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acefaun · 1 month ago

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The Walking Dead

Synopsis: The Dark Gods decided to stir up trouble on Earth by raising the dead and turning living humans into controllable half-dead things. Cutting off the gods’ escape to the Heavens, they’re forced to try and find a way off of Earth. Only… is it too late when MC is turned into a half-dead zombie?

✨Masterlist✨ Gender-neutral goldfish! A/n: So, this is based on a dream that I had and I decided to make it into a spoopy season fic! This is what happens when Zyglavis almost causes an apocalypse. (I’m lying. It’s not Ziggywiggy’s fault. I just wanna blame somebody for my nightmare.)

–Word Count: 5,480–

“See you later, Altair! Tell Vega I said hi!”

“Bye, (Name)! See you tomorrow!”

I smiled as I watched him leave through the door of the mansion. He and Vega were always so cute and eager to hang out with me whenever they weren’t busy with their work in Punishments and Wishes.

“Do you know how much you spoil them?” Huedhaut called out teasingly from behind, wrapping his arms around my shoulders. “If you insist on playing with them too often, I’ll start to get jealous.”

“Really, Hue?” I swatted his arms. “They’re just a couple adorable kiddos,” I cooed, as if trying to stir up his jealousy on purpose.

Currently, it was just Huedhaut, Zyglavis, Dui, Krioff, and Karno on Earth. The other seven gods had to be in the Heavens for ‘something important’, as Dui vaguely described it. Of course, I made it sound like they were mostly always on Earth, but that’s because they were. We were all dating, so it only made sense that they would want to spend the most time with those they love.

The ground rumbled and a loud crash against the mansion followed by a scream made both Huedhaut and I jolt in fright. Huedhaut gestured in a silent direction for me to stay put, but seeing that I was determined to follow behind him, he firmly ordered, “Stay here.” Without another word, or an explanation, he took off running down the hall, disappearing from view.

My eyes were narrowed in frustration as I stared down the empty hall. Huedhaut’s gaze was knowing as he left… So did he know what that scream was or that crash? Why couldn’t he tell me what was happening?

Though, my widened eyes landed on Dui as he suddenly cut around the corner, charging straight for me. “Run, run, run, run, run!” I didn’t have time to react to his sudden yelling at me before he yanked me off of my feet, throwing me over his shoulder as he continued down the hall like his life depended on it—or maybe like my life depended on it. This scenario reminded me of the times Ichthys would grab me and run after playing a prank on Zyglavis or Scorpio. The only difference was that Dui seemed to have a lot more urgency in his movements. He then offered me a brief description of what was going on, “We have to get to the second floor! The door to the Heavens is disabled!”

“What…?” He didn’t answer this time as he ran up a flight of stairs, immediately slamming the doors behind him, locking it with his powers before he finally set me down on the floor beside him. Still, he wasn’t paying attention to me; he was checking the locks on the door, and that didn’t make me feel any more comforted. “D- Dui, what’s going on? We heard a loud scream and then Hue just disappeared down the hall and never came back.”

“You’re both here, good. Come with me.” We both turned, finding Zyglavis, who was eager to lead us to another room. Following him, I was instantly relieved to see that all the other five gods were there and safe. Still, I didn’t understand what everyone was freaking out about, and no one was taking the time to explain anything. Dui mentioned that the door to the Heavens wasn’t working, but what was really going on?

I was lost, and that much was obvious, as Karno was kind enough to finally enlighten me. “We should be honest with you… We felt that coming to Earth and protecting you from potential danger was more important than staying in the Heavens. There was a reason we got Altair to bring you to the mansion. A day ago, we found out that the Dark King was planning something for Earth. We didn’t know what, and we thought we had more time, but… it’s already begun.”

Following my lost gaze, Zyglavis added bluntly, “He’s risen the dead.” This… made me do a double take. “He’s also sent his minions to begin chipping the humans to do his bidding. He is turning the living into half-dead beings of his own design. Their diets are… purely flesh and blood.”

I couldn’t help but shiver at the pure horror of the news. In all my time of being alive, I never thought a zombie apocalypse would be something I lived through. “What are we going to do?” I frantically questioned them. “How do we fight them?!”

