#she was ready to drag herself down to kill ONE demon

[wystirea]

She deserves to be unhinged, as a treat...

[libbyfandom]

“The Dove is just as Cunning as the Demon”

‘Need to get out of the chains. Get my sword. Grab dove. Find a way out. Chains, sword, dove, get out.’

Mizu eyes the guard to her right that’s holding her sword and pulling you along as the one that’s dragging her leads her to a back room. Taigen is swearing a storm as he’s dragged behind her by two more guards.

At least Ringo wasn’t captured. He was still thankfully waiting back at camp. If he even knew of this he would have come running to her side, further complicating escaping.

She winces, growling in frustration as the guard yanks her shackled arms further up her back as he drags her, feeling the muscles in her shoulders scream in protest.

She knew you three weren’t running fast enough after her and Taigen got into a sword fight with others at the inn. You were swarmed right out the city gates.

She would have kept fighting if one of them hadn’t held a knife to your throat.

They toss her and Taigen into the room. She catches herself on one knee, glaring over her shoulder at the men as Taigen struggles to his feet.

“Ah-“ one of the guards tsks when Taigen stands, holding her sword to your throat where he has your back restrained to his chest. You’re shaking, craning your neck as far back from the familiar steel as possible. His hand follows still, pressing the steel in until the tiniest stinging slit cuts through, a drop of blood rolling down your neck.

Mizu clenches her jaw against the familiar flames of rage licking at the corners of her focus, desperate to take over. She slowly turns with unblinking, predator like focus on where the man’s hand is. Where it temporarily is attached to his body.

“Taigen.”

He’s breathing raggedly through his nose, eyes sharp on the guards. But at her word he glances at her once, before begrudgingly lowering himself to a sitting position like her.

‘Chains. Sword. Dove. Detach hand. Get out.’

“I see the demon is in charge.”

“He is not in charge of me!” Taigen glowers from the floor.

The guard lowers the sword, heaving you up beside him. “You two wait here, we will come when the hanging executioner is ready for you.”

He lowers his face to stare at Mizu’s dark expression, his lips curling with a malicious satisfaction. “I do love watching a dishonorable swordsman’s neck snap from the drop.”

“No!” You crumple against the guard holding you captive, making him stumble a moment before he wretched you back upright from where you’ve collapsed to the floor.

Her eyes dart for every detail of the guards. Only single sword wielders, no archery weapons in hand. Safe after getting out of range. Simple, foot-soldier armor. Only powerful in numbers. Captain can’t be bribed, he’s holding too much pleasure at getting to kill them. She turns her attention to the room. Furnishings similar to normal houses. This place is not designed to hold prisoners. No windows, but that could mean…

She spots the rafter leading into the next room. An easy way out without being spotted on the floor, but she needs a way out of these chains once the guards leave, and quickly. Until she’s out of these shackles and has you in sight this needs to be silent, or risk your safety. Her stomach is tightening as she knows there’s about to be who knows how many minutes between when she escapes and when she finds you. The unknown of what these guards could do (she knows what men do) is leaving a rock in her stomach that she now needs to ignore to figure a way-

You suddenly fling yourself into her lap, cupping her cheek and pressing your mouth into hers, hard. Her eyes fly open, everything in the room halting to silence. Even the two guards near the door glance at each other with uncomfortable confusion. Taigen’s giving you two the most judgmental side eye mixed with disbelief.

She tried to flinch away on instinct at the sudden action, but your lips follow hers. Your tongue pried her mouth open, and she almost kicks you off because DOVE. RIGHT NOW?! NOT THE PLACE OR TIME.

She feels a smooth weight fall into her mouth, and her throat closes up instinctually to not swallow it.

You’re ripped away from her, half dragged half carried out the door. You flash her a certain look as you’re taken away, before going back to flailing and hitting the guard. She keeps her lips clenched tight, glaring at them as they leave. When the last guard shuts the door Taigen turns to her. “You can’t even say anything? You know what they’re going to do-“

He falls into stunned silence when the shackles key slips out of her mouth, clenched between her teeth.

“Holy shit��” he murmurs. Shaking his head back into the moment, he quickly shuffles over and turns his back to her so she can spit the key into his bound hands.

Mizu’s eyes slide back toward the door.

“I fucking love that woman.”

Chains gone.

Grab Sword.

Detach hand.

Tune out screaming.

Throw a giggling dove over shoulder.

Kick down door.

Run off into the night.

….

Remember to tell dove how clever that was.

[thatsmzbitchtoyou]

Please come back... Oneshot

Word count: 2681

Y/N was found by Nick Fury a year ago in a Hydra facility that was mysteriously blown up while S.H.I.E.L.D was surveilling it.  She was a mutant born with the ability to manipulate energies, which had a broad spectrum of uses, but Hydra focused on her ability to take life.  Life itself is an energy, and Hydra had wanted to use it to their advantage and make her a walking angel of death.  Unfortunately their efforts backfired, and Fury found her as the only thing that had survived her self-made explosion.

He propositioned her to join the Avengers, hoping to help her hone her abilities for better use, or as their own last resort when there were no other options.  She agreed, and was accepted by the rest of the Avengers happily.  Y/N was quiet, still dealing with night terrors and the demons of her past with Hydra.  Bucky had been quick to help her through it, being the first to reach her room each night when she woke the whole tower with her screams.  She had naturally gravitated towards him, and they were rarely seen without the other.  

It was pretty obvious to everyone but them that they had feelings for each other, but no one wanted to put that pressure on either of them, so they let them be to figure it out on their own.  Bucky felt damaged, like he didn’t deserve her, while Y/N was afraid to put him in danger as she still worked on getting a hold of her abilities.  She knew they were both mentally still healing, and she didn’t want to derail his efforts or ruin their friendship by telling him about her feelings that may or may not be reciprocated.  

After her first year with the Avengers and many hours of training and working on figuring out how to handle her abilities better, Tony decided to throw a party for Y/N to celebrate her joining the team.  That night was quite the rager, with dancing, singing, and lots and lots of drinking.  Y/N had come out of her shell as she drank, and the rest of the Avengers had cheered her on as she enjoyed herself.  Thor had brought quite a lot of Asguardian mead, and Bucky had indulged himself a little too much.  As the party continued that night the Avengers were too far gone and hadn’t paid attention as Y/N dragged Bucky out of the party, or seen them start making out passionately in the elevator.  

The next morning Y/N had woken up entangled in Bucky’s arms, which wasn’t new due to their previous times with him helping her through nightmares, but this time they were both naked.  She had sprang away from him, waking Bucky up and making him jump out of bed ready to fight.  They stared at each other in panic, realizing they were both naked and grabbing the bed sheets to cover themselves.  Y/N had shut down at that moment, shutting her eyes tight.  “I’m sorry,” she had whispered before turning, grabbing her clothes off his bedroom floor and running from his room.  

After that they hadn’t spoken again, and avoided each other like the plague.  As much as it worried and confused everyone else, whenever someone tried asking either of them about it they refused to talk and would either walk away or change the subject.  Unfortunately they couldn’t avoid each other forever.

“Avengers!  Assemble!”  Steve called out one day.

Friday’s alarms started blaring, and everyone quickly got ready and loaded into the Quinjet.  Fury filled them in over comms as they flew to the drop point.  “Looks like a subset of Hydra operatives have been messing around with more otherworldly things they shouldn’t be.  A door has been opened into another dimension, and basically…we’ve got vampires.”

“Vampires?” Tony scoffed.  “So what do you need us for?  Just wait till morning and the sun will kill them.  Or, oh!  We’ll drop ten tons of garlic on them.  Where’s my wooden stake?”

“These vampires are a little more than urban legend, Stark,” Fury said in an annoyed tone.  “So far all we know is that the sun only maims them.  Silver bullets have been loaded into your weapons.  They are the only things that have proven to work, so aim for the heart,” he said.  “Y/N.” She perked up and looked at the screen.  “We might need the angel of death on this one.”  She inhaled deeply and nodded.  Bucky watched the interaction with a deep frown, glancing at Y/N as she settled back into her seat.  She flexed her fingers and shook out her hands as she continued to breathe deeply.  Wanda approached her as Fury ended the call and they were soon reaching the area.

“You ready?” Wanda asked her quietly, kneeling down in front of her.

Y/N looked up at her as her power overtook her body, making her eyes black and purplish-blue veins spread around the skin of her eyes.  “I’m ready,” she answered, her voice distorting to sound deep and gravelly.  

Bucky and the rest of the team hadn’t fully seen what she could do, only glimpses during training, so seeing her like this was jarring.  The hanger door opened on the Quinjet and they all prepared to jump.  Y/N didn’t need a parachute with her ability to manipulate the kinetic energy she would have in falling, but Bucky did.  “Can I catch a ride, doll?” he asked her, trying to break the silence between them.

Y/N looked up at him, her black eyes intimidating.  She nodded and opened her arms as if to hug him.  He stepped into her embrace, then she fell backwards out of the Quinjet.  They hurtled toward the ground headfirst, and as scared as Bucky was, he held her tight, trusting her to save them.  After what felt like an eternity she spread her arms and twisted them both in a kind of whirlwind that slowed them down, and then glided them onto the ground where they held each other tight and rolled in the grass.  They finally came to a stop with Bucky hovering over Y/N.  He let out a huffed laugh as he tried to get his bearings.  “Thanks,” he said, looking down at her.

Y/N didn’t say anything and just pushed him by his shoulders to get off of her.  He stood quickly and helped her up before getting his gun ready.  They stayed close to each other for a while, hearing the other Avengers touchdown, their voices whispering through the comms as they spread out.  The first scream came from Wanda, and Y/N bolted toward her.  

“Y/N, wait!” Bucky called out, then he was tackled from behind.  He fought with whatever was behind him as it pawed at his uniform, trying to rip at the guards on his neck that had been added for this mission.  He was finally able to kick it off and turn around to see what it was.  If he had to guess what vampires looked like, this was pretty close to his worst nightmares.  It looked like a regular man, but a whole head taller than him, with angular features that made it look unearthly and glowing red eyes in the dark.  The moon illuminated its iridescent skin and glinted off its two long sets of fangs.  “You are one ugly motherfucker,” Bucky scoffed before shooting at it.  The vampire didn’t move out of the way in time and was shot through the heart, letting out a gut wrenching, high pitched scream as it spasmed and fell to the earth.  Bucky watched its body begin to melt from the gunshot wound, the silver disintegrating it from the inside out.

“Fury was right, aim for the heart,” he said into his comms earpiece.  “The silver disintegrates them.  They’re strong, but not too fast.”

