to play it off.

"I am not sure what you are talking about." I turn so I am not facing him.

"Raven, you are quite good at hiding things and lying, but you should know by now that I can read you. I have been trained by both the League of Assassins and my father. I know you're lying." He grabbed my arm and stopped me from walking anymore.

"Fine." I turned to him. "There was a hick-up and someone got away," I say, trying to avert his attention from what he was surely asking.

"Someone got away?" He stepped back.

"Kori and I have contacted the Justice League," I inform him.

"If this was a normal bank robber there would be no need for the Justice League to be involved." He looked me right in the eyes with his stern emerald eyes. "What are you not telling me?"

"Nothing." I lie.

"Rachel."

"Fine, it was a bit bigger of a situation that we ran into," I tell him. "It wasn't just a normal robbery and to our knowledge, they were working for someone high up than our pay grade, so we handed it over."

"How much high up of a pay grade?"

"Lex Luther," I tell him. "I mean it's a guess, but that is who Kori and I believe it to be."

"What makes you think that?" He tilted his head to look at me. He was adorable like this. Oh shut up mind!

"There were just a few boxes and things there that made us believe Lex had funded that place." I shrug.

"What was inside the boxes?"

"Weapons." I turn away. "As I said it was more than we bargained for."

"And you didn't call because..." He sounded annoyed.

"There was no time." I turned to him. "Look, I know you don't like that we stumbled on this for some reason, but it all happened so fast! There was no time to call for help."

He looked at me as if trying to see if I was hiding anything else from him. I huffed and turned back to the path and started walking. Of course, he followed.

It was a while before he spoke up again.

"And you got hurt?" He said, taking me away from my thoughts. I didn't answer him. "Look, I saw how you held yourself. Even with your cape, I could tell something was off in your walking."

"I was hit by an ogre," I say not looking at him. "It doesn't matter now because I have rested and it has healed."

"Even the skin coloration?" He asked.

How did he know that? I haven't ever told anyone that I heal but the bruising color doesn't go away. I mean a select people know, but none of them on the Titans. HE READ MY FILE!

"Your snooping now!" I turned to look at him, stopping him in his tracks.

"I need to know about everyone's weaknesses and strengths on the team. You should too if you were smart." His words cut through me.

I huffed and started fast walking away. Damian was close on my trail, following me every step. The faster I walk, the faster he did. When I knew I couldn't outrun him, I knew I had to portal.

I stopped dead in my tracks and back kicked Damian in the chest. He stumbled back.

"Azarath Metrion Zinthos" I conjured the portal and stepped through, letting it close behind me. I was fuming now. How dare he impose on all of our privacy and then accuse us of not being smart to do the same.

I was in my room, pacing out my anger. I knew this was silly of me to let this get to me, but I couldn't help it. How dare he call me dumb! He had no right to those files. They were only for Kori and any of the Justice League members.

Did Kori give him the files?

No, she wouldn't have let that happen. She would have stopped Damian if she ever found out. Damian had to have gotten the passwords and stuff from his father.  He was insufferable!

"Raven?" Kori's soft voice took me out of my thoughts.

I walked over and opened the door to find Kori with a concerned look on her face. I let her in and closed the door behind her.

"I heard your footsteps in the hall. Are you alright?" She asked me.

"No," I mumbled in anger.

"What happened?" She put a calming arm on my shoulder.

"Damian has access to all the files on every Titan." I clench my fists together. "He has been reading on all of us."

"He can't do that. He doesn't have the codes." She tells me.

"He does too. He read up on all of us." I look her in the eyes. "Those files have private things that I haven't told anyone. He doesn't have any right to read those."

She studied my face. "Look, I will talk to Batman." He gave me an encouraging smile. "But if he has read up on you, I think it only fair to read up on him."

"What?"

"Don't tell Dick, but on Tamaran, it is only fair that if someone has a one-up on you, that you even the playing fields." She smiled at me. "If you wish, I can give you Damian's file."

"Really?" I wasn't sure if that is what I wanted, but I was interesting.

"Yes, but you can't tell anyone I gave it to you." She nodded. "I will give you the file after breakfast if you wish."

I nodded.

She left the room, giving me one last encouraging smile. When I closed the door I didn't know if I felt any better. I knew that looking at the files would make us even, but it would also be something that my father would have wanted.

There was another knock at the door. I opened it a crack to see if Kori had forgotten something, but it wasn't her.

"I am sorry." He said, pushing the door open wide enough for him to step in.

"Come on in," I said sarcastically, closing the door.

"Look, what I said... I didn't mean it like that." He walked over to my bookshelf and started to look at the collection of books I had created over the years.

"Damian, please go," I asked him.

"Look, I am sorry. I was angry. I am not sure why, but I said those things from anger." He turned his head to look at me.

"So it's not true. You haven't read all the Titan's files?" I questioned.

"No, I have." He nodded. "But you are not dumb for not looking at them yourself."

"Damian, those files are only for the Justice League, they are not for you!" I came closer to him, giving him a piece of my mind. "There are things that some teammates don't need to know about each other!"

"That is not what I was raised to believe." He said a matter of factly.

"I don't care if you were raised to kiss cows!" I point at him in the chest. "You making that choice to invade our privacy is not 'cool' and very unwelcome."

"I am sorry..." He began.

"Save it!" I held up my hand, stopping him. "I don't want to hear it. You are just like my father and invading personal space. If I wanted you to know something, I would have told you!"

I stepped back.

He stepped towards me. "That is not my intention."

I turned so I didn't have to look at him. I heard him sigh in frustration at me.

"Look, I am sorry. I did it a long time ago when I first join the Titans. I haven't looked at them since.  I do have picture memory, so I apologize, but I have changed from the boy I was when I first came." I felt his hand on my shoulder.

I knew I was supposed to be anger at him and push away his touch, but his hand felt warm and welcome. I leaned into his touch for a moment before I realized what I had just done.

I turned to look at him, and our eyes met.

"Raven, I am sorry." He bent down so our eyes were at the same height. "I only brought it up today because I wanted you to admit you were hurt, but I didn't mean to hurt you."

"I am not so angry about that as... mortified," I admitted.

"Mortified?"

"You read my files. The things on there... They are..." I looked away. "My father was ruthless, and what's on those files is proof that I am weak."

"Weak?" He pulled my head up so my eyes met his. "No, Raven, when I read those files I was amazed by your strength. You stood up to your father even after all the things he had done to you. You could have easily been his pawn all your life, but you changed that."

"No..." I began to protest.

"Raven, when I first came on the Teen Titans, the first real call was against your father and the entire Justice League. You stood firm and faced him." His eyes were hopeful. "You are not weak and those files prove that."

"They still have all those horrible things I had done before I took the leap to come here." I protest again.

"Stop it!" He held onto my face, firm. "You are stronger than you give yourself credit for. I don't care what the file says."

I sigh and lean my face into his hands. He is strong and holds me, and a feeling of safety comes over me. When I open my eyes again I give a small smile, which he returns.

"Breakfast?" I ask, pulling out of his hands.

"Yes." He nods and follows me out the door. When we get into the kitchen we sit down and eat our meals in silence. Garth and Jaime are having a fight over who is the best hero to fight in the dead of winter. I tune them out and eat my cereal.

Kori comes in sometime later with a plain folder. She passes it to me when she sits beside me. I take it and hind it under the table. There was no need for Damian to find out about this folder now.

I ate the rest of breakfast in silence and when I am finished, I head up to my room with the folder. When I get inside I look down at the cover of the folder. I don't really want to look at this now, but something is telling me to hold on to it.

I put it in the top of my desk drawer and put it out of my mind. Damian might have looked at everyone else folders, but I don't want to be like my father and read it for vengeance. I don't need to.  

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

Bonus (This takes place in the future of this same storyline)

I teleport into my room, exhausted from the workout Dick put me through. When I got into my room, there was a certain green-eyed boy in my room. I bushed my hand on his shoulder and went to my dresser for my clothes.

I pulled out some PJs and turned to Damian, who had yet to acknowledge me.

"Damian?" I stepped closer to him, looking over his shoulder to see what he was looking at. He had a yellow folder in his hands. Oh shit!

"What's this?" He turned up to look at me.

"Um..." I was at a loss for words.

"This is my file." He stood up and looked at me. I was mortified.

"Yes," I said, not able to look him in the eyes.

"Why do you have my file?" He questioned. "How did you get this?"

"Well, um..." I glanced up at him. "Kori might have given it to me when we had that fight a while back about you reading my file."

"That was like three months ago." He looked down at the folder in his hands. "You read this three months ago?"

"No." I look up at him. I didn't want him to get the wrong idea. "I haven't read it. I didn't want to."

"Why didn't you?" He looked surprised.

"It would be something my father would have done." I didn't want to hold anything back from him. "I kept it for god knows why, but I promise I didn't read it."

He looked at me in silence for a minute, debating something. Probably to yell at me or kill me. Damian had every right to be angry, he did, but I hadn't even thought about the folder in so long, and I was already so tired.

"Alright." His voice pulled me from my downward spiral.

"Alright?" I asked.

He handed me the file. "You were quite angry about me reading your file. And I don't want to hold anything back from you. You may read my file."

I looked down at the folder and up to him. "What?"

"Raven, I don't want to hide anything from you. I like you, and if you would like, you may read this file. I will answer any questions you may have." He nodded and walked over to the bed, laying down.

I walked over and looked down at him. He looked relax.

"Why?" I didn't understand.

He grabbed my arm and pulled me close to him. "I like you, Rachel Roth. I don't care if you know what is in that file. I want to be honest with you." He pulled me for a kiss.

When our lips touched it was like our first kiss all over again. I had been with this boy for a few months but lived with him for years and somehow this boy still managed to sweep me off my feet and surprise me.

I loved him.

[umiarumi]

fucking three houses | ignatz victor

in the wise words of cupcakke, slurp that dick til it cum (smack my ass like a drum)

You skidded backwards as Byleth landed the finishing blow to your side. Stumbling, you let out a defeated huff and dropped your training sword, stretching your arms.

"Jeez teach, even after five years comatose, you still best me in sword-fighting. And that's meant to be my thing!" You guffawed, heavily breathing in between words. You outstretched a gloved hand to your teacher, meeting his blank stare.

"It's mine too." He said, shaking your own hand. You deadpanned before bursting into laughter again.

"You'd be right on that one, teach!" You shook your head, continuing to grin at him, retracting your hand and letting it rest on your hip.

"Your reflexes have sharpened, and your footwork is impressive. You've trained well." He complimented, at which you felt your cheeks darken.

"Ah, thanks! Any constructive criticism?" You hummed, placing the sword back into the pile.

"Yes, you need to put more strength into your strikes." He explained, replacing his own.

You nodded gratefully, looking up to the sky. The sun started to set, a few spotty clouds resting above the two of you.

"I'm turning in for the day, (Y/N). I will be in my personal quarters if you need me." He bid you goodbye before strutting off like usual. As simple as the guy was, he had this odd charm.

"Guess I'll turn in too then... nothing wrong with a stroll around the monastery!" You cheered to yourself. You wiped your sweating face with the sleeve of your top before sauntering off.

~~~~

As you walked alongside the grassy plains of the monastery outskirts, you spotted a small green figure crouching in the distance. You could barely spot them among all the spurts of long grass decorating the land. You walked slowly as to avoid startling them, squinting to see what the hell it was they were doing. On further examination, you recognised that choppy, blonde head of hair.

Continuing to saunter to his destination, you soon picked out exactly what it was he was doing. Painting! You two had talked about your secret hobbies, your own being reading. You smiled at the thought, remembering how shocked each of you was to each other's hobby. You thought you had a pretty strong bond with Ignatz when you returned, so now seems a good time to have a chat!

You approached behind him quietly, taking time to, for once, keep your voice at a low volume.

"Uh, hi Ignatz!" You whisper yelled, flinching as the dirty blonde jumped in surprise. He turned around, breathing a sigh of relief after registering who it was.

"Oh! It's just you, (Y/N). You shocked me, haha!" He nervously greeted you, fidgeting with his paintbrush.

You grinned, waving at him. "Sorry man, I tried not to scare ya!" You chuckled bashfully, before sitting down next to him.

"So, whatcha painting and how are ya doing, Ignatz?" You asked, looking over to him curiously.

His gaze landed on your own, his earthy eyes seeming to be stuck to your own, a tension almost bubbling.

He shook his head, smiling softly at you.

"Ah, simply the view. It really is quite mesmerising in the evening, wouldn't you agree?" Enthusiasm built in his tone as he explained, his soft smile turning into a gleeful grin, matching your own.

You nodded, giving him a thumbs up. "I agree! I never really took time to take in the sights of the monastery, but now that I've matured... yeah, it really is a beautiful place, huh?" You hummed, looking off to the villages surrounding the base of the mountainous terrain.

He simply hummed to your question. "You're right (Y/N), you've really matured." He complimented, at least, that's what you hoped.

You gave a short laugh, scratching your neck. "Yeah, thanks! I used to be a rowdy one, but I think the past few years have smoothed some of the edges. Not all of 'em though!" You cheered, tilting your head appreciatively. You looked to him, catching his lingering gaze. His face heated up slightly, nodding to you.

"If you don't mind, I uh, have a request..." He mumbled, refusing to meet your eye. He pushed his glasses back, taking a quick peek at your face. If you blinked you would've missed it, he seemed so shy right now!

"Sure thing! If it isn't gold or assassination plans, I'm open!" You beamed, leaning in to hear what he had to ask.

He chuckled anxiously at your response. Even after knowing you for such a long time, having a girl so close to him was nerve-wracking.

"Nothing of the sort, don't worry. I was wondering, well, may I paint your likeness?" He muttered quietly, his heart stammering. His stomach drops after a few seconds of silence before daring to peek at the mystery of what your expression could be.

However, he was pleasantly surprised at what he saw. Your face was dark, lips pursed tight in a taught smile. You stuttered as you replied.

"Y-you wanna paint me! For real?! This is such an honour, seriously, thank you Ignatz!"

Ignatz gasped, anticipating anything but your reaction.

"Oh really, it's no worries!" He waved his hand dismissively, his own face reddening like a tomato.

The two of you continued to throw gratefulness at each other for what seemed like forever until you found yourselves at his dorm.

