#school in the demon realm and live there without being found out (otherwise he thinks he'll be eaten)

[hadesknockedupintheunderworld]

I have all of these extended thoughts on my head about the amazing way themes and character relationships are handled in Iruma-kun and the inclusion of queerness and the handling of the coming of age narrative in this shonen manga/anime

And every time all that comes out when I'm reccing it is "You should watch/read it"

Do it. Go watch/read Mairimashita! Iruma-kun/Welcome to Demon School Iruma-kun

Please.

[obeymehasinfluncedmythoughts]

Growing Pains

Pregnant Mc and all the guys are being dumbasses. I hope it makes sense. I really tried to write something cohesive lmao.

If you like this, please consider supporting me on my Ko-fi!

2,263 words

There's a lot of difficulties one has to go through in life. Of course, most are simple enough that one day you'll just look back upon them and realize that the problem wasn't really that big of an issue. The tantrums thrown in your childhood over school supplies rank right up beside your high-school fears of choir class solos and first date worries. In comparison, it's rather funny seeing where you are now. After years of petty troubles, getting married and pregnant makes those worries seem like minor stamps on your life. Insignificant pieces to a puzzle you forgot about long ago.

You hope that's what this is for Luke. That all these fears he has over this baby are just a little bump in his long existence. Of course, you're not trying to downplay his concerns. They're understandable and something you all actually expected when you first found out you were pregnant. Afterall, it's only natural for there to be a bit of anxiety with such a big change. However, due to his age, as well as his very vocal need to protect humans, you all thought the shock would settle in rather quickly and he'd start preparing for a new role in the household. 

That unfortunately didn't turn out to be the case. 

Despite how it sounds, Luke is happy about the baby. He's eager to please too, almost to a worrying extent, and that's pretty much where the problem comes in. The angel seems hell bent on trying to prove himself every step of the way, but you really don't know why. He's always been an incredibly helpful member of the family. Truthfully, when it comes to needing any sort of support, whether that be emotional or otherwise, Luke has acted like a guiding light. He actually provides comfort when you're struggling, almost always living up to that guardian angel title he holds so tightly to his chest. Of course, sometimes he's more or less just a normal child, but perhaps that's why you feel so comfortable around him. You don't have to worry about impressing him or potentially ruining his appearance like you do with your spouses. All you have to really do is just be with him, and that seems to be enough. 

Well, it did. That doesn't actually appear to be true anymore. Nowadays Luke acts like he actually has to earn the right to be in your vicinity, and when he's not doing anything, he's terrified to even be near you. You don't really know why this new trait has developed, but thankfully your spouse -more specifically Simeon- has given you some helpful -but rather limited- insight. He admitted that Luke is genuinely worried about you; his fear mostly stemming from your fragile state. This makes sense to an extent, but you don't think it's the full story. 

Sure, your pregnancy is rather high risk. Carrying a demon -or angel- in your human body isn't exactly recommended by any doctor of any realm, but things are going fine so far. You like to attribute this to being Lilith's descendent, yet you've been reminded too often by Soloman that this really wouldn't impact your risk. Of course, he also likes to add that if this were his child you wouldn't have to fret over possible complications, so it's hard to exactly trust what he says, but it's impacted Luke enough apparently. With that being said, you still don't believe it's enough to warrant this response from the child. 

Afterall, it's easy to see Luke isn't just worried about your health. If that were the case you could lump him up there with eleven other men who basically swarm you wherever you go. No, you know there's more to it. It's just hard to place exactly what without invoking some sort of defense mechanism from the young blond. You'd know, because you'd tried before. 

"What do you mean something is wrong?" The little angel had exclaimed in worry, completely skipping over the context that you had actually asked him what was wrong, "Do you need Simeon? I don't know where he's at! Mammon and Levi are the only ones here and I don't think that those demons know how to handle childbirth!"

Whilst he wasn't wrong in his assumptions about the boys not knowing how to handle childbirth, he was completely incorrect in his guesses as to what you were referring to. When you actually cleared that up, he failed to provide any actual reasoning to his new, flighty attitude. In fact he simply denied anything was wrong before running off to attend to something else. What that was, you don't know, however you can recall he seemed very intent on seeking it out, and even more intent on making sure you didn't follow him. 

Given this reaction, figuring out a new approach wasn't exactly an easy task. Thankfully your boys are always great brainstormers. 

"How would I know what the chihuahua is thinking?"

Well, sometimes they are. 

"Mammon, please," You sigh, making sure not to blow your lid at the demon's attitude. He doesn't seem to catch onto this, but Lucifer does, placing a reassuring hand on your knee, "I'm just asking if you have any idea whatsoever as to what's possibly going through his mind. Maybe you've noticed if he's said something or has been doing something weird! I don't know. I'm trying to come up with ideas to solve this problem and would really appreciate some help."

Diavolo lets out a low hum as he thinks, but before he comes to a conclusion, Barbatos is making a statement, "I have noticed a change in his attitude as of late, but I have no information as to why."

Asmo is quick to jump in here, his more nonchalant approach taking center stage in a room of more bleak tones, "It's only natural for him to act up a little bit, isn't it? New baby, he thinks he might be being replaced."

"You'd know about that," Belphegor adds in a similar tone that actually has the avatar of lust agreeing with him. At least, until he recognizes what was actually said.

Before an argument can erupt between the fifth and seventh brothers, you're quick to step in between, "Well, if that's the issue, how are we even supposed to approach that?"

Silence overtakes the room for a few brief seconds before Levi's phone breaks it with a loud chime, drawing everyone's attention away from your question. He blushes a bit under all the stares but is still quick to check whatever the notification was, apparently either missing the tone of the room or simply not caring enough to put it aside. Thankfully Beelzebub plucks the device away from the envy demon before he can be sucked into some fictional plot line. You try to keep a scowl from climbing your features at the purple haired male's disappointment. 

"He'll get over it eventually," Satan replies from his spot tucked in the corner, eyes trained on a book and appearing only half invested in the conversation. His approach is barely any better than Levi's, however you're able to keep yourself from getting too angry at the blonde. This is mostly because you're spending that energy gripping tightly onto Lucifer's hand. 

"Well either you're correct and I don't have to worry, or you're incorrect and something is wrong and your advice is to just ignore it."

"I'm not saying ignore it, I'm just saying let him figure it out."

"And last time he tried to solve his own problem he ran away from purgatory hall and begged for Beel and I had to hide him."

There's a chorus of noises that erupt from the room, most varying replies to your statement with the occasional out-of-place noise. Truthfully the majority of them sound tired. Like they don't even want to be there, and you're well aware they probably don't. A little less than half of the room thinks Luke is just experiencing growing pains, and a bit more than half thinks you're overexaggerating a problem that really isn't there. Of course they haven't directly said this, but they don't have to. You've pretty much already heard both things from past discussions on the topic. 

Diavolo pulls you from Lucifer's hold as soon as a frown begins to weigh on your lips. You know from this move alone that words of comfort are soon to follow, however, that doesn't really make you feel all that reassured. You don't want to be soothed. You just want some help from your partners determining what you're supposed to do. 

It's not like you aren't self aware. You do realize that your worry may seem a bit overkill to those who aren't as concerned. Which, you thought everyone would be considering the circumstances, but you can't say you're surprised. Lately you've been the only one really getting invested in these family issues. Whether that's because of hormones or not is unknown to you, and whilst you don't really care either way, you do know the boys have been handling you a bit differently ever since you got pregnant. 

It's annoying and demeaning and a million other words you can think of but rather wouldn't. So, you just don't, choosing to let Diavolo soothe you and allow someone else to shift the conversation away from your concerns. 

Your room is quiet tonight, empty after you'd proclaimed you had a headache and wanted to sleep alone. There had been some resistance, mostly from Mammon of course, but as soon as you started throwing pillows at him, he gave in. You don't know whether you wanted him to or not, yet you can say you wished you had someone to bounce your thoughts off of. 

That's when you hear a soft, hesitant knock at the door. 

A part of you feels the need to tell the person to go away. Another part wants to cry and beg whoever it is to come inside. You settle somewhere in the middle, pulling yourself out of bed and walking to the door whilst mentally preparing yourself for whatever lay behind its solid face. You hope you look scary enough in your maternity sleepwear in case things go south, but you doubt the sleeping teddy bears are all that intimidating. Surprisingly though, when you open the door you aren't met with one of your spouses, worried, angry, or otherwise. Instead you find Luke. 

He looks rather nervous, standing there in his pajamas and fiddling with his thumbs. There's a little frown on his face too, one so deep his eyebrows crease together in a similar manner that mimics how Satan's do whenever he's sucked into a book. If it wasn't the middle of the night and the angel wasn't so obviously distressed you might have actually laughed at the sight. Of course, you know that would be rather mean. Especially since you're certain Luke's on the verge of tears. 

You don't get the chance to really double check that though, as the blonde child bolts into your arms, careful of your bump but still desperate in his search for a hug. Despite your worries and fears threatening to bubble up only moments ago, you can't help relaxing at the action. It's weird how all your own worries seem to become rather small when you're faced with a tiny crying angel. 

"I'm sorry!" Luke cries into your shirt, tears seeping through the fabric rather easily, "I didn't mean to make you feel bad!"

It's hard to form a quick reaction to this sudden display. You can't seem to decide exactly what to ask, so you settle on soothing him with soft whispers and gentle pats on his back. This takes a while to calm him down, but eventually Luke's able to pull away from you and force out a forced explanation. 

"I didn't want to worry you, I just thought that you would do better without me and then I overheard you guys in the living room and I realized I was just hurting you more and-" Tears continue to well up in his blue eyes despite your insistence that everything's alright. After a few minutes of your reassurance and his repeated questioning, you're able to get him down to a calmer, sniffling whimper. 

The two of you go to settle on the bed, you pulling him close to your side and turning on your bedside lamp for some light. Words are exchanged for a while and you're certain if you were back in your own realm the sun would have already started to rise by the time you finished. You don't really mind though. Seeing him lose all that anxiety helps your own too, especially since he does a good job at soothing over some worries of your own.

He makes sure to tell you, through yawns and his many apologies, that your boys did check on him plenty of times. Luke says he was just too embarrassed to admit to his problems, and he thinks they didn't want to worry you because you're already so stressed. Of course, anything coming from a pajama clad angel is going to make you swoon from sweetness, but knowing they actually care and have gone out of their way to handle it could really affect you all on its own. Even if the intended results didn't actually work out. 

But, in the end, you guess it doesn't really matter. As long as your family is happy at the end of the day, things will be fine. 

[theraddishhouse]

romanticism oc asks!!! 9 20 21 and 23!!!

oh yeah babey. lets go

9. If your OC were to imagine their idyllic life (realistically or otherwise) what would it be like?

It definitely depends on the time period in Radek's life. When she was still with Phillip (pre-Caleb death) she definitely pictured them getting "married" (whatever that means) and then having sort of a hades-persephone deal where she would spend half the year in her home, the demon realm, and the other half in the human realm, and Phillip was free to move between the realms with her or not. I think if you asked her at the current point in the show (s3), however, her ideal would definitely just be having a nice house with Hunter in the demon realm where she can raise him and have him go to school and just have a normal life. probably a similar situation where she can visit the human realm whenever to see Camila. It wouldn't entirely be normal pretty much no matter what just because Radek is a little weird from the immortality and DEFINITELY still healing, but I think she'd do her best, especially for Hunter, who is like, the pride and joy of her life atm.

20. What was the moment at which they knew they were in love, or was it a slow buildup?

Oh good lord. Well.

With Phillip, it was a slow build. She initially just found this random human guy passed out in the forest and decided it'd be REALLY FUNNY to fuck with him. Prime mischief mode activated. She was like, 19, and dumb as fuck. Then suddenly they started hanging out more and the teasing got a little less (derogatory) and a little more (affectionate). Phillip was never scared of her like he was the other witches, namely because Radek never actually did anything dangerous to him. Not that Evelyn did either, but he has his ideas. It sort of culminated into a slow realization when they would spend more and more time together, and then eventually Phillip presented his cross to her as a gift of his affections. Radek was very happy to take it. They kissed that night & Phillip never knew peace since.

With Camila, it was completely different. Radek was depressed, a little bit nutz from Belos dying, and also incapable of feeling any joy. But Camila slowly kind of coaxed hir out of the depression hole in the house and lured her into spending time with her in the living room. Radek didn't really think anything of it other than Camila being really hospitable, until they were falling asleep one night and recognized that pain in their chest a little too much and went. Oh no.

21. What was it about their significant other that made them fall in love with them? Was it a single eye-opening experience or many gestures over time?

With Phillip, I think first and foremost it was just the fact he was funny. Then Radek saw he was diligent, if a bit stubborn, as well as charming and sweet. He somehow always knew what to say to cheer them up and he was easy to communicate with. Not to mention he liked her! Which is an attractive trait all in of itself. Plus he wrote really cheesy love letters and would draw them sometimes, so he wasn't without talent. Pathetic little guy Radek wanted to hold, you know?

As for Camila, it was definitely just how kind and understanding she was. It was the same young-firey-impassioned sort of love but the delicate care that Radek needs. Patience. Camila was especially willing to take things slow which both of them needed. I do think it was a little moment where both of them were cooking together and Radek saw Camila humming while she was at a burner and was like. Oh my gd shes perfect. and then Camila saw Radek cooking and went oh my gd hes perfect. Very funny, very sweet.

23. What sort of routines, rituals or rules do they have or set for themselves?

Radek learned the hard way they have to wash the right side of their face and replace the eyepatch everyday. Eventually they sew the eye shut again but Camila has to do it for them. It still leaks every once in a while so they use those cleansing wipes and it seems to work. It hurts really bad though, so they've been trying to concoct some sort of numbing cream for that skin on their face.

Other than that Hunter has constructed an intricate routine where he wakes up Radek at 9 in the morning just to hug her and then they read together until everyone wakes up. (Sometimes Radek goes back to sleep.)

[itsclydebitches]

YYH Recaps: Koenma Appears

Welcome to episode two, everyone! Before we get to the recap proper, I want to continue down Nostalgia Lane for a moment. Remember how last time I mentioned a Hiei bookmark I used daily back in middle school? Well, I tore through an old "treasure box" I created as a kid (a collection containing everything from a shark tooth to a small book on witchcraft. You know, the important things every child needs) hoping to find it... but I didn't. It's a hard life we lead.

However, I did find some other YYH relics that I thought you all might enjoy seeing. Behold — and, if you'd like, laugh at — my collection:

First up is a picture of young Toguro and Genkai that I wanted to use as my bookmark, but found that it was too wide. For the record, I didn't (and still don't) care about Toguro much, he was just the byproduct of finding a cool Genkai picture. Not shown is the back of the image with the names of my classmates because I made them all sign this along with our yearbook.

God bless my friends for putting up with me.

Second is a collection of very pretty trading cards that I ordered from god only knows where. I have vague memories of not finding any at my local comics shop and convincing my mom to let me order on The Olde Internet. Did I want the trading cards to trade them? Absolutely not. They exist to sparkle and make my heart happy.

Finally, I've saved what is perhaps the best for last. Now, you have to understand that grade to middle school age Clyde did not have the education that she would receive later on, which includes a knowledge of the ephemeral nature of fanworks and the importance of accurate record keeping. What this means is that I have absolutely no context for this. No author, no explanation... just the image itself.

Was this a standalone fanart? A part of a fic? Some specific request or just the will of the artist? I cannot answer these questions. I tried a reverse image search (which is, admittedly, the extent of my tech skills) and you know what the single hit I got was? "Fiction." Thanks, google. So yeah, I can only assume that my child self considered Kurama giving a de-aged Hiei a bubble bath adorable enough to save, but the artist wasn't important enough to jot down for future viewing. Sorry about that, mystery artist. And, as should go without saying, if anyone does know where this came from please let me know! Though I suspect that this is a case of a YYH-specific site closing down and the fanworks getting lost along with it. That happened a great deal before the age of AO3 when volunteers decided to put their time and talent towards saving fanworks of all sorts... 

But enough of all that. Let's get to recapping!

As we established last episode, Yusuke and Botan are on their way to the spirit world to kickstart Yusuke's ordeal. Watching this after over a decade of consuming other media, I really appreciate that Yusuke acts like a human person and asks lots of questions about this. When Botan is cryptic for the sake of the audience — we're going to see "the person" who can explain everything — Yusuke is justifiably like, and what person would that be?? I mean, this is also a way to establish basic facts for the viewer and it simultaneously feeds into Yusuke being someone who is difficult for the sake of being difficult — "If someone wants to say something, they should come to me!" — but it's just nice to see a character who doesn't accept cryptic BS because the story needs them to. If Botan gives an unclear, but ~dramatic~ explanation, Yusuke is going to call her out on that.

So she explains that they're going to see King Yama and Yusuke is all whoa whoa whoa, there's royalty involved? Suddenly, he's not so adamant that they come to him. 

Botan tries to reinforce this rare spark of humility and demands that Yusuke be on his best behavior from here on out.

Pff. Yeah right.

But “he can send you to oblivion forever if he wants to!” is a suitable enough threat to cow Yusuke for now. Which is interesting considering that a few hours ago he was happy to accept hell as his rightful ending. Granted, we could argue that there's a big difference between hell and oblivion — a character may not be afraid of punishment in the same way they are a lack of existence — but I'd say this ties more into Yusuke's development at the wake. Now that he's accepted that people care for him and that he should strive to return to them, the threat of having it snatched away actually means something. Even if that line is otherwise positioned as a comedic moment.

Botan flies them through a portal where we see the River Styx below and Yusuke comments on how big everything is. At first I was like, "What are you talking about? You were just flying over some major city in fictional Japan, wasn't that big too?" but this line makes more sense when they reach the palace and you realize that yeah, it's big. As in, the camera blurs while tilting down its length to show how insanely tall it is. Yusuke and Botan are tiny gnats at the gate's entrance.

"Oh man, what a pad!" Yusuke says and sure, that's one way to look at it lol.

Botan announces that she has a "new arrival" and the gates open for them, but so far there's no one else around. One part of me wants to question the time and budget put into this scene because shouldn't there be, like, thousands of people? Even just waiting outside? The idea that this is the hub of the underworld and that Botan is responsible for ferrying all the souls, yet she is guiding just this one (1) dude for a solid day is, from a world building perspective, kind of nuts. But beyond the need to develop Botan as a character (she can't be a part of the story if her job is treated realistically, with all the endless work that entails), I think this choice functions rather well from an atmospheric perspective too. Meaning, this moment is supposed to be rather tense for Yusuke. He just died, just found out the afterlife exists, just discovered a desire to get his life back, and is now about to meet a King who can toss him into oblivion if he's rude — which Yusuke always is. So this is a Very Dangerous Moment and their relative isolation feeds into that. As does the setting. Yusuke flinches back from the hallway, saying that it looks like a giant throat, so he is now literally walking into the belly of the beast. 

Suddenly, the size of the palace isn't an indicator of awesome wealth, just general intimidation. Also, check out the spikey purple mountains in the background and the harsh reds of the scene, especially compared to the soft yellow of the river. All of it is designed to create an, "Oh shit" reaction in both Yusuke and the audience.

Yusuke's image of King Yama matches these surroundings:

Oh wait! Wrong character ;)

He's massive, red, shadowed, and poses a formidable threat. And how does Yusuke deal with threats? By fighting them! Even those he can't hope to beat. Remember, this isn't a situation where Yusuke has any power here, but he still desperately holds onto the possibility that he might. What if he gets off a punch on King Yama's nose? Then goes for his eyes? Yeah, that'll work! 

Overlooking the fact that it absolutely would not — Yusuke's fantasy conveniently skips how he escapes Yama's clutches — what exactly is Yusuke hoping to accomplish here? Somehow take over the entire underworld? Escape as a ghost and live out his afterlife in hiding? We don't know and that's because Yusuke doesn't know. He doesn't think ahead, he just obeys this instinct to fight. An instinct that, crucially, overrides everything else. Botan has already told him that all Yusuke needs to do is be polite and everything will be fine, but it's not even that Yusuke believes that he can't achieve that; that he knows himself too well and, fearing a slip, starts planning for a potentially inevitable confrontation. There are simply no plans outside of battle plans. Yusuke just hears about someone vaguely intimidating and his brain jumps straight to, "How do I beat him in a fight?" no matter the odds, or that other options are readily available to him. Again, much of YYH's characterization occurs though its comedy, so outside of the general humor of witnessing this fantasy, it actually does a stellar job of reinforcing precisely who Yusuke is. In life the only thing he had going for him was his ability to fight. It was his one joy, his one skill, arguably the one good thing he did if we frame those reflexes as "saving" the kid... so is it any wonder that fighting dominates his every thought? It's all he knows.

And, as we'll see down the line, that single-minded obsession is very useful to the spirit world.

For now though, Yusuke finishes his absurd plans to take down King Yama and Botan asks what in the world he's muttering about back there. Which is an unintentionally hilarious line because by the end Yusuke is not muttering, but full on shouting. Botan. How did you not hear him?

Not important. They reach the next door and we get our first inkling that all is not as Yusuke (and we) expect when Botan leans into an intercom to say that they've arrived. Tech in a fantasy spirit world? This feels not only out of place, but rather... mundane? That's the point. When the doors open Yusuke expects his super scary monster, but gets... a whole lot of monsters that aren't scary at all!

The underworld is run by various demons (or ogres), though their looks are contrasted with the harried office worker personalities they've got going on. Someone is running by with a comically tall stack of papers. Someone else is shouting into a cell phone. The first two demons we see cross paths, looking like they're about to punch one another, just as Yusuke expects... except they're just dramatically getting out of the other's way, worried not about the hierarchy of this realm, but the fact that someone is behind schedule. The nerve!

"This place is a madhouse!" we hear somehow shout and yeah, that's the joke. The afterlife is just as chaotic, overworked, and — ultimately — boring as any human office. For all the strangeness of seeing hundreds of demons, this is familiar.

Which, alongside Botan's bubbly nature contrasting assumptions about the Grim Reaper, is one of the first instances of YYH undercutting the viewer's expectations in terms of looks. No one entirely looks the part they play in this tale and if you're trying to teach people to look past surface characteristics... there are worse ways to do it. Horrifying creatures with horns and sharp teeth? Nah, they're just chill dudes trying to do their job. Cutesy girl who looks like she belongs in a mall reading magazines? Nah, she's the Grim Reaper. Terrifying delinquent with a spine-chilling reputation? Nah, he makes faces at kids and saves them from cars.

Of course, the "nah" isn't accurate either. These are monsters with horns, Botan is a cutesy girl, and Yusuke is a delinquent with that reputation. The message isn't so much that people look like Thing A, but get to know them and you'll discover they're actually Thing B, it's the idea that you can be A and B (and C, D, E...) simultaneously. People — or rather, seemingly simple archetypes — can, in fact, embody multiple characteristics at once.

We'll get our third example in just a second.

Yusuke makes a comment about this being the "dead people stock exchange" — accurate — and Botan leads him to a more ornate door past all the desks. It's clear they've arrived at King Yama's office, since she's bowing and formally presenting him to... someone. Yusuke looks around for the giant beast he's imagined, only for a tiny voice to hail him from the ground.

Looks are deceiving!

“This is Yusuke Urameshi and he’s honored to meet you." Botan knows what's up. She knows Yusuke isn't going to express anything of the sort without some prompting. Too bad he's busy cracking up at this apparent child running the show. Side note: Yusuke has a fantastic laugh.

He even goes so far as to accuse Botan of lying to him.

“Why would I lie about such a thing?!”

“Why would the spirit world be run by a toddler?”

It's true! That’s a legitimate question! I love that Yusuke asks questions. The "toddler" goes on to explain that he's actually the "mighty Koenma," son of King Yama, though he's lived fifty times as long as Yusuke, "so watch your mouth." Assuming Koenma knows and/or remembers how old Yusuke is — fourteen — and is good at math, that puts him at seven hundred years old. He looks good for his age!

"And in addition to knowing the secrets of the universe," he says, "I am quite potty trained."

You've gotta love Koenma.

Yusuke's attitude changes drastically once they get down to business. Koenma produces an egg, saying that Yusuke's ordeal is to hatch it and face what comes out. The hatching part isn't difficult, all he needs to do is keep it on his person. The challenge is in the fact that this egg will feed off his spirit energy and that energy in turn will change what kind of creature develops. If his spirit is wicked and cruel, so will be the beast and it will devour Yusuke upon hatching.

However, if his spirit is good and kind, the beast will become a sort of guardian, guiding him back to his living body.

Note though that throughout this conversation the egg is always a "beast." It's a "monster." It's not necessarily intentional, but there's a strong bend towards the negative here in the description that really emphasizes the whole "ordeal" aspect. Koenma briefly reassures Yusuke that he can remain a ghost if he prefers, but he's already made up his mind. Despite another threat of being lost to a void — this time through spiritual digestion — Yusuke takes the egg almost without hesitation.

He regrets it later though.

"I can't believe I did that."

Can we blame him? I'd be nervous about some egg feeding off the energy of my soul too and I'm a former, almost straight A student (damn you, math) with no life-altering regrets and a general desire to put as much good into this world as I'm able. I’m boring. But what if those occasional, mean little thoughts you have add up? What if the prejudices you're still unlearning stack against you? Does the egg care about what you do, or only how you feel about the act? This sort of test would eat me alive!

Maybe literally. 

Good thing Yusuke doesn't have time for an existential crisis!

Just as he's beginning to regret this decision, Botan points out that it won't matter if he passes if he doesn't have a body to return to. Now, why wouldn't he have a body? Maybe because his mom is set to cremate him tomorrow.

Whoopsie.

Yusuke is, understandably, distraught. We get another excellent exchange:

“Botan, is there any way for ghosts to communicate with living people?”

“Yes.”

“SO ARE YOU GONNA TELL ME?”

I swear, Yusuke is the only smart protagonist. I mean, he's dumb as a sack of bricks at times, but that's neither here nor there. Bless this fictional boy for reacting like an actual person. 

Botan explains that people are more attuned to the spirit world when they're asleep, so Yusuke can deliver a message to someone in their dreams. Seems easy enough. They first head to Atsuko, but find that she's raging drunk and nowhere near sleep. 

"You fool!" she yells. "No one gave you permission to die!" Atsuko continues to yell about how plenty of people survive car accidents, so why couldn't you? "Were you mad at me, Yusuke? Didn't I raise you right?"

Botan comments on how sad the display is. Yusuke's response?

“The only thing that’s sad is now she’s got one more excuse to act that way."

Y'all, that's some mature shit for a goofy shonen anime. Yeah, Yusuke recognizes that, while she's obviously heartbroken, his death has just given her another reason to do what she's been doing for years: drinking herself into a stupor. Toss in Atsuko putting the blame on Yusuke — "No one gave you permission to die!" — plus the belief that she did do a good job — "Didn't I raise you right?" — and it paints a rather bleak picture. This is by no means an uncommon theme. Negligent parents, whether they're framed that way or not, are pretty common in shonen series, but it's still rather jarring to re-watch this as an adult and go, "Oh. The situation’s like that." It's honestly a lot when you remove it from YYH's otherwise humorous, casual context.

Yusuke heads to Keiko's next and finds her sound asleep, commenting on how her room looks more "girly" than when they were kids. Check out that smile!

He's about to try and deliver his message, but Keiko is in the midst of a nightmare. “She’s crying… what’s wrong?”

Oh my god. Remember how I just said Yusuke is also the densest protagonist around? Example A right here. You just died, you fool! You just saw Keiko collapse at your funeral. What do you think is wrong??

We get a peek at Keiko's dream where she is — shockingly! — thinking of Yusuke. He's far out of reach, walking away and unresponsive to her calls. Keiko soon trips and Yusuke disappears completely.

Luckily, she has the real thing at her bedside. Yusuke tries talking to her and at first it's unclear if this supernatural stuff is really working. That is, until Keiko murmurs about how heavy he is.

Reassured, Yusuke delivers his message that Keiko needs to help Atsuko pull herself together and, most importantly, call off burning his body. We get this very soft and pretty background to establish their yet unspoken feelings for one another, though Yusuke gets close with, “I’m coming back. I don’t want to see you cry anymore" as he brushes her tears away. Aww.

Keiko wakes, thinking at first it was just a dream, but no, "I'm sure I felt it."