Y/N was on the other side of the field they had landed in, trapping vampires in her energetic grip as the other Avengers ended them one by one.  The Avengers seemed to have the upper hand, the fight attracting any other vampires that may have tried to explore the newfound dimension.  Bucky rejoined the group soon after, shooting more vampires dead as they arrived to try and join the fight.  

Bucky and Steve were physically fighting more of them.  They were getting overwhelmed and one vampire ripped off one of Bucky’s neck guards, its teeth dangerously close to him.  “Buck!” Steve yelled out, trying to get through the vampires to him. 

Y/N heard Steve and whipped her head to Bucky’s direction.  “NO!” she screamed.  She stretched her hands forward, her power ripping through the earth and scattering the vampires around Bucky and Steve.  Her body flew forward, her hands shaped like claws in a cupped position as she gripped each vampire’s life in her hands, making their bodies twitch in unnatural and strange ways, grunting and whimpering in pain.  Her power spread across the field and beyond, rooting out all the vampires that hadn’t joined the fight yet, their stiff bodies floating towards her.  Bucky lay watching in shock.  Her black eyes and the veins around her eyes were now glowing indigo, the same color swirling around her fingers and sucking the vampires’ lives out of them.  “Enough,” she growled, and her hands closed into fists.  The vampires’ screams filled the field, ripping through the air as their life forces were taken.  Each one went suddenly silent, and the resounding thuds of their bodies hitting the ground sounded like an earthquake.  Bucky looked around at the dead vampires with wide eyes as he caught his breath.  She saved him.  She had saved all of them.

Bucky looked up to see Y/N panting and shaking as she floated back down to the ground, then collapsed.  “Y/N!” he ran over to her, falling to his knees as his hands hovered over her, unsure of what to do.  The other Avengers all came running to her.  

“Friday?” Tony asked.

“All vitals are stable,” Friday’s voice echoed from Tony’s suit.  “From what we know of her abilities, the immense amount of energy she has taken in from taking so many lives needs to either be expelled immediately or absorbed, which will take time.  She is in a coma of her own making to heal.”

“How long?” Bucky asked, looking up at Tony.

“Unknown,” Friday answered.

They all sat in silence, staring at Y/N.  Bucky fought back tears as he leaned down and cradled her into his arms, picking her up and walking to the Quinjet.  He sat on one of the larger chairs, making sure she was settled in his lap comfortably as the others filed in.  Bucky’s flesh hand pushed her hair back and traced her face as he looked down at her.  Steve walked up as the Quinjet lifted off, squeezing Bucky’s shoulder.  “She’ll be okay, Buck.”

“We don’t know that,” Bucky whispered.  “What if she never wakes up?”

“She will,” Steve reassured him.  He walked away and Bucky held her close, pressing his forehead against her forehead.  

“Come back to me, Y/N,” he whispered, nuzzling her nose.  “I know you’re not talking to me right now but…I need you.  You can’t leave me.  Please come back.”

***

“Hey doll, good morning.  You’re looking better today.  Got more color in your face.”

“I know that neither of us really remember anything from that night.  That Asguardian shit really took it out of me.  I wish I did…I always thought that if we had a first time it would be special.  But that’s not our style, is it?  Um…I don’t regret it, though.  I wish you would have stayed that day, so we could have talked it out.  But I guess I understand why you ran, too.  Maybe we can try again, for real this time.  I’ll take you out on a real date, we won’t get wasted, maybe some dancing.  Or just staying in like we usually do.  I don’t care.  As long as it’s with you.”

“Y/N.”

“Please wake up.”

***

Y/N’s eyes fluttered open and she breathed deeply.  Her body felt sore and stiff, and as she tried to slowly move to stretch she felt something in her hand.  She looked down to see Bucky holding her hand, his upper body laid on her bed and fast asleep.  She smiled as she turned to lay on her side to face him, groaning at the effort.

Her groan woke him up and his eyes snapped open, his head jerking up to look at her.  “Y/N!” he said loudly, standing and hugging her.  “Oh my god, doll.  You’re awake!  She’s awake!” he called out towards the hallway as he looked back down at her.  

“Hey Buck,” she croaked, her voice gravelly from being unused.  She cleared her throat as his hands cupped her face.  “Water?” she asked.

“Oh, yeah, yeah,” he nodded frantically, letting go of her and grabbing a water bottle he had next to the bed, bringing it to her lips.  

She drank a lot then sighed heavily when she finished.  “Thank you,” she whispered.  “How long was I out?”

Bucky grimaced.  “Three weeks, three days and ten hours,” he said quietly.

Y/N nodded, opening her mouth to speak when her door flew open.  “Y/N!” Wanda’s voice cried out as she rounded the bed, standing next to Bucky as she touched Y/N’s face, her own power flitting around Y/N to check on her.  “Are you okay?  How are you feeling?”

“Tired,” Y/N said, her eyes blinking slowly.  

“Don’t you ever scare us like that again,” Steve’s voice came from behind her, and he leaned on the bed so he could look at her.  He looked stressed but relieved and it made Y/N smile.

“Yes, Cap,” she muttered.

Dr. Choi walked in the room and shooed everyone away to do an examination.  When she was done she called them all back in.  “She’s fine.  It seems the coma worked to absorb all that extra energy.”  She turned to Y/N.  “Just try not to end an entire population of vampires again anytime soon.”

Y/N huffed a laugh.  “Yes, doc.”  The team each visited her, making sure she was alright and commending her for her abilities and her sacrifice to help them all.  Once they all left she was alone with Bucky again.  “You stayed the whole time,” she said, reaching her hand out to him.

He sat back on the chair he was on before and took her hand again.  “Of course I did,” he replied.  

“I heard you,” Y/N said.  Bucky’s eyes slightly widened and he blushed, but nodded.  “I was asleep but…not fully.”  She squeezed his fingers.  “I’m sorry I ran away from you that day.  I couldn’t remember anything from the night before and I just…I was scared of your reaction, and embarrassed, and afraid that I had done something wrong–”

“You didn’t do anything wrong,” Bucky shook his head, leaning toward her more.  

Y/N nodded.  “I don’t regret it, either,” she whispered.  “I don’t regret you.”

Bucky's breath sputtered at her words and he blinked back tears, his lips twitching up in a smile  “I love you, doll,” he whispered back.  “I’ve loved you for a long time.”

Y/N smiled.  “I love you, too,” she said.  They smiled at each other for a long moment.  “Can I have a kiss?  You know, to help me heal faster?” Y/N asked, her smiling turning into a teasing smirk.

Bucky laughed, then stood and leaned forward.  He slowly pressed his lips against hers, kissing her like he was afraid she would break if he was too firm.  Y/N’s free hand lifted up to cup the side of his face, holding him to her as she kissed him back.  When he pulled away he didn’t go far, his nose nuzzling hers.  “So about that date?”

[quitealotofsodapop]

Mentioned in a Post a while back about a Jttw/LMK AU I had regarding the "Yellow Robed Demon" Arc when Tripitaka got turned into a tiger.

Book Summary;

Tripitaka manages to escape his capture (for once) and passes on a message to the King of Baoxiang from his daughter, Baihuaxiu, explaining that she was kidnapped and made the forced bride of a demon (ironically making it a magical version of what befell Tripitaka's mother when he was a baby).

Kui Mulang rolls in with a human glamour and goes: "Nu-Uh! I'm but a humble human hunter. THIS guy is a tiger demon who attacked a girl some time ago. I save her and we've been living a simple life for the last 13 years!" (Lie)

So the dude pulls an Uno-Reverse and transforms Tripitaka into a tiger (or in some versions, glamours him into one). The King and his subjects believe this 100% since Tripitaka and the Pilgrims don't look so great without Wukong there to act as PR (he was exiled at the time for the White Bone Spirit incident).

Tripitaka is apparently aching-beautiful no matter his form though;

Wukong even feels kinda bad for his Master, since the transformation is so good that he can't even see through it with Gold Vision. Also imagine a sad giant kitty, that would bum anyone out.

Of course things are resolved by the end of the arc; the gang reunite with their monkey, Ao Lie gets his own badass chapter, the Princess is saved, Bajie kills the couple's two half-demon wolf children, the Yellow Robed Demon is revealed to be Revatī - the Wood Wolf of Legs after Wukong catches the demon commenting on his performance during the Havoc (Wukong has a few Columbo moments in the book like this), and Tripitaka is transformed back into his squishy monk self.

Bonus - Tripitaka as a tiger from a book illustration + the 1999 cartoon.

The book illustration + description suggests he's a rare Pseudo-melanistic "Black Tiger" seen in India, possibly an Indo-Chinese Tiger, or a South China Tiger with a darker back.

So here's where the timeline shifts...

The Wood Wolf of Legs ain't happy to be dragged away from (what he believed to be mutual) his true love on earth + his two kids, so he curses the Tang Monk to not only retain part of the glamour he imposed upon him, but to transform him fully into a carnivorous feline demon. Also as an extra "F-k you!" to the Jade Court he and his past love fled from, since the Queen Mother is a celestial tigress herself.

The Pilgrims freak out, obviously.

Guanyin is called up and is like;

Guanyin: "Well, you did unjustly punish and exile your best bodyguard because you didn't trust his judgement, seeing him only as a murderous beast... so *your* punishment is to deal with the rest of your Journey as one of the very same creatures you see as mindlessly bloodthirsty." Tripitaka, now cursed to stay a catboy: "Dang it." (≽^╥⩊╥^≼)

He still gets to wear the robes and walk upright -think Master Tigress from Kung Fu Panda but as a wimpy, twink-shaped, monk.

Tripitaka aint' having fun. He's a life-long vegetarian who's suddenly an apex hypercarnivore. He tries his best for the longest time to stay on the veggies (and durian weirdly enough since tigers like those), but eventually he will need to chow down on some bleeding protein.

And his team literally consists of the main diet of a tiger...

Wukong, a monkey: "Master isn't looking too good." Zhu Bajie, a pig: "I don't like the way he's been looking at us. I burnt my finger making the campfire and he looked ready to pounce!" Sha Wujing, a fish: "I'm not surprised. Cats are of few beasts that absolutely require meat protein to survive." Ao Lie, currently a horse: "If he goes feral, I vote we sacrifice the pig first." Wujing & Wukong: "Agreed." Zhu Bajie: "HEY!!" (₍•̀ ⚇•́ ₎) Tripitaka, meditating hard: "Perhaps if I eat a watermelon, it would sustain my desire for flesh?"

What worse?

Tripitaka is still considered smoking hot. Now by demon standards too!