~~~~

"Well Ignatz, what kind of painting would you like to make?" You asked, sitting on a plush, velvet stool in his room. You looked around the place, noting the birthday flowers from Byleth, the spare easels and art supplies.

"Well, whatever you'd like truly, as long as I may paint you." He answered, humbly smiling and looking down at you.

You smirked, raising a brow. "How about a nude painting then?" You asked teasingly, crossing your legs.

He smiled at the idea. "Oh, what a good idea! I haven't had many references for the female anatomy and I've always been interested in..." The colour seemed to drain from his face as he realised just exactly what you suggested.

You stifled a chuckle, watching him stutter and rush to speak.

"O-oh! I didn't realise, no, I mean of course I would love to! Ah, that's too forward, no um... I don't want to pressure you, argh!" The colour which had left soon returned in the form of a crimson storm.

You laughed, shaking your head.

"Ignatz, really, it's no worries. I would genuinely not mind, I'm happy to as long as you are." You attempted to calm him down, smiling.

He took a deep breath, nodding.

"Then, yes. We're both adults now, there's no need to freak out." He seemed to try to convince himself rather than you.

"Exactly!" You smiled, standing up. "Alright, I'll undress now." You hummed, thinking.

You had already teased him by suggesting a nude painting, and stripping in front of the blushing boy... you could make this fun for yourself. And maybe even both of them. Claude may have just had a point.

You held his gaze as you unclasped your armour, placing it down on his desk, avoiding the parchment and sketches.

Next, you untied your cropped top, letting it fall to the floor leaving only your bodice on your upper half.

Undoing your bra, you broke his gaze for a moment only to look back immediately. His body seemed to stiffen, in more ways than one, once he caught sight of your breasts slightly bouncing as you stopped stretching.

You wiggled out of your puffed pants, sitting back down to pull them all the way off along with your boots and leggings.

"Nearly there!" You huffed, as you stood back up, shedding your underwear.

By then, Ignatz' face had erupted into a furious blush. His eyes lingered all too long on your exposed vagina, causing you to grin teasingly as he met your gaze.

"Now, shall we?" You asked, sitting upon the comforting stool once more.

He seemed to snap out of his daze at those words, tugging on his coat. Pulling out his desk chair, he set it in front of you. Pulling his easel across the room, the slight scratching of wood against wood was the sole sound of the tension-filled room.

Setting a canvas down, he seemed to take a few deep breaths before grabbing a pencil.

"How would you like me to pose?" You asked, smiling. This could be interesting.

"Oh, yes, uh, however you'd like to, really!" He stumbled upon his words, before finally holding your gaze.

"Got it." You responded. How could you tease him further? As you contemplated, you finally came across a decision. You leant one leg over another, giving him a subtle view of your exposed cunt.

You raised your arm, letting your gloved hand sit beneath your chin. Your upper arm pressed against your left breast, giving you slight cleavage, You gave him your signature cheeky grin, before raising a brow.

Speaking through your teeth, you asked him a question. "How's this?"

"J-j-just perfect!" He stuttered, shutting his eyes tight before reopening them and focusing.

"Now, hold that pose for me?" He asked, finally confident and contained. At least, on the outside.

You were content with holding your pose, as long as you could continue to tease him after he finished his sketch was your real goal. Whether or not anything transpired... well, you'd be lying if you said you didn't want anything to.

As you waited, you watched Ignatz' face morph into one of pure concentration, reminding you of how admirable he was. Despite his preference to stay on the quiet side of things, he was a talented man. Both on the battlefield and in the artistic field.

Minutes passed until Ignatz' face settled into a satisfied smile, signifying his completion of the sketch. You grinned wider at this, his face was adorable when he was proud!

"Thank you, (Y/N)." He thanked you. Refusing to look in your direction, he was reminded of the tightness in his pants.

"No, thank you, Ignatz! Actually... it had me wondering... may you do a favour for me?" Your voice dropped into a whisper, so his gaze fell upon your figure. Your eyelids drooped as a sultry smile fell upon your lips.

He gulped at this, yet nodding nonetheless. "Anything."

"Wonderful." You commented pleasantly. Standing up, you sauntered towards him. Aware of his gaze dropping to your softly bouncing tits as you took confident strides towards him.

Once right in front of him, looking down upon his still seated form you grinned.

"Let me... repay the favour you did for me?" You asked, tilting your head, curious.

He swallowed nervously once more, before nodding shyly. He fiddled with his hands, struggling to meet your gaze.

"How... how would you like to do so?" He mumbled, occasionally peeking up at your towering form.

"Well, if I put it bluntly... let me please you." You deadpanned, the loose smirk on your lip tugging back into place on your face, cheeks steadily growing rosier.

His face officially became a competitor for ripest tomato, and he nodded excitedly.

"Please... do." He muttered.

Your lazy smirk grew into a full-on grin. Quickly, you dropped to your knees.

He gasped at the inclination of your actions, his jaw staying dropped as you worked his pants downwards.

You slid his undergarments off, his cock bouncing free of its strained containment.

You licked a stripe up his cock, leaving a trail of saliva in your wake. He shuddered, a slight moan escaping his taught lips.

You gave a kiss to the bulbous, pink head of his dick before letting it slip in between your mouth.

His breath shuttered as you began to work a continuous up-and-down rhythm on his cock.

He gasped in time with each bob of your head, his hand slowly reaching its way to the back of your head. He looked down to check with you for permission, and you winked, giving your best inclination of consent.

And with that, he began to thrust into your mouth and push your head at the same time. God, he was insanely fast and rough, but you controlled your erratic throat muscles. It was pretty damn hot, especially for a guy so shy.

Your hand snaked down to your dripping pussy, the situation you orchestrated obviously having an effect on yourself. Not a negative one though, not at all.

You harshly began to rub your clit, not bothered with dragging it out. You were looking to climax, and by the sounds of Ignatz, he was too.

As you rubbed your sensitive bud, you moaned around his dick. The vibrations caused Ignatz to shudder, closing his eyes tightly.

"I'm gonna cum! Ah, (Y/N) you're making me cum!" He moans, groaning as you felt his cock still, and as the warm, bitter burst of cum in your mouth exploded, so did you. Your pussy clenched around emptiness, yet the throbbing in your clit as you orgasmed satisfied you all the same.

Your head slipped off his softening dick, a pleased smile settling on your face as you swallowed. As bitter as it was, you had nowhere else to hide the evidence.

"Thank you, Y/N)... that was... so good." He whispered, giving you a sweet smile. He leant down and kissed the top of your head and you chuckled.

"But I must ask, is that what you were learning whilst you were gone for so long?"

"Ignatz!?"

[cpirits]

(( was there a time you cared for the replica fabre? ))

• The question surely brought feelings to the surface, ones that were thought buried and gone. Strong feelings of compassion and care, a need to teach and nurture, and most of all protect.

• In his joining to House Fabre, he had been there only to exact revenge on the Duke, and in turn commit his son to a life of hardship without a Father. Though, being assigned the care of the son of the House, Guy felt some sting of anger toward the Duke and the Lady.

• Though, as he taught the young boy what he knew to occupy his time, a bond started to form between the blond and his young charge. Guy’s blooming feelings of revenge soon died down and withered, taking refuge in the deepest point of the Swordsman’s mind.

• When they traveled together, meeting new friends and sharing all they experienced. Luke always did his best to be great and make Guy proud. And proud he was of the boy he had looked after, as a servant, but called a friend by the flame haired youth.

• In the end, Guy did care for Luke, and he had the many feelings residing in his heart. Though when Sync placed the Curse Slot upon the blond all those feelings were washed away and replaced by the burning desire to kill and get the exacted revenge for his family, his home, and his pride.

[theultimateultimateweapon]

Kirby: Meta Knight and the Knight of Hades (Chapter 7)

Planet Charm.

It was a prosperous star long ago. However, now it is falling apart. There were collapsed buildings left here and there.

“It looks like this place used to be well-developed,” Sword Knight said as he walked through the torn down city.

Blade Knight nodded. “Oh, that’s right. You can see it by looking at the back of the buildings. These seem to be good structures.”

“Why do you think they’re abandoned now?”

“Hm, maybe because of a war or because of a disaster…”

“What happened to the inhabitants?”

“Who knows, they’re not here now.”

The two were sullen, but the break refreshed them and they turned around at the same time.

Of course, Kirby and King Dedede were refreshed.

“Listen, listen! I made a great discovery! If you have orange juice in your right hand and apple juice in your left hand and drink them both at the same time, it’s really delicious~!”

“Haha, nice, Kirby. I’ve known that for a long time now. My latest big discovery was a fish cake on a rice cake and…”

“...Hey!” Sword Knight called out to them with a loud voice. “Come on, snack time is over.”

“Eh?”

“No more! You guys keep eating all the time!”

King Dedede replied, stroking his round tummy. “It’s not just eating. We’re preparing for a fight. If you’re hungry, fighting isn’t going to happen.”

Kirby also spoke with a serious look. “Snacks give me strength! Snacks are my most important companion. I was deepening the bond with my companion!”

“Tch… one track minds those guys.” Sword Knight suddenly lowered his voice and whispered. “This is already enemy territory. Beryl may be hiding somewhere and watching us.”

“Where do you think?” King Dedede raised his voice. “Hey Beryl! If you’re nearby, don’t mess around! Come on out now!”

Both Sword Knight and Blade Knight pulled out their swords and got up.

However, there was no sign of him anywhere.

King Dedede said, “It seems we’ve got no choice but to go to an ancient temple.”

“Temple… where is it?”

The party looked around.

Waddle Dee shouted, “Oh, there it is! You can see a strange building.”

There was a large building in the direction that Waddle Dee pointed to. It’s dilapidated, but it seems it used to be a great building. The atmosphere there was different from the other ones.

“That looks like it,” King Dedede began to walk with great momentum.

At that time, the sky suddenly became dark.

Kirby looked up and shouted. “Oh, it’s the Halberd!”

Sword Knight’s communication device started ringing. 

It’s a call from Captain Vul. His voice began to flow from the speaker. “We’re above you. Did you find Beryl?”

“Not yet. We are heading to the ancient temple.”

“The four Meta Knights here will join you. I want you all to fight together.”

“Captain… how is Meta Knight doing…?”

Captain Vul replied with a heavy voice. “He still isn’t awake.”

“...Is that so.”

“But it’s okay!” Vul’s voice was powerful. “The doctors say there is a good chance he’ll recover.”

“A good chance?”

“A really good chance!” It sounded like Captain Vul didn’t believe it. “Anyway, defeat Beryl and regain the Galaxia. That’s all we can do.”

“Yes, sir!”

Kirby and the others looked at each other.

“Let’s go!”

With Kirby’s voice as a signal, the party started walking towards the temple.

With the addition of the Meta Knights who descended from the battleship Halberd, the group of nine arrived at the ancient temple.

The temple was a large stone building, but collapsed in various parts and hardly retained its original shape.

Blade Knight said, being alert and vigilant, “It seems the damage is more severe here than other buildings.”

Sword Knight muttered, “Beryl you monster… what kind of trap are you planning here…?”

It was then, a voice ran from the back of the temple.

“You actually came here? Stupid people.” It sounded just like Meta Knight.

The nine were furious.

King Dedede screamed, “So you finally showed up, Beryl! We know your trap, we know you’re here!”

“Fufufu… that memo wasn’t a trap, it was more of a calculation.”

“What?”

“For my plan, you guys had to come here to catch me. That note did exactly what it was supposed to.”

King Dedede’s face was enraged. “Beryl. You sound just like Meta Knight, even that pretentious way of talking. It’s annoying!”

The knight cried out.

“What do you want?”

“You hurt our master!”

“Meta Knight isn’t a fake!”

“How can you be so smug!”

Sword Knight said in a hurry. “Hey, we should split up, the enemy is…” He pointed his sword at the temple. “Over there! There he is, Beryl!”

“Fufufu…” From the darkness, Beryl slowly began to walk. He looked just like Meta Knight. In his hand, of course, he was holding the Galaxia.

“Rah…” King Dedede tried to run straight at him. 

But Beryl quickly shouted, “Oh I won’t be fighting you. Your opponent is… this guy!”

Beryl swung up the Galaxia and slammed it on the stone floor. The floor cracked with a loud noise and a pure, white light burst out.

“What…!?”

Kirby and his friends all closed their eyes from the glare.

Blade Knight shouted with horror. “This light… no… no way…!?”

“Hahahahaha!” Sounding like his swordsman disguise, Beryl burst into laughter.

The light diminished and Kirby and his friends were finally able to open their eyes. Standing in front of them was a masked warrior with pure, white wings. In his right hand, a huge lance. In his left, he held a shield with the coat of arms of a cross.

Sword Knight shouted, freezing up. “Ga… Galacta Knight!”

“Fufufu… that’s right.” Beryl acted like he was victorious.

A legendary warrior who is said to have been sealed off for his power in ancient times. That is Galacta Knight.

Once upon a time, Meta Knight broke the seal and challenged Galacta Knight. After a fierce battle, Galacta Knight should have been sealed against and sent back to another dimension. Why is the strongest warrior here…?

Blade Knight quivered. “This is the trap he prepared…!”

Sword Knight nodded. “This temple has a gate that leads to another dimension. Beryl knew it and used it!”

“Oh, that’s…!”

The Meta Knights began to shake.

“What are we going to do!?”

“Even Meta Knight, a legendary warrior, struggled to fight him!”

“We-we can’t defeat him!”

“We need to run away…!”

But it was too late. Galacta Knight used his lance to knock a large rock. Its sharp tip was pointed downhill.

“Waaaaa!”

Kirby and the others rolled in different directions and managed to avoid the blow.

King Dedede screamed, “Waddle Dee, I’m going to throw you out of here!”

“Y...yes…!”

The king grabbed Waddle Dee and threw him as far as he could.

“Waaaaa!” Waddle Dee flew high and was thrown into a safe place.

