#or the day before XIV doesn't remember

[system-of-a-feather]

Apparently XIV and my fiance are conspiring to change my alter name to "V" just because XIV kins Johnny Silverhand and is technically Nero and in both cases the character XIV assigns me in relation is somehow a character named "V" in both cases and I'm just like

[lesenbyan]

you know, I keep thinking about how much I'd get written if I had any self discipline at all and then like. doing nothing about it bc like. who's gonna enforce it? not me.

[silverynight]

By blood

<---Previous

Part XIV

Tanjirou cannot say he doesn't enjoy the bites and kisses the hashira give him on his thighs, but he feels a little bit mortified and embarrassed by his own reactions.

He turns completely red and the blush doesn't vanish from his cheeks the whole time; he moans a couple of times and covers his face even though Uzui assures him it's a perfectly normal reaction and looks very smug when he's saying that.

An embarrassing squeak escapes from his lips when Himejima gives him a soft bite and leaves a huge mark on his inner thigh.

Rengoku and Shinazugawa are the ones who can't help themselves and bite him a couple of times; Tanjirou has to cover his mouth in order not to embarrass himself even more.

It's a little bit different from what Akaza does because Tanjirou always tells himself he's doing it to feed Akaza 'cause he needs it, but right now he knows the Pillars are doing that only because they want to.

The way Tomioka looks at him, face between Tanjirou's thighs, before he presses his lips against his skin makes Tanjirou regret looking right at him in the first place.

Tokito is the first, but he has to be dragged outside by Kocho because he refuses to let go of Tanjirou.

Kanroji is very gentle, but she bites the same way Rengoku does, with a different type of hunger in her eyes that makes Tanjirou's blush spread down towards his neck.

Kocho is methodical and perhaps a little bit more dangerous because she knows exactly what to press and where to bite in order to make Tanjirou moan.

There's something about the way Iguro removes the bandages around his mouth first while staring at Tanjirou with a silent promise in his eyes; it makes Tanjirou shiver a couple of times even though he hasn't touched him yet.

He ends up looking like a mess and when he finally gets out of the room, he feels weak at the knees and barely takes a couple of steps outside; Himejima carries him for the rest of the day and Tanjirou buries his face in the curve of his neck because he can't look at any of them in the eyes yet.

They find it endearing though.

But he thinks it's embarrassing.

At least they don't seem that upset about what happened to Akaza anymore; actually, Tanjirou can tell they are very happy now.

"Can't wait to get married to you, Tanjirou," Uzui says then, when the redhead finally looks back at them. He winks.

Tanjirou blushes even more because now he has an idea of what he's trying to say. But it'll take a while for that; they're still courting him.

For the first time, no one scolds the sound hashira for his words though; the others seem to be thinking the same.

They look a little bit impatient and when Tanjirou notices he hides in the curve of Himejima's neck again.

"Let him rest," the stone hashira says.

"Let's bring him food and water!" Rengoku tells the others and a couple of them run towards the kitchen to bring Tanjirou snacks.

His Pillars are really weird sometimes, but he loves them.

***

Tanjirou stays in the butterfly estate and the Pillars too; they're constantly hugging him and kissing him. They seem to be very happy now and Tanjirou thinks they have forgotten all about Akaza.

But they haven't.

They give him new clothes (expensive ones if he's not mistaken) so he doesn't have to wear the uniform or simple robes when he's not on a mission.

After having an excellent breakfast the next day and having Kanroji feed him a couple of bites, he wonders about Akaza.

And then he remembers the house he prepared for him and Nezuko.

He wonders if he stays there sometimes, on his own.

"So... are you going to allow him to stay here?" Tanjirou asks, sitting on Himejima's lap because the stone hashira insisted.

The others stop what they're doing to give him their undivided attention as usual.

They're tense, Tanjirou knows they are thinking about the upper moon.

"Who?" It seems to him that Tokito asks almost like he's hoping Tanjirou doesn't mention Akaza.

"Akaza."

He can tell Iguro and Shinazugawa are upset, but they don't say anything against it. Still, Tanjirou wonders if Akaza can be safe there.

"Well, that's what we said, didn't we?" Kocho nods. "Yes, he can come, if that's what you want."

"And you're not going to hurt him, right?"

The question is followed by silence, that's only interrupted by Tomioka, but what he has to say is not comforting at all.

"If he doesn't hurt you."

"He wouldn't," Tanjirou assures them all immediately. "But he might need blood every now and then."

They don't like it. They're tense and not happy at all, but they don't say anything against it, at first.

"He can bite your arm," Uzui mumbles suddenly, crossing both arms over his chest. It looks like every word is torture to him. "And one of us has to be there when that happens."

"So he doesn't drink more than what he needs," Iguro says then.

"I've been writing to Lady Tamayo lately," Kocho cuts in suddenly. "She has a lot of blood stored in bags, maybe we can ask for a couple for your friend."

"That sounds like a good idea!" Tanjirou says, happy they're thinking about Akaza's needs for once.

Suddenly, everyone relaxes somewhat, like a huge weight has been lifted from their shoulders and Tanjirou wonders why.

"If the demon is going to stay here," Shinazugawa says, making an effort not to growl as he mentions the upper moon. "Then one of us has to be here with you."

"He's not going to hurt me!"

"Please, Tanjirou... we love you," Rengoku takes the redhead's hand, trying to be reasonable. "I know you trust him, but we can't take risks, not when it's about you."

He relaxes a bit, mostly because he can tell Rengoku is being completely sincere.

"Alright," he agrees, even though he knows Akaza is not going to like it.

But maybe he can make him change his mind.

***

Next---->

Patreon

[genericpuff]

Do you know of anything similar to Stimuwrite for art? I've been struggling so much to draw my comics because ADHD is a bitch so honestly any advice you have would be great <3 obviously what works for one person might not for another but boy I'm so tired of just scrolling through tumblr trying to make myself draw and it just not happening

Ah, I wish I did! Honestly, for me it was just about building habits and routines. Considering how much time I spend at my desk anyways, I naturally gravitate to drawing comics when I've got spare time because it's right there anyways! But it's also gotta be something I'm actually really interested in making, because as the 'ole ADHD goes, if it doesn't generate the dopamine, the creating isn't gonna happen :'0 Even while working on Rekindled there are still loads of times where I'm like "BLEEEH I DON'T WANNA DO THISSSS" because as fun as it is to work on, it's still a lot of work! Fun doesn't always facilitate the focusing. And trying to force yourself to focus by cutting out everything else unfortunately just isn't a solution for everyone.

I find just tackling the work in small parts can help a lot. When I'm struggling with focusing on my work, I tell myself, "something is better than nothing". So I try to get at least one panel done, or one sketch, or just something that will feel a little less like nothing. It's okay if I don't get much done that day, because something is better than nothing. Over time that "something" can become more than just one panel or one sketch. It's a slow process but through practice and repetition you can build stronger and more efficient working routines that will keep you focused and get work done at a pace that works for you. But the key is to remember to rest also and forgive yourself for not getting "as much" work done as you did the day before, especially on those days where focusing is hard. Having ADHD makes it hard to think what you're doing is "enough" but even just getting a small drawing out or a single panel is enough, especially if you're just learning how to draw comics still or just starting out with a project that you're doing for yourself and whoever finds your work. Remind yourself of that always <3

And if anyone ever DOES find an app for focusing on art stuff similar to programs like StimuWrite, feel free to reblog with your suggestions!!! <3 I'm sure there's gotta be SOMETHING out there but there are none that I can recall or know of and it would be pretty dang sweet if there was.

Otherwise... make your own little reward systems where you can :' ) <3 (I like doing rounds of dungeon crawling in FF XIV in between panels LMAO)

[daintyshu]

𝐊𝐈𝐋𝐋 𝐌𝐘 𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐄

xiv. bitchless hoon (1.5k written)

"hey, i didn't manage to ask you why you left early on wednesday," sunghoon questions you as he wipes down the counter.

you, him and jennie had just finished the lunch crowd at the cafe that friday and you were finally able to breathe. this is why you hate working opening shifts on friday; the crowds just come in all at once, not even letting you warm up just as you clock in.

"wait, how'd you know?" you question back, smiling at a customer leaving the shop, wishing them a good day and to come back. "i have my ways," he wiggles his eyebrows repeatedly at you as a devious smile grew on his lips.

you cross your arms, giving him a pointed look as you tapped your foot impatiently. that seemed to do the trick and he laughs, ruffling your hair despite it being tied up. "i'm kidding, y/nie. i dropped by for a while that night but jay said you left early,"

you give him a dismissive wave of a hand when he raises an eyebrow at you, as if asking for an explanation. "ahh, it was nothing. was feeling a little down so chaeyoung unnie let me go off early and she took me out,"

"like, on a fun day out?" he jokingly asks and you smack him on the shoulder. "i'm kidding, obviously. saw you went on a date with jay too," he proceeds to nudge your shoulders, wiggling his eyebrows at you teasingly while you only roll your eyes. never a dull shift with sunghoon.

"it was NOT a date," you clarified as you topped up the plastic cups while he looked for something to do to keep his hands busy. "jongseong just wanted to cheer me up, so he brought me out too,"

he frowns at this. "what's with them all trying to cheer you up? what happened? i mean, only if you're okay with telling me,"

you pause, contemplating whether this was something significant enough about you to tell him. then again, donghyuck already knew about it too so there wasn't any reason to not tell sunghoon. after all, you were closer with sunghoon than you were with the older boy. so you told him everything.

"you know what? i'm taking you out after work to cheer you up," sunghoon announces after several empty threats of how it's "on sight" if he ever sees heeseung.

"you really don't have to, hoon. all of you didn't have to, i'm really fine, i just didn't expect to see him again after so long," you told him honestly.

well, half-honestly.

it still bothered you that you and heeseung's relationship ended abruptly without your input. but you're happy with how your life is right now so it doesn't really matter anymore.

"so you don't want to go out with me after work?" sunghoon pouts, pretending to sulk. "it's jay, isn't it? that's why you don't love me anymore?" he jokes, clutching his chest as he pretends to dramatically cry.

jennie chose the wrong moment to come out of the pantry as sunghoon's gaze landed on her. "noona! save me from this heartbreak! y/n doesn't love me anymore!"