The Trio of Lion Camel Ridge prepare to attack the Pilgrims when;

Azure Lion: (*sees that the Great Monk is actually a beautiful tiger.*) Azure Lion, lowering his sword: "Guys, do not mess this up for me." Peng & Yellow Tusk: (*annoyed groans!*)

[hoverboards-and-dragons]

Lucifer’s Fall; told from the Sloth Sin’s  Perspective

Belphegor finds a heavily injured angel and a woman of Creation in the wastelands of hell’s highest crimson ring.

The same ones that just caved in their realm’s roof with an incredible light show.

Despite being aware of the potential threat a powerful angelic being poses to all demons, something compels her to start picking up the pieces before her fellow sins have even finished deliberating on whether they want to kill the pair or not.

~

Hell itself is alive and reacts to Lucifer with cuteness aggression, and to Lilith like a friend group finally gaining one person who’s good at social interaction

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Belphegor’s tail dragged against the thick layers of red dust covering the ground as she slogged through the endless dark in blind search of a query unknown.

The highest level of hell was a crimson wasteland bathed in impenetrable pitch black. It’s giant expense only sparely populated by roving bands of tiny simple creatures.

The heat and power from which hell had sprung thinned out bare up here and under the shadow of creation, heaven’s light wouldn’t reach.

No demon prince or deadly sin had ever risen from it nor did any of the others wish to claim it despite its grand size, content to consider it the lid caping off their realms and nothing more.

Mammon had probably mentally dubbed it as his, but he wasn’t ready to back that claim up without anything valuable to show for it.

The demon prince of sloth had always been a slave to her own whims. Most of the time that meant she slept with no motivation and thus no ability to do anything at all.

But sometimes, she’s awaken with a vague but unbearable compulsion that would send her scrambling, as helpless to stop herself as anyone else from her mission.

So, she found herself wandering this never ending desolate ring so far from home and bed.

Regardless, her visions had never led her astray before, if they brought her here, there was something to find.

She felt the change in the air before anything else.

Soft light was ever so slightly penetrating through the black above her; washing out the dunes around her. Piercing a dark that swallowed up the glow from even as great a creature as she.

She inclined her head, gaze straining for the source.

A thin white line, like a tear in the very sky itself, slowly wretched apart.

Taking on off-white shades of gold and blue as it deepened and strengthened.

Belle tilted her head. Well, this was certainly getting somewhere interesting. Hell wasn’t a very old realm, she wondered if it was really coming to an end so soon.

It pulsed a few times, fighting through some unknown resistance.

And then it broke.

Belle was forced to look away as painful light burst from the sky, bathing the eternal unseen wastes in harsh white.

Through the sound was inescapable, nearly rupturing her eardrums, a thousand glasses shattering, unknowable violence, rage and desecration retrained to a moment.

And then it was over.

She glanced back up, blinking a few times. Oh, not quite.

The brightness was falling down, the opening quickly sealing behind it, leaving the sky permanently altered.

She could taste it’s power, the energy from that break still echoing forcefully against her senses; no doubt all of hell had felt it.

The other sins were on their way.

But even now, after the break, hell was shifting around to accommodate this new entity, as if a gravitational force they were all being orientated towards. As if it’s mere presence changed the makeup of the entire realm.

It reeked of something powerful, even if temporarily stripped.

There was one more thing.

It wasn’t just entering hell, it was being *given* to hell, bound.

Something the light starved ring accepted eagerly.

The assumedly unwitting and unwilling light source would probably be less excited.

Belle started to move again once she had a good idea of where it would make contact.

She wondered what her fellow sins would decide to do with it, could they feel hell’s unabashed yearning to keep it? If they did would that carry any weight when deciding to destroy or consume it.

Satan would probably be the next here, coming from just one ring below. The others not far behind.

The noise of the actual impact was a little underwhelming when following the realm being thorn asunder.

A slamming, a crash, a scraping skitter. Belle winced sympathetically at a sound that was definitely shattering bones. And then nothing.

It… was a pretty far way to fall after all.

She was pretty sure she heard a woman shriek, but not nearly enough compared to the intensity of the landing.

She continued to trail towards the light, now laying unmoving in a decently large crater.

Another glow caught her eye, not nearly as bright but quite distant.

Golden ichor, spattered across the ground.

A grim gift from Heaven then? Perhaps they had finally come to open relations properly, even if this was rather morbid for their like.

But she supposed even those above needed disposal methods.

Belle peered over the edge of crater, squinting while her eyes adjusted.

“Lucifer-!” A broken cry.

Her head snapped to the voice, another figure in the pit shakily attempting to stumble to her feet.

She smelled of dirt and roses, earthen. *Creation’s* work.

As she scrambled over to the light, Belle could feel hell swirling around her too, equally as fervent but different from its attraction to the glowing creature.

Whatever attachment to realms beyond she has won’t remain for very long. Hell was taking to her as if welcoming her home.

And yes, she could see that now, the light was a being, still alive even, if barely.

The figure desperately pulled it against her, and Belle finally recognized its wings, tattered and scorched as they were. They had seen beings of its like a few times, circling and observing the young hell from afar.

The few direct confrontations said they despised this place, everything in it and every single creature born of it.

“Ya think that little thing’s a threat?” Satan had shuffled up beside her at some point, thankfully keeping his voice low. “Would do us good to end it now.”

The light was yelling something, maybe names she didn’t recognize barely intelligible between the sobs in its ruined throat.

The other sins didn’t take long to follow.

“I say… we eat it?” Beelzebub had been curious about the angel creatures’s taste since she first saw them, Belle was honestly a little shocked at the hesitance. “I dunno it’s just, in a lot of pain. Feels bad, gone sour.”

“The air tingles with its power even in such a pitiful state~” Leviathan hissed, her tail thrashing in derision. “Leave it to bleed, let it die, let it die! While we still can, before it consumes us all in its shadow.”

“If we killin it, we’re goin down there to make sure it’s good and dead and staying that way.” Satan adds “Coward.” He spits quietly in Levi’s direction in spite of their seeming temporary alliance.

“You kidding?” Mammon choked a laugh. “The perfect potential counter to all our enemies falls into our lap, and you wanna chuck it?” He stalked forward, eyes gleaming. “Nah nah, we make it ours.”

‘We’ Belle thought that was interesting addition for him.

“If that becomes the strongest thing in hell, what’ll that make us?” Asmodeus kept his voice steady, not giving either way.

“Masters!” Mammon cheered.

“Slaves!” Levi retorted.

The puddle of gold beneath it was deepening, they’d have to make this decision quickly before it was made for them.

It was good hell had never been a democracy.

Belle lurched her hulk over the side, sliding towards the centre.

She came to stop just before the two. She could see why hell found both so appealing up close.

The woman faced her not with wide eyes like she expected, but careful scepticism, although her exhaustion and panic permeated clearly just below the surface. Judging her not just for a threat, but for potential assistance.

Belle could taste hells energy so much clearer here, how it warred with itself. Desperate to surge forward and take what belonged to it and longing to preserve the glow. The light’s essence writhing in repulsion to the demonic force.

She was exhausted just observing it.

Based on the angel’s shock and fear, it could feel the shadows pressing and snapping against his weakened essence too.

She wondered if the woman could, did she know she was the one thing holding back the darkness from snuffing out her light totally.

“Mistress of Night,” Belle had no idea where the title came from as offered greetings to the pair.

She didn’t seem to recognize it either. “H-hello-? “ she cleared throat, finding her confidence. “Hello. Why do you appear before us?” Even toned, a chance to dismiss the accusation before it needs to be levered.

Belle dipped her head, in respect and in gesture. “Your light is fading.”

Her breath shuddered in dismay, expression breaking for a moment. She nodded tightly. “H-he is.” She swallowed hard. “Can- May you help?”

She stepped closer, bringing up her great claws. “I may. I can.”

The woman hesitated, tightening her hold before allowing her access.

He stared at her with wide eyes, delirious with pain and fully able to view her connection to the dark.

But unable to so much as shy away from her looming form.

Oh yes, taught to despise the demonic he was, how fun.

A distant tiring thought wondered why she was even doing this for the little thing.

She felt him attempt to call upon his magic once or twice, seemingly more out instinct than anything only for it to fizzle out.

She brought her face right down to his, staring into her blank eyes with a mad gaze.

Belle took a deep breath in; blowing out smoke that blanketed him. His eyes squeezed shut but at least he didn’t try holding his breath.

She held a moment.

Before sucking it back in.

She couldn’t say she was surprised at the extent of damage, but it was something to see it all laid out.

Wings burned and torn from air friction, a web of cracks in his skull, all of his ribs had been fractured and two had been entirely scattered, she was sure some of the organ damage came from a wandering bone piece or a couple piercing something.

There was too much organ damage for even her to tell at a glance.

His back was especially a mess, mostly likely bent double in the landing. Including a complete break in his spine that seemed too clean to be from the fall alone, or unintentional; placed at the perfect point to paralyzed all of his six wings at once.

If she wasn’t convinced of his power before, the fact that he was alive at all more than proved it.

Belle steadied herself.

Estimate his limits based on how bad he’s handling the current damage compared to the average; she doesn’t need to get him perfect, just stabilized enough for his magic to begin to recover and take over; just like one of the sins.

She kept her ring and her effort out of others constant wars by playing healer to all sides, she could do this.

She numbed the pain just enough to take the edge off without compromising his reactions. Both of the pair visibly relaxed, she hadn’t realized how much their tension had been getting to her.

If any of the other sins reveal themselves now she’s killing them.

She began moving bone fragments back into place and locking them, disappearing some that were too small or embedded. Stitching the wounds left behind.

She added some magic to assist the faltering bodily tasks and save his body precious energy, as well as avoiding a full system shut down if an organ properly fails for a moment or two.

She seeped the heat from the burns and the tension from his muscles with little else to do.

And she finally breathed.

Well, more heaved painfully as the weight of such draining magic collapsed on her all at once.

It took every bit of effort left not to collapse right then, a dust pile alone wouldn’t be her worst nap spot but the pool of ichor was too much.

She focused down. His body still shuttered even as he fell against the woman and shut his eyes, good, he was still fighting.

“Keep him awake.” She spat, barely managing. Her bedside manners were usually a little better.

But the woman nodded determinedly, staring at Belle with nothing but bewildered but grateful awe.

Before turning her attention back to her light, Belle could practically see the rest of the world disappear to them as she placed a hand on his cheek and began speaking softly.

“The angel needs rest and to be carefully monitored for the next,” she’d never fully treated such fatal injuries before, she had no idea how long they’d take to heal given the chance. “While.”