The next morning she heads to Atsuko's to explain the dream, only to first hear that Atsuko had a dream too, this one about Yusuke "living in some other world full of ogres and he kept knocking them down until he became their leader." It sounds absurd, of course, but it brings Atsuko some comfort to think of her boy in a place like that and Keiko backs down. Right, she'd only had a comforting dream too.

Now, there are two important parts to this exchange. The first is that this is an excellent example of how you let the characters drive the story, rather than forcing the characters adhere to the plot you've come up with. Meaning, in the latter situation, our cast would have needed to have their personalities twisted and the viewer's suspicion of disbelief tested to give Yusuke what he needs: a sleeping family member willing to believe his message. But it absolutely makes sense for Atsuko to be drunk rather than sound asleep, so Yusuke can't rely on her. Likewise, it absolutely makes sense for Keiko to be asleep, but not believe the dream once she's woken up. After all, how many times have we been persuaded by something in the dead of night only for things to look more logical and less likely in the morning? The characters act both like themselves and like people who do normal, people-ish things, which means that Yusuke runs into more conflicts. That's good! It not only raises the tension and stakes — now he has less than a day to convince someone — but makes his inevitable success feel that much sweeter. A less well written show (cough-RWBY-cough) would have had the characters change their personalities, behave in unlikely ways, or just come up with a sudden, contradictory solution because Yusuke needs to keep his body. Instead, Yusuke actually has to work for that within the bounds of the rules established and the likeliness of each plan succeeding. The first one fails? Move onto plan #2.

Second, this dream of Atsuko's has some cool implications within YYH's world. Meaning, we're about to learn in just a moment that some people are naturally more aware of the supernatural than others, even when they're not asleep. We'll also see down the line that spiritual awareness tends to run in families... so perhaps Atsuko possesses more than the average mother? I'm not saying it's necessarily intentional on the author(s) part, but we can choose to read this dream as evidence of spiritual awareness — true insight into the world Yusuke was just in and the fantasies he'd had about conquering it — rather than just a coincidental joke for the viewer. After all, Yusuke gets his own spiritual awareness from somewhere...

(Okay, so there's totally another, canonical reason for that, but we can have both!)

So, as Yusuke puts it, “This dream business isn’t gonna cut it.”

“There’s always the final method," Botan says.

“You always this vague?”

I am literally living for these interactions.

Botan explains that the more extreme form of communication is possessing a living person, but there are two rules attached: it has to be someone you know and the vessel has to be someone who is quite spiritually aware, as discussed above. Atsuko isn't a contender because the story hasn't acknowledged that she might be sensitive, that's just my own headcanon now. Yusuke outright says, “In that case I’m screwed. There’s no one like that!"

Cut to good old Kuwabara.

At first it looks as if he's just oh so conveniently sensing a spirit right when the audience has learned he has this power, but in reality it's Yusuke and Botan flying behind him that sets it off. Again: this show is pretty good about keeping things internally consistent, rather than making choices because That's Just How Stories Work, I Guess. Kuwabara's friends note that he's acting strangely and I love this detail that apparently one of the guys is new to their group because the other two need to explain that this is the "tickle feeling." Ever since Kuwabara was a boy he's been able to sense the dead around him. Some nice, some... not so nice.

He looks directly at Yusuke — even though he's not able to see him — and declares that what's following them is “A puny low-level ghost, like a haunted racoon or something.”

I'd support Yusuke's anger more if he hadn't just exclaimed his surprise that Kuwabara serves a purpose 😂

Yusuke is pissed enough though to proclaim that he won't do it, nuh-uh, no way is he possessing this guy's body. Botan's response is one of my FAVORITES in the WHOLE SERIES:

"Here's my impression of Yusuke: look at me, I’m burning!”

Literally 75% of this series is just about a found family sassing one another and I love it.

Obviously this helps Yusuke remember his priorities and he grudgingly agrees to the plan. Botan prepares Kuwabara's body somehow — idk, spiritual magic or whatever — and warns Yusuke that he only has an hour to find someone and warn them because a human body can't handle possession any longer than that. Sure. I buy it.

So Yusuke takes control and please ignore the incredible ethical issues here. The show will never acknowledge them again. 

He blurts out, “Hey, check it out! I’m inside Kuwabara, feeling smooth!"

Istg I don't remember the series being this unintentionally gay. I don't even ship Yusuke/Kuwabara and I'm digging the possibilities here lol.

Back on track, his friends drag him with, “Looks like he’s back to normal” because again, 75%. What's not normal though is Kuwabara (Yusuke) suddenly charging down the street to leave them behind. He heads straight to the restaurant where Keiko's parents work, demanding to see her. They're rightly concerned about this stranger barging in and screaming for their daughter.

Upon asking who he is/why they should tell him, Yusuke makes his biggest mistake: “Because it’s me, you guys, I’m Yusuke!”

Obviously the time limit and raw emotion of knowing who he is has outweighed the knowledge that, you know, no one would believe that. Yusuke has spent the last two days bopping around as a ghost and familiarizing himself with some of the afterlife's insanity. The knowledge of what's normal for everyone else — AKA, not dead boys appearing in strangers' bodies — is not at the forefront of Yusuke's mind.

So, Keiko's parents react accordingly! The father in particular is disgusted by this claim, going so far as to threaten Yusuke with his knife and outright insult Kuwabara's looks: “Yusuke was never ugly like you… we were close family friends with that boy!" His wife chimes in that this kind of joke is particularly heinous on the day of his funeral. Between Atsuko drunkenly blaming Yusuke for his death and Mr. Takenaka grieving for what he might have been, this is one of the few times we see someone just sad for Yusuke's passing, exactly as he was and without regrets or criticism. "We were close family friends with that boy" paints a nice contrast to the delinquent persona Yusuke was cultivating.

As he's thrown out of the restaurant he says, “We should have special passwords for times like this!” Fun fact, my family does! Well, not this exact situation lol. I was given a password as a child to memorize in case my parents ever needed to send someone else to pick me up or interact with me in any way. If the stranger didn't know the password, I was to kick up a fuss. I rest easy with the knowledge that this password would not doubt assist me if I was ever in Yusuke's position!

With Keiko's parents a bust, Yusuke starts sprinting to everywhere she frequents with the hope of running into her. Or at least he tries. 

Yusuke is suddenly waylaid by a group of nameless teens with a bone to pick with Kuwabara. And you know what? I like it. I wonder how much of my praise stems from coming off of RWBY Volume 8, but it's just so nice to watch a story where the plot — simple as it is — hangs together. We've established that Kuwabara is a street fighter. Last episode we watched him start a fight with Yusuke. Yusuke is on a time limit. Now Kuwabara's tendencies have created a new hurdle for Yusuke!

Needless to say, Yusuke kicks butt, even in Kuwabara’s body. 

As one guy is passing out he says, “Man that hurt! I didn’t think anyone could throw punches that hardcore except Yusuke Urameshi."

Yusuke: “Darn, giving Kuwabara a good name." LOL

You think this challenge is finished though? Nah. Over the course of about half an hour Yusuke encounters a comical number of people trying to get even with Kuwabara. 

As always, I like the nods towards this writing decision to help justify it, with Yusuke wondering how Kuwabara has pissed this many people off. If you want to pull off something that has a low chance of happening, it can help to give the characters a "Seriously?" moment. If both they and the audience are on the same page over how ridiculous this situation is, the audience is more likely to accept it once the character does.

By the time Yusuke escapes his hour is nearly up. However, thanks to some coincidental plotting, he spots Keiko's friends just across the street! 

YYH does a decent job of making its characters feel like they have their own lives outside of what's immediately happening on screen and we get a good example of that here. We pick up the girls' conversation partway through, both of them worried about Keiko's state of mind and, given that we'll see in a second that Keiko was in the store with them, it implies that something happened to reignite this worry. They're off enjoying their day, doing their own thing, there was an event we're not privy to, and now we catch the response to that. It just helps make the characters feel more well-rounded even though they are, at their core, one-dimensional background characters who don’t even have names yet.

Case in point: the one girl is still concerned with their image. "People are starting to say things!"

Yeah, your friend's childhood friend just died. Hopefully they're saying, "Poor thing."

Anyway, Yusuke runs up to ask where Keiko is only for both girls to run away screaming. Turns out his face is messed up from the numerous fights and Keiko's friends are easily scared. 

Luckily, Keiko comes out just a second later and Yusuke is faced with the challenge of how to convince her in, oh, about five minutes. Remember, we've already established through Keiko's parents that just saying, "I'm Yusuke" doesn't work. That's why he hesitates. It's not just drama for the sake of drama, he's stuck.

“I’ve known her my whole life, there must be something between us that only I would do!”

Yeeeeaah. About that 😬

Suddenly inspired (I suppose that's one way to put it...) Yusuke runs up behind Keiko and grabs her breasts. “Keiko, nice uniform! They’re so squishy!”

It goes without saying that, like flipping her skirt up, this isn't okay. More specifically, the problem lies in the story framing this as a joke for the audience, something to laugh at despite Keiko's discomfort, rather than the concept of two childhood friends actually be that comfortable with one another. But, as already established, this is one of the more ehhhh aspects of Yusuke's characterization that, luckily, will mostly disappear as the story goes on.

Note though that the show clearly wants us to think highly of this. Not just as a "joke," but as a smart solution to his problem and more evidence of their inevitable relationship — the background becomes the same soft, bubbly background we saw during their dream conversation. And, admittedly, it does work. Keiko instinctively slaps Yusuke hard enough to knock him to the ground and he starts laughing, saying that he doesn't care what anyone on the street says, she hits the hardest.

What I do like about this is that the assault isn't the only thing Keiko bases her faith on. Not only has she already had the dream, we get to see Yusuke from her perspective, showing all the mannerisms she picks up on by superimposing Yusuke's real body over Kuwabara's. Indeed, she says as much: “I knew it was you from the first time you spoke…and it’s not just your stupid gags, or how you laugh. There are ways you move and speak that in a hundred years I wouldn’t forget."

Catch me crying in this club!

Knowing she believes him and that he's almost out of time, Yusuke reiterates his message: please don't burn my body and also keep Mom on track. Only, you know, it's phrased far better than that lol. As he speaks, both Yusuke's and Kuwabara's voices overlap until the latter grows fainter and only Yusuke's voice remains. His body too. It's a nice touch, avoiding the awkwardness of Keiko having this moment with a stranger, even if that is what's happening on some level.

“I know I’ve been a bum to you at times, but please wait for me."

His hour up, now we can get the awkwardness! Kuwabara comes out of his weird trance thing to find Keiko crying against his chest. Wow, he thinks, this girl must be really into me! 

God, to have the confidence of Kuwabara.

Of course, Keiko quickly realizes it's not Yusuke anymore and slaps him too for cuddling her closer. My favorite thing is that when she does this a crowd INSTANTLY appears. I mean they TELEPORT in. We needed an audience for Kuwabara's shame and YYH delivered, all logic be damned.

“Um, sorry about that!” Keiko yells as she runs away, because she's a good person who recognizes that weird spirit things just went on and Kuwabara isn't actually to blame.

“No, that’s okay. I probably deserved it," Kuwabara responds because he's also a good person and I didn't appreciate him nearly as much as I should have as a kid.

Keiko runs all the way to Atsuko's place where she finds her dressed for Yusuke's funeral. She blurts that Yusuke might still be coming back and Atsuko goes, "He already has." Turns out she opened his coffin to "smack him one more time for leaving me" — yikes — and found that his heart had started beating again, just as Koenma said it would. 

Being in a shonen anime, they apparently decide to just trust Keiko's message rather than, idk, taking him to a hospital or something.

The camera tilts up to show that Yusuke has been watching all this, including that both women break down again and comfort one another. Aww. How heartwarming.

What's less fuzzy though is this mysterious egg. Yusuke takes another look and finds that it has developed a heartbeat too, presumably in time with his body's. He theorizes that he did decent things today, right? But Botan (teasingly) points out that he did beat up a lot of other kids. Rather than getting angry, Yusuke remains uncharacteristically pensive, emphasizing the magnitude of what this means for him. He's got to get it right.

No pressure or anything! We'll have to see how Yusuke balances his karmic scales in the next episode. Until then, I'll try not to put all my TV time into Star Trek: Voyager :D 

See you then!  💜

[pinepickled-om]

Why Is Your Room Like This

Pairing: Arbor (My oc) / Ayano (lunakurenai’s oc)

Tags: Dubious consent, tree fucking, penis-in-vagina sex, multiple orgasms, aphrodisiacs, restraings.