"she never did in the first place, hoon-ah. now stop fooling around and help me wipe the lightbulbs above the pantry, you're the only one who can reach it," jennie passes him a cleaning cloth and sanitising spray, opting to stay in the bar with you while she makes sunghoon do some cleaning in the back.

you giggle at his antics. never a dull shift with sunghoon.

you remember the first time you met the boy four months ago.

he had been a regular before he applied to work at odd atelier. the pretty iced vanilla latte boy. it's funny how you remember customers by their regular orders rather than the names they'd give you. you couldn't remember names to save your life.

sunghoon would get his daily iced vanilla latte in the morning to-go but gradually he started dining in more often. after a month, he decided to apply to work there and got accepted.

you were tasked to teach him all he had to know as a part-timer when he first joined the team. he seemed cold and standoffish at first but really, he was just a shy guy.

when you got closer to him, he started showing you his chaotic side which you grew to love. you didn't think such a cold-looking guy would be as goofy as he was. it's funny how every guy you befriend turns out to be some kind of chaotic but you love it. you needed that kind of energy in your mundane life.

you didn't know when it began, but as sunghoon grew more comfortable around you, he started getting more flirty.

you can't tell if it's really a joke or not because the way donghyuck does it really does feel like it is but with sunghoon, it doesn't feel so.

if he were being real, you honestly wouldn't mind it at all. he was a good mix of goofy and serious. he knew when to be playful and when to be understanding of a situation. he's pretty good company, too.

"yah! earth to y/n! why are you zoning out?" you feel a smack on the back of your shoulder, causing you to snap out of your daydreaming. "ah, unnie!" you whined, rubbing the spot jennie hit.

"you were zoned out," she states, shrugging her shoulders. "okay but did you have to hit me?" you counter, still rubbing the stinging spot on your shoulder as you pout at the older woman.

she simply laughs and ruffles your hair playfully. everyone who works here have developed this habit towards you it seems. you didn't mind it though, it's only at work anyway.

"i was telling you to bring out some pastries from the back for the pastry case but you weren't listening. what are you thinking about?" she asks curiously, wiping the glass display case while you make your way to the back to grab some cakes and pastries to top up.

you come back out with your hands full of boxes, jennie offering to grab some to lessen the load. "do you ever wonder why hoonie is single?" you ask her, glancing through the small window on the pantry door to see the mentioned boy working hard cleaning.

glancing over at the older woman because she wasn't replying, you were met with her teasing grin and wiggling eyebrows. "why do you ask, dear y/nie?" you gave her an unamused stare back, crossing your arms. you sigh, knowing you won't be able to close the conversation if she doesn't get the answer she wants.

"just," you look over to the pantry door again, this time making eye contact with the boy who winks at you, laughing when you roll your eyes at him.

"he's very good looking, right? and he's fun to be around, he's very caring and always knows how to cheer people up. plus, have you seen the amount of girls that have come up to him here and asked for his socials? he could've accepted anyone, literally anyone but he, own his own accord, chose to be bitchless. all of the girls i've seen him reject are gorgeous gorgeous girls too,"

jennie simply laughs at your little rant, closing the pastry case after she was done. "aren't you the same? like, you're literally the reason our cafe went viral after someone posted a video of you on one of the acoustic nights," the older mentions matter-of-factly. "how many people have visited just to see you since then? how many guys have asked for your number?"

"but that's different! i don't want any of them," you huff, crossing your arms as you pout at the older. jennie snickers at your response, pinching your cheeks as she coos at you sulking. "there's your answer then,"

"what?"

"you wondered why hoon is single despite being very desirable? same reason you are, y/nie. you don't want any of those guys lined up for you and neither does he with those girls," she explains. "he's probably waiting for the girl he wants. no offence, he doesn't look like the type of guy who would make the first move,"

"that's mean," you tell her, despite giggling at the remark. "but i wonder who it is he's waiting for..." you trail off, imagining what your friend would be like if he had a girlfriend.

would he stop those flirty jokes with you? would he still be willing to cheer you up on days when your energy felt off to him? would you have to cut off your friendship out of respect for his relationship? you wonder.

jennie watches in amusement at your serious thinking face. she finds it so precious how oblivious you could be. she wonders why you're thinking of all this right now.

as sunghoon comes out of the pantry to join you two back in front, she watches endearingly at the way you two interact. she doesn't know how everything will play out but one thing she knows is; she's rooting for sunghoon.

prev | m.list | next

synopsis. in which you work at odd atelier cafe and can only make hearts in your lattes, causing a certain boy to misunderstand your intentions..... then he brings his friends and chaos ensues.

a/n: i can't believe it's been 2 weeks since the last update...i'm slacking fr sorry yall i'm only human 😔 neways this might be a flop update but i'm trynna intro each character and their relation to y/n before any drama!! so bear with me 🫶

taglist (open): @semisemirin1i82 @txtmetonight @ilyjxdz @miniature-tragedy @n1k1mura @t00miee @manooffline @aerivrs @saranghaohoshi @woninluv @moony-mari @nctsshoes2 @sunghoonnsupremacy @mnxnii @lisaswifey @enhy4me2 @en-chantedtomeetyou @enhypenlovre (strikethrough means unable to tag!)

[morocosmos]

FFXIVWrite 2024 Day 25 - Perpetuity

Masterlist Fandom: Final Fantasy XIV Characters/Pairings: Leofard Myste/Warrior of Light Rating: Gen Additional Notes: Spoilers for Post-Endwalker MSQ, patch 6.55. Ao3 Link

“Leo?” 

At the sound of his name, Leofard rouses from the space between sleep and wakefulness, albeit reluctantly. He hates being cold, and no amount of blankets is enough to prevent the Sharlayan chill from seeping into his skin.

But he blinks once, then twice; Moro’a’s curled in on his side, facing him. Still awake. He meets the yet unspoken words in those blue eyes.

“I've been thinking. About what I said at the landing.” Moro’a’s voice ghosts the air, so quiet that Leofard can barely catch it. “I want you by my side, on my adventures — none of that's changed. But I also need you to know that it doesn't have to be forever.” 

Something in Leofard’s head registers that this is important; a weighty conversation spoken in soft words. Drowsy as he is, it rounds down to pillow talk. “Never crossed me mind,” he murmurs, fighting and quickly losing to a large yawn. Figuring that that's enough to settle the matter, he burrows deeper into the blankets and lets his eyes fall shut. “Sleep. Big day tomorrow, aye?”

“Mmm.” Leofard somehow catches the hint of doubt in that word, and he feels just enough annoyance — or is it concern? — to ruffle him into opening his eyes again.

He isn’t the sort to poke at these things. Especially not in bed. But he wants to sleep, and Moro’a won't leave a thought alone, not until he's gnawed it down to the marrow. He makes a discontented noise — for the lost sleep — then forces himself up by one elbow.

“If you want to say it, say it.” He watches as worry flits across Moro’a’s features, before softening into something else. Tenderness. His heart does an odd flip, the kind that happens whenever Moro’a looks at him this way.

Idiot, he thinks. But there’s affection in that too, small and warm and alive.

“It's just…this is a lot,” Moro’a begins. “For me, but especially for you, and—I don't want you thinking that there's a point where it becomes too late to turn back.” He looks at him, searching for something in the dark. “That you'll have to break your promise.”

Leofard knows that what he's being offered is a way out. That it has as much to do with his worries as it does Moro’a’s. It's strange — he's lived almost all of his life pursuing freedom. Clawing his way past the cold, the loss, the stifling cage, until he could lift his wings and truly fly. He'd spent a long time believing that love, this sort of love, would be a cage, too.

Until Moro’a had let him go, and he'd realised that what he was running from was rarer than luck, and more precious than any bauble. 

To think that he'd almost let himself lose such a prize.

“Don’t have to say it twice. I know,” he replies. He isn’t the kind to caress, but something compels him to reach out, and his hand fits along the corner of Moro’a’s jaw just so. “Remember what I said at that landing? That I wanted a taste of your life, the skies only you can reach? That hasn't changed, either.” And this is the most he can bring himself to say, because the squirming in his chest might kill him, otherwise: “I can't do any of that unless I stay close to you, can I?”

The way Moro’a smiles is worth the twist to his pride. But even he has his limits. “Alright, we've had our chat. Now let me get some beauty sleep,” he grumbles. Moro’a doesn’t argue, only reaches out to draw him closer, and he lets him. 

He doesn’t want to love the way Raimille had to, rooted in place as those close to his heart drift beyond his reach. With Moro’a, there’s a chance he might never have to.

He thinks of Tural, of jewelled waters and smooth sands, the cities and skies he can't yet fathom. Moro’a’s tucked under his chin, and the warm weight of him is more comforting than he’d ever dared to consider. It feels good, feels right.

He falls asleep this way, looking forward to all the new and familiar that’s to come.

[roxasthatisastick]

I saw someone doing KHOC week last night before I went to bed and drew this up as FAST as I could haha

So!

KHUXOC Week Day 1: Introductions

Here's my absolute favorite OC, though I suppose a lot of her OCness comes in later...? This is Mint Nainyene, which is my AU is what was left of the canon Player after KHUX ends up in Final Fantasy XIV as the Warrior of Light.

Specifically, its only Player's heart; an equal portion of Mint's self is made of the soul she was granted upon entering into a deal in the afterlife... not that I'm going into anymore detail on that here, that's spoilers for bits I haven't written yet!

As a result, Mint is in a constant push and pull between wanting to be more like Player and who she actually is right now... Not helped by the fact she has amnesia about the whole thing!! She doesn't remember being Player or the deal so. Well. When all you know is that your heart has connections (painful, painful connections) to people you have never met but need to, desperately, if only to know if they're okay...

It's left her in a bit of a state!

I have a full page for her here on my neocities, along with a set of art references on the same page!

I've also written a LOT about her here on my ao3!

@khoc-week

[sezja]

Febuwhump Day 3: "Bite down on this"

Fandom: Final Fantasy XIV

Characters/Ship: Sanson Smyth/Guydelot Thildonnet

Triggers/Content warnings: Broken bones

"That doesn't look good, Chief."

"No," Sanson manages, through gritted teeth. The arm is broken; of course it is - he'd felt it, the same blow that snapped his lance. Had Guydelot been but a second later with the arrow that pierced his attacker right through the eye, doubtless Sanson would be dead or dying.

As it is, they've been cut off from the rest of the unit, and from the Alliance's forces.

Dizzy, nauseous from the pain, Sanson sinks to his knees, cradling his limp arm in his good hand. Matron save us, he thinks; he's weathered worse injuries than this, and at a glance - admittedly a pain-blurred, hazy glance - Guydelot appears to have suffered only a few scrapes. A shallow cut oozes slowly on the bard's shoulder; it will need to be cleaned, but shouldn't need stitching. The rest of his wounds are superficial, and have already stopped bleeding...

That much Sanson notes, and no more, before his head begins to swim. He wants very badly to lie down... and knows full well that if he does, he may very well die here.

"Sanson," Guydelot says, hurrying to his side.

"I'll live." Blinking away the stars in his eyes, Sanson makes himself meet Guydelot's gaze. "Are we-"

The bard nods. "Safe. Or as good as, any road; the fighting's moving east. I reckon these were the last of the stragglers."

"Or... or a delayed scouting party, perhaps." His arm is all agony; it takes every ilm of his discipline to fight past it - to think of what matters; what must be thought of first. "The others?"

"No sign yet." Guydelot shrugs out of his own coat, tending to the wound on his shoulder. "They'll regroup with the rest of the Alliance, though, and meet up with us when they can."

Right. Right. Their orders, if they were... if they were separated...

"Chief!" Guydelot's hand on his good shoulder. Fear in his voice. Oh no. "Sanson. How bad is your arm?"

Bad enough. "Broken, I think."

Guydelot swears, kneeling in the mud beside him. Despite everything, it's a comfort to have him close; it's grounding - something kinder than the pain. "You're pale as a fish's belly," the bard says, trying for levity that doesn't quite dispel the worry in his eyes. "How bad's the break, d'you reckon?"

He focuses on breathing. On staying conscious; the pain wants him to sleep. "It... it was a clean break, I believe." I hope.

"We'd better set it, then."

"Set-" Sanson feels abruptly awake. "Guydelot-"

That familiar half-smirk; Guydelot's eyes twinkling with amusement despite... despite everything. "Aye, unless you mean to go on with a crooked arm. There's no telling when we'll meet back up with a healer."

"You could very well make it worse-"

"We learned to set broken bones in the Quiver."

"You-" That sounds nearly plausible. "You did?"

"They didn't teach you lot battlefield first aid?" Guydelot clicks his tongue, shaking his head with a deceptive lightheartedness he surely doesn't truly feel. "Lancers."

Sanson can stitch a wound, bandage cuts and scrapes - but setting a broken bone feels a touch beyond the expected expertise of the average soldier... and yet, he's never known Guydelot to boast in vain, nor to lie when their safety is on the line. If he trusts nothing else, surely he must trust Guydelot himself; when has the bard ever let him down?

He takes a deep breath. "This is going to hurt."

"Every second," Guydelot replies, quietly. "Sorry, Chief." He peels off his gloves, then, almost ludicrously, removes his belt. He holds the belt between his hands. "Bite down on this."

"I don't-"

"You'll clench your damn jaw so tight you'll shatter teeth or bite through your tongue. I know you." He lifts an eyebrow. "I've patched you up before, remember?"

A time or two, yes.

Recognizing the sense in it, Sanson yields, opening his mouth to let Guydelot tuck the thick leather belt between his teeth.

"It's not Fen-Yll, but it's good leather," Guydelot remarks, beginning the lengthy process of unbuckling and unfastening Sanson's heavy Adder coat. "You make sure to put a nice deep bite mark in it, eh? I know how hard you can bite-"

Sanson makes a disgruntled sound that owes nothing to pain.

"-so you'd better not hold back."

Removing his coat is a struggle, and Sanson nearly blacks out from the pain - he buries his face against Guydelot's throat, fighting the urge to scream; the worst is yet to come - he'll not shriek himself hoarse before the bard so much as begins attempting to set the bone.

"Easy, Chief. Easy." One strong hand cups the back of his head for a moment before sliding down to cradle his wounded arm; the other hand gently moves Sanson's coat down, guiding it as gently as possible over the break. Under his breath, Guydelot sings: a familiar song, one Sanson knows well; for healing and rejuvenation. Through the white-hot haze of pain, some of his anxiety eases.

Breathe, he tells himself. Concentrate on breathing.

Easier said than done.

Guydelot helps him lie down - a wise choice, Sanson thinks, as he's likely to faint a time or three - and carefully maneuvers his broken arm into a workable position-

And Sanson screams, sinking his teeth into the tough leather of the belt, fighting every instinct telling him to wrench himself out of Guydelot's grip.

"Easy," Guydelot says again, pinning Sanson's shoulder to the ground as best he can; in more ideal circumstances, they'd have more people to keep Sanson immobilized. In more ideal circumstances, none of this would be necessary.

"Remember the mountains of Dravania?" Guydelot begins gingerly feeling Sanson's arm, feeling for the break amidst the bruising. "After the fight with Celaine, you remember."

Sanson makes a strangled noise around the belt. He remembers very little beyond the pain at the moment.

"You'd gotten yourself all scratched up." He finds the break. Works at it - gently, for all the good it does; Sanson screams again, digging the fingers of his good hand deep into the earth. Guydelot pretends not to notice, though he's gone pale, as he continues, "I had to argue with you to get you to let me stitch you up. You were enough of a stubborn arse to think you'd do it yourself."

The pain is grinding and sharp, making red spots dance in front of Sanson's eyes. He thinks he loses consciousness.

"...wouldn't scream once the whole time," Guydelot says, carefully finishing his work, securing Sanson's arm in a makeshift wrap made of what appears to be the tattered remains of Sanson's own sleeve. He gently tugs the belt out of Sanson's mouth.

"Hells," Sanson manages, gazing miserably skyward, drained. "Guydelot..."

The bard studies the bite marks on his belt. "Not too shabby," he remarks... then uses the belt to secure Sanson's new sling, letting his arm rest comfortably against his chest. "Up you get." Guydelot helps him sit up, letting him lean heavily against the bard for support; Sanson isn't too proud to do so. His face is wet and his jaw is sore - he must have wept while he was screaming.

"Thank you," he says at last, weary. "The Matron knows when we'll see a proper healer, as you said."

Guydelot wraps an arm around his shoulders, holding him close, mindful of his injury. "Aye, well. Let's just see about making it through the night first, eh? Get some sleep, Chief. I reckon you've earned it."

[rainintheevening]

Part I – Part II ... Part XIV – Part XV

There are stables at their new school.

When Ed comes down for breakfast the first morning, he is gestured over by a rosy-cheeked Peter, hair distinctly wind-blown, who snatches up his coat from the bench, gesturing for Ed to sit beside him.

Ed hesitates, decides it doesn't matter, not on the first day of term, very few others are sitting where they're supposed to, and he doesn't even know for sure which form he's going to be in.

He nods shortly to the two closest boys, friends of Peter's from their old school. He notes the cold, fresh air smell clinging to his older brother as he leans over to pour a glass of milk.

“Ten horses, Ed!” Peter's eyes are alight. “Plus a few ponies. The stablemaster said as soon as I have a free hour to come down, and he'll let me try out a few. Mostly warmbloods, there's a pair of Clydesdales, and two thoroughbreds. Then Master Gringham has his own thoroughbred stallion; a big chestnut he calls Ben, apparently short for Benedict from that Shakespeare play. Just wait, I'll convince Gringham to let me ride Ben too.”

“Didn't know you were keen on horses, Pev,” one of the other boys remarks.

“Didn't even think you knew how to ride,” another snorts.

Ed shoots his brother a quick glance, as Peter's chin comes up in a flash of indignation, but then he seems to catch himself, and he smiles awkwardly, shrugs. “Comes of spending time in the country, I suppose.”

“What time did you wake up?” Ed mutters.

“Don't remember,” Peter says, and then the room is being called to order for the Head to make announcements and say the blessing.

Ed makes Second Form, and every third day he and Peter have the same free hour, and Edmund usually follows his brother down to the stables.

He quickly chooses one horse for his usual mount, a bay mare called Rose, but he prefers to hang back, enjoys watching other people watch Peter.

By the end of the first week, Peter is allowed to ride any of the horses he wishes, except for Ben. He is kind to them all, and his hands are gentle, but he is firm and his voice can pitch from a low sing-song to a sharp command in a moment. They listen to him, and Ed smiles to himself as the stablemaster Gringham leans on the fence watching Peter wander through the frosty paddock, greeting each animal by name.

“Who taught him about horses?” the man asks.

“A knight,” Edmund says quite truthfully, after all both Oreius and Erah had been knighted after the Battle at Beruna. “A friend,” he adds, because even with his hazy memories, it is hard to put a single word on what Peter and Erah the mute unicorn were to each other.

The stablemaster opens his mouth, then leaves it open, as Peter catches a handful of mane, vaults up onto the bare back of a black gelding.

Even in a threadbare coat, bareheaded under the grey English sky, face and hands stung red with cold, Peter looks regal, noble, even taller on the back of a horse. Something warm swells in Edmund's heart, and Peter's smile is magnetic as he and his mount pull up by the gate.

“Peter-boy,” Gringham says, slow, deliberate, “you ride like an Indian chief, or like the kings of old, and I can't rightly figure which it is.”

Edmund meets his brother's eyes, a flash of a glance, but so full of knowing it might as well be a whole conversation.

“Well, I've certainly never been to America, sir,” Peter laughs.

Other boys, the ones who were here at St. Maurice’s before, take to calling him Horse Boy with a tone Edmund does not like, but they watch him with as much awe as envy when he settles a wildly spooking horse, the only one not scattered by striking hooves close above his head.

“He used to be such a city mouse,” Ed murmurs to Rose, patting her neck. “Now I think he likes horses better than people. They remind him more of Narnia than all these boys.”

She whiffles her lips across his palm, finds no more scraps of bread, and turns back to her hay.

Even with the constant visits to the stables, Peter's top in the Lower Sixth two weeks into term, and Ed is proud of him.

He likes passing his brother in the hall, and exchanging smiles or little jokes, he likes when they take Rose and Atlas out for a canter, and he forgets how cold he feels in the joy of riding in step with Peter, as if they're back in Narnia with Philip and Era.

Philip the Talking Horse had been a dear friend, as capable of being quiet with Edmund as he was at sparking a battle of wits, and Ed remembers him fondly, but he knows their bond had been far looser than Peter and Erah's, knows the meaning in the wistful expression flickering through Peter's eyes as he pats Atlas’s black neck.

“Do you think they miss us?”

It comes out in a cloud of breath, Peter squinting in a shaft of rare noon sunlight. It is the first time he has voiced such a thought, and Edmund answers slow, searching for the right words.

“Well, if time is passing in Narnia (after all, we know it doesn't move the same between worlds), well... I think he, they, would miss us whenever they thought of us. Which is probably quite often.”

Edmund thinks about it sometimes, what might be happening back in Narnia, but that is usually reserved for the shades of night, when he finds it hard to sleep.

Distractions, he is glad for distractions, glad to keep his hands busy, glad to lift his chin and stride out into the sharp winter air, glad for Peter's blue eyes that remind him of a clear sky.

Winter has never been his favourite season, but it weighs on him a little more now, he’s much more aware of the shadows in his mind, of the chill in his bones, of the slippery, icy sense of unreality that creeps over him sometimes. He lies in bed, or curls by the common room fire, or eats his supper, and moulds his fingers into the curves and edges of the little silver lion he wears around his neck, breathes over his heart the promise lifted from the pages of the great heavy Bible in the Professor's study (Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine), until the shadow thins and the chill lessens.

Peter knows about some of it, without being told, as if he's seen it all before, and Ed supposes he must have, back in Narnia. He is attentive, watchful, pays far more attention to Ed than any other of the many elder brothers in the school pay to their juniors, but truthfully, Edmund is grateful.