Belle noted the small nod that said she was still listening.

“Lucifer.” Interrupting her own mutterings. “His name is Lucifer, and I am Lilith.”

“Pleasure. Prince Belphegor of Sloth, my ring is some distance below.” Lilith was already beginning to stand, taking the hint. “You can tell me what happened on the way.” Belle didn’t have enough left in her to be curious at this point, but she had met enough suspicious types to know better than to present this as just charity.

“He ain’t in a state to make that trip,” Belle narrowed her eyes at Satan’s approach. “My ring’s closer.”

“I thought-“

“I just said if we’re gonna put the lil angel out of his misery we do the job good and right, but if we ain’t then we ain’t.”

Belle watched Lilith bristle at the mention of threat. Carefully holding her composure and glaring down the towering bull, “You aren’t.”

“Thems fighting words but guess you’re right, so hows bout another time.” He added quieter. “I like her”

Bee pushed by him. Giving the pair a soft look “Oh, you poor things.”

She buzzed back to Belle. Excitedly announcing, “Yup, I made up my mind! I’m with you, Belle, they’ll taste much better after you fix ‘em up.”

Great, she was so looking forward to the panic that line would inspire in the clearly protective and threatened woman.

“I’ll carry him.” Ozzie offered, and oh thank fuck he did before Belle had to make Lilith choose between the sin that talked about killing or eating her light.

She heard Mammon laugh some ways away. “Good luck with prying ‘im out of her grip.”

Ozzie grumbled something insulting, but one glance at her said he was probably right.

He shrugged, “Then I’ll carry both.”

Lilith perked up, agreeing after a few thoughts.

And they began the delicate process of getting them both comfortable and safely positioned against Ozzie soft chest.

Leviathan kept her gaze targeted square on the sky, long since losing interest in the scene in the crater below.

She still thought dead was a preferable option, but that doesn’t mean she was gonna let herself be left out of the loop just cause her fellow sins didn’t go with it.

The dryness here usually could irritate her, but it was different now.

A barely noticeable breeze, a shifting in the dust.

Feeling less like the nothing after hell ended and before creation began and more like a blank place, a yet to be territory…

An empty ring.

The sky had changed and was changing still, she could she it through the enveloping shade for the first time.

She looked back the angel, she wondered how much it’d take from him, she wondered how much it’ll give back.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hell and Heaven are both cesspools of writhing energy (heat and light respectively) that life is clawing it’s way out of, just with like slightly different aesthetics

This kinda implied hell is only weaker than heaven cause it’s so much younger and I’m lowkey down with that theory

Lucifer’s Fall is honestly a very messy affair to me; way more damage was caused than intended cause 1) it’s the first time Heaven ever did something like it 2) it’s very hard to make a being as powerful as Lucifer leave when they do not want to. It was scrambling mad rush(mostly by Michael) to break his halo and get him out cause his panicked blind resisting kept bringing buildings down and crumbing any angel not an archangel or seraphim like tissue paper

~~

If this is received well enough I might make a part two following Lucifer’s recovery, adjusting to hell and processing what’s happened to him, so ~ reblog ~

It’s going to be apart of a bigger series of oneshots interpreting past events of Hazbin’s universe, From The Very Beginning, if out of order

[pippastrelle]

I'm No Angel [2.5k Chaggie]

Vaggie's a fallen angel doubting she'll survive the end of the extermination. When a demon appears at the alley's end, she expects to go down fighting. Instead, she finds a kindness that did not earn hell like she did.

2.5k fic about Vaggie and Charlie's first meeting and Vaggie's decision to stay with her. I wrote it to give Chaggie some more attention and depth and as practice for making a visual novel (so it's somewhat in that format).

tw injury detail

Vaggie is dying.

She's been dead for decades and she's dying.

And again, no-one will miss her.

Bloody rips in her muscle and skin chafe against her top with every crawl forward. She gasps through her teeth and stops, groaning. Her vision pulses black. Grit bites into her raw hands keeping herself up.

Vaggie: Fuck.

Her back muscles flex instinctively, trying to balance herself with the wings Lute ripped out and strew across the road. Vaggie's eye boils in the hellish air. Everything's on fire.

The only reprieve was in between ripping off her uniform to dump in a bin with her spear and dragging the top off some corpse onto her own.

Pain is hardly unfamiliar. She wished she could forget it. Angels don't feel pain. They don't get hurt.

She stopped being an angel when she spared that sinner.

But they were a child. They posed no threat to heaven. Killing them wouldn't have achieved anything.

Vaggie: Gurgh.

She collapses front-first onto the splintered boards and junk piled at the end of the alley. Metal digs into her side, yet her exhale is almost in relief. She's bared worse.

She's no longer in the open.

Vaggie convulses as her skin is already knitting back together. It sears and itches, covering over each bloody wound. Angelic blood did not belong in Hell or anywhere.

Angelic blood... is gold. She didn't know.

Her breaths quake her whole body. She stares down the alleyway.

Luminescent, gold splotches trail all the way from the street to her body.

Even if the demons wouldn't recognise it, all it would take is to follow it and they could kill her in the grime of a back alley, all while she's wearing a top stolen off an exterminated sinner with Xs over the tits.

Like a sinner deserves.

Blood burns acrid all over the Pride Ring. Vaggie retches as she inhales it. She buries her face against a junk box to cover her choking while she waits.

When the demon arrives, they're a blur of a red suit. They block out the fire Vaggie was squinting against.

She grinds her jaw and readies herself to fight. But her arms don't raise. Her spear is in a bin. How can she fight back?

Demon: Oh. Oh! You're alive! You're alive!

Their voice chimes like music.

Still, demons are nothing but deceptive.

Even if the demon is tall, they're skinny. They rush forward and Vaggie plans to knock out their feet with her own.

Her legs don't move.

The demon falls to their knees before Vaggie. She squirms away. They lift gentle hands that don't yet touch her face.

Demon: You are not going to die! I promise. I promise you that.

With their faces so close, Vaggie sees the demon looks... angelic.

They wear a small smile that they're pushing even bigger for her as if for her benefit. It pushes into apple red cheeks. It shines like the golden, curly hair cascading down their back. They brush Vaggie's hair out of the way of her face, exposing her hollow eye socket.

Demon: Okay, I... can't see your eye anywhere, but lots of demons live with one eye, and they're none the worse for it!

They reach into their blazer and with a gurgle nowhere near words, Vaggie bucks out of their hand.

Demon: No, no, no, don't worry. Don't move. I can bandage your wounds then bring you over to my infirmary to get better. Or at least just bandage your wounds. Please?

They bring out a fresh roll of bandage from their inside pocket.

Even if the skin is reforming, it's thin. Bandaging the wounds will keep them from reopening and from festering with hellish infection.

If the demon wanted to kill her, they wouldn't need to pretend anything. So, Vaggie stills. The demon applies the bandage around her face with care not to aggravate either the injuries or Vaggie.

Vaggie: What are you doing?

Her voice is thick with all the blood and spit in her mouth.

Demon: I am making sure that no more of my people die in the extermination than absolutely need to. Like you.

In every extermination, the only thing more deadly than an angel's blade is how the sinners turn on each other. They'd shove the next closest sinner into her blade instead, only for another angel to gut them through the back.

Vaggie: And you are?

Who would protect them? Why would they help her?

The demon's lilt is as sweet as ever, but there's a bracing to their smile. Their eyes keep flicking to the bandages they're now applying around Vaggie's raw hands.

Demon: I'm Charlie Morningstar.

‘Morningstar’.

…Seriously?

Vaggie: Is that... a coincidence? Charlie Morningstar? Lucifer Morningstar?

Charlie: He's my dad.

Vaggie: You're his...?

Charlie: Yes, I'm his daughter.

Lilith and Lucifer, the roots of human evil, have a daughter. And she is nursing Vaggie's wounds.

Charlie's red blazer and trousers paired with a black bowtie belong in a theatre. The extermination counters sinners, not hellborn demons like her. She shouldn't have been attacked. Still, Vaggie begins to notice blood on her shoes, from walking the Pride Ring during an extermination, and bloody, handprints on her front and arms, from demons shoving her away.

Charlie could have been a threat to them. She could be a threat to Vaggie. Vaggie couldn't know. But Vaggie isn't the only demon she approached this extermination.

Vaggie: You-

The word splinters into coughs. Charlie rests a hand against her head to steady it.

Vaggie: You don't act like a fallen angel.

Vaggie: Thank you.

Charlie's big eyes go bigger, and she stops to stare at Vaggie. Her mouth flaps even before she finds the words.

Charlie: Thank you. Yes, yes, so, is this all okay? How are you feeling now? Do I need to bandage anywhere else?

Vaggie's hand goes to her back without thought. She stops herself; it looked just a twitch. But Charlie's eyes catch it.

Charlie takes one of Vaggie's hands in her own.

Charlie: You know, I can bring you to a little infirmary I've made. You can even stay the night if you'd like to. It's totally rent-free. Please.

Her hands are warm, and not in the choking way Hell is warm. It thaws through Vaggie and brings her back to her first home: the tropical constant of El Savador.

Vaggie is in no condition to fight. Her body trembles to move and the alleyway junk pile is hardly shelter. If Charlie turned on her, Vaggie would find a way out. Healing first. Everything else... later.

She nods.

Vaggie: Thanks. Please.

Charlie: What's your name?

Vaggie: Vaggie.

Charlie: Ohhh... Uh, nice name.

Her attempt to smile is genuine at least.

Vaggie had volunteered to leave her human life behind her when she became an exorcist. What does it matter what she's named? She thought it then and she thought it now. It didn't occur to her to make up a new name. Who cares?

Charlie: Come on, Vaggie, let's get you up!

Charlie, as kindly as she can, drags Vaggie from the alley into a taxi. The driver sneers some inappropriate comments about the two but Charlie meets it with a smile and a wad of cash, which doesn't shut the taxi driver up but it does get her driving. Vaggie mentally notes the location of her spear.

*

Charlie takes them to a lonely high-rise atop a hill of scorched grass. It's lit up with too many lightbulbs but it's intact.

Inside, after a bit more dragging, Charlie lays Vaggie to rest into a bed set close to the entrance and Vaggie sinks into the clean blankets like a kiss against her ripped up body.

Charlie: Don't worry, I'm just getting what you need for your back.

While Charlie sets to gathering disinfectant, water, and bandages from scattered buckets, Vaggie sees she's in a grand hall of empty beds. Every inch of marble floor, every windowsill, and even the start of the staircase is set up with blankets and medical supplies. The beds seem sourced from everywhere in existence. Metal-framed singles that quiver in the breeze next to four-poster kings next to cracked cots next to...