Can be read on ao3 under the same name.

~~~~~~~~~~

It was the middle of the school day, and there was no demon, human, or otherwise living being in sight.  The perfect time for Ayano to carry out her plan, regardless of how much Lucifer would scold her later.  This task was of the utmost importance, after all, and this was the only time a certain sorcerer would not be in the immediate area.  

Now, Ayano didn't want to make a habit of poking Arbor.  The man was hard to read, and she never quite knew if her pokes only tickled him or pushed his buttons- but this was important.  There were already two magically-educated humans in the Devildom, herself being the one with the least experience, and it was starting to get to her.  Between Arbor's frequent rituals to 'strengthen our bond' whatever that meant and Solomon's own obsessive research, she was starting to feel like she wasn't doing enough for her boys.  Plus, Arbor seemed the least protective of his material possessions out of the two- what's the harm in taking one measly little spell book?

She carefully twisted the knob on Arbor's door, which was located right next to hers, relieved that there were no protective spells or anything of the like on it.  It was... strange, living so close to Arbor.

For one, the man was far older than her, and it showed.  He approached life with a certain experience and confidence she herself couldn't manage, and looked unbothered through it all.  Not to mention that he viewed things like sex, demons, religion, and magic in a far different light than she herself did.  Plus, he was just so patient!  You'd think that living for a millenia or two would make him uninterested in wasting his time, but instead it seemed that he could wait for days, or even months on end for something to come to fruition.  Especially when it came to Ayano.

Mammon had said that Arbor was sweet on her, and... she could kind of see it.  For one, he'd said she was always welcome in his room- something no one except Mammon had offered her at the time.  He'd also offered his own abundant power and knowledge for her use to help with Diavolo's tasks and any pesky demons who wished her arm- and he was an incorrigible flirt.  

Hello, little dove.  How was your day?

You look stunning today, Ayano.  I love your hair

I got this dress from Asmo for you, I'd noticed you like this style

Do come over to my room later tonight, we can chat without any demons down our shoulders

A subtle kind of flirting, with a simple twist to the mouth and sincere expression that always made Ayano's heart melt.

Then there was the physical contact whenever they were near... it was kind of hard not to stare at Arbor's well-built body for hours on end when it was right there.  His chosen outfit was wearing nothing but the RAD over coat, tanned muscles lined with intricate tattoos on full display for anyone to see.  When Ayano had asked him about it, he'd said it was the culture- the naked chest look was reserved for only the most powerful, and old Devildom belief that it takes an unbelievably strong being to bear their heart for all to see.  

Now, Arbor wasn't automatically attractive- at least, not by Ayano's previous standards, but over time in the Devildom, he had become more and more handsome... He had deep set hooded eyes, where only dark green with a pool of gold could be seen through.  His hair was curly and cut in such a way that he looked like one of the Greek statues of old.  He had a hawk nose and sharp jaw line, full lips always twisted in a calm yet playful smile. Then there was his body... not built for aesthetics like you would see on Devilgram or on those dating TV shows, but rather for practicality- he may not have a rack of abbs, but when you felt his stomach, it was all muscle.  Then the happy trail that went from his belly button, paused to make way for Mammon's pact mark, and then lead the eyes further down…

Ayano tried to shake herself out of those thoughts as she walked in, but the man was hard to not think about.  Especially since the other night, she'd accidentally stayed out to late at RAD, and it had become night time.  The Devildom was already a dark and gloomy place, but during "night time" it became pitch black- even some demons couldn't see.  She'd dug out her DDD in a panic and phoned Arbor, the only one who was still awake at this hour, and he'd come over no problem.  

He'd settled a warm hand on her back and slowly slid it around her waist, gently caressing her side with his thumb whenever she got to antsy in the darkness as he guided her through the night.  She would never admit it, but thinking back to that night made her blush and turn non-functioning for a minute or two. Especially when she thought back to how he'd put her ice cold hands on his bare chest to warm her up from the Devildom frost... UGH she needed to stop thinking about it before she ended up staying in his room for hours thinking about those hands.

Ayano carefully made her way through the room, and couldn't help admiring the scenery.  Arbor's room was something straight out of a fairy tale, his ground was entirely grass and flower petals with a stunning stream flowing through it coming from who-knows-where, and his bed was carved straight out of a weeping willow.  Yellow flower buds seemed to be the theme today- the colors of the petals changed at Arbor's whims.  His closet was cleverly hidden between pine trees, and as far as Ayano had seen, Arbor simply stuck his hand in and whatever came out he wore.  His personal possessions were all the way in the back of the room, sitting on a mahogany desk lined with desert plants.  She'd briefly wondered, once upon a time, how so many plants from different climates could survive in the same place.  After seeing Arbor at work, she wondered no longer. 

She couldn't help but take a peek through the curtain of flowers to check Arbor's bed, some sort of Paranoia to make sure he wasn't lurking in the room somewhere she couldn't see

She gasped.  Whereas the rest of Arbor's room was in beautiful shade, somehow he'd managed to put together an illusion just after the wisteria curtain that showed the sky.  The sun shone down and illuminated soft, pink flower petals that lined the ground in a beautiful glow, putting the full wisteria tree on display.  It was ginormous, going on for as far as the eye could see in beautiful pink petals, sun filtering through it.  If Ayano wasn't convinced that Arbor was a fairytale prince before, she sure was now.

It almost felt like a shame to walk on this beautiful earth with shows, so she slowly toed off her flats, gasping as her bare foot came in contact with petals so soft they felt like clouds.  She heard birds chitter somewhere off above, and looked up in wonder.  Shoe's in hand, she walked further into the tree's realm, feeling pleasant and relaxed at the room's ambiance.  No wonder Arbor loved it here, he was living a dream.

Ayano slowly sat on Arbor's bed, cushioned by some sort of cotton(?) Possibly a plant she'd simply never heard of, and relaxed.  She still had time before Arbor came home, after all, so she could afford to wait.

That is, until a branch grabbed her leg out of nowhere.  Ayano yelped in fear, cursing her lack of awareness. It was a sorcerer's room, for fucks sake.  Of course he'd have defenses up the ass.  She tried to kick the branch off, but with each kick it only rapidly climbed up her calf, wrapping around her thigh, and then another branch shot out and wrapped around her arm, and another and another until Ayano was held spread-eagle in the air by dark, thick branches.  They were holding her so securely she doubted any amount of strength she could muster would set her free, and with each move to free herself they only wrapped more firmly around her.

It dawned on her, that now she was caught in a trap and likely wouldn't be let out until Arbor came home- if the sorcerer felt so inclined to let her go at all.

She tried struggling a few more times, if only to test the strength of the branches- but then they started to tear at her clothes, and with purpose.  Her shirt was the first to go, torn to shreds and leaving her in just a bra.  Then her pants were roughly torn off, and she spared a moment to be glad that shed dropped her shoes when the branch had grabbed at her.  She squealed, terrified as the branches on her legs wriggled their way up to her crotch, and that's when she realized they were being very deliberate in the way they were going about things.  She wasn't going to immediately assume Arbor was controlling them- Arbor had a habit of giving something an order and letting his magic figure out the rest- but it was none the less disturbing as she watched the very tips of the branches fuss with her panties, not taking them off, simply touching the fabric- and then touching her through it.

She watched in horrified fascination as the branches wormed their way under the band of the panties at her hips, as though to hold her in place without taking them off- and then a seperate, third branch came into view.  It was thicker and blunter than the ones cradling her hips, smooth in a way the other's weren't- but if she looked closely, wherever the branches were coming into contact with her skin were smooth, not a splinter or otherwise rough patch in sight.  Like the tree didn't want to hurt, only hold.  It made shivers go up her spine at the thought, Because if they were only holding, not hurting, one question must be asked:

Holding her for what?

Ayano found out seconds later, as the third branch slowly caressed her thigh.  She tried jerking away, get her cunt away from that impossibly large branch to spare herself the pain and humiliation, but the more she struggled the faster it made its way up until Ayano froze completely as it slowly rubbed her clit, only the thin fabric of her underwear between her cunt and the branch.  She flushed, letting out a startled moan, and the branch pulled away.  She tried struggling against the branches hold again, to close her legs or maybe move closer, she didn't know-and as though hearing her plea, the branch moved closer again, this time rubbing in between her folds with renewed fervor. 

She let out a needy whine as it moved faster and faster, only focusing on her small nub, the friction of her panties and the hard, unrelenting head of the branch rubbing her clit had hear nearing the edge soon, and she came with a loud cry, straining her thighs against the branches and wailing as the thick head at her clit only moved faster, and then moved further down to rub in-between her now wet folds.  She was twitching from the oversensitivity, and with every pleasured shudder that racked through her body the branch moved faster and with more purpose, rubbing her just right.  Tears pricked her eyes as she realized she'd just cum in mere seconds from a branch rubbing her clit- not even something human.

The thick, somehow warm branch moved from her twitching clit to her folds, now wet from just cumming.  The branch gently wormed its way between them, rubbing at the sensitive area with no rush.  Ayano whined and tried jerking away, but the branches only moved faster, and she let out a yelp as the branch tried pushing it's way further into her sopping cunt.

The branch immediately pulled away, and Ayano breathed a sigh of relief.  She definitely couldn't take a branch of that size, not now anyway.  Just as she began looking for a way out now that she wasn't distracted with a branch torturing her clit, another limb if the tree approached- this time from her head

This branch was different from the others in nearly every way.  For one thing, this branch was entirely pink from tip to as far as Ayano could see, whereas the others were dark brown.  It's tip also had some sort of flower bud, and it was leaking.  Ayano had only a few seconds to jerk away as it approached her face-

But then a branch came up from behind her to hold her by the neck.  She immediately stilled, not wanting to cut off her own airflow, and clamped her mouth shut.  The bulbous, hot pink/reddish bud came to rest at her lips, the peach-colored liquid dripping down her chin as it waited patiently.  Ayano felt her heart rabitting along in her ears, and then yelped.

The branch at her crotch had returned, rubbing her clit and the folds of her cunt with renewed fervor, and it happened.  She opened her mouth, and the bud plunged inside.

Ayano whined, knowing that while a branch fucked into her mouth and another caressed her cunt, she was wet.  The liquid the bud had been carrying was sweet, and it was slowly rubbing up and down her tongue.  Ayano whined, bucking her hips and biting down to try and get away from the branch's assault to no avail.

If anything, they only sped up their ministrations, the thick branch at her cunt abusing her clit just so, and the one in her mouth fucking deeper and deeper, both drawing obscene sounds from her.  She came a second time, shuddering violently and squirming as the branches didn't slow down for a moment, practically wailing around the thrusting bud in her mouth as the branch down below sped up it's attack on her cunt.

Her eyes widened and she forced herself not to choke as the bulbous head of the branch shoved deeper into her mouth and settled in her throat.  It was so large, stretching open her mouth like it was just another hole for it to mess with- and a hole it was enjoying quite a lot.  She shivered as warm liquid began slowly flowing down her throat, her entire body going hot at the sensation. Ayano had no clue what it was that was being injected into her, she could only stay still and close her eyes tightly.

It was hard to stay still, though, as the branch at her cunt continued at it's relentless pace, rubbing her soaking wet cunt like there was no tomorrow, and it had now taken to flicking her clit instead of directly rubbing it.  Each flick made her flinch and moan, and she could almost sense how much joy the tree took from that.  The thick branch prodded at her wet entrance again, as though pondering whether it should try again- it decided yes, and due to Ayano cumming so many times it was able to fit it's fat head into her cunt.

Wait.

When did this thing have a head?

Ayano hadn't been able to to look down at the branch caressing her cunt ever since one had come up to hold her neck in place, so she hadn't noticed when it morphed.  It now had a fat head reminiscent of a cock, and ridges along it's side that were perfect for rubbing against the sloppy inner walls of a cunt.  Ayano whined as the head wiggled in her cunt, seeming to know she couldn't take any more but not quite willing to stay still.

Another branch came up to continue the assault on her clit, much thinner this time and somehow much less merciful than the blunt tip of what was now lodged in her cunt.  Her panties were a wet, ruined mess by now, no doubtedly tearing or unsalvageable after she came twice in them and then had it stuffed up her cunt when the branch didn't bother to move it.

The branches then began fucking her in earnest, rocking her between them as other branches came to support her back.  Ayano shivered as she felt the branches slowly crawl up her spine, creaming around the wooden cock head lovingly rocking into her.  It almost made her laugh at how gentle the tree was being- almost like it was making love to her.

She snorted at the thought and nearly choked on the bud in her mouth.

Ayano was just starting to get used to it- enjoy it, even- when she heard a door open.  At first she froze, looking to the curtain of wisteria with fear.  Who knows, maybe it wasn't Arbor.  Maybe he wouldn't even come in here, it was his bed after all and no where near night time.  

Of course, she had no such luck.

A familiar, tanned hand brushed the yellow petals aside, and a head of green, curly hair ducked into the tree's domain.  At first, Arbor didn't see her- or at least she thought, but Arbor had a distinctly amused smile on his face as he got closer.

"Well, I was wondering why my magic was acting strangely.  It seems I've caught a little bird."

Ayano struggled against the branches harder than before, but they only renewed their thrusting with a new, pointed energy.  She suspected it was because the source of their power was nearby, or maybe Arbor himself was making it so, but the branch at her cunt shoved a good way in, rubbing against her sweet spot, pulling out, and then abused it.  The bud thrust deeper into her throat and then pulled out completely, leaving her throat empty, and lonely came an absurd thought.  She coughed a few times, and then let out a long, keening moan as the branch at her clit slapped the sensitive bud.

Arbor only watched on with a sympathetic and amused smile, making Ayano flush from ear tips to chest.  He was standing there watching her being split open on a creature of his own making, moaning obscenely as it fucked her silly.  She couldn't help but stare at him as the branches shifted her to their whims, the new angle making her pant out lewdly and her eyes rolled back into her head.  She thought she heard Arbor give a soft coo, though between the loud, wet slaps of the branches at her cunt and the needy moans falling from her lips, she could hardly hear.

Another orgasm wracked through her body, and she spasmed around the thick branch obscenely.  From where Arbor was standing, he had a complete view of her cunt being pounded with the branch, of her clit being played with by another, and the one holding her neck and thighs to keep her in place.  His eyes raked over her, taking in her still-untouched bra, her mangled panties still somehow hanging onto her hips, and finally her wrecked face.  She tried to close her mouth to keep the moans from slipping out, feeling humiliation crawl up her spine at the lewd noises she was making in front of her friend- but before she could, the bud came back and the sticky liquid it carried gushed out of it's bud and filled Ayano's mouth to the brim, forcing her to swallow it down else it would all drip down her face and chest, though it did that anyway from the sheer volume she tried to swallow down.

"They're telling me you've been a good human for them, though a bit naughty before they got their hands on you.  Care to explain?"  Arbor said lightly, still wearing that sympathetic-amused face.  Ayano felt tears prick her eyes, embarrassment flushing her chest.  How did he expect her to answer him when being fucked by a branch as thick and long as her forearm, having her sweet spot abused, and swallowing down a tree's sap? She closed her eyes and whimpered as the small branch played with her clit, flicking it, rubbing it, and now slapping it.

Arbor sighed, and then seemed to decide to take pity on her.  He approached with that same confidence he always wore, and gently put a hand on her chest, right over her heart.

"Stay still."

Ayano immediately obeyed his command, stilling completely even as she moaned around the sap still pouring into her mouth and the branch fucking her cunt.  He cooed some mindless praise, and then took her jaw in his fingers.  His dark green eyes, with pools of pure gold looked deep into her own dark ones, a gentle look all over his face, and she managed to relax even a little bit.  That is, until he spoke.

"Moan."

Ayano froze, looking at Arbor like he was insane- he probably was, now that she thought about it.  Arbor simply batted the branch at her face away, causing the peach-colored liquid to spill all over her, covering her face, breasts, stomach, and even a little bit of her cunt with the sticky liquid.  The branch caught some of the liquid, pulling out of her to do so, before fucking it into her.  It set her on fire, and she moaned obscenely.  

The branch at her face finally pulled away for good, the peach-colored liquid finally stopping it's down pour, and she breathed a sigh of relief- then flushed. She shook her head at Arbor, trying to squirm away from his firm grip, and he only chuckled.

"Well, it's up to you.  If you moan, it'll go away."  He said, sounding resigned. Then his eyes sharpened, and he smirked down at Ayano.

"Though, if you keep struggling and don't make a sound, I'll take matters into my own hands."

She immediately stilled, giving him her best puppy eyes, and he chuckled fondly down at her.  The branch continued it's relentless fucking of her cunt, her slick dripping down it's broad length.  It tore one more orgasm from her that she couldn't help but scream through, wailing from the overstimulation of her poor cunt.  Luckily, Arbor didn't seem to mind, and gently rubbed her stomach.

"Alright.  Since you've been so good, I'll help you out."  He promised, smooth voice calming her beating heart just a little bit. Arbor kneeled down, and Ayano squealed as the branches maneuvered her until completely upright, still held firmly open by the branches as the thick cock-shaped limb fucked her with the same fervor it had previously, not slowing at all.  The dark haired girl whined down at Arbor, and he only cooed.  The thin branch that had been torturing her clit finally, finally moved away, and she breathed a small sigh of relief.

That was, until Arbor took the sensitive bud into his warm mouth and sucked.

Ayano keened, drying to jerk away from his demanding tongue as he laved it over her clit, sucking and licking at it while all the while her cunt was being filled again and again by the branch behind her.

"Arbor...." She whined, voice stuttering with each harsh thrust of the branch into her hole.  He hummed around her clit, and she desperately tried to jerk away before she came one more painful time, only causing the thick cock-branch to thrust deeper and faster, wrecking her insides and stretching her open perfectly.  Something was coiling deep in her gut, different than the other times she'd cum from the tree's ministrations, and panicked as she begged Arbor for relief.

"P-please, I ah! I can't, I- I'm gonna- ARBOR PLEASE!"

She gave one, long, high-pitched moan as she came, squirting into Arbor's waiting mouth- which was still working her clit- and all over his face.  She whined in humiliation and her poor, overstimulated cunt had no success in forcing the wooden cock out of her cunt, the tree simply fucking her through her orgasm and held her hips and legs in place.  Ayano felt shameful tears streaming down her face, and looked down at Arbor between her thighs- despite the fact that the branches had a firm hold on her ankles, she'd still managed to slam her thighs together, trapping the man's face right on her twitching clit.  

She slowly moved her thighs away from his face, looking away shamefully.  Ayano noted, with no short amount of relief, that the branch had finally stopped pounding her cunt, instead having taken to staying completely still inside of her. Her hips and pussy were sore, filled to the brim with the branch as she still gave the occasional clench.  She finally brought herself to look at Arbor, who seemed to be examining the mess she'd just made of herself.

"Arbor!" She said, flushing deeply.  The man only glanced at her face before going back to his careful examination of her cunt.  Suddenly feeling a flare of panic in her chest, Ayano opened her mouth again.

"Did- did it do something to me?" She asked, voice coming out as scared and weak- no doubt because of the abuse her throat had just gone through.  Arbor chuckled lowly, amused and lighthearted despite the fact that she'd just squirted all over his face.

"Yeah, it did something to you alright."

A warm hand came to gently rub at her thigh, and Arbor gave a soft kiss to her belly button before rising completely.  Ayano gaped at him, and would have struggled in the branches grip if she hadn't feared it would begin torturing her sensitive walls if she moved.

"Well?! What did it do?" She asked, glaring at the nonchalant man.  Arbor grinned down at her, the tips of too-sharp-to-be-human k9's peaking out from his lips.

"It fucked you pretty good." He said appreciatively.  "Though I'm still a bit lost on why exactly you're in here- maybe Satan told you about this?" He pondered, and before Ayano had a chance to vehemently deny, Arbor forged on.

"Well, if you came here on purpose for this, I should probably fix it up so it doesn't take your clothes- thought watching you go streaking in the hallway would be kind of funny."

As Arbor turned his back on her, Ayano felt dread build up in her stomach.

"Uh, Arbor?  Are you gonna let me go?"  She asked, sounding pathetic and drained.  Arbor only laughed quietly, continuing to walk away from her.  Just as Ayano was convinced he'd leave her there, he stopped right at his tree, and...opened it?  An alcove opened in the side of a tree, and Arbor pulled something out.

"Ayano, I must admit- you look adorable like that.  So maybe until you figure out the trick to it, I'll leave you there.  Now, as for me..."

And then Arbor opened the book and sat down on his bed.  Ayano could only gape at him, shocked to her core.

"You're not even going to clean yourself up?" She said, focusing on the one thing that wouldn't make her scream hysterically.

"Nope." Arbor replied, popping the p.  "Actually, now that you mention it..." He said, before he brought a hand to his face and gathered Ayano's cum on his fingers, before slathering it on the cover of the book as the dark haired girl watched in horror.

"ARBOR! What are you-"

Ayano's horrified cry was immediately cut off as she felt a tugging in her gut- different from what it felt when she was cumming, though not completely dissimilar.  She carefully looked down at her stomach, and saw Mammon's pact mark right under her belly button- where Arbor had his pact mark as well. 

"There we go.  Lucifer was telling me you were taking interest in magic, so I figured I'd give this to you.  It's pretty simple stuff, just follow the instructions exactly and only use Mammon's power." Arbor said, as though he hadn't done the weirdest fucking thing Ayano had seen in a while.

"Why....?" She asked, unable to finish her question.

"Well, Mammon is by far the most lenient and easiest demon to work with if you're a beginner- if you need a frame of reference, Solomon learned how to do this with Asmodeus and got booted across an ocean."

Ayano felt sobered learning that.  She of course knew that working with demons and magic was dangerous, but... Asmodeus did that?  She must have been making a strange face, because Arbor snorted.

"Don't worry, he is very different now- though I wouldn't test him.  Just stick with Mammon.  Now, I'm gonna leave it right here, okay?  And you're gonna help me with something."  He said, putting the book down on the nightstand.  Arbor then walked over and put his arms around Ayano's back, uncaring for the mess all over her, and the branch immediately pulled out of her cunt and dropped her in Arbor's waiting arms.  He set her down on her side, flush with the soft petals that made his mattress.

"This is a favorite of Lucifer's and Asmodeus you see, now be warned it's got a bit of alcohol in it but only the Devildom kind."  He said, bringing out an elegant, peach colored bottle with a strange dispenser(?) at the very top.  THe bottle had a thin neck that flared out into a round bottom, with a flat base to set down- and the entire thing had some sort of swirling, peach colored liquid in it- with a lot of yellow.

"It won't be exactly like what Lucifer and Asmodeus like, since it's my own blend and all, but you should be grateful for that.  Drinking the stuff they like could put you out of commission for weeks."

Ayano rolled her eyes.

"Can I at least have some clothes first, Arbor?" She huffed, crossing her arms over her chest- the only thing keeping her breasts from being on full display for the man was her bra, and that was it.  He'd already gotten a full view of her cunt as well, though Ayano couldn't help closing her sore legs as tight as possible to protect what little modesty she had.  

Arbor tilted his head thoughtfully at the question and Ayano was sure he was just teasing her now- but then...

"No." He said decidedly.

"No!?" Ayano parrotted.

"No."  Arbor said again, this time with a smile.  He pointed a finger at Ayano's covered chest, and the dark haired girl tried to sit up.

"Ah ah~  I wouldn't do that if I were you.  The tree did a number on your ass, and I wouldn't want you actually hurting yourself." He said, his calm matter-of-fact words stilling Ayano for just a moment- but just a moment was enough.

Green magic shot from Arbor's finger and hit Ayano's bra before she could so much as blink- and then it disappeared, reappearing in Arbor's hand.  He held the bra loosely in his hand, and Ayano flushed.

"H-HEY!" She said, watching as Arbor turned it this way and that as he examined the clothing.  It was soaked from when she'd been splashed with the tree's peach liquid, but surprisingly intact.  Before she could get over the fact that her bra was in Arbor's hands, he pointed a finger at her panties and they too appeared in his hands.

"Oof, I should probably buy you new ones.  How do you feel about green?" he said, holding the wet, mangled fabric in his palm.

"P-please let go of that!" She said, unable to decide if she should move her arms to cover her embarrassed, flushed face or keep them in place to cover her now free breasts.

"No, I will not." He said smugly, bringing the panties up to his face as though to slowly examine it.

Ayano could only watch on, mortified, as Arbor brought the thin fabric to his face and sniffed it.  Ayano may have screamed, she didn't quite know, but she knew she did one thing.

"PERVERT!" She wailed, picking up some of the stray flower petals and throwing them at him.  They obviously did nothing, but it did succeed in getting him to stop smelling her fucking cummed on, fucked out, used panties.

But then he put it in his mouth.  Ayano was sure she'd pass out.

"WHAT IS YOUR PROBLEM?!?!?" She yelled, throwing more petals at him- though for every one she threw, more simply took their place.  Arbor only chuckled, lapping up the stray slick that practically dripped off of the wrecked fabric.

"Mah, why do you keep throwing those at me?  I can't help that I got a taste earlier and now crave more." He said, pouting.  Ayano sputtered at him, rubbing her legs together.  Though it was extremely odd for Arbor to do, her clit still remembered what if felt like to be taken lovingly into Arbor's mouth and be sucked so perfectly. 

"Hmph!  Just give me the damn drink- and let go of those!"  She yelled, risking reaching one hand out to accept the bottle from his hand.  Arbor handed if over, and then promptly took to holding the ruined panties between his teeth as he admired her bra.  She considered just throwing the damned spell book at him and walking away, but all things considered, he could be doing a lot worse than just teasing her, however strangely he's going about it.  

She petulantly brought the tip of the bottle to her lips and tipped her head back, and felt mild surprise when the liquid didn't drip down.

"Here, let me help you."

Arbor dropped the panties from his mouth, thankfully, and the bra, approaching Ayano with a confident stride.  She tried shying away from him, but he just picked her up and sat on the bed, settling her down back to his chest.  He almost cradled her, a full 9 inches taller, and Ayano fit perfectly under his chin and between his shoulders.  Arbor snatched the bottle from her hands and held it up to her lips, but Ayano shooed him away.

"You're the worst!  Just tell me how to do it." She grumbled, trying to take the bottle back.

"I'm the worst, am I?" Arbor replied teasingly, before wrapping her up in his arms and peppering kisses all over her face and down her neck.  Ayano squealed in his arms, jerking around as the sloppy kisses tickled her badly.

"Okay, OKAY!! I'll be good, just giggles stop!!!" She said, laughing the whole while.  Arbor did indeed stop kissing her, but his teasing simply never ceased.

"I see, I see.  Well, I didn't ask you to be good, but if you're offering..." He whispered in her ear with a sultry tone, before licking her face.  She squealed, squirming in his arms to no avail.  

"Now, be good and put this in your mouth.  It works like a straw, so just suck it out." He instructed, arms still wrapped around her in a bear hug.  She let him place the tip of the bottle in her mouth, and she gave a tentative suck to the protruding tip at the top, sucking the thick, sweet liquid into her mouth.  She was surprised, since it tasted a lot better than most of the alcohol she'd tasted in the Devildom- not to mention that it warmed her up from the inside.

Ayano closed her eyes, relishing in the feeling of the warm liquid going down her throat and through her body, lapping happily at the tip of the bottle.  She giggled as more of the peach-flavored liquid filled her mouth, enthusiastically licking it again as she was rewarded with more of the delicious nectar.  Arbor chuckled warmly behind her, placing a fond kiss to her temple, and Ayano leaned into it, never once removing the bottle tip from her mouth.  She never knew it was so fun to lick and suck something like this!

Before Ayano knew it, the bottle was empty.   She pouted at the empty glass, looking up at Arbor with puppy dog eyes. The man was looking down at her with nothing but affection, and then playfully bit her shoulder.

"I'm sorry, dearest, but that's all I have for you.  Though, it seems you liked it a whole lot..." He said, one large hand trailing down her sap-stained stomach to cup her cunt.   She tensed, expecting to feel the tell tale overstimulation, but there was only the feeling of Arbor's hand over her hole.  She tilted her head in confusion, and Arbor slowly dragged one finger through her folds, coming up covered in her slick. Ayano made a noise of confusion, and looked back at Arbor.

"Don't worry- after a few rounds, you'll be right as rain.  Now open up~"

Ayano was indeed confused, but she didn't quite know why.  She could only spread her legs as Arbor had asked, hoping he would explain.  She gave a needy moan as he slipped two fingers inside her easily, gently scissoring her already stretched hole and rubbing a thumb over her clit.

"I'll admit, it did make me a bit upset to see you'd broke into my room- but once I'd seen what you'd gotten up to, I felt a lot better.  Feel free to sneak in here any time you're feeling stressed.... or pent up...." He cooed into Ayano's ear, adding a third finger and listening happily as she rocked her hips into Arbor's palm.  She looked up at him, confused doe eyes looking into his own, and he took pity on her.

"You see, what you just drank was an aphrodisiac.  It makes you feel good and replenishes your stamina.  That's why you're wet right now." He explained calmly, using the hand that wasn't fitting a fourth finger into her needy cunt to cup her breast, gently rolling her pert nipple in his callouses.  She moaned, puffing out her chest into his hands, and Arbor playfully bit her ear.

Arbor, now satisfied she was properly stretched, gently hooked his arms around her knees and pulled them to her stomach.

"I'm gonna put my cock in your hole now, okay? Just let go and let me take care of you." He whispered into her ear, kissing her cheek as he rubbed his cock head through her wet folds.  She keened, low and animalistic, and tried to rock down onto Arbor's waiting cock.  The man held her firmly in place by the knees, and slowly pushed his cock inside at his own pace.  

"Tell me how you feel, lovely." He cooed, pushing one inch after another into her tight cunt.  She was so small, being held against his chest and spit open on his cock.  He wanted to bundle her up in a blanket and just lovingly mouth her breasts until she was a pliant, writhing and moaning so sweetly for his attention.  He suspected he would get what he wanted soon enough, though, as he finally bottomed out in her wet heat.

With no pause, Arbor braced his feet on the bed and slowly pulled out, making sure to rub her sweet spot as he went.  She squealed as she was lifted off of the bed, only able to lean on Arbor as he thrust his cock in all the way.  Lewd sounds fell from her mouth, tongue peeking out as she reached up to pinch her own nipples between thin fingers, thighs quivering.  She looked delicious like this, and her cunt was clenching wildly around the girth of his cock. Ayano whined needily, and Arbor took that as all the motivation he needed to begin fucking into her in earnest.