Kirby opened his hand and shouted desperately. “Wait, Galacta Knight! We don’t want to fight! It’s not Meta Knight who broke the seal, he’s a fake!”

However, Galacta Knight was gaining momentum and attacking.

King Dedede roared, flying around and dodging attacks. “Give it up, Kirby! He’s not someone you can just talk to!”

“B-but…!”

“If we don’t deal with this, everyone will be killed!”

It was exactly what King Dedede said. At this rate, everyone would be annihilated.

Kirby nodded. “...Okay. I have no other choice but to fight. Let’s go!”

“Oh, oh!” The Meta Knights, while fleeing, picked up their weapons.

Galacta Knight held his lance high. From its tip, beams of light were fired in quick succession. 

“Aaaahhhh-!” The knights were all dodging.

King Dedede shouted, “Yeah, no talking. Leave it to me!”

The king slammed his hammer down at Galacta Knight. However, the knight turned his lance around and rejected the attack. It was a tremendous power. King Dedede staggered and was about to turn over.

The huge lance attacked!

“Look out, King Dedede!” Kirby jumped out and pushed the king. The lance cut the sky, barely missing the king’s tummy.

“D...damn! Thanks, Kirby!”

Galacta Knight’s attacks persist. King Dedede and Kirby flew left and right to dodge his sharp lance. A crack grew in the ground where he last hit. 

Trident Knight shouted in a quivering voice. “What power…! They have no chance…!”

Javelin Knight spoke up. “Kirby needs a copy ability! Yeah, that’s right!” He ran out in front of Kirby. “Inhale me, Kirby!”

“Eh?”

“Copy my power!”

Upon hearing this, the Meta Knights screamed one after another.

“No, me!”

“Me!”

“Use my power!”

The four squeezed into Kirby, as if fighting.

Blade Knight screamed. “You guys are making too much fuss! If you want to help Kirby, go one at a time…!”

However, Kirby’s voice was joyful.. “Thank you everyone! If I have a copy ability, I won’t lose!”

Kirby opened his mouth wide and inhaled with all his might.

“WAAAAAAA!?” Blade Knight fluttered his hands and flew into the air.

Immediately, Kirby’s appearance changed. A green pointed hat on his head, a shining sword in his hand, this is the copy ability “sword” that can cut with a blade!

Everyone cheered.

“He did it!”

“If he has a copy ability, Kirby won’t lose!”

“Go for it, Kirby!”

Sword Knight shouted, “We’ll catch Beryl! Everyone, follow me!”

Beryl turned over his cloak and was about to escape to the depths of the temple. 

Sword Knight started running after Beryl.

Before he could get to him, Galacta Knight stood in his way. A crescent-shaped shock wave popped out of his shield.

“Look out!” Kirby slipped in and protected Sword Knight in a guard position. 

King Dedede shouted. “Leave it to me and Kirby here! You guys must catch Beryl!”

“Okay, I’m having fun! Let’s go!”

Sword Knight and the other knights chased after Beryl.

Beryl’s escape was fast. However, something about it was strange.

Pretending to escape to the back of the temple, he turned around while overcoming collapsing walls and pillars. He was deliberately attracting his followers by leaning or slipping his legs to get over the debris. 

As Sword Knight ran after him, he realized something was off. “Everyone, be careful. He’s planning something!” He called out to his friends.

Beryl’s laughter ran out. “Fufufu! You’re doing a good job. But you’re too late!” He stepped on the bulge of the stone at his feet.

The floor under Sword Knight cracked. “AHHH!?” He screamed and fell into a square hole in the floor.

Beryl stood at the edge of the hole, looked down, and ridiculed him. “Fufufu! I’m sorry, but I couldn’t prepare a hell hole like the one that dropped your master. This one is just a normal hole, but why don’t you wait here for a bit!”

“Beryl! Damn you!”

“This trap is said to have been made long ago to ward off sinners. Fufufu, I guess that makes you one since you went against the great Beryl.”

A small shadow sneaked behind Beryl in his pretentious speech. Unaware, he keeps talking. Until, behind him…

“Eeeeei!”

“Waddle Dee is here to save the day!” Waddle Dee’s power was weak, but Beryl was caught off guard and lost his balance.

“DOHAAA!?” Beryl raised a pitiful voice and swung his arms around.

“Taaahhh!” Waddle Dee slammed against him in the final blow.

Beryl fell to the bottom of the hole. “Nooo….” Beryl was about to get up but was stuck, surrounded by five enemies. Where was his bossy, confident attitude now?

Beryl began to ratte. “Ah, uh… w-wait, no way, all five of you…? P-please!”

“We don’t want to hear anything from you!” Sword Knight thrust his sword at Beryl.

“Hey…! Don’t try anything, okay?”

“First of all, take off that disguise! I can’t forgive a guy who imitates Meta Knight!”

“Yes, yes! I’m sorry!” Beryl took off his mask and fluttered. What appeared was a tiny creature with a flat face.

The Meta Knights all buzzed.

“Why, this is what Beryl really looked like!”

“Unforgivable! Such a weak guy disguised himself as Meta Knight!”

“Only the talent of his disguise will be recognized.”

“If he’s such a talented person, he should have used it for something better.”

Sword Knight extended one hand. “Now, return the Galaxia!”

“Uh… uh… yes… I’m sorry…” Beryl handed over the sword.

Sword Knight took it with care and looked up. “The day was saved, all thanks to Waddle Dee!”

“I’m glad I was useful!” Waddle Dee looked into the hole and said.

He had been in a safe place, but he was worried about everyone and watched from behind the pillars. Then, he noticed the evil of Beryl and gently snuck up behind him.

Sword Knight said, “Now, we need to fight Galacta Knight… and…” There was a considerable height up to the edge of the hole. He couldn’t reach it just by jumping and he didn’t have a foothold to climb.

“Waddle Dee! Is there any way to get up there?”

“Eh… let me see…” Waddle Dee was wandering around, but there was no convenient way to get him out. “I… don’t see one.”

“Hmm…” They all thought about the depth of the hole. 

Sword Knight said, “Waddle Dee, what’s going on in the fight?”

Waddle Dee looked up and turned towards Kirby and the fight.

The battle was about to reach its climax.

Kirby, King Dedede, and Galacta Knight had each suffered considerable damage. Still, the three do not let down their attacks. No, the battle heats up more and more, breathtakingly.

“Eh! Drill Sword!”

“Kyaa! Dedede Hammer!”

Kirby and King Dedede are pushing out deadly tricks one after another.

Galacta Knight wielded his lance and brilliantly evaded the attacks. Energy bursts from the tip of his weapon. A thunder-like pillar appeared on the stone floor, making a loud noise.

Kirby and King Dedede gazed for a moment, moving around quickly and dodging.

Usually they are just fighting for delicious food, but when they confront a strong enemy, their breathing is perfectly in sync. Even if they didn’t exchange words, they could understand each other's thoughts just by glancing at each other.

- If we attack him separately, he’ll just evade our attacks!

- Hm! Hold your breath and attack at the same time!

Galacta Knight raised his lance. 

Following that momentary blow, Kirby and King Dedede fired at the same time.

“Sky Energy Sword!”

“Giant Dedede Swing!”

Their specialty is a clean hit on Galacta Knight!

As expected, Galacta Knight couldn’t dodge both of the attacks and fell down on the stone floor.

Immediately, Kirby struck a deadly blow.

“Meteor Strike!”

Galacta Knight was blown away and fell on his back.

“Hooray!” Kirby blew his voice.

King Dedede lifted his hammer over his shoulder, breathing wildly.

“Haahaahaa… Galacta Knight… is like if… you talk to me… before my morning meal… wow…!”

However, Galacta Knight was about to wield his last power. He raised his body, clinging to his lance, and slowly spread his pure, white wings. 

King Dedede shouted in a flutter. “What…!? Hey, are you still fighting!?”

However, Galacta Knight no longer had the power to lift his lance. 

A legendary warrior who was once sealed because he was too strong. He is now about to be sealed in another dimension again.

The falling knight made a low moan. His voice gradually became louder and shook the temple. It was the agonizing death scream of a legendary warrior.

(Chapter 6 - Table of Contents - Chapter 8)

[wangxiandecoded]

Episode 10

Previous Episode | Next Episode

(Spoilers for the whole show ahead!)

Going to draw a heart over Wangxian to keep track of every time the camera shows someone third wheeling them from now on.

Wei Ying uses his Binding/Bonding talisman on Xue Yang to show Lan Zhan it’s a dynamic tool that doesn’t deserve to be named “Boring”. Even though there’s a serial killer on the loose, Lan Zhan’s opinions on his inventions matter a lot to him. Standard Wei Ying stuff.

Wangxian’s Mirrors

At this point of the show, I could not believe there was a couple who directly mirrored Wangxian. And surprise! They were two men who dressed in black and white and came together for their common vision exactly like Wangxian did. Wei Ying cannot help but connect the dots and Lan Zhan is already aware of their eminence.

Xue Yang Fancies The Yiling Laozu 

Xue Yang’s introduction makes the story take a darker turn but also a gayer one. The homoerotic subtext between him and Wei Ying literally jumps out of the screen.  

(This episode had a lot of moments that were just begging for alternate dialogues to be written. I just wanted to have fun with the subtext that’s already present.)  

Wei Ying doesn’t want Lan Zhan to waste his precious breath interrogating the bad guy. He protectively steps up (something he does quite a lot) and puts some distance between the both of them.

But he wants Lan Zhan to hold his sword while he does that.. and if that act wasn’t necessarily considered to be intimate or romantic before, it just became that after Lan Zhan refused to do it in front of everyone.

Wei Ying has uttered many conspicuously gay things on the show but most of them are with reference to Lan Zhan. Therefore, this is possibly the gayest dialogue he has ever said in a strictly non-Lan Zhan context.

His tone is all, “Honey, you've been existing for 5 minutes, I'm the queerest person the cultivation world has seen in a millennium. You think frisking a guy is going to make me feel scandalized?” This is nuts to me because Xue Yang is arguably the most blatantly coded gay character on the show.. and here is Wei Ying all but saying he can outgay him. That he shouldn’t come after his job. And Lan Zhan just looks like..

It is curious how Lan Zhan says no to something that would require Wei Ying to go near Xue Yang again.

We get it, Lan Zhan. It was hard to see your guy giving attention to someone who wasn’t you.

When Lan Zhan is unsure what's happening back home, the first person his eyes seek is Wei Ying, his source of strength and reassurance.

SongXiao Help WangXian Fall Deeper In Love

Wei Ying is euphoric to meet another pair of Soulmates™. (The same kind of glee that queer people feel when they meet a celebrity queer couple.) His relationship with Lan Zhan just gained supreme validation and a boost to the power of infinity!

He sees everything he has with Lan Zhan reflected in SongXiao’s relationship. He admires them and is delighted that people like them who aren’t concerned with clan drama can walk the wider path of justice, and also lead successful, honourable lives. He looks to Lan Zhan for confirmation but Lan Zhan doesn’t seem too eager to publicize the super sweet promise they made at the lantern ceremony or the fact that he’s been secretly enjoying Wei Ying’s companionship on this expedition. And let’s be honest, it would’ve been more shocking if Lan Zhan did confirm any of that here.

Cheer up, Wei Ying! Lan Zhan will get plenty more opportunities to prove his love for you and he'll ace every single one of them.

No one asked for this but thank you NHS for declaring your ideal type is beautiful gentlemen who fight crime together and unapologetically go their own way.

The parallels between the two pairs write themselves. More importantly, it is while watching SongXiao leave together that Lan Zhan stumbles onto an epiphany.

This is such an underrated moment in the show. The sorrowful music and slow-motion shot of Lan Zhan looking at Wei Ying with vulnerability all over his face once again drives it home that Wei Ying is The One for him, and he is his. He was already getting tired of denying that Wei Ying is his soulmate in every sense there is, and he feels his pain and sadness in this moment. It is enough for Jiang Cheng to feel sorry for him and move on but not for Lan Zhan who feels all that his soulmate feels. 

It is overwhelming and brand new information to Lan Zhan himself that he can feel it because Wei Ying is not in impending danger right now, so this need he feels to protect him and be there for him can only mean that he loves him beyond the shadow of a doubt. Wei Ying seems upset thinking about his mother and Lan Zhan gets it, without Wei Ying having uttered a word the whole time. His face shows a kind of defeat in this scene; he surrenders to everything he has known and felt for some time now : He's in love with Wei Ying and would tear down the universe without a second thought if it means it would rid him of his unhappiness. And he isn't able to do that in this moment. But thanks to Song Lan and Xiao Xingchen, he’s found comfort in the truth they have each other at the end of the day, even if they have nothing left in this world. He cannot give back to Wei Ying what he has lost but he can accompany him in his sadness, and it will have to be enough. And it is, because Wei Ying can overcome just about everything as long as Lan Zhan walks by his side.

Wei Ying Says Lan Clan Deserves Rights

Wei Ying has many nice things to say about the Lan clan who he found exhausting a few months ago. Love brings about miraculous changes in a person, y’all.

Wei Ying gravitates towards Lan Zhan as if it's second nature to him and it really is.

Jiang Cheng spends a lot of time trying to get Wei Ying to spill the Top Secrets about the Yin Iron and Wei Ying is like, "Sorry, I’m bound by the Soulmate laws to tell you absolutely nothing."

Wei Ying is already embracing the idea of controlling the Yin Iron and people are rightfully getting offended by his suggestion.

What did you expect, Wei Ying? Not everyone is your lifetime confidant to give you the benefit of the doubt and reciprocate it with compassion, trust and open-mindedness.

Wangxian’s Temporary Separation

What was that, Wei Ying? Did we hear you admit that the Gusu Lan roof is softer than the one in Qinghe? Could this have anything to do with a certain law enforcer in Cloud Recesses you fell in love with at first sword fight? 

There is a delicate, bittersweet air to this separation, and even the casual watcher is going to be wondering, “When did I get so invested in Wangxian that WuJi makes me want to cry?”

It's cute how Lan Zhan is like, “Okay, I’ve seen the love of my life for one last time, I’ll quietly take my leave so he doesn’t know I was waiting for him to come back.”

Turns out, "I'll sleep on your roof tonight," is one of the most romantic things we could tell the person we love. Isn't it brilliant that just few seconds ago Wei Ying had said he will take whatever ground he finds as his home for the night, and how utterly beautiful is it to have followed it up with this dialogue? “Lan Zhan, I'll sleep on your roof tonight.” Because the world is big but my home is wherever you are. That’s where I’m happiest, I'll sleep on this rugged roof and walk through thorns if it means I get to be by your side. I won't mind it at all. And how unbelievably romantic is it that Wei Ying makes a philosophical statement about life, which ends up being about Lan Zhan?

Lan Zhan hears the implications in his voice. And he openly yearns to stay behind a little longer and commit to his memory what Wei Ying looks like when he is drunkenly proclaiming his love for him under the moonlight. It is pleasantly surprising that Lan Zhan is willing to express his emotions when he knows he is safe from Wei Ying hearing them, that he doesn't mind telling him goodbye when he thinks Wei Ying won't remember it. 

But the audience can hear his voice and we are going to remember it. How, "Wei Ying, I have to go," is uttered in a cadence so sweet we did not know Lan Zhan was capable of before this. And the choice of words do not simply mean that he’s going to leave, but that he has to, and most certainly not because he wants to. And how it really means, “I’m worried about everything, but especially you, and I'm sorry I have to go. I have to trust that we'll both be okay on this path. Please know that I don't wish to leave you, and forgive me for it. Wei Ying, I love you."

Even their temporary separation hurts so good. If they were meant to be best buddies, this scene wouldn't have been shot so poignantly. But we got used to seeing them together and every frame is designed to dig deeper into your heart and instil the fact that these soulmates are parting, and we don’t know when they’ll see each other again. This is the melancholy of a man who does not wish to be away from his lover but is forced to for the sake of the greater good. Anyone can see that.

The rooftop and moonlit night come as a callback to their first meeting, only Lan Zhan no longer wants to point the tip of his sword at Wei Ying, it gives him far greater satisfaction to place Wei Ying behind his sword.

I haven’t counted the number of times people acknowledge Wangxian’s relationship and/or know that they are inseparable, but it’s safe to say almost every character does that at some point. And some even know how to exploit their weakness, that in order to hurt one of them, the surefire way is to simply aim for the other like Wen Chao does here.

To summarize, Episode 10 saw Lan Zhan showing us his true colors : When he isn’t occupied with being the esteemed, intimidating Lan Wangji, he’s busy being a regular, sweet, romantic guy in love. And Wei Ying did that. He single-handedly exposes the soft side of Lan Zhan that nobody sees to the audience now and the world later on. 

This episode also gave us this : Two soulmates chilling shoulder to shoulder zero feet apart because they’re falling in love.

[cpirits]

He knew, of course Guy knew -- they all did. Though it was suck a shock to see him again, and the swordsman couldn't contain himself (he was hogging Luke and the others had retreated back to Baticul, leaving the two on the hill) the two that had known one another the longest, had the deepest bond.

Feeling Luke tense, Guy had almost pulled back, perhaps the other held a grudge against him for the past offence? He didn't feel that was the case, but still thinking about it tears rolled down his face and he blinked.

"It's good to see you. I'm glad you're back" He was so glad, proud almost, of his once charge.

@akashicmuses // @miasmaburnt

@cpirits​ asked:   The blonde is going to wrap Luke in a hug and stand there. // Guy @ Luke (I’m attempting canon Guy)

Luke is initially shocked when Guy wraps his arms around him, tensing in spite of himself. Though, it doesn’t take him long at all to relax and a sigh leaves his nose. Was it really so obvious that he’d been trapped in his thoughts again? He lowers his eyes for a moment, then steps forward to hug Guy back. 

“You don’t need to treat me like a kid, you know?” He shifts to rest his chin on Guy’s shoulder, staring past him. It’s unfair… Guy is still taller than him. Even three years later, Luke hasn’t grown a single inch. Still, there’s a distinct fondness in Luke’s voice as he talks.

“Sorry, it must have been painful while I was gone. I didn’t mean to take so long.”

[fieryhonesty]

The life of You

[AO3]

“Writing battle scenes or overall action scenes will be the death of me, all I will say for today.”

Words: 2620

The sparring has happened a week later as Kaeya had to deal with his paperwork. Which he was neglecting for a while and Acting Grand Master was slowly running out of patience. Usually he wouldn't push his work this much. Yes, he is procrastinating. Paperwork is boring and he'd rather be in front lines. But for that there would have to be some kind of danger.

Ever since Aether has left Mondstadt, everything has become dull and boring. Not like he would like bad things to happen. No, he is a knight and thinking of hurting citizens was not on his list. Surely the Abyss Order is still active and sometimes one of their members appears. But that's usually solved even before the knights can arrive. 

The Darknight Hero is surely having his own ways and information flow. Kaeya won't question him, he promised to himself to keep the secret and not bring it up under any circumstances. However it's quite interesting. 

Back to the topic, he is bored to his wits. Aching for some action, action which does not entertain his hand only. The fact you agreed on the friendly spar was motivating him enough to actually finish the never ending paperwork.

The sparring would be happening on Friday but you had hands full of doing commissions. Coming home kinda tired and exhausted. He wanted to face you all rested up and there's no better day for it than Sunday morning. 

You hate to wake up early in the morning during weekends, so you are a bit grumpy. Your morning hair is wild and it's hard to tame them but you somehow manage to tie them up into a messy bun. Splashing cold water on your face before heading back into your room to change. 

Once you are all set up you head towards the Knights of Favonius training hall. The streets of Mondstadt are quiet as it's still pretty early. The sun is already up but most of the people sleep at this time. Why couldn't Kaeya come up with a normal time? Like it would matter if you fight at seven in the morning or ten.

You arrive at the training hall shortly after seven. Finding the bluenette in the middle of warm up. Perhaps you should have run here but it's too late now. Just a regular stretch will have to do. As soon as he noticed your presence he flashed you a grin. 

He was looking forward to this. Unable to determine why exactly. Was it the longing to experience something you two used to do in the past during your trainee times? Or was it excitement to actually see and feel how much you improved?

Surely he had seen you using your sword with utmost elegance. It was like you were dancing with the blade. Being a silent spectator or ally on the field is different from facing your attacks. As he remembers your attacks back then were kinda clumsy and not so calculated. He always beat you, making you frustrated.

He walked past as you were in midst of your small warm up. Picking one of the dull training swords before looking back at you.

"What's with that gloomy face, dearest y/n? You are not happy to see me? That hurts my feelings!"

Putting hand on his chest as if he is really hurt, slightly gripping the fabric of his attire. He should be an actor, you think before narrowing your eyes at him. You can see through his flirty words. As if he doesn't know what's wrong. You want to go back to bed. Usually you would be sleeping a few more hours!

"Well I'm sorry? Part of me is still sleeping..." 

Kaeya chuckles at your whining. Walks behind you and whispers: "Didn't know you'd like an audience."

You turn at him dumbfounded, tilting head to the side.

"Huh? Why do you think I would mind somebody observing us exchanging blows?"

His lips quirks. Considering if he should tease you or if it's too early in the morning. 

You want to resume your warm up but then his hands land on your waist, tugging you closer. It takes you a couple of seconds to realize what's going on. As soon as his hot breath tingles your ear you want to wiggle out. It's not like you dislike it but first- you didn't expect it, second- weren't you supposed to spar?

"Kae-"

"You seem like you had forgotten the rules about sparring my dear friend."

What does sparring have to do with getting all of a sudden touchy? When you put your hand on his trying to push it away it slides down your hip where your vision is. 

"No fatal blows, no attacks aimed at head, blood means stop and... no visions if you possess one."

He whispers, his lips were nearly brushing against your earshell giving you goosebumps. You gulp. He is right. It's been too long since you had any non life threatening fights just for fun. Thus you removed your vision only during nights. And even then it was close to you just in case.

You chuckle in embarrassment. Wanting to untie your orb but he stops you.

"Please, allow me."

"Ok?..."

Damn. For some reason you feel heat rushing your cheeks. Untying your vision felt like ages. You didn't notice you were holding your breath until he finally took a step away. Putting your cryo orb in a safe place.

Whenever Kaeya gets touchy he manages to raise your blood pressure. Usually it's just a friendly gesture like a hand on shoulder or something. When he wants to tease you he will rest his hand on your waist. However you can't forget that one time where it actually was useful. 

Somebody has been bothering you. Refusing to retreat no matter what. You were hopeless as you didn't want to be rude but they seemed to ignore your wishes to leave you alone. Then Kaeya's hand swiftly wrapped around you, pulling you closer. Giving the guy a fake smile 'I'm sorry but it's rude to keep pressing on when the lady says no, please respect her wish.'

You were relieved when the guy actually left. Assuming he was bothering somebody's girl. Or at least that's what you would have thought too. The way Kaeya held you was really protective, telling everyone to back off.

You quickly waltzed towards the racks with weapons. Hoping he won't notice your flustered cheeks. The more you think of it the more you get embarrassed. At this point you are not sure if you are embarrassed from his act or from the way you are thinking. You thought you two are friends but why are you getting so easily flustered lately? This shouldn't be happening if you are just friends, right?

You close your eyes and exhale to calm down. You shouldn't be thinking like this. Kaeya's your childhood friend, of course you will have a special bond. You sort of grew up together and as kids you really didn't ponder about being touchy or not. Perhaps it's all alright, he is behaving like he is used to and it's you overthinking it. 

Perhaps he just sees you as a friend and nothing more. You shouldn't really think of it or get flustered whenever he touches you elsewhere than your shoulder. 

'It's all Yue's fault... her fantasies of me and guys are getting under my skin. Yup, that's it!'

Taking one of the swords. It's lighter than you are used to. Trying a few swings to get used to its weight. The sword feels so... fragile? You are actually worried if it won't break. Like yes you two won't go full force but still how do these not get destroyed?

Furrowing at the steel in your hand before glancing at your sparring partner. 

"So, is Sticky Honey Roast sufficient?" 

You see a brief confusion in his face. 

"Why yes. Are you admitting defeat already?"

Tilting his head aside with an amused expression.

"Nah, I just want to know if we are battling for the same price. That's all. I'll kick your ass, Honey." 

He chuckles at the nickname. Now you are speaking his language.

Both of you move into the center ring, bowing to each other. You are first on the attack. Once again your attacks are quick but Kaeya seems not to have any issues to parry them. Slowly backing towards a corner. Better not let your ego take better of you. He is probably just testing what you can do.

And you were right. When his back touched the wall his eyes narrowed, a glint flashed through them. Switching from defense to attack. Now he is making you back off. You are back in the ring, ducking to the side trying to land a hit. It gets parried and immediately followed by a swing of his own blade. 

You have been observing him when you happened to fight together. His attacks are always calculated and aimed at weak spots of his enemy. They are elegant. You have to admit he is a truly elegant swordsman. His style is stunning, yet it can be dirty. When you don't expect it he knocks you down. You roll to side away from him. He quickly follows but you are back on your feet, blocking his attack. 

"Hmm, getting knocked down early."

"Don't get cocky now. You might find yourself licking the dust very soon."

You retort. Break from the encounter and swing from your right. As he is right handed as well, his left is pretty much unprotected. To your surprise he quickly passes the sword to his left, just in time to block your blow. 

Flashing you a quick confident smirk. He has actually enough strength to push you. Attacking with his left hand. You feel the blows are a bit weaker but still you are amazed by the fact he can use the weapon as efficiently as in his right hand.

Trying to land a hit but neither can manage it. As good as your attacks are, your defenses are not faltering behind. You get a bit frustrated by it. You really want that dinner. It will feel good to stuff your face with your reward.

It's early in the morning, you are already sweating and your belly is empty. It's hard not to think of food right now. You deflect one of his blows aimed at your abdomen. Taking a step aside.

"This is kind of fun." 

"It sure does bring back old memories~"

He agrees, shooting you a genuine smile before making another step to attack. This one is actually stronger than any previous ones, making you stagger. You huff, mildly annoyed by the fact none of you has landed a hit and he can still use this much power. 

Your body is getting tired. There is no way to tell how much time has passed but it feels like at least a couple of minutes. You are both sweating. Yet none of you is willing to let the other win. 

You dash at him with high speed, your swords are loudly clashing. Another couple of hits exchanged. With every blow they get weaker. You are out of breath. Your hold weakens. Kaeya seizes the opportunity and disarms you. The sword flies away. You are heavily breathing and stare at the bluenette. Your arm is still in position as if you were to attack but you can't. 

He points his sword at you and grins. He won. Again. Just like when you were younger. This brings up some deja vu feeling. You drop on your knees with a loud sigh.

"My dinner..."

Now you are hungry for real. The victory was so close! Looking up at him, he is as much done as you. His shoulders are rising and falling up quickly. Sweat rolling down his face, his attire is literally soaked. You were this close to seizing the free dinner.

You notice his expression. He should be satisfied, smug as always. But instead of it he looks... concerned? You rub your wrist. It hurts a little but it seems like nothing major.

"Does it hurt?"

"Huh? Uh, no! I mean yes but no! It will be fine in the next day or so, don't worry!" 

His expression doesn't change for a brief moment. But then switches back to his usual mask. Helping you up before asking.

"6 pm is alright?"

You look at him dumbfounded again.

"Or we could go later if you want to~"

Ah, the dinner! Right you are the one paying for his stuff. Sighing once more at that thought.

"Whatever time fits you. My wallet is shaking already."

"Ah, don't worry, Dear~. I wouldn't dare to order such expensive things to make my date go bankrupt." 

Date? Did you hear right? You are now more confused than before. What does he mean with the date?!

"Kaeya! What do you mean- you can't... you can't just out of nowhere say date..."

"Oh? It was a mere jest. But you have to admit, a man and a lady going out together. Doesn't it sound like something one would call a date, hmm?"

You groan in frustration and annoyance. The more you think of it the more it makes sense. You hate it when he is right. But wait. You two going on a date? Sure. He said it as a joke but it doesn't mean your brain won't run into a direction it shouldn't. You simply can't imagine dating one of your friends. 

"Don't tell me you are really thinking of it, y/n. It was a joke- unless... there's something you like to admit~"

"Admit..."

You repeat slowly. What would you like to admit? You look up at him, his star shaped eye is observing you with a glee. Lips curled into a sneer. You roll your eyes and pick up the sword you dropped. Put it back where it belongs. 

"Sometimes I want to strangle you, Kaeya."

"That's not how you express your lovely feelings. But hey I get it I'd have problems to confess to myself as well~"

You glare back at him.

"If you don't stop..."

"Shh. You know I'm joking, Sweetheart. Right?" 

Kaeya raised his hands up in peace. He can't help it but feel like he is dealing with somebody different right now. The death giving aura coming out of you is kind of scary. 

"Yeah, you better do. I don't want to get jailed for a murder." 

You deadpan and untie your hair. The messy bun was no longer keeping them in place anyway.

"Well, I can guarantee you there will be at least one person cheering for you." 

Maybe he should have kept it for himself as the atmosphere started getting weird. You quickly caught the wind and shrugged. 

"I really doubt he would do that. You two are idiots in your own ways but... I believe he still cares. Just like you. But none of you have balls to admit it."

A scoff leaves his lips before he runs hand through his hair.

"Hah. It seems all of us have some issues we won't admit."

"What do you mean?!" 

You retort to which Kaeya just chuckles. If you don't see it now, so be it. Eventually when the time comes you will. He certainly can see it the way how your relationship moved. It's still in the beginning but he is not blind. He had noticed those quick glances from the bar owner. Checking on if you are alright. Later or sooner you will have to notice it too and then it all up to you.

Previous ✨ Next

[grailfinders]

Fate and Phantasms #123: Gawain

Today on Fate and Phantasms, we’re making Buster Gorilla himself, Gawain! Big man, big sword, big fires. Let’s go.

Check out his build breakdown below the cut, or his character sheet over here!

Next up: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LOZuxwVk7TU

Race and Background

Take a wild guess. Go on, I dare you.

Gawain’s a Variant Human, giving him +1 Strength and Charisma as well as proficiency with Investigation. His interlude was entirely about tracking down the people who stole his stuff, he’s got a knack for it. He also gets the Magic Initiate feat, giving you two cantrips and first level spell from the Sorcerer spell list and bumping your Charisma up by one. You get to cast Absorb Elements once per long rest for free, but we’re really here for Green-Flame Blade. Your Galatine is an AoE effect, so we can’t replicate it with normal smites like Lancelot. You also get the Light cantrip. Make your sword shiny, go nuts.

Like every other Knight of the Round you’re a Knight of the Order, giving you Persuasion and Religion proficiency because you have to know what the grail is if you want to hunt for it.

Ability Scores

Your nickname’s “Buster Gorilla”, your Strength is going to be pretty high. Aside from that you’re a pretty easy guy to like, so that’s Charisma covered. After that is Constitution, you’re pretty tough. When the sun’s out, at least. Your Wisdom certainly isn’t bad, it’s good enough to get you a sweet job as a guard in Camelot. Your Dexterity is a bit low, you’re kind of a giant brick that gets thrown around than a dancer. Finally, drop Intelligence. You’re called an airhead in your own biography, which is harsh, but fair.

Class Levels

1. Paladin 1: Continuing Gawain’s hotstreak of 0 surprises, this class! You get a Divine Sense to detect extraplanar creatures nearby. You can also Lay on Hands for a bit of healing

You get proficiency in Wisdom and Charisma saves and two paladin skills. Athletics adds to your meathead aesthetic and Insight makes tracking down those material thieves a bit easier.

2. Paladin 2: You’ve got a great sword, so grab Great Weapon Fighting for a better average of damage by letting you re-roll 1s and 2s on your damage with two-handed weapons. It’s not huge for a regular sword, but you can burn spell slots for Divine Smite, adding a bunch of radiant damage dice to your attack. Speaking of which, you can cast and prepare Spells using your Charisma now.

Normally this is where we’d talk about what spells suit you best, but you’re pretty much the generic holy knight, so there isn’t really a stand out option until level three. Searing Smite‘s good if you want another way to use Galatine though.

3. Paladin 3: Swearing to be by Arthur’s side makes you an Oath of the Crown paladin, granting you immunity to disease thanks to your Divine Health, and two flavors of Channel Divinity, a feature you can use once per short rest. Champion Challenge spends a bonus action to force creatures near you who fail a wisdom save (dc 8 plus your proficiency plus your charisma modifer) to stay within 30′ of you. You could also Turn the Tide as a bonus action, healing bloodied creatures nearby. As a third option, you can Harness Divine Power, turning your channel divinity use into a spell slot.

As a final crown goody, you can keep Command and Compelled Duel on your prepared spell list for free to really swing the power of the law around.

4. Paladin 4: Use your first Ability Score Improvement to bump up that Strength. Gotta get those buster cards busted.

5. Paladin 5: Fifth level paladins get an Extra Attack each action, and you also get second level spells like your freebies Warding Bond and Zone of Truth. Warding bond will be especially fun in a level or two. Give someone else resistance to damage, give yourself resistance to damage, tank for days, fun for the whole family.

6. Barbarian 1: First level barbarians can Rage, giving you extra attack damage, advantage on strength saves and checks, and physical damage resistance. The downside is you can’t cast or concentrate on spells while raging, and more importantly, you can’t wear heavy armor to use this. Also, rages only last for like a minute, not the three hours your Numeral of the Saint normally lasts. If it helps any, you also get Unarmored Defense, giving you a base AC of 10 plus your dexterity modifier plus your constitution modifier. It’s not a good AC, but it’s better than being naked normally would be.

7. Barbarian 2: Second level barbarians get a Reckless Attacks, giving you advantage on all your attacks for a turn in exchange for enemies having advantage when they hit you. Ideally you’ll have fried them all to a crisp before they get the chance, but it’s a risk you’ll have to keep in mind. You also get a Danger Sense, giving you advantage on dexterity saves for things you can see coming. That should help make up for the base stats a bit.

8. Barbarian 3: Now that you’re a Storm Herald, you can make a Storm Aura when you rage. Storm heralds get a bunch of options, but we’re here for the Desert aura, dealing a touch of fire damage to everything nearby for an area of effect flame burst. It’s only 2 damage per burst, but it’s a bonus action. Just smite and use this at the same time, it’ll be fine.

9. Barbarian 4: Odd numbers make me cry, so use this ASI to become more Resilient. This bumps your Constitution up by one, and you gain proficiency in constitution saves. This also increases your HP by 9, because constitution modifiers affect health retroactively.

10. Paladin 6: Going back to the paladin side of things for a bit, you get an Aura of Protection that adds your charisma modifier to all saves made by friendly creatures in its range.

11. Paladin 7: Seventh level Crown paladins can use their Divine Allegiance to take the damage any creature within five feet of you would take as a reaction. Just a note, this damage can’t be reduced. I’m not entirely sure how that plays out with rage, but it’s probably not good for you.

12. Paladin 8: To help out with the whole “surviving being the party tank” thing, use this ASI to bump up your Constitution for more HP.

13. Paladin 9: Our final paladin level nets you some third level spells for even bigger smites and fancier spells. You can cast Spirit Guardians for a holy trap, or Aura of Vitality to heal creatures as a bonus action. But of course, that’s not the real reason we went this far. We’re here to grab Daylight, for the flavor. Even better, daylight doesn’t use concentration, so using daylight to help you rage at night is mechanically supported!

14. Barbarian 5: The extra attack you get this level isn’t that useful, but you also get Fast Movement, giving you an extra 10 feet of speed. Yaaay.

Oh wait, your storm aura also gets a bit stronger! Three damage instead of two!

15. Barbarian 6: Sixth level storm heralds awaken their Storm Soul, giving you resistance to fire damage, immunity to extreme heat (very useful in the desert), and you can set items on fire as an action. Technically swords aren’t flammable, but I’d allow it for the intimidation factor.

16. Barbarian 7: Your Feral Instinct gives you advantage on initiative rolls, and you can ignore being surprised by raging. Maybe now you won’t always be going last.

17. Barbarian 8: We’ve held off long enough. Use your last ASI to maximize your Strength for extra swording power.

18. Barbarian 9: Ninth level barbarians get Brutal Criticals, giving you an additional die of damage when you hit with a 20. Every little bit helps!

19. Barbarian 10: Your savage flames mix with your protective nature, making you a Shielding Storm, giving creatures in your storm aura resistance to fire damage, which is nice since they’re going to be taking a lot of it.

20. Barbarian 11: Your capstone level allows you to go into a Relentless Rage. While raging, going to 0 hp won’t knock you out right away. If you make a DC 10 constitution save, you drop to 1 hp instead. Each time you roll that save between short rests, the DC goes up by 5. Looks like that scarf you got from the Green Knight is finally coming in handy!

(I know the green sash doesn’t actually protect you from damage, but I wasn’t going to be able to fit “only gets super powers between 9am and 12pm into the build, and you’re only famous for so many things. At least you’re not as bad off as Artemis.)

Pros:

Your fiery soul makes you great at taking on flame-based enemies. Most of your damage comes from radiant energy, but you have plenty of defense against fire attacks, making you a good counter for red dragons and elementals.

With almost 200 hp, rage defenses, healing, and the ability to die up to five times and not stay down, you can be pretty tough to keep down for long. That also makes your entire party a little bit tougher, thanks to your ability to eat their damage for them.

You can pump out pretty consistent damage thanks to your great sword, smites, and fighting style. You’re not as flashy as Lancelot, but you have a pretty good shot at outlasting him.

Cons:

While mixing Barbarian levels in does make you tougher, it also has plenty of drawbacks. Stripping away your heavy armor is a big one, as it makes you dependent on your dexterity for your armor class. There’s also the problem that you’d want to stick close to squishier party members to protect them, at the same time exposing them to you constantly exploding.

Like a lot of the knights of the round, you have issues when it comes to ranged attacks. Anything that wanders too close won’t be an issue, but you might have problems if you end up fighting Tristan. That’s ridiculous though. Knights of the Round? Fighting each other? Never gonna happen.

Compared to other knights, your AC is relatively low. Considering you’re already taking other people’s hits for them, being easy to hit yourself isn’t great. Also, your paladin abilities can probably eat through your rage, which seriously weakens your tanking abilities.

[themockingcrows]

Doki Doki Grist Panic! Ch. 6

Another chapter of my Magical Boy JohnDave au! This chapter is SFW!

AO3 Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27802735/chapters/80258332

The city was, as before, beautiful. Humans wandered along the sidewalks and streets performing the activities of their daily lives in the fading purple and pink light of the sun. It reminded John of how his home used to be, how it would soon be again once he returned and revived things. Once everything was restored and fell back into the steady rhythm of living life, his people too would be wandering around like busy ants in a colony, following their own destinies freely. In a way it made him feel hesitant to disrupt the flow, seeing just how perfect and aimless everything looked. This was the kind of evening that John would have spent with Dave on his lap happily enjoying the weather, but he supposed that was not to be any longer. ...For now, at least. John was still hopeful that if he could re-capture Dave in different circumstances and get him home, release him from the bonds of this world, that he might change his mind and give the new world a chance. The chances were slim, but honestly, even if he kept him as a pet instead of a lover it would be worth something.

It was time to act, however, peaceful appearances of the evening or none. John had more chess pieces he’d been working with, more ogres, and plenty of imps at his disposal. He’d start things from here and work outwards, spreading their oil slicks and chaos as far as they could reach so the grist flowed like water for collection. Did he need every drop? No. Was he going to take every drop from this wretched world for himself? Yes, most definitely, whether Dave liked it or not.

Screams rang out at the appearance of the first ogre, its large body disrupting traffic and sending grist bouncing down the street with each strike against the ground attacking humans both in and outside of vehicles. John watched from above as the imps began to descend and wreck things, destroying everything they touched, spreading oil and corrosion wherever they bounced and ran.

It was beautiful as well, this chaos. Frenetic and absurd, the shiny baubles of grist glittering under the starlight and lamp posts, in the abandoned cars headlights as bodies lay left and right on the ground where they’d fallen victim to his creatures. Though John knew it was just a matter of time before he’d have to fight once more, standing off against those who would interfere with them. He only hoped that, when the time came, he’d be able to preserve Dave somewhat. The rest could rot, but the human was still a soft spot for him in his plans. He turned from the lovely scene to direct the imps and ogres further South, towards the heart of the city where they could cause bigger chaos as their numbers began to increase. He gestured with the hammer like a conductors baton, steering them before their free will kicked in, a game of long distance chess against an entire world.

The whoosh of air behind him was no surprise, when it happened. John turned so fast his white hair ruffled over his eyes for a moment, guarding himself with the dark wind and the side of the hammer against Dave’s new blade, white and deadly as it skidded in place. He wasn’t able to fly, not normally, so it was only through this point of contact that he was staying in the air at all.

There was that look again on his face.

Determination.

Hate.

Love.

Disgust.

Delicious… He wanted to bottle this mixed emotion, drink it like a fine wine on cold nights. Wanted to distill its essence to have and hold even after this world ended, to show that such a spark existed on it in the first place, a spark that could actually make him feel things.

“So soon?” John asked, arm ever so slightly shaking from the pressure being exerted against him. “I’d thought you’d at least give me a wider berth after last time. Or are you that excited to see me again? There’s still plenty of room on my ship for you.”

“Shut up,” Dave hissed. “You already know this isn’t personal, it’s just business. You attack my world, I put you down. Simple as that.”

“If it was as simple as that, you’d have killed me by now,” John said, grunting and adding his second hand to his hammer, forcing Dave back and downwards towards the ground once more. His cape fluttered as he went down, face defiant as ever, to go and dispatch some of his ever increasing number of minions. It would be a fruitless venture this time, their numbers had increased dramatically from before and Dave was but one man vaulting between them like a red blur. John watched with interest as the white haired figure bounced and bobbed, weaved and feinted and struck left and right one after another. The red gears turned in the air like electricity, disappearing and reappearing along with him as he slowed time as required. The violence was hypnotic, lovely. It brought to mind the figure he’d gotten to glimpse while dressing him before, lithe and athletic. Every curve of that body was tense in battle, every muscle working in tandem to further his goals.

Goals John needed to put a stop to, now, before he started making actual headway against his minions. Time to smash a magical boy in the head with a hammer till he behaved.

Dropping down on the curve of the wind, John made a beeline for Dave before smashing the ground beside him, forcing the red clad figure to jump and dodge the aftershocks. He could just as easily force the wind after him to stop this… though, then again, Dave could stop time as well. They would be at a stalemate, which seemed to be why neither of them was pulling their top cards to put an end to things outright. At least not yet. If Dave wanted cat and mouse games, however, John was pleased to oblige. His minions would take him head on, while he threaded along around him to swat and swipe and hammer at him while avoiding return slashes from that bastard of a sword he’d suddenly obtained. He knew better than to take direct hits from that thing. It felt more dangerous than his original blade with the gilt handle somehow, sleeker and more deadly, and seeing how cleanly it sliced through his imps, John felt he made a good decision in the end.

When Dave suddenly stopped catapulting himself between imps and ogres, the ground slick with iridescent topped patches of oil and scattered grist, John was surprised for a moment. One second he’d been swinging at the small pests and avoiding his attacks, the next he’d turned and gone full throttle on the offensive. The blade sang past his face, cutting the air cleanly and taking a few wisps of his hair with it before the breeze carried him back in a dark cloud out of his reach. It was a close call, he could almost taste the metal in the wind, could feel the way it slicked back and forth like liquid in Dave’s hand. How did he have that much skill with a new blade? Surely there was some kind of learning curve, but nothing that he could detect. Was it a blessing from who he was contracted under, perhaps…?

“You’re in my way,” John grunted, slamming the hammer down beside a car, forcing it upwards as the wheels did a hard bunny hop from the percussion against the ground. Dave jumped off the hood and took another slice at his head, not pulling his punches this time. He was really aiming to cut him, wasn’t he? Fair enough, it wasn’t as if John was playing now either.

“Why did you even come back?” Dave asked, aiming a backhanded slice towards his middle followed by a series of jabs to keep him at arms length when he crept too close for comfort. He wanted distance? Time to stay pressing close then, almost close enough to catch those lips again, close enough to see the sweat coming off his brow already from exertion. “I told you your plans weren’t going to work, that I’d stand in your way. Do you really think I was kidding? Or that I wasn’t going to notice?”

“Oh I knew you’d notice, I hoped you’d be so kind as to let me defeat you quickly, but I see you’re all out of favors,” John hissed, sending his breeze forward with a hard gesture from his hand. It caught Dave suddenly, forcing his cape to whip wildly behind him as he skidded to stop himself, grunting when the momentum caught him enough to slam him to the ground. Another roll, another avoided hammer blow, and Dave was soon scrambling to his feet, only to dart low and fast towards John’s to swat at his ankles. That sword had to weigh a lot, why did it seem weightless in his hands? The weight was negligent, an afterthought at best in his hands. Contracted weapons, he supposed, given that his hammer was the same way despite his beginning strength.

“Are you seriously flirting right now?” Dave asked, angry all over again. Fuck this guy!

“I’m doing whatever you think I’m doing,” John said, managing to turn just in time to block a stroke against his side with the hammer, frowning in surprise when it left a jagged scratch in the finish. So it wasn’t impermeable after all… Hm. That put a bit of a damper into things, he’d need to be careful to avoid seeing if it was breakable by other means then. More strategic than he’d been being.

“Being a pest!” Dave cried. “This is my planet, these are my people, and it’s under my contract that I’m taking you down! This ends tonight! You’re not walking away this time, John!”

So he was that serious, then. This was to be to the death.

Though grim, John couldn’t help the wicked smirk that spread on his face, the glow that took his eyes. To the death? Such a threat on his life while making that determined face? What a treat. He lifted the hammer with one hand and readied the dark breeze with his other hand, only to have a moment of confusion. One moment Dave was several paces away in the air and springing towards him, the next he was already there and a sharp pain was spreading in John’s stomach and ribs as he took the strike head on. He toppled and rolled before jumping back up, rubbing at his clothing as the pieces separated and hung from his gray toned body, dark blood welling up from where the surface of the skin had been sliced open.

Blood. Dave had actually drawn blood by using that damned time trick of his.

“That costs you dearly, doesn’t it?” John guessed, going on the defensive as Dave drove him back further yet, dancing practically while holding his hand to his side to quell the ache and stem the small bit of blood he’d managed to draw. “How does it feel to buy my life with your own blood?”

“Disgusting,” Dave admitted, stabbing downwards from a height, only to blur out of view when John blocked. Another strike, too fast to see almost, against his other side. A third followed to his back as Dave slowed, and even halted entirely, time to do as he needed to do. Every instance was costing him, but Dave didn’t exactly have the time to care. There were things he needed to do tonight aside from taking John down in order to make things right. The fact that John was a bigger pain in the ass to deal with than his minions was just another aside that he had to deal with.

“Romantic,” John corrected. “Your life costs less than mine at this rate, doesn’t it? You can stop time to kill me, but think how much you lose. And is it even fair in your eyes?” he asked, having to roll to avoid a quick strike, taking only half of it strategically that way as he whirled to raise his hammer in another block in preparation. “Killing a man when he can’t even fight back? Not very heroic.”

“You’re a monster, what wouldn’t be heroic!” Dave snapped, surging forward recklessly and getting hit for his troubles. Another hard skid on the shoulder and he was getting back up, dropping into a ready pose and sizing up his target before jumping to action again, going for John’s legs before being side attacked by two imps and having to withdraw to tangle with them first. The smaller beings grabbed at his cape, at his legs, their oil slick hands and bodies marring his pale blade as he slashed them apart.

“I was a monster the entire time I held you, will you still deny me?” John asked, rushing forward on the breeze face first to try catching Dave in his open hand. He managed to land a palm on his right forearm and grip tight before being struck by the pink toned lightning. Electricity raced up and down his spine, crazing his teeth, lifting the hair at his nape. His heart hammered and his vision blurred into two distinct points, his awareness shifting as if splitting in two. It lasted all of a second before stopping, forcing him to release Dave and look around for the source in rage. Someone was interfering. Someone who had also managed to strike Dave due to their bodily contact, arcing the electricity from point A to point B.

The source seemed to be an aggressive looking fellow in shades of pink, sleeves flapping as he leapt up to take a slice at him with a thin blade. John was guaranteed to be struck by one of them at this point, unable to guard both directions at once. Dave, despite looking a little dazed, was quick to move his legs, pressing one boot against John’s body before kicking hard as he could at his ribs to dislodge himself. The fellow in pink took his slice and was blocked by the hammer, not wanting the more lethal looking damage to take. It sucked for his ribs, John feeling a decidedly unpleasant crunch at one point, but what could he really do?

Call a storm was what he could do. He could harness the winds in this wide open space and build up enough strength to level the fucking city if he really pushed himself to do so. What would be left for the poor magical boys to save if everyone was dead and their grist was splashed about like a fallen pinatas goodies? One on one was one thing, but two on one was going to be annoying to deal with, especially as this fellow seemed to be able to do ranged attacks as well. John lifted his hammer towards the sky to start summoning winds, hair whipping around as the clouds overhead began to swirl steadily as if going down a massive drain, the air starting to gain traction.

One moment he was holding his hammer, the bright colors stark against the moonlit sky. The next John was aware of neon red lights behind his eyes, the fading after image of gears and-

“HEY, GIVE THAT BACK!” he shouted, looking around for where Dave had sprinted off to. The winds stopped swirling as he lost focus, the clouds dispersing overhead as the pull he exerted on them was broken. Dave was dropping back to the ground and sprinting at top speed towards a break in the buildings. He paused, watching John, and smirked once he knew he’d been spotted before turning and rushing out of sight with the heavy hammer in hand.

“Going somewhere?” Dirk asked, coming up for close contact and another lightning strike, hard enough and uninterrupted enough this time that John saw double all over again. His chest ached, and he could hear a distinct sound in his ears.

Ringing.

Music?

Piano… he knew the melody, but it had been years since he had a name for it.

He could feel himself being ripped in two by the electricity, fingers caught in a clawlike motion, heart distancing itself from his body, dripping in the same black substance as his imps. He could hear screams in his head, the sounds of the damned, the dying, the already dead. Or was that just him screaming? Some kind of noise was escaping his throat as he struggled under the attack, trying to hold himself together. It took immense power to straighten an arm out and force wind Dirk’s direction with the intensity of a battle axe, slicing at his limbs and body as the attack had an unobstructed route to his body.

When the electricity stopped flowing, John took his leave immediately and rushed to where he’d last seen Dave, breathless and dizzy. He took twists and turns between the buildings, around corners, over fences, following the steady thuds of boots and the distinct noise of a fluttering cape.

“YOU CAN RUN BUT YOU CAN’T HIDE, HUMAN,” John shouted, voice broken. That attack had done more to him than he’d assumed at the time. Something very distinctly was wrong. He didn’t feel quite himself, felt slower, didn’t feel as solid dominion over the wind as he raced along with it. What had that fellow in pink done to him?

Around the corner ahead was the flutter of a cape, and John surged forward to snatch it, yanking Dave back and downwards towards the ground. Dave threw the hammer as he fell so it was some distance away, his sword nowhere in sight. He was unarmed now? What was he planning? Growling, rage filling his wavering heart again, John grasped Dave’s neck with one hand and pressed his hand to his chest with the other, pressing him down at both points. Dave gagged and reached up to grasp the hand at his neck, trying to pull him off, but to limited avail.

“Going to stop time again, trickster? Or are you going to have the other turn up and blast me again?” John hissed. “I should’ve knocked you out the second I saw you.”

Gritting his teeth and trying to huff air, Dave continued to wrestle with John’s arms, arching his back and kicking his feet to dislodge him from the sturdy position in which he sat.

“I-! I’ve g-hrrk. CONTRACT,” Dave got out. Curious, John released some of the pressure on his throat to give him air, frowning as he gasped it in greedily. He watched his hands, watched for hints to his motives, but what the magical boy did was unexpected. Instead of attacking, or even defending, Dave went for his own heart. Both hands on his own chest, Dave’s eyes rolled back briefly as he released the proof of his contract to the open air in a shimmer of red light.

The gear was smaller than John expected but formed of sturdy looking pure red crystal, with intricate pieces of metallic clockwork stuck inside that moved and ticked the steady beats of his life down. It shone with immense power, and just with a glance, John could tell it was worth a ridiculous amount of grist. Showing the proof of ones contract should be difficult to do, however, unless in the presence of the contractor. The hairs on John’s nape stood up as he furtively wondered if the contractor was indeed nearby, waiting, watching. Some higher being who dared not interfere in the matters of humans, ready to replace those beneath him at a moments notice should they fall.

“...What are you doing,” John said, suspicious. “What do I care about this. This is worth a lot of grist, but it’s not nearly enough for a planet. Are you suggesting I hunt the guardians of this world instead of the humans? Hah, I’d rather do both and have a surplus.”

Dave groaned miserably when John tightened his grip on his throat again.

“Maybe I should break it, though. Take the grist, put you out of both of our miseries. ...It’s a shame, Dave. You’d really love my world…”

The gear clicked louder suddenly, drowning out John’s words. He frowned as the ticking started to change pace, mimicking the heart racing in his own ears. The melody from before… Like a metronome, he could hear the music starting up in the back of his head.

“What is this-” he started, only to cry out when, for a third and final time, pink lightning overtook him from behind. Dave, his heart exposed, took the blast directly as well while forcing his contracted heart against John’s chest like a weapon, closing his eyes tight to not look at the light show that was being created.

Heat.

Burning heat, like lava in his veins. John screamed wildy and tried to draw back from Dave, clawing at his chest where the gear was touching him, trying to block the lightning. Trying to call the wind. There was no escape. He was grounded for the count, feeling his soul split in two while being seared from the front. Was this their plan, then? Kill him? He could hear the ticking growing louder in his head, the melody, and-

He was in his childhood home, playing the piano with his father. His short legs swung from the bench, just long enough to reach the pedals, but his father was the one working them right now for both of them. It was a duet of sorts, a song that he’d played many times with him, haunting and sweet in its refrain. Simple. Soothing.

“John,” his father said. “I’m so proud of you…”

The night was crisp and the wind felt like a new friend. He was thirteen and freshly contracted to guard his world, and the feeling of being able to fly was still new and exciting. He could do anything. He was Superman. He was the one who’d keep his Father safe, keep everyone safe. He dipped below the clouds cover, soft as cotton candy, and laughed as he startled some birds out of their flight path. It was time to patrol.

Like so many others, his father was dead. The world was dying, he could hear its screams on the scorched wind. War. Famine. Fire. Flood. Earthquakes. Everything was destroyed, down to the last, leaving John behind. No doubt there were other guardians somewhere, others somewhere in range who might have been able to help, but no help came. His skin had gone gray and his eyes bright, white beginning to take over the darkness in his hair. It was just a grown John in a wasteland, then grown John in his ship, plotting his trajectory for the biggest source of grist his scanners could find.

He was still a magical boy, abandoning his post for a short time to revive it.

To save everyone.

He was Superman.

John’s vision cleared, and he felt weak. Nauseated, in fact, but soothed by warmth instead of burning in hellfire any longer. There was cool air licking at his face, and moving dark strands of hair in front of his bright blue eyes. The glow was gone, as was the rage. The ticking had gone quiet in his head, and the music had gone away. The gear hovered in the air still, the mechanism stilled, but its light still shining, its grist value undisturbed. The lightning had stopped. Dave rested on the ground with his lips parted, breathing shallowly, eyes closed and arms limp out to the sides. Hovering in front of John’s chest was a swooping double symbol in pale blue crystal, shimmering like sunstruck diamond despite the low light of the alley.

His contracted heart, unhindered by oil and sludge.

“So you really are a guardian,” Dirk said curiously, stepping closer to take a look at the newly displayed symbol, heels clicking on the concrete. “...Look better with dark hair, too. That was a stupid ass idea Dave had, blasting you both to dislodge whatever crud was on your heart while he struck directly. ...But it worked,” he admitted.

Purified.

Water streaked down John’s cheeks as emotions he hadn’t been able to feel for quite some time came to the surface all at once, leaving his mind blank, awash with thoughts. What had happened? Had he really been so corrupted that it took two people to fix him? He’d just wanted to save his home…

“Dave, I-” he started, then grimaced when he realized the other guardian wasn’t responsive right then. The contracted heart was still there, even if it wasn’t ticking, so he was alive. He would recover. Maybe, John thought, he was having dreams of his own right then.

Ignoring the two symbols’ proximity, John leaned forwards to kiss Dave’s slack mouth, murmuring in apology, asking him to wake up.

The symbols touched with a soft strike of crystal on crystal, and with it came a dazzling light as they interacted. Gears appeared all around them, unmoving in midair, till the breeze whipped up and spun them back to action, forcing the pieces to move and click until the ticking picked back up. Time, though not having been stopped for anyone but Dave, was moving once again. Red eyes slowly opened in time to see John grinning at him, a normal looking John, dressed all in shades of blue. A long hood was caught in the breeze, whipping up towards the sky with a soft tinkling sound from a rounded bell at the end. Bracelets were stacked on his wrists, and beneath his folded legs, pointed yellow shoes peeked out from beneath layered dark blue pants. There was color in his cheeks, and though his eyes were still supernaturally bright, they no longer glowed.

Dave opened his mouth to speak, but didn’t get the chance.

Grist was appearing all around them, welling up as if from the ground itself, from the sky, whipping around on the unnatural breeze that funneled its way into the alleyway. It chimed as it rang out, focusing solely on their location like a broken fire hydrant spilling water into a pond.

“What’s happening?” John asked, confused.

“You’re being given a boon, it looks like,” Dirk said, stepping to the side to tap at a massive chunk with his sword’s tip.

“From who? Why?” Dave asked, just as confused.

“Earth. Hell, maybe your contractors too. You must’ve done something they approved of, or done something when your contracts interacted.”

“Look at it all,” John mused quietly as it continued to pour out from its unspecified source, wind picking the smaller pieces up to carry away towards his ship he assumed. “I’ve never seen this much grist in one place.”

“Guess you found a new way to earn grist aside from theft,” Dirk smirked. “Now that you’re not all fucked up and gray, I assume you’re gonna stop the whole tryin’ to kill people for theirs thing?”

The kiss was not discussed, though John slowly got up and helped Dave to his feet after the contracts returned to their original places, then darted up into the air to get a better look. The grist wasn’t just coming from where they’d been fighting. It was coming from the entire city, from the trees, and appeared to be separate from the distributed grist caused by the earlier destruction. A higher value. All of it was going towards his ship, collecting itself on the breeze and being stored. He drifted back down and quickly hugged Dave, spinning him around with the force.

“This is going to be more than enough!” he said excitedly. “If this keeps up, I’ll be able to get my home back! I’ll be able to get everyone back! My world will be okay!”

“When will you be leaving?”

“As soon as it’s done being collected, I guess. There’s no time to waste, I’ve been away long enough and nothing will happen until I get there and-” John rattled off, only going quiet when Dave hugged him back.

“...I’ll come back, you know,” John said softly.

“Do you promise?” Dave asked. “I only now get to see the real you and you’re leaving.”

“I promise. Someday I’ll come back to you. And this time it’ll be as a friend,” John swore, savoring the closeness while he could as the dark sky was alight with floating chunks of gemlike grist that twinkled like candies in the moonlight.

[ravnicaforgoblins]

Ravnica for Goblins

More Awesome NPCs of Ravnica

NPCs are one of the most important tools in a DM’s campaign. Your assorted guards, informants, bartenders, hench-persons, random civilians, and, of course, your quest-givers. Optimistically, you hope to have certain NPCs stick around for a while to have the party build a relationship with them, as opposed to getting murder-hobo-ed because your party doesn’t like their attitude. Which is why it’s so great that Ravnica is filled with cool NPCs who are definitely stronger than your party (for a while)!

A couple notes; I already did a list of Awesome NPCs, focusing on the Ladies of Ravnica, so this time I thought I’d try and give the boys (and Melek) some spotlight. Secondly, as I’ve by now made annoyingly apparent, I’m focusing on characters in the modern era of Ravnica, i.e. after the Decamillennial, because everything before the Decamillennial is a nightmare to figure out and you don’t need that headache.

Tajic, Blade of the Legion

You can’t have the Boros without Tajic. Well, you can, but you don’t want to. Tajic is the Legion’s Champion as well as their Mazerunner, and embodies all the ideals the Legion stands for. Unity, strength, passion; an unbreakable shield against all who would threaten Ravnica’s citizens. He is technically considered a Firefist, but special considerations should be made to give him the flavor he really deserves. Both of Tajic’s MTG cards have had some manner of protection against damage when involving other creatures. In addition, Firefists are actually primarily spellcasters, whereas Tajic is never seen without a blade in his hand or his name. So, to sum up, take a Firefist, add in some manner of damage resistance or even immunity contingent upon having allies present, throw in a weapon trick or two for his big wavy sword, and ta-da! You’ve got Tajic!

Momir Vig, Simic Visionary

I know I said no pre-Decamillennial, but Momir Vig is a special case. Technically, the former Guildmaster is dead, but the shadow of his reign still lingers over the Simic Combine. Momir Vig symbolizes everything Ravnica fears about the Combine; progress without restraint. Vig’s cytoplasts were oozes designed for personalized evolution in subjects to correct flaws and deficiencies (regrowing lost limbs, bolstering weakened immune systems, extra brain cells, etc). The only problem is that the project worked so well that Vig stopped seeing the need for consent, creating a new form of cytoplast that only needs to touch a host to bond with it. This raised some understandable concerns among Ravnican citizens, as well as the other Guilds. These concerns went to 11 when Vig’s Project Kraj, a gargantuan organism composed of thousands of cytoplasts, was activated to purge Ravnica and start over with a fresh slate. They went to a further 12 when Vig was killed, Project Kraj summoned every cytoplasm back to it (maiming, crippling, or killing a large number of hosts), and proceeded to go on a rampage that only ended after it ate Rakdos and went into a coma.

Momir Vig is exactly the kind of mad scientist to escape the grave, go underground, and continue his research unimpeded until it’s ready. A Rogue Guildmaster with no boundaries, or as we like to call it, a ready-made Big Bad.

Melek, Izzet Paragon

As with Vig, Melek is canonically dead, but that sort of “dead” that could conceivably be temporary if the story requires it. Melek is a Weird designed by Niv-Mizzet himself to be the Izzet Mazerunner. A certain sparkmage had other ideas however, so he absorbed the sentient being of pure elemental energy into himself at the start of the Maze and took its place, then tried to shock the other runners to death because, you know, winning. But following the physics principle that energy cannot be created or destroyed, only changed into a different form, it’s believable that Melek could return someday. Probably with a grudge against said sparkmage. Melek is a fascinating build, combining high-level spellcasting with complete elemental resistance or possibly even immunity. Basically, a wizard who can tank. Even more intriguing, any lab run by a being composed of pure energy would be calibrated to channel said energy, possibly allowing short-range teleportation within said lab. This is a brilliant exercise in lair mechanics, so don’t hold back. Lest we forget Melek is a personal project of the Firemind, aka, the single most brilliant, powerful, and egocentric fire-breathing ancient dragon wizard in Ravnican history.

Tomik Vrona, Distinguished Advokist

Given the Orzhov Syndicate’s seeming fascination with being a faceless hierarchy of priests, lawmages, ghosts, tax collectors, etc; it’s nice to have another face with a name. Tomik Vrona is a lawmage who apprenticed under Teysa Karlov herself, making him a master of Ravnican law. It also makes him uncharacteristically open to relationships with other Guilds, as he is effectively Teysa’s link to the outside world during her imprisonment. Tomik carries a strong respect for the law, but is a passionate lover of interesting & creative loopholes. In short, he’s not inherently evil/greedy like most of the Syndicate, but still has ambition in spades. He prefers to use gargoyles for transportation, treasures every book he owns, and is canonically dating/living with that hot-tempered sparkmage mentioned previously. Whether the relationship is public or not is up to you. I personally see it as a measure of trust between the NPCs and the party; it’s a pretty controversial pairing of Guilds. It could even be a Romeo & Juliet (Julio?) kind of affair, just putting that out there.

Vorel of Hull Clade

If Momir Vig represents the dark side of the Simic Combine’s experiments, Vorel represents the infinite possibility they can offer. A former Gruul shaman, he made the decision to give up a piece of his clan’s territory to a Boros Legion garrison to better fortify their home turf, and was nearly killed when they turned on him for perceived cowardice. Vorel escaped and joined the Combine, where he was given Merfolk traits and an environment that embraced his ideas & strategic thinking. Vorel is extremely grateful to his new Guild, and believes himself to be an example of how anything is possible through the Simic, no matter one’s origins. His strong passion & drive have led to great breakthroughs, but he’s definitely more emotionally-driven than most Simic researchers. Here is a Biomancer that isn’t afraid to get dirty or bloody in combat. This could be a fun experiment in crafting a Simic Melee Weapon.

Tolsimir Wolfblood, Ledev Guardian

You know that one leader elf in fantasy stories who everyone else takes orders from but never fights themselves? Yeah, this isn’t that elf. This is what you wish that elf was, a warrior archer who leads his soldiers into battle atop a giant dire wolf and kicks some serious ass. The Ledev are Selesnya’s elite mounted force, skilled fighters, archers, swordsmen, and even spellcasters. They are the cavalry, the breaking dawn on Hornburg, the “oh shit” in an enemy’s mouth. Please don’t make the mistakes of countless fantasy novels by being on bad terms with such badass warriors. Having any member of the Ledev behind you should be a boost to the party’s courage & resolve. Having Tolsimir fight alongside you should be one of the greatest honors of your life. The chance to finally recreate that “besties” relationship between Legolas & Gimli as you see who can kill the most enemies in battle.

Domri Rade, City Smasher

I hesitate to include Domri, I genuinely do. He’s a scraggly little punk who nearly brought about the destruction of the Gruul (and all of Ravnica) ultimately because he was too weak and too stupid. I include him here out of respect for the lore, but you can honestly do better. Domri Rade was considered too small & weak for any Gruul clan, so he instead bonded with the savage animals of the Rubblebelt, eventually discovering he could incite them into stampedes at will. This new power finally granted him admission into Borborygmos’ own Burning Tree Clan, but he panicked during the burial rite of passage and planeswalked away for the first time. Eventually he learned to control his powers, returned to the Rubblebelt, challenged Borborygmos for leadership of the Burning Tree clan, and won by sending wave after wave of stampeding boars to trample the cyclops Guildmaster. He was enlisted by Nicol Bolas to help destroy Ravnica, and failed to realize that meant him too as an eternal ripped out his Planeswalker Spark, killing him. Domri Rade is basically a cheap knockoff of Garruk Wildspeaker, only smaller and weaker and dumber and infinitely less dangerous. He is, however, considered by many to be an omen of the End-Raze, heralding the return of the Boar God Ilharg and the burning down of Ravnica by the Gruul who follow the Old Ways. So maybe play up that angle if you include him in your campaign.

Ral Zarek, Izzet Viceroy

If you only include one NPC from any of my lists in your Ravnica campaign, you must include Ral Zarek. Failing to do so is denying your players the opportunity to interact with the single coolest character in Ravnica. He beats out Vraska for the sole reason that he’s a much more public & accessible figure than the Gorgon Assassin, and an unexpected encounter with him is significantly less likely to end in your death/petrification. Between his good looks, cocky grin, brilliant mind, and lightning powers that put Thor to shame; Ral is certain to make any situation more interesting. He’s a great contact to have within the Izzet, a brilliant researcher, extremely talented with designing gadgets or magic items, an astonishingly powerful magic user, and a fun guy to hang around with. He can definitely have a temper on him, so understand when to back away. Hint: His hair turns from black to white when his electromancy powers are activating. You’ll also probably notice the sounds of static discharge building up around him, perhaps a faint smell of ozone, crackling energy coming from his gauntlet, and, oh yeah, his eyes glow and his smile turns into a growling grimace of death as he fills you with lightning. Whether by design or accident, Ral is basically the mascot for Ravnica, and it’s almost unthinkable for him to be absent from a campaign set there.

[cpirits]

( ** ✧✧✧･ ———    When Luke stayed inside it either meant he had a headache, or was just being highly self-conscious and a shut-in. Guy hoped it was the latter, but he didn’t hold his breath.

( ** ✧✧✧･ ———    Gently knocking once on Luke’s door, he announced himself with a few more slow knocks -- a code they had worked out so Luke would know it was Guy and not someone else as he knew the other hated to have anyone but Guy in his room. Entering and closing the door behind him his face fell at the sight of his charge wrapped in blankets and deep into his pillow.

( ** ✧✧✧･ ———    He moved swiftly to the red head’s side, laying a gloved hand on what he hoped was Luke’s shoulder. Tilting his head he whispered softly. “ Another headache, Luke? “

sc // @cpirits​

another day, another migraine in the worst place in all of aldraunt. he has all his curtains drawn closed & his pillow pushed into his face as he’s sitting up. he feels sick, like a grossness is pressing deep into the center of his head, between his eyebrows & right on his nose bridge, spreading through his forehead & to his temples, then in the very center of his scalp, deep inside. his eyes throbbed too. lord, this is how death feels like, isn’t it?

[eggytranslations]

Volume 1, Chapter 9-Family

Quick notes: I'm switching to one update every two weeks for now (sorry my schedule is really busy with new job) and will update on my twitter if I cannot make the biweekly Friday updates...o-(-( trying to rope another translator in, so we shall see how that goes! Chapter 10 and 11 are both pretty short so I think we should be good for those chapters. Okay on to the main course: enjoy!

Content warnings: n/a

For three straight days, the mountain villa became unusually lively yet again; it was all because the elder Young Master Shen had come back from the gates of death.

In the midst of this clamoring noise, Shen Qingxuan was as calm as usual. Dressed in a crescent white robe, he sat on the chair with a smile and easily accepted the concern that came from all directions. He nodded and listened attentively in a modest and well-mannered way while maintaining a cultured and refined manner.

This stirred another wave of pitying voices that all said, Such a good kid, and yet fate would tease in such a way.

Shen Qingxuan had already perfected an entire body of copper skin and iron bones towards these pitying words, so when he heard them, naturally, they did not hurt or itch. Yet these words stirred the thoughts of Mother Shen who was next to him. She shed tears several times, and yet she feared that Shen Qingxuan would be even more upset once he saw her, so she swiftly hid her face by turning away to wipe her tears.

How could these actions of hers hide from Shen Qingxuan’s sharp eyes. With the affinity between a mother and a child, Shen Qingxuan knew what she was thinking, so he also pretended that he did not see her and shifted his gaze onto other people.

When the banquet opened, Shen Qingxuan had the servant girl push him from the table to leave. Everyone knew that Shen Qingxuan’s body was frail and could not drink wine, simultaneously, he was still recovering from a serious illness so he could not accompany the guests and tax his mind. Thus, one after another, they urged him to rest well and waited for Shen Qingxuan to leave before they started toasting and drinking wine to their fill.

-

Shen Qingxuan returned to his room and listened briefly to the outside noise through his window lattice before he laughed bitterly to himself. Who knows how many times these kinds of banquets had been held, and who knows how many more times they will be held in the future. Who knows?

Even if Yi Mo helped him, and allowed him to be no different from any other person after this year, he, however, still did not know what hardships he would suffer in the future.

-

Feng shui fluctuated and worldly affairs were fickle.

Ever since he was resuscitated from the ice cave, Shen Qingxuan finally understood the meaning of these eight words that his father constantly uttered from his mouth.

Who could have expected that the gentle and mild beauty from a humble family, who had bashfully and timidly married into the Shen family for three years—his second mother, who previously cared for him extremely well, would employ someone to almost take his life?

He had never even considered it.

Even remembering it now, after so many years coolly observing as a bystander, the pain was just as fresh.

-

Right as he was lost in thought, there came the sound of a set of hurried footsteps from the courtyard. The footsteps were quite brisk and carried impatience as well as the unique heavy sound of an official’s boots. Shen Qingxuan’s gloomy eyes lit up slightly, the smile he always wore on his face also showed some sincerity.

“Gege!” The doors were suddenly pushed open, stirring up bits of dust. The sun shone in from the outside and revealed a clean-cut face in between the dancing dust particles. Because it was a meeting with family, that heroic and spirited face carried some of the rashness of a child.

When he saw his elder brother sitting on the chair and looking at him with an expression full of smiles, the young man was embarrassed all of a sudden. He quickly drew back his hand, and recovered a degree of steadiness before he said in greeting, “Gege.”

Shen Qingxuan beckoned with his hand, calling the man over to his side. Then he grabbed the man’s hand to pull down that tall body, flicked the man’s forehead with his finger out of habit, and said silently, I thought you had made some progress, how are you still this reckless.

Ever since childhood, Shen Zhen has been able to read his elder brother’s lips. He hastily used a hand to massage his unscathed forehead and harrumphed, “I wanted to be more reserved, but I was worried I would scare you into not recognizing me as your very own didi.”

Hearing this, Shen Qingxuan smiled while he stroked his brother’s neatly bound hair piece

, and asked, How did you have time to come see me today?

“Gege just recovered from a serious illness, how could I not come?” Shen Zhen squatted down with one hand propped on his elder brother’s leg and moved in front of him to act like a spoiled child, just like when they were children. His eyes were full of faith and dependence only possible between one’s flesh and blood, a bond thicker than water. Shen Qingxuan looked at this face that was remarkably similar to his second mother’s face, and could only feel tranquility in his heart. Towards this face that had stuck to his side from childhood, he really could not summon any hatred.

Even if he knew full well that he was reduced to this sorry state today all because of this person.

The second son of the Shen family, who had just turned one year old that year.

-

Master Shen had once held his eldest son with one arm and with his other arm, he cradled his second son who was still in his swaddling clothes, sucking on his thumb and quietly sleeping. Then he turned to his two wives and said, full of pride, “In the future, this eldest son of mine will bring honor to our Shen family and receive noble titles. When we get old in the future, the matters of our support and burials will depend on this little guy. In this way, the Shen family is basically perfect."

All the expectations in his words fell on Shen Qingxuan who was merely seven years old.

He only saw his eldest son’s intelligence and considered the Shen family status, but he never saw the smiles of his two wives who were standing in front of him, and how much reluctance and grievance was hidden in the smile on one of the two faces.

Why? Just because he was the second son, so he could only end up with a captive-at-home, mediocre, and nameless future for the rest of his life?

The woman was narrow-minded, and at the time, did not consider that each person had their own fate. If indeed her son worked hard, how could Master Shen disregard his son’s future? It was nothing more than careless words said in a moment of joy. Yet she took it seriously. She developed malicious intentions and harmed Shen Qingxuan for the rest of his life.

When she finally understood this, the transgression had already been committed.

-

With a pat on the back of the youth who laid on his knees, Shen Qingxuan looked at him as he said, After becoming an official, you have probably fallen behind on the sword and spear, no?

Shen Zhen shook his head at once. “There is no such thing. If gege does not believe it, we can go to the courtyard and I will perform for you.”

Shen Qingxuan laughed as he nodded, and Shen Zhen promptly got up to push him. The two brothers went out the doors of the room, stopping in the spacious area in the middle of the courtyard.

Shen Zhen retrieved a long staff, flashed a showy move, and said while holding the staff, “Gege look closely, didi is showing off the staff for you.”

Shen Qingxuan was still smiling a smile without restraint.

Seeing this, Shen Zhen also grinned. The wooden staff in his hand started to move around like a nimble snake. As he brandished the staff, it swept up a whistling wind, stirring dust in every which way and blurring light and shadow. When he struck the ground, it reverberated with a heavy sound, and with a great force, trenches appeared in the sandy yellow soil.

Shen Qingxuan watched closely, enthralled until a set of staff exercises were completed and he promptly clapped his hands, not at all hiding his desire to praise him.

After receiving his eldest brother’s praise, Shen Zhen became even more pleased with himself. He tossed aside the staff, picked up a spear, and flaunted another set of spear exercises for Shen Qingxuan to watch. It was slightly inferior to his staff technique, yet it still gave a vigorous feeling of strength.

-

The two brothers were in the courtyard, one person performing for the other to watch. They played until the red sun set into the evening, then Shen Qingxuan indicated for him to stop and called for a servant to bring over a wet cloth and hot tea.

Shen Zhen noisily downed a cup of tea, wiped the sweat from his face, then moved closer towards Shen Qingxuan again, and said, “Gege, do you have any advice?”

Shen Qingxuan cast a sidelong glance at him, What advice do I have for you?

Shen Zhen laughed mischievously, “Gege come on, dad said when you were little you liked to brandish spears and play with sticks. You even secretly took the martial arts teacher’s polearm to poke a bird’s nest and made the master really angry, do you dare deny this?”

Hearing this, Shen Qingxuan thought back and vaguely recalled some pieces, but could not remember more concrete details.

These old affairs from years ago, if Shen Zhen had not mentioned them, Shen Qingxuan could not have thought of them. Even though Shen Zhen mentioned them now, he still could not remember.

Occasionally, there were fragments that floated and flashed across his mind, but he did not think those things had happened to him.

Those past events felt faintly like a previous life, or perhaps an even more distant time ago, that was soaked by the yellowing of time into a sheet of brittle and thin paper, breaking with just one touch.

Fragmented and incomplete.

Shen Qingxuan’s expression slightly dimmed into gloominess.

-

Shen Zhen realized he misspoke and changed the topic at once. He tugged the hand Shen Qingxuan was resting on his knee, and said eagerly, ���Gege, I get to visit the mountains for once, and you made me work this half-day. How about you play a board of chess with me?”

Shen Qingxuan roused his spirits and asked, What happens if you lose?

Shen Zhen rubbed his temples, then whispered near his elder brother’s ear, “Like old times?”

Shen Qingxuan became happier too and nodded in agreement as the two men went back inside.

-

They let the serving boys send the tea and pastries into the room. After everything was prepared in order, Shen Zhen fastened the doors and windows tightly and checked again if they were secure or not. It was like he was deeply afraid of someone discovering something and had the guilty expression of an uneasy thief. Watching this, Shen Qingxuan could not stop his muffled laughter.

The cushioned mat was spread out on the daybed and the two of them sat opposite each other. Shen Qingxuan wiped the chessboard again then took out the black and white pieces and asked, Like old times?

Shen Zhen nodded his head immediately, as if he was afraid that he would back out, and snatched the black pieces, putting down a piece first, then another piece, and then another piece again.

As soon as the chess game started, he snatched the black pieces and put down three of them.

Shen Qingxuan raised his brow and looked at him for a long moment, soundlessly chiding, You really have not grown at all.

Shen Zhen quickly countered, “You are the elder brother and older than me by seven years so you should actually have let me by seven pieces. Now it is only three pieces, my progress is already not small at all.”

Shen Qingxuan held the white piece as he put one down and ignored him.

Shen Zhen quieted down as well, observing the match and beginning to play seriously.

Shen Zhen took the advantage at the beginning, and in the time of one stick of incense, he had killed the game into a treacherous and hard to predict match. With sharp moves, he encircled a portion of Shen Qingxuan’s white pieces, feeling rather pleased with himself.

However, Shen Qingxuan did not even lift his head, and solely focused on placing his pieces. When the match had gone on for a period of two sticks of incense, Shen Zhen’s sharp peaks and edges were all chopped off to nothingness, not one was spared. Furthermore, White was like a dragon entrenched in a mountain range, biding its time to act, just waiting for a command so that it could seize the land in this game within an instant.

“Gege.” Shen Zhen wiped the cold sweat that did not actually exist from his forehead and said hastily, “Gege’s opening and closing were well considered with an impressive performance this match……” how about you spare didi this time?

He had not finished speaking before Shen Qingxuan, with a smile in his eyes, had already turned around to take the pen that was placed to the side. He filled the pen with ink and unhurriedly wrote: Do not flatter me. Lift your face up.

Shen Zhen instantly shut his mouth and handed over his face with misery.

A moment later, a big, crawling tortoise had been added to that handsome face.

Shen Zhen jumped down from the daybed and grabbed a mirror to look at his face. He moaned and groaned, “The more I flatter, the more lifelike this tortoise gets. So it is clear that this flattery still needs to be flattered, especially gege’s flattery.”

Shen Qingxuan impatiently patted the chessboard, saying, Again.

Shen Zhen had no choice but to return to his seat. He also carefully checked the windows to see if there were cracks so as to prevent any other people from seeing him. That would be so embarrassing.

-

Up until dinner time, the two of them still had the doors and windows tightly shut, unwilling to come out. All the servants waited outside because the people inside still had not allowed them to set up the dinner. This finally alarmed Master Shen.

When Master Shen heard that his sons refused to take their meals, he rushed over at once and stood outside the doors as he asked, “What kind of mishap have you two gotten into?”

Only after a moment did Shen Zhen’s voice come from the room, “Dad, I am playing chess with xiong zhang.”

At first, Master Shen was baffled, and then his face held back a strange expression. He stood for a minute before he waved away the crowd of servants. “You all go on first, keep the dishes warm, and bring them again in a double-hour.”

After he sent them all away, Master Shen leaned on the door as he said in a low voice, “Xuan’er, let dad come in and take a look.”

Immediately, sounds of frantic commotion came from behind the doors. Master Shen waited without a worry, and sure enough, his youngest son was no match for his eldest son. Shen Qingxuan pushed his wheelchair over and opened the door.

-

After he came inside and looked around, Master Shen headed towards the screen

, still using a benevolent voice, “Come out and let dad have a look.”

There was absolute silence from behind the screen.

“Do not be like a girl, come out and let dad see.” Master Shen continued to coax him.

Shen Zhen refused to come out.

Shen Qingxuan closed the door once again, wheeled over, and pushed down the screen. Shen Zhen did not expect his brother to do this, and had no chance to hide. On instinct, he held up the screen that almost fell and ducked out of the way.

In this split second, Master Shen had already seen the scene he wanted to see. He let out a “pft,” then immediately held it in again until his beard was shaking.

Shen Qingxuan also lowered his face while his shoulders could not stop quaking. Clearly, he was holding back quite desperately.

Shen Zhen stood there with his whole face covered in tortoises that either crawled or stood or rolled, not even his ears were spared. Each of his earlobes had their own tiny tortoise that stretched out their necks and kicked their legs.

Master Shen held his stomach as he pointed at Shen Qingxuan with a shaking finger and said breathlessly, “Y-you……your elder brother, is truly, i-im-im……proper.”

Shen Qingxuan raised his head immediately, and with his bright, black eyes, he stared unblinking at his diedie.

Father and son looked at each other for a minute, and then suddenly turned away from each other without warning. One of them gaped his mouth as he roared with laughter silently while the other man laughed until he nearly lost his breath.

At first, Shen Zhen was indignant and yelled at the two of them to stop laughing. Then he saw that neither of them could stop. They were bent down and clutching their chest as they laughed until they could not breathe, which frightened him into ignoring his own mortification. He quickly ran over to pat their backs with one hand each, and helped them catch their breath. He was deeply afraid that these two would laugh until they were sick.

But he did not realize that his elder brother and father, as soon as they turned their heads and saw that painted face with anxiety written all over it, were unable to stop even if they wanted to stop.

Furthermore, Shen Qingxuan almost laughed out loud several times, and could only bite his tongue as he swallowed down the sound that had risen to his larynx yet again.

His joy was also a joy of extreme difficulty.

-

In these twenty years, there has never been a time that was not burdensome.