Vaggie: Uhhh.

Charlie must have got most of the beds from some sex clubs that were either destroyed or having a sale. Vaggie is surrounded by love hearts and mirrors and leather and chains.

Thankfully, Vaggie landed on a love heart. She stares up at the pink and the pain briefly melts behind her awkwardness.

Charlie: It's clean! They're all one-hundred percent clean. Scrubbed and new bedsheets. But if you want I can move you to one of the others-

Vaggie: It's... okay.

Her face burns.

Vaggie: Am I the first you brought here?

Charlie: You know, the others I found, they said they were fine without it. It's fine. It gives me more time to focus on you. Now-

Charlie returns to Vaggie and she's shed her blazer. The white button-up underneath brings attention back to her cute bowtie while her suspenders and rolled up sleeves make a handsome shape on her. She was tall, with long arms and long legs to suit it.

Charlie: So, um, how do you want to show me your back?

Vaggie: Huh?

Vaggie splutters a bit, Charlie's voice calls her mind back, but Charlie's apple cheeks seem somehow redder. She lifts the medical supplies in her hands.

Charlie: If you want me to clean the injuries on your back, I'm going to have to, uh, see your back.

Vaggie: Don't worry about it.

Vaggie: I'll take my top off.

Meanwhile, Vaggie's face combusts. She looks again to the love heart on the bed. There is no practical reason to swap.

Charlie: I'm not going to look.

Charlie gives an exaggerated twirl of her legs as she spins around to give Vaggie her privacy.

Vaggie took another look around the grand hall. Although the windows span almost as high as the walls, they're made of individual panes too small for most demons to break through. The arching front doors are thick enough to be weapons of their own right if intruders try to enter. They're alone in the high-rise.

As satisfied as she can be by the security, Vaggie peels off her stolen top and lies on her front on the bed.

Vaggie: You're good.

She hears Charlie turn, then hiss in sympathy.

Charlie: Owwww.

Charlie: They'll heal.

She starts cleaning the two vertical gashes between Vaggie's shoulder blades, but Vaggie's wings are gone. Taken back to Heaven with Lute as proof of her fall.

Vaggie hisses too as the wet rag first hits her back. Her hands claw into the bedsheets.

Charlie: Sorry! This'll be quick. Don't worry.

Vaggie has dealt with worse. She has dealt with worse. She grinds her teeth and focuses on breathing. Charlie starts to rub little circles on her neck to comfort her, which stalls Vaggie.

Charlie: Aaaaaalmost done.

Once they're clean, Charlie covers them with some bandage she sticks across Vaggie's back. Though itching, it's tolerable.

Charlie: You look beautiful!

Charlie: I mean, it all looks nice and clean and you're totally fine now! I'm turning again. You can put on your top again if you want to.

The breath of a laugh escapes Vaggie without her permission.

Vaggie: It's fine.

Her lips quirk strangely. Vaggie didn't expect the first demon she found to be... so cute.

Fuck. If she'd said that up above, Lute's spear would have been through her lungs before Vaggie finished the breath. So, she wouldn't have said anything. But she never looked a demon longer than assessing a target before Charlie. Are these feelings a sign she was always going to fall, or is this because she fell?

Vaggie: You can look again.

Charlie returns with a smile. She rests a hand lightly on Vaggie's arm while she props herself up on her elbows.

Charlie: How are you feeling?

Vaggie: Like shit.

Vaggie: But I'm not dead, because of you.

Vaggie: Is this what you do every year?

Charlie bobs her head from side to side.

Charlie: This is the second year. I try new things, see what works and what I can do next year. I guess people don't need an infirmary as much as I thought, so back to the drawing board!

She gives an attagirl swing of her arm.

Vaggie: And this building. Is this the base for Lilith and Lucifer?

Charlie: No, no, Dad's got his own place. It's a bit deeper into the Pentagram. I got this place for myself. I used to live with my mum but she had some business or something that was very important and she had to leave a few years ago.

Vaggie frowns.

Vaggie: Why did you tell me that?

Charlie's eyes and mouth form perfect Os.

Charlie: You asked, did you not?

Vaggie: I could use this against you. If Lilith's gone, and I know where Lucifer is...

Charlie leans closer to Vaggie and gives her a little nudge with her elbow.

Charlie: But I don't think you will.

Charlie: Thank you, Vaggie. I'm happy someone could be saved.

Vaggie thinks on the child she spared. With the sheer population of Hell and no way to find their name, she'll never know if they got away.

Why can't she regret it?

It makes sense someone like her ended up with the sinners eventually.

Vaggie: Why protect the sinners?

Charlie: Just because you're sinners doesn't mean you should be exterminated. You're still human! Humans have such amazing potential. You can do anything. Who says Hell has to be the end of that?

Vaggie lets her eye fall closed. Charlie is watching her face.

Vaggie: I think you're the more impressive one.

Charlie: Mmph-!

Vaggie peeks her eye back open but Charlie's turned her head with her fluster.

Charlie: That's a nice thing for you to say.

When she's turned, Vaggie can see tears in the side of her shirt, like a clawed hand punctured it.

Vaggie: Do the sinners hurt you?

Charlie: No, no, they don't hurt me. Not like that.

Vaggie: You're doing a good thing, Charlie.

Everything from Charlie's eyes to her voice shines with sincerity. She's nothing like the sinners Vaggie has seen or the demons she's heard of.

Of the two of them, only Vaggie earnt her place in Hell.

If she was made to defend, maybe this can be her penance.

Vaggie: Is anyone else working with you?

She tried to phrase it neutrally but Charlie gasps with delight.

Charlie: Do you want to stay? You absolutely absolutely can!

Vaggie: I'll make sure no-one hurts you-

Charlie throws her arms forward as if to hug her, before remembering Vaggie's back wounds and jerking to a stop. Vaggie's insides lurch with some disappointment, before she also chides herself.

Charlie: I've got plenty of rooms upstairs for you! You get to choose. And if there's anything you need, just tell ol' Charlie and she'll sort it.

She keeps nattering her niceties, not particularly checking whether Vaggie is listening.

Vaggie's in a bed taken from a Hell sex club, under the asylum of the daughter of Lilith and Lucifer. Just breathing reminds her of the tears down her back and in her skull where her wings and eye were ripped from her. She spared a demon. She fell from the angels. She didn't deserve to smile.

Still, she is, however slightly.

[mercymaker]

so we had a fake wedding episode in the grand bloodstorm adventure, but get ready the new season's about to start and we're opening with some drama

astarion and mal are trying to track down a relic that's rumored to have the power of protecting a vampire from the sun. neat. they find out that its last known location is at some ancient noble house's castle, so they go there but they get caught sneaking around.

fully expecting to have to fight their way out of there, both of them are surprised when the lord of the house instead offers a warm welcome to his house, taking particular interest in mal, showering her with attention and gifts.

he also reveals that the relic has been lost to the surrounding woods after their house was attacked by outsiders, but both astarion and mal are quite suspicious of that version, so they stick around to find out more. while mal focuses on charming her way into the lord's heart so he'd tell her the truth, astarion goes out into the surrounding town to gather information.

turns out, the local legend tells that the relic is, in fact, still somewhere in the woods, as when the invading forces attacked, the lady of the house took all of their most important belongings, shoved them into a bag, strapped that to a horse that she then tried to flee the castle with, but was shot down by archers and fell to the enemy as the horse galloped deep into the woods. it's said that the horse was eaten by a giant demonic bear, but the treasure still remains somewhere. and that leads various parties to venture out into the forest to seek it.

astarion decides to join one such party, if not to find the treasure, then at the very least to get more information. he leaves maleane alone with the lord, who seems to be quite infatuated with her. mal reassures her lover that she can handle herself in case something happens. she's a sorcerer, after all.

the vampire spawn & the gang set a small camp out in the woods after traveling for most of the evening. they drink and tell stories over the fire and astarion starts sneakily peppering in questions to get the information he needs. one of the drunk men decides to go on a bit of a spooky retelling of the most horrific event he had witnessed. the great attack on their town by the most brutal monsters. it happened over three decades ago, when he was just a little boy.

they came in the night, with their intricate armors, their swords and their arrows and their daggers in the dark. some of the commoners fell to poison before any blades could lick their throats. those that didn't flee in time were either massacred or put in chains and dragged back to the underdark to be used and sold as slaves. both the lord and the lady of the house were brutally slaughtered in the ritual known as the blooding, leaving their only son an orphan.

oh, so the guy's entire family was killed by drow? and who is he currently hosting in his massive castle? hmm, yes, another drow.

but not to worry! he dressed mal in the finest of silks and set up the most elaborate dinner for just the two of them. an array of intricate pastries, wild salmon and spit-roasted steak, and, of course, a flagon of his favorite wine to wash it all down.

they talk over the dinner, maleane slowly trying to poke and prod for more information about the relic and what happened to it. the lord, eventually unravels the same story that astarion heard over the campfire, and as the puzzle pieces slowly slide into their places, mal suddenly feels lightheaded. her breathing starts to become erratic as she struggles to catch her breath. and when she rises from the table, in a frantic attempt to flee, her legs feel like they're full of lead. the same petrifying feelings spreads throughout the rest of her body, pulling her to the ground in an instant.

as she gasps for air to fill her failing lungs, the lord walks right to her, watching the paralyzed drow fight the effects of the poison, and tells her how much he hates her kind. how long he's been dreaming of this moment, to get his hands on one of the monsters that took everything from him. how they all are the same. how he's going to peel the skin off her flesh, bit by bit. he chuckles at her panic, at soft wheezing coming from her throat. he wasn't sure how much of the poison to pour in her glass. after all, drow are known to be resistant to most of them. perhaps he gave her a bit too much. but it doesn't matter. by the time it wears off she won't be able to escape.

he then drags her to his personal quarters, a little dark room with chains and cages, a large wooden table stacked with books and scrolls and sketches. everything you need to know about drow and more. he takes the beautiful soft gown off her body and shackles her wrists and ankles to a rack.

a beautiful monster, he calls her, dragging his fingers from her cheek, down to her breast. yet, soon his hand is replaced with a dagger. this is more than just revenge. it's something darker and deeper. the obsession with drow, all that hatred and rage latched on something else entirely. the want to have her, to own her, to break and hurt her again and again and again, for years and years. because that's how long he's been carrying all that venom inside. it's not going to be over soon, maleane realizes.

it's almost a relief when it's his hand touching her again instead of a blade. but she knows that the intent behind the gesture is just as sharp as the bite of a dagger. she can't utter an incantation. she can't move her body to channel her magic. it's been so long that she felt this helpless.

then she feels her mind start to slip, drifting away somewhere. the lord's unhinged ramblings turn into echoes from a distant room. the throbbing pain softens into an almost-numbness. for just a brief moment, maleane is not there.

it's the odd shift in the surroundings that drags her right back into the dark cell. a sudden, violent gurgling sound. when she looks up, all mal sees is red. the blood pouring out of the lord's mouth and throat. the shock still frozen in his eyes before his body collapses just as hers did before. and then, two red irises, framed by a set of worried brows, staring at her. astarion.