He slapped her sensitive little clit without mercy, smiling with a sick kind of joy as she cried out in pleasure, cunt spasming around his cock helplessly from the sudden abuse.  Her whining moans egged him on, and he steadily pounded his thick cock into her.  It amused him how every time he pounded his tip into her cunt and his balls slapped against her cute ass, her moans would stutter accordingly.  Even without the aphrodisiac, his cute little cock slut was so sensitive.  Overwhelmed with affection, he placed a loving kiss to her temple.

Arbor cooed as he felt her walls frantically clench around him as she came once more, mouth open and pink tongue lolling out as she moaned.  Her thighs quivered, cute little cunt clenching around his cock.  He paused to let her finish, thumbing her little clit with affection and groping her breast.  Once he felt her needy cunt stop trying to suck his cock deeper, he began ramming into her again.  Every time he slammed his cock into her wet heat, he slapped her clit, using her squeals and pleasured cries to egg himself on.  He laughed as he felt her cum once more, this time not stopping and simply fucking into her spasming cunt, lovingly flicking her sensitive nub.

 Finally, once he felt Ayano cum around his cock for a third time, he came into her wet heat.  She cried out, babbling obscene nothings.  She begged for more, wiggled on his cock and praised that too, brought Arbor's hand to her breasts and demanded he give them attention- Arbor was all too happy to oblige.  He pulled out once and for all, and hurriedly flipped Ayano onto her back and amused himself with pushing his cum back into her needy cunt.

Ayano was, of course, unsatisfied.  She tried pushing her sloppy, cum filled cunt onto Arbor's fingers each time he pushed his cum back into her hole, and each time he cooed at her to calm down. After the fourth time of pushing his cum into her wet hole, he pulled his fingers away from her completely and latched his tongue onto her clit.  

He sucked, licked, and even nipped at her pussy.  She held his head down as he sucked at her little nub, and each time he gave her clit the attention she craved.  It was only right, after all, as he had made her such a needy mess in the first place.  She was going practically cross eyed with how much she wanted to cum into his mouth, and to be honest, the thought of lapping up Ayano's cum for yet another time that day made him groan throaty and deep in his chest, and he ground his cock into the mattress.  He nipped gently at her folds, lapping into her sloppy cunt as an apology.

After one final suck to her sensitive bud, she squirted again.  Arbor happily lapped it up, uncaring as his face was cum on for the second time that day.  He happily held Ayano's hips down as he continued to relentlessly lave his tongue over her weeping cunt, playfully biting her thigh when she finally finished.   It seemed Ayano had a habit of slamming her thighs shut when she came, and although the sides of Arbor's face were smarting with pain, he found it incredibly endearing. 

Finally satisfied, Ayano slowly blinked the peach haze from her eyes.  Arbor grinned up at her, crawling up her small face to try and steal a kiss,  He managed one small smooch, before Ayano's senses came completely back to her.

"Huh- ARBOR THAT'S GROSS!" She squealed, futilely trying to push his face away as he went in for more smoochies, making sure to rub his cum-stained face on hers.

Once Arbor was sure that Ayano's face was properly covered in her own cum and his, Arbor hoisted her over his shoulder and walked to the pool bath on the other side of the tree.  Slowly, he lowered the both of them into the water, settling Ayano down and grabbing a nearby bath kit to begin his after care.  He gently ran the soft towel over her skin, taking mint-scented soap and generously pouring it over her body.  Then he promptly summoned a duck and threw it on her, laughing as she screamed.

Life was good.

[k7l4d4]

Midnight Striga: Fairy Tail/Owl House Cross Fic Episode 5 Part 1

Hello all, I come before you with another chapter of Midnight Striga. Just to let you know, this chapter will mark a shift in the tone of the story. While this shift will not apply to every chapter, and certainly not every scene, things will now move a bit differently. Thank you.

With a sigh, Amity Blight, scion and heir-apparent to Blight Industries, tied back her hair into its usual short tail. And at that, she had officially completed her preparations for today, the day of the Covention. There, she would be presented by her Tutor, Emperor’s Coven Head Lilith, as a standard of excellence. While normally Amity didn’t particularly care to be used as a living advertisement, for a position as prestigious as the Emperor’s Coven, it honestly brought a small smile to her face, a sign that her skills were being acknowledged. Nothing like her mother’s annoying “Private Sales” she had to put up with.

A ding caught her attention. Turning to her scroll, she read off the new message.

Hope it goz great!! Gonna be watching, you rule!!! ~Skara

Amity allowed a soft smile to cross her face. She was surprised, pleasantly so, how much hers and Skara’s relationship had grown. A girl she had originally written off as a mean-spirited bully actually had a lot of depth to her; sure, she was catty, she could be bratty, and was an absolute gossip machine, but she was bright, funny, and always willing to help her. If Amity knew of a way to head back in time, she’d probably try and talk herself out of pushing away Skara. She frowned. Maybe if she had been a better friend to Skara, or at least tried to be a friend at all, Skara wouldn’t be so broken up over Boscha.

Amity scowled at the thought of the three-eyed Witch. She had never had a high opinion of the other girl, she honestly had a high enough opinion about herself for the entire city, but that day, any respect she may have harbored for her died in flames. She snorted at the thought, remembering those strange flames Boscha had been throwing around that day. She had heard the story from Skara, that Boscha wasn’t in her right mind; frankly, Amity didn’t care. Boscha had always been a certain level of difficult, but Skara owed the girl nothing, and still defended even her worst actions.

Boscha was lucky she had been avoiding everyone for the last few days; otherwise, Amity would’ve personally informed her of her… displeasure. Still, today was an important day for her future, no reason to ruin her mood thinking about painful things. Yet, Amity couldn’t help but have her mind wander back to that day; she had humiliated herself, acted rashly, and most likely ostracized herself even further from Willow, and she offended someone she had never even met before because she couldn’t control herself.

Amity’s eyes narrowed. That human girl was an oddity; her kind were not from the Demon Realm, so how did she get here? How did she stop Boscha’s rampage? Amity needed to know. The next time they met, while she would certainly apologize for her conduct, she wasn’t walking away without a guarantee to get answers.

Chomping down on her lighter’s flame, and wasn’t that still a weird thought, Boscha languidly ambled along, having gotten up and ready early so she wouldn’t have to interact with her parents. The Covention was today, one of the biggest events of the year, especially for Hexside Students. Boscha scoffed. She had never really gotten what the big deal was; before, her future was set on the image of being a professional Grudgby player, so the whole Coven thing was an annoying distraction at best. Even now, when she felt lost inside, she didn’t get the full appeal.

Although… she would admit to being rattled from her confrontation in the rain. A shudder crawled up her spine as she recalled the Owl Beast, it’s Witch-like face twisted into an animal’s leer. If something like that came to those who defied the Coven System, not that she necessarily believed it, then she would try to toe the line a bit, at least in public. But, when she recalled that fight, the way her blood pumped, her heart raced, the heady scent of fire filling her nose, she couldn’t fight the feral smile that crawled across her face.

Boscha wanted to fight again. It was something she just knew she had to do. Just thinking about it, the threat of violence and the clashing of strength and skill, made her feel so alive!! But… the screaming would come back if she fought for real, she knew it. She could even hear it now, the screaming, the accusations. Boscha slapped herself, forcing her mind away from the thoughts that were coming.

Still, it was a new day, something she should make the most of. She should probably check out the Covention today, if only to keep word spreading that she was a no-show. She couldn’t help but feel worried though. Would Willow be there? Would Amity? ...Would Skara? Biting her lip, Boscha trudged along, lost in her thoughts, heedless of the eyes in the shadows tracking her every move.

Eda sighed, bored out of her Titan’s damned mind. Business was slow today, but she couldn’t risk the possibility of missing out on a sail, even if it meant having to put up with Luz and King reading those Titan awful books. Seriously, that flowery language was a disgrace to magic!! But… she couldn’t ruin their fun, not after that night. She had just gotten the house all back together, to Hooty’s relief, and Luz had been making sure she had her potion taken every morning before she did anything else. It was sweet of her, if annoying.

Now if only she had something to get through this stupid BOREDOM!!! She let her mind wander to her newest tenant, one who had been rapidly worming her way into Eda’s jaded heart. She wasn’t sure how, but the kid had managed to eek out a soft spot with her, much to her bemusement; maybe it was the little hints of something not being right, the way she clammed up about her past, the oddly large collection of magic books and texts, or the strange injuries she had that, while healed over, seemed to weigh on her at times. 

The kid had secrets, and had shared barely nothing about them, but Eda wasn’t one to pry. But if those secrets got her hurt, then even if it made Luz hate her, she’d pry them out and do everything she could to keep Luz safe and hearty. ...Titans, she was going soft!! Better prepare a crime to keep herself nice and tough.

Hello, it looked like they’d have a customer after all! If she wasn’t mistaken, it was that one kid, the human fanatic that came around every so often, what was his name… Goops? Whatever.

“Welcome!” She cheered, putting on her most customer friendly voice. Her eyes scanned the two, taking note of the details, specifically the lack of uniforms even though it was a school day. A chill ran up her spine. “What can I interest you two fine Witchlings in today?” Maybe she was hamming it up a little, but she needed something, dang it!

“Um, actually, Miss Owl Lady,” The girl, a stout thing with a friendly look to her, a noticeable amount of fearful respect in her eyes. Normally, Eda would’ve found it amusing, if she didn’t now have a better understanding of WHY Witchlings looked at her like that. She was going to have words with Lily next time they met. “We actually came to see Luz?”

“Yeah! I would normally LOVE to buy one of your treasures,” The Goops kid said with his usual enthusiasm, if not tinged with disappointment. “But we really have some awesome news to share with Luz!!” He certainly rebounded quickly, Eda would give him that.

Eda opened her mouth to reply, only to close it as Luz came walking up, King trotting at her heels. He was doing that weird breathing thing again, something that helped with those crazy spells of his, and wasn’t that a thought! “Hey, Hexsiders!” Luz smirked cheekily as she walked up. “Willow, Gus, what brings you two here? Isn’t it a school day?” She asked.

“Nope, not today!” Willow cheerfully said, Goops nodding along beside her. “The Covention’s today!!” Ugh, that thing!? No wonder the market was abandoned.

“What’s a Covention?” Luz asked, looking confused, and just a bit bored. Eda was never so proud to see a child wilfully dismissive of authority before!!

“It’s when the Covens put on a big expo to show everyone what they can offer!” Gus cheered. He settled down a bit for his next. “We were wondering if you wanted to come with us?”

And there was the moment Eda needed to start intervening! “Oh no!! No tenant of mine is ever going to set foot in that den of conformist propaganda! Coventions are for people who have no ability to question their lot in life and blindly accept whatever crap that authority spoon-feeds them.” She stated firmly. At the affronted looks of the two kids, and Luz’s own flat look of disapproval, Eda huffed, but relented a little. “No offense to you two.” Hey, she wasn’t going to completely back down!

The girl, Willow, Eda thought, shook it off. “Well, maybe coming will help convince you to find a coven to join!” She said trepidatiously, giving a hesitant smile. Now, ordinarily, Eda would’ve used a spell to mess with her for saying that, but after learning what she had about her reputation… she decided to go with a gentler touch.

Eda sighed. “Look kid, there is no possible way I will ever join a Coven. Even if they forced me, I would literally rather die than be in one,” She stated bluntly, steadfastly ignoring the shocked looks her statement provoked. “I don’t know exactly what you kids have been told about me, not fully at least, but there is nothing a coven can offer me that I might want.”

“B-but a Coven gives you a place to belong!” Goops exclaimed.

“Already got one, it’s called my house.” Eda replied, checking her nails.

“It helps you make friends!” Willow followed up.

“I can do that without a Coven, and the kind of people who would be friends with me wouldn’t care if I was in one or not.” Eda said, summoning a file.

““B-But, But!”” The kids stammered.

“Look.” Eda snapped lightly, trying to hold in her temper. “I don’t need to be in a Coven. I am happier without one, and I always will be happier without one. I’m not gonna force my beliefs onto others, however much I might want to sometimes, so the least you two could do is respect mine, okay?” She finished softly. The two meekly nodded.

“I think we should go.” Luz offhandedly mentioned, piping up for the first time since the back and forth started.

“””What!?””” The three shouted, Willow and Gus in glee, Eda in shock.

“Yeah, we’ve got nothing better to do,” Luz shrugged, gesturing to the abandoned market around them, before continuing, “And it gives me an opportunity to check out more of the Isles. And Eda, are you seriously gonna pass up the chance to shake down a bunch of Coven Stands for everything you can get?” She grinned, arching an eyebrow in challenge.

“Using my pride against me, eh?” Eda mused, before snapping her fingers. “Ah nuts, you sold me. But,” she drawled, shooting a look at the two Witchlings, “Absolutely no talk of convincing me to join a Coven, got it?” She said gravely, getting rapid nods from the two. Eh, Eda was willing to milk her worse-than-realized rep for as long as she could.

As the group set off, they were utterly ignorant of the rustling in the trees behind them.

A bloody scream ripped through the Guard’s throat. Why was this happening!? He was just doing his job!! Did these psychos not realize who they were challenging going after a guard like this??

“Quiet.” A gravelly voice, like stone shattering and scraping against steel, drawled from the dark, twisting the knife stabbed into the guard’s ribs. He screamed again, only to be cut off by a hard slap against his mask, so strong he felt his jaw loosen. “We don’t want to hear a peep from you unless it is to answer our questions.”

“DO YOU NOT REALIZE WHAT YOU’RE DOING!?” The Guard demanded, fighting through the pain. “I am a member of the Emperor’s Coven!! If my body turns up with obvious signs of torture like this, the Coven will rip you to shreds for trying to challenge them!!” There… maybe that would get them to comprehend their position!!!

The shadowed group paused, as if in contemplation of his words. Then, one of them snickered, then another, and another. And the entire crowd, a veritable army really, started laughing to the heavens, as if what he had said was the funniest joke in the world, fit only for the Titan’s ears.

“Gilihihihihihi!!” An oily, sickly voice laughed from the shadows. “As if any of these backwater weaklings could challenge us?” A note of hysterical madness crept into the stretched out figure’s voice, when suddenly, his long thin arms darted forward. For a moment, the guard didn’t realize what had happened, until a familiar wetness dripped down his palm. He screamed. Giggling, the figure stretched his hand out of the shadows; resting in his palm, were four of the guard’s severed fingers, ripped directly off his hand. The figure lightly tossed the digits up and down… and threw them back down his gullet, a sick laugh ripping out of his throat after he finished swallowing and chewing the bits.

“Now, now, we need him alive to answer our questions, gentlemen.” Another voice peaked out of the dark, this one smooth, polite, and as cold as the coldest nights on the Knee. “We wouldn’t want him to feel stubborn enough to deny us, now would we?” The cold voice chided, getting solemn nods from the other two figures nearest to the guard, almost like children being scolded by their parent. “Now, my good man, we’ve been at this for hours! You’ve resisted our attempts at bribery, even spat into the faces of my soldiers. Why, we even had to remove that left eye of yours to make you realize we weren’t bluffing!” He proclaimed, holding up the eye in question, the guard’s own familiar tawny coloring staring back at him. The figure bent down, smirking. “Now, just tell us what we wish to know, and your suffering will come to an end, okay? Otherwise…” he sighed, gesturing to the chuckling figures behind him, many hoisting up cruel instruments, such as hooks and skinning knives, all aimed towards him. “We’ll have to use you as a message for the next guard.” He finished ominously.

“N-next!?” The guard whimpered, finally realizing they were willing to kill him, to torture him to death for what they wanted to know. And just like that, all the wind left his sails, his resistance crumbled. “I’ll tell you.” He whispered. “Anything I know. Ask away. If I know, I will tell you.”

“Good.” The figure smirked. As he rapidly rattled off his questions, gesturing to his cohorts to record the guard’s answers, his smirk grew more and more as the guard answered in detail. About the Covention. About the special guest. About all the people who came to see it. About what it meant for the Emperor’s Coven. “Thank you, my good man.” He sincerely stated. Then, without preamble, he slashed his dagger across the guard’s throat, relishing the shocked horror and betrayal as the life fled his eyes as his blood poured down his front. He could even divine the question. Why? “I said your suffering would end.” He whispered to the soon-to-be-corpse. “I never said you would live.” And with that, a look of utter despair coated the foolish guard’s eyes… and they turned lifeless.

Tossing his knife to the figure who had eaten the guards fingers, ignoring the sound of the blood being licked off the blade, he calmly ordered his men to move, the large group mobilizing around him. As they exited the dilapidated castle they had appropriated from the recent demise of that rotten Octopus, he grinned in satisfaction as strategically placed flames went off, consuming the structure, and any trace he and his organization were ever there. ‘We shall devour this world.’ He thought, chuckling darkly. ‘And not even their precious Titan and Emperor will be able to stand against us.’

[enchantedbride]

A Ballad of Brimstone.02 (1/2)

<02. But Let Me Go Back to the Start> (1/2)

Previous

Tagging: @curiousobsession101​, @goldenworldsabound​, @foreveryours-mouse​, @juliannos​

Warning(s): Brief Profanity, Discussions of Being Kidnapped

A/N: If you like me to tag you in my Obey Me or other Self-ship writings, let me know!

As mentioned in the previous installment, this series of ficlets will be jumping around timeline wise. While the first one offers a glimpse into the future, we now go back to the day Joey was summoned to the Devildom to take part in the exchange program.

Due to how long this wound up being I wound up splitting this into two parts, this is part one of two!

She had slipped into a dark slumber that night. Her mind was held by dreams she wouldn’t remember when she awoke in the morning. But, she would remember the sound of soft, beckoning whispers. In the midst of her dreams, they didn’t seem out of place, almost blending into the surreal sensations he mind conjured. 

“Come,” they said. “Come this way. Come to us, into the dark below.” 

It was like a round, but the words were spoken rather than sung. 

Joey felt a sudden, sharp feeling of hesitation that broke through the murkiness of her dreams. But, in response the whispers became more insistent, and she felt the vague sensation of being pulled away. But to where, she didn’t have the awareness to question. 

“You must come. Your fate has been decreed.”

Weakly, she tried to pull back against what was pulling her. At first she stopped, but then a more forceful tug overpowered her. 

“Come this way,” the whispers insisted once more. “Come... come...”

It started to feel almost like she was falling. Or perhaps she was floating? It was hard for her to tell the difference. She felt the sensation of cloth and hair fluttering, and then-

A high-pitched voice severed the hold of sleep on her.

“She’s waking up. Everyone stand back and let Mister Barbatos through!”

The next thing she sensed was the feeling of pain and throbbing in her temples. Then, she felt the surface underneath her was harder than she remembered her bed being. Joey let out a groan as she slowly opened her eyes. 

“Ow...” 

The soft light of what appeared to be distant lamps came into view, only to briefly be obscured by a round, inky silhouette. But, as her brows knit and she attempted to understand what she was seeing, she made out the shape of a pair of small, dark blue eyes looking at her before they disappeared. A moment later, the silhouette was gone. 

“It looks like she had a rough ride, sir.”

“So it seems,” a voice lower in tone replied to the high-pitched one she heard first. “Lord Diavolo’s suspicions and mine were correct, it appears. Truly extraordinary for a human who appears to have no magic potential.”

Joey turned her head towards the voices, putting her hands to her temples as she attempted to soothe her headache with gentle circular motions. She saw what appeared to be a man in a suit kneeling down in front of her. 

“Please try not to move just yet.”

“O-okay.” Joey didn’t move from where she was or change her position, but she kept her fingers to her head. “Sorry, my head really hurts.” What’s going on here? Am I still dreaming?

“No need to apologize,” he assured her. “Here, take your hands away for a moment.”

She complied, resting her hands on either side of her. She felt...was it stone underneath her? It was also at that moment Joey recognized an array of other noises in the background. She could hear the flow of water, the soft pattering of feet, and the distant caw of crows.

“I’m going to touch your forehead,” he explained. “Is that alright?”

“Yeah.” Is he going to check me for a fever? 

Joey felt him gently press the tips of his fingers to her forehead, and whisper something she couldn’t quite make out. No, I don’t think this is a dream. This feels too stable to not be real. But then, why am I not in my bed? Where am I? ...Ah! Suddenly, she felt the throbbing pain begin to subside. 

“There. Does that feel better?”

“Yes, I’m starting to feel better!” Joey replied. But then she blinked in surprise. “Did you do that? If so, thank you!”

“Indeed,” he confirmed. “I used a minor incantation to ease your pain. It was no trouble.”

“Incantation?” Joey asked. “As in...? You used magic? Real magic?” Or maybe I am dreaming after all?

“Yes,” the man answered her without hesitation. “I take it you’re not the sort of person who believes in magic?”

“Well...” Joey however, did hesitate. “I’ve always wanted to believe there was magic. But I’ve never really seen it. Or... recognized it, I guess.” 

“I see. I’m afraid you may have a hard time accepting your current set of circumstances then.”

“You mean, where I am and what’s going on?”

“Precisely.” The man withdrew his hand from her slightly, moving to offer it to her. “Do you think you can stand? If so, try to get up slowly. You can use my hand for support if you’d like.”

“I think so.” Joey pressed her hands to the ground for a moment to help herself sit up. She then took him up on his offer, taking the offered hand to use as leverage to carefully bring herself to her feet. She took a breath for a moment, closing her eyes and opening them again to better take in her surroundings. 

“Who are you?” It appeared to be nighttime. The sky was dark with distant stars offering little in the way of light. But there were lamps close by more clearly illuminating stone walkways. They went every which way around a fountain and a bed of flowers that wrapped around it. Though the flowers were nothing like anything Joey recognized. 

The air also carried with it smells she didn’t recognize either.

“Ah, of course. I should introduce myself. My name is Barbatos,” said the man. “I believe I already know who you are, however. Your name is Joey Andews, correct?”

“Yes, my name is Joey. But, how do you already know my name?” As if things weren’t already weird enough, she thought.

Barbatos simply smiled. “I’m afraid that will require me first to answer your original questions about what’s happening and where you are. Allow me to start with the latter.” He paused for a moment, looking away from her. Joey followed it and realized that eventually the walkways all went into a large building that surrounded them on all sides. 

A courtyard of some kind? Joey wondered. She turned her attention back to him and nodded. 

“You’re in a place called the Devildom,” explained Barbatos. “It is the realm of Demonkind, ruled by the Demon King in name. Although my master, his son and heir Prince Diavolo has been governing the realm for some time.” He paused, looking back at her. “It was his wish and his will that brought you here.”

Bewilderment spread across Joey’s face. There was also a knot of fear beginning to form in the pit of her stomach. “The land of Demonkind? Where I come from the name for where demons live is...”

“Hell?”  Barbatos cut in to predict the end of her thought. “The realm that sinful and evil human’s souls are banished to in death? Oh, that’s certainly part of it, but there’s more to our realm than most humans speak of to one another.”

Joey felt the instinctive need to take a step back, but she restrained herself. “Okay, so I’m in the realm of Demons. And Prince Diavolo brought me here. Have I got the story straight so far?”

“Indeed you do,” Barbatos confirmed. “Unfortunately there was a bit of a mishap in trying to get you here. You have quite the strong will it seems, Miss Andrews.” At this he laughed. “You resisted my master’s call to the point that you went off course and wound up a bit further away then where you were supposed to appear. But, I was sent to fetch you and guide you to where Lord Diavolo is at present.”

My dream... “I-I see.” But what would a prince of demons want with me? What’s going to happen to me!? 

“Your willpower will serve you well here. You may not have magic to protect you, but you have that, at least.” He remarked. “But, I digress. Lord Diavolo has summoned you here to assist him with an undertaking of his- an exchange program between the realms of demons, humans, and angels.”

“An exchange program...?” Joey questioned him. “You make it sound like he intends me to be a student in a school down here.” She of course was joking. Surely he meant something else. 

Barbatos laughed once more. “Actually, that’s precisely what he intends.” He turned away again. “We are currently in the courtyard of the Royal Diavolo Academy, or RAD for short as it’s often called. I would say it most closely resembles a university or other similar institutions you may find in the human world,” he explained. “My master founded the school long ago, but he is also enrolled here as a student and serves as President of the Student Council. He is forever trying to improve himself and the Devildom, and thus is forever on a quest to learn, and encourage others to do the same.”

“That’s... quite an admirable thing.” Joey found herself struggling to word what she wanted to say. “So, I’m to be a student at this Royal Diavolo Academy?” 

“Exactly.” Barbatos nodded. “You will be joined by two other humans like yourself and three Angels who hail from the Celestial Realm. We’ve sent three of our own to the Celestial Realm, and another three to the Human world to attend schools there for the duration of the exchange, which will be a year on Earth. 

“My master’s hope is to foster understanding and respect among angels, humans, and demons, and bring a peace between the realms not seen before. It truly is an ambitious project, I must admit.”

“No kidding!” Joey blinked, face shifting between expressions as she attempted to process everything she was being told. “If what little I know of demons and angels has taught me anything, is peace between them and humans is not an easy thing to achieve. Most people believe it’s impossible.”

“Many angels and demons believe that as well,” Barbatos noted. “But my lord believes otherwise. And, I am certain it lies within the realm of possibility.”

“So then...” Certain pieces began to fall together in her mind. “Was I specifically chosen for this? It wasn’t random or anything? Is that why you know my name?”

“Well... there was an element of randomness to the selection. You were chosen from among many other humans we had information on. But you were specifically chosen from among them, and it is indeed why I know your name.”

Joey thought for a moment. “I think I get the gist of what you're telling me so far,” she said. “But, I’m also wary. And I want to know if I’m allowed to turn this down and ask to be sent home.”

At this Barbatos sighed. “Your wariness is not unwarranted. As to whether you can refuse... you may certainly voice it, but I’m not sure it will be granted. When Lord Diavolo has his mind set on something, it is hard to get him to change course, even if he already has doubts about what he’s doing.That and well... he’s very much used to getting his way, being the Prince of Demons.”

After a moment, Joey raised an eyebrow.  One thing was now abundantly clear, and she felt it needed to be said. 

“So basically what you’re telling me is I’ve been kidnapped.”

Barbatos fell silent, his brow furrowing as he put his hand to his chin. Joey wasn’t an excellent judge when it came to reading the expressions of others. But were she to take a guess, he was considering what he said next carefully.

This can’t be happening! She screamed internally. You’re telling me demons, angels, and magic are all real. You’re telling me I’ve been snatched by demons to attend what’s basically demon college for... a year he said? This is just... unbelievable! You’ve got to be fucking kidding me!

“I won’t pretend it is otherwise,” Barbatos finally spoke. “I imagine this is a lot for you to take in. And further still, it must be frightening to be here without prior knowledge and against your will. I doubt you can persuade my master to let you leave and choose another to replace you. You can try if you so like, but I suspect it will prove futile. I can offer you little assurance but this: Diavolo is a demon of honesty. He can tell if anyone is lying, but more importantly to you at this moment, he also never lies. He has made it clear he only intends for the exchange students to attend for a year, and when that year is over, you will be free to go. He will honor his word.”

Joey raised an eyebrow, causing Barbatos to sigh. “I’m sorry I just... I’d certainly like to believe that’s the case. But, it’s kind of hard to be trusting right now given that I was brought here without my consent. And I don’t know you or your master,” said Joey. “But... I do appreciate your attempt to reassure me nonetheless.”

“I’m afraid it’s all I can offer you, Miss Andrews.” Barbatos replied regretfully. “Well... that and perhaps fetching you a change of clothes. I don’t think it would be best to have your first audience with the Prince of Demons in your nightgown.”

“I...” Joey looked down at herself a moment. “Yeah, I suppose that might not be such a bad idea.”

Barbatos smiled, chuckling softly before he became serious once more. “All things considered, I think you’re being rather restrained in your anger about this. And at least somewhat willing to give the benefit of the doubt in spite of your anger.”

“Yeah well...” I’ve just been conditioned to lose my shit internally instead of externally, thanks for noticing. “I’ve always been pretty good at rolling with the punches so to speak.” 

“I see.” Barbatos offered a hand. “Well, why don’t we get you changed? I’ll escort you to the assembly hall after.”  Joey nodded and took his hand following him down one of the walkways. She noticed Barbatos turn his head and nod to a small shadow with eyes before it faded into the darkness a moment later. She then remembered the silhouette she saw when she first awoke. Another demon? Perhaps a helper to Barbatos, maybe?

This is insane! How do I know I can even trust any of this?  How do I know they aren’t just going to… I don’t know, eat me or trap my soul in eternal torment? It seemed all she could really do for now was follow Barbatos and have her audience with his master. Part of her hoped this really was a dream of sorts and that soon she would wake up.

~

Barbatos took Joey to another part of the building, bringing her into an empty room. A few moments passed in silence between the two before the door opened. A round little creature came scurrying in, and Joey recognized from their eyes that it was the little demon she’d seen before. The demon carried a neatly folded pile of clothing and a hair brush above their head, kneeling down as they presented the pile to Barbatos. 

She was then handed the pile and left to herself in the empty room in order to get changed and tidied up. But, as she did so, Joey stayed close to the door, faintly hearing the sound of a phone ringing from just outside. She tried her best to listen in, while also navigating the garments she had been given.

“Apologies, my lord. We will be a little later than expected. It seems she was in nightclothes when she arrived. She’s been given a change of clothes and once she’s dressed and given a chance to tidy up we’ll head down to the assembly hall.” 

He’s talking to Prince Diavolo. There was a brief pause, presumably in which there was a reply given. 

“I deeply appreciate your patience and good humor in this matter. I promise we’ll be there soon,” said Barbatos. “Miss Andrews is understandably wary and skeptical. But, she’s… surprisingly more composed than I would have expected.” Another pause, but briefer this time. “Has the meeting with the other exchange student already concluded then? … I see. So Mammon is already on his way with her back to the House of Lamentation.”

Joey didn’t take too long to finish dressing herself, smoothing out the wrinkles in the simple dress she was given and tapping the heels of the shoes that came with it. She then quickly brushed her hair and tidied herself up a bit, taking a deep breath before turning the knob of the door to let Barbatos know she was changed and ready. The little demon was outside as well, and took the brush from her before scurrying off into the shadows again.

Barbatos nodded and began to guide her again down the halls of the academy. The interior had an antique, stately feeling to it in terms of aesthetics. But things seemed too spacious for Joey’s personal liking. And shadows seemed to stretch far across the floor.

Eventually they came down a long hallway that seemed to go for some distance. As they walked, Joey could swear she heard the soft sound of sniffling up ahead. Was someone crying? There was also the patter of footsteps that didn’t belong to her or Barbatos. 

From behind the corner she saw what appeared to be a man and a woman passing the opposite way. The man seemed to wear a black uniform with his shirt and tie askew, while the woman was dressed in a pair of blue jeans with a baggy t-shirt and tennis shoes. 

Once they got closer, it became clear where the source of the sniffling Joey heard before came from. The woman was attempting to rub tears from her eyes and compose herself. Wait… could this be the other exchange student and Mammon that Barbatos spoke of over the phone? I guess they haven’t actually left just yet. 

God, she must be so scared.

Joey stopped and attempted to cross to where they were. “Hold on just a sec,” She requested of Barbatos before quickly switching her attention. She couldn’t do much about her situation, but maybe she could at least comfort her fellow captive. 

“Excuse me!” Joey called out, returning to a normal tone of voice when she was close enough. “Ma’am, are you alright?”

“Huh?” The man whom she presumed was Mammon noticed her approach and turned around to face her. But, only a moment later he also noticed Barbatos waiting for Joey not too far away. “Barbatos!” He then briefly turned his attention back to Joey. “I guess that means you must be the other human.” He looked back at the woman accompanying him, his brow furrowing. “As if it wasn’t already bad enough I got saddled with babysitting duty.”

Joey registered him addressing her, but continued to approach the other woman. When she didn’t seem to respond to him, the man blocked her path, a clearly annoyed expression on his face. 

“Hey! I was talking to you. Show some proper respect for the Great Mammon, human!”

Joey stopped, briefly looking apologetic. So she was right. “Sorry about that. Yeah, I’m the other human exchange student.… I saw my fellow exchange student in distress and I wanted to help them.” She took a split second to think more on what he said and had an idea. I need to convince him to be more favorable so he’ll let me talk. “Again though, you have my apologies, oh great one.” 

“Now that’s more like it!” Mammon smiled approvingly. But it was quickly replaced by a frown. “Look, I’m under orders from my older brother Lucifer to take your fellow human back to where the two of you will be staying. If I dawdle for too long he might think I’m slacking off.” He shook his head. “Not that I’m scared of him or anything! Just don’t want anymore trouble than I’m already dealing with. I can’t let you two stay and chat, we need to keep moving.”

“You can’t even spare a minute?” Joey tried to fumble for an excuse he might buy. “I mean, if you’ve got a lot on your plate, having a sniffling human must be grating on your nerves right? Well, if you give me a couple of minutes to talk to her and she calms a bit it’ll be one less thing, right?”

A moment passed. Mammon shook his head, looking back and forth between the two humans. The other woman looked to Joey hopefully.

“You’ve got two minutes,” Mammon finally decided. “But I’m not giving you any more. Make it quick, human.”

Joey nodded. “Thank you so much! I appreciate this.” She walked passed up to the woman, not noticing Mammon’s awkward body language or hearing his muttered ‘yeah yeah whatever’ under his breath.

The other woman pulled her hand away from her face and looked over to Joey. “H-Hi….”

“Hi,” Joey greeted her, a sympathetic expression forming on her face. “My name is Joey. What’s yours?”

“I’m… I’m Katherine, but I usually go by Kat,” she replied. “Are… are you okay? I heard them say you ended up somewhere you weren’t supposed to.”

“Me? Oh, nothing too major. I’m not hurt or anything. Just a bit, well, out of sorts to put it mildly.” Joey huffed. “I’ll be fine. I wanted to see how YOU were doing.”

“I’m terrified!” Kat explained without reservation. “I’ve been taken away from my home! And they won’t let me go back no matter how much I plead. It’s not fair!” 

Joey shook her head. “You’re right, it’s not. It sounds like you were taken here against your will too. I’m really sorry. It’s not right. But, unfortunately it doesn’t seem we can do much about that right now. It sucks, but that’s the truth of it.” Joey tried to think quickly before Mammon would insist on her and Kat parting ways. “Hey, is there anything you like to do when you’re stressed out? Or maybe a favorite drink or food you like that’s calming for you?”

“Well…” She thought for a moment. “Mostly I like to go for a run by myself or practice playing my cello. I don’t have my cello though and I don’t think they’d let me go for a run by myself.”

“I see,” Joey replied. “Anything else?”

“I also… sometimes take hot baths. Especially when it’s been cold out.”

“That might work! If it’s possible, when you get to where you’re going to be staying, maybe you can try and take a hot bath as soon as you can? It’s not much but maybe it might help, even just a little.”

“I don’t know,” Kat hesitated. “It just feels like everything is just crazy.”

“Completely understandable,” Joey answered sympathetically. “But maybe giving yourself a little comfort and a chance to destress a bit might help you to think and come down from a state of panic. Maybe there’s not a lot you can do right now, but you can do that, right?”

Kat paused briefly. “I guess so,” she said with a sigh. “Alright. I’ll feel worse if I don’t do anything at all, so I might as well.” She turned her gaze away and then back. “Thank you. For trying to help, I mean.”

I couldn’t just sit by and do nothing, thought Joey. 

Kat turned to Mammon. “Sorry for holding things up. I’m ready to go now.”  Mammon nodded and started walking, Kat following after him.

“Alright, let’s go!” He answered. “Don’t fall too far behind me, human. It’s my job to keep an eye on you and I don’t want to get blamed if something happens to you.”

Joey was unsure of her true impact on things. But at least now her mind would be at ease knowing she at least tried. But, thanks to the conversation, something else was also on her mind. Kat pleaded to be sent home and she was refused. I guess if she couldn’t convince them my luck might not be so good either. I guess I really should be prepared to be stuck here for a year.

“That was a very brave thing you did,” Barbatos remarked. “Especially considering who you were talking to.”

“You mean Kat? Or Mammon?” Joey asked, confused for a moment. She walked back to Barbatos, waiting for him to start their trek to the assembly hall again.

“I was referring to Mammon in this case,” Barbatos clarified. “He may not look like it as he is now. But, he is a very powerful demon. Among the most powerful in fact.”

Joey blinked looking back in surprise. “Wow, seriously?”

“All members of the Student Council are high ranking demons. Currently, the council includes Prince Diavolo, his right hand, Lucifer, and Lucifer’s six brothers.” Barbatos began to walk, Joey following in step alongside him this time. “Lucifer and his brothers are the avatars of the seven deadly sins, not demons any human should approach too casually under most circumstances. Mammon is the eldest brother after Lucifer and the Avatar of Greed.”

Joey’s eyes widened. “So Mammon’s got some serious weight to throw around.” I guess I really lucked out in managing to flatter my way into trying to help Kat. 

“Yes.”

“I’m not so sure that makes me brave,” she replied to Barbatos.

“Would you have ignored your instinct to try and help your fellow human if you knew who it was you were dealing with?”

“Well,” Joey barely paused to give her answer. “No, not really. I might have been more nervous and pessimistic about my chances of persuading him. But, I still would have tried for her sake.”

“Then your actions are no less brave, Miss Andrews,” Barbatos said with a smile. “Now, if you’ll come with me this way, we are nearly at the assembly hall.” 

Joey nodded, and attempted to keep pace with Barbatos down a winding and even more spacious hallway. Eventually they came upon a large set of metal doors, with ornate decorations embossed into them. If Joey were to take a guess, this was it. The  assembly hall. She followed right up to the doors. And then, Barbartos reached out, pulling on the handle.

“Wait one moment. I need to speak with my lord for a moment. But then, you may enter the assembly hall.”

Indeed he went inside and was gone for maybe a minute or two. She could hear voices but they were muffled from this side of the door. Eventually, Barbatos came back out, pulling the door open and stepping aside for Joey to walk through. 

“Right this way.”

Joey began to make her way inside, but not before turning to Barbartos.

“Thanks for helping me get here, and for explaining everything you did Barbatos. I’d be pretty terrified and lost right now otherwise.” I’m still pretty terrified to be honest. But at least I know what I’m dealing with. 

“It was no trouble, and it was my express duty to assist you as per my lord’s orders. But, your thanks is appreciated. I wish you the best of luck, whatever your fate may be.”

With that, Joey stepped inside and Barbatos closed the door behind her.

[gabexofxavalor-blog]

The End Is Nigh(t)

Summary: Princess Elena, Sofia and Hiro head into town after locating Orizaba’s temporary hideout in order to recover the town to its former, day-and-night glory by ending the Eternal Night.

Date: November 2nd, 2018

Triggers: None.

ORIZABA

The feeling of the Night was everything Orizaba recalled it to be: Refreshing, pure and peaceful. If you managed to ignore the dead people running amok. She managed, though, mostly because she was well aware that, after this little show in this little pathetic town, she’d go on to take over those lands taken from her by fearful invaders. And this time around, she’d show them who’s who.

As the invasion of Swynlake seemed to go swiftly, the Goddess of the Night had settled, temporarily, on top of an abandoned but wonderful mansion in what the money-obsessed mundus called The Woods. An abandoned house was perfect because, well, it would appear that nobody had been there in little less than a year. It had all the markings of a beast’s attack, so whoever lived there wouldn’t be coming back soon. Thus, it wouldn’t be easy for people to find her.

Just in case, though, outside the house sat her most trusted sentry. The sorceress’ familiar, an emerald-eyed doe, kept watch from one of the windows, ready to sprint to her mistress as soon as movement was felt. Orizaba knew that it would be technically possible for people to find out her location if they were sufficiently familiar with how her magic or the Eye worked, and she wasn’t about to take any chances.

ELENA

“I. Am. Sick. Of these mother fucking traumas in my fucking life,” Elena hissed to Sofia, channeling her inner Samuel L. Jackson. She huffed and continued her trek to the house Goliath told her was Orizaba’s hideout with what can only be described as pure murder in her eyes.

Elena’s grip on her Scepter tightened, so much so that her knuckles were turning white and her nails dug into her palm. As her nails broke skin, she didn’t even notice the blood. At least in her rage, she had achieved some level of badassery.

Lucia would be proud. She hoped.

“Sofia, I am going to r i p that overgrown moth’s wings off of her and feed them to my cat!” She continued her rant, but in Spanish. “No merciful queen here, not today. This is practice for when I yank Shuriki off the throne of my kingdom by force and make a slip-n-slide from her organs.”

For the Eternal Night? Orizaba deserved an ass-kicking. For possessing her best friend and bodyguard’s body, and for mind-controlling her gargoyle dad into trying to kill her? If Elena didn’t have to send her back to the Spirit Realm, she’d make a guillotine herself for her.

The rage that bubbled inside of Elena was palpable, like you could cut the angry aura around her with a knife.

“Mira, allí. Look up there.” Elena pointed to the rooftop of a house they were nearing. “It’s murder time, kids.”

SOFIA

No one ask where Sofia got the sword, okay?

She held it one hand as she followed quietly behind Elena, keeping one eye on her and Hiro and the other on their surroundings. This wasn’t the first time Sofia’d had to sneak around during a magical attack on her home (Enchancia was cool, not perfect), and she was ready to do what was needed. Even if that meant calming down Elena’s murderous rage before they launched an attack on a nocturnal demon.

“Elena, wait,” Sofia whispered, grabbing Elena by the back of her jeans and pulling her back out of sight as she motioned for Hiro to stop. “Orizaba could have the house guarded, we have to be careful! And we need a plan anyways, we can’t just go in screaming bloody murder.” She lowered her voice. “You still can’t use the Scepter for too long without tiring yourself out. We have to think this through.”

Rising slightly from her crouch, Sofia looked around the grounds quickly before dropping back down again. “Okay,” she said to Elena and Hiro. “Looks like there’s only one of her creatures watching the door. Shouldn’t be hard for us to keep the element of surprise. Any ideas?”

HIRO

Hiro had decided to tag along. He was ready to actually do something to help out, and had the means to do so. It was perfect. He’d even told Aunt Cass that he was barricading at Sofia’s so she wouldn’t worry, because he knew she wouldn’t let this happen.

He followed the other two, and crouched next to Sofia. The young man squinted and managed to see the doe with the twinkling eyes, and the way she twitched her ears in alert.

“I have an idea,” Hiro exclaimed, and readied his arm-cannon-thing (name pending), aiming it at the doe. “We take it out before it sees us, and sneak right in! It’s pretty easy, since I’ve got great aim nowadays. Just let me get this ready…”

ORIZABA

Meanwhile, inside the house, the moth fairy winged around the ballroom, decorating the place with colorful flowers hanging from the rafters and all over the floor. It might be a temporary home, but she still deserved a proper palace to live in!

The doe guarding the entrance, meanwhile, was almost unmovable. She didn’t get distracted, and her emerald eyes constantly scanned the grounds. She hadn’t found anything just yet, and there had been no need to worry - Of course, so far she’d failed to scan the upper ground the invaders had taken refuge on.

ELENA

Elena swallowed hard and eyed Hiro’s...whatever it was, with suspicion. “Are you sure this is safe?” she asked Sofia, before deciding on her own the correct answer to her question was, “Fuck it.”

Fuck it, nothing was safe right now, literally nothing, and worst case scenario, she’ll die by Hiro’s malfunctioning invention instead of die by Orizaba’s hand. Best case scenario? It works and Hiro becomes her new new favorite person.

Perhaps second favorite, behind only Naomi.

She met Hiro’s eye and nodded. “Go for it.”

SOFIA

“Quietly, though. Only if you can do it quietly,” Sofia said quickly, grimacing at the idea of killing the doe. What if it was just like Goliath? An innocent creature under Orizaba’s thrall? But Hiro and Elena were right, they didn’t have the time. “Otherwise we’ll alert Orizaba that we’re here. And try to just... knock it out?”

Across the street and several buildings down, far enough that the doe wouldn’t spot him, Sofia saw Goliath swoop in and land on the roof. Even this far away, she could see his eyes shining white with his anger.

HIRO

“Yeah, okay,” Hiro replied, not really making any promises because it wasn’t that probable that the thing would survive the blast. Or if it did, it would also possibly be crippled in a way that’d have them kill it out of mercy. Still, it was for the greater good, so he took aim and shot.

The doe’s head turned in their direction as soon as the blast had left the machine, but it was too late - as the laser struck its target and Hiro cheered about it, the doe was gone. Its body hadn’t truly collapsed. Instead, it seemed to turn into a cloud of magical dust and swirled around before being carried away by the wind.

“See? It’s perfectly fine. Probably was already dead or something!” the boy suggested.

ORIZABA

The moth fairy kept going about her business, now redecorating her colorful purple dress with even more flowers, when something struck at her heart. It was a light pain, but the source of it became evident when a cloud of her magic traveled into the house and reformed her beautiful, emerald-eyed doe in front of her, as if she’d just woken up.

“I suppose our friends are here, my pet?” she asked sing-songily. THen, the woman’s face turned into a frown as she pet the creature’s head. “I hope they come soon. Nobody harms my baby.”

ELENA

“No…” Elena trailed off, looking at Hiro in a mixture of pride - because that was damn impressive - and confusion, because then was the doe actually corporeal in the first place? “It’s never that easy with dark magic.”

She turned her focus back to Orizaba, perched on the rooftop, surveying the town like it was her own little kingdom.

And then the panic set in.

Shit, shit. Okay so the doe was gone but where did it go? Did Orizaba know they were there now? Why wasn’t she coming down to kill them?

Elena had never battled a dark being from the Spirit Realm before. She tried to kill someone once, in a house in the woods in Germany, when a magick hunter grabbed her baby sister’s arm and Elena acted fast and broke a dinner plate over his head, prepared to stab a shard into his abdomen before one of his buddies wrestled it from her hand.

It worked. Kind of. She didn’t get to kill him, but they left Isa alone.

(Later, when they threatened to kill Mateo, Elena grabbed one of their knives and held it to her throat, told them she’d slit her throat if they touched him, too. ‘Crazy bitch’ they called her. ‘She’s worth more money if we get her to that sorceress alive.’ Check, and mate.)

Elena was no stranger to extreme situations. This, however, was some next level shit.

“What now? Like is Goliath going to have to yeet me onto the roof to get at her?”

SOFIA

Sofia made herself watch as Hiro shot the deer, watched it disappear in a cloud of dust, and felt her stomach drop. She knew animals, magical and benign; none of them do that. It left a rotten feeling in her stomach, her gut telling her that if Orizaba didn’t already know they were here, she would soon.

“Now we move, fast,” Sofia hissed, staying low as she began make her way to the front door. “Hiro, you and I will keep Orizaba distracted while Elena gets in place to attack her with the Scepter. If we can find a way to pin her down, even better,” she whispered as they moved, keeping the sword close to her side in case any more undead tried to sneak up on them (Thank you, Aunt Tilly, for making sure Sofia got started with fencing lessons as soon as she started middle school).

“Elena, do not take the shot until you know it’ll hit,” she told the older woman firmly. “You’ve got at most two shots before the Scepter drains you, do not waste them.”

If they survived, Sofia would have to apologize to Elena for being so bossy. But right now, she was Crisis Mode.

“Hiro and I can take care of ourselves,” she said as she rested a hand on the doorknob, looking over at Hiro and giving him a small, confident grin. “Take advantage of the fact that you’ve got the ranged weapon and stay back. Also, aim for the wings.”

With that, she gave them both a nod and silently pressed the door open, moonlight spilling into the foyer from the windows and doorway.

HIRO

Soon after the doe vanished, the illusion of Orizaba on the rooftop did as well, dissolving into the wind. Her focus was elsewhere, and so the group moved along. Hiro nodded at Sofia and her orders. Why was she ordering him around? He was technically his boss! Well, he’d be whenever his aunt died. ANYWAY! He decided to follow through and made mental notes.

When the door  opened, the interior of the house came into view. It was actually quite a modern house, with a beautiful foyer and a spiral staircase to their left. There was a trashed door to the right, and only the one in front of them seemed accessible. It was also half-open.

“That way, I suppose?” Hiro whispered, before distracting himself by looking at an assortment of hats in the corner, hanging from a perch. Everything seemed to be abandoned.

ORIZABA

It was hard to miss the flashes of purple and green magic that sneaked through the doors and windows every time Orizaba did something new to decorate the ballroom. Her wings fluttered as she moved around the place, as the doe began to move around the room as well.

“Where are yooooou, children?” the woman called out sing-songily, her voice being carried all through the house thanks to the place’s acoustic nature. “Never keep a lady waiting!”

ELENA

Elena wanted to die, sure, but not in a fire fight with Orizaba. She wouldn’t make it quick and relatively painless, she knew that much for sure.

Or, there was the option of the Scepter killing her first, because, apparently that was a possibility. In any case, this was going to be a shit time for Elena - for all of them, but even if they won...Elena.

She swallowed hard and followed them both into the house.

SOFIA

Well, there went the element of surprise.

Sofia held up her hand, stopping Hiro and Elena as her mind scrambled for a new plan. She needed to get close, they just needed a place with good cover. They just needed a moment where Orizaba was distracted.

Oh, her brother was screaming at her somewhere.

“Find your opening, wait for my signal,” she mouthed to the two behind her. With a deep breath, Sofia rose up to her full, unimpressive height - and holding her sword loosely at her side - stepped into the doorway.

“My apologies, Señora Orizaba,” she said in Avaloran Spanish, bowing at the waist. “With the current situation in town with the rise of the undead, I’ve been a bit on edge. I am Princess Sofia Álvarez-Hagebak from Enchancia, I am here to speak with you about the night that has enveloped the town.”

Keeping eye contact with the moth goddess, Sofia set the sword down on the floor in front of her. “I don’t want this to come to violence, Señora,” she said earnestly. “I give you my word as Princess of Enchancia that I will not attack you unprovoked. Please, let’s talk.”

HIRO

You know when people say something to you in a low tone of voice, and you don’t hear a thing because a moth fairy is blasting things in the other room? Well, that was what happened to Hiro right then and there. He wasn’t a lip reader, and was completely puzzled when Sofia stood up and walked inside.

He peeked into the room as discreetly as possible, reloading the arm cannon as he did so as to be able to shoot at whichever point he had to. He then looked back at Elena, nodding at her and slipping through the door. He hid behind one of the pillars in the ballroom while the winged lady was distracted.

ORIZABA

The sorceress was most definitely surprised at the sight of Sofia. Mainly because it wasn’t a princess she knew. It wasn’t a princess Gabe knew either, or at the very least not very well, because she couldn’t remember her face at all.

“Señorita, querida. Se-ño-rita,” the fairy corrected. “I’m only a few thousand years old. So why would I want to talk to you? I was actually expecting a different princess,” she admitted. “I supposed you’re here to thank me for the gift of night, are you not? I’d sing a song about it, but I’m quite busy decorating. Either way, thanks have been given. Feel free to leave now.”

She snapped her fingers, and Gabe’s body materialized in the middle of the ballroom, floating under the chandelier, asleep. “If you see any more princesses on your way out, tell them I have something they might want. Frankly, the sooner I get rid of her, the better, don’t you think?”

ELENA

Here, Elena almost laughed. A few thousand years old and she wants to be called señorita? Ay, ay, ay. Who does this demon from hell think she is? Fancies herself some kind of comedian.

Frankly, the sooner I get rid of her, the better, don’t you think?

Here, Elena tried not to make a peep. Really, she did. But the sharp intake of breath may have been enough to alert the ethereal being to her presence.

SOFIA

Orizaba produced the body of Gabe, sleeping peacefully, and only years and years of practice controlling her expression in court kept Sofia’s eyes from going as wide as dinner plates. She had to get Gabe away from her, or at least out of the way. But first, she needed to stall for time.

(Maybe, a hopeful little voice whispered in the back of her mind, you will be able to reason with Orizaba! Sofia knew better now than to put too much stock into that little voice.)

“Señorita,” Sofia amended. “I do admire the gift you’ve given us, and my thanks are there. But have you thought about the long-term effects this eternal night could have?” Sofia spotted the doe from before - she knew it hadn’t died, damn it - and gestured towards her. “Without the sun, all the crops will die and the climate will be too cold. Even your nocturnal friends will begin to suffer.” Sofia carefully didn’t mention the effect the eternal night would have on humans.

Sofia had a pretty good feeling Orizaba did not care.

“Day and night are meant to balance each other, provide for the land so the other can thrive. What if we were able to find some land where you could create your eternal night, more suited to the conditions? We would be able to provide everything else you needed, including a palace for you far grander than this.”

Did she honestly think Orizaba gave a damn? No. But she didn’t need to. Sofia just needed to buy Hiro time so he could get a shot at her wings.

HIRO (& ORIZABA)

The winged woman listened, arching a brow and showing off a smirk. She reached out her hand to pet the doe. “Oh, you need not take care of me,” she assured the princess. “I can take care of myself. Quite frankly, it’s offensive, that what you’re offering.”

Meanwhile, Hiro found his way closer to the floating woman, sneaking along the pillars and hoping to keep away from her sight. His intention was to get to the opposite end of the room, so the fairy’s attention would divert in that direction and give Elena her back.

“I am Itzpapalotl, the Goddess of the Night and the Sorceresses. Before your darling european compatriots came over and stole my throne, the night was for everyone. We all lived in peace and nature thrived. Then you lto came and ruined it all. Locked me away, just like you did with all the others! You didn’t think we’d be able to ever break out. And now, querida, I’m angry. The animals will thrive. Believe me. But you humans will know what it is to suffer for thousands of years. Believe me.”

With that, Hiro was positioned and ready. He took a shot at the moth fairy and hit one of her wings. It regenerated almost immediately, and her flight didn’t break. “Shit,” Hiro muttered, when the woman turned to face him and cackled. “Oh, you brought a friend. How adorable! I wonder which one of you will be more enjoyable to tear apart...?”

ELENA

Elena was waiting for Sofia’s signal. She was waiting. And waiting.

And waiting.

But before it came, she heard Hiro’s arm-cannon-thingy (name pending) go off, and Elena gripped her Scepter, prepared to leap out and fuck Orizaba’s shit up-! Shit, Hiro said. And not a ‘Shit!’ of victory, but one that said ‘this is bad.’

Elena didn’t move. She was waiting on Sofia’s signal.

The waiting didn’t last but another second, though, for what Orizaba said next set fire to Elena bones. No! It was Elena who wielded the Scepter of Light, it was Elena that Orizaba needed to fight, not Sofia and Hiro. It was Elena who was going to be the one to maybe get torn apart tonight, not two nineteen year old kids who just wanted to help her.

When she spoke up, she used tu verbs very intentionally.

“No! You don’t touch them!” Elena cried out, rushing forward. “Keep your hands and your magic off of them!”

She aimed the Scepter, prepared to go right for Orizaba’s face, but in looking up to fire at her, Elena finally noticed what it was Orizaba had talked about having. Her eyes widened the size of the moon in her horror.

“Gabe! Put him down, let him go!”

SOFIA

You know, this wasn’t the first time a dark entity had monologued at her. Wasn’t even the second.

(If she got five punches on her ‘Facing Down the Forces Of Evil’ card, she got a free smoothie.)

Her proposal had the intended effect of setting Orizaba off, and Sofia waited patiently as Hiro got in position and took his shot. His shot didn’t have the intended effect, and for a moment everything seemed to move in slow motion. Orizaba turned to face Hiro, and Sofia leaned down to scoop up her sword. Elena rushed out from behind her cover, and Sofia was already crossing the room at a run.

Elena leveled the Scepter at Orizaba, and Sofia’s fingers went to her own artifact. The Amulet of Avalor warmed in reply.

“I wish to be able to jump very high,” Sofia whispered to the amulet as she ran across the room, and with her next step, flung herself into the air. It would have taken less magic to transform into an animal instead of making a wish, but Sofia needed to keep a hold of her sword. Instead, Sofia felt gravity let go of her for a moment, and she reached out towards Gabe as she reached the crest of her arch. She grabbed onto his chest as she headed back down, and rolled protectively around his body as they bounced along the floor. Oof, ouch, okay he was heavier than she expected, especially when he was all sleepy and floppy.

Sofia quickly shifted Gabe’s body behind her and hopped back to her feet, ignoring the throbbing in her ribs. “NOW!” she yelled, sword held aloft as she prayed that both Hiro and Elena would take the shot at the same time.

HIRO & ORIZABA

Hiro swallowed when the terrifying fairy turned to face him. For a moment, he wondered whether such a woman would be capable of tearing people apart, but then he decided he had to do all he could to not find out. Thankfully, Elena came in at the nick of time, making the winged lady turn around.

“Ah, the belle of the ball shows up in the end!” Orizaba exclaimed, with a joyful cackle. “I knew you’d come save your friend. Too bad you came in last, though, Elenita. I’m disappointed you didn’t lead the  charge. What would Gabe think?”

The woman dispersed into a hundred moths, and rematerialized near the chandelier, when she noticed Gabe being taken away. She materialized the Eye of Midnight in her hand. “I suppose it doesn’t matter. You can have him. That man has exceeded his usefulness. Now, darling…”

Hiro shot when Sofia yelled, hoping to hit the fairy. However, even though he succeeded, the hole that had appeared in her chest soon refilled itself with the help of the moths, and the fairy laughed. “Shit,” he repeated. “Uh - Elena, shoot the ball-thingy!” he exclaimed, gesturing at the Eye floating near the woman’s hand.

ELENA

Elena’s lip curled at Orizaba saying the nickname with the same strange cadence as post-coma Gabe, and her eyes slowly widened in dawning realization.

“You!” She hissed, the informal pronoun falling from her mouth like poison. Elena aimed the Scepter of Light directly at Orizaba’s chest, prepared to fire, until Hiro’s shout redirected her.

Ball-thingy? Again, her eyes about popped out of her head. “The Eye of Midnight,” she mouthed, near frozen in disbelief. It was the stuff of legends in her country, one of the stories from the ancient Maruvians that first thrived in the land that would become Avalor.  Crazy. It looked just like the drawings by the Maruvians and in Mateo’s grandfather’s books of Maruvian magic legends.

No wonder it had been night for what should have been days. With the power inside that thing…

Right. Aim for it. Three shots before she would exhaust herself, maybe five maximum before she’d lose consciousness. Hopefully she wouldn’t need to get to five in the first place.

Eye of Midnight. Aim. Fire.

“Rayo.”

SOFIA

Sofia watched as she hid Gabe’s body behind a pillar, watched Orizaba dissolve into hundreds of moths and reappear across the room, watched Hiro’s laser punch a hole through her chest and watched her not even flinch.

Sofia probably should have wished for the ability to breathe fire instead. Burn up the damn moths instead.

She saw the Eye of Midnight appear and her eyes went wide like Elena’s. Sofia wasn’t an expert on Maruvian artifacts, persay, but she knew her basics, and the Eye of Midnight was a bad, bad sign. It at least explained the whole ‘eternal night’ thing.

She watched, waiting, as Elena took aim and fired. Hiro’s attack may not have affected Orizaba terribly, but it had distracted her, and the Eye or Midnight went flying from her hand to bounce and roll harmlessly across the room. Orizaba turned to get retrieve it, but never had the chance.

Not with five foot and four inches of angry, sword-wielding princess flying at her face.

Sofia shouted as she leapt through the air, swinging her sword in front of her at just the right angle to cut straight through Orizaba’s arm below the shoulder; moths flying into the air as the arm fell and dissolved. Sofia didn’t let that slow her momentum, her knees crashing into Orizaba’s chest as she began her descent. This time, Sofia kicked off before they hit the ground, landing on the balls of her feet a few yards away as Orizaba was knocked into the ground.

“Hold her down!” Sofia yelled towards Hiro, racing towards the goddess and grabbing onto her legs before she could lift back into the air.

ORIZABA & HIRO

It didn’t take long for Orizaba’s arm to get back in working order, thanks to her ability to rekindle herself almost immediately.Still, it was harder to do things without the Eye of Midnight. For one, her familiar had disappeared for whatever reason, and she was being held down by the girl. Still, the moth fairy did her best to slide in the direction of the Eye of Midnight as quickly as possible.

Hiro jumped in at Sofia’s suggestion, reaching to grab and try to pin down the woman. She kept sliding and her hand was reaching out for the Eye, so he fired a quick shot in that direction to make it roll away further. “How’s an overgrown moth this strong?!” he complained, looking at Sofia, as he put his all on hindering the deity of the night. He hoped Elena would end it, and quick.

ELENA

“Not for long!” Elena shouted, taking aim at Orizaba.

It was harder this time, with Sofia and Hiro on her, because if she aimed too far this way or that she’d blaze a hole through the body of a nineteen year old. Now wasn’t the time to overthink things, though.

Aim, shoot. Aim, shoot. That was all she needed to do, but…

“Rayo!”

A blaze of light shot from the Scepter at the command and flew off into the wall, sending chunks of it and the furniture along it everywhere. Get it together Elena, get it together! Aim, steady, ignore the blood in your eye from the cut you just gave yourself.

“Rayo!”

Miss. Fuck, that’s three shots, she can already feel her energy just being sucked out of her. One more time, one more time. Aim, steady.

“Rayo!”

Blue light struck Orizaba in the chest as Elena’s grip on the Scepter faltered, her arms having gone a bit floppy with exhaustion. Please, please, be the end of this. If she was lucky, really lucky, she could manage a fifth shot, but she’d rather not test that theory out.

ORIZABA

Orizaba gasped when the last bolt hit her. She was in pain, and the hole in her chest was surrounded by moths frantically fluttering around, trying to reform the body. However, Orizaba’s true weakness was the light, and that of the Scepter was particularly possible.

“No, you imbecile!” she exclaimed, turning to face Elena with rage in her eyes.

As the fairy desperately tried to reform, her wings slowly seemed to burn away in different spots. Soon enough, the entirety of her body began to do the same. In that moment, she knew it was then or never. She had to take them all down with her.

Her hands transformed into jaguar-like claws, and her legs did as well. The woman’s previously beautiful face began to morph as well, as she shook off the two kids from her body and leapt at Elena, ready to swipe her out of existence along with her.