“I checked the reflection pool,” Dui added, a solemn look on his face. “The humans were trying everything they could. Guns, blades, vehicles… Nothing kills them—I mean, they’re already dead. How do you really kill something that’s already dead? They don’t have souls, the dark gods stole them. So… I’m with (Name). How do we stop them?”

Huedhaut tilted his head up, a look of disgust on his face as he connected what could have resulted in this. “The only way for something like that to be moving is if the Dark King managed to reactivate their nervous system. Meaning, that beheading them could potentially cause them to cease functioning and return to their state of mortis.”

Krioff suggested with a scowl, “Then let’s get rid of these disgusting things in the mansion and see if that’s right.”

Finally, all gods were in agreement. They were going to leave me alone upstairs before I reached out in a panic, “W- Wait! What… What am I supposed to do?”

“Stay here,” they answer all at once, evidently on the same page. Once again, they were leaving me to my own devices in the general safety of the second floor. They were determined to fix this as fast as possible. I watched them helplessly as they exited the room. Well, I wasn’t entirely helpless. I’d just have to use my experience from watching living-dead movies and figure out theories on how to kill these guys for myself!

Okay, so, if I understood them right, they were going behead those dead creatures in the mansion. How would I have been able to help them, even if I did follow? I didn’t have any weapons and- Wait…

I did have a weapon!

Pondering my helpless position, I recalled that Ichthys gave me a specific weapon the other day as a present: a lightsaber. It was quite the unconventional gift, being that it could cut through anything. Well, almost anything. To keep me safe, Ichthys made the blade into a type of ‘holy light’ that wouldn’t kill me or slice off a limb if I happened to turn it in the wrong direction. But… if it was made with a divine light, as he said, then it should be the perfect weapon to cut straight through those evil things created by the dark gods.

Pulling out the lightsaber from my bag, I decided to help my boyfriends! Following the path that the other gods took, I winced in digust. There were numerous bodies across the floor, most of them rotting with decay. It was a wonder the Dark Gods got these things up and running in their deboned states… Thankfully, all of these were headless because of the gods. That reassured me that their idea of beheading the dead actually worked.

Eventually, I came across the kitchen and peered carefully inside. The gods weren’t there, but there were many of the walking dead. For a moment, I froze in fear, staring at the walking corpses. I’d seen the fallen ones that the gods took care of, but this was my first honest time seeing the dead actually up and walking. It was real.

A sudden moan from behind me made me spin around, jumping away in fright. Instinctively, I activated the lightsaber, slicing clean through its neck. My eyebrows lifted in pleasant surprise as it actually worked. The decapitated head smashed rottenly on the floor as the body collapsed. “Ew, ew, ew!”

That zombie… I killed it… I killed a zombie! But, I froze, hesitantly turning around. I was, most assuredly, spotted. They were moving slowly, and very dead-like, but I was still caught off guard by their movement, and very frightened. I had no idea where the gods were, but there were more creatures behind me, blocking my only possible path of retreat. My only option was to kill them—well… to send them back to where they belonged, anyway.

I had to protect my gods, I assured myself. They were in danger thanks to these evil things. They were trying to protect me, but I had to wonder how they were trying to protect me. It wasn’t like they had any weapons like I did. They were putting themselves at risk for me. All I had to do was convince myself that this was all for them, and it was easy, decapitating one dead body after the other. I was doing this to save them, to protect them, to keep my family together. I didn’t care if that meant killing creatures that were, in all technicality, already dead. My adrenaline was what kept me going, I was sure.

But even as the numbers of the dead zombies started thinning out, I had to pause in distress. For some reason, it was getting even harder and harder to slice through their necks. Metaphorically speaking, it was as if my blade were starting to dull to the point where I was having to hack at their necks instead of cut.

But I knew better than to think it was me at fault. There was dark magic at work here, and I knew the Dark Gods were behind my sudden disability to kill their walking corpses. With how hard it was becoming, I got an additional challenge. Chipped, half-dead humans were pouring into the mansion, and I wasn’t sure how to handle it. Was I supposed to kill these sort of living people??

I was practically weaponless now that my blade wasn’t working, and I didn’t have room to flee. It didn’t help that the only dead creatures that were left were huge in mass. Backed into a counter, I was terrified, and I was certain that I was going to die.

But, the oddest thing was that they weren’t trying to eat me or take a bite out of me like before. They were grabbing at me now, tugging at my limbs as if I were a toy. They wouldn’t have been so hard to fight against, but the half-dead were built like normal humans. These weren’t decaying and falling apart at a simple touch, these were much more formidable.

Unfortunately, those half-deads were the least of my concerns. Making his way through the crowd of zombies was Servillah, and he was holding something red in his hands.

Without needing an explanation, I knew exactly what that was… Servillah was going to chip me and turn me into a half-dead, mindless servant of darkness. “Wait… Stop!” But, no matter how much I struggled, I was simply too overwhelmed by the dead and half-dead creatures that had captured me. Without room for escape nor squirming, I shut my eyes tightly. “NO!”

***

“AAAAH-”

Huedhaut, Krioff, and Dui flinched in surprise, glancing frantically at each other. Karno and Zyglaivs rushed through the same room that they were gathered in. Karno didn’t even pause as he said what was on everyone’s mind, “That was (Name)!” They didn’t hesitate to move. The dead ones were thinned out, but they still had a few that were in their way.

They were merciless in their efforts to clear a path to the kitchen, where they were surprised to only have to take a few down. Still, nothing surprised them more than the scene in front of them. There were dead corpses all over the room, and they could have only been taken down by me, since none of them had made it as far as the kitchen. The only thing… was that I was nowhere to be seen.

I was on the floor, behind the counter, where those cruel creatures of darkness had dropped me. There was a sharp pain behind my neck, and I was feeling extremely lethargic, as if I could just sleep and never wake up again. My vision was blurry and I could feel the control they wanted to place on me. However, I couldn’t let them control me. I couldn’t let them take over my mind and use my body as they pleased. The gods… My zodiac gods… I had to protect them. I couldn’t give up and let the dark gods win.

Pushing myself up, I was only able to sit with the support of the cabinet behind me. Trying to get to my feet was futile, I only ended up collapsing against the cabinet again with a quiet thud. I didn’t have the strength to push myself to my feet. I felt so tired…

“(Name)!”

My bleary eyes scanned the small portion of the room that I could see. It was my gods. They were in the kitchen. As much as I wanted to protect them, I was sure I was the biggest danger to them at the moment. “Don’t… I…” I forced the troublesome words to come out, pausing as I laid eyes on Huedhaut. My tired speech and tear-filled eyes made him pause, and I continued to try and convince him to stay away. “I… I got chipped.” I wanted to tell him that I was trying to protect them, only to fail and get myself chipped, but I couldn’t force the words out. My vision was blurring fast, as I tiredly collapsed back on the floor, faintly saying one last apology, “’m… sorry…”

“(Name)?!” Huedhaut rushed beside me, getting the full attention of the other gods as he picked me up off of the ground, lifting me onto the counter. “Damn it. Their body is already undergoing changes. How did…” He paused, turning me over to inspect the back of my neck. “Of course…”

“What happened,” Zyglavis demanded, the other few gods also leaning closer for an answer.

Huedhaut traced the red line that extended from my spine up to my neck. “They were clever. The ‘chip’ they’re placing in humans is along their spine. The same sort of control they’re using on the dead ones. Taking it out would be deadly to their nervous system. It could kill or paralyze them.”

Krioff’s hands clenched into fists. “They got… chipped?”

They were losing their cool. The dark gods managed to exploit their weakness so effortlessly. They should have never left me behind. But it was too late for that kind of sentiment. They had to move forward, lest things get worse.

Karno decided, “Let’s move. We’re taking (Name) with us, and we’ll do what we can. As long as their soul doesn’t leave their body, then they can’t become like one of those mindless humans… a vessel for those dark gods to use. Once we make sure they’re stable, then we can focus on getting back to the Heavens.”

They took me into the living room, where they placed me on the sofa. After a tense moment of contemplative silence, Dui asked with furrowed eyebrows, “What if they wake up and attack us?”

Huedhuat nodded his head in understanding. He had already considered that fact, but he explained, “We have to take into consideration that they have stars in their eyes. That will also play a role in their soul remaining with them. But they need our help. This chip will definitely bring about changes.”

“Then let’s begin,” Zyglavis suggested, snapping his fingers over me. “Giving them strength from our powers should help in securing their soul.”