[dutchforstrangers]

Ten times ten more - A Taiora drabble for Mother's Day (with a little announcement from my side)

I'm back! Kind of. At the beginning of 2023 I had so many plans on how to immerse myself in everything fandom again. How to fight back from the drama and demons chasing me. But life had other plans.

This little drabble is the first thing I wrote in a long time, so please be kind to me. It's a Taiora -as expected from me- with a hidden announcement in it! Saved for this Mother's Day occasion ;)

Based on true, personal events (:

Taiora drabble | Genre: Family | Characters: Sora Takenouchi (POV) x Taichi Yagami | Wordcount: 875

Ten times ten more

Her eyes shifted from the window to the object lying on top of the toilet’s basin. She was convinced the light was playing tricks on her, exposing suspicions only the object could know. Cause she felt fine, didn’t she? Besides, there were still ten seconds left on the timer.

To kill time, taking the unusual order, she lifted herself off of the toilet and walked to the sink to wash her hands. Slower than ever, Sora’s feet dragged her back to the toilet. To flush it, but also to take one last quick look. Her head was sure it was the way the light complimented the little object’s window. Deep down her heart, however, already knew what she was going to find.

Sora’s eyes were quick and before she could even flush the toilet, she had already seen the second line that had indeed appeared and had become more clear. No doubt.

Her jaw dropped as she took the stick in her hand and brought it closer to her face. Two clear lines. It was her heart that knew first and immediately started to skip beat after beat. She had to sit down, the first thing she could find to sit on being the still not flushed toilet. Feelings of utter disbelief and pure yet unexpected happiness mixed, alternating her state continuously. All the while her eyes were glued to the object, the thing shaking between her trembling fingers.

“T-Taichi…?” Sora yelled from the toilet.

Thoughts were racing through her head, her body was numbed. They had just been making jokes about pregnancy and babies, this test was just for fun. There was no way this was actually true and happening, not after the amount of stress she had experienced in the past weeks. Sora remembered how sick she had been mere weeks ago, how her body betrayed her with it after all the hard work she and Taichi had put into buying their first house together. In Sora’s eyes, it was her body signaling it wasn’t ready for more hard work and most definitely not now.

Life, apparently, had decided differently. It had its own little ways so it seemed.

“Yes?” Taichi answered casually from the kitchen.

“Can you please come to the bathroom? I’ve got to show you something…”

Sora could hear him drop his progressing breakfast and within seconds he was at the bathroom’s door.

“What’s it?” He answered, his head thoughtfully peeking around the corner first.

Sora looked up, catching his deep brown, concerned looking eyes. She inhaled deeply, all of a sudden, time seeming to creep by very slow. She turned her hand with the stick in it to him, showing Taichi the little treasure she was holding.

“It’s positive. I’m pregnant,” she stated matter-of-factly. Her eyes scanning his expression for any hint of emotion or judgement, she saw images of the future flashing in front of her eyes. The future with him and the creature carefully forming inside the cozy nest her body was providing. It was at that moment realization hit, water formed in her eyes. “Taichi, we’re expecting!”

A sharp exhale escaped him and realization hit him as well. Taichi shook his head, taking the test from her hands.

“How… Why… I-is this real…? Sora, did you just take this…?!”

Sora nodded in response, but not for Taichi to see, as he had already captured her in his warm embrace.

Awkward laughing and smiling from the same utter disbelief as well as pure yet unexpected happiness Sora had felt before, filled the little bathroom. Speechlessness was what was left and together they let themselves fall to the floor.

They stayed there for ten minutes, almost making the second line vanish with their staring. Little words were exchanged, feelings and thoughts taking the upper hand.

It had been ten seconds turning into ten minutes. Those ten minutes turned into ten hours. Ten hours into ten days, into ten weeks and finally into nearly a ten weeks more.

Week 23.

The belly had popped. Ultrasounds had all been good so far, the heartbeat sounding like magical music, making everything even more real. Rumbling intestines had made their way for baby kicks every now and then. Disrupted sleep patterns made Sora tired, but the stomach acid kept her up and awake during the day.

Not that it mattered, because in the end, it would all be worth it.

Sora smiled looking down at the card she was holding in her hands, amazed by the amount of words he apparently had been able to find.  

Just 17 more weeks and we can meet our little creation!

I can’t wait to hold her and play football with her, it’s that exciting. But because she’s only kicking balls inside of you for now, I get to put all of that excitement into you.

Sora, I’m so, so, so proud of you. You amaze me as a friend, a lover and a mom. Even though you’re not really a mom yet. To me though, you’re already one! And always have been.

Happy first kind of Mother’s Day to you, love! And I hope to spend at least 10 x 10 more of those with you and our little family.

[iknowthvnd]

BASICS full name; gabriela chavez / age; 25/44 / species; demon / nicknames; gabi, tbd / gender; non-binary / prounouns; she/they / sexuality; pansexual / marital status; married to tyler lockwood / occupation; runs the b&b with her husband, working on putting her degree into action / location: the french quarter

PERSONALITY the label; the chariot / positive traits; adaptable, dependable, confident, devoted, protective / negative traits; impatient, stubborn, revengeful, prideful / sign; leo

FAMILY gabriela doesn't know anything about her birth parents and has never really searched for them either. finding family in devyn and also the one tyler and her started together. / siblings; devyn chavez (open) / husband; tyler lockwood / children; kaya, maddison, tbd

BACKGROUND

tw: suicide, drugs, abandonment, death, sexual assault

-gabriela was born during a hot summer in 2004. to a family in new orleans who simply just couldn't afford a child at the time. they left her on the front steps of a local catholic church, wrapped in a old green scarf, the only token from her birth parents.

-unfortunately, despite her best attempts, she was never adopted. growing up in the orphanage, she grew close to a girl her age named devyn. she too had been brought into the orphanage at a young age and was placed in the same predicament. the two bonded over the family they found in each other and pinky promised, something very sacred to a 7 year old, becoming sisters related in everything but blood.

-devyn and her went to the same college when they became of age, this was something that gabriela thrived in, her thirst for more knowledge once having the right resources became a driving force in her academic life. being in this type of environment also caused her social life to grow. sadly this wasn't the case for devyn, who later in turn struggled with drugs, after being sexually assaulted on school campus.

-gabriela tried to help her sister get back on track, but eventually devyn began to self medicate. although gabriela loved devyn, she often resented the bad decisions she would later make.

-graduating with a bachelor's degree in environmental engineering, she took an internship and became very busy trying to reach her end career goal of providing more sustainable energy to the residents of new orleans. devyn had dropped out and never graduated, and as gabriela became busy, the two grew apart and didn't see each other.

-one night when gabriela was getting ready for party to celebrate her nomination at the ernest n. morial convention center, devyn showed up asking for money. not even acknowledging all the hard work that gabi had put herself through to make sure her sister got the proper treatments. distraught and broken down, gabi threw money all the money she had in her purse at devyn before storming out. later after taking some time to think and breathe, gabi returned only to find her sister had overdosed.

-despite all her best attempts to resuscitate her sister, it didn't work and gabi broke down blaming herself for what happened. suddenly a stranger named arcadius appeared, showing her a vision of devyn suffering in hell. before he could even propose the deal, she jumped a the chance offering her soul to bring her sister back. there was more to the deal though, she also was charged with bringing him the souls of the wicked for as long as he deemed fit. once her sister was breathing again, gabi was dragged into a hell dimension where she was a servant for arcadius.

-becoming a demon sent gabi on a journey of all things gender and being and even became one of the best soul bringers that arcadius had ever seen. but then it all changed when she met tyler lockwood. on a full moon he killed a camper by accident, watching as he mourned the victim, it was then that they saw into his mind and was able to realize that there wasn't any evil lurking there. tyler only suffered from anguish and remorse, something that struck a chord due to the way her sister had suffered.

-this fateful night changed everything for gabriela, she became less malevolent and manipulate, feeling remorse for their past victims, something unusual for a demon.

-after meeting tyler, it was impossible for her to want to be with anyone else. he helped find a loophole that restored gabi's soul from arcadius. later the two started a family, the child became an anchor from the darkness they still possessed.

-being a mom is really fulfilling for gabi, she taught her kids to be good people with values and hearts of gold. making sure that none of them felt as if they weren't enough for this world. a lot of her being a mother, involved the type of parenting she would've flourished in. (since these spots are still open, this will remain tbd. however the kids can be adopted or biological, all is welcome.)

BASICS full name; josette olivia saltzman / nicknames; josie / age; 25 / gender; cis-female / pronouns; she/her / sexuality; pansexual / martial status; single / occupation; curator at NOMA / location; the garden district /

PERSONALITYthe label; the archer / positive traits; level headed, bright / negative traits; co-dependent, passive / sign; gemini

FAMILYbiological mother; josette saltzman / biological father; alaric saltzman / surrogate mother; caroline forbes / step-father; klaus mikaleson / faternal twin; lizzie saltzman / step-siblings; hope mikaelson, nikolas mikaelson, william mikaelson

BACKGROUND

tw; death

-josie saltzman was born in 2014 and considered a miracle, both her and her twin sister lizzie were born thanks to magic. a spell that saved both of them, caused her to have a different parental history than most. her mother josette, was killed by their uncle kai. growing up she only knew her mother as caroline forbes, who she loves deeply. mystic falls isn't a place she knows very well, having to leave once it was deemed free of supernaturals.

-growing up in new orleans. she visited art museums in her free time and became close friends with local witches. the mikaelson boarding school of the gifted was a wonderful place for her to grow and learn her magic. being near powerful witches such as freya mikaelson and vincent grifith showed her that she too could hold that much inside her without turning bad. yet dark magic is something that would always find her. she still turns to it in times of desperation, despite her twin sisters pleas.

-yet despite their parents best attempts, the merge couldn't be stopped. causing both her and lizzie to go through with it, even though neither them consented. in the end josie won and it broke her far more than she could ever explain. causing her to go into a deep depression for a few years.

-hope and josie went on a trip to europe after the merge, both of them devastated with the loss of lizzie. the two began to dabble in black magic, among other things. they ended up finding comfort in each other, both acting on the crushes they held for each other as teens. but the two were far too broken for any of that to work. it ended on terms that weren't exactly great, josie left to go back to new orleans to study art. lizzie's words about dark magic and it's dangers ringing in her mind.

-it took a bit of time, but she began to love art again. getting a degree in art history and working as a curator at NOMA. something she hoped lizzie would be proud of. yet she was also a bit of recluse, she would go to work and then go back to her apartment where she would fill her time with anything other than human connection.

-things are changing however, now the dead are back, somehow this curse created a loophole, allowing lizzie to come back despite the merge happening. (since this role is still open, i will leave it tbd.

BASICS full name; eleanor hildegard / nicknames; ellie, nell, el / age; 23 / gender; cis-female / pronouns; she/her / sexuality; pansexual / martial status; single / occupation; none / location; marigny bywater,

PERSONALITY the label; the paracosmist / positive traits; selfless, gentle / negative traits; paranoid, brazen / sign; pisces

FAMILY biological mother; erin last name unknown / biological father; marcus last name unknown / adoptive parents; nora & mary-louise hildegard / adoptive siblings; mau hildegard

BACKGROUND

tw; death, abuse, drugs, addiction, anxiety, depression

-eleanor was born to a fairly normal family, her mother worked as a teacher and her father a truck driver. they were a normal middle class family that seemed to get along. until one day when they got into a car accident, the only one safe was her since she was in a car seat, only 3. this changed the course of her entire life, the doctors gave both her parents pain medicine and from there they were hooked.

-they tried really hard to take care of her and also get their fix, but the system only lasted for so long. one day they left her at home alone and the neighbor found her, she was 6 years old and unable to care for herself fully. from there she was placed in the foster system.

-she managed to thrive in the local orphanage, having a resilient energy that grew from her time with her parents. they sent her to school and she grew to love english the most, wanting to read everything possible once having access to a library.

-at the age of 8, she was adopted by nora and mary, or as she'd like to call them thelma and louise. the two of them cared for her very deeply, helping her with night terrors and depressive episodes. she wasn't able to tell her feelings to anyone, unable to trust thanks to the damage caused by her parents. yet they never gave up on her, giving her time to open up and find the words for all her feelings.

-as a teen, she did well in school, keeping close to her adoptive family and spending her time reading. people viewed her as an odd book worm, but since she was kind and pretty they didn't bully her too much. yet she didn't have many friends, that was until college.

-in her freshman year of college, she flourished, learning to find her voice and with the encouragement of friends and teachers, began to write a memoir. the whole thing was meant to be published until her tragic death, it was at the hands of someone she trusted, however it was an accident. since she was so young and meant to be published, her death made headlines.

-she has now been brought back to life, confused and unsure of her place in the world.

BASICS full name; hayley marshall (andrea labonair)/ age; 20/49 / species; crescent wolf/hybrid / nicknames; little wolf / gender; cis-female / prounouns; she/her / sexuality; pansexual / marital status; married to elijah mikaelson / occupation; teaches the art of defense at the mikaelson boarding school / location: the french quarter

PERSONALITY the label; the soiled dove / positive traits; loving, sensual, compassionate, sentimental, loyal, adaptable, dependable, brave, protective / negative traits; impatient, stubborn, vengeful, quick-tempered, impulsive, sarcastic / sign; cancer

FAMILY husband; elijah mikaelson / children; hope & charlie, (2 others are open)

BACKGROUND

tw: abandonment, death, abuse

-everything on this website up to the season finale of season three is canon.

-after securing the mikaelson family after being posioned, hayley takes hope on a roadtrip in hopes of finding a cure. while doing this she does everything in her power to learn more about the magic her daughter possess, wanting to be a guiding light in all of this. after a few years, she leaves hope with mary dumas to go to austin texas to find a pack that might have answers.

-while in austin, texas she meets keelin (this will be tbd since this character is open, but basically i'd like for hayley to be nicer about the whole cure thing ha).

-all of her hardwork pays off and she is finally able to bring the siblings out of their slumber and back into the real world. it's an emotional reunion, one that doesn't last long since klaus is still in marcel's prison.

-after managing to get klaus back, he finally is able to meet his daughter. it has been years since they've seen each other but she has promised to keep his memory alive. later she finally tells elijah that she has done things she regrets to get all of them back, killed and betrayed to cover her tracks. it's something she that makes her feel heavy to this day.

-to be continued

[filsanthesplatoonnerd]

The Smallest Coffins Weigh The Heaviest

Summary: Bored of staying inside the orphanage all day, Rei takes Yu outside to catch fireflies at night. Little did they know that such a simple, innocent intention would lead to their demise.

(This takes place about a century before the present Puyo Puyo games. Keep in mind that the twins’ personalities were switched during their lifetime)

Characters: Yu and Rei, Ayashii

Warnings: Blood and Gore, Character death, Swearing, Alcohol

“Yu! Yu! Wake up, you’re gonna miss breakfast!”, Rei eagerly chirped, shaking his twin sister back and forth.

Yu woke up to the blinding rays of the sun, as usual, she didn’t have a care in the world. The little girl rubbed her eyes and dragged herself out of bed, Rei having his arm around her shoulder.

The twins arrived to the dining table, only to be greeted by the director of the orphanage giving them the stink eye.

“Now, what took you two munchkins forever?”, he asked, unamused. Yu and Rei stared at the director and then each other.

“I’m so sorry Miss director, Yu had a terrible nightmare last night, so she had some trouble sleeping.”

“Oh! In that case I’m sorry for judging you too quickly.” The middle aged woman kneeled down to comfort Yu, “Are you alright now, Yu?”

“Yeah I guess…”, she responded tugging at her sweater. “Rei, let’s eat now, I guess”

“Yay! Pancakes!”

The twins joined the other young children in eating breakfast. Soon enough, they had eaten to their fill and they were ready to go on with their day. Well, except Yu.

The poor girl never understood the value of life and always wondered why people would care about such a thing. That’s why her nightmare that previous night was so horrific; It was dream where she was forced into living eternally.

Her brother, Rei, in stark contrast, loved his live and is terrified at the thought of having to leave the world one day, or losing anybody he loved.

While all the children, including Rei, frolicked outdoors, Yu simply sat on a bench, staring aimlessly at the bundles of clouds, lost in her thoughts about the confusion of life and death.

“Wouldn’t it be better if Rei and I just… became ghosts? Then we can see our parents again, right?” She said mentally. Their parents were tragically murdered when the twins were just five years old. Their bodies were never recovered, but rumor had it that they were killed by the notoriously corrupt Book Demon, Ayashii.

Yu had heard many stories about Ayashii from the elders who often read stories to them at the orphanage, and they often scared Rei and the other children senseless. She, however, still doubted his existence.

At nighttime…

The children prepared for bed after such a long day, but Rei had different plans. He walked up to Yu and gave her a net.

“A net? But why?”

“It’s firefly season, didn’t you hear? Let’s sneak out of this musty old place and catch fireflies instead!”

“Fine, I guess.”

Yu and Rei cautiously snuck out of the building and ran into the woods. As Rei said, there were dozens and dozens of fireflies.

Yu’s eyes widened in amazement at the fireflies. It was like the lights at a festival. The twins began catching as many flies as they could, giggling and twirling around.

“She’s actually happy!”, Rei said to himself.

But at that moment, all of the fireflies suddenly dropped dead, much to Yu and Rei’s dismay.

“What the heck just happened?!”, Rei muttered.

“I don’t know…”, Yu answered.

All got worse when they heard faint footsteps from the distance. They both shivered and ducked in a nearby bush. The footsteps drew near followed by a man’s sinister chuckle.

“R-Rei, it’s…”, Yu whispered.

“It’s who?!”, Rei whispered back.

“It’s… him”, Yu replied in horror.

“The one who killed our parents?!”, Rei said, but his voice rose uncontrollably, exposing them.

The man drew even closer and destroyed the bush with his magic. Yup. It was the devil himself, Ayashii. The twins screamed at the sight of his menacing red eyes and the bloodstained cleaver in his right hand, making the demon grin sadistically.

“Awww, how adorable, you little kids thought that you could get away from me? How foolish indeed.”, he giggled with a devilish smile.

“S-stay away! Don’t you d-dare hurt us!”, Rei pleaded.

“My friend, you can’t control fate. But the irony here is that I am the one controlling your fate, and you can’t do a thing about it!”, he began to laugh maniacally as he effortlessly pinned Yu down with one foot and Rei in his left hand.

“NO! LET GO OF US!!!”, Rei yelled but Ayashii didn’t relent. He slammed the blue haired boy to the ground and chopped his leg off with one swing of the cleaver.

“AAAAAUUUUGHHH!!!”

“Rei NO!!”, Yu cried in horror. Her brother was now helplessly screaming in agony as tears were torrenting down her face like a waterfall.

“Now onto you, young lady!”, he picked up his half full bottle of wine and smashed it into Yu’s face, covering it with blood and wine as Yu went unconscious.

Ayashii sighed, “Well, I had to do something with that last half of the bottle.” He grabbed the two children by their sweaters and took them to the top of a mountain.

He dangled their tormented, tortured, ruined bodies by the edge, “Say your last words.”

“B-but, she’s unconsci-“

“SAY. YOUR. LAST. WORDS.”

“Okay fine! Y-Yu if you can h-hear me, I-I’m so sorry!! We’re both gonna die because of me!!”, Rei choked out, sobbing.

“It’s…not your fault Rei.”, Yu whispered, gaining consciousness.

“Really?!”, Rei said but before any of them could say another word…

“Adieu, twins.”

Ayashii dropped them down, ultimately killing the poor children. He licked all the blood off his cleaver and smiled to himself.

“They were no use to me alive, but perhaps their corpses could be useful as a nice decoration for my home.. heh heh~”

[angsty-prompt-hole]

Character Introduction: Catalyst Main Characters

WIP: Catalyst

The main group of protagonists consists of Cariad, Magnus, Valeria, and Aislin, shapeshifters from one of the three Orders featured in Catalyst. In addition to the core four, there are three other important characters from much farther back in the past, whose story we also follow as the main action unfolds. These three are Lily, Twist, and Micah.

Cariad: Cariad is the de facto leader of the core four, mostly because he is the only one with any semblance of impulse control. He comes from the Order of the Blazing Leaf, which is typically characterized as bold and brave. Cariad was never much for shenanigans, until he met Magnus that was. The two bonded super fast, and it was then that Cariad discovered that he just likes to collect outcasts and absorb them into his friend group. His favorite form is a tiger, and he does take on a lot of cat-like traits. He is insanely loyal and he can and will obliterate anyone who messes with his friends.

Magnus: Magnus is an experimenter first and a person second. He loves tinkering around with things and trying new stuff, which leads to a lot of mishaps. He and Cariad met when one of his inventions went awry and nearly blew both of them up. He also gets along really well with Aislin, probably because he wasn’t freaked out by her being half demon. Instead, he was instantly intrigued and decided to devote an obscene amount of time to helping her figure out her powers and abilities. His favorite thing to turn into is a hawk, and he is from the Order of the Misted Lake.

Valeria: Valeria embodies the bold and brash characterization of the Order of the Blazing Leaf. She is loud, bombastic, and down to fistfight literally anyone. One day she crashed a group meeting between the other three and then she kind of just kept following them around until they let her join the group. She is incredibly strong and her readiness to punch literally anyone in the face makes her a good fighter. She has also designated herself Aislin’s best friend, much to Aislin’s chagrin. Her favorite form to turn into is a black bear.

Aislin: Aislin is from the Order of the Crescent Moon, which is not a fun place to be when you are half demon. Her non-demon father sees her as a disgrace, and she is often looked down upon by the other Order members. The only ones that seem to trust and accept her are her friends. She met Cariad and Magnus by coincidence one day when she was attempting to run away, and they convinced her to stay. Often surly and angry, Aislin can be hard to get along with, but the others are persistent, and they refuse to stop caring about her. As a half demon, Aislin has a demon form she can shift into in addition to her regular abilities, but in her demon form she is basically feral, and has little control over herself. Her favorite thing to turn into is a panther.

Lily: Formerly a member of the Order of the Misted Lake, Lily is cursed to never die, and has wandered the world of Emoria for over a century. She was banished from the Orders for killing her sister Twist, and her face was burned to mark her as a dangerous outcast. However, there is a lot of secrecy and misdirection over what actually happened that day when Lily stabbed Twist on the shore of the lake, and the Orders seem intent on keeping the events of that day a secret. Her favorite thing to turn into is a wolf.

Rylia “Twist”: A member of the Order of the Blazing Leaf, Twist was a bright and joyful person, always dragging her much moodier sister out on adventures with her and her boyfriend Micah. She was murdered by Lily, and some have reported seeing her ghost around the lake on the anniversary of her death. Whether this is true or not is unknown, and the Orders seem to want to keep it that way. Her favorite thing to turn into was an otter.

Micah: Micah was Twist’s boyfriend, a member of the Order of the Blazing Leaf, and the only known witness of Twist’s murder. He was a little bit of a troublemaker and always had some sort of trick up his sleeve. However, he was truly devoted to Twist, and was devastated by her death. He was said to have died of a broken heart decades later, but his death, much like Twist’s, is shrouded in mystery, and it seems to be a secret the Orders are intent on keeping. His favorite form was a grizzly bear.

Tag List: @multi-lefaiye​

[angrenwen]

"

I could have been more tactful with the old dear, I suppose, but I didn’t have it in me just then. “Lady,” I said, folding my arms and glaring at her, “I am very tired, and very hungry, and being tired and hungry makes me very cranky, so I’d really appreciate it if you could get to the fucking point. You’re a ghost. This is one of those haunted hotels that lure in travellers to sacrifice them to demons or beg them to break curses or whatever. Fine. That’s on me. Shouldn’t have been suckered in. But enough with the veiled warnings. Just tell me what you want.”

The old woman hissed softly, like a startled cat, but she didn’t vanish on me. That was good. The really timid spirits did, and it was annoying as shit. Then she shook herself and cocked her head. “I see,” she said, her voice stronger but less human-sounding. Ghost voices don’t have the body of a human voice, unless they really work at it. “You’re not… ordinary.”

“That’s an understatement.” I pinched the bridge of my nose. “Okay. You’re here. You’re trying to warn people off, so you’re not a willing participant in whatever’s going on here. I don’t mind releasing you, because I personally find the binding of unconsenting spirits to be a disgusting abomination, but if you don’t get to the point I’m going to get even testier than I am now.”

“We’re bound here.” The night-auditor was in the doorway, three or four shadowy figures behind her. I heard a faint murmur that suggested there were more further back where I couldn't see. “He traps us, and kills us, and then we’re still trapped.”

“Okay, there’s a he. Necromancer?”

“Not exactly,” the old woman said grimly. “It’s the fear that sustains him, the fear and the suffering. Do you know how long it takes someone to starve to death?”

“About a month, usually.”

“He can usually drag it out to at least two, by allowing a little food now and then. An illusion of hope.” The old woman looked bitter. “I was the first. This was my house. He came, one night, and I opened my door to a lost traveller. I’ve had many long years to regret that.”

I allowed myself a small growl. That wasn’t just evil, it was rude. “Well, he made a mistake this time, just like you did.” I paused. “He’s not a demon or something is he? Because that takes special equipment, and I’m not sure I have enough wormwood in the car.”

“No, he’s no demon. Only a mortal magician who draws power from the suffering of others.” This was a spirit who hadn’t spoken before, a man with the pouchy, drooping look of a stout man who’d lost a lot of weight before he died. He looked shrewd, though, and the look he gave me was assessing. “He’s living.”

“Oh, good. In that case, lead me to him.” I felt in my pockets for the charm I’d picked up six small towns ago. I tend to tap out protective charms fairly quickly, but this one still had some life in it. She’d been a gifted witch, that one… and a good kisser, too. I’d try to stop by there again soon.

They led me down to the cellar, and showed me the hidden door. In theory, the door couldn’t be opened from the outside. In practice, most doors open once you put your fist through them and then rip them right off their hinges. That sounds impressive, but behind the disguising layer of dried clay it was one of those flimsy modern doors that’s basically made of laminated paper and plywood a toddler could break through.

I went through the door fast, not wanting to give him time to get a spell ready if he didn’t already have one going. He hadn’t been expecting me to come through the door - I got a look into his scrying mirror over his shoulder, and he was watching my car. Probably getting ready to pixie-lead me back to the hotel when I tried to leave, the normal next step in this game.

I’d taken him completely by surprise. He managed one hex-bolt, which I shrugged off, and then I had hold of him. Like most of the spider-types, who let their webs do their hunting for them, he wasn’t physically strong or fast. I am.

Much more so than any human.

It felt fitting, that a man who starved and tormented his prey should find that he’d caught a bigger predator than he was. I didn’t drop the body until I’d drained it of every accessible drop of blood. We don’t usually do that, despite the stories. We’re still equipped with all the usual human organs, and a human stomach is not designed to hold five liters of fluid in a hurry. Ours do get a bit bigger, over time, taking up some of the space in the abdomen that the atrophied bowel doesn’t need any more, but I still felt as bloated as a tick when I finally dropped him.

“I needed that,” I admitted, licking a trace of blood off my lips and tucking the feeding fangs away behind my teeth. “Thank you.”

The ghosts might have feared a vampire in life, but they all looked delighted now. They clearly appreciated the poetry of the man who had starved them being devoured before their eyes. “At least he left someone with a full belly,” the girl who’d posed as a night auditor said with satisfaction. They were already looking less… real, and less human. Without magical anchoring, ghosts who have been dead for a while can’t usually pass for living any more. There were at least thirty of them, all up. He'd been here for a long time.

“His spells still bind us here,” the formerly-stout man said, tugging on something I couldn’t see with spectral hands. “Can you undo them?”

“Technically, no. Most vampires aren’t magicians.” I grinned at him. “But here’s an interesting fact. Phosphorus fires burn magic. That’s why so many vampire and magician strongholds are burned down.”

He grinned back, a deaths-head grin that would have frightened someone mortal. “And you have phosphorus?”

“Got some in the car. I’ll go get it as soon as the sun goes down and set this place alight.”

We had a nice chat until sundown. The old lady showed me around, and I filled a few boxes with antiques and other valuables or items of sentimental value that she didn’t want torched. I put all the identifiable stuff the wizard had taken from his victims - IDs, rings, engraved watches, that sort of thing - in a separate box, and buried it with enough juice from the corpse that any dog, sniffer trained or otherwise, would go straight to it. The ghosts’ bodies were all buried under the floor of the cellar, they said, so once the fire was out and the investigation started, they’d be found.

Of course not all vampires are alike. We’re as different as any humans are from each other. But most of us feel a certain kinship with our fellow dead, especially the ones who didn’t go by choice. I volunteered to be turned, but I know plenty who didn’t, and I don’t care for that any more than I do for binding spirits. It was a pleasure to be able to help them out, and make sure their families found out what happened to them.

It doesn’t take much phosphorus to set a fire. When I drove away, the house was already ablaze, and the ghosts had vanished.

Or so I thought. Three miles down the road, I looked in my rear view mirror and saw a familiar face. “Haunting the photographs, huh?”

The old lady shrugged. “I can if I want to.”

“I’m not judging. Anywhere you want me to take them?”

She beamed. “Somewhere interesting. A museum or something, where there are a lot of people and interesting things to see.”

So yeah, I’m basically the reason there’s a haunted 200-year-old patchwork quilt hanging in the Texas Quilt Museum. I donated it, along with the picture of my old lady’s grandmother (who made the quilt) and the old lady (who I credited with the donation). Nobody seems to have noticed yet, except a local witch who’s started hanging out there to get knitting advice from the old lady.

You know, vampires get a bad rap, but we really do a lot of good for the community… in our own way.

#

Note: To my knowledge, there isn’t a haunted quilt in the Texas Quilt Museum. But the museum itself exists, which is very neat, and it looks well worth the visit even without a ghost."





The Late Traveller

I should have known, of course.

A little old hotel in the middle of nowhere, with a creaking wooden sign instead of neon? Red flag.

A hollow-eyed, weary-looking young woman at the desk who seemed hesitant to let me get a room? Red flag.

A picturesquely old-fashioned room with a patchwork quilt on the bed that smells a little too musty? HUGE red flag.

Only they’re actually not. Not the first two, anyway. I travel a lot. There are a lot more seems-haunted old-house-turned-traveller’s-rest places than most people think, and in my experience most night auditors are hollow-eyed, faintly eldritch, and disinclined to let someone check in just before dawn.

Of course, the patchwork quilt should have been a dead giveaway. Tired 80s decor and a chenille bedspread? Entirely normal. Patchwork quilt and nineteