#one idea it was the previous golden guard his mentor that gave it to him | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

fannishcodex · 3 years ago

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Tbh so far I’m inclined to think Darius has a lot of growing suspicions/fears about what happened to his mentor, but hasn’t been able to really confirm them.

And that for him, part of why he personally wanted to enter Belos’s mindscape was to get some damn answers and confirm his suspicions/fears.

I’m inclined to think his mentor, the last GG, was lost with a vague cover story provided by Belos/under largely mysterious circumstances that gave Darius no closure and eventually made him suspicious about what actually happened. I’m inclined to think Darius was aware that his mentor did not approve of a lot of what was happening on the Boiling Isles and was trying to change things and advocated for reform and was trying to reason with the Emperor, even argued with him--and that Darius started suspecting that the Emperor may’ve felt he would benefit from silencing him. Darius inwardly seethes and schemes and pretends and searches for proof but can’t find anything, but still he grows fairly certain the Emperor murdered his mentor and hates him for it, and so moves against him and is willing to do it in secret if that will give him more access and a better chance for revenge.

I’m inclined to think Darius gets some nauseating new questions and suspicions when he sees Hunter made the new GG. I’m inclined to think that initially Darius sort of does see a little resemblance then as a gut instinct, but he buries it in reasonable enough denial in the face of something this distressing and this much of a *mindscrew, but also really could rationalize it away because there are differences between previous GG and Hunter, and Darius also only sort of sees a similarity but not quite--because I’m inclined to think Darius was a teen when he met an adult GG, and I think there’d be differences between an adult GG and a teen GG, and I just don’t think anyone’s mind would immediately be fully on board with the idea of, “did i just see a teen clone of my dead mentor???” It’s not something I don’t think he’d fully wrap his mind around so quickly.

And pre-“Hollow Mind” I was also inclined to think and even just meta-play around with the concept of age and also extra scars messing up adult GG’s face would at first obscure his similarity with Hunter. And now post-“Hollow Mind” I’m inclined to think that along with the concept of “out of all the Grimwalkers, you look the most like him”--that there was some level of variation among the clones/Grimwalkers, probably slight ones, but enough to also further obscure the similarities between previous GG and Hunter for Darius and to keep him from immediately fully leaping to the idea of “clone” despite an uncomfortable flash of brief recognition that didn’t have staying power but ended up eventually taking root and growing into full suspicion later.

And like now I’m inclined to think GG’s hair color and eye color might have been a bit different from Hunter’s, maybe darker hair, maybe more pink or violet eyes than red. Maybe even artistic license with genetics and actually brown hair and blue eyes, assuming the GG’s genetic progenitor Wittebro could’ve had the genetic possibility for brown hair and blue eyes like his brother Philip.

So just, eventually after seeing Hunter made the new GG and stewing over his appearance for a while, Darius eventually can’t shake nagging suspicions and starts researching basically “copies of people/mimics of people,” and does eventually stumble upon the concept of Grimwalkers in his research/old texts. Probably not an actual copy/other edition of whatever Belos has, maybe a different source/record on the same topic, but it’s enough to give him a basic idea of what could be going on. So then Darius starts thinking Hunter is a Grimwalker/clone of his mentor.

And then Darius does start to wonder about the other Golden Guards that his mentor mentioned...if they were all...if they were all also Grimwalkers... But Darius has only known the two, he can only compare his mentor and Hunter. And even if they might indicate a pattern, Darius has nothing to confirm it at the moment, he’s only ever known two Golden Guards. And Darius tries looking into that too, but comes up empty. (And y’know, also like so horrible a concept that part of Darius may just not want to know, but he’s still searching for some confirmation and to learn more about the other GG predecessors.)

To sort of sum up: I’m just generally inclined to think that mindscrew stuff could’ve happened to make Darius really suspicious and he could be connecting the dots and approaching a horrible picture but he has no concrete proof. Like I think that’s a possibility, he could see mindscrew stuff going on and start getting suspicious and start connecting the dots and drawing his own conclusions, and he’s come close to what’s going on but lacks confirmation/the whole truth. (I don’t think even Hunter and Luz have the full truth yet.)

And come to think of it, I’m inclined to think that also can even affect how he’d approach Hunter pre-“Hollow Mind”--because how could Darius really share any of this with him without serious proof? “I strongly suspect the Emperor murdered your predecessor, and that you’re a clone of him that the Emperor created to replace him--do I have proof? I’m working on that, but I strongly suspect--”

Yeah, so I think Darius would believe that wouldn’t work for Hunter, that Hunter would just dismiss him, and so Darius felt he needed clear proof before he could even try telling Hunter something so intense. Now I’m thinking Darius might’ve been hoping to find something in Belos’s mindscape that he could’ve used to convince Hunter...and that it actually ended up in the result he wanted but in the most brutal way possible. (And hey, could be a parallel for Luz and Darius actually--both looking for something to prove that Belos is the enemy.)

But that’s also one possibility I’m leaning towards, and the one I’m pretty much/probably leaning the most towards at the moment. Still, for me there’s also the possibility that maybe the previous GG did have enough time to give Darius some warning about what’s going on (before the Emperor killed him), and maybe Darius wouldn’t have fully grasped everything because of the time crunch and ensuing trauma, but he would’ve started figuring it out... Though in my scenario where Darius is more piecing things together by himself based on the mindscrewery going on around him, I’m inclined to think that some final horrifying revelations ended up moving too fast for previous GG to warn Darius in time before Belos killed him.

*Mindscrewy: Darius’s mentor apparently killed by the Emperor he served + then his mentor is apparently cloned as a new teenage version that’s supposed to replace him + apparently his mentor and his new clone might’ve been two out of a long line of clones/all the other Golden Guards were apparently clones too--think that counts as a general mindscrew for Darius.

(I’m just growing interested in the idea of like Darius steadily grasping and crawling forward in secret vendetta and investigation over the years, a lot of research and trying to dig up info and old texts and old lore while laying low and trying to do what’s possible while keeping cover and not entirely sure of who can be trusted. A vendetta in the long-term and slow struggling but fueled by determination and grief and revenge and a desire to make something more aligned with what his mentor fought and believed in.)

And while I think Darius started becoming more concerned for Hunter’s safety as he started connecting more dots, I also think that Darius didn’t fully grasp the level of abuse Hunter already faced with the Emperor, though I think he’s about to and is going to kick himself for not seeing it sooner (tbh I don’t really hold that against Darius since I feel like he had a lot on his plate with secret rebellion and a lot of emotional turmoil messing with his judgment--“murdered mentor that’s apparently been cloned, etc.” feels like a lot to process and deal with to me--but I actually think he’d berate himself over that too; but ofc, the real person to blame is Belos). And it seems like an odd detail, but I kinda feel like it is a case of Darius playing catch-up with getting to know Hunter and his situation (after probably and understandably trying to keep his distance because of the emotional turmoil/traumatic mindscrew going on), and he gets closer to what feels like immediate threats first, like that of Belos killing the previous Golden Guard, he might kill the next one--but he doesn’t immediately get that Hunter wasn’t favored but that Belos has been cruelly mistreating and abusing him the whole time. Like Darius might’ve thought it was more like a lamb being fattened up for slaughter, and even that the form of indoctrination Belos was using for Hunter might be favoring/spoiling him so that he’ll believe everything Belos says--when actually the lamb was also just being mistreated the whole time and didn’t even get a reprieve on that, and the indoctrination is more overtly aggressive and strict and forcing Hunter to submit while also making him think this is normal because it’s all he’s known.

I also think--like I’ve seen some discussion on this, and I’m still inclined to think that in “ASIAS,” Darius wants Hunter to be more rebellious because it’s something his mentor instilled in him and he believes in it and wishes to see it passed down to Hunter too, and that it would ultimately be good for Hunter, like Darius doesn’t want Hunter to continue mindlessly and strictly obeying the Emperor; and I think Darius isn’t planning to risk Hunter by encouraging traits that could make him more of a target for the Emperor, I think he’s planning to somehow extract Hunter from the situation with the Emperor while also trying to instill values in him that he inherited from his mentor and believes are better and would be good for Hunter/while also trying to prevent Hunter from staying as the Emperor’s mindless servant (which would also make it easier to help him escape if he’s already willing to).

Like I don’t think Darius goes in encouraging Hunter to rebel while knowing it likely got his mentor killed without some sort of plan for a safety net/escape route. In fact I think Darius would go in planning to keep him safe especially after what happened to his mentor--he doesn’t want history to repeat itself with his mentor’s clone. Also, I kinda headcanon that Darius has not fully accepted the possibility that all the Golden Guards have been clones during the events of “ASIAS”--but after starting to get close to Hunter in that episode, he might’ve started thinking about it more and had another omfg moment over the whole ongoing crisis with his mentor and the fallout of his loss, which also might’ve accelerated his efforts to try to convince Hunter to leave and to get him out. And that does seem to circle back around to Darius might’ve partly tried going into Belos’s mindscape to find something that would strengthen Hunter’s rebellion/convince Hunter to willingly leave the Emperor. I’m inclined to think that Darius partly tried to enter Belos’s mindscape to finally find answers for himself and for Hunter.

#toh darius #previous golden guard #toh hunter #the owl house #toh #not a reblog

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warship005 · 2 years ago

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I saw your post about Lilith being Amity's mentor never being brought up, and I agree with both that and that the narrative doesn't really use Lilith enough. Something else that bothered me was that no one asks Lilith what she knows about the Day of Unity. And I get that she wouldn't have known what it was, but... it was the most obvious thing, and they don't even reference having asked her offscreen or anything. Instead Eda asks Warden Wrath, and... it annoyed me, tbh.

^^^^this

Thinking about it, Lilith stated that she probably "wasn't very good at her job" which I feel might explain a lot about her character, but it won't change my mind that they really underutilized her.

I think the writers wanted to be subtle and maybe build up to it slowly, but because season 3 was cut short and because they had no idea what Disney would do with their show after season 1, they just decided to leave her character where it was.

After all, they already resolved the conflict between her and Eda in the season 1 finale so it would seem like a fair decision to push her character to the side in favor of fleshing out everyone else while they still have time. And they did.

But I began to think about what they might have wanted to do with Lilith and how they were going to explore her character in the end. After rewatching "Hollow Mind" I think I figured it out a bit.

And it all has to do with the Golden Guard.

What if being the "Emperor Coven head" wasn't that important to begin with? What if Belos just gave Lilith that position because he killed the previous Golden Guard and just needed a quick replacement while he created a new Grimwalker?

I assume Hunter and every GG before him were always meant to have that role since it's just being Belos' righthand man. Thus he made Lilith a coven head for the time being since not only was she related to the Owl Lady (who had the portal to the human realm) but because he probably remembered her from the past (when she broke his nose) and wanted to keep her in check.

The emperor coven is the only coven that didn't have a part to play during the Day of Unity after all.

If you take all of that into account, then you've got an easy explanation for everything weird about Lilith's character:

why she still has her staff (you're not allowed to have one if you're in the emperor's coven)

why she was reduced to just "mentoring the next generation of powerful witches";

why her only task besides that was to just capture Eda;

why she was kept in the dark about everything;

why Belos didn't hesitate to make Hunter a coven head the moment Lilith betrayed him;

I dunno, maybe someone else figured all that stuff out before me and I'm just late and/or slow, but it's interesting to think about

#toh #lilith clawthorne #toh lilith #emperor belos #philip wittebane

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stellartales · 4 years ago

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zhongli ▪︎ glazed moon

pairing: zhongli x traveler!reader

genre(s): comfort + mild angst + fluff

summary: liyue harbor is once again preparing for another festival — the mid-autumn festival. but somehow she simply couldn't bring herself to join the others in the celebration. definitely not when her heart is aching in melancholy for her missing twin. — | m.list

background: this scenario takes place during the mid-autumn festival - as quoted from wikipedia - it is the second-most important holiday after Chinese New Year with a history dating back 3,000 years, when China's emperors worshipped the moon for bountiful harvests.[2] The celebration is called Chuseok (autumn eve) in Korea, Tsukimi (moon-viewing) in Japan and Tết Trung Thu (Mid-Autumn Festival) in Vietnam

this event celebrated by the chinese is usually spent eating mooncakes and drinking teas. lanterns are also an important aspect of this festival. unlike the yuanxiao fesitval or mingxiao festival (which is the fictional festival featuring best boy Xiao in GI) where lanterns are released into the sky, lanterns are hand-held. this is a festival i celebrate every year hence i'm familiar with it — feel free to read up about this on wiki!

a/n: don't mind me, this is just a random idea that popped in my head. i'm in the mood for some angsty stuff these days so just had to get it out. Flute version of 无羁 (Wu Ji) from the drama 'Untamed' was the song which inspired my angsty mood while typing this. pardon my errors (I may have missed them and i kinda wrote this on a spur sooooo yea)

Please do me a favor and reblog this. Thank youuuu ❤

the vitality of liyue harbor has always been astounding; an envy of the seven nations.

bright, bustling streets even in the darkness of nights was enough to show the nature of the city.

though, today it was a different kind of bustle. stores were already closed; even the nocturnal businesses that one would only see at night.

the moon had been bright and round the past few nights while the people busied themselves for another festival to come.

— the mid-autumn festival, an annual festival celebrated by the people of liyue or at least that was what zhongli explained yesterday when he extended an invitation to her to join him and others in moon-gazing today.

tonight, the moon shone bright and full in the clear dark sky, seemingly more so than the previous nights.

strategically rooted to the ground of a spacious balcony overlooking the gentle waves below, the stone tables were in a perfect spot beneath the brilliant moon.

colorful mooncakes of various flavors and teacups filled with steaming tea laid before her.

she sat at one of the round stone tables with some funeral parlor staff and of course, zhongli himself who has been rather busy ever since she arrived—

the cheerful chatters and laughter drew her eyes away from the empty seat beside her and to the tables across theirs.

his archon days were over, he said.

he was simply trying to experience a mundane life as 'zhongli' now, as the geo archon had put it when she expressed her surprise at his involvement with a festival fabricated by the mortals' minds.

and indeed—

her gaze idled on him.

— he was doing it too well.

illuminated by the golden glow the table lanterns emanated, the cordial and relaxed atmosphere was warmed by attentive eyes and smiling lips.

all on him.

apparently, some things never changed. whether he was rex lapis or zhongli, he carried an alluring elegance and charisma. clinging to every word and his occasional hand gestures, they were like moths drawn to a flame.

she could understand why; she liked hearing him talk. she would have gone over too, if not...if not for this weight on her heart.

it has been nearly a year since she was in teyvat looking for her twin. these few days in the harbor, the full moon was a constant reminder of how time has passed, and yet...

a heavy sigh escaped her. a longing gleam waned in her eyes as she lifted her gaze to the sky.

they used to talk and eat under a full moon just like this, a bitter ache clenched her heart.

her teeth sank into her lower lip as it trembled.

please...not now. her hands curled into shaking fists as she tried to hold back the tears threatening to leave her eyes.

not now. not at this party. she silently pleaded with herself, her squared shoulders shaking. it took all her willpower to not let the dam break.

but one managed to escape her anyway.

—shit.

she was up on her feet fast and slipped away from the party as subtly as she could.

stumbling out of the party half-blind with tears wasn't exactly the best situation to remember about the cloak meant to keep her warm on an autumn night.

luckily, she didn't end up falling off the stairs she currently sat on.

autumn in liyue was typically not cold, but tonight seemed especially so.

she shivered to the chilly breeze brushing against her back. goosebumps crawled across her skin, particularly on the areas her dress failed to protect against the cold.

she couldn't quite bring herself to go back for the cloak. not with the mess she was now.

the sight of the round moon above wavered in her vision as tears quietly trailed down her cheeks.

under the vast, seemingly endless night sky, she felt small...

— her knees were drawn closer to her chest, curled fingers digging into her dress.

...and extremely powerless.

where is he? why can't she find him? is he even in teyvat? Is he even...still alive? does he even exist anymore?

—a dreading sense of hopelessness echoed in her heart and summoned another wave of tears wavering her vision.

under this wide, endless sky and its luminous moon, she felt alone, truly alone in the presence of the joyous cacophony of laughter and playful yells coming from the festival she left behind.

a nasty voice prompted by the noise taunted her — of how no one would notice, even if she were to walk right out of liyue harbor right now.

drowning in harsh, relentless thoughts, she failed to notice the gaze of a pair of wise, golden eyes on her back, soft with concern.

long legs covered the distance between them in a quiet, graceful stride; the gentle clacks of his loafers whenever their heels hit the ground slipped past her notice too.

not even when he climbed down the steps to settle himself next to her, a step above hers.

not even the inevitable proximity between their bodies caused by the short stairs spacious for one but narrow for two.

only until his coat was off his shoulders and wrapped around hers—

"why the tears on the mid-autumn festival?"

—she jolted with a sharp gasp, her widening eyes snapping over to him.

the calm and prodding gaze that met hers was accompanied by the tender brush of his thumb across her left cheek, right under her tearing eye before switching over to her other.

"zh-zhongli?"

she stayed stunned, unsure she was feeling so because someone noticed she had left or was it because of this simple gesture.

zhongli has always been a mentor-like figure to her. his words, his wise gazes, the comforting pets he occasionally gave on her head and back had always reminded her of how she was a mere child in his eyes.

but tonight...this, nothing about the gentleness his hand or his eyes emanate felt normal. or was she just delirious?

the strange stutter of her heart caused by the hand on her face, the blush heating up her cheeks made her tear her gaze away from his, flustered.

zhongli let his hand drop back onto his knee, but his eyes stayed.

crossing her arms to hold onto his coat sitting on her shoulders, she thought hard to recall his question.

"i can't help thinking about my brother, that's all." she looked back at him, smiling.

a smile he thought reminded him of the moon when it was not yet full — a quiet light melancholic with vague sadness.

"don't worry about me, i'll be fine." she slipped a glance over her shoulder in the direction of the festival. "you should go back there, zhongli, they need you. what's mid-autumn festival for liyue without you?"

she moved to remove the coat from her shoulders, but a hand wrapped around her wrist stopped her.

"but what's mid-autumn festival without you, my dear friend?"

zhongli regarded her intently, his eyes boring into hers for a second before shifting to focus on his coat.

there was something else in his eyes when they return to hers; it came and went in a flicker. "...keep this on, it's chilly today."

"thanks..." she murmured, her shoulders sinking as she yet again returned her thoughts to her brother.

"aether..." the pain she guarded showed on her face. "will i ever be able to see him again?"

tears started to well up in her eyes once again.

"i'm sorry, zhongli, i'm so sorry..." a quiet sob broke through, "today is supposed to be about the mid-autumn festival, and yet...here you are, listening to me."

zhongli's mouth opened then snapped close.

he always knew what to say whenever she was in a pinch. however, it was tears this time, and he wasn't exactly sure about what he should do about his body's urge to extend his arms out to her.

he was already more than a thousand years old.

as the former geo archon, he was the immovable rock. emotions and impulses he used to hold within himself in his younger days were buried deep under the sands of time...or at least they should be.

so where did this come from? was this strange stir an inevitable part of being a mortal?

"you know what?"

her movement to rise from the spot beside him turned his head back to her.

resolute hardened the glint in her tearing eyes, "i don't want to hold you back any longer,"

her fingers curled into a shaky fist, nails digging into her palm.

"....the people need you. i-i think i should just go bac—"

his hand flew out before he could think any further; his body was faster than his thoughts this time.

her next breath puffed out of her, in surprise and bewilderment as her body was tugged and cocooned by a breathing warmth before she could understand what happened.

and when she did, her eyes flew wide.

cheek pressed against his neck, she found herself held to his chest. she could feel his chin atop her head and his arms around her.

he was beside her a moment ago, and now he was behind sharing the same step as her, broad enough to accommodate them. was she the one who moved? or did he?

she didn't know how but she couldn't find the energy to care —the scent of musk and lingering tea engulfing her was an alluring comfort that made her want to stop trying.

so warm. really, really warm.

and so was his voice. "...but you need me." a hand caressed the back of her head.

there was a pause before a feigned cough ensued. "i meant, this."

#genshin impact #zhongli x reader #zhongli imagines #genshin impact x reader #zhongli x you #zhongli x traveler #zhongli x lumine #zhonglumi

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undertalethingems · 4 years ago

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Bark at the Moon Chapter 18: Another Truth

Or read on my Ao3>

Rating, Setting: Gen, Pre-canon

Chapter Warnings: None

Chapter Summary: Undyne suggests visiting Asgore to see if he can recall anything about the brothers’ past--but they need Alphys’ insight, and she’s late to the meeting...

"I apologize for failing my duties, sir," Undyne said, voice amplified by her helmet. She stood stiffly at attention, braced for whatever Asgore would say next. He was kind, and her mentor, but she'd abandoned her responsibilities. "I put a personal matter before my oath to protect all monster kind, and I accept whatever punishment you deem appropriate."

Asgore furrowed his brows, perplexed. "This is about the 'beast' incident, right? The rogue monster that turned out to be your friends?"

"Yes. I spent some time afterwards to search for them, to exclusion of all my other work."

Asgore sat back in his throne, stroking his beard. "You still had the rest of the guard on duty, correct? And you found them in the end... So, it all worked out, didn't it?"

Undyne sighed. "Sir... you really are a big softy."

"Well, I can hardly lose my best captain!" Asgore said with a smile. "Your dedication is something to aspire to--I hate to think what may have happened had you given up on your friends, and I'm sure they're happier for it as well. You did the right thing."

"Thank you, your majesty," Undyne replied, bowing her head. "Um, with that out of the way... I was wondering if I could ask you something."

"Oh? What is it?"

"Well..." Undyne started, then glanced around the room before stepping forward and continuing in a lower voice. "It turns out... the brothers are beasts because of something an old Royal Scientist did. We've--Alphys and I--have been wondering if there's anything you'd know about it."

Asgore blinked, then dipped his head as he thought. "No, I... I don't recall anything of the sort. Perhaps, if I met them, it would jog some memories."

Undyne grinned. "I think we can arrange that. Any particular time?"

Asgore thought. "Well, I am not up to much today... Perhaps after your patrol?"

"That should be fine. I think Alphys will want to come too, if that's alright."

"Of course! If she's helping with this conundrum, I think it's all the better," Asgore agreed. "If it's decided, then I shall see you later!"

"Yes sir, I'll let everyone know. And... thank you."

"Of course, captain. I'd have done the same thing."

Undyne nodded, then saluted before marching from the throne room. She should have known Asgore was too forgiving to hold her search-and-rescue stint against her. She'd been working harder than ever, trying to make up for her shortcoming--even sorting through old paperwork she usually got someone else to do. But... if it made no difference to Asgore, maybe she could lighten up on the extra patrols and have time for her friends again. With Sans and Papyrus not needing her help anymore, it'd been a few weeks since she'd seen them--and the last time she'd talked to Alphys had been during one of her shifts, and she'd had to cut her off. It sucked, and she was looking forward to having a social life again. The moment her patrol was over for the day, she pulled out her phone.

"Alphys, hey! Listen, I know it's short notice, but the king wants to meet with us--you, me, and the bros to discuss what's up with them."

"Uhhh what, y-you mean, like right now? H-how short-notice is this?" Alphys stammered on the other end, and Undyne regretted putting her on the spot.

"Er, yeah. I mean, I'm sure Asgore wouldn't mind waiting a bit--I have to tell the brothers too, and then we all gotta head to the castle... so, maybe in half an hour?"

"I was about to--w-well, I guess I don't have to do that now--um, so should I bring the files on what we know so far?"

"That might be a good idea. Asgore said he doesn't remember anything about it," Undyne replied. "Which is odd, but I guess so is everything else about this."

"Y-yeah... okay, let me get some things together, and I'll meet you guys there!"

"Great! I know we'll get to the bottom of this--alright, see you soon!"

Undyne hung up, then dialed a different number. "Hi Papyrus! Are you guys busy?"

"Undyne! An excellent choice in calling me--what can I help you with?" he replied, and she chuckled.

"Actually, I think we're gonna be helping you--Asgore wants to see you guys, and figure out if he can remember anything about... uh, what happened to you. He's ready to see us now, so head on up to the castle--Alphys is coming too, and we're all gonna meet there in about twenty minutes."

"Wowie! King Fluffybuns himself! Alright, I'll wrangle Sans and see you guys there!"

"Okay, see you in a bit."

With her calls made, Undyne set off for home to get out of her armor, then for New Home. ...Wow, Asgore was really bad at names. But, it didn't matter--he was a great leader otherwise, and he was going to help them figure out how the mess with the skeleton brothers had ever started. She marched toward the castle purposefully, wondering what they might discuss. The castle soon loomed overhead, and she grinned as she saw the brothers waiting just outside.

"Hey guys! Looks like you made good time."

"It's hard not to when your brother decides he's done enough walking for the day," Papyrus replied with a huff, glaring down at his brother, who chuckled.

"listen, i've had enough action for a lifetime bro. think i'm gonna slack off even more."

"Sans! That! Is almost a fair point, but I think even you know you can become too lazy! So I won't allow it!"

"fine, fine. think of it as me saving my energy for important stuff then."

Papyrus snorted, then turned back to Undyne. "Well, the main thing is that we're all here. Right?"

Undyne glanced around--she hadn't spotted Alphys. "I think so--Alphys must have gone inside already. Shall we?"

"We shall!" Papyrus declared, leading the way in.

Asgore was waiting for them in his throne room, perking up from tending flowers when they entered. "Ah, howdy everyone! I was just finishing up a little gardening. I hope you're all well--once Doctor Alphys arrives, we'll get started."

Undyne frowned. "She's not here yet?"

Asgore pursed his lips as he shook his head. "No, I assumed you'd all be arriving together. She's not with you?"

"No..." Undyne trailed, "but, maybe she's just running a little late. It was pretty short notice, and she said she had to get some stuff together..."

"Well, let's wait for her then. I don't believe there's any rush," Asgore said, turning back to the flowers, picking off dead stems and sprinkling water as he puttered along. "Let me know if you would like tea. It would not take long to make at all, and I always find it comforting when discussing... serious matters."

"That is an excellent idea," Papyrus replied, glancing to his brother. "It would be lovely to sit and tell this tale around the fireplace while we all drink flavored leaf water together!"

Undyne noticed that neither of the brothers--but particularly Sans--had stepped far into the throne room. Sans looked tense, and Papyrus was casting concerned glances... Oh. Golden flowers...

"Yeah, I could go for some too," she agreed, and Asgore smiled and set his watering can down.

"Wonderful! Go sit anywhere you like, I'll start the water boiling."

The trio headed back through the hall up to Asgore's home while he brought up the rear. Undyne picked a spot at the table, and the brothers followed her lead as best they could--most chairs weren't exactly made to accommodate dragon-horse-lizard things. But they managed to get settled, and Undyne noted they looked more relaxed now that they weren't surrounded by flowers. Only a few more minutes passed, and Asgore carried out a small tray with the steaming kettle and five dainty teacups. He gave one to each of them, leaving the fifth empty.

"I do hope Alphys arrives soon," he said, finally taking his seat. "It has been a little while since I spoke to her... But she seems to be very busy with her experiments, and I do not want to impose."

"Yeah... I'll text her and see what's up," Undyne said, pulling out her phone and sending a brief message, then sipped her tea. Asgore was always really good at getting it to just the right temperature.

"So," Asgore began, "are you boys... doing alright? I do not know the full story yet, but, Undyne told me a little... It sounds very frightening to go through something like that."

"We're doing much better now!" Papyrus replied brightly, perking up. "It was scary at first just because we didn't know what to do... and while we still don't know what to do, we're not afraid of people hunting us down anymore!"

Asgore blinked. "Er, yes, that's good to hear. I'll do my best to help you. How are things in Snowdin? I do not get out there very often."

Papyrus happily began filling him in; after listening for a while, Sans turned to her.

"nothing from alph yet?"

"No... that's weird, she's usually pretty quick. It's like her phone is glued to her hand some days," Undyne joked. "She hates phone calls, but, maybe I should try that next. Hold on."

She dialed, and listened to it ring--it picked up. "Hey, Alphys! I--"

The call dropped. Or had been hung up. Either way, it had cut off without a word, and Undyne frowned before dialing again. This time it rang and rang until finally going to voicemail, and Undyne left a message. "Hey Alphys! We're all waiting for you at Asgore's place--is everything okay? Call me back soon."

"We will give her a little more time," Asgore said, refreshing everyone's tea. "Perhaps something came up."

So they waited. Sans dozed off with his head resting on the table while Papyrus and Asgore got into a discussion about puzzle history; Undyne found herself checking her phone every few minutes, but the result was always the same: no new messages. An hour after their meeting was supposed to begin, she stood.

"I'm going to check on her."

"Do you believe something's wrong?" Asgore questioned, looking worried, and Undyne grimaced.

"She's never taken this long to reply to a message... Even if she just got distracted, I wanna check up on her."

"Very well. Brothers, you can stay here if you like..."

Papyrus rose as well. "I'll go too! Between the two of us, we're sure to find her!"

"ok bro. i'll stay here. as long as asgore doesn't mind me monopolizing the spot in front of the fire."

"Oh, I don't mind. I was going to do a little tidying, if that's alright."

"guess it's settled."

"Okay. See you guys later then," Undyne said, then headed for the door with Papyrus in tow. She broke into a jog, heading for the elevator that would take them right to the Core's upper entrance, and they'd reach the lab from there. Papyrus kept pace easily, and occasionally sniffed the ground to see if Alphys had come this way--but he'd found nothing yet.

They made it to the lab, with neither incident nor finding Alphys--it was like she hadn't left at all. Undyne exchanged a look with Papyrus, then stepped forward. The door slid open, and she cautiously entered. The lights were still on...

"Alphys? Hello? It's me and Papyrus, we came to check up on you... Uh, 'me' being Undyne of course..."

Only her own voice echoed. Undyne frowned, and headed further in. Papyrus put his nose to work, sweeping along the floor to find the freshest trail, which led him to the door marked with a bathroom sign.

"She's, in there," he said, stopping just short of it.

"The bathroom...?"

His tail twitched. "It's. There's one down there, yes."

"Down... Papyrus? I know you said you were... born here, but... what are you talking about?"

He stared at the door. "This floor is just the nice part of the lab. There's a lot more floors down below. She must be on. One of those."

She noted how stiff he looked, and grunted. "Well, we have to find her. If she got in trouble somehow... Well, I'd want someone to come looking for me. I know you don't like it here, but... I won't let anything happen to you either. Come on."

She stepped forward again, but the door didn't open this time. She tried again, waved at it, but nothing happened. It was locked. Well, that wasn't about to stop her--she took a few paces back, then leapt at the door from a running start, landing a flying kick directly in the center. The metal buckled and folded back under her assault, revealing a short hallway leading to an elevator. She landed on her feet, and turned to see a very startled Papyrus looking back at her.

"...I'll fix it later. Let's go find Alphys."

He took a deep breath, then followed her into the elevator. "Maybe she'll keep it as a testament to your frightening muscles, Undyne."

Undyne snorted. "Maybe. Now, which floor do you think we should try first? Start from the top and work our way down?'

"If she's in trouble like you think, that could take too long! Let's see..." Papyrus stepped closer to the control panel and narrowed his eyes. "A-ha! ... I have no way of knowing either."

"You could probably smell her though, right? We just need to find which floor has the strongest scent," Undyne suggested, and he perked up.

"Of course! Down we go!" He pressed the first button--but nothing happened. "Hmm. That wasn't as timely as I hoped."

He tried again, then the next one, and the next--but got the same result.

"Do any of these work?!" Undyne groused, and ran her hand down the side of the panel Papyrus hadn't tried. The elevator shuddered--and finally moved. "Hey! I got it!"

"Good job! Hopefully that's the only floor of this horrible place we'll have to check!"

Undyne gave a bittersweet smile. "Yeah."

The elevator finally slowed to a stop and the door slid open. They stepped out into a dimly lit hall, and Papyrus sniffed.

"Huh. I don't think this floor looks familiar, actually. The good news is, Alphys is definitely here. But..."

"But what?" Undyne asked warily.

"I can smell... Oh, it's probably just the smell of science! Come on, she must be close!"

Undyne watched him bound ahead, noting he looked tense again. He probably just didn't like being down here, but... She summoned a spear just in case, and followed the sound of his footsteps as they clicked on the tile floor. It was eerie in these halls... nothing like the bright, airy lab she knew. Did Alphys really work in a place like this? It didn't seem like her.

But maybe it was like they guy she'd replaced.

She quickened her pace to jog beside Papyrus as he did the sleuthing, and they swept through the darkened passages together. They passed a heavy blast door, and through a room full of beds; Undyne wondered at them--Alphys was always talking about robotics and computers, and didn't have assistants... But Papyrus skirted them, heading for the next doorway.

They were traversing a long straight hallway when a fluid, pale gray mass burst from the floor. Papyrus screeched, backpedaling straight into Undyne and knocking the wind out of her as she tumbled to the floor. She struggled to get up--then realized Papyrus was now standing over her protectively even as he rattled with fear. He hissed, a deep threatening sound Undyne had never heard from him, and the strange mass quivered--but didn't move. Papyrus planted his feet and inhaled, light gathering in his jaws before firing a beam of magic straight into the thing's center--and then it split into three.

Or was it in three places at once?

Undyne scrambled up, panting as she tried to get a read on her opponents. They were unlike any monster she'd ever seen, a slimy heap of tendrils and faces and--a glowing eyelight met her gaze, and she suddenly realized there was a pit in her stomach. Actually, this thing looked too familiar now--

It made a horrible electronic screech, and Papyrus yelped. He fired another beam, and Undyne snapped out of her horror. However horrible she thought this thing was, it was even more distressing to her friend. She readied her spear, selected the same entity Papyrus had attacked--and yelled.

Its health bar was broken.

Whatever damage Papyrus had dealt had only increased this thing's vitality--it had broken the readout. They couldn't hurt it. If they couldn't figure out how to spare it, it could...

"Papyrus! I know this is weird coming from me, but, we can't fight these things!"

It was the entities' turn. They attacked together--or perhaps only one of them did--filling the bounds of the board with strange smiling faces. Undyne did her best to dodge them, only to look over and see Papyrus curled up, unmoving, and quaking with fear. Not good. As soon as it was their turn again--he fled the battle. Undyne looked from him to the other, grit her teeth, and followed suit.

"Papyrus!"

She came to a crossroads, and decided to keep going straight, hoping it was what Papyrus had done and that he hadn't slipped. Something about whatever that thing was had made him react instinctively--she'd never known him to lose control in battle like that. Bringing him along was starting to seem like a really bad idea.

"Papyrus?" she called again, slowing down as she entered another room. The walls were lined with fans, which circulated fresh air in. But that wasn't what caught her eye--a pair of orange lights shone at her from the end of the hall, and below the hum of the fans, she could hear bones rattling. Papyrus was curled up at the far wall, and he whimpered as she slowly approached.

"Hey punk, I'm here. I won't let that thing touch you again. C'mere."

She knelt, and was nearly knocked over as he barreled into her. She adjusted her footing to support him better, and she waited until his shivering had calmed down to speak again.

"Do... Can you explain anything about what that was?"

He shuddered again, and opened his jaws to speak; at first, only a dry rasp came out, but he cleared his throat and tried again. "I... it..."

"It's okay, take your time."

He panted, then shut his eyes and took a few deep breaths. "They.. Th-they were... I could have been that."

Undyne flinched. "What?!"

"I could smell it--bone, but wrong--all wrong. Th-their voice--their voices--almost, a-almost..."

She rubbed his back, and he shuddered again.

"I--I'm sorry I panicked, Undyne. I know you expect better of me. They just brought back... bad memories."

"Hey, shh, it's fine. Those things freaked me out too. We came down here to find Alphys, not fight... that. Are you sure she's past... where those things were?"

He heaved a tremulous sigh. "The scent trail was really strong..."

"I was afraid of that..." Undyne said, then her expression hardened. "If they hurt her, I'll... Stay here. I'll go on ahead."

"I... N-no, I should come with. I was just surprised earlier, it's fine!" Papyrus said, standing.

"I'm not sure that's a good idea..."

"If it's too much, I'll just run away again. It's fine! Alphys needs us!!"

Undyne sighed. "Okay. Stay close."

They left the ventilation room behind, with Undyne leading this time. Spear at the ready, she walked slowly, watching for signs of movement and ears straining for the slightest sound. They passed the junction and kept going--it wouldn't be long before they arrived at the spot they'd been attacked at again.

It was so quiet she almost didn't catch it--but far ahead, there was a shuffling sound. She held out her arm, and they stopped to listen. It kept coming--a steady, quiet slap-slap on the tile far ahead. Footsteps... Undyne inhaled, and relaxed as it dawned on her.

"Alphys?"

"A-ah... Undyne..." Her voice sounded weak, and Undyne let her spear dissolve as she ran forward.

"Are you okay?! Are you hurt?! Papyrus and I ran into this crazy--thing, and it--"

"Amalgamate," Alphys interrupted. "You met an amalgamate."

"Wh..."

"Follow me... there's... There's some people you should meet..."

Alphys began shuffling back the way she came, and Undyne and Papyrus exchanged looks. She seemed... downtrodden. Undyne frowned, and followed her down the hall, still on edge should the amalgamate return. The hallway finally opened into another room, and Undyne heard Papyrus stumble to a stop behind her--she couldn't blame him, considering there was a huge machine hanging in the middle of the room, its red outer shell shaped... not too differently from his own skull. It gave Undyne that pit in her stomach again, but Alphys had slipped into a small side room.

"Papyrus, come on. This one's a machine, it can't hurt you."

"... Smells like... more bad memories," he uttered, shivering as he scratched at a spot on his arm. But she put her hand on his shoulder, and they headed into the side room together.

Alphys was surrounded by the white shifting beings. Undyne yelled, summoning an array of spears--but Alphys had leapt, balancing on the back of a couch with arms raised. At least, she balanced briefly--not built for acrobatics, her tail wasn't enough to counterbalance her outstretched arms, and she pitched forward with a squeak. Undyne dispelled her spears and lunged, catching the little lizard just in time.

"Alphys, what the hell is going on?! What--what are these?!"

"I-it's the amalgamates, th-they're friendly! Don't worry!" Alphys quickly explained, and Undyne set her down.

"One of them attacked us--"

"It's not here," Papyrus spoke up, and she turned to him before scanning the room. There was a vaguely dog-shaped mass, a heap of teeth and muscles, a spindly birdlike thing, and what looked like a snowdrake at first but... did it have... vegetoids for eyes? Undyne grimaced. But Papyrus was right--the creature that had attacked them wasn't here.

"O-oh, you must have met the memoryheads," Alphys explained. "th-they come and go a lot... I'm sure they didn't mean to hurt you."

"They scared Papyrus," Undyne replied. "Why are you here? What's going on?"

Alphys shrank, claws fidgeting as she cast her eyes to the ground. "I... I... I don't think I should help..."

"Why not? You're a great scientist--"

"She made us like this." "She made us like this." "She made us like this." "She made us like this." "She made us like this." "She made us like this." "She made us like this." "She made us like this." "She made us like this." "She made us like this." "She made us like this." "She made us like this."

Undyne flinched at the cacophony of voices--the toothy creature had spoken. Alphys looked like she wanted to disappear. The thin bird spoke next, three voices at once.

"She tried her best"

"She wanted to help."

"Ribbit..."

"Sno... wy..." the snowdrake said weakly in the corner.

"I'm... I'm sorry. I... I didn't want anyone to find out about this--what happened here," Alphys continued. "I made a horrible mistake, and ruined these people's lives, and lied--lied to you, to everyone... so... You should just. Forget about me..."

"What?!" Undyne uttered; she was still trying to sort out just what had happened down here, and she was no good at emotional stuff. But she'd have to try--she hated the look on Alphys' face. It was the same one she'd worn just before they'd first met. She sighed, and relaxed. "Look Alphys, I don't know what's going on here, but, I don't care--I'm just glad you're okay! We were worried something horrible had happened to you!"

Alphys looked up blearily. "Really?"

"Yes! You're our friend!" Papyrus spoke up cheerfully, and Alphys managed a weak smile.

"W-well... If you hear what I did... you won't want to be."

Undyne dropped to her knees and cupped Alphys cheeks in her hands. "Alphys. You're SMART, you're PASSIONATE, you've figured stuff out in hours what I never could in a million years. No matter what you did, I'm GLAD you're here, working to help monsters even if you don't always know what's gonna work. We'll figure out what to do--together."

"You mean it?" Alphys said, somewhat muffled and clearly turning pink under Undyne's hands.

"Of COURSE I do! That's what we're gonna do for the bros, right? You think this only applies to them?"

"W-well... I-I... didn't think... I..." She trailed, then placed her hands over Undyne's. "Th-thank you, Undyne. I'm... I'm really, really glad you guys came here. Other wise, I might have... W-well. I wouldn't have helped anyone that way. I came down here because I thought I'd made up my mind to do the right thing, but... I started thinking about it and... couldn't... couldn't bear the thought of losing... losing your friendship. But..."

She sniffled, but shut her eyes, focused. "After Sans and Papyrus told us what happened to them, I knew I needed to come clean about the amalgamates if I wasn't going to be a huge hypocrite. I... I have to tell Asgore that the experiment failed. I have to... I have to let these guys go home to their families. I've been so afraid of the consequences, but... I don't want to be like the Royal Scientist who came before me."

"You can't! You're not a skeleton!" Papyrus offered helpfully, and Alphys snorted.

"N-no, that's true. But I mean, like him in the 'bad scientist' way. I kept what had happened a secret from everyone..."

"Hey, I'm just proud you're willing to own up to your mistakes," Undyne said, pulling her into a hug. "I'm sure everyone will understand... once you explain it."

"Y-yeah... I... I wanted to do that when we met up with Asgore tonight, but, it was such short notice... I chickened out."

"Well, lucky for you we're here to un-chicken you," Papyrus said, seeming much perkier now. "You know old King Fluffy, he's a softy about everything! And, I'm sure all your melty friends will be happy to return home--I know the feeling and everyone will be so happy to see them again!"

Alphys smiled, a bit more genuine now. "I-I think, as long as you guys are there, I can explain everything. But... o-okay. H-hold on a sec."

She drew back, and turned to the amalgamates. "O-kay guys... As you all just heard... I'm finally going to tell the king what happened, and then, your families. I think you should wait here just a little longer, but, you'll... you go home soon. Th... Thank you for... for waiting so long. I hope you can forgive me. But it's time this was over."

The snowdrake shuffled from the corner, leaving a trail of sludge. "S..... no.... wy....?"

"Yes. Mrs. Snowdrake, you'll see your son soon," Alphys said, looking like she might cry. "You just--just wait a little longer, please."

"We'll watch some movies." "We'll watch some movies." "We'll watch some movies." "We'll watch some movies." "We'll watch some movies." "We'll watch some movies." "We'll watch some movies." "We'll watch some movies." "We'll watch some movies."

The doglike amalgamate wagged its excitement indicator.

"Have courage."

"Ribbit ribbit."

"You finally got it."

"Th-thanks guys. I... I'll be back soon, I promise" Alphys said, then turned to her friends. "Okay. Let's go."

The journey back upstairs was much less tense, and it wasn't long before they were finally in open air and on their way back to Asgore's castle. Undyne kept a reassuring hand on Alphys' shoulder, and she tried not to steal too many glances at her; she'd have to do this again when they were just... hanging out. Yeah. That'd be nice...

"So Alphys, if I have deduced things correctly, you created the amalgamates," Papyrus began, "on accident of course, but, I have to ask... where did you get skeletons!?"

"Wh-what?"

"Papyrus..."

"I'm just wondering, because, um, if there are other skeletons and my brother and I never knew about them... um..."

"O-oh, uh... no, I didn't have any skeletons in my test group," Alphys explained, scratching her head. "Why do you ask?"

"W-well, it's just, um... the amalgamate Undyne and I fought, was... skeletons... sort of..."

Alphys' brow furrowed. "Th... how's that possible?"

"I was hoping you knew." Papyrus said, grin tight. "It's not important! Let's meet back up with Sans and the king! They must be wondering where we are!"

Undyne watched him trot ahead, then spoke in a low voice. "It really freaked him out, enough that he slipped, just a little. When I met back up with him and we talked... he said it was something he could've become. That they smelled like bone, but... all wrong."

Alphys studied him as she thought. "I... I can't be sure, but if that's true... It's only a hypothesis, but, that means the memoryheads aren't from my experiments."

"They're from his."

"Y-yeah."

"Alphys... I'm really glad you want to help them. You're a good person, you know?"

She wilted a little. "I... I'm trying to take your word for it."

Undyne squeezed her shoulder, and they continued on. The guards at the castle gate saluted her as they entered, and then it was a matter of making it back to Asgore's house. The king welcomed them in, giving them each a hug as he explained how worried he'd been. Sans was not so concerned--he was blinking awake after napping in front of the fire all evening, and slowly shuffled to join everyone else at the table as they settled in.

Undyne sat next to Alphys, and squeezed her hand as she took a deep breath--and began explaining her experiment and how it had all gone wrong. Asgore listened, eyes wide--then glistening as he listened to her struggles, and Alphys found her other hand engulfed by his as he leaned across the table, moved to tears.

"Oh Doctor Alphys, I had no idea! You should have said something, oh--there there, it is alright, we will get it all sorted out. I'm very glad everyone is alright, even if it didn't turn out like we'd hoped."

"S-so... you're not... mad that I failed? And lied about it for so long?" Alphys asked timidly, and he sat back with a heavy sigh.

"I do wish you'd told me how things were going, but... to be honest, I know how you feel. I do not want war or power, but... The people need hope, and I promised them freedom. I do not feel I can go back on my war declaration when that is what has given everyone something to work for. It is.. difficult to do the right thing... especially when so many people are counting on you."

Alphys blinked, rubbing at her own eyes. "Th... Thank you, Asgore. Everyone should be able to go back home... I can only hope their families will take it as well as you did."

Asgore smiled. "Alphys, though they may be changed, they did not Fall Down thanks to you. I think everyone should be very happy about that."

"Y-yeah. I guess... I guess I g-got too caught up in thinking about it as a failure, and not recognizing the small bit of good that came out of it," Alphys surmised, and Asgore patted her shoulder gently.

"That is how you keep moving forward, my dear. Speaking of moving forward... if that is the full story there... I think it's time we discussed the brothers' predicament. Here, I will make us fresh tea."

He got up, and Undyne squeezed Alphys in a side-hug.

"See? We told you it'd be okay."

"Y-yeah. I... Thanks again. For being there for me."

Undyne caught the looks the brothers exchanged with one another, but they said nothing so neither would she. "Of course, Alphys. Anytime."

Asgore returned with more tea, and spoke as he poured and passed a cup to everyone. "Now then, with a nice fresh cup, tell me this other story, about the beast of Snowdin and how it wasn't really a beast but two nice young men with a strange ability."

Between the four of them, they relayed the different parts of the story. Asgore tried to stay resolute, but on hearing how the brothers had separated, struggled with powerful instincts, and reunited, his eyes were glistening again. Once they got through explaining their origin, the dam had burst once more, and he dabbed at his eyes with a lavender kerchief. He managed to listen to the rest without openly sobbing, but had to take a few deep breaths to steady himself once they'd finished. He rose, and knelt. The brothers turned to face him, and he cupped their heads in his hands.

"Sans, Papyrus... I am so, so sorry that you both have suffered so much, seemingly from my orders to find some way to gain an advantage over the humans. I do not remember this former scientist, but had I known what he was doing--creating living things and using them as tools--I would not have allowed it. I hope you can forgive me."

"It's okay," Papyrus spoke up, raising his head from Asgore's palm to place a paw on it. "No one knew about it, even the people who worked for him."

"you shouldn't blame yourself for the actions of someone else who took advantage of your trust. it was their choice to do that, not yours. that said... maybe you should keep in better touch with your scientists going forward," Sans added, glancing over at Alphys, who nodded in agreement.

"I'll admit, science has never been my strong point..." Asgore replied, drawing back and scratching his beard in embarrassment. "I'm afraid it all just goes over my head, so, I've had to trust what my scientists say... Perhaps I am a fool..."

"In my opinion, it takes a special kind of jerk to do what Gaster did," Undyne spoke up. "Alphys didn't want anyone mad at her--she already had your permission for the experiment. Gaster... he took your orders and twisted them into meaning he could do whatever he wanted, and kept exactly what he was doing from you the whole time."

Asgore nodded gravely. "Indeed. I wish I could help you boys more, as you had hoped, but..."

"s'ok, it's good enough to know you wouldn't be down with the whole 'living weapon' thing."

"No... though war makes us do terrible things... creating life and treating it so callously is inexcusable. If there is anything I can do for you two, please let me know. Alphys, seeing as the Determination experiment is over... you have my permission to work on whatever project strikes you as most promising. If that is helping the brothers, that is quite alright."

"Th-thank you, sir."

"Fantastic! This will be Alphys' most important assignment yet, because the assignment is me!" Papyrus beamed, tail lashing with excitement. "And my brother too of course, but, he's not going to be joining the Royal Guard when all this is over."

"Hey, you still gotta get through me," Undyne laughed. "Let's work on getting you back to your old self, then we can talk about recruitment."

"Oh fine," Papyrus sighed. "But, it's still happening."

Asgore chuckled. "I'm sure. Well my friends, I do not know if it has been a pleasant evening, so to speak... but I'm very glad you came and told me all this. May we all be able to move forward more wisely, and you have luck with your efforts."

"I-I think I'm going to find out what I can from the old labs. There seem to be sections I've n-never seen... M-maybe I can salvage data from the old drives, and have some numbers to compare to the brother's current states--maybe even... maybe even figure out how Gaster was able to do this at all. A monster's body is tied to their soul, so for a monster to be able to change their body... A-anyway, I need data. S-so, that's where I'll start."

"I cannot begin to fathom what that entails, but... I can only trust that you know what to do," Asgore said, giving a small smile.

"W-well, I'll do my best to summarize the reports once I have something," Alphys said, and he patted her head.

"Alright my friends, it is getting late and I am afraid I must retire for the evening. Please take care, and let me know how it goes."

"You can count on us," Undyne said, saluting him, and the others nodded.

"Good. I will see you soon."

They finally left, and Alphys sighed with audible relief. "I was soooo worried you guys, oh my god. B-but! It worked out! I d-don't have to hide anything anymore! W-which means--! Undyne, I--"

"Yeah?"

Alphys trembled, slowly turning red again. "I--I--I have a new anime I wanna show you! We can, u-um, see it later, if you want."

"Cool! Does it have fighting in it this time?"

"U-uh, n-no, b-but--it has--a g-girl--who's good? At fighting?? B-but also... maybe... k-kissing..."

Undyne furrowed her brow. "Huh. Well, I'm sure it'll be great. We can watch that after I help you get the amalgamates home, okay?"

"O-oh, you... really want to help with that?"

"Sure! The guard knows where everyone lives, so we can help escort everyone. But, not tonight. I gotta agree with Asgore, it's pretty late."

"It's early if you don't sleep!" Papyrus offered.

"and if you do," Sans added, and Papyrus swatted at him--a move he dodged easily. "anyway, me and my bro are headed home. let us know when you wanna do science stuff, alph."

"O-of course! Like I said, I want to see what I can find out from the labs first, and I'll contact you when I have more information."

"A brilliant plan Dr. Alphys! We'll talk again soon, and finally find the solution to this most persistent of problematic happenstances. Goodnight!"

In a blink, they were gone.

Alphys shook her head. "Not gonna lie, I wanna look into how he does that t-too..."

Undyne snorted. "Guess you better add it to your project list. Here, I'll walk you to the lab."

"Oh... th-thank you."

They spent the rest of the walk back talking about anything that came to mind; anime, science, a new song Undyne had been working on. It was a nice way to finish out the evening after a long day at work, and then feeling like something awful had happened to someone Undyne cared about so much. If only she could find the right words to say, finally write a letter that could express all the feelings she had for Alphys... but this was nice enough. It seemed like Alphys really liked hanging out with her, and even if she didn't feel the same way, Undyne was glad she knew her.

She was looking forward to seeing her more.

#undertalethingem writes #gaster blaster au #bark at the moon fic #papyrus (undertale)#sans (undertale)#Undyne (undertale)#asgore (undertale)#alphys (undertale)#amalgamates #aaaah glad to finally update this again! ^^#don't know when the next will be out unfortunately ^^;

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warriors-aus-and-such · 6 years ago

Text

Evil! Lionblaze

(( Sorry in advance for the excessively long post and points, this au includes two arcs of detailed story ))

- Lionpaw, first of all, doesn't stop training with Tigerstar. Ever. Spurred by bitterness towards the contempt from his waking mentor, Ashfur, and the need to live up to his leader grandpa and deputy father, Lionpaw strives to be the ideal warrior, even by training in the dark forest. He's so blinded by his need for validation and ambition that he began to kill in the dark forest, without even considering the lives he'd destroyed. He thought it wasn't real, and the cats he murdered would wake up all fine and dandy.

- He becomes "evil" slowly, his ill will towards the clans and the cats in them sprouting from the that that he never received the validation he so desired, but from who it counted. No matter how powerful he grew, no matter his invincibility, Ashfur seemed to hate him, and Brambleclaw didn't seem to care. On top of this, Tigerstar planted an idea in Lionclaw's (he was named after his adoptive father, as kind of a joke family name) head when he revealed his power to his "grandpa". The idea was that Lionclaw could conquer the clans, show those that didn't appreciate him properly that he deserved their admiration because he was so powerful and important. Show the likes of Ashfur and Brambleclaw that he deserved their love.

- Lionclaw becomes sort of a living legend among dark forest cats and trainees (some of whom started probably more around his age as opposed to Ivypool's), holding as much power and respect as the likes of Tigerstar and Mapleshade, because of the uses of his power in that environment, his closeness to Tigerstar, and being one of the first still-living trainees. He even commands the respect of the asshat known as Breezepelt, and the half-brothers grow close, with a bond forged by similar motivations and a friendly rivalry. They were practically joined at the hip during their nighttime training sessions, and even the revelation of Lionclaw's parentage changed nothing in their relationship. If anything, it brought them closer and gave more meaning to their brotherly bond.

- Lionclaw who kills Ashfur instead of Hollyleaf, driven to the bloody crime by the pain and rage he felt over his mentor, the cat that was supposed to act like a third parent and a gentle, supportive figure in his life, hated him so. Even despised him to the point of trying to murder him. When Lionclaw told his birth mother and littermates, he proudly and almost in a scary tone of voice justified it as "paying the favor forward, only this time I wasn't afraid to get my paws bloody"

- At the following gathering, Lionclaw made the grand, dramatic announcement that shook his family and the clans to the core, but it wasn't the same one that his sister had made in the main series. He announced that he had killed his own mentor, that he had been training with Tigerstar and co., and when he commanded the crowd's attention once more, he revealed the prophecy, and his power. He challenged the clans as a whole, if any one cat or group could defeat him in battle, he wouldn't take over the clans and kill every cat that didn't fall into line. The gathering descended into chaos, and Lionclaw was barreled off the tree he'd made the announcement from and was promptly jumped by cats that thought they could overpower him. Among the cats he fought and wound up killing were all leaders and deputies, Tigerheart, Tawnypelt, and, in the end, he even killed Hollyleaf. These murders weremore spread out, with Lionclaw killing Brambleclaw and Hollyleaf back in ThunderClan. They didn't have the heart to attack him right away at the gathering, so he put them out of their misery.

- Many cats left at the urging of cats who had run ahead, like the elders, medicine cats, and some of the more morally grounded warriors. Pregnant queens (so not Daisy or Ferncloud) didn't have the time, stamina, or generally felt unable to run away, and when Lionclaw returned they were kept as prisoners so they had kits. Cinderheart was forcibly dragged back and made to become Lionclaw's mate, Jayfeather was taken prisoner as Lionclaw didn't want to lose his brother after killing his foster father and littermate, and any cats that hasn't run, they were either taken prisoner or forced to pledge their loyalty, Darktail style.

- During his takeover of his WindClan, Breezepelt joined forces with Lionclaw, becoming like his "deputy". Many cats that didn't know about their bond were baffled and a little scared by this, and rightfully so. The two of them combined commited worse at atrocities than any combination of previous villainous leaders.

- Lionclaw, after having been forsaken by a terrified StarClan, gained leader lives from Dark Forest and took the name Darklion. The Dark Forest became the kind of replacement StarClan after it's revealed that Darklion had gained these lives, but instead of being respected and beloved, they earn their respect through fear. They even chase StarClan out of their hunting grounds one night, thanks to the help of their trainees and Darklion. (Note: Breezepelt is also named Darkbreeze, but without the lives. He just had to command more respect because of his authority over the WindClan + RiverClan territories)

That's just the Power of Three arc

- The Omen of the Stars arc starts off right away with and introduction to Darklion's expansionism, and the aftermath of him taking over ShadowClan. He already had WindClan, and RiverClan was the last clan that had gone unattacked. Dovekit and Ivykit are like fresh eyes and an introduction to how miserable, violent, and terrifying clan life is. Ivykit seems to be thriving in the environment, in some ways, but Dovekit is constantly stressed and anxious. She's too soft and kind to bear living in the very same camp as Darklion.

- There's a leader Darklion assigned in each area of the new LionClan - Darklion in ThunderClan + ShadowClan and Darkbreeze in WindClan + eventually RiverClan. The two sections are unified and as harmonious as they could be, but most cats kept to the territory of their birth clans and the apprentices are the only ones that truly feel open and happy to casually traverse the old clan borders.

- Darklion winds up having his kits with Cinderpelt Much earlier, against her will of course, and she's confined to the nursery throughout nearly the entire series. The first litter are named Tigerkit (Fernsong), Maplekit (Sorrelstripe), and Hawkkit (Hollytuft)

-Suspicious of both Dovepaw and Ivypaw, Darklion apprentices Ivypaw to himself and Dovepaw to Darkbreeze, effectively shunting her off to WindClan and getting her away from him. Darklion is the one who first convinces Ivypaw to go to the Dark Forest and train there, and he winds up training her waking and sleeping. Ivypaw thinks this is great, and brags about how only special warriors like her get to train where she was. In this arc, she's the special one, the golden child. Training with the evil cats is a privilege, and their stories are told as tragic and heroic tales because Darklion wouldn't have them otherwise. Dovepaw is the one that believes StarClan is good, she's the one with the big heart and the strong moral compass, and therefore she must be the evil one.

- Darkbeeze eventually reports to Darklion that he figured out that Dovepaw has powers and she is the third prophecy cat. Darklion panics and immediately and permanently banishes her to Darkbreeze's territory, as opposed to before, where she could still visit her parents and sister from time to time, if she got the chance to slip away from her intensive training. Darklion continually tells Ivypaw that her sister is terrible and evil, like the cats they must kill to keep their clan safe and happy. Dovepaw is the enemy. Dovepaw is evil and wrong.

- Dovepaw, in WindClan, is starved and tortured by Darkbreeze and her younger clanmates, causing her to become weak and resentful, but unable to fight back. Nobody would help her because of a belief that StarClan were the evil cats and they gave her the power, or out of sheer terror at the prospect of angering Darkbreeze. The cats knew full well that if they helped a cat like Dovepaw, they'd be held prisoner, or even killed.

- One night, as she lay in bed, Dovepaw heard the plots for her own execution. On that full moon, all the clans, even RiverClan, having been taken over, gathered on the island. The prisoners in particular were made to watch as an example was made of a poor, defenceless apprentices. The cats were forced to watch as Darklion stripped Dovepaw's name from her, not even leaving her as Dove, but a nameless, faceless enemy that none could or should sympathise with. Ivyfang, having earned her name, brutally tortured and murdered her own littermate following that. It was disturbing, the delight and joy Ivyfang found in murdering for own sister. Cats like Whitewing, Birchfall, Cloudtail, and Brightheart had special front row seats, even closer than the prisoners. The victim's blood even splashed onto them, and Darklion reveled in their discomfort.

- Jayfeather has been silent for most of the arc, but that had been the last straw for him. On the new moon after Dovepaw's brutal murder, Jayfeather escaped his brother. Only one cat had been guarding him, so the blind cat slipped out under the cover of the new moon. He eventually found his way to the others who had fled, updated them on the situation, and had tearful reunions with the ragtag group of escaped cats. He spent time in recovery from being starved and abused, but was soon back on his feet and plotting against his own brother without fear or regret.

- Near the end of the arc, the dark forest manifests itself in the physical realm, beefing up the authority of Darklion and Darkbreeze and preparing all cats to kill their old clanmates if they were to attack. Tigerstar encouraged Darklion to tour around his territories and torture, blackmail, or kill any cats that didn't present unwavering loyalty. He followed their advice, and eventually the only cats left either believed in Darklion or were too terrified not to obey his power. The only disloyal cats that were spared were pregnant or nursing queens, but they were seprated from their kits at the earliest possible moment, and not allowed to talk to them without a loyal cat to moniter the conversation and make sure the queens weren't speaking ill of any dark forest cats, or planting the wrong ideals in their kits' minds.

- The climactic final battle the PO3 and OTS arcs build up to come from a conflict with the clan cats and the dark forest fighting against the cats that had previously fled and StarClan. Many good cats are slaughtered mercilessly, but it all comes crashing down when Leafpool, Squirrelflight, and Jayfeather work together to drown Darklion in a great "this is revenge for all the cats we loved and you killed" moment. Breezepelt dies not soon after, killed by his own father after running away from Darklion's corpse in a panic. As the news was spread around tbd battlefield, everything came to a standstill. The cats that had been scared into commiting immediately abandoned ship, turning to their attackers and begging for their lives, explaining that they'd been coerced. They were quickly accepted back, and all that has truly believed in Darklion perished in the battle of the aftermath. This unfortunately includes cats like Ivyfang, and all of Darklion's kits.

- This is the end of the Warriors series. As the book and our childhoods come to a conclusion, the living cats are bedraggled, injured, and exhausted, exchanging glances and questioning what to do next as the bloody evening fades into a moonless night, and the book series draws to a close

#warrior cats #warriors #wc #warriors au #thunderclan #lionblaze #the series ending like this also adds a bit more to the dawn of the clans arc #because the true end is the beginning and shit #also I finished this at 2 am sorry if it sucks

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autisticxmimikyu · 6 years ago

Text

{Just your average Swiftpaw’s death fanfic~}

“We have to do something about us not becoming warriors! I'm sick of Bluestar ignorning us, we all should be warriors by now!” Especially me...

Swiftpaw's tail swished back and forth, fed up with the blue-gray leader disregarding him and the others again and again.

He stood outside of the apprentice's den, his amber eyes observing the other young cats, searching for any signs of agreement. “In fact, I know exactly what we should do... We should go to Snakerocks, find whatever's stealing ThunderClan's prey, and chase it out. Bluestar will have to pay attention to us then, and she'll have to make us warriors because of what we did. We'd be heroes!”

“But we don't even know what's out there. It could be something dangerous for all we know,” Thornpaw spoke up, risng onto his paws.

“I'm sorry, Swiftpaw, but... I agree with my brother.” Brightpaw stepped up beside the golden-brown tabby, looking at the other tom with sympathetic eyes.

As soon as he heard the two's answer, Swiftpaw lashed his tail. His lip curled into a snarl before he hissed, “But this could be our only chance at becoming warriors! Fireheart doesn't see anything wrong with going after whatever's there, too, and he's been on our side! We could tell him about what we did when we get back, then he could tell Bluestar.”

When the other apprentices remained silent, the tom unsheathed his claws in exasperation. “Don't you all get it? Bluestar doesn't give a mousetail about us, and she never will unless we do something so heroic to impress her.”

“M-Maybe Bluestar just needs time to think it over. After all, she hasn't been herself lately...” Upon hearing Fernpaw's voice, Swiftpaw's head turned to look at her, his ears turning back at her words.

“I've given her time, enough time.” His voice was icy, causing Fernpaw to shrink back in front of him.

“Swiftpaw, you're overreacting. Maybe Fernpaw's right. I mean, Bluestar hasn't been the same since Tigerclaw tried to attack her. You remember that, don't you?” Ashpaw, Fernpaw's brother, meowed as he spoke to the agitated tom. “And Fireheart's been doing his best to get through to her, too.”

Digging his claws into the earth, Swiftpaw let out an angry cry, his eyes blazing as he shook his head. “You don't understand! I've waited long enough to become a warrior, and what did I get as a reward for waiting? A pain in the tail kittypet getting his warrior name without me even being acknowledged. It's like I don't even exist...”

\\\

“Swiftpaw...?”

The black-and-white tom looked over his shoulder from where he sat outside of the apprentice's den to see Brightpaw approaching him and sitting down beside him.

“Are you gonna reject my plan again? Is that why you're here?”

“...N-No. To be honest, your plan makes sense, now that I've thought it over. Bluestar hasn't been herself lately at all, and she should've made us warriors by now. Maybe us going to Snakerocks would be a good idea. I've been kind of curious about what's been going on there, anyway,” the ginger-and-white cat answered, looking over at him. “So... I'll go with you. Besides, I don't want you to be alone there.”

At his friend's words, Swiftpaw's head shot up and he looked at her as she met his gaze. His eyes lit up as he realized what she'd told him and he jumped to his paws, standing in front of her. Finally, someone was seeing things his way! He felt like letting out a yowl of joy. But then again, that would probably wake up the whole sleeping Clan...

“I won't be alone now, because you're going with me, Brightpaw!” His previous irritated tone was replaced with an enthusiastic one as he leaned forward, appreciatively bumping his forehead against hers. “Finally! Those mouse-brains better have fun staying apprentices, because we're going to be become warriors and-”

“Uh... Swiftpaw?”

Great, he'd been rambling.

“Anyway... How about we leave before the dawn patrol?” He then gave a little jump of delight once he saw Brightpaw nod in agreement. “Alright! Let's get some rest now. I want us to be ready when the time comes.”

Nodding once more with an eager glint in her blue eyes, she rose onto her paws and began to make her way back to the apprentices den.

Breaking into a brisk walk, Swiftpaw headed after her. His excitement for later felt like lightning bursting within him, heightened by the fact that Brightpaw was going to be accompanying him. How lucky was he? Tonight might- no, will be his and Brightpaw's last night in this den. Bluestar would finally come to her senses once they returned and reported what was at Snakerocks. She'd have no choice but to make them warriors as a result. The whole Clan would be proud of them and they'd get the recognition they deserve.

\\\

Awakening to see that it was still dark outside, Swiftpaw got to his paws before stepping out of his nest. Now, to wake up Brightpaw then set off for Snakerocks. Trying to contain his anticipation, the tom quietly made his way over to the curled up she-cat. Once he stood before her nest, he prodded her side with a paw.

“Brightpaw, get up!” His voice was a whisper as Brightpaw opened her eyes, looking up at him with a drowsy expression. “It's time. Let's go!”

Knowing what he meant, Brightpaw shook her head as if trying to get rid of her tiredness before getting to her paws. She then followed Swiftpaw out of the den. She looked around before softly saying, “How are we going to leave? We can't go through the entrance. Cloudtail's guarding the camp.”

At the mention of ThunderClan's newest warrior, the black-and-white cat glanced towards the camp exit as he remembered that Cloudtail would be guarding the camp for the night as part of him becoming a warrior. He couldn't hold back a snarl, his pelt prickling with envy. I should be standing out there tonight, not that lump of fluff! But the feeling of Brightpaw nudging him with her muzzle brought him back to their current task. He then began to scan over the camp, trying to locate a way out.

Finally, his ears pricked as his gaze settled on the elders' den. If he remembered right, there was a patch of ferns behind it that would take them right out of camp. He then looked back at Brightpaw, whispering, “I know a way out behind the elder's den, there's a patch of ferns behind it. We can go through that.”

Following Swiftpaw's gaze to the den, Brightpaw gave a nod before looking over her shoulder at the camp exit, lightly shoving him with her shoulder. Her own blue eyes held worry as they met each other's gaze.

“What about Clou-”

“Cloudtail wouldn't notice a Twoleg monster running through camp. Let's go now.”

Despite the uneasiness swarming in her head like bees, she still followed Swiftpaw over to the den.\

After both of them had succesfully moved behind the den without waking any of the cats inside, they burst out of the ferns, now running in the direction of their destination.

\\\

Eventually, the sand-colored rocks came into view with only a fallen tree blocking their way. Swiftpaw scrambled up onto it before tasting the air as Brightpaw joined him on the trunk. The moonlit clearing ahead was vacant of any life. The usual scents of stone, lichen, and pine were present, but another sharp stench made him instantly shut his mouth and shake his head.

“Ugh, whatever that smell comes from, it reeks!” the tom growled as he jumped off of the tree, looking around the empty clearing. “C'mon, let's start looking around. Something here has to be making that smell...”

As she looked around the clearing, the same anxiety from before they left ThunderClan camp resurfaced, her ears turning back and her paws feeling as though they were stuck to the tree bark. What were her and Swiftpaw doing here?! They'd came here alone without the company of a warrior. They were doing something wrong as far as she knew. Who knows how her mentor, Whitestorm, would react? Worse than that, if Bluestar found out, she probably wouldn't give them becoming warriors a single thought. She'd only further deny them warrior names and severely punish both her and Swiftpaw. Maybe it had been a mistake to agree to go...

But she couldn't just turn tail and leave Swiftpaw here to face what could be at Snakerocks alone! Without her here, he could get hurt by what was here. He always was a reckless and adamant cat, anyway. He always asked to be on the frontlines of fights, desperate to prove himself and was always trying to be in his leader's line of sight when fighting. But she never seemed to look his way. Bluestar had overlooked his deep-set loyalty to ThunderClan as well, ignoring that he was always ready to protect, hunt for, and overall serve his Clan. Swiftpaw would make a perfect warrior, in Brightpaw's opinion at least.

“I promise you, we’ll be warriors by morning! Bluestar will be so proud and impressed with us, she’ll just have to make us warriors!” Swiftpaw's enthusiastic voice brought Brightpaw out of her thoughts, wishing she could feel the same excitement. “We'll find and drive out whatever's here, we'll go back to camp, then report it. It'll be as easy as catching a mouse.”

“But... What if it's not that easy? We don't even know what's here, and we're here alone...” It was clear that the reality of the situation had hit Brightpaw by how tentatively she jumped off of the fallen tree, her ears remaining turned back. “This just doesn't feel right-”

She was cut off by Swiftpaw turning around and approaching her, stopping in front of her. “I'm with you, though. If anything tries to hurt you, I'll shred it. I swear, after tonight, we'll be made warriors like we deserve. We'll be fine, I promise.”

The soft tone he used shocked Brightpaw slightly, but comforted her at the same time, allowing her body and mind to relax. She then took a deep breath as Swiftpaw took a step back.

“Thank you, Swiftpaw. I'll be there for you if you need me too.”

“You're welcome,” the tom answered before breaking into a run in the other direction. “Let's get going now, we don't have all night! I think we should check out the caves first.”

Feeling a purr rumble in her throat, Brightpaw dashed after him. Eagerness now burned through her as she ran behind her friend. She shouldn't have been that scared, after all, she had another cat with her that she trusted and warriors didn't show fear when there was possible danger, anyway. Thoughts of what her warrior name might be distracted from any kind of distress at the moment. Bright... flower? Brightdawn? Bright-

Upon seeing Swiftpaw skid to a stop about a few tail-lengths in front of one of the caves in the rocks, Brightpaw ended up standing beside him. “Are we going in there?” she whispered, glancing over at him.

“Well, we have to find out what's been taking our prey somehow!” he playfully growled, lightly cuffing her ear with a paw. “Besides, that disgustig smell is the strongest in there. So, let's go in and-”

A low warning growl sounded from within the cave, instantly stopping Swiftpaw's words, causing him to slowly move so that he stood defensively in front of Brightpaw. “Something's in there, that's for sure now...” His hackles rose up in an attempt to make himself appear larger with his ears flattened against his head, his eyes narrowed. “Why don't you show yourself, you coward!? We're not leav-”

Brightpaw's blue eyes widened as a dark shape burst out of the cave, letting out a cry as strong jaws closed around Swiftpaw's sides, picking him up off the ground. That was a dog attacking him, a huge one. She'd only heard of dogs and how dangerous they could be. Now, there was one right in front of her, harming one of her friends. Terror rooted her paws to the ground as the dog threw its head from side to side with Swiftpaw thrashing around, crimson staining the tom's fur and trickling down the dog's muzzle.

“Swiftpaw!” she yowled, watching as the dog flung the other apprentice across the clearing. She bolted over to where he lay on the ground, concern overtaking her fear, grimacing as she noticed the deep wounds in his sides.

Before she could help him get onto his paws, a growl was heard behind her, and Brightpaw slowly turned around to see the dog standing before them. Blood ran from scratches on its muzzle and its bared teeth glinted in the moonlight. She met its brown gaze, her fur standing on end. Fear was beginning to rise up in her once more at the thought of the dog possibly injuring her the same way it had Swiftpaw. They both would be hurt then, unable to get away. Only StarClan knew what would happen to them after that...

“I'll be there for you if you need me here too.”

The realization hit the she-cat like a cold wave. With Swiftpaw down, it was up to her to protect him now. Her fur fluffed up as she dropped into a crouch. Her lip curled in a snarl and her claws slid out, muscles tensing as the dog bent its head down. Finally, she lashed out with a paw once its muzzle got within range.

The dog yelped and jumped back before it turned away from the two apprentices and stalked back towards the cave in the rocks.

“That... That piece of crowfood didn't stand a chance against you.”

Swiftpaw's voice made Brightpaw's ears swivel to the side before she rose back to her full height. She then looked over her shoulder to see the tom back on his paws. He then walked up to her with a slight stagger.

“You're okay!” she cried in relief as she turned to face him fully. She rushed over to him and circled him in order to get a better look at his bite wounds on both of his sides. “But... You're hurt...”

“I know. But all that matters is that I'm on my paws again, right? It doesn't eve-” Swiftpaw was cut off as the sound of a authoritative bark made him look past Brightpaw to see several more dogs following behind what seemed to be the leader of the dogs.

“Th-There's more!?” Brightpaw whispered as she cautiously turned around once more, her blue eyes widening as she finally saw the pack. “What are we going to do now? We can't take all of them on, can we?”

In response, Swiftpaw's eyes narrowed and his claws scraped the ground before he slowly descended into a crouch.

“Pack, pack... Kill, kill...” the dogs growled in unison.

“We can try...” Thus, Swiftpaw launched himself up towards the pack leader, leaving Brightpaw to watch as he tore at the dog's ears and muzzle.

StarClan, give us strength! Taking a deep breath, Brightpaw darted towards a dog and leaped up, aiming for its underbelly. Her claws sliced into the soft skin, making the dog whine and jump back. It then snalred before lunging down. Barely missing another dog's teeth as she dashed between the dog's hind legs, she fled like a scared rabbit. Brightpaw then frantically searched the dog-filled clearing for Swiftpaw.

Her ears finally pricked, making her skid to a stop, and her head instantly turned towards the other side of the clearing as a series of loud yowls and hisses sounded. He was still fighting like mad, it seemed, causing relief to flood through her. Maybe, if they held out long enough, the dogs would grow annoyed or tired and ultimately leave them.

“Pack, pack... Kill, kill...”

“What do you want, flea-brain?” Brightpaw hissed as she turned to face the dog standing behind her, a newfound confidence in her voice.

The dog merely bared its teeth in response before rushing forward and shoving its paws against Brightpaw, knocking her onto her back. She writhed under them, the weight of them on her chest feeling as though it was crushing her. Her claws ripped at the fur and flesh of its leg, but that didn't faze it at all. Her confidence was quickly being snuffed out the longer the dog held her down. What was it trying to accomplish by doing this?

Her eyes widened as the dog bent its head down and pain exploded in the left side of her face. Numbness followed as the dog stepped away from her.

\\\

What had Swiftpaw gotten himself and Brightpaw into now? The original plan had been to simply travel to Snakerocks, track down whatever was stealing ThunderClan's prey, and report it to the Clan in the morning. That plan had been washed away like a feather in the river once the dogs arrived. Now, here they were, fighting for their lives against a pack of relentless dogs. At least they knew what had been taking the prey now...

In his haste to get away from the dogs, he found himself tripping over something, causing him to fall in a heap behind it. By now, his fur was blood-stained and rumpled, with more than a few painful wounds on his body. He scrambled to his feet, shaking his head as he tried to calm his racing heartbeat.

His eyes grew to the size of two full moons as he saw just what- or who he had tripped over. Brightpaw! What have they done to you!? Guilt struck him like a lightning bolt as he stared down at her, gritting his teeth as he noticed the heavily-bleeding facial wound. StarClan, save her...

Loud barks jolted him out of his thoughts and his head shot up to see the dogs swiftly approaching. Thanks to his inability to protect her when she needed him, it was up to him to ensure that she didn't get hurt any further. That was the least he could do for her now, anyway. Now, he had a new, better reason to fight these pieces of crowfood.

“Hey, foxhearts!” he screeched, positioning himself over the ginger-and-white she-cat, his fur on edge and back arched. “I'm gonna absolutely shred you all for hurting my friend! She didn't deserve that!”

The lead dog curled its lip in a snarl before looking back at its packmates, letting out a bark. Thus, the pack charged forward, tounges lolling out and their combined pawsteps sounding like thunder.

Throwing himself at the dogs, the only thing that occupied his thoughts was intense guilt and regret. He had been the one to bring Brightpaw here. She could've denied him and let him go by himself to meet his own fate here. But, no, she was just too concerned about him going alone to disagree. She was too caring for her own good. All of this was his fault and knowing that consumed him like wildfire. He almost felt like he deserved the feeling of teeth tearing into him by this point.

His vision was blurry due to blood loss, his wounds were deep and excurciating, and his breathing was getting more and more labored. But he had to keep going, for Brightpaw. She was not going to die tonight. She will live to become a warrior one day and be one of ThunderClan's greatest. As for Swiftpaw himself? He was the least deserving of a warrior name.

Ultimately, when he leapt up at the dogs once more after they'd gotten too close to Brightpaw, the feeling of teeth sinking into his throat became known. His mouth parted slightly in shock as blood ran down his chin and smeared his chest fur. The dog let his body fall to the ground, causing him to land almost directly across from Brightpaw.

The last thing his eyes saw as he lay across from the she-cat was the faint rise and fall of her sides. She... was alive after all. Finally, he allowed his body to relax and closed his eyes.

\\\

“Swiftpaw... Wake up,” a deep, yet gentle voice meowed.

At the new voice, Swiftpaw's eyes flickered open and he looked up to see a large golden tabby tom with warm amber eyes. His whole body seemed to glow with a soft silvery-white light and he looked almost transparent. His eyes then widened as he recognized the tom. Lionheart!

“You fought with the ferocity of the whole of ThunderClan against the dogs, but as much as I hate to tell you, you lost your fight here.” Lionheart's words were bittersweet as he nudged the younger tom to his paws.

“Wait, so you're saying I... died?” The words felt like thorns scraping his throat. Now standing up, Swiftpaw took a slow, reflective look around the clearing. The dogs were nowhere to be seen and the clearing was a mess of scuffed up ground, bits of fur, and splatters of blood. The guilt from his last moments of fighting returned as his gaze settled on the ginger-and-white cat lying just beyond his own battered body.

Lionheart didn't stop him as he gingerly stepped over to her and crouched down in front of her, burying his nose in her fur.

“I'm so sorry, Brightpaw. Please don't die, ThunderClan needs cats like you...” Rising back onto his paws, his body felt heavy as he walked back over to Lionheart, meeting his gaze. “Will she... will she live?”

“Her life is hanging in the balance right now. Her face wound is severe. Only StarClan knows what'll happen to her now.”

At the tom's answer, Swiftpaw's fur bristled. “That's not the answer I want! She deserves to life through this, okay? She'd better survive or I'll rip your fur off!”

“Swiftpaw, please, calm down,” Lionheart's voice was soothing, as thogugh he was talking to an upset kit. “Brightpaw's life isn't in your control. You did everything you could while you were alive to protect her, right? Thanks to you, she just might pull through.”

Turning his gaze back to Brightpaw, Swiftpaw let his fur lie flat as he noticed the small rise and fall of her sides. She was still breathing, but barely.

“Alright... You better be right,” Swiftpaw meowed before switching his gaze to the sky that was slowly lighting up with the rising sun. “I'm ready to go now.”

“Okay. I'm sure you'll have quite a story to tell.” Thus, Lionheart touched his nose to Swiftpaw's forehead, causing them both to be engulfed in a silver-white light before vanishing.

Please live, Brightpaw, please...

#warriors #warrior cats #warriors swiftpaw #warriors brightheart #warriors cats swiftpaw #warrior cats brightheart #swiftpaw #brightheart

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freezepride · 7 years ago

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Brains, Brawn, and Persuasion

Characters: Zexion, Lexaeus, Even (Vexen)

Rating: G

Description: Even’s time has run out and he must decide. Does he repeat the sins of his past and side with the darkness to save the child he raised, or does he side with the light and abandon everything he has ever known?

Author’s Note: This is an idea that got way out of hand, but was sparked by @queenofbaws‘s wonderful work. You can find it here. The basic premise of the story is that Ienzo has been turned into a vessel of darkness and is trying to enlist the help of Vexen once again.

Lexaeus duly noted the neatness of the labs as he entered, the strange sense of preparation that pervaded his surroundings. There was a tension that Even held in his shoulders as he always tended to when he expected the worst, as thought the blow would come at him from behind. When Lexaeus finally came to collect Even from his quarters, he had not expected to find him in this state. The elder scientist had never responded well to surprises, and while the introduction of Zexion back into their lives had been anything but pleasant, it seemed to be hitting the aged scientist rather hard.

Zexion’s golden eyes still burned in the Guardian’s memory, feeling all too painful and vivid as if this were all some nightmare from which he could not awaken from. But that shock and horror had receded soon after he had allowed the darkness back into his life. It felt all too familiar to him, playing at the edges of his memories, making his choice seem all the more substantial, logical.The black cloak he had worn from his days as Lexaeus still fit him like a glove, his movements still felt practiced and smooth, as though begging him to push the limits of the new power that was still now growing within him, like the beautifully constructed weapon that he knew he truly was.

It would be easy to break Even. One firm blow would do the trick. He reached out, trying not to think of the amount of force it would take to snap the slender man in half.

“You were always too soft with him.” Even whispered, his voice so tense and tight it boarded on trembling.

Lexaeus paused, his brow knitting as his hand hovered over Even’s shoulder. The scientist turned around stiffly to face him, his long lab coat hanging loosely around his thin frame as if it were a billowing robe. He stared up at Lexaeus with wide, bloodshot eyes, which seemed to eerily offset the poison green of his iris. His lips were drawn into a fine line and his usually neat, straight hair was sticking out at odd angles that seemed so very much unlike him.

“Don’t you dare touch me.” Even hissed. He stepped stiffly around the guard and headed for the doorway to his labs before Lexaeus could guide him through. “I’m headed too see your master. I’m certain that was what you were sent here for, correct?” He continued, the words sounding biting and caustic, but his tone was so tight that it sounded just as uncomfortable to say as it was to hear.

Even was jittery, borderline twitchy when he found Zexion lounging in the study, surrounded by choice selection of literature. The sunlight filtered through the windows, casting it’s golden rays gently on the young man’s face as he lazily flipped a page, and then another as Even made his way forward. He glanced up from his volume after a long moment, seeming only to just notice the shadow that the scientist and the guardian casted as they entered. He quirked a brow at Even, an expectant smile playing at his lips. He shook his head slowly, clearly relishing in the fact that the elder man had clearly not had a wink of sleep in what seemed like three days since he had first revealed his true alignment. Zexion did not think that Nobodies were capable of genuine pleasure, but this current predicament was getting extremely close. There was nothing more amusing that watching a man backed into a corner by fear and logic.

“Do you need more time, Even?” He murmured, carefully dog-earing the top of his current page before he glanced up to Even with those amber colored eyes. “I can speak with the Superior about it, if need be, but really, I’m beginning to rethink my opinion of you. You’re making this so very tedious.” He yawned.

“You said ‘Brains, Brawn and Persuasion’, correct?” Even cut in, the words readily waiting on the tip of his tongue.

Zexion blinked at the interruption, his lazy smile fading slightly as he peered at his former mentor. “What did you-?”

“Brains, Brawn and Persuasion. You stated it as being our ‘tour-de-force’ in our previous conversation, correct?” Even speedily added before looking to Zexion expectantly,

Zexion visible golden eye narrowed dangerously, sensing a trap in these words. It annoyed him even more to see that the annoying habit of interrupting him in the middle of answering a question was still something Even felt the need to do. Feeling remarkably childish, he finally answered. “Yes, that was what we discussed before.”

“Precisely!” Even cried, his impossibly bright eyes widening just a hint as he stepped toward Zexion. “You would never keep me alive unless you needed something from me. This isn’t about respect, or even about power. This is about having a full package, the full fighting force. You claimed to be able to make this transition back to darkness without me, but you’ve lied.” Even continued softly, almost to himself, trembling under the weight of his realizations. He glanced around the room, as if making calculations in mid air. “They don’t need you, unless you have a truly powerful force to offer them in return.” He finished, his eyes searching the air before him for answers before they settled back on Zexion with a pointed interest. Zexion lifted himself up from his chair, the dark energy around him was palpable, overwhelming as it radiated off of his form in waves.

“I have my fighting force.” Zexion gestured smoothly to Lexaeus. Even turned to look at the warrior, and Lexaeus stared stonily down at Even, as if waiting for the cue to step in and silence the scientist.

“You should be ashamed of yourself for enabling him.” Even said weakly, watching as the man’s deep royal blue eyes were rimmed with the same amber gold as Zexion’s own. It slowly ate away at his gentle mind, hardening his gaze, making him all but a statue. “But I will save you. I will save both of you. If you won’t step up to the task, I will certainly have to.” Even muttered. His thin hands tightened into fists as he turned his attention back to Zexion only to find that the young man had moved soundlessly to stand directly before him, wearing that same sense of superiority, that same calm impatience that a parent tended to wear when dealing with a particularly petulant child. Even stumbled backwards, nearly knocking into Lexaeus as he gasped in surprise.

“Your time is nearly through,” Zexion whispered, “as is my patience. We don’t need you to gain access to your scientific records.” A slow, wicked smile grew on his smooth face. “I suppose I should be quite thankful that you’ve always been so meticulous. Again, you should be grateful that I am even extending this honor to you.”

Even reached into his pocket and fumbled with a small sleek looking white, remote. When he finally found it, he gave Zexion a mad look of triumph before pressing on the button.

The entire castle quaked beneath their feet. Zexion snapped his attention to Lexaeus who glared beneath him, trying to peer into the earth and figure out exactly what was happening within their own domain. “The labs, they’ve shut down. The entrance is gone.“ Lexaeus murmured, looking more confused as he sensed the earth beneath them shifting and rearranging itself.

“Collapsed. I placed the explosives myself.” Even added, the hand clutching the remote was shaking as his grip on it tightened. “No one can access it now. Not you, not your violent pawn, not even me!” Even said, nodding to each of them in turn.

“You would destroy your life’s work?” Zexion hissed, his eyes narrowing dangerously.

“You have no idea the lengths I would go.” Even did not back down this time. He stared at those molten gold eyes, leveling himself with Zexion as he did so and glancing back and forth as if trying to find some shred, some semblance of humanity left in him. “I failed Ienzo once, I’m not going to do so a second time.”

“It’s already too late-”

“Bullshit. Your flair for the dramatic is getting the best of you, Ienzo. You can’t hide from me.”

Zexion flinched, his expression caught somewhere between disdainful and angry. Even gave him a tired smile before stepping back once again. Zexion frowned, glaring venomously at the older man. “I gave you the choice before as an act of respect. Now that I see that my time has been wasted, I’m sure that my counterpart would be happy to force you to join our side.”

Lexaeus took hold of Even’s arm, but before he could even make another move, Even had his other hand placed at the back of his own neck. “I’ll kill myself!” He cried, glancing up at the mountain of a man, his face frozen in fear and anger as both of his hands trembled.

An ironic, yet confused smile formed on Zexion’s face as he quirked a brow at the scientist. “Even, stop being so ridiculous.”

“If I die, the information dies with me. If I activate this last explosive,” he tapped at the back of his neck, below the curtain of straight, pale blond hair, “the data, the findings, and all of the results are gone to you. I’m the last one who could hope to even read such a thing.” He was breathing heavily as he spoke, glancing from Lexaeus to Zexion and then back, as if hoping to tear his arm away from the larger man’s grasp but knowing that such a struggle was futile.

Zexion tilted his head, considering the two of them with unblinking focus. A smile still seemed to play at his lips as he considered his next move. “You’ve planned ahead, haven’t you, Even?”

“It’s only to be expected when one has to face off against a tactician and a warrior. One may say I needed to properly use their brains.” Even frowned deeply as he responded.

“Quite. Well, Lexaeus, it seems we’ve been outmaneuvered for now.” He said with a small shrug and a pitying smile. “Let the poor, old man go.”

Even felt the stony grip on his arm ease up. Hastily, he stumbled back from the duo, watching as Zexion turned around once again to peer out the window, the sunlight making those golden eyes twinkle with it’s final rays. “I’ll be magnanimous with you, my former mentor. I’ll give you a head start. Go ahead, flee and try to save your precious Ienzo. I don’t suppose it has ever really occurred to you that he never really wanted to be saved in the first place?” Zexion laughed softly. “For one so intelligent, you’ve never been able to see the truth past your own foolish preconceptions.”

“Ienzo is not a monster.” Even whispered, backing away to the door.

“Perhaps he would prefer to be.” Zexion shot back, venomously. “Lexaeus, give Even a bit of time to escape. I know for a fact his explosives cannot stay active forever, it will cease to function after a few hours. The moment it does, he is yours to do with as you will.” He reached out a hand and patted Lexaeus fondly on the arm. “I know how you’ve been waiting for this chance. Just make sure to bring him back to me alive. Understood?”

Lexaeus nodded in confirmation. Even was standing in the doorway now, his hand on the wooden threshold as he stared back in disbelief and tried to keep himself from trembling in fear. Lexaeus was going to be hunting him down. He should have expected such a turn of events, but the thought of him even being a target for the enormously powerful man was more than Even could stomach. The warrior glanced at Even, the royal blue of his eyes nearly gone now as deep amber glowed in it’s place. His stony expression revealed nothing, but there seemed to be a tension in his entire body, ready to pounce the second that Even’s time elapsed.

Fear dropped into the pit of his stomach, running up his spine and freezing him as if those eyes held him in place. He labored over his breathing as he tried to find some semblance of sanity beyond the terrified thought of Lexaeus coming for him, a being of pure and unbridled power and remarkable cunning all focused on catching Even off guard. Strangely enough, he would have preferred the thought of Zexion being his primary adversary, but to know that Lexaeus was going to be in his stead was harrowing.

Even tore his eyes away from his former companion, glancing at his wristwatch before sprinting down the hallway to the hanger. He had a few precious hours, and he could afford to waste none of it. He needed to escape this castle as soon as he possibly could and travel by space ship would be the most effective method. Those golden eyes glimmered in the back of his mind, all the while he grasped at his precious, happy memories of Aeleus and Ienzo, solidifying his will.

He would achieve his goal. He would save them both. He would not fail.

#Kingdom hearts #vexen #zexion #lexaeus #even #ienzo #aeleus #fanfiction #basement trio

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pocket-luv101 · 8 years ago

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This is just a small AU I started but don’t think I’ll ever finish. But I liked the idea so I’m just writing a small snippet of it. This was supposed to be a mystery AU with MikuTsuru.

Mikuni groaned as he sat up in bed. Still half asleep, he reached for his phone on his bedside table. His phone wasn’t where it usually was and Mikuni realized that nothing in his room was familiar. Fragments of the previous night came back to him and he realized that he was in a hotel room. His clothes littered the floor and Mikuni brows drew together.

Even though his hangover prevented him from remembering the night clearly, it didn’t take much to guess what happened. Mikuni chastised himself for becoming drunk enough to have a one night stand with a stranger when he was old enough to know better. But Valentines always made him somber and he often tried to drink away his ghosts.

As he gathered his clothes, Mikuni heard the shower being turned on. His head turned sharply and he glared at the bathroom door. He woke up alone so he thought the person he slept with already left. Mikuni tried to remember the person he slept with but the only thing he could remember was warm, golden eyes. A part of him couldn’t shake those eyes.

His phone rang and Mikuni quickly checked the text. He wasn’t surprised that it was from his roommate, JeJe. Where are you right now? The chief just called to say he wanted the draft today.

“As if my day couldn’t get any worst.” Mikuni rushed to throw on his clothes. As if fate was trying to challenge him, the bathroom door opened as Mikuni was pulling on his jacket. Mikuni didn’t turn to face the stranger. He grabbed his wallet and ran out the door.

“Wait, where are you going?” He heard the man call after him but Mikuni didn’t reply or stop. “You were supposed to pay for the room!”

“You got drunk again, didn’t you?” JeJe didn’t bother with a greeting when Mikuni walked into the office. He was a little later than usual and looked irritated. Then he gave JeJe an insincere smile. They knew each other long enough for him to know that it was pointless to ask him anything further.

“Don’t worry about me. As long as you got the draft done yesterday, all we have to do for today is send the article to the chief.” Mikuni’s words made JeJe frown. They both knew that Mikuni was responsible for writing the article. “I have some interviews today so I can’t write it.”

“I hate you. You can’t just dump your work on me whenever you feel like it.” JeJe muttered but opened his laptop. They were roommates and have known each other for most of their lives but it was difficult to define their friendship since it was so versatile. Despite their past and differences, they were close. From the corner of his eyes, he watched Mikuni shift through the paper on his desk.

“Here are the notes I made of the interview. It’s kind of depressing what people would do if you give them enough money.” Mikuni tossed the notes towards JeJe. They were journalists but Mikuni’s methods of gathering information was far from ethical. “I confirmed everything his wife told us. All we need is a picture of the affair.”

“Mikuni, I need to talk to you.” They both looked up when their chief stepped out of him office. He gestured to Mikuni and he wondered why the chief would want to speak with him privately in his office. But he stood and walked into his office.

When he walked inside, there was a man he didn’t recognize sitting in a chair. The chief introduced him. “This is Tsurugi Kamiya. He is going to be joining our team today and you’re going to be mentoring him. I know that this is sudden but the higher ups want you to work with him for the article on the C3.”

“What?” Mikuni raised a brow at his chief’s order. “Are you honestly going to assign someone you just hired with an article like this one? The C3 is fronting a neutral protection agency but they’re imprisoning innocent vampires. They’re abusing their power and using fear to justify it! Do you honestly think that I’m going to give a case like that to him?”

“I wasn’t telling you to give it to him, I’m telling you to work with him.” His chief corrected but Mikuni refused to be swayed. He had to admit that the case was very personal to him. While vampires and humans lived together, some people still had concerns. Mikuni wasn’t one of them since he grew up with vampires and JeJe was one as well.

“It sounds like a big case.” The man suddenly spoke. “It’s going to be difficult for you to do it by yourself and that tall guy you usually work with is busy with other cases. At least that what it looked like when I walked by. I’m pretty good with reading people so you might want a person like me helping you.”

“You seem confident in yourself.” Mikuni’s tone told Tsurugi that it was far from a compliment.

“Yup. How about a little game? You give me a twenty and I’ll give you a little biography about yourself.” Tsurugi held out his hand expectantly. Mikuni decided to humour him and placed the bill in his hand. He doubted the man would be able to guess anything about him correctly. Even coworkers he knew for years didn’t know much about him. But Tsurugi’s eyes watched him intently, as if he could see through him.

“You’re in your early twenties and was born with a silver spoon in his mouth. You lived in a fancy house with your picture perfect family and friends. You had everything you wanted in life. Now you’re here with nothing and you can’t go back to that life. But it was your choice to leave. Sometimes you look back and wonder if you did the right thing. Was it the right thing, Kuni-chan?”

For a moment, Mikuni couldn’t respond. How could he respond to the man? Tsurugi smiled at him knowingly since he didn’t need Mikuni’s confirmation to know that he was right. “So, do you want me as your partner now? The higher ups are going to force you to work with me but this’ll be easier if we get along.”

“Don’t get in my way.” Mikuni clicked his tongue. “I’ll brief you on what I have so far. We should go into a conference room to discuss the article. I’m sure the chief doesn’t want us crowding his office.”

Tsurugi followed him without a word. Mikuni studied him as they walked together and he wondered how he knew so much about him in such a short time. Usually, he could keep people from discovering the truth about him with his facade. The only person that truly knew him was JeJe.

“I have something for you.” Tsurugi said once they stepped into the elevator. The door closed and Mikuni sighed heavily. He decided that it was pointless to keep his façade if Tsurugi could see through him easily.

“Unless it’s your resignation, I really don’t want anything from you.” Mikuni glared at him but Tsurugi only held out the paper for him to read. To his surprise, it was a bill for a hotel room. The name of the hotel was familiar and Mikuni searched his memory for where he saw it before.

“Don’t tell me you honestly forgot me,” Tsurugi eyes widened with feigned hurt but it was so transparent that Mikuni had to roll his eyes. He leaned closer to him and whispered, “You were supposed to pay for the room. But you just ran off this morning.”

The words and voice were so familiar that Mikuni recognized them easily. His eyes widened when the situation finally dawned on him. The man he had a one night stand with was now his colleague and they would have to work together for an article. Mikuni didn’t know if it was because of his bad luck or if the world truly hated him.

“Do you remember me now, Kuni-chan?” Tsurugi laughed when he saw Mikuni’s expression. His golden eyes were the same as Mikuni’s hazy memories but they held a hint of mischief now. But there was something guarded about those eyes as well. “But I guess that was for the best or I wouldn’t have gotten that twenty from you. You told me everything last night. That’s how I was able to win.”

“Everything?” Mikuni’s eyes narrowed. No matter how drunk he was, he knew that he wouldn’t tell a stranger so much about himself.

“Everything.” Tsurugi confirmed and walked out the elevator once the doors opened. At the same time, his phone rang. “I need to take this call. You go onto the conference room first. I know where it is.”

Tsurugi watched Mikuni leave and waited until he saw the door close after him. Then he made sure that no one else was in the hall before he answered the call.

“Hey Tai-chan. Just checking up on me? Don’t worry I’m doing fine and I’m sure I’m going to have fun here. Where was I last night? I was drinking with Yumi-chan, nothing else.” Tsurugi lied after a moment. “No, I haven’t forgotten my job. I’ll keep him from finding out more.”

He was watching the conference room door sharply and promptly disconnected the call when he saw the doorknob turn. Mikuni stepped into the hall and glared at him. “What’s taking you so long?”

“I’ll be right there!” Tsurugi smiled brightly.

I don’t know why but I lose inspirations for my mystery AU. Fantasy is more of my strength. I had the outline done for this fanfic but don’t know if I’ll actually complete this.

#servamp #mikutsuru #mikuni alicein #tsurugi kamiya #servamp jeje #fanfiction

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fairyqueennerd · 4 years ago

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Gratitude Day-95

A/N- This is a fanfiction on BTS i wrote in Amino, if you are reading this i hope you enjoy.

“Today is the day?”

“Yes, it is. Didn’t we discuss it already now get up.”

Taehyung was still sleepy, though they had already decided among themselves and even this was his very own idea, he didn’t want to get up just yet.

“Okay, you sleep a bit more, I will start.” Saying so Jimin ruffled his hair and went out of the room, all of Tae’s mind was filled with the idea of lying down and going back to his dreams but suddenly he remembered what all they did yesterday to prepare for today and he was not going to let poor Jimin do it all.

He made the bed just like they had decided and looked at the clock 5am so they had two hours in their hands.

Today they were going to celebrate ‘Gratitude day-95’, it was decided between Jimin and himself ,a week before. They were sitting together and watching their old concert videos and were reminiscing all those happy memories and sad memories they have faced along the way.

That started the discussion of how grateful they were to be where they are today. They remember the time they became trainee and the people who helped them to join the group, their parents, their fans and most importantly the members.

That day they first called their Mentors to thank them, they were kind off caught off guard by their sudden call and at the same time were very happy, discussing the old days always filled them with so many emotions that is difficult to express all together.

The next day they called their parents and had a very long and heartfelt talk with them, which made them miss their family a lot but still it also made them realise the happiness they felt with the present family they were living with, who always stood with them and meant the world to them, so today they were going to do everything that would make them happy.

Yesterday they declared that they were having a duo party in their room and would be sleeping together so requested the other members to not disturb them, they complained a bit like how they take advantage of the fact that they are born in the same year and had schooling together, but they also know how deep bond the 95 liners share and they cherish that, so nobody even knocked, once they started their party.

They firstly had a nice and healthy dinner, then they had a karaoke party after that watching movie and lastly; when they were quite sure that others won’t barge in or must be already sleeping, discussed their plan for tomorrow.

Jimin was already in the kitchen for preparing breakfast, it was Tae’s duty to select clothes for the members and make the bathroom ready. Everything was done till 6 am and the next hour for decoration as they had already decided.

The decorated the hall, with balloons and flowers and in between their calligraphed ‘Gratitude Day’ till 7 everything was done neatly and the duo were quite satisfied with the results, now it was time to wake the members, Jimin was in charge of waking Jin, Suga and RM while Tae was supposed to wake J-Hope and Jungkook.

“Jin Hyung wake up” Jimin said pulling the covers off the elder maknae.

“Ah Jiminah! You want to sleep with Hyung?” Jin answered with sleepy eyes.

Though Jimin was tempted to have a nap, he resisted but he could bet that his eyes were more puffy than normal cuz of lack of sleep.

“No Hyung, this is for you.”

Saying so he handed a card to Jin and left the room.

The front of the card was cut in a wave pattern and a beautiful red rose was drawn over it, opening he had to open again to the right inside there was a message or rather a letter.

“To Jin Hyung,

Hyung you have been there for us in every difficult situation and have been taking care of us like your little brothers from the very beginning, you cook for us and its always delicious, you joke with us and make us laugh a lot, (Jimin is right now laughing remembering one of your jokes) , play with us like a friend and you have a huge heart. Though we make things hard for you, you don’t get angry and never take it to your heart. You are playful but serious at the right moment, with you in the room it’s always a happy environment. We have learnt a lot from you Hyung and we hope that you would keep on caring for us, pampering us and we would keep on learning from you.

Thank you Hyung, we love you.”

The back of the card had a huge red heart with a cute picture of Jimin and Taehyung in the centre.

X------------------X----------------X

“Ah Jiminah, you are here to wake me up? I am up already”

Suga was sitting on the bed, blinking to the outside world.

“Oh, Here it is for you.”

The card was of the same pattern but with a white rose in the front.

“To Yoongi Hyung,

We really appreciate your personality Hyung, you made us respect our music or music in general a lot. You are so dedicated while composing that makes us want to work harder to do a better job. Though you appear to be cold you have the warmest heart that think and care about all of us, though it appears that you like to relax we know how hard working you are and how less you react, though you act like you don’t care we know that you care a lot.

All we want to say is thank you Hyung, you are doing a great job and stay awesome. Love you a lot.”

X------------------X-----------------X

“Hyung wake up”

“hmmm…………….”

After a series of calling and slight amount of tickling Namjoon was up.

“This is for you.”

This time the rose was of pink colour.

“To Namjoon Hyung,

Hyung you are the perfect leader we could ask for, the way you handle things between us, on the stage and during interviews is already praise worthy. We are so proud of you and wish that you would be proud of us as well. You are a great inspiration to us as well as have an impact on us. Though we sometimes do irritate you, you still love us and don’t mind it a bit. You support us in all our decisions and are the key to all our problems.

Thank you Hyung, we love you a lot.”

X--------------------X------------------X

Meanwhile Tae,

“Hyung you are up?”

“Yes just woke, aren’t you up a bit early?”

“Ah!, That! …We made this for you, have a look.”

Hoseok was confused by the card that was in his hands right now, it had a yellow rose drawn on it.

“To Hoseok Hyung,

First of all we would like to thank you for letting us to have a sleepover yesterday. Hyung you are the literal meaning of your stage name, all names are beautiful but a few are who come make the meaning of the names to life. You are the hope and optimistic energy of our group and we really appreciate it a lot. Thank you for always showering us with love and caring so much. Your dance is as amazing as it can be and so are you when you work so hard. We both try our level best to get your acknowledgement, (when we are learning new choreography, both of us bet who gets first acknowledged by you) We promise to keep working hard and give our best with you as our energy.

Thank you Hyung love you a lot.”

X------------------X------------------X

“Jungkook wake up.”

……

“Wake up!”

…..

For a moment he felt like leaving the maknae alone for a bit longer sleep, he was sleeping cutely but then he remembered his mission and shook him up and made him sit.

“Huh Hyung, Morning!” Jungkook said in a drowsy state.

“This is for you.” Tae left after ruffling Jk’s hairs.

The card this time had a blue rose design.

“To Jungkook,

Our cute little baby, we have watched you grow over the years, from a shy little boy to one who can easily bully us. You have worked so hard for your own growth as well as for us all and we are thankful to you for that. You play with us and understand us and our moods well. You can act like a spoiled child but at times you are a full-grown adult, we appreciate it a lot. We have tons to learn from you and grow further.

And it remains a fact that you are always our golden maknae and we love you a lot.

Thank you.”

X----------------X--------------X

After some time all the members gathered in the hall in the clothes that we put up in their room by Tae, they had a confused look on their faces which turned into surprised one seeing the decoration of the hall, a projector was on showing their group pictures and in the very middle the table was filled with breakfast and the two boys in question were standing with a smile on their face like excited children.

“Good morning everyone have a seat and enjoy your breakfast.”

They said in one tune, others just followed what they were told still a bit surprised but at the same time happy.

“Hope you liked the card we gave you. Today we are celebrating Gratitude day from us.” Jimin Said pointing towards him and Taehyung.

“We are always thankful to you for supporting and encouraging us.” Taehyung said.

“Guiding us, loving us and accepting us.” Jimin said.

Taehyung started the presentation they had prepared, showing small clips from their previous concerts and a lots of group pictures along with ones with individual members, their song 2!3! playing in the background.

“Lastly we want to share a short poem we made for this occasion.” Tae said once the presentation was over.

“We all started being unknown,

But all the love and care you all have shown,

Can’t be expressed by words alone.

For the time you all have supported us,

To all the Knowledge you all have imported in us,

Is something that can’t be afforded by us.

All we can do is constantly be thankful,

Express our love and be joyful,

Cheers to our members who are wonderful.

Thank you now and always.”

All members clapped hard for the beautiful poem along with all the wonderful things they had done for them today, everyone shared a moment they were most grateful towards each other, soon they emotional and nostalgic mood was changed into joyous and happy one as they started singing and dancing together.

After all the celebrations were nearly over the ones to fall into deep slumber were the 95 liners but that was okay after all they made every one’s day a lot better and more memorable.

#bangta boys #bts #fanfiction #friendship #gratitude

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