“You must pay!” she exclaimed, desperately, as she fell toward the princess… And then, right before doing what she wanted to do, the rest of her body burned out, and only a flock of purple moths remained until, eventually, they too dissipated into the realm beyond the physical.

The Eye of Midnight glowed again, there, on the floor, as the clouds of magic that had taken over the town slowly dissipated to reveal the light of the sun. In the corner, Gabe’s eyes opened, and he leaned up as much as he could, taking in the room he was in, very confused.

SOFIA

Sofia had been counting with Elena, counting down the number of shoots left until she was done for the count, until it was two on one instead of three on one.

She felt one of Elena’s blasts come within inches of the back of her hair, singeing some of her hair. Sofia ignored it, fighting to hold down the struggling moth fairy alongside Hiro. They couldn’t do this forever, and neither could Elena.

The next blast, however, went straight through Orizaba’s chest, and Sofia felt the ripple move through her body. It was odd, after all the zombie nonsense that had been going on, to see the empty hole where there should have been fairy instead. The rest of the woman began to rapidly deteriorate as well, moths crumbling to dust, and Sofia nearly fell through the floor when Orizaba ripped her way free to lunge at Elena. Sofia didn’t even have time to try and grab her, to cry out, before Orizaba burst into a million moths. Soon, those too were gone.

Sofia rolled onto her back, breathing heavily as she tried to process the fact that they had done it. They’d really done it. Orizaba was gone.

Through the windows, Sofia could see the night melt away, and the sky turned from black to the soft, buttery yellow and pinks of dawn. She smiled, letting her head fall back and her eyes close.

One down, one to go.

GABE (& HIRO)

“Elena?” Gabe called out after processing the disappearance of the moth fairy. It wasn’t hard to assume who she was, considering the tales back home. How Gabe had gotten there, though, was another mystery entirely. The last thing he recalled was a fire had broken out in the school and he was on his way there.

Meanwhile, Hiro backed away, gazing at the Eye of Midnight and uncertain of what they should do with it. He decided to guard it while the others got their bearings in order.

ELENA

Elena fell to her knees, exhausted and in pain, and would have just laid flat on her back, too if it weren’t for the little confused, “Elena?” from the distance. Gabe. Gabe was awake, Gabe said her name, and it was his voice and his cadence, and it was him this time, and-

And Elena barely had the strength to get up off her knees, but what kind of friend and surrogate little sister would she be if she didn’t?, and beelined for Gabe.

Her strength and wakefulness were fading fast. She was fighting her inevitable blackout so hard right now, the world was getting heavier, and heavier around her, but it- she couldn’t give in just yet. There was a Gabe to hug.

She dropped to her knees beside him, eyelids drooping, and rested her head against his chest to feel for his heartbeat. There it was. Steady, healthy as far as she could tell, very much alive and not zombified or possessed, just her Gabe.

“I m-missed you,” she sniffled, her weak arms wrapping around him as she stretched her neck up to kiss his cheek. “I missed you much much. I’m s-sorry I c-can’t, I can’t explain right now, I don’t have…”

God, she was fading fast. Stupid Scepter. Stupid Orizaba.

“...have time. Scepter. I’ll ex-explain when I wake up but. I’m sorry, I’m so sorry, Gabe.” Elena’s voice grew softer every few words, her eyelids fluttered shut, then open, shut, then open.

Elena’s hands clutched at the fabric of Gabe’s shirt as she relaxed into his warmth. “Gabriel, you- I just. Te quiero mucho, big brother. I l-love you so much, and I’m s-so glad you’re ba...back. You’re...ba…”

And Elena wouldn’t recall if she finished that word or not, as it was then that the Scepter’s energy drain took her under and she went limp around Gabe, unconcious.

GOLIATH

Goliath could feel the night finally end, the magic melting away like mist in the sunlight. For once, he welcomed the pain that came with the sunrise as his body twisted and broke and reset into his human skin. He felt his chest, the soft skin that gave and moved under his fingers. His blunt, human nails on five human fingers, his heels flat on the ground.

He looked up at the dawn, the sky painted in a wash of colors, and breathed.

He’d had the sense to drop back to the ground before he lost his wings, and he didn’t feel any sort of tug on his mind as he made his way into the house where Orizaba had made her temporary home. The whole house smelled of bear, but Goliath ignored it; instead making his way into the room where the four humans were left. His eyes immediately sought out Elena, breathing out in relief when he saw her safe - albeit, passed out - on top of a confused Gabe. Sofia was strewn out on the ground, catching her breath, and her friend Hiro was standing next to her, watching…

Goliath approached him, smiling at his former student. “I’ll take care of that,” he reassured Hiro, kneeling down and accepting Sofia’s weak grin and fist bump as he picked the Eye of Midnight up off the ground. Even without Orizaba around, it called to him, and he considered it for a moment before putting it into the pocket of his sweatpants.

After helping Sofia onto her feet so Hiro could help hold the young princess up, Goliath crossed over to Gabe and Elena. He smiled gently at Gabe, resting a hand on his shoulder for a moment. “Good to have you back, son,” he said before looking down at Elena. He easily scooped her small body into his arms, grabbing the Scepter and resting it across her lap. He then turned his back to Gabe, helping the young Royal Guard onto his back.

“Let’s all get home,” he said softly. “Whatever is left, we can deal with tomorrow.” For the sun would rise and set as it should, and slowly, the world would turn back to normal.

(Across town, deep in the forest, the Cauldron shuddered.)

[winterbaby89]

Dark Hook Comes to Storybrooke - Chapter Two

A Captain Swan, Season 1 Canon Divergence Collaboration by: @hollyethecurious, and @winterbaby89 

Beta’d by: @ilovemesomekillianjones

Amazing Artwork by: @xhookswenchx

Rated M for language and dark themes (and maybe (probably) some sexy times… later ;o)

Summary: Moments before the Evil Queen’s Dark Curse whisks our beloved fairytale characters to Storybrooke, Captain Hook finally gets his revenge on the Crocodile. Twenty-eight years later, Killian Jones awakes in Storybrooke expecting just another ordinary day, that is until a number of abnormal occurrences disrupts his otherwise scheduled life. The greatest of which is a new face in town. A young woman by the name of Emma. Emma. What a lovely name…

Disclaimer: Canon dialogue and scenes from various episodes will appear within this fic. To Adam, Eddie, and the OUAT writers goes all the credit.

Line breaks indicate change in POV or Scene.

Also available on ao3, my fic page, and Hollye′s fic page And if you want to catch up on the last chapter. 

This work is no longer available on FF.net. Unfortunately the site does not allow authors to co-publish collaborative works.

Chapter Two

His hands wouldn’t stop shaking. Hands. Plural. As in, he had two of them again. How?

Was it a side effect of Regina’s curse or from his being...

The Dark One.

The bloody Dark One.

I’m the bloody Dark One!

It had all come back in a rush. Fast and sporadic flashes of memories - his memories - that told the story of his long life. A life that spanned centuries, and yet the truth of it had hit him in an instant. The truth of who he truly was.

Killian Jones.

Orphan.

Slave.

Lieutenant.

Pirate.

Captain Hook.

Dark One.

Killian shuddered at that final memory, and then panic seized him once again. He spun around surveying the room, expecting the Crocodile to manifest himself at any moment with his mocking and jeering. But he hadn’t appeared. Not in the bar. Not on the long walk home. Not even now as Killian paced the length of his manor.

Why?

‘This new realm is a land without magic’, he remembered suddenly. Regina’s words, just before she’d solicited him to kill her mother, echoing in his ear.

A Land Without Magic.

‘Where The Dark One will be stripped of his power.’

For the first time in what seemed like hours Killian took a deep, steadying breath. The Dark One had no power in this land. He had no power in this land. Even still, Killian could feel the rage, the anguish, and the all encompassing darkness he’d felt in that clearing. The memory of their collective presence haunting him more severely than any of his other demons ever had.

And even if they now lay dormant within him, it didn’t change one other fact… he was still Captain Hook. A villain in his own right. A scourge and a scoundrel out for only one thing. Revenge.

Killian pressed his fingers onto the now vacant space on his forearm. Milah.

Revenge had been his, but at what cost?

He’d become the very thing he hated the most. The very thing she hated most. Rumplestiltskin may not have been The Dark One when they’d been together, but Killian had seen it in her eyes when he’d told her of his run in with her husband turned Dark One on the docks; the loathing at what he’d become coursing through her.

For centuries Killian had justified his own depravity and darkness because it was all in pursuit of avenging her. He believed that she’d understand, would offer him absolution for his actions because the ends would justify the means. But now…

Now all he felt was shame. Shame at what he’d become, and thankful to all the gods that she had not lived to see how far he’d fallen in his quest for vengeance. And not just Milah, but Liam as well.

Liam.

Killian clasped at the chain hanging from his neck, but knew it would not hold what he sought. Liam’s ring. What had become of it? What had become of all his possessions? His hook, his coat, his sword, his…

Dagger.

The Dark One dagger.

It had been in his hand when the curse hit, and even though he knew it no longer had the power to control him (at least, that is, as long as Regina’s curse and the lack of magic in this land kept The Dark Ones at bay) he in no way wanted it in anyone else’s possession other than his own.

Killian tore the manor apart in his search, upending rooms he had no memory of ever even entering before. Memories of his cursed life interspersed with his real life. Bloody hell, leave it to Regina to over complicate matters. As if three hundred years of his own memories weren’t enough for his mind to contend with, now he had twenty-eight years of practically the same day recurring over and over again in his head. The only detail making the days distinct from one another was Henry.

Henry. He knew.

The lad knew about the curse. He’d mentioned it before, his suspicions that the stories in the book his teacher had given him were true. Killian had recognized it as a coping mechanism, a way for the lad to try and escape the reality of his unhappy life. A way to ground himself to something more hopeful.

Killian now understood why Henry Mills had come to mean so much to him. He was a lost boy, just like Killian.

On some level Killian had recognized that trait in Henry, even as he had forgotten his true self. It’s probably what had prompted him to suggest that the boy seek out information about his birth parents in the first place. Of course, he never considered that Henry would actually run off in search of the woman who’d given birth to him. But seek her out, the lad had, and her presence in Storybrooke had already begun to change things.

The mystery of why her name broke the spell he had been under notwithstanding, Killian knew he’d only just scratched the surface of the intrigue Emma Swan possessed. But he couldn’t focus on that now. On her. He had a dagger to find and a secret to keep.

As Emma dressed the next morning, and thought about stopping at the diner for breakfast, she heard a knock on the door. Answering it revealed Regina with a basket of apples in hand, and a fake smile plastered on her face. Great, I have to deal with her crap before I’ve even had the chance to drink my first cup of coffee? Just great. Before Emma could manage a polite hello, Regina thrust an apple toward her and started in on some random spiel.

“Did you know the honeycrisp tree is the most vigorous and hardy of all apple trees? It can survive temperatures as low as 40 below and keep growing. It can weather any storm. I have one that I've tended to since I was a little girl, and to this day I have yet to taste anything more delicious than the fruit it offers.”

“Thanks,” Emma responded dubiously as she took the proffered apple Regina extended to her, still clutching her cup in her right hand.

“I'm sure you'll enjoy them on your drive home.” Regina tried to hand over the full basket of apples, but Emma took a half step backward, refusing to reach out for it.

“Actually, I'm gonna stay for a while.”

A brief flicker of anger and agitation crossed Regina’s face at Emma’s declaration and refusal before she schooled her features into a mask of pleasant nonchalance. “I'm not sure that's such a good idea. Henry has enough issues. He doesn't need you confusing him.”

“All due respect, Madam Mayor, the fact that you have now threatened me twice in the last twelve hours makes me want to stay more.”

“Since when were apples a threat?”

“I can read between the lines. Sorry. I just want to make sure Henry's okay.”

“He's fine, dear. Any problems he has are being taken care of.”

A concern for Henry’s well being swelled within her chest at Regina’s words, prompting her to ask, “What does that mean?”

“It means I have him in therapy. It's all under control. Take my advice, Ms. Swan, only one of us knows what's best for Henry.”

That’s right, Emma thought. She remembered meeting Henry’s therapist the other night when she brought him back to Storybrooke, he was the kind man that had given her directions to Regina’s place. She remembered as a sense of relief flooded through her that Regina wasn’t referring to something more sinister. Great I’m starting to think like Henry, she’s not the Evil Queen, just a concerned parent, most likely a bad parent, but concerned nonetheless.

“Yeah, I'm starting to think you're right about that.” Emma didn’t miss the glare Regina sent her way at that comment.

“It's time for you to go.”

“Or what?” Emma challenged.

“Don't underestimate me, Ms. Swan. You have no idea what I'm capable of.” Considering that the end of the disturbing conversation, Emma shut the door without another word to Regina, and locked it before going back to getting ready for the day.

Thirty minutes later, Emma found herself perched at the counter in Granny’s diner. Perusing the menu, she debated what to order, when Ruby set down a hot chocolate with cinnamon and whipped cream in front of her.

“Here you go.”

“Thank you, but I didn’t order that.”

“Yeah, I know. You have an admirer.” At that comment, Emma turned and tried to tamp down the hope that it might be from a certain blue eyed gentleman who had haunted her dreams the night before, only to see Sheriff Humbert. Her disappointment swelled within her as she picked up the cocoa and approached his table, intending to let the poor man down gently.

“Ah, so you decided to stay.”

Was it really that much of a surprise to him? “Observant, important for a cop.”

“It's good news for our tourist business. It's bad for our local signage.” Graham looked a little uncomfortable with the awkward pause as his joke fell flat. “It's... it's a joke. Because you ran over our sign.”

The only immediate response she can muster is to roll her eyes at his terrible attempt at a joke. “Look, the cocoa was a nice gesture, and I am impressed that you guessed that I like cinnamon on my chocolate, 'cause most people don't, but I am not here to flirt, so thank you, but, no thank you.” Gently placing the cup on the table, she considers whether or not she would have accepted it from a different, accented man.

“I didn't send it.”

“I did. I like cinnamon, too.”

Her head shot towards the front table by the window at the sound of Henry’s voice. How did I not see him there earlier? “Don't you have school?”

“Duh. I'm ten. Walk me.”

He’s definitely my kid with that eyeroll. Without so much as another look at the sheriff, Emma placed a hand on Henry’s shoulder and began steering him out the door towards the bus stop.

Killian stopped abruptly in the back hallway of the diner as he watched the Swan girl and Henry make their way out of the diner and along the sidewalk that led to the bus stop. He was going to have to come up with some sort of excuse for avoiding Henry, as he was not quite ready to bring himself to lie to the boy by keeping up with his cursed facade in the lad’s presence. For now, he had a more pressing issue at hand; one he hoped the good Sheriff might be able to assist him with.

Killian prided himself on possessing a stealth that served him well in keeping people on their toes, or catching them off guard with his approach, but he’d never been able to get a jump on the Sheriff. The man somehow always knew when Killian, or anyone else, was approaching him, he seemed to have a sixth sense about him. In light of Killian’s regained memories he wondered just who Graham was back in their realm, and what the man would say if he knew that it was the infamous Captain Hook, or The Dark One for that matter, that was making himself welcome in his booth.

“Good morning, Mr. Jones. Something I can assist you with?” the Sheriff questioned, his disdain only slightly veiled in his tone.

“Actually, Sheriff. I’ve come to do my civic duty as a responsible citizen and business owner,” Killian replied as he placed a hand gun on the table between them, causing the Sheriff to tense momentarily before Killian could add, “I found it at the docks. Thought it best to turn it in to the proper authorities.”

The truth was Killian had found it during the search of his home overnight. Guns, knives, legal documents, and all manner of possessions had been uncovered. While not completely inconsistent with his nature, the items weren’t altogether authentic to who he was, cursed or otherwise, either, and no dagger had been found among them. It was only after he’d felt certain that no location within his home had been overlooked that Killian began to consider where within the town he might continue his search.  

The stash of weapons he’d found concealed in various rooms had led him to the idea that the dagger may lay unclaimed within the Sheriff’s station. Not wanting to tip the lawman’s suspicions any further than they would be prone to, Killian had devised the ruse of turning over the firearm in hopes of naturally opening up the opportunity to question Graham about unclaimed blades.

“You found it?” Graham questioned suspiciously.

“Aye.”

“At the docks?”

“Aye.”

“And you’re just turning it in?”

“Would you rather I not?” Killian quipped inquiringly. “Too much paperwork involved, or are you running out of room to store unclaimed weapons at the Sheriff’s station?”

“We don’t have any unclaimed weapons at the station,” Graham admitted, unaware that he’d just provided the pirate with the very information he sought.

Damn! Killian cursed to himself. He’d have to continue his search elsewhere.

“Right. Well, first time for everything I suppose. I’ll leave you to it then, Sheriff.”

Killian exited the booth and took purposeful strides toward the door. He ran through his mental list of potential locations the dagger could be hiding, as he made his way to the sidewalk a flash of blonde curls and red leather caught his eye. He watched Emma make her way through the door that led up to Dr. Hopper’s office, or according to Henry, Jiminy Cricket’s office, and was once again struck by the urgent pull he felt toward the beguiling woman.

Shaking off such fanciful notions he turned himself towards the docks. He had a dagger to find and a day of searching through warehouses, offices, and his beloved Jolly Roger ahead of him.

Emma lounged on her bed at the B&B as she scoured the files that Dr. Hopper had given her about Henry. So far nothing was jumping out at her, but she wasn’t completely sure what she was looking for. She wasn’t a therapist, and until about three days ago she hadn’t considered herself a parent either. Not that she did even now that Henry was in her life.

A sharp knock at the door added to her current disgruntled state. When she found Sheriff Humbert on the other side she couldn’t help the sarcastic greeting that fell from her lips.

“Hey there. If you're concerned about the Do not disturb signs, don't worry, I've left them alone.”

“Actually, I'm here about Dr. Archibald Hopper. He mentioned you got into a bit of a row with him earlier?”

“No,” Emma clipped firmly as she placed her hands on her hips in annoyance.

“I was shocked, too, given your shy, delicate sensibilities,” Graham mocked, earning him an eyeroll. “He says you demanded to see Henry's files and when he refused, you came back and stole them.”

“He gave them to me.”

“Alas, he's telling a different tale. May I check your room, or must I get a search warrant?”

Unbelievable. Emma turned and allowed Graham to enter. There was no point in delaying the inevitable.

“Is this what you're looking for?” she asked, gesturing to the numerous papers scattered across the bed.

“Well, you're very accommodating,” Graham needled as he picked up a few papers before delivering the news Emma had been waiting for, even as she reeled at the outrageousness of it all. “I'm afraid, Ms. Swan, you're under arrest. Again.”

“You know I'm being set up, don't you?” It was more a statement than a question as Graham affixed cuffs to her wrists.

“And who, may I ask, is setting you up?”

Emma continued to proclaim her innocence, casting accusations at Regina all the way from the B&B to the Sheriff Station. She questioned Graham about Regina’s hold and influence on the town even as he booked her.

“Regina may be a touch intimidating, but I don't think she'd go as far as a frame job,” Graham argued.

“How far would she go? What does she have her hands in?”

“Well, she's the Mayor. She has her hands in everything.”

“Including the police force?” Emma accused.

“Hey,” an excited voice echoed from the hallway.

“Henry, what are you doing here?” Graham asked.

“His mother told him what happened,” Mary Margaret supplied, having accompanied Henry to the station from school.

“Of course she did,” Emma exasperated as she stared pointedly at Graham before addressing her son with a bit of trepidation. “Henry, I don't know what she said-”

“You're a genius,” Henry interrupted.

“What?”

“I know what you were up to. You were gathering intel for Operation Cobra,” Henry speculated with hushed excitement.

“I'm sorry. I'm a bit lost,” Graham confessed.

“It's need-to-know, sheriff,” Henry said dismissively, “and all you need to know is that Ms. Blanchard's gonna bail her out.”

“You are? Why?” Emma questioned incredulously.

“I, uh, trust you,” the petite woman stated skittishly.

Looking between Henry’s smug face and Mary Margaret’s quiet understanding Emma felt her need for retribution spike as she turned to Graham with her hands out in front of her.

“Well, if you would uncuff me, I have something to do.”

Killian aimlessly wandered along the streets of Storybrooke, having had no success in locating the dagger. Though, he had uncovered more intriguing items that would require his attention and focus once the bloody damned blade was back in his possession.

He was starting to wonder if the infernal thing had come over in the curse at all. For all he knew, it remained in the Enchanted Forest sealed away in the vault he had emerged from after the Crocodile’s death. The only way Killian could be truly sure was to either keep searching and find the bloody thing or march into the Mayor’s office and ask Her Majesty. The latter option was not one he was willing to entertain, so he continued his trek as he ticked off all the locations he’d already explored.

Not in the manor, not at the Sheriff’s station, no sign of it in any of my usual hiding places within the Jolly. The warehouses and dock offices were a bust as well. Perhaps I should… what is that blasted noise!

The sound of a motor cut through Killian’s internal mutterings as he realized he was just across the street from the Town Hall. His curiosity piqued at the unusual sound, Killian made his way towards the building’s courtyard to investigate, but then quickly had to find a place to tuck himself away as he saw the Evil Queen exit the building.

“What the hell are you doing?!” the mayor exclaimed as she rushed across the courtyard towards the racket that continued to permeate the area.

A racket, that Killian could now see was being caused by the lovely Emma. She was wielding a chainsaw, ruthlessly plundering the Mayor’s prized apple tree as she made a quip about picking apples. Now, more than just Killian’s curiosity was piqued at the sight before him.

“You're out of your mind.”

“No, you are, if you think a shoddy frame job's enough to scare me off.”

Frame job? What else have I missed? Killian wondered.

“You're gonna have to do better than that. You come after me one more time, I'm coming back for the rest of this tree. Because, sister, you have no idea what I'm capable of.”

Killian watched as Swan violently tossed the chainsaw aside and challenged, “Your move,” before stomping away. A fresh appreciation for the tough lass washed over him. So, she and the Queen are at odds, then? Not surprising, he supposed, Regina’s at odds with everyone in this accursed town.

Just as Killian was preparing to extricate himself from the dark cluster of shrubbery he’d hidden away in, Sheriff Humbert pulled up in his police cruiser, no doubt having received a complaint about the noise of the chainsaw. Killian decided to remain tucked away for their exchange. Treasure and priceless commodities came in many forms, none more valuable in his experience than good, old fashioned gossip. Information that one could use against one’s enemies was a prize worth harboring in the bushes for.

Killian patiently listened as Regina expressed her desire to once again have Swan arrested, only to have the Sheriff question the effectiveness of such an action, even as he inferred his suspicions that Emma had, indeed, been set-up for her earlier transgressions.

“I think your schoolboy crush is clouding your judgment,” Regina barbed accusingly at the Sheriff.

The accusation caused a spark of rage to ignite in Killian’s chest, he bit back a growl that threatened to reverberate from within. Taken aback by having such a fierce response to the implication that Graham may harbor feelings for the same woman who had so ensnared him, Killian nearly missed the remainder of their exchange.  

“You want me to arrest her again, I will,” Graham complied.

“Good.”

“But she's gonna keep coming at you, and I know you, you're gonna keep going at her, and you will do whatever it takes to get her out of here and you may succeed-”

“No, I will succeed. He's my son. It's what's best for him.”

Killian could barely contain the scathing retort that burned his throat, knowing now just how manipulative and cruel the woman had been in regards to the boy.

“I know that's what you believe,” Graham stated sympathetically, “but if this escalates, it seems to me the only one who will get hurt is Henry.”

Killian watched as Graham departed, leaving both he and Regina to stew in their thoughts of how the repercussions of Emma’s presence in Storybrooke would ultimately affect the boy. Even with the gut-wrenching realization of his true self, and the knowledge of what lay dormant just beneath his surface, Killian could not bring himself to resent Henry for bringing his birth mother there, and ultimately waking him from his cursed state. She was changing things, and Killian believed that such changes would only benefit Henry. It was apparent, however, that Her Majesty did not share this sentiment.

“There has got to be a way of getting rid of that woman without Henry blaming me,” Regina muttered to herself, as she passed Killian’s hiding spot. “If ever there was a time I needed my powers… wait-”

Killian’s attention sharpened at Regina’s mention of her powers. I thought this was a land without magic?

“Perhaps that little imp had something stashed away. Somehow my curse failed to bring him over, but perhaps there is something in the pawn shop that could be of use.” Regina’s speculations prompted her to abandon her immediate concerns for the mangled tree, and Killian watched as she rushed back into her office building - presumably to grab her purse and keys.

The Crocodile. Regina didn’t realize the truth of just why the curse had failed to deliver Rumplestiltskin to this land. But she believed something useful of his might be hidden away within the abandoned pawn shop?

Killian began to wonder whether or not a certain item he’d been in search of might be located there as well. He was at a disadvantage, seeing as he was on foot and Regina would have her car to get her there ahead of him, so Killian wasted no time in making his way back towards Main Street, hoping against hope that her search would not lead to the dagger before he arrived.

Chapter Three

Tagging some lovelies that have asked to be tagged, as well as some we believe might enjoy. Please let us know if you do, or don’t wish to be tagged.

@abeylin1982 @aprilqueen84 @artistic-writer @ashar663 @captain-k-jones @captain-swan-coffee @downeystarkjr @florenzu @freakassbuthunter @gingerchangeling @golfgirld @greenleaf777 @ilovemesomekillianjones @jennjenn615 @kmomof4 @laschatzi @leiaswanjoneskid @like-waves-on-the-beach @rookiehookie @seriouslyhooked @teamhook @ultraluckycatnd @xhookswenchx @yayimallamaagain

[firefaerie81]

Webtoon Reclist

So I discovered a bunch of webcomics on Line Webtoon recently.  I keep binging things, so here’s a list of recommendations from what I’m up to date on.  Links to the comics themselves are included.

Completed

Always Human - Sunati Raval lives in a world where genetic modification is easy and hip, and she loves changing her look.  Meeting Austen, a girl whose immune system rejects mods, makes Sunati see a new angle of things.  She and Austen are interested in each other, but they only just met, so making this relationship float will take work from both parties.

Girls Have a Blog - Sarah and Tara had a webcomic while they were in art school, but after Webtoon found it years later and asked to feature it, they decided to make a new version on the same premise: the two of them living together and having adventures in art, writing, and adulting.

My Boo - Yuri So can see ghosts, but ever since she was young, she’s made it a point to never let anyone know, not even the ghosts.  No matter what, when someone finds out it becomes a burden for her.  Unfortunately, a careless mistake leads to her moving into a house inhabited by a ghost named Jun Ko.  Yuri’s only able to ignore Jun for so long, and it’s time she finally confronted her personal demons.

Note: My Boo is on Webtoon’s “Daily Pass” system.  The first five episodes are freely available, then every successive episode requires a Daily Pass to unlock for two weeks, of which a user will only get one a day without paying for more.

Oh! Holy - Jamie Oh has had a hard time making friends due to his ability to see ghosts.  The one friend he had, Holy Joo, moved away long ago, abandoning their promise to see the world together.  After that, he gave up on trying to connect with anyone but ghosts.  But after Jamie crosses paths with Holy again in high school, an accident threatens her life, forcing the two to make a deal with a reaper to stay alive.

Orange Marmalade - Mari Baek is a vampire who only wants to live quietly in one place instead of being run out of town every time someone finds out what she is.  Unfortunately, the most popular boy in her school takes a shine to her after her instincts get the better of her in the presence of his strong-smelling blood.  She doesn’t like attention, but maybe a few friends and a boyfriend wouldn’t be so bad.  Assuming, of course, that she can trust them.

Note: Orange Marmalade is on Webtoon’s “Daily Pass” system.  The first seven episodes are freely available, then every successive episode requires a Daily Pass to unlock for two weeks, of which a user will only get one a day without paying for more.

Shard - Shay is a witch on the run from her coven, desperate to keep out of their control and live her own life.  There’s a certain spell she wants to cast, a portal she wants to open, and the missing piece is a virgin.  Her best bet is one of a group of geology nerds she manages to come across, but the trick will be getting him into the ritual before her coven can get their claws back on her.

Super Secret - As far as Emma Ji knows, she’s just very close with her next door neighbors.  But the truth is that her parents signed a Rapunzel-esque contract with this family of supernatural beings after wronging them before Emma was born.  The son of the family, Ryan, developed feelings for Emma over the years, but he’d rather do things on her terms than because of some contract.

unTouchable - Vampires have evolved over the centuries, moving from consuming blood to absorbing energy through touch.  Sia Lee is one such vampire, and Jiho Shin – the best target she’s ever set her sights on – has extreme OCD, so she decides to help him get over it.  Is Sia really going this far just for a meal, or is there actually something to her claim of feelings for Jiho?

Where Tangents Meet - Landon Takahashi was left cynical and bitter by 17 years of people pretending to like him for his money and balking at his geeky hobbies.  Rachelle Fletcher is a year older, yet so sweet and flighty that she blows away all of Landon’s preconceived notions about people.  They grow close quickly, and decide to navigate the foibles of their first serious relationship together.

Ongoing

#Blessed - Joanna is young and frustrated with her love life.  She thinks playing around with a dating app will improve her situation, but things only get worse when a mistaken swipe locks her into a contract with a gaggle of godly beings who all want a chance at dating her.  She has to choose one of them in the end, and they won’t leave her alone, but the rest is in her hands.

Aerial Magic - Wisteria Kemp is a textblind mage who dreams of doing aerial magic professionally.  Her only hope of joining a guild and being officially qualified is an apprenticeship.  Apprentices are a dying practice, so the only person who would take her on lives in a city far away from her town.  Wisteria has to not only learn as much as she can from Cecily, but navigate interacting with Cecily’s son Lachlan and her employees Amal and Killian.

Assassin Roommate - Mags isn’t the most adept in social situations with new people, but she needs a roommate to afford her new place.  She’s read all about the problems of being too close to one’s roommate, so she’s determined to be strictly professional.  And as friendly and gorgeous as her new roommate Kurt is, he could never know about her job as an assassin even if they did get close.

Castle Swimmer - Many of the underwater kingdoms of merfolk have prophecies, but they all have one thing in common: they center around a golden mer called The Beacon arriving and bestowing some boon upon the kingdom.  The shark kingdom is a cursed community, hoping against hope for The Beacon to arrive and fulfill their prophecy… of being killed by their prince to lift the curse.  But what happens when neither prince nor beacon want any of this prophecy burden?

The Croaking - Humanoids with the wings of birds populate an island civilization.  As an Osprey, Ky Cedoc is an unusual recruit at the Roost military academy.  As a Crow, Scra Eldwode is even more unusual.  How perfect, then, that these two misfits are placed as roommates on top of having met right before the semester started.  Well, not so perfect, since Scra is hardly around, sneaking out every night, and there are whispers among the city gangs about something called The Croaking.

Crumbs - Urban fantasy meets easygoing slice of life. Every Friday, Ray makes a trip to her favorite magical bakery, where customers can buy pastries imbued with confidence, inspiration, anything you can imagine.  Every week, Ray walks in and has her favorite flavor: romance.  And one day, the baker’s nephew reaches out to her.

Empyrea - Soul-stealing demons known as keres plague the twelve realms, and only the Aetherborn knights have the power to combat them.  Tristan, otherwise known as Hawk, is a strange knight who refuses to serve a lord.  Kira is a young inventor straining against the expectations of her family.  The two cross paths one night, and their lives begin to change.

Freaking Romance - Zylith is striking out on her own after being thrown out of her parents’ home at age 18.  The only apartment she can afford on her savings was reported by previous tenants to be haunted, which only intrigues Zylith more because of her fondness for the paranormal.  She’s excited to start seeing a boy who seems like a ghost around her apartment, until she and her friend do some digging and find out the last girl who lived there disappeared after seeing him.

I Love Yoo - Yoo Shin-Ae couldn’t care less about romance.  She cares way more about food and making ends meet, and she loudly rejects any sort of advances.  Through a series of shenanigans at a party, Shin-Ae’s life ends up entangled with two boys, one who takes a shine to her immediately and one who’s just as prickly about girls as she is about boys.

Ketchup - Soulmates aren’t necessarily a romantic relationship, but they do have a link that can pass glimpses of the five senses as well as emotions between the pair.  Riley and Kelyn were childhood friends, but right when Riley was figuring out that they were linked, one wrong move destroyed their friendship.  Years later, they’re reunited when Kelyn finally discovers their link.  Kelyn wants to rekindle their old bond, but Riley still carries a grudge from their falling out.

Lackadaisy - In a version of prohibition-era St. Louis populated by anthropomorphic cats, the Lackadaisy speakeasy was once a booming beacon of night life.  But with its owner dead, his widow Mitzi is left with a ragtag handful of employees and not enough booze to go around for her few customers.  Mitzi will be damned before she sees the place her husband built die, and she will do whatever it takes to put Lackadaisy back on top.

Lore Olympus - This modern retelling of the Taking of Persephone sees the mythological Greek gods and heroes in a metropolitan setting.  Persephone is a country mouse at her first big city party, and Aphrodite decides to play a trick on her and grim Hades.  Persephone and Hades end up thoroughly embarrassed, but also oddly enchanted.

Mage & Demon Queen - The demon tower is a gauntlet where adventurers of the highest order test their mettle, but very few make it to the top, where the demon queen Velverosa dwells, and no one has ever managed to kill her.  Many have died trying, respawning back in town to tell the tale.  Malori is a young mage who climbs the tower countless times.  She faces the demon queen over and over, in hopes of wooing her.

Melody of Orange - The Curse of Eve binds soulmates together, not by a love link but by a death link.  When one dies, the other will die in the same manner, no matter the situation.  While love isn’t explicitly part of the curse, soulmates are generally encouraged to be together.  However, when Mikan meets a scary boy she finds to be her soulmate, she wants nothing to do with him.  It’s not for the reasons you might think; it’s Mikan herself who’s carrying an intense guilt that makes her feel unworthy of happiness.

Nothing Special - Callie doesn’t think of herself as anything special, not when there are fairies, demons, and all sorts of magical creatures just beyond a doorway.  A boy from her school disagrees when he’s freaked out by his sudden ability to see spirits and impressed by her knowledge of the supernatural.  Together, they embark on a journey through the spirit world to save Callie’s dad, and maybe learn a little about themselves and each other along the way.

Siren’s Lament - Lyra is a bit of a wallflower, content with her ordinary life, content to run her flower shop and silently pine for her friend Shon while he dates someone else.  But one night, her emotions get the better of her, and she ends up involved in a curse with a siren named Ian.  Ian is the opposite of helpful, and the curse he brought with him is nothing but a burden, but he does challenge Lyra to seize the day and ask for more from her simple life.

Strawberry Seafoam - The Delphic Academy teaches magic to young mermaids who hope to one day become powerful Delphiniums.  Frasei is one such mermaid, eager to follow in her mother’s footsteps, and her life does not at all go according to plan.  Dark forces begin to mobilize around the academy, and Frasei finds herself the only one able to combat them with her newfound unique ability to transform her tail.

Tyran Awakening - Zoe is an average teen living in the not too distant future.  When she picks a fight with some bullies, however, something unbelievable happens.  She survives certain death, and she begins to feel powerful.  Almost like a dragon.  Ancient forces are awakened, and the only one Zoe feels she can trust with all this is her friend (or maybe more) Marthe.

unOrdinary - It’s a given in this world that just about everyone has some kind of superpower.  John Doe is a rare exception, having no ability at all yet somehow going to a school with a high premium on abilities.  He firmly believes that might shouldn’t make right, but it’s only due to his high-tier friend Seraphina that he hasn’t been beaten to death several times over for ignoring the hierarchy in place.  (Warning for repeated use of the word “cripple” to describe John’s lack of powers)

[kuraiofanagura]

Stormbird

This is an summary of the whole story behind my oneshot Stormbird on AO3

Ok, here's the whole story:

Otabek and Yuri are best friends since childhood. Otabek's family hadmoved to Moscow for jobs/ family with little Beka being barely a teenager. He and Yuri met at the local ballet studio and quickly became BEST friends. Like designated chair at the others families table, toothbrushes in each others houses, Yuri has a spare key to Otabek's motorcycle etc etc. The thing is though, that Otabek's a really sick child. He had fun with ballet (his mother had hoped it would help his stamina and immune system), but had to drop out because he'd regularly get asthma attacks. As they grew up Yuri followed his tremendous talent and got accepted in a Moscow ballet school that would open him a way into the Bolshoi. And Otabek grew sicker and sicker. By the time the story starts he'd a marathon of doctors and specialists behind him. He doesn't want to die, but he can't bring himself to shatter the dawning hope of his parents again and again and decided that maybe it was meant for him to give up.

His body's failing him. One after another of his organs are giving up and he's growing weaker and weaker with the days. Yuri of course, the designated Otabexpert and not so secretly maybe boyfriend (it's a whole mutual pinning thing. Both are aware of their feelings, yet Otabek's rejected Yuri countless of times, because he somewhat can stand to stress Yuri with a constantly sick best friend out of sheer habit, but can't stand the thought of being a slowly dying boyfriend to him. Yuri, who gets the drift, is also constantly pressing and backing down, because he feels so damn helpless most of the time) is furious with Otabek as soon as he noticed his decision and argues that long with Otabek, that he finally admits that he doesn't want to die and that he's scared as fuck. “You're not quitting out on me and search for a... for a fucking place to die... don't you dare to do that to me, asshole!”

Yuri brings Otabek home to his house. Lately they don't like to spend their time at Yuri's because his great-grandmother (Nikolai's mother, he has a big russian family in this one. Several siblings and parents that work too much as to be a constant in his live) had become more and more demented in the last months and had developed the habit to screech at Otabek whenever she'd saw him. Called him a demon, a Rusalka and other stuff.

This time she's suddenly standing in Yuri's room (how did she even manage to climb the stairs with her hip!?) while Otabek slept exhausted in Yuri's bed after coming over. Yuri feared she might start screaming again, but for once she's somewhat clear again and tells him that he mustn't love him, because he's no human, how can he not see that?

“What is he, if not a human, baba?”

“A changeling, Yuratchka, can you not see it? He's from the folk behind the veil. They feed on us and our hearts, child. You must get rid of him at once!” Then she starts blabbering about the doll she'd misplaced as a child and how much taller he seemed now in comparison to yesterday and Yuri carries her gently back to her room. But with her comments a fire is lit inside of him and he obsessively searches all over the internet and somehow in his hazed mind it all makes sense now. Otabek's really severe nickel allergy, which is actually more of an iron allergy, his failing health and the story his mother once told him that little Otabek got lost in the woods at age three and got back so scared he was practically another child after that. Yuri's like possessed, he let's Otabek sleep in his room for the next day and instead of going to class, he's ditching it for the first time in his live, he's going to research some more in the library. At four in the morning on the next day he's shacking Beka awake and dragging him out on a field. Otabek's too weak by now to even stand on his own and Yuri's desperate because he knows this is his last shot and otherwise it's only a matter of days until his best friend dies.

“Yuri, seriously, I'm supposed to be the sick one, but you're acting as if you've lost your mind!”

“Shut up, Beka.”

“Yura, please, where are we? Are those cows?”

“Is your eyesight the next thing? Those are horses, dumbass! Apparently horse shit is like gold for field mushrooms.” Otabek groans. “Do I even want to know why you know this?” Yuri ignored his comment and gently laid him down on a random patch of grass in the middle of the field. The sun is slowly showing in the east, otherwise the world is still grey. “Did you know that sometimes field mushrooms grow in circles, and mostly in places where they grow good, you see?” And in the creeping light Otabek manages to make out little pale white heads of mushrooms in a crude circle around them. Something settles in his stomach and he doesn't know if he likes that feeling. Yuri drops their bags and suddenly straightens his back and gets into first position. “Yuri, what are you doing?”

“Dancing.”

“I can see that. Don't you think there are better surfaces than grass for dancing?”

“Shut up, I'm trying to save your live, asshole!” Yuri's dancing somewhat ungracefully over the grass and Otabek's amazed how he can express fury and desperation to clearly with his body but never with his words. And with the last plie the world suddenly flipps upside down and both experience a feeling of falling and as soon as it started it's not longer grass that tickles Otabek's cheeks, but leaves; they're no longer on a field, but in an open forest. He hurriedly searches for Yuri and finds him by his side, unconscious, but otherwise unharmed and the last thing he can think before he blacks out himself is that he's never breathed so freely ever before.

A little while later Yuri wakes up with his backpack as a pillow and Otabek's jacket blanketed over him. Disorientated he scrambles up and searches for his best friend and finds him bathing in a pond some feet away. And just damn! He's never seen Otabek so alive before! He's not hunched over, his face is free from his usual pained scowl and just damn! He could live for that sheepish smile! They sit down and talk and Yuri explains everything to him that he'd found out, starting with the creepy encounter of his great-grandmother two nights ago.

“I knew it was foolish. But it felt like my last shot. Beka, you know I'd do anything to save you.” And their intimate atmosphere that might've lead to something more is interrupted by the sound of horses and suddenly they're encircled by a bunch of elven riders and their leader dismounts and then just one thing happens: Victor.

Long story short: Victor's just Victor and it's only natural that him and Yuri clash. In the end Yuri is faced with some accusations. First, he'd breached the borders of the fair realm by force and without invitation. Second, he'd brought iron into their world. And third, and yes this is totally Victor's doing, he'd used said iron (a pair of sewing scissors from his great-grandmother) to threatened one of the four King's of the wheel.

But Victor's intrigued with this beautiful and fierce human and had decided to take him. He proposes Yuri with the chance to undo his crimes if he beats him in a game. Yuri's even allowed to chose what it might be. So Yuri accepts and decides they should dance for his freedom. Yet as soon as he and Otabek saw Victor dance his piece after Yuri's had ended, they both know that there's no winning. He's more or less otherworldly good. And he doesn't know how, but Yuri's sure that there's no magic involved.

It all happens and falls together with the day before the beginning of winter and the fea bring them together with Victor to the court where he's going to be king for the time it's winter.

And yeah, that's basically where the story starts now and ends with this.

[ravennest1342-blog]

BTS Vampire Au — The Maknae Line

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

Park Jimin

He is a vampire.

He was found in 1867, he was being forcefully kept by another clan due to the fact that Jimin has incredible sensory skills. He can sense danger from miles away. He escaped when he was still a young vampire and had only just reached the age of maturity — Namjoon found him starving and the little vampire would have attacked him if he hadn’t sensed that Namjoon was someone’s subjugate.

This had made him burst into tears and cuddle against Namjoon in misery because god he was so hungry and Namjoon was the only human he had seen in days — but touching someone else’s subjugate only guarantees a swift and sudden death.

He settled into the clan really easy — they waited till he was stronger to introduce him to Yoongi, Hoseok and Taehyung and that of course led to a whole other realm of confusion.

But eventually they settled their differences. And although in public it may seem like Hoseok is the one that gets super babied by the trio and doted on — the truth is that it’s Jimin that’s the baby of the group.

He has literally no interest in children at the moment. None — he thinks they’re cute but he doesn’t want one yet.

He’s almost as protective of Taehyung as Yoongi is, but instead of being on the brotherly side — him and Taehyung are best friends and like to joke that they’re platonic soulmates.

Drinking another Vampires blood is supposed to be poisonous to vampires so you can imagine Jimin’s shock when he accidentally hit Yoongi in his sleep and instead of dying a horrible bedridden death, it tasted and felt as if he had just drunk some of Hobi’s blood. The trio have kept this a secret since, and Jimin will never admit it — but he loves when Yoongi feeds on him.

Leave the baby alone. He’s a demon disguised as an angel (hence the pic I chose)

God I love him so much. *gross sobbing*

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

Kim Taehyung

He is a vampire.

He was born in 1822 and found by Jin in 1832, no one knows who his parents are or what coven he came from and he can’t remember. Yoongi found him passed out in the woods alone.

But other clans usually stare openly at him — it’s not strange, Taehyung has an ability of compulsion, everything about him is designed to draw people/othe vampires in.

It doesn’t hurt that he’s also literally the sweetest bean in the world.

Jin, Namjoon, Yoongi, and Hoseok basically raised him but he only views and holds Namjin in that maternal light, he thinks of Yoongi as his brother and has actually called him that several times.

He has nightmares — he can’t remember those but they’re there.

From an outsiders prospective he seems cold — almost indifferent — to everyone around him. But behind closed doors he is literally a hyperactive ball of sunshine that cries when he drinks donor blood because he can’t drink from humans without having a panic attack.

Inspire of how sweet he is and all — he actually has the least control in the group and has to drink the most all the time — otherwise he could hurt some poor human.

He’s pretty thrilled but terrified at the thought of a subjugate. He just wants someone he can dote on and make happy but also makes his stupid bloodlust go away.

He can be kind of terrifying as well.

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

Jeon Jeongguk (Jungkook)

He is so sweet. Precious human.

He was born in 1997😊

He was born in South Korea but recently his parents found out he was gay and disowned him, he reached out to the only person he knew — a guy online named Mark Tuan that lives in Alaska. His friend gladly took him in and payed for him to move to Alaska and get his US citizenship.

He is a junior in high school. It’s kind of funny because he only knows Korean so half the time he’s kind of half comprehending half blinking in confusion and he has to study extra hard.

He meets Taehyung and Jimin through school. Taehyung of course is horrified because he can sense that Jungkook is his human subjugate — and once you smell them you can only drink from them.

So this leads to a few weeks of panic before Jungkook’s out jogging one night as he’s on the track team, he runs into Taehyung and they walk together before he trips and cuts his knee. Taehyung ACCIDENTALLY attacks him because of it.

He’s such an innocent sweet little bean — why do I do this to Jungkook.

Think about how Jungkook looked in the I need you era — that’s how he looks now.

He is literally so entranced by Taehyung he can’t even talk around him sometimes — he just stares with wide eyes.

He’s super intelligent.

I love him so much.

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

I don’t get why these are so short! ☹️ It’s bothering me ~~ ANYWAY! I got this story idea from a video on YouTube called “Taekook, Him and I” so go check it out.

As per usual if you have any questions feel free to ask away!

The Masterlist that this AU will be on is HERE

My other Masterlist containing my other AU’s is HERE

[spacemomalex]

some thought for necromancer!verse cause it gonna bug me now

shiro was once just a normal mage, but died and was somehow returned to the world of the living and that’s how he got his powers. 

Shrio’s arm is still mostly dead, so he has to imbune it with power every so often to keep it from rotting.

instead of scarring, he uses stitches to keep his skin from falling apart and a lot of people mistake him for a golem or a zombie of some sort. But he functions mostly normally otherwise, just needs another necromancer to keep him from a slow decomposition. 

like he still needs to eat and digest food, still has a heart beat and whatnot. So those stitches bleed a lot and need constant attention because those areas of his skin are weaker than others, which is why they rip easy.

Shiro doesn’t remember exactly what happened to him, but he does remember who did it. And hes searching for them to take this curse away.

as a partial spirit he has a difficult time communicating his thoughts to others without illusions or the help of other ghosts. Which is the only time he really uses his powers, when he needs a ghost to help him.

Keith is a necromancer by blood, his mother had that magic and he has always been able to see spirits and influence them. In fact, he spends most of his time with spirits instead of the living.

Though he doesn’t typically send it with kinder spirits, he takes on violent spirits and sends them to the other side by force for often than not. Regular spirits he tends to leave alone as he doesn’t know how to help them.

Keith also has a pack full of odd bobbles that have violent spirits and even weak demons bond/trapped to/within them. He carries them around to keep them safe and in hopes of either destroying them or cleansing them somehow.

While he doesn’t know how to activate it, Keith’s blade of mamora knife is a powerful weapon against the undead. The knife will still wound and banish spirits, but he hasn’t been able to tap into it’s full abilities yet.

Lance is not a necromancer so much as a “Seer”. His entire family is full of people that can see and talk to spirits for the living, but can’t influence them and can’t call spirits over to the living world without the spirit’s permission and some serious herbage help.

Lance takes a lot of pride in his family’s work, and knows the ends and outs of keeping oneself safe against spirits, but he’s not very strong himself. He can sense spiritual energy and sometimes hear them, but he can’t see them as clearly as most do. And it bothers him, though he hides both facts very well.

He used to be more cocky about spirits, but after a bad incident with a powerful spirit, he’s taken to carrying around roseries, holy water, salt, and other wards for keeping away negative spirits.

His specialty lays mostly in using crystals to heal and being a medium for spirits to speak through. 

Hunk had nothing to do with death magic until he met Lance. The same spirit that Lance had trouble with attacked hunk and scarred one of his eyes so now he can see certain astral energies. Though for normal sight the eye is almost useless.

Hunk follows Lance on adventures with ghosts despite that incident and backs up Lance. They cover each other in the seeing/hearing departments and try to send beguine peacefully to the otherside.

His own family doesn’t really believe in ghosts, but they support his decisions and pray he doesn’t get hurt, and hunk often spends time with them, reminding himself how important the living really are and how much he loves his family after helping a ghost.

There’s another thing he sees sometimes, but he never knows what it is, because it only appears when nobody’s around. A faint whisp of pink out of the corner of his eye, but it’s always gone fast. Lately it’s been getting strong though.

He also builds devices to help record their dealings with spirits so they can review the tapes and come up with better strategies to handle ghosts with their limited abilities.

Unlike the others, Pidge had to learn to use necromancy. Pidge can’t actually see hear or sense spirits at all, but they can summon spirits with the right tools.

Pidge builds automatons to house the spirits in while they study these odd spectures. hoping for more information on the after life.

Until their family is taken, then pidge relentlessly searches for a device that can allow them to hear ghosts and then the ghost that can lead them to their family.

Though Pidge does have some magic, it’s mostly “woodland” magic, which they aren’t very good at. They mostly use the magic to help tell where spirit are and what types of spirit they are dealing with.

Keith was the one that found Shiro after his resurrection. At first, Keith was ready to think Shiro was a demon and banish him, but shiro found they could communicate easily and managed to talk him into giving Shiro a chance. Since they have been exploring together and looking for the man that turned Shiro into an Undead.

Lance and Hunk met when Lance ran into him while chasing a spirit through the school hallways. After explaining what was up, Hunk offered to help chase down the young spirit and help and they’ve been friends ever since.

Pidge met Lance and Hunk when the spirit they were trying to help accidentally was summoned by pidge and trapped into one of the automatons. After hours of arguing, Pidge realized they could help find the other holts and demanded their assistance in return for freeing the spirit- Though Pidge hasn’t said who they’re looking for, just that there’s a spirit out there that knows. Though it was a grudging partnership, Hunk and Pidge have since become friendly over their interesting tech and Pidge has come to respect Lance’s abilities and often tries to study the phenomenon surrounding them both.

The Pink Whisp Hunk saw started showing up almost everywhere, and after following it in starts and stops, they ran into Shiro and Keith. With Keith and shiro’s raw power, lance’s crystals and hunk and pidge’s tech no how, the helped the Whisp regain a better form in one of Pidge’s automatons. From there they met the Fae Princess Allura, who asked for their help dealing with a powerful creature that stripped her of her magic and left her for dead. He had some strange power of the veil between the living and the dead, and she hoped the five of them could undo the damage he was causing.

Coran is still very much alive of course, he’s back at the fae palace, searching for Allura and ready to help when he finally senses her and pulls her, and the five of them, to the fae realm for an adventure.

[notapaladin]

all the rainbow’s heavy tones

okay. so. this is LONG AS SHIT and contains, in no particular order: fight scenes, concussions, blood loss, death magic, and a Very Good Dog. but i decided obsblood needed a modern au, and so i have provided! can also be read on AO3, as usual.

Acatl, chief of the Mictlan Division, hunts a beast of shadow on what was supposed to be his day off. Fortunately, he has help in the form of one (1) confident young undergraduate and his trusty dog. The dog is fine. Acatl...less so.

At least he manages to get Teomitl's number out of it.

-

-

Acatl was halfway through his morning routine (offer blood to the gods, brush teeth, wash face, feed the cat, grudgingly remember to feed himself while Little Skull twined around his shins and purred) when his phone rang.

When he realized the ringtone was the one he used only for work calls, he closed his eyes briefly. He’d been having a good morning, too; he’d slept well for once, without any nightmares of failure in his new post or wistful dreams of his old one. The sheets had been the perfect temperature when he’d woken, and he’d allowed himself five extra minutes to just lay there and enjoy it. Little Skull had been sleeping on his chest as a ghost’s butterfly investigated the potted plant Mihmatini had brought him to, in her words, “make it look less like Mictlan in here.” (He hadn’t bothered to point out that, as the new head of the Mictlan Division, he knew very well it was impossible to mistake Mexico City for the land of the dead no matter how small his apartment was.)

The phone was still ringing. Sighing, he picked it up. It looked like he wasn’t going to get to use his day off to catch up on any of his much-needed rest after all. “Yes?”

“You picked up so early even on your day off! Wonderful.” Acatl felt a muscle start to twitch in his cheek, but held his tongue as Ichtaca continued. “We need you here. There’s been a body found.”

There were always bodies being found in Mexico City, but if it was a work matter, that meant the death had underworld magic about it. Acatl hoped fervently that it hadn’t been found near the sewers. Ahuizotls could and did swim up the larger pipes, and they would require help from the Tlaloc Division to track down. A particularly bad infestation would even mean he’d have to work with Acamapichtli again.

He cleared his throat. “I’ll be there as soon as I can. Thank you for informing me.”

As soon as he could meant he would have to ride his bike. It was the only way to get through the traffic near the Old City in any reasonable amount of time; he’d made the same trip a million times in his college days. Unfortunately, it made Ichtaca twitch in fury every time he saw him showing up to work on a battered gray bike; though Acatl’s second-in-command never said a word to him about it, he knew he thought it was unbecoming for the dignity of someone who was, for all intents and purposes, a modern-day priest of the dead. He could handle that; a priest was meant to serve their people, and there was no need to put on unnecessary airs. Besides, he liked the city, liked the noise and the chaos of it. It was home. It was—alive.

Of course, in another way, it was also quite dead.

The crowd on the sidewalks ebbed and flowed around little pockets of cold emptiness; as he turned his head at one stop sign, a translucent woman in an old-fashioned tunic and skirt bowed to him, and he nodded back. It always paid to be polite to ghosts. Cars in front of him stopped in the middle of the street to let a faded, barely visible man push a wheelbarrow across a road that no longer existed; despite the delay in their commutes, nobody honked their horns. Acatl quietly approved. In other places, he knew, people were much less calm about bits of the underworld leaking through to their everyday lives, but in Mexico—and especially in this city—the underworld very nearly was their everyday lives. Ghosts walked the streets they had loved in life, and when they passed on, they took the forms of butterflies that brightened the hearts of their loved ones. And if they made trouble...well, that was what people like him were there for.

He pedaled on, thinking of work. It wasn’t anything he was looking forward to; though he’d never been good with people, he’d truly enjoyed his post in Coyoacan where much of the job had lay in talking to bereaved families, following threads of magic, and occasional heartstopping moments of sheer terror as whatever had crawled out of the underworld decided to take a bite out of him instead. It had all been very straightforward. Meanwhile, being the Chief of the entire Mictlan Division meant any case he had to examine himself was going to involve politics, and he knew he was entirely out of his depth there. Fuck you, Ceyaxochitl, he thought grumpily—but not too loudly. He wouldn’t have put it past her to be able to read his mind from across the city.

He doubted the last High Priest of Mictlantecuhtli had had to deal with a Ceyaxochitl of his own. And if he had, at least she hadn’t had a cell phone.

Then again, I’m sure he had much more immediate problems to deal with. The Europeans showing up with steel and horses, for one thing. The history books all said that the Mexica had held out for a time, but when they faced total annihilation—their deaths, the destruction of their temples, the destruction of their gods—the last High Priest had joined together with his fellows, the last Guardian of the Duality (his little sister, the codices said, and Acatl thought of Mihmatini with a pang every time), and the last Revered Speaker of Tenochtitlan (the Guardian’s husband, and the High Priest’s...friend said the grammar school textbooks, and lover said the college ones on the strength of some very emotional surviving poetry) in a desperate ritual to...well, nobody, even now, could agree on what they had been trying to do. Kill all the Spaniards? Save their own lives? Strengthen the wards between all three realms, so that even if they died the world would live on? Whatever their goals had been, the result was this: a world where very few people rested quietly in death, where monsters sometimes walked the streets, and where the gods’ gift of magic was spread thin to keep the world intact.

Of course, the distance of the gods worked in their favor now. The sun rose without being fed by human hearts, and star demons were a thing of the distant past. (Election years were bad enough. He didn’t even want to imagine how bad they’d be with the threat of Coyolxauhqui hanging over everyone’s heads.) Only minor, more-easily-killable creatures still threatened them. Historians generally agreed it had also spared a larger part of his people and culture than might otherwise have been the case (he’d had nightmares as a child of what could have happened, of the Great Temple trampled into the dust and a church built atop it), so on the whole Acatl was inclined to look very favorably upon the spiritual predecessor whose knives allegedly were the ones sealed in a glass case in his office. And if he happened to have been intimate with Emperor Ahuizotl (whose namesakes had very explicitly eaten Hernan Cortez, described with glee by contemporary commentators), then good for him.

Eventually, after thirty minutes of weaving through traffic and an unpleasantly exciting near-collision with a car that was apparently immune to a Mictlan officer’s aura, he came to the Division headquarters. From a distance it looked just like any other office building, until you got close enough to notice the owl-and-spider motifs in the stone and the skull prominently displayed over the door. They might no longer officially be priests of Mictlantecuhtli, but the symbols remained. (Including the official regalia of the High Priests, which Acatl had to wear for the big rituals and feast days, and which he hated more than he thought he could hate a bit of fabric and feathers. The loincloth helped, but ritual sites never had air conditioning; adding a giant skull mask and heavy cloak only made it worse.) He attempted to smooth down the mess the trip had made of his hair and was about to lock his bike up when the doors slid open and Ichtaca strolled out.

Unlike Acatl—windblown, sweaty, sporting a black mark of uncertain provenance on his uniform pants—Ichtaca was immaculate. His standard-issue uncut hair was pulled back neatly, his shoes gleamed, and the prominently displayed owl badge on his chest proclaimed his status to anyone who cared to look. Even his short-sleeved uniform shirt had been pressed and ironed, and the spider trim shimmered. “Don’t bother, sir. The...deceased is in the Old City. We’ll be heading there straightaway.” Unspoken, but clear in his tone was I would have told you that but you hung up on me, you idiot.

Acatl grimaced. Trying to take bodies out of the Old City without at least some token prayers tended to end badly. “To the Old City, then. You’ll be walking?”

“...I also brought a bike.”

When the last High Priests and the last Emperor had snapped the boundaries like so many dry twigs, they had succeeded in preserving a single part of their city. In the middle of Mexico City, a mile-wide circle of Tenochtitlan remained as it had been in the last days of the Empire, a place of perfectly preserved adobe buildings and now-dry canals with the Sacred Precinct at its center. Between the ghosts and the fact that electronics tended to fail there, it had been abandoned for centuries—the province of religious rituals, heavily supervised archaeological expeditions, and rare tourist walks. These days, there were checkpoints with armed guards to make sure nobody snuck in and got themselves eaten; rumors that vagrants seeking a place to sleep had woken up covered in a protective blanket of butterflies were officially declared false. (Acatl believed them. The people that had laid the spell had loved their city.)

Acatl waited until they were within the borders, away from the noise of traffic, to say, “Tell me about the deceased. What do we know so far?”

Ichtaca set a hand to the hilt of one of his regulation knives (obsidian, six inches, fixed-blade, sanctified by three drops of human blood and sharp enough to slice a single hair). “Female, possibly Nahua, roughly in her late forties. The body was...mauled, and the area stinks of magic.” At Acatl’s look, he added, “More than the usual, anyway. It’s how we found her; we were exercising the xolos.”

He nodded. While humans could sense magic, dogs were better at it, and the best breeds for it were those that were native to the area. The three main divisions all had their K-9 units. “No identification on her?”

Ichtaca shook his head. “None. We think she must have been trying to sleep in one of the buildings...ah. Here.”

‘Here’ turned out to be a tiny adobe house by a canal, watched over by a young officer, her dog, and a wheelbarrow full of ice. Acatl could smell the blood from the street, and something else…

When he stood in the doorway, the howling emptiness of Mictlan hit him like a truck. For a moment he could barely see the woman’s corpse curled up on the floor, and then his gaze focused again. Ichtaca was right. She had been mauled. Her limbs were still attached, but something had raked its claws over her to the bone, and giant jaws had opened her chest. It was impossible to tell the original color of her tank top.

“We leave this earth,” he whispered. “This world of jade and flowers—the quetzal feathers, the silver. Down into the darkness we must go, leaving behind the marigolds and the ceder trees. Safe journeys, my friend. Safe journeys. All the way to the end.”

And then he pulled his rubber gloves on and knelt to examine her corpse, turning her over gently to inspect the wounds. He almost didn’t have to; the bottom of his stomach felt like it had dropped to hell and froze over there, which would have been a clear indicator of something from the underworld even if her heart and lungs hadn’t been torn from her chest cavity. A beast of shadows, he thought, and then, Damn it. They could only prowl in places where no light shone, making them the chief predators of anyone sleeping alone in the Old City and blessedly rare everywhere else, and only obsidian could kill them. He still had the scars where one had caught his arm before his comrades had saved him. At least they were solitary, unable to bear the presence of another even in the same city; he didn’t even want to think about dealing with a pack of the things. The problem was that he couldn’t tell where this one had gone. And if it managed to escape the Old City, the mayor would have his head.

The young officer—he hadn’t gotten her nametag—spoke up. “We couldn’t find a trail, sir. It’s like it was summoned here.”

He shook his head. “Impossible. There would be signs. It must have slipped in from somewhere. You couldn’t even track it with the dogs?” There had once been spells that would track things from the underworld—he’d seen the codices—but with the breaking of the boundaries they were weak and unreliable, prone to throwing up false positives.

“No, sir.”

He sighed. “Let’s take her to the morgue and see what comes up. If it’s necessary, I’ll get us the permits for a full search of the Old City.”

&

In the end, there wasn’t anything to find. The autopsy showed nothing suggesting the woman had been targeted by a sorcerer with a grudge, so Acatl returned to the Old City on his own; by the time he finally stopped for a rest—dusty, footsore, and exhausted—in the house that had once belonged to the last High Priest of the Dead, he’d checked every inch of it and wanted nothing more than to go home. A dead end. Wonderful.

He fiddled with his earrings, running his fingers over the thin scars at his earlobes. His gaze drifted over the worn frescoes of owls and spiders without really seeing them. Five hundred years ago, his spiritual predecessor had lived and grown old here; Acatl had seen reconstructions of the place before the museums had descended and knew that there had been a quetzal-feather fan there, that just over there had been a single well-worn reed sleeping mat. Judging by the childish paint smears at roughly knee height, he’d also played host to a number of the Emperor’s children and grandchildren. He’d probably shed blood from his own earlobes here every morning, just as Acatl did. He wondered how he’d feel to be summoned for advice; it was a seriously tempting prospect, but one he ultimately dismissed. One did not summon the Last Priest on a whim; he surely had enough to do with guiding the dead through Mictlan safely.

He checked his phone, mostly to have something to do with his hands. As expected, it was hovering at a dismal 30% battery life and no signal, but the picture on his lock screen—Neutemoc and his children, with Mihmatini holding Little Skull in her lap—was as clear as ever, and still made him smile.

Impatient footsteps—one set human, one set canine—made him look up just as a boy entered the doorway. Silhouetted by the setting sun, at first Acatl couldn’t make out his features; then he stepped inside, leading a truly impressive xoloitzcuintle, and Acatl felt his heart drop into his shoes. He knew the features of that face. He’d seen them in the news and in a dozen press releases, every time the mayor gave speeches with his family in tow. If he wasn’t a relative of some sort, Acatl would eat his own shoes.

The boy—a young man, really, around his sister’s age—had dressed for the weather, at least. Acatl took in the sight of sandals, cargo shorts, a camo-print tank top, a thermos clipped to his belt along with a stone knife. The high cheekbones and hawkish nose that were so familiar sat on a face that looked much more used to smiling than anything else; the military-style buzz cut was at odds with the gold studs in each ear and below his lip. “Excuse me. Are you Chief Acatl?” He was eyeing him like a tricky page in a codex.

Acatl studied him for a moment. He felt human, though the faint glitter of the light caught in the little hairs on his arms spoke of powerful magical protections on him. (He was also very handsome when he started to smile, but Acatl told himself firmly that now was not the time to be noticing that.) “I am. How can I help you?”

“Actually, I was hoping I could help you. Ceyaxochitl sent me; she said you’d need assistance.” Acatl’s heart wanted to sink, but it was somehow very hard to manage when the young man aimed that confident half-smile at him. “My name is Teomitl, and this—” he gestured to the dog “—is Yaotl." Acatl wondered if Ceyaxochitl knew the man's dog shared a name with her PA. "We were told there was underworld magic to track.”

“There is.” But Teomitl shouldn’t be doing it. This was a beast of shadows, a matter for the Mictlan Division, not a boy with a dog. On the other hand, Ceyaxochitl had sent him, and it was best not to anger her if he could avoid it. Sighing, he started to stand up and immediately dropped his phone in the dirt.

Teomitl bent and picked it up, only to stare at the lock screen. “How do you know Mihmatini?”

Acatl blinked at him. What a small world we live in. “She’s my younger sister. Why?” When Teomitl handed him his phone back, he made sure to slip it safely into his back pocket.

He grinned. “I’m in Advanced Solar Divinity and Warding Magic 201 with her. She’s amazing.”

Great. Mihm, you have another admirer. On one hand, Mihmatini deserved everything she could ever wish for. On the other hand, a possible relative of the mayor...he thought back to the aftermath of a few family dinners when she and Neutemoc had started discussing (arguing about) politics, and decided she could definitely do better. At least their shared university courses explained the glimmering magic around Teomitl; Mihm had once turned in a term paper in a similar class that had left flowers appearing in her steps for a week. They’d had to stop their nephew from putting them in his mouth. Teomitl was clearly skilled enough with Huitzilpochtli’s magic to protect himself. “Mm-hmm. How much were you told regarding this case?”

Teomitl fixed his gaze to a point over Acatl’s shoulder and rattled off, “An unknown woman was found dead eight hours ago—“

Has it really been eight hours? Gods.

“—with the clear marks of a Beast of Mictlan on her corpse, and no trail to follow. It’ll be easier to track now that the sun’s going down.” Now he made eye contact, and Acatl spared no thought to hiding the expression on his face.

Because the idea of tracking a beast of shadows at dusk—never mind at night—was certainly more effective, but it was also suicidally dangerous. It wasn’t something Acatl would dare attempt without backup. A thousand retorts flew through his mind—you’re insane, we’d both be torn apart, it’s slower but so much safer to just kill it while it sleeps—but, looking at Teomitl’s proud eyes, he found he couldn’t voice any of them. What came out instead was, “Are you telling me you can track it now?”

Teomitl patted Yaotl’s head. The dog whuffed quietly. “Yaotl can. He’s descended from the Emperor’s hounds and blessed by Mixcoatl. And I can fight it.”

Acatl rubbed his forehead. He could feel a headache coming on, and it wasn’t all due to the fizzing, hot-blood sensation of Mixcoatl’s magic he could sense on Yaotl when he focused. I owe Ceyaxochitl much. I can recognize that. But to put this young man at risk… It took no effort at all for him to remember his last junior partner. Payaxin had died in front of him. He couldn’t do it again. He wouldn’t.

Teomitl spoke again, voice low. “Please. Let me prove myself. Let me help. This is my city too, and my people’s heritage this thing is using for a hunting ground. I’ll be of use to you, I swear it.”

He closed his eyes and allowed himself a single aggrieved sigh. “Very well. Follow me.”

Back to the scene of the crime. It was too hot for anyone sensible to exert themselves, but this didn’t appear to stop Teomitl. He power-walked like he thought the sun couldn’t touch him. Acatl trailed behind, finding his gaze lingering for a moment longer than it should on broad shoulders and lean, strong back muscles; he was perversely grateful Teomitl wasn’t looking at him. Pathetic. I’m on the clock. I have to keep my mind on the job. (Also, if he went to school with Mihm, he was almost definitely too young for him even leaving aside the obvious admiration when he spoke of her; Acatl might have been lonely, but he had some standards.)

Teomitl turned the wrong way, and he cleared his throat. “We make a left here.”

The boy shook his head. “Yaotl really wants to go this way.”

He eyed the dog. Blessed or not, if you are chasing after a dead pigeon I will be very upset. “...Fine. But slow down, Teomitl. You’ll give yourself heatstroke.”

Teomitl unhooked his thermos; Acatl must have made a noise at that, because he looked over with worry in his eyes. “I’m fine, I have Gatorade. But you—you should drink something. Here, have some.”

He had dignity. He hated Gatorade. But the sloshing of the thermos had reminded him that he was desperately thirsty, and so he threw his head back and drank deep without even tasting it. Later, the aftertaste would no doubt remind him that this had been a stupid idea, but now all he felt was relief. When he opened his eyes again, he saw Teomitl watching him and belatedly flushed, remembering his manners. “Thank you.”

Teomitl turned his face away, but not before Acatl saw his dark skin tint a shade redder. “It’s nothing. Let’s keep moving.” Not that he had much of a choice; they’d stopped to let Acatl drink but Yaotl wanted to keep going, tugging insistently on the end of his leash when his master stopped moving.

They continued on, keeping to the shade as much as possible. Whatever Yaotl was smelling, it was leading them on a long walk. At least Teomitl hung back to walk next to him, saying nothing at the way Acatl had taken to leaning on his bike. They were both silent; Acatl didn’t dare speak, knowing full well that not every creature unleashed by the shattered boundaries was confined to nighttime hours. Besides, he wasn’t sure how to start a conversation even if it had been safe. He cast a sideways glance at Teomitl and found him grave-faced and focused, gaze flicking towards every unexpected movement.

They were mainly ghosts. The Old City was filled with them—mostly Mexica, but a good sprinkling of others ranging from Spanish conquistadors to unfortunate tourists and, Acatl knew, at least one archaeologist who’d fallen off the Temple steps and hit his head. Acatl nodded to each of them, even the conquistadors, until he became aware of the steadily increasing tension emanating from Teomitl. He turned back to him then, feeling an answering irritation rise in his own heart. “What?”

“You keep stopping to be polite. We’re wasting time.”

His eyes narrowed. “My vocation demands no less. You should try it, too; you never know when you might need something a ghost can provide, and they do not appreciate rudeness.” Nor do I. “Besides,” he added, “It’s the decent thing to do.”

Teomitl fell quiet again after that, but the next time they passed a ghost—a little girl—he bowed, and she clapped her hands and cheered in silent delight at him. Acatl felt something warm in his chest, and found himself gazing at his new ally thoughtfully. Prickly and privileged and impatient, yes—but considerate too, when it’s pointed out to him as an option he should take. Maybe this won’t be so bad. (And he’s nice to look at, whispered a little voice that he staunchly ignored.)

The sun was setting. The shadows grew longer. They quickened their steps, and Yaotl broke out into a trot—

—And then, quite suddenly, into a run. Teomitl had to unclip the leash; it was that or have his arm yanked out of the socket. As he broke into a sprint, Acatl hopped onto his bike and pedaled after. Teomitl kept pace, which shouldn’t have surprised him but did. The part of his brain that was always devoted to spellwork wondered just how many magical protections had been layered over the boy.

There wasn’t much time to think about that, however. Yaotl led them through the city without stopping. Left—right—left again—the sun had vanished, and they were navigating by the reflective patches of the dog’s collar—and then the stench of blood and the bottomless grief of Mictlan hit him, and he gasped too-loud in the gathering gloom. Teomitl stopped dead with an instinctive retch and then continued on. Impressive, Acatl thought. Normally they throw up or start crying when they first sense that. He’d done both.

By the time Yaotl stopped in front of a house, stiff-legged and growling at the empty doorway, Acatl was wishing he’d waited for permission to bring a full crew. It would have to be just him and Teomitl, then. He slid off his bike with a grimace and grabbed Teomitl’s arm before he could rush in. He could just make out a ragged shape lying against the wall. The beast of shadows could be back any minute.

If it wasn’t already waiting for them.

He drew a knife and crept in by Teomitl’s side, holding his phone in his other hand for light. The beast’s latest meal had been male, white, age indeterminate, with a scruffy attempt at a beard. The blood was still fresh and pulsing with magical power. He breathed out, voice barely audible even to his own ears, “You leave behind your fine poems. You leave behind your beautiful flowers and the earth that was only lent to you. You ascend into the Light. Safe journey, my friend."

Teomitl tensed up, turning towards the door. “I heard something—“

Yaotl barked. It probably saved both their lives.

A thing darker than shadows, sharper than knives, barreled through the entryway. It knocked Teomitl aside in its rush; Acatl, turning, dropped his phone but managed to keep hold of his knife. And then it was flattening him  under its weight and for a heartstopping second he couldn’t think. His world narrowed down to a crushing weight on his torso, a foul stench in his nose, snapping teeth and ripping claws entirely too close to his face. He heaved desperately—if he could just get some leverage to actually stab the thing—

“Acatl!” A dog’s snarl.

It roared, dripping saliva, and turned its head away. As it shifted its weight, he finally shoved it off of him and scrambled, ungainly, to his feet and away from its claws. The throb in his chest suggested he’d cracked a rib, but that was a pain he’d deal with later. If he survived. His night vision was slow to arrive, his eyes watering painfully, but finally he could pick out three darker shapes in the night. The beast had turned to attack Yaotl, who was doing his best to hamstring it while Teomitl, knife in hand, was trying to land a blow. Acatl knew they were in trouble; Teomitl was clearly skilled, but the awkward way he moved in search of an opening suggested he’d been injured in the initial rush, and Yaotl’s jaws were already burned from its blood.

Think. If I can get it outside—the sky’s never truly dark, it’ll be weaker— It wasn’t focused on him. As quickly and quietly as he could, he moved to the doorway and drew his other knife. He would only get one shot at this.

He closed his eyes and cast his senses out. In the empty, static darkness of Mictlan, the beast’s outline was a knot of frantic hatred and hunger.

He threw the knife. As the beast howled in pain, he dropped to the ground. Its leap soared right over him, and then they were in the street together; he could finally see it, and immediately wished he hadn’t. Not that he had much time to take in more than a strong impression of burning eyes, claws like a bear, and too many teeth in a too-long jaw before it was lunging for him again. He threw himself to one side, quick enough to avoid a swipe to his chest but not enough to dodge the blow entirely. Agony seared up his shoulder as claws ripped into his arm instead, so cold that they burned. He felt his hand open of its own volition, felt the knife fall from useless fingers and skitter across the ground, felt himself scream in pain, and thought No.

When the beast launched itself at him again, his legs crumpled under it. Instinctively he raised his injured arm to protect his face; fangs raked his flesh, but before the beast could close its jaws Yaotl was leaping on it, snapping savagely at its head.

Teomitl’s footsteps. “Acatl!”

The world felt like it was made of tar, everything slower than it should be. The beast was still pinning him down while Yaotl’s teeth flashed in the night, Teomitl was moving towards him but it was too late, there was only the white-hot agony of his arm, the lances of pain through his ribs, through his head where he’d hit the ground. He couldn’t think. His knife had fallen inches from his bloody hand.

His hand.

The knife.

His fingers closed around it and he knew he was screaming, but he couldn’t bring himself to care. Mictlan’s emptiness coiled within the blade, pushing away the pain—not far, but enough for him to move. Enough for him to strike. He brought the knife up, at an angle that made every tendon in his arm howl, and buried it in the beast’s ribs. It convulsed; he had a moment to see his impending death before Teomitl’s own blade slammed into the back of its neck.

He thought he blacked out; by the time he opened his eyes, Teomitl was dragging the bulk of the beast off of him. He croaked something he thought were words and made an aborted attempt at sitting up. He had to see it sent on properly. That was his duty.

Teomitl dropped to his knees, pressing him back down. His free hand held his phone, and the flashlight app was bright enough that Acatl hissed, tried to turn his head away, and immediately regretted it. He thought he might be sick. “Don’t move, Acatl! You’re—you’re losing a lot of blood.”

Oh. That explained why he felt so weak, then. The beast’s claws must have struck deep. “I have to—” He swallowed painfully. “Have to send it on. Or else it...doesn’t know it’s dead. They’re...just as hungry when they’re ghosts.”

Teomitl’s expression suggested he thought Acatl had gone crazy. “I’ll do it, then! You just stay there and—hang on, I have a first-aid-kit—“

“No,” he whispered. “Take my knife. Draw a quincunx...on its skull.” The light was just good enough to see Teomitl’s hand shake as he followed his instructions, stabbing deeply enough to strike bone. His chest hurt, but he could force out this rite if he were dead. “In darkness they dwell. They feast, they consume their prey. In darkness they dwell. They eat, they consume their prey. All save one...and that one returns. Mine is the...the knife that stole this life. Mine is the hand—“ He coughed, once, and nearly passed out from the pain. He’d definitely broken a rib. “—that sends this one home.”

The bulk of the beast’s corpse sagged; as wisps of black smoke bled off it, Teomitl dropped the knife in disgust and yanked a first-aid kit from his pocket. “Now can I stop you from bleeding to death?!”

He turned his head to see Teomitl’s shin crooked and covered in blood and managed, somehow, to whisper, “You’re hurt.” You shouldn’t be hurt. You’re such a good fighter, much better than Payaxin, and I was supposed to look after you...Ceyaxochitl will be so angry…

“Don’t worry about me!” Teomitl snapped. The gauze pad he pressed to Acatl’s shoulder was soaked almost immediately, and he muttered a curse and tossed it aside for another one. “Come on—gods, no, Yaotl, do not put that in your mouth—Acatl, stay with me!”

He let himself be lifted so Teomitl could wrap bandages, noted with dispassionate interest how the hand he set at the back of his head was dark and wet. The antiseptic poured on him with shaking hands stung, but everything seemed very far away. “You did well.” Even to his own ears, his voice sounded like it was coming through water. “Thank you.”

Teomitl’s voice was a snarl. “Thank me when we’re safe! After we get Yaotl to a vet and you to a hospital and I get a chance to kick your ass for throwing a fucking knife at me, really? A knife? Was that necessary?”

He should be annoyed, he thought. “I’ll remember that for...next time.”

“Next time, I’ll be better prepared.” He pressed more gauze down on Acatl’s forearm and cast a glance at his face. In the darkness, his eyes glittered wetly. “You are not allowed to die until then, okay? I will drag you back from Heaven myself.”

“Mictlan,” he whispered. “I am—a priest, for the modern era. A priest of...Lord Death. I’ll go to Mictlan.” Not forever on earth, but for a little while...

“No.” Teomitl’s voice was ragged with an emotion Acatl couldn’t place. Grief, he thought. Or rage.

He felt a smile curve his lips. “It’s not so bad. The Last Priest will guide me as he guides us all.”

“Well, I won’t let him.” It was a growl that softened as he leaned closer, reaching down to—oh, he was moving Acatl’s hair away from his face. That was nice. “You hear me? We’re close enough to the walls to get a signal. I’m going to call the paramedics and you’ll be fine. But you have to stay awake, okay?”

He was going to. Really. But his eyes slid shut, and the next thing he knew was Teomitl grabbing his arm as Yaotl’s cold nose met the side of his head. “Hm?”

“Wake up!” There was an edge of real fear in his voice. “Talk to me. Ask me anything you want to know. Or tell me something—tell me I’m being rude again.”

If he took shallow breaths, it didn’t hurt as much. Talk to me. He thought he could manage that. “You...saved my life.” Another breath. “You can be as rude as you want. But...you won’t impress Mihm like that.”

Teomitl snorted. “Nothing I do would impress Mihmatini.”

“Shame.” Hmm. Interesting. Words seemed to be coming out of his mouth that had bypassed his brain entirely. “But...you look kind of like the mayor, anyway. She wouldn’t like that. She doesn’t like him.”

There was another snort, and when he wedged open one eye he saw him shaking his head. “Nobody likes Tizoc. Not even me, and we share a father. She’s not alone.”

“Your brother?” Thinking hurt about as much as breathing—which was to say, much worse when he tried to put any effort into it. So he didn’t. “Huh. You’re much better looking than he is. Very pretty.”

So that was what it sounded like when someone choked on their own spit. “I—Acatl!” It was followed up by a muttered, “Now I know you hit your head too hard.”

As Teomitl hit the number for the paramedics, his free hand settled over Acatl’s and stayed there.

&

The First Patecatl Hospital had grown, like many other public buildings in Mexico City, out of a temple to the gods. In the hospital’s case, the very small attempt at a pyramid was still in the central courtyard, and Acatl had a fine view of it from his window. It would have been peaceful to the point of boredom if he hadn’t been so tired. The doctors had treated his wounds (severe lacerations, two broken ribs, minor acid burns and dehydration, and a nasty concussion) but when he’d suggested that maybe he could have Neutemoc drive him home he had been very firmly moved to a private room for continued observation. His brother and sister had come and gone, Mihmatini with concern and Neutemoc with...well, now that he thought about it, also concern, even though it had been masked with far too much I-told-you-this-would-happen grumbling for an army sergeant. I must have looked terrible. Even Ichtaca had spent a whole fifteen minutes frowning at him while filling him in on work.

Total casualties of his work day: his uniform (unsalvageable), his phone (cracked by the beast, to Mihm’s undisguised glee; Acatl supposed now he really had no excuse but to get a new one), and one regulation obsidian knife. At least he’d been reassured that Yaotl would be fine, and Mihm had promised to check on Little Skull. And they’d brought him clothes.

He hadn’t mentioned Teomitl to her, he realized. In his defense, the painkillers he’d been given were strong. At least they made breathing easier. But as the pain started to ease back in, it brought clarity with it. He closed his eyes, remembering how Teomitl had bandaged his wounds and begged him to keep talking. I have to speak to him. I have to see his face.

He had no idea where Teomitl had been taken and certainly wasn’t going to be able to wander around looking for him. Taking a deep breath, he pressed the button to call the nurse.

In no time at all, he was being bundled into a wheelchair and steered a few rooms down the hall, where a trio of very large men in suits hovered. They eyed him with thinly veiled hostility, and he recalled those videos of the mayor. He thought he remembered Teomitl saying something about Tizoc.

Unlike him, the nurse was entirely unruffled. “Chief Acatl of the Mictlan Division here to see the patient. You three can stop blocking the hallway now.”

They edged away to lean against the opposite wall, enabling him to finally see into the room and spy Teomitl. His first thought was relief—while Teomitl’s leg was heavily bandaged and splinted, the air full of the grassy scent of Patecatl’s magic to speed healing, his other injuries looked much shallower. He was listening to something on his phone; the way his face transformed from concentration to delight when he slipped his earbud out and turned to see Acatl in the doorway was entirely too heartwarming. “Acatl!”

He couldn’t keep a smile from his face. Teomitl’s joy was infectious. “How are you feeling?”

“I should be asking you that!” He waved a hand dismissively. “Cracked tibia, I’ll live. I’m going to have words with someone here, I swear—I wanted to come see you but nobody would let me.” That was pure, huffy impatience, and Acatl shouldn’t have found it charming.

Nor should I wanted to come see you have set his heart fluttering against his ribcage. “I was having stitches done; I was very heavily medicated.” Honestly, he still was; everything was fine as long as he didn’t make any sudden movements, but his limbs were not precisely cooperative. “And my family was here.” Looking around the room, he saw no signs of any similar visitations for Teomitl. The fluttering in his chest clenched into a fist.

“...I figured they would be.” Teomitl’s eyes gleamed as he looked him up and down “Nice shirt.”

Acatl groaned internally. Of course his siblings, when asked to bring him something to wear, would subject him to the old college T-shirt he usually only wore on laundry day. Loose and comfortable it might be, but nobody wanted to be reminded of their taste in bands from ten years ago. “Mihmatini picked it.”

“Mihmatini has good taste.” And since this was objectively true except in matters likely to mildly embarrass her older brothers, Acatl had to nod.

The nurse’s pager buzzed, and she sighed at it. “Sorry, I have to run—will you be alright in here for ten minutes?”

“He’ll be fine.” Teomitl aimed a dazzling smile at her. Acatl, clipped by its edge, could only gulp and feel his face grow hot. “I’ll take care of him.”

It felt easier to talk when she left. True, the door was still half open behind her, but he could pretend for a moment that there weren’t a trio of burly bodyguards eyeing him. He took the chance to simply gaze at Teomitl, noting the shadows under his eyes and the bandaged scrape along his arm.  “You’ve already done so much.”

“So have you.” The warm regard in Teomitl’s face was too much; Acatl had to drop his gaze. “...I wouldn’t have been able to kill that thing by myself, or—what did you say? Let it know it’s dead? You did that. I owe you one.” He shifted on the bed. When a hand came to rest on his good arm, Acatl jolted.

He knew he had to be red. Responses fired through his mind—you don’t owe me anything, I got you into this, I’m so sorry—but his eyes fell on Teomitl’s phone before he could voice any of them. He’d been watching the news, he realized. Tizoc was giving a speech. Side by side, there really was no denying their family resemblance. So that’s why Ceyaxochitl assigned him to me. She always said we needed more political support. “...Convince your brother to let me keep my job, and we’re even. When were you going to tell me about him?”

Teomitl flinched, eyes narrowing poisonously at his phone before he flipped it screen-side down. “I don’t want to ride on his coattails all my life. I want to prove myself on my own merits and do things the right way. And…” He cast a sidelong glance at Acatl, catching his lip between his teeth. “I think we make a good team, and I know from Mihm how you feel about him.”

Tizoc thought the tenuous balance between worlds should be maintained with guns, that there was no need for the one-time clergy of the Mexica to continue ministering to their peoples’ spiritual well-being. He was not popular among anyone who had anything to do with magic. Or, for that matter, common sense. That even his own brother didn’t like him spoke well of Teomitl’s judgement. “That doesn’t change my opinion of you. Just...warn me next time.” There would be a next time. He was sure of it. He was also suddenly very aware that Teomitl hadn’t removed his hand.

A smile attempted to cross Teomitl’s face, but fell flat at the starting point. “If I warned you about all my horrible relatives, you’d fall asleep again before I got halfway through. I’ve been getting calls all morning; they weren’t happy about any of this.”

Oh, thank the Duality. Work. I can always talk about work. He nodded. “We still don’t know how the beast slipped in, but Ichtaca told me they’re trying to track down the relatives of the people who were killed to reassure them that it was slain. I’ll have a lot of paperwork to fill out next week; you’ll likely have to sign some as well.” His head throbbed rebelliously at the mere thought.

“…Ah.” Teomitl didn’t look happy about that, but then he looked up and his expression turned distinctly hopeful. “You’re taking the week off?”

“Patecatl can only do so much.” Also, Ichtaca had told him in no uncertain terms to take a vacation.

Teomitl fell silent at that, gaze shifting thoughtfully away. His hand slid down Acatl’s forearm and over his wrist, and all of Acatl’s higher brain functions immediately shifted to processing the sensation. There were calluses on those fingers, and scars as well. And they were so warm.

He still wasn’t quite looking at Acatl when he spoke. “You know,” he began, “I never did get your number.”

“You…” It was slow to compute. Sounds floated on the air without resolving into words, until finally in a shocking rush they arranged themselves into something Acatl could process. Things like this did not happen to him. “You want my number?!”

“You called me pretty.” Now Teomitl was looking at him. Worse, that radiant smile was out in full force, scouring away any defense Acatl could muster. The hand on his wrist was gentle and unmistakable. “I’d like to think that wasn’t the concussion talking.”

Fuck. It was the first clear thought he’d had in what felt like an eternity. He had said that. And Teomitl had heard it and...seemed interested in hearing more. “Mgh.” He should use words. Teomitl deserved words. “...No. It wasn’t.” You’re beautiful.

Teomitl’s hand slid over his, lacing their fingers together. Acatl had seen heated gazes before, but having one directed at him was an experience that defied description. “So...”

He had to look away. It was that or combust. “So.”

“I’d like to get to know you better. Much better.” Teomitl squeezed his hand once, lightly, and pulled away. Acatl mourned the separation immediately. “Can I?”

He swallowed hard. Duality, yes. Yes, please. It was probably a bad idea. No, it was probably a terrible idea given all that Teomitl was, all the differences between them. He was absolutely going to regret this when the painkillers wore off and he was operating at full mental capacity again. But he’d seen moths fluttering around candle flames, and now he thought he knew how they felt before they burned. “Give me your phone. I’ll put my number in and...you can text me in a day or two when I’ve got a new one.” His head wouldn’t be happy with staring at a screen, but it was better than whatever hearing Teomitl’s voice in his ear would do to his heart.

Teomitl had to hold the phone up so he could type. It took three tries, not least because Teomitl took advantage of their proximity to murmur, “I can’t wait. I’m looking forward to doing lots of things with you when you’re feeling better.”

The nurse returned just in time to hear the strangled noise he made.

&

> ACATL.

> how are you feeling?? how’s the new phone?

>> Much better, thank you. I’m home now. I have no complaints about the phone.

> good! I’m glad to hear that

> i was worried about you

> wanna get dinner sometime? my treat

>> I’d rather cook. It’s more economical, and the doctors assure me light exercise will benefit my arm.

> are you inviting me over to your place?

(…)

>> I suppose.

> that sounds great!! i’d love to come over and meet your cat!! is friday ok?? at 8?

>> That’s fine.

> :thumbsup: it’s a date! see u then!

(…)

(…)

>> I look forward to it.

&

ahuizotl2: mihm help

dear_prudence: what did you do

ahuizotl2: I DIDN’T DO ANYTHING I just. uh. your brother

dear_prudence: t e o

ahuizotl2: I asked him to dinner

dear_prudence: and?????????

dear_prudence: oh no did he turn you down?

ahuizotl2: NO

ahuizotl2: he invited me over to his place instead

dear_prudence: he

dear_prudence: he what

ahuizotl2: and I said it’s a date and he saID HE WAS LOOKING FORWARD TO IT

dear_prudence: MY brother??? ACATL???????

dear_prudence: AHAHAHAHAHAHA

dear_prudence: MIRACLES DO HAPPEN too bad he has terrible taste

ahuizotl2: yes yes I’m sure this is hilarious for you but more importantly I don’t know what to wear. my date wardrobe is all armani!!! do you know ANYTHING abt what your brother likes?????

dear_prudence: son, you’re on your own

ahuizotl2: wow rude

&

[The Gods Squad Groupchat]

Cursed Snake Facts: so what’s this I hear about someone having a hot date????

Hummingbirds Will Fuck You Up: wHAT

Cursed Snake Facts: I mean mihm’s big brother, of course :) what did you think I meant?

Hummingbirds Will Fuck You Up: fuck you neza

Cursed Snake Facts: is that an invitation?

Hummingbirds Will Fuck You Up: I would literally rather stick my dick in a cactus

Queen Of All She Surveys: yes, a miracle finally occurred

Queen Of All She Surveys: the gods have blessed us

Queen Of All She Surveys: acatl has a date

Queen Of All She Surveys: and NO, I am NOT telling you who with. That is his business. We’re all very happy for him and his private life, neza

Cursed Snake Facts: godsdammit

Queen Of All She Surveys: :)

&

ahuizotl2: I take it back

ahuizotl2: I love you. name it and its yours

dear_prudence: take me shopping bitch

ahuizotl2: done! :D

ahuizotl2: ...also how the fuck did HE find out??

dear_prudence: it’s nez

ahuizotl2: point taken

Further AU notes:

- little skull is mostly white with black ears and a patch on her back that lends her her name. acatl talks to her like a person. sometimes her eyes reflect light that isn't there. - everyone is bi because I say so. - acatl's parents really wanted him to go into law or medicine but no, he had to major in religious studies, minor in history, and go off to be a glorified coroner. - neutemoc and huei's divorce was a nightmare but they are both happier now. - modern acatl can summon the wind of knives. the wind of knives thinks OG acatl was better. - yaotl: shadow beasts? no problem. an 8-lb cat? VERY SCARY MUCH SHARP.