They were confident that they would at least be able to keep me in my own state of mind, and so, they helped me with every ounce of faith that they would succeed. Even though they had done all that they could, however, they couldn’t say for sure if I was going to have the will to fight against any kind of control. But they wouldn’t give up. They just had to trust me and wait patiently while they tried to find a way back to the Heavens.

I, on the other hand, felt like shit. Rolling over, I winced at the effort it took me to move. I vaguely remembered what happened, but my eyes snapped open as I realized I was on a soft piece of furniture. I fell down in the kitchen after getting chipped… I shouldn’t have been anywhere near the living room.

As tired as my body was, I pushed myself up, sitting on my knees as I glanced around. Krioff was standing in the doorway, his back toward me. Even though I couldn’t see his face, his body language appeared very tense.

I didn’t understand… Why did they bring me with them? Didn’t they understand what happened to me? But… I paused. Despite everything that happened, and despite how drowsy I felt, I was in my right mind. My body was mine to control. Did the chip fail? Or… did they take the chip out after rescuing me?

After staring at the sofa for a good minute, I looked back at Krioff and I asked quietly, “Why am I here?”

His head snapped in my direction before he fully turned to face me in surprise. The sight of me sitting up rendered him speechless; he could only watch me with wide eyes before he attempted to find words. “You’re…” He faltered before deciding to turn back into the hall. “Dui,” he called out, “get the others. (Name)’s awake.” Turning back to me, he approached slowly, judging my reaction. “Are you okay?”

My eyebrows furrowed. Something was off and Krioff’s unusually worried expression was pointing it out straight away. “Am I okay?” I asked for him to answer before I pursed my lips in uncertainty. I had to know the truth here, but I decided to answer him first. “I’m not sure. I- I got chipped.” I paused. “Did you take it out?”

Krioff shook his head before attempting to explain it to me as best as he could, “Hue said it was connected to your nervous system. Taking out could… Well… It wouldn’t be good for you. But we did what we could. It looks like it worked. You’re still here.”

My nose scrunched up. The chip turned humans into half-dead things; meaning that living humans were stronger than the dead-dead things, constitutionally. Over all, it was made to give humans a lack of will, to strip them of their soul and everything that they are. It would give them an animalistic instinct to feast on the living. While I didn’t have that urge, the chip terrified me. All this time, I wanted to protect my gods; I never wanted to become the danger to them.

“(Name)!”

I didn’t respond as the other gods arrived in the room. For this, Krioff apologized quietly, “Sorry; I just told them what happened. They must be freaked out.”

I heard shuffling before Karno sat beside me. “You’re upset… It’s understandable. This wouldn’t have happened if he hadn’t left you alone. We should have known better. It’s our fault you’re in this situation now.”

“It’s not your fault,” I instantly refuted, averting my gaze. It was my fault… Servillah probably knew I would be desperate to protect my gods. I should have known better than to run out there like an idiot when dark gods were involved. The gods told me to stay put, and I didn’t listen to them. “I’m sorry I let this happen.” Taking in a deep breath, I gained the courage to warily ask, “What… am I?” I wasn’t ‘alive’ but I also couldn’t have been dead if I were talking cohesively with them.

They shot glances at each other before Huedhaut admitted, “We’re not entirely sure. You’re far paler than before… But we can’t say for certain what exactly happened to you. Would you let us try a few things?”

My head lowered as I wryly shot back, “Test on me like a lab experiment?”

Zyglavis immediately stiffened at that, his eyebrows furrowing. “We want to help you, (Name). We can’t do that without your cooperation. We need to understand what we’re dealing with.”

I sighed slowly, looking away from them. “I know… I’m sorry. I don’t mean to sound spiteful when you’re just trying to help. This… is scary for me.”

“If you’re willing to let us help you,” Karno started carefully before snapping his fingers, making a sandwich appear in his hands. Holding it out to me, he offered, “Then let's start with something simple. Why don’t you try and eat something?”

My stomach churned at the sight of the food, and I quickly looked away from it. “You think I’m hungry after everything I just went through?”

Huedhaut shook his head and explained the reasoning behind the sudden offer of food, “We’re checking your diet. If you can’t eat this, then… we’ll have to try something else. Though, your reaction isn’t exactly what we were hoping for.”

I huffed before taking the sandwich from Karno. Discomforted, I stared at it long and hard in my hands, my body rejecting it long before my mind. “God, this sucks… I’ll give it a shot.” Hesitantly, I took a quick bite of it. Immediately, I winced. It tasted like cardboard, but I forced myself to at least try and finish the bite. “This… This tastes like garbage…” I could barely even swallow that small bite of the sandwich; but it wasn’t worth it. Almost immediately, I coughed it up, choking on it. Whatever was left in my stomach from my time alive also ended up spilling onto the floor in reaction to the sandwich.

Tears welled in my eyes as I felt Dui pass a damp towel across my lips, doing his best to tend to me. Was this how I’d react to normal food from now on? Was this because of what I was? It was just a coincidence, wasn’t it? I was sick to my stomach because of the disgusting creatures we fought, right? It had to have been that I was just emotionally ill… I couldn’t- I didn’t want to be a monster.

Dui gently rubbed my back, comforting me. “It’s okay. You don’t have to eat it. It’s probably a side effect of the chip. Your body probably can’t tolerate normal human things.”

I wiped my mouth, surrendering the sandwich as Huedhaut generously took it from me. My eyebrows furrowed, and I growled, “What the hell does that mean? I’m not…” I paused, knowing on the inside that I’d never be the same again. “I’m… not human anymore, am I?”

“You are,” Huedhaut corrected me, snapping his fingers and presenting me with something that looked much more appetizing to my eyes, though I knew logically that I should be revolted by the sight of red, uncooked meat. Huedhaut went on to continue, “However, we believe that you’re half-dead. It may be why you look attracted to this rather than a simple sandwich…” He paused. “Would you be willing to try it?”

I knew that if I wasn’t half dead, I would run the risk of actually dying from eating raw meat. But… they were right. The chip turned humans into half-dead creatures, so their bodies could be used by the dark gods. The only difference with me was that my gods helped me keep my half-dead body, refusing to surrender my soul so easily. This was the only thing that made sense. Not to mention, between them and the red meat, I didn’t want to accidentally try to eat them if I became hungry enough.

As much as I protested the thought, I took the offered plate of meat from Huedhaut’s hands. Trying not to smell it, I started by taking testing nibbles of it.

To my surprise, it was much easier to stomach than the sandwich. The texture of raw meat was absolutely horrible, and I was tempted to spit it out, but the flavor was perfect for my new taste buds. Even though my brain was telling me to stop, my jaw kept chomping through it until it was gone. I hadn’t even realized what happened in the matter of a mere minute before the bloody plate before me was left empty. It was as if, in the moment, I lost all self-control.

My eyes widened, suddenly flustered, as I realized the gods were staring at me with equally wide eyes. I frantically turned away from them as I begrudingly complained, “I… This is- This is disgusting.”

“It’s… almost fascinating,” Huedhaut observed as he used a napkin to wipe my lips clean. “You’re not only deathly pale, but it seems your innate behavior is similar to theirs. Your body has changed so much that the chip is making you just like them, despite having your own soul and a unique ability to think for yourself.”

I pulled away in confusion. “Can you clarify?” I didn’t really like the way he was wording all of this.

He nodded his head, confidently explaining, “You may seem more fragile being half-dead, but apparently it’s only made you stronger. Your jaw certainly has a new strength to it. You ate through that meat as if it were bread, (Name).”

After a moment of silence, Krioff was the first to speak his thoughts. “Are you thinking of using (Name) to fight off the dead around the mansion?”

Karno was quick to deny this suggestion and warded off any misunderstandings, “We’re not using them to fight anyone. Our goal is finding a way back to the Heavens with them. We need to tell the others our situation.”

“Yes,” Zyglavis nodded his head, agreeing with Karno’s decision. “But the door is still not connected. We will have to find another way to the Heavens.” As if already having thought of this, he suggested, “There are other possible locations with enough divine energy to create our own passage to the Heavens. We should investigate and hope they aren’t taken over by the dead.”

I titled my head in worry as they plotted and planned. They didn’t want to use me to fight those dead things, but if worse came to worst, it might be the only way to get to the Heavens and get help. I wondered if they were considering that. Though, I was sure they had their reasons to not want to see me fight. After all, me joining them in a fight was what led to my tragic state. Still, I was determined to help them regardless of the danger, “Taken over by the dead or not, it’s our only option out of here, isn’t it? I’ll fight if I have to.”

“We’ll help you, (Name),” Dui reassured me, without hesitating or rejecting my decision. He just didn’t like how I sounded like I was going to walk into battle on my own. “We’ll fight beside you until we can take you to safety. We’ll face this together.”

“Very well then. Prepare yourselves.” Agreeing to our plan of action, Zyglavis placed his hand on my shoulder, snapping his fingers and transporting the six of us to a place that I had never seen before. The first thing I noticed was how it felt significantly cleansed of dark energy; meaning, that even if the dead were there, the dark gods would have less control over them. Their dark reach was weak there. So… It was likely those creatures would be wild and willing to feast on anything moving.

So, as gross as it may have been, I helped my gods fight off any dead that our group came across, going from dead to dead, chomping through their necks like paper. It was a simple job to protect my gods, and I performed to the best of my ability. I was proving my will to do anything to help them.

However… a bright light caught me off guard, and I was thrown off of my feet. “Wah-” I grunted as I hit the ground with a thud, rolling to a stop across the dirt. I was taken aback at the familiarity of that divine light… Had one of the gods just attacked me?

“(Name)!”

“Stop! We’ll take care of this!” An unfamiliar voice commanded.

My eyes widened in confused fright as I was roughly lifted off of the ground and yanked into the danger of an unfamiliar figure’s arms. I looked up to face another threatening god, from what I could tell, but he didn’t look like he realized I wasn’t a threat to them. Though, that was probably due to the fact that I had blood on me, and I was a half-dead disaster to look at. But… that’s when it occurred to me that I was half dead. Were they going to mistakenly kill me?

“Do not harm (Name)!” Zyglavis stood behind me with the other gods, firm with his orders. “Release our human.”

The silence was thick with apprehension. The gods that appeared in the area outnumbered the five Zodiac gods, but would they really disobey direct orders from Zyglavis?

The god standing before me claimed with a sneer, “One who has been taken by the plague can never be redeemed! This is no goldfish—it’s a corpse! I’ll end this creature’s half life and gift it with the mercy of the gods! May it rest peacefully in death…”

For a moment, I was genuinely terrified that I was going to die; but it was clear that my gods weren’t going to let that happen. They were clearly ready to fight this god and his entire following to make sure I was safe.

A bright light overwhelmed the area, blinding not only me, but also the aggressive gods that were near me. I flinched as a voice suddenly whispered, “Hold on to me. Don’t let go.” Arms wrapped tightly around me, and I found myself holding on for dear life as I was returned safely to the side of my gods thanks to Krioff’s swift rescue. He made sure I was still holding him, even as we landed, and I could see clearly again. He didn’t want me slipping away from them again.

The abrupt way I was rescued startled the enemy gods, and they began a fierce fight. I was certain we wouldn’t have been able to win, but despite being outnumbered, the few Zodiacs were holding their own pretty well. It was no wonder my Zodiac gods were the strongest in the Heavens. Surely this enemy god would have figured out they were at the disadvantage.

“Wait! Stop!” There was a pause in the energy as they stopped battling each other; but the air was still just as tense as before. Krioff stood unmoving in front of me, his hand clasped tightly around mine. The god in charge who called out for them to stop, spoke again in a tired tone, “Fine, fine! It can live… You can keep the half-dead one. But you’re responsible for keeping an eye on it!”

The gods were certainly less tense since they successfully ensured my safety, but it was time for us to retreat from the Earth. If those gods could get to Earth at that location, then we’d be able to easily get back to the Heavens.

Keeping a secure hold on me, the gods snapped their fingers, bringing us straight to where the other seven zodiac gods were anxiously waiting. Well, Scorpio was waiting when we first appeared, but the rest were anxiously waiting in the palace, trying to sort out the grim situation on Earth.

(I can’t quite remember how the dream ended with me in the Heavens. But the general gist was that they ended up locking me in a room, and all I heard was a loud crash into the door before I woke up. I’m pretty sure some sketchy gods were there to kill me, like they intended to do the first time… But I guess I’ll never know! Woo! Spooky dreams that scare the shit out of me!)

#star crossed myth #department of punishments #department of wishes #scm huedhaut #scm dui #scm karno #scm zyglavis #scm krioff #fanfic #zodiac gods #scm fanfic

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