He works hard in class, starts learning the violin, debates the theology master and earns a standing invitation to tea, avoids Finley and his little gang, finds a first form boy crying in the chapel and befriends him, joins the choir with Peter.

He finds his footing, and it seems Peter does too.

Next

[jasper-tarot-reader]

Neopets/Skyrim Tarot: XIV. Temperance

See, originally, I was just memeing on Sotha Sil being in the Skyrim deck but I didn't think much of it until I started going through all the cards and realizing just how many of them were strange choices. When I took a better look at some of the other choices for some of the cards, I realized that I wanted to make this comparison series.

Anyway, Temperance is typically depicted as an angel and is a card embodying things like balance, moderation, stability, and a middle ground. But...neither of these characters can really be accused of that?

(Gods, look at that Genshin White from back in the day...twenty years later will do wonders for a proper complexion for our girl.)

Jhudiah is the Island Faerie of Mystery Island. She's in charge of her Cooking Pot and the Trading Post (apparently, she has an exclusive deal with a company called PD Secure Storage to keep it secure). She's also one of the five guardians of Mystery Island. She also adores Hasees but gets in over her head with babysitting them.

Considering how often things you put into the Cooking Pot explode (or at least, how often I remembered them exploding), Jhudiah as Temperance is a fascinating choice. I suppose if you have access to modern JellyNeo and don't have to figure things out alone, it's far less stressful than it was for Baby Jasper back in the day.

Sotha Sil, also known as Seht and Si (as in AlmSiVi), was the wizard-mystic god with a whole slew of other titles, patronage of artificers and wizards, architect of the Clockwork City, the architect of time, and a binder of Oblivion. Those that followed the faith of the Tribunal Temple knew him for his power as well as the knowledge he provided, and for his contribution to helping the former Chimer transition into their Dunmer identity. (Yes, I did take that sentence wholeass from the UESP, they explained it best.) Simply put, he did a lot of shit, including that one mpreg situation where Sotha Sil retroactively constructed and birthed Mnemo-Li (or Memory), before he ultimately died at the hands of Almalexia after she started going crazy when they began losing their godhood thanks to that whole Heart of Lorkhan debacle.

(Vivec is image left, Almalexia is center, and Sotha Sil with baby Mnemo-Li is image right.)

From what I can tell of the guidebook, Sotha Sil was put in here because his dedication to artifice and ability to make prosthetics and metal replacements for body parts "balances" the flesh with the machine (the Phyrexians under Elesh Norn would fucking hate that approach, lmao). But like...why the fuck is he here??? In the Skyrim Tarot??? When I bitched about this with a friend in December 2022, she recommended Zenithar for Temperance over Sotha Sil because that fit better.

But let's see here. Within Skyrim, who embodies stability, a middle ground, and neutrality? How about Jarl Balgruuf the Greater of Whiterun? If you never get involved in Skyrim's civil war, he remains neutral. But since the author of this deck seems to have taken the Stormcloak side, that doesn't fit the internal canon of this deck. If not him, then how about another court wizard? We've already got Farengar, and Wuunferth the Unliving is elsewhere in this deck. They're the only members of a court who don't relocate if their Hold is taken in different sides of Skyrim's civil war. Sybille Stentor, Madena, Calcelmo, and Wylandriah are all options, but of them, I would recommend Madena (a veteran of the Great War who has taken to a life of healing and semi-pacifism-unless-attacked) or Sybille (who outright says that she doesn't care about Elisif and believes that Elisif will be replaced as Jarl in a matter of months).

On the bright side, at least I am now not the only person cursed to know about the Sotha Sil canon mpreg.

[worldformula]

Im so curious about ur wol...do u have a doc for his backstory/willing to talk about him?

i would love nothing more than to talk about my specialest little princess. you can't get mad at me though!!!

tl;dr, here is his chart of characters he is most like. please trust me.

his moral compass is a roulette wheel.

don't want to put too much here so here's a really condensed version of his backstory and personality!

(tbh he was a riff off of a shared set of ocs that my friend jay and i made! because they're basically fire emblem ocs forced in xiv, their backstories are slightly more convoluted than if he had just been made for xiv in the first place)

utushama is the younger twin to his sister inanna and she reminds him every day of his life. they were actually born right before the third umbral calamity and transported into the future by their father, who was tricked by an ascian into causing said calamity. he doesn't actually remember that time and mistake their memory of it as the seventh calamity (though the body keeps the score, as he and inanna have pyrophobia for reasons they can't fully explain). they grew up very isolated in the dravanian woods and were raised by their other parent, who was unfortunately not super present in their lives bc they were basically working around the world as a mercenary to feed them. eventually dragons came to rock their shit and burn their house down because of the dragons' lingering resentment of their father, who hunted them for their eyes. they ran off to the abandoned saint mocianne's arboretum to wait for their parent who never returned. so they finally left dravania, albeit with different intentions -- inanna wanted to find their parent while utushama was convinced that their father was still out there and the cause of their parent's disappearance. so after a huge argument about this, inanna went to gridania to start her search while utushama went to ul'dah to avenge his parent.

compared to inanna, who's much more rough around the edges with a soft heart, utushama seems gentle, guiding, and easy to become friends with, only for prospective friends and partners to find themselves stonewalled by his emotional unavailability. he is very approachable and sweet, but often justifies his (not purposeful) cruelty and callousness by using his grand quests as an excuse, as he really falls into his role as a prince-like hero, often to his detriment. though he's got a pleasant personality, he can also be judgmental, stubborn, petty, and brutally unforgiving. he can't forgive deceit or injustice, though his extremities in black-and-white thinking eventually grey out over time. he wants to be a good person most of all, but unfortunately confuses being great for being good :( his character arc is mostly about him realizing the impossibility of being a perfect hero archetype in a world that is convoluted, nuanced, and contradictory. as a result, his story is pretty gendered despite his preference for androgynous clothing/decor.

he is an all-rounder with a focus on magic over physical strength: paladin (tank), black mage/dragoon (dps fusion), and i still can't decide on a healing class for him. mostly because he hasn't focused on healing since childhood. i main sage and i prefer healing above all else though :}

[koggthryn]

xii. asters & goldenrod

once, we lay with our skin stripped off us in a field, the grass growing up around us two, your jacket bleeding out beneath our bodies. we watched the wind mills turn over, the cattle slide down into valley villages with butchers and cleavers, the aster and the goldenrod root in the heavens above, rotting there. we exhaled exhaust and moaned against our mouths until the sorrow left us. OH OH, OHHHH GOD. we curled together, strong knees and proud chins and jaws, set. AM I HOPELESS? HAVE I DONE THIS TO MYSELF?

xiii. lamprey

she has learned of cain, condemned, and sinned against her own brother with the jawbone of an ass, blood under nails and adolescence brought to an end. she has been taught to unhinge her jaw and grown to shed skin in sunday school, has tasted the real paleo diet—plucked a lash from her eye, pierced a nail in the rind, peeled the flesh from her thigh—her moon-hungry pack of teeth have sunken into the pungent and the spiced, the wet meat smell of memory in a fine china skull.

xiv. final rites

YOU HAVE RETURNED. YOU HAVE RETURNED. they found your skin smoldering out back, where the dog pisses against the fence and motor oil leaks into the yard. they called in every prayer tree over the phone lines, bowed their necks and heads and lives over you, and the preacher didn't shut his eyes—how lustful—didn't even blink. he pleaded for your soul and made sure you knew it. SHE IS RISEN, PRAISE THE LORD.

xv. trespassing

you're out when you're not supposed to be, tipping your head back, back, back on the church's stoop and looking up. looking, seeking, searching, you find hollow-eyed grief gazing back down, the crucifixion looming over you. the garden angel out back is cracking, paint peeling from its cheeks, from her cheeks, but the wood carving of christ himself, christ almighty himself, doesn't bleed. doesn't cry. and you, you cry: LOOK AWAY LOOK AWAY.

xvi. below

and below us, below us garnets churn, minutes unfurling like leaves. we are still waiting. we are still watching out truck windows, watching our faces grow dark in the side mirrors, watching the statelines and welcome centers and exit signs all blur together.

xvii. not a lover

the story goes like this: she looked away for more, and he went missing instead. right there, quick and quiet. light bends and withers around the hole left in this town, avoiding his empty seat, the road sign at his bus stop, the boots left molding on his front stoop. they'll say her name was carved into his gut or wrist or web page. they'll say you can see her calling for him in the tree line, with the strange eyes of a goat. and when he turns back up, if he turns back up, he's lighting up sheet music and staring through cops, face wretched. calling himself PRAGMA LIBER. updating his status just the one time: ONLY HERE TO PROMOTE A SONG. THIS COMMIE PLATFORM CAN SUCK A MOTHERFUCKING DICK.

xviii. study group

WHAT'S YOUR NAME, AGAIN? she wants to apologize, wants to say KATHRYN LAUREN, but KATHRYN LAUREN sounds like windchimes and rose water, like a mother's hopes and dreams, and she is more of a million spider march down the back of a gas pump. she is houses that look like faces and bitter pine needle tea she steeped as a child, was baptized in as a child. she is wild blackberries and clotted blood, ripped-up psalms and an incisor for the tooth-fairy, a headless doll trailing the undergrowth, hand in hand with her. IT DOESN'T MATTER, she says. IT DOESN'T MATTER. WHAT UNIT SHOULD WE START WITH?

xix. vantage

and besides, you breathe differently down here.

xx. rosary

in a box by the bed, there's some tinny sound. our father, and his father before him, left us their dog tags. DALE LYNN. PROTESTANT. we remember his singing in church. we remember his weeping. PORTER, LEONARD. some rust and rot. a dent in the name. we can wait with them, can count every pearl in the chain, keep the seconds in hand, feel them move through us. the days, the months. this is religious, this careful observation of time. and in a darker place, with dust storms and corpses curling into one another, our father counts the pearls. our father before him counts the pearls.

xxi. questions to ask your mother

mom—the word MOM hides a prayer: PLEASE, LOOK AT ME, AFTER ME, PLEASE LISTEN, LISTEN TO ME, PLEASE, PLEASE STROKE MY HEAD, WASH MY BACK, LET ME STAY IN YOUR HOME TONIGHT, PLEASE FEED ME, FEED ME, FEED ME—and you never stop calling her MOM. when you are her height, when the garden angel fractures its wing and cheekbone in a move and dad shoves his hand in your mouth, index and middle finger in the shape of a gun, when the ambulance comes for you and you change your name for the twelfth time, she'll scream THIS IS HOW YOU TREAT ME in your face. you'll want to break the entire length of your life over her head, want to ask DID YOU BRING PRECIOUS THINGS INTO A HOSTILE PLACE OR HOSTILE THINGS INTO A PRECIOUS ONE, but you'll only scream back WHY WON'T YOU JUST HOLD ME?

xxii. observer

look away, please. look away.

'23 september prompts days 12-22 | @nosebleedclub

[rivenroad]

Thoughts on Dawntrail MSQ - Part 1 (roughly 90-95, general discussion of plot)

I finished it a few days ago now and I've been slowly putting together a record of my thoughts, here's the first part.

Some of you may remember my feelings about Endwalker and, subsequently, my hopes for the future of XIV's story. Mostly, with Dawntrail I was looking forward to the opportunity for change, a new start, and hopefully a return to one of the things that made me fall in love with the game to begin with - excellent world-building and lore to get immersed in. I would say it gave me those things.

I would like to discuss my thoughts about the story in detail, but at the moment that's a bit difficult for me. I think I would need to go through it again another time in order to properly solidify everything that I feel. But I still have a few points to make.

Firstly, as I mentioned above I was really looking forward to the chance to explore Tural and learn about it and its people, and of course, that's exactly what the first arc of 7.0 was all about. I had a fantastic time with it (and continue to do so, since there are still a lot of quests, exploration and so on for me to do), which was enhanced by the graphics update. I'm pleased to say that beyond a few minor things, most of my characters look the same or better than they did before, and the degree to which the lighting, texture and object density improved the environments is absolutely stunning. I'm really excited to draw the new places, they're incredibly inspiring from an artistic angle. I've spent so much time staring at new higher-definition plants, admiring lighting and weather effects...

I'm thrilled with the presentation of the Mamool Ja. I always found them intriguing, but until now we didn't really get very much solid information about them beyond a few scraps in ARR and the BLU questline. I absolutely love Gulool Ja Ja, he's definitely my favourite character in Dawntrail, and the others interested me a lot too. Very well done and the voice acting was great. I didn't expect to actually get to visit Mamook, but I love it, I really enjoyed all of their history and that of Tural in general... as well as the Mamool Ja, I'm particularly fond of the Yok Huy and the Moblins (long time goblin fan, of course) but I feel that all of the diverse people of Tural were interesting and it all came together very well.

I've seen some criticism of this part of the MSQ with regards to it being boring. I really didn't feel that way though I know it's just not what some people enjoy, which is fair. But Wuk Lamat was fine. The degree to which the "power of friendship/peace" message is stressed sometimes does feel a little silly to me when it's presented so plainly, people have compared it to a shounen anime from that angle and I would agree, but it's not necessarily a bad thing - just not my usual preference.

One thing that did bother me throughout the expansion, though, is one that I expected - I'm really quite tired of the Scions. Estinien is the most blatant example here - his presence in the story served absolutely no purpose whatsoever. I was rather disappointed that the story behind Thancred and Urianger's presence and supposed "opposition" with the others turned out to be... basically nothing of any importance at all, given how it was dramatised in the trailers and so on.

I am fond of many of them, but I'm very strongly in favour of retiring characters, concepts or anything else before they start to become stale, and unfortunately we're very much at this stage with those guys... Just because I like a character doesn't mean I want to see them pop up everywhere all the time when it doesn't really have a point to it. I dunno. Doesn't seem like they're going to drop it, though...

I'm going to continue the rest of my thoughts in a separate post since it involves more specific spoilers for the later half of the story.

[rsenak]

today i am thinking about them. friends...........

[genosha-meiuqer]

For the XIV questions:

Does your muse have nightmares or specific fears born from the Calamity?

Did they know about the Bloody Banquet? If yes, did your muse still trust the WoL or did they think the WoL was a traitor? If you’re playing a WoL, how do they feel about the Banquet and its consequences?

The remaining moon is changing color. Since Calamity followed last time it happened, is your muse worried? If yes, do they take concrete steps to prepare “just in case”?

Does your muse have nightmares or specific fears born from the Calamity?

For better or for worse, Colette doesn't really remember her dreams when she wakes up anymore. The her that had seen fourteen summers passby did, however, have the same reoccurring nightmare for about a year after the Calamity struck.

Her parents are shopkeep merchants that currently live in Camp Drybone but used to reside in the Golden Bazaar. Around the time of the Dalamud's descent, the family had been heading home after picking up goods from Gridania. Half of the order had been delayed, so the parents decided to split the load. The mother and Colette's brother, Zaidriel, went on ahead with the first shipment, and Colette stayed behind with her father for the second.

When pieces of Dalamud streaked across the sky, the second caravan hadn't even left the Wellwick Wood yet. The head of the caravan elected to take refuge in Thal's Respite, and at the time, Colette had just thought they were going there so half of one of the Twelve would protect them. However, she soon realized that was not the case when she heard the other merchants praying to stay rich once inside the deity's hall. She started to fear they were going to die, and feeling the ground tremble when a piece of Dalamud struck the Burning Wall didn't help that fear.

The caravan stayed the night in Thal's Respite, and in the morning, everyone was still alive. They started to continue on their way to the Golden Bazaar, but they soon realized that would be impossible due to the giant chasm that had formed over night. Colette mentally notes how close the split in the earth was to Thal's Respite, and she realizes how close they had been to death.

Colette's reoccurring nightmare used to be of her running under the leaves of Wellwick Wood to meet her family in the distance, only to watch them fall to their deaths as the ground split beneath their feet. She was never able to reach them no matter how hard she tried or how fast she ran. She had this nightmare from the moment she closed her eyes that night to the day she heard the construction of the Highbridge had been completed.

Did they know about the Bloody Banquet? If yes, did your muse still trust the WoL, or did they think the WoL was a traitor? If you're playing a WoL, how do they feel about the Banquet and its consequences?

Ljot does know about the Bloody Banquet, yes, and she does still trust the Warrior of Light. She is a member of Garlond Ironworks, and as such, she and her fellow engineers hear tales of the Warrior of Light's feats of derring-do, as typically recounted by the company's absentee leader himself as well as Biggs and Wedge. The Warrior of Light helped bring their chief back to them, so they have high opinions on the hero.

The Rava has an incredibly difficult time believing that the hero who refused to leave behind a comrad that had previously been inhabited by an ascian just moments before in a quickly-crumbling and exploding death trap of a castrum where beams and rubble were constantly threatening to crush them was a traitor to the Alliance, let alone an assassin that took the life of the Sultana. According to Wedge, there was no way someone with Miss Taru's good opinion could do something to villainous.

Ljot knows it's all just political manipulation done by the nation's wealthy and powerful anyway. It's not at all unlike what she had experienced when she was a citizen of Garlemald. Thankfully, ever since she had come to Eorzea with Jessie, she hasn't had to deal with any of that.

The remaining moon is changing color. Since Calamity followed last time it happened, is your muse worried? If yes, do they take concrete steps to prepare "just in case"?

Colette's preparation for the "just in case" scenario is having her family stay at the Quicksand in Ul'dah. She's heard from Momodi that in the past, the city-state has proven itself as a hub for capable adventures willing to fight to protect the people from unwanted intruders and enemies.

She doesn't know much about the other city-states, but she's heard that Gridania is racists to "outsiders" like her mom, and she knows that Limsa is a harbor town. She doesn't want something happening to the supports of the buildings and hearing how her parents fell into the water. Besides, the Jewel of the Desert is also home to one of Eorzea's three linkshell network distributors, so she would be able to check on them while they're there.

As for personal preparation, she has been learning how to cast more dangerous and potent spells. If something needs to be taken care of, she wants to make sure it's taken care of properly. She's also been making sure her brother still remembers how to properly manipulate the aether around him to use as a shield when he swings his axe around.

[houseisekai]

House Isekai: A Realm Reborn - Part 2, Through the Maelstrom (3 of 3)

House Isekai ARR Masterlist Here

—

Client: Hilda Valentin Goneril

Refusing to work with the newly reformed House Isekai due to Class VII, Duvalie takes her orders and storms off to Goneril territory, trying to get home faster. Not wanting to leave Duvalie completely alone, Raelyn and Fireteam Alpha-Nine accompany her.

Reports indicate of a giant serpent-like beast terrorizing the ocean trade routes near Goneril territory, and an unknown entity accompanying it…

--

[Respite and Sunlight - Fire Emblem: Three Houses OST]

The carriage carried a group of knights as it made its way towards the fishing town.

As the horses leisurely drew the carriage forth, the dirt kicking up on the path, the driver turned his head and shouted out.

(Driver) "We're almost there, milady."

Hilda sighed as she stretched, putting her head back onto the carriage.

(Hilda) "Finally. That took forever."

She looked around and noticed the two knights accompanying her were calmly sitting still, not saying a word.

(Hilda) "Am I seriously the only one who noticed?!"

(Knight 1) "No milady, we feel the same. Now isn't the time to be lax, however."

(Hilda) "Percy, I remember you being the one telling me that this town wasn't anything to be concerned about!"

(Knight 2) "It was, until that letter came in. We only put the request out three days ago, how could mercenaries possibly have responded that fast? And I do not like the descriptions of them either..."

(Percy) "I agree with Jonas. Tech that looks too advanced for random mercenaries to have? This seems like it's a trap..."

(Hilda) "I sincerely doubt the Separatists would cause any trouble for the Alliance. And what strategic importance would a fishing town like this have?"

(Jonas) "I think that's all the more reason to be wary, milady. Besides, orders from Lord Holst were specifically to-"

(Hilda) "Yeah yeah, I know, make sure I'm safe and everything. It's when we get out to the ocean, you guys can start doing your jobs properly."

Jonas looked at Percy, in which his response was just a shrug.

(Percy) "Hmph. I wonder what those mercenaries are like..."

...

Duvalie woke up and quickly looked around before her shoulders relaxed. They were still inside the building the Class VII members led them to.

Duvalie noticed the ODST's were already awake.

Dutch was near the window, looking at the small blue device curiously.

(Dutch) "Hell is this thing?"

It was making a small static noise, Dutch poked at it until Mickey came close and examined it himself.

(Mickey) "Looks like a jamming device of some kind."

(Buck) "Yeah, it's messing with my helmet's visor a little. You think a fishing town like this would have something that'd warrant a jammer?"

(Romeo) "Oh, you're finally awake."

The ODST's turned to Duvalie who picked up her sword and shield.

(Duvalie) "No one bothered to wake me up?"

(Mickey) "Hey, Fie's orders. Not ours."

Duvalie rolled her eyes and noticed Raelyn and Class VII were gone.

(Buck) "They said they were going out to patrol the area, wanted us to stay in here in case someone tried snooping around."

(Duvalie) "Guess that's fair enough."

Duvalie stood next to Buck, both of them not saying a word while Romeo cleaned his sniper and Mickey and Dutch were still examining the supposed jammer.

(Buck) "So...what exactly is your problem with those kids? If you don't mind me asking."

(Duvalie) "Ugh, we were enemies during a war, then we fought alongside each other and thats IT. Don't wanna talk about it. And we're NOT friends."

(Buck) "Alright, I believe ya. Dunno why you have to say it so forcefully."

(Duvalie) "Because it doesn't go through THEIR thick skulls! I DON'T LIKE REAN EITHER!"

(Buck) "Listen, Duvalie. I am right next to you. Stop frickin' screaming."

(Dutch) "Plus, you're making it harder to figure out what this is."

Duvalie and Buck turned to Mickey and Dutch who were still staring.

(Duvalie) "What in the hell is so fascinating about it that you two are still looking at it?!"

(Mickey) "Because, I don't think it's just a jammer. It's something else..."

That caught everyone's attention.

(Romeo) "...What makes you say that?"

(Dutch) "It's making some static noise, and it's sticky too. What kind of jammer is this small?"

(Duvalie) "Huh. I don't think we had anything like that in our world, so where did those brats...?"

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK!

(Raelyn's voice) "We have returned."

The door opened with the members of Class VII and Raelyn.

(Fie) "Coast looks clear, and looks like we already got someone to help out with the Serpent problem."

(Buck) "Damn, that was fast."

(Raelyn) "I recommend we hurry, lest we make the townsfolk angry again."

Everyone grabbed their equipment and left the house, Class VII leading the way.

(Mickey) "Hey, so those blue things you put in the house, what exactly are those?"

(Laura) "It's best we not say just yet."

(Dutch) "That's...reassuring."

(Elliot) "Anyways, we visited the tavern from yesterday and he said someone wants to see us there."

(Fie) "And you can leave your weapons down, it won't be a fight."

(Duvalie) "What makes you say that?"

As they were walking to the tavern, Hilda and her two knights exited and saw them.

[Musica Universalis - Final Fantasy XIV: Shadowbringers OST]

(Hilda) "Oh my gosh!"

(Elliot) "Ha, aren't you a sight for sore eyes?"

(Laura) "It's been quite a bit hasn't it, Hilda?"

(Fie) "Yo."

Hilda smiled as she ran up and grabbed all three of them into a hug.

(Hilda) "It's so good to see you guys again!"

(Percy) "Hey...you were with the professor when you came to Derdriu all those years back!"

(Jonas) "Don't think we've seen their friends though."

Hilda noticed the new group behind Class VII and raised an eyebrow.

(Hilda) "These your friends?"

(Raelyn) "Raelyn Amuto, at your service."

(Duvalie) "...Duvalie."

(Buck) "Call me Buck. Squad behind me is Mickey, Dutch, and Romeo."

(Elliot) "Hopefully, we just got here super recently ourselves. Though, Rean and the others can watch over them."

(Hilda) "Wait, everyone else is here?"

(Raelyn) "Not exactly."

Raelyn quickly caught Hilda and her knights up to speed.

(Hilda) "I see...So it's happening again?"

(Laura) "That's what we're here to investigate. Originally we came here to see what was blocking communications from Sitri to us, and find out what teleported this group here."

(Elliot) "After a day of investigating, we think it may actually have to do with the serpent problem you're having."

(Buck) "Huh, isn't that convenient."

(Duvalie) "When exactly did this problem pop up anyway? We only got here three days ago."

(Hilda) "Hm...I think it was about a week ago. Same time Claude let us know something was coming from the Tower, actually."

(Romeo) "...Too convenient."

[Briefing Time - Trails of Cold Steel 3 OST]

(Raelyn) "It seems to line up with our arrival. Has there been anything in the past House Isekai and your Houses have fought that can cause this amount of trouble?"

(Hilda) "Too much to count..."

(Laura) "It wouldn't be the first time for us."

(Fie) "I think we can kill two birds with one stone here then. We can investigate that Serpent and determine if it has anything to do with our problems."

(Hilda) "Sounds good to me."

(Dutch) "So...how exactly are we going to fight a giant water monster? Our gear isn't equipped for aquatic fights."

(Percy) "We have that taken care of. We're going to use a boat and investigate it the old fashioned way."

(Duvalie) "...That is the worst idea I've ever heard."

(Buck) "Inclined to agree with the lady. That seems a good way for our asses to get eaten out there."

(Elliot) "I'm kinda drawing a blank on what else to do. It's not like they have any high tech boats."

(Jonas) "Unfortunately, he's right. All of our efforts on expanding our sea travel has been fruitless, or its too early to tell. It only has been two years before we began these projects."

(Raelyn) "Us Space Marines are engineered to breathe underwater."

(Romeo) "Damn, is there anything you guys can't do?"

(Raelyn) "Have good luck."

(Duvalie) "Was that a joke?"

Raelyn's head slowly turned to Duvalie.

(Raelyn) "It is the last thing I would joke about. You all being near me already carries a risk of a violent death, including myself."

(Dutch) "What, your gun malfunction on you in battle a lot or something?"

(Raelyn) "It is a curse our Chapter seems to suffer. For one reason or another, something unfortunate happens, and I guarantee you it will happen when we attempt to hunt this beast."

(Hilda) "Jeez, quit that downer talk, we'll be fine! We've survived plenty worse than just some monster. Heck, it's not even our first monster we've fought!"

(Laura) "If that is the case, where is this boat?"

(Percy) "This way."

Percy and Jonas led the way to the docks, everyone following them.

Fie looked behind them and saw a small boy and girl staring at them. Specifically Raelyn.

She noticed an older girl walk up to them, she couldn't be older than 15. Fie put a mental pin on them and quickly followed along.

The older girl knelt down to get on their eye level.

(Older girl) "Hey, why are you staring at them so intensely, they didn't say something to you, did they?"

(Young girl) "Nuh uh, Mila! The big yellow man was super nice!"

(Young boy) "Yeah, he helped her out and everything!"

Mila had short brown hair and a small stature, carrying two daggers on her back.

(Mila) "Did he now...?"

...

The group took an Alliance controlled ship out into the coast, being helmed by the local garrison.

They set out to the last known location to where this Serpent had been reported, which fortunately was only an hour away from the town.

The day was bright and the winds were strong, and not a cloud in sight.

They skipped across the waters with relatively little trouble.

Hilda stood next to Class VII while everyone else was scattered.

(Elliot) "Man, I can't remember the last time we've been out by the sea."

(Laura) "A shame it wasn't for a more pleasant reason."

(Fie) "Oh, hey Buck."

Buck walked up to Hilda, followed by Raelyn and Duvalie.

(Buck) "Mind if we ask you something, miss Hilda?"

(Hilda) "What's up?"

(Buck) "Who exactly are these Separatists your townsfolk are so quick to anger about? An insurrection?"

(Laura) "I remember hearing about it while we were investigating the area as well."

Hilda frowned and looked back out to the sea.

(Hilda) "After House Isekai left Fodlan, our three nations decided to form a temporary pact in order to fix the damages done by Those Who Slither and the Church. It...hasn't been easy.

For the first two years, the Empire and Kingdom were at war, until it suddenly stopped with the Church to be the ones on the offensive.

The Battle of Gronder had all our blood shed, and its nothing that everyone can easily forgive with how recent it was.

So when news that we'd all be fighting as one, it made our citizens outraged. The only people who knew the truth about Zanado and Byleth was our militaries..."

(Elliot) "So, these Separatists...-"

(Hilda) "They've been wanting us to split up and leave each other be, just like it's always been. The Alliance has a mixture of Imperial and Kingdom Separatists, and Claude has been doing his best to keep the neutrality. It hasn't been easy, in addition to the Zanado Tower acting up again."

(Raelyn) "Which is why you sent this letter of the Serpent to Garreg Mach, correct?"

Hilda nodded.

(Hilda) "And if it requires House Isekai's help again, I fear the worst..."

(Laura) "Rest assured, we will do everything in our power to help Fodlan."

(Buck) "Not sure how long we'll be staying but, might as well. It's either that or be stuck here."

(Duvalie) "Wait a second, if you guys were stuck here before and got out, then how did you get in?"

(Fie) "Teleportation with the help of the Doom Slayer."

(Hilda) "Wait, he was the one that set you guys up with that?!"

(Raelyn) "I am not sure who he is, but perhaps he can teleport us out of here."

(Buck) "With how troublesome everything sounds, I sort of doubt it'd be that easy to get out of here."

(Fie) "Only one way to try."

Fie reached out a small crest of House Isekai's logo and pressed the center.

...Nothing happened.

(Fie) "Uh oh."

(Duvalie) "W-What does that mean?"

(Elliot) "Huh? That's how we were able to teleport from our world to the base! Why isn't it working?"

(Hilda) "Does that mean you're stuck here too?"

(Buck) "Well, that's fantastic..."

Dutch, Mickey, and Romeo were listening into the conversation.

(Dutch) "They got Insurrectionists to deal with too?"

(Romeo) "Great, that means we'll be here even longer."

(Mickey) "Their teleportation isn't working, so what is the cause of-"

(Percy) "Hey, we need everyone up here!"

[Dark Clouds Gather - Fire Emblem: Three Houses OST]

The groups looked up and went to the top deck where the wheel was. Percy and Jonas stood near the captain.

(Hilda) "What's the problem?"

(Jonas) "The skies in front of us are suddenly starting to darken."

(Captain) "The weather the way it was, this was too fast for it to suddenly darken! Something's about to happen!"

(Buck) "...Motion tracker's picking up something!"

The ODST's turned on their visors, blocking out their faces while Raelyn silently looked at his tactical display.

(Raelyn) "I am detecting something as well."

(Romeo) "Hey, remember that conversation about your luck from earlier? Suddenly beginning to believe it..."

Everyone drew their weapons as the crew of the ship shouted, readying cannons and bows.

Hilda drew out her relic axe and looked in the water.

(Hilda) "Where exactly are you sensing this thing?"

The ODST's had their weapons drawn, slowly looking to their left. The movement was quickly circling around them.

(Elliot) "U-Um, how big is this Serpent, exactly?"

(Percy) "Not sure, reports are inconsistent."

(Raelyn) "If it is as big as we expect it to be, what's stopping it from tearing this boat in half?"

Raelyn readied his Bolter and quickly turned around to the back of the ship, finally seeing a shadow.

(Buck) "ON OUR SIX!"

Only the ODST's and Raelyn turned to the back at first.

It took everyone else a second to realize what Buck meant, turning around and facing the same direction.

[Wreck to the Seaman - Final Fantasy XIV OST]

The shadow quickly vanished underneath the ship, making everyone nervous of what its about to do.

The ODST's and Raelyn paid attention to their motion tracker, and realized it was suddenly in place.

(Romeo) "Why the hell's it stopping?"

(Raelyn) ...!!! "It's not! CAPTAIN, TURN YOUR SHIP TO THE RIGHT, NOW!"

The captain quickly got on the wheel and steered right, the wind forcing the ship to make a hard right.

From the waters emerged a massive serpent, the water splashing onto the ship and blowing back some of the crew members.

The waves rocked the ship violently, almost tipping it over.

(Elliot) "AGH!"

Elliot lost his footing and was about to go overboard before Dutch grabbed his arm.

(Dutch) "Hang on kid!"

The ship barely managed to balance itself, throwing itself back with a force that made everyone lose footing again.

Duvalie was the first to stabilize herself when she realized the serpent was staring at them.

As the serpent opened its mouth, it was about to strike before Duvalie leapt forward and hit its face with her shield, making it stagger back and roar in anger.

Duvalie used the force of her attack to launch herself back onto the ship, twirling her sword.

(Duvalie) "Little help?!"

(Percy) "FIRE THE CANNONS!"

Crew mates rushed to the cannons and lit the matches.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

The cannons opened fire, most of them missing their mark while only one managed to hit the torso of the beast.

Raelyn and the ODSTs rushed to the side and held the triggers of their guns, the bullets rushing towards the head.

The serpent dove underwater to dodge the gunfire.

(Crew) "IT'S COMING AROUND THE OTHER SIDE!"

Its head emerged from the water on the opposite side of the ship, its head about to strike into the heart of the ship before Laura ran to the middle and swung her sword upwards, the blow knocking it away.

Fie used her gunblades to fire at its head as well, but the bullets deflected off the scales and it dove back underwater, this time no one being able to see where it went.

(Buck) "Dutch, Mickey! Heavy weapons, NOW! Romeo, crow's nest and snipe that son of a bitch!"

The ODST's nodded and quickly did as they were told, Raelyn going to Duvalie with his Bolter still raised.

(Duvalie) "Hey, Amuto, got any ideas?"

(Raelyn) "One, but with my luck-"

(Duvalie) "Grr, SHUT UP ABOUT YOUR BAD LUCK! It's either that, or we let the ship get torn in half!"

(Raelyn) "If that is the case, please hold onto this."

(Duvalie) "...Wha-"

Raelyn put his bolter into Duvalie's arm, almost making her tip over from the weight.

(Duvalie) "HUARGH!? H-HEY...W-WHAT TH HELL?!"

(Raelyn) "I will be right back."

Raelyn pulled out a knife and looked over to the side.

(Hilda) "H-Hey, what's the yellow guy doing?!"

(Elliot) "Huh?"

Elliot, Fie and Laura turned around and saw Raelyn peeking over the edge.

(Fie) "What is he...?"

(Laura) ?! "WAIT, ARE YOU GOING TO?!-"

(Raelyn) "BROTHERS, SISTERS! PREPARE FOR ITS RESURFACING!"

[Through the Maelstrom - Final Fantasy XIV OST]

Raelyn hopped over the ship's edge and dove straight into the water.

He quickly looked around, and noticing a shadow emerging from the depths as it was rushing upwards at him.

He did everything in his power to swim away from the ship and-

(Buck) "The hell is he-"

Everyone saw Raelyn shoot upwards as the Serpent's mouth grabbed him, the Space Marine now in its teeth.

Although it tried to devour him, the armor's weight and size made it extremely difficult to do so.

(Elliot) "OH AIDIOS!"

(Percy) "Is he insane?!"

(Romeo) "QUIT STARING AND FIRE DAMN IT!"

Romeo cocked his sniper's handle back and pulled the trigger, the shot ringing out across the air as the bullet attempted to hit the wildly flailing serpent.

Raelyn was being thrashed around, the teeth unable to go through his armor. He swung his knife into the beast several times to no effect despite it piercing the scales.

(Raelyn) "INCOMING!"

Having no option, he grabbed the beast's upper jaw and slammed his fist onto it, the force of the blow knocking the beast's head onto the ship.

The ship almost submerged itself into the water from the sheer weight of the serpent's head.

Everyone managed to keep their footing, letting Duvalie, Hilda, and Laura strike fast.

Duvalie dropped the Bolter and let it slide onto the floor as she stuck her sword into the teeth, breaking a few off and letting Raelyn awkwardly roll out of it's grasp.

Hilda smashed it's skull with her axe overhead, Laura swinging her sword sideways to strike at its mouth.

It recoiled back in pain, tipping the ship over again.

Raelyn was about to get on his feet before the cannons from the right side slid over and hit him back into the water.

(Hilda) "Wow, he wasn't kidding!"

The Bolter slid over into the water and landed near Raelyn, which he quickly grabbed and looked for the serpent again.

It was coming through the other side, but it was only now he realized how huge it was.

The tail was coming near him, and he rushed over to grab it as the tail violently dragged him along the water.

Dutch grabbed a Spartan Laser while Mickey had a rocket launcher, both of them checking their motion trackers.

(Buck) "Right side!"

Romeo reloaded his sniper and quickly spun around, being the first one to see the serpent emerge and fly towards the boat.

(Romeo) "It's gonna ram us!"

(Dutch) "Like hell it is!"

Dutch's Spartan Laser began to form a red line as it whirred up making a high pitched activation noise.

Mickey fired first, the rockets flying off and trying to lock onto the serpent. They went into the water as it nimbly swerved to the left and right, the waters catching the explosion.

Raelyn held on as the water's currents fought against him, using one hand at a time to climb up the serpent until he got near the eyes.

The pupil looked directly at Raelyn and widened, realizing he was there.

Raelyn's hand with the knife stabbed directly into the eye, making the serpent thrust upwards into the air, roaring and shaking into the air.

(Dutch) "GOTCHA!"

With another second passing, the Spartan Laser shot out a force even stronger than the cannon, a burning red beam of death searing through the Serpent's skin, making it drop into the water dead.

(Buck) "Good work, gentlemen."

(Elliot) "Whew, is everyone okay?"

(Percy) "Check on the equipment and for any wounded!"

(Jonas) "Captain, get us closer to the body we need to-"

Jonas stopped midsentence when he looked up.

Percy noticed it and turned around, seeing what he was staring at.

[Blinding Indigo - Final Fantasy XIV: Shadowbringers OST]

"An assassin from our homeland? Or a foolish trespasser upon these waters?"

(Jonas) "What in the hell?!"

(Percy) "SOMETHING'S UP HERE!"

(Buck) "OPEN FIRE!"

Fie and Buck pointed their guns and pulled the triggers, the bullets passing through the aquatic creature's body, letting them drop onto the floor, water splashing from the impact.

"Very well. Then Her power shall crush the miscreant that dares pollute these waters."

The creature began glowing, making the clouds above them start pouring rain and the water glow as well.

The Serpent Raelyn was still attached to started glowing a pale blue, the wound quickly regenerating. He was quick to aim his bolter and open fire on it, but had no effect.

Hilda and Laura ran up to it with their weapons swinging overhead, it quickly teleporting away as it vacantly stared at them.

Elliot was about to cast a spell with his staff until he realized the rain was forming puddles on the ship, slowly bubbling.

(Elliot) "Uh, guys?!"

Birds made of water emerged from the puddles and flew at Elliot, the force of the impact making him fall onto the floor.

Romeo immediately turned his attention to the bird and pulled the trigger.

The bird exploded into water, it calmly splashing down onto the ship.

Hearing something behind him, he reached for his pistol and spun around, pulling the trigger.

The bird exploded, and it was then he realized a puddle was beneath him.

From the puddle emerged a wolf-like creature that leapt up, knocking Romeo off the tower.

Before he could land, Duvalie caught him and set him down to the floor and raising her shield as the wolf leapt on top of her.

Its teeth was made of water as well, but Duvalie didn't want to find out if it hurt just as bad as a real wolf, so she plunged her sword into its body making it explode.

Mickey switched to an SMG and opened fire on the other puddles before anything else could show up, Buck and Fie joining in while Hilda, Laura, Jonas, and Percy fought other wolves.

Dutch was about to switch weapons before hearing the water explode behind him.

The Serpent was glowing the same blue as the winged creature, Raelyn still on top of it, stabbing it with his knife.

(Dutch) "Oh for the love of-"

He aimed his Spartan Laser at the Serpent again, only for the shot to be taken and hitting birds that flew in the way.

Elliot rushed over and healed Romeo of any injuries, making him push away the staff.

(Romeo) "Stop healing me and get to killing these things!"

Romeo reloaded his pistol while Duvalie dispatched of another wolf that was trying to attack from behind.

(Duvalie) "They just keep coming!"

Meanwhile, Raelyn lost count of how many times he stabbed the head of this beast, it would not stop moving.

It tried ferociously to be rid of Raelyn, eventually dunking its head back underwater and using the tail to swipe him off.

Raelyn flipped several times underwater, trying to steady himself as the Serpent bit Raelyn again, this time half his body inside it's mouth.

He said nothing as he remained calm, putting his bolter into the mouth before he was thrown out of the water and into the air.

Raelyn broke through the top deck and landed onto the bottom, creating a massive hole on the top part of the ship.

The Serpent's tail slammed onto the side of the ship as it wrapped its head around to the front deck of the ship.

Dutch aimed the laser at the head, until realizing it was too close to the ship.

(Dutch) "Damn it, I'd just rip this ship apart if I took the shot!"

Fie hopped onto the Serpent's back with both her gunblades anchoring her onto it, making it twitch only a little.

She pulled the triggers several times as the bullets went into its body.

It loosened up its grip on the ship, Laura using her sword to chop off part of the tail, making it roll over and tripping some of the crew and water-formed creatures.

Buck picked off one target after the other, struggling to reload.

A wolf jumped onto him, the teeth scraping against his helmet's visor as he grabbed his knife and plunged it straight into its neck, making it disappear.

As he got up, he noticed that the winged creature only staring at them.

(Buck) "The hell is this thing?!"

Elliot tried to heal any injured crew member he could while Hilda, Percy, and Jonas covered him.

Slamming his spear into a wolf, Jonas turned to HIlda.

(Jonas) "What do we do?! There are too many of them!"

The ship slowly began to crack loudly as the serpent's grip refused to let go.

(Captain) "At this rate, the ship is going break!"

(Percy) "Wait, wheres your yellow friend?!"

(Duvalie) "Think we saw him make a hole into the lower decks!"

(Dutch) "Then what is he-"

Cannons fired onto the serpent's side that was directly next to the ports, before an entire cannon was thrown out, a rope attached to it making the serpent drop from the weight.

It finally loosened its grip and struggled to get the attached cannons off of it.

(Raelyn) "The rope will not hold, TAKE THE SHOT BROTHER DUTCH!"

(Dutch) "GOTCHA!"

Dutch grabbed his Spartan Laser and charged it, aiming at the head.

Multiple puddles formed around Dutch before the others rushed to it and stuck their weapons inside.

As several birds were about to fly into the shot again, Raelyn emerged from the lower decks and opened fire with the bolter, the shots thundering out and completely shattering them into droplets.

Dutch's Spartan Laser kicked back as the beam hit his target, its head being completely blown off, making the serpent's body go limp and dissolve into the water.

The winged creature suddenly stopped glowing, making the ODST's spin around and open fire, the bullets going into the creature.

Hilda, Fie, Laura, and Duvalie swung their weapons at it, the streaks of their weapons severing it.

Elliot's staff formed into a violin-like shape as he casted a spell that formed a circle of light, blasting upwards and making the creature finally dissipate into the air.

[End Song]

The weather finally began to clear above them, everyone now trying to catch their breath.

(Dutch) "Lord, can you please get us out of this ocean now?"

The ship began to making an uncomfortably loud screeching noise before crewmates were on it, trying to fix the damages.

(Dutch) "...So was that a yes or no?"

An explosion occured where the serpent's body was, a mixture of the rain and saltwater pouring down onto them. A tiny rainbow formed from the storm in sight of the direction back to the town.

(Dutch) "...Amen."

(Fie) "Ugh, finally."

(Elliot) "That wasn't like anything we fought before..."

(Hilda) "Whew...to be fair, don't think we ever had to fight in the ocean."

(Duvalie) "So, do any of us have an idea of-AAAAAGH!"

Duvalie suddenly fell to one knee, grabbing her head.

(Buck) "H-Hey, what's-URGH!"

Buck quickly followed suit, then the ODST's fell to one knee as well, mimicking her action.

The members of Class VII and Raelyn were soon to follow, their heads pounding as their vision suddenly faded to white.

...

...

It was an empty lake with a strange platform in the middle, the sun was bright and the skies only had a few clouds.

And going towards that platform was a blonde-braided man and a small floating companion.

(Paimon) "Hm...Is it a good idea to mess with this?"

(Aether) "It's where the villagers told us that this...thing was, so it's not going to get rid of itself.

(Paimon) "Yeah, but still-"

Before they could continue their conversation, they heard something appear behind them.

It was a small floating creature with a staff, laughing maniacally.

(Aether) "Damn it, why now?"

Aether's sword materialized into his hand and was about to swing before a bright light appeared in front of them, catching the both of them off guard.

(Abyss Mage) "Eh?"

(Aether) "What the?-"

The bright light made the both of them step back, Aether accidentally triggering the platform, and the weather suddenly clouded up.

(Paimon) "Uh oh!"

(Aether) "Damn, now we have to deal with this-"

Before he could finish, the bright light exploded and made the air push them back, before slowly pulling them in.

The Abyss Mage and whatever was summoned with the platform was sucked into the light.

Aether and Paimon came dangerously close to before he shot a powerful gust of wind out of his hand, making him fly further back as the light quickly disappeared.

The weather returned to normal as he got up trying to catch his breath.

(Paimon) "What the heck was that?!"

(Aether) "I...I have no idea..."

Everything started to turn into a static mess as Aether and Paimon slowly faded out of view...

...

(Hilda's voice) "Hey...HEY!"

Everyone's vision returned to them as they looked around confused.

(Percy) "What was that about?"

(Buck) "Alright...we all saw that too right?"

(Duvalie) "Agh...you mean that lake platform thing...?"

(Laura) "I...saw it too!"

(Raelyn) "As did I...None of us possess any psychic abilities I am unaware of, correct?"

(Mickey) "If I had the ability do that crap, I would've in that fight!"

(Hilda) "What are you guys talking about?!"

Everyone turned to Hilda and her knights. It seemed they were unaffected.

(Fie) "You...didn't see that?"

(Hilda) "No, you guys just all reached for your head at the same time!"

They all looked at each other now.

(Elliot) "Was that some kind of dream?"

(Dutch) "Looked more like a memory to me."

(Romeo) "Memory of what? Who the hell were they? And what was that winged bastard we were just fighting having to do with that?"

(Jonas) "Captain, take us back to port."

(Captain) "No need to tell me again. RAISE THE SAILS, LET'S GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE!"

Everyone slowly rose up, with Raelyn helping Duvalie up.

They all remained quiet on the ride back.

An hour passed as they finally reached the shore, reaching for their heads.

(Laura) "If we go to another ocean, it will be too soon..."

(Fie) "Let's go head back to the building and-..."

Fie frowned as her ARCUS unit was now beeping.

(Fie) "...Someone's been inside."

They all reached for their weapons and slowly approached it, including the door.

Percy and Jonas quickly scattered the townsfolk, Hilda drawing her axe and joining them.

The ODST's went near the door and silently held up their weapons, turning to the others and nodding.

Duvalie raised her shield and was the first one in, kicking down the door and drawing her sword.

(Duvalie) "WHO THE HELL ARE YOU?!"

(Mila) "AAAAAGH!"

The young girl fell backwards, completely terrified of all the weapons suddenly pointing at her.

Romeo and Raelyn looked around the room to make sure no one else was present.

(Fie) "Hey...you're that girl who was talking to those kids."

(Mila) "I-I'M SORRY! I DIDN'T MEAN TO MAKE YOU ANGRY! I WAS JUST CURIOUS!"'

Fie turned to the blue devices she stuck on the walls and back to the girl.

(Mila) "U-Uh, I was just wanting to talk to the big yellow guy!"

Everyone turned to Raelyn, who looked back at the girl.

(Raelyn) "...What is it?"

(Mila) "I-I was just wanting to thank you for helping those kids? From yesterday?"

(Raelyn) "...Ah. I do not believe she means us harm."

Everyone slowly put away their weapons while Raelyn took off his helmet and knelt down.

(Raelyn) "Why did you break in here?"

(Mila) "The door was open, promise! At first I checked to see if you were home and...well, then I got curious."

(Elliot) "You could've gotten hurt! You're lucky it was just us, I don't think other mercenaries would be nice enough to let you go unscathed!"

Mila was about to say something before noticing Hilda.

(Mila) "M-MILADY!"

She quickly scrambled to get on one knee before Hilda sighed.

(Hilda) "Hey, come on kiddo. Get up, no need for that around me."

(Mila) "Are...are you guys just mercenaries?"

Raelyn cleared his throat to catch her attention.

(Raelyn) "Yes, we are. Do not mistake our intentions, we were just for the coin. But...give the children my regards. My name is Raelyn. Yours?"

(Mila) "M...Mila."

Raelyn nodded.

(Raelyn) "Then I will see you home. Everyone else we should prepare to get moving."

(Buck) "Right. Pack it up ladies, let's get ready to move."

(Dutch) "On it."

Mickey and Romeo nodded and checked around the house for leftover equipment.

Duvalie shrugged and stood in the corner with the members of Class VII. Hilda stayed with them as Raelyn walked out with Mila.

Fie activated her ARCUS unit and checked the screen.

The blue devices started to beep rapidly, making everyone turn around to see what the noise was.

(Mickey) "So...now can we know what that is?"

(Fie) "Yup. First we just gotta get away. No evidence and all that."

(Mickey) "...Oh, that explains why it looked familliar."

(Duvalie) "Huh? W-What is it?"

(Buck) "...Are we safe-"

(Fie) "I gotta push the button first. We're fine. We put these here last night in case we had to leave early."

(Elliot) "We made sure this building was abandoned and out of the way of everyone."

(Hilda) "Uh...what are they talking about?"

(Laura) "We have our things, let us get moving."

...

Raelyn walked alongside the girl, his helmet underneath his arm.

(Raelyn) "Mila, do your parents know you like to snoop around like this?"

(Mila) "Hah...y-yeah. It wasn't for anything bad, I promise!"

(Raelyn) "Hmph. Those children, who are they to you? Siblings?"

(Mila) "Nah, they're orphans. From the war..."

(Raelyn) "War?"

(Mila) "You know...the Five-year war? The one with the Church and Empire?"

(Raelyn) "Ah. My apologies, it seems I forgot."

(Mila) "Are you really mercenaries? Figured you would've remembered that at least."

(Raelyn) "...I am. My age is getting the better of me is all."

Mila raised an eyebrow at Raelyn's half assed excuse.

(Raelyn) "Regardless, you did not answer my question."

(Mila) "Oh, right. Well they were kids that were on the streets for a while. None of us really knew what to do, so I became friends with them! They ended up following me around everywhere for the past three years."

(Raelyn) "Then you have a good heart it seems. What are their names?"

(Mila) "The boy is Emil, and the girl is Lena."

(Raelyn) "Well then, take care of Emil and Lena. They are going to need you for the coming times."

(Mila) "Yeah..."

Raelyn stopped following when Mila approached a door, assuming it to be her house.

(Raelyn) "Take care then, Mila."

(Mila) "W-Wait, where will you guys go?"

(Raelyn) "I cannot say. Wherever the wind takes us I suppose."

(Mila) "Will...we see you again?"

Raelyn put on his helmet and turned to her.

(Raelyn) "If the Emperor wills it, then yes."

(Mila) "Emperor? Like, Emperor Edelgard?"

(Raelyn) "Er...different one."

KABOOM!

Raelyn turned to the source of the explosion, seeing his group semi-casually walking away from it.

(Mila) "What the?!"

(Raelyn) "Get inside. I will investigate."

Mila nodded and quickly went inside while Raelyn walked over to the group.

(Citizen) "Good goddess, the building collapsed on itself?!"

(Citizen 2) "No one was hurt, were they?"

(Citizen 3) "N-No, just-" cough cough "Some dust!"

(Fie) "Aaaand that's your answer to what they were."

(Duvalie) "Bombs?!"

(Laura) "We wanted to cover our tracks."

(Raelyn) "Would that not make them suspicious of us even more?"

(Elliot) "No more than they already were."

Buck's visor picked up signatures to their side, quietly watching them.

(Fie) "There's been people watching us ever since we arrived."

(Dutch) "Think it's those insurrectionists?"

(Hilda) "Too early to tell. We'll investigate things from our end."

(Mickey) "Well, good luck to ya then, ma'am."

Hilda nodded and went joined Percy and Jonas who were looking at the collapsed building.

(Buck) "Well then, mission accomplished on our end. Wonder how the other kids are doing."

(Duvalie) "More importantly, I want answers to whatever the hell's going on with this talk of separatists and that vision thing."

As they walked away from the town, Mila watched from the window.

(Mila) "Just who are you...?"

PART 2: ENDED

TO BE CONTINUED…

[Lost in Paradise - ALI]

Gotta get it homie gotta move it If you gonna do it then, push everything to the side Everybody just talk nobody really do it You should keep a secret until you actually do it No need to double check with someone Use your judgement only, break the walls Let’s do flashy fake More Cool, keep it low, prove them wrong I won’t give up the fight in my life 'Cause my life is living for love I won’t give up the fight in my life Stand off and groove on time Tokyo prison Going to relight your feelings When times get too rough Night and day are fading Going to relight your feelings There’s no time to explain Gimme your love Access to your love Oh yeah Lost in paradise Night and day are fading out When times getting rough Access to your love Lost in paradise Night and day are fading out Keep on dancing now Hеy hey hеy hey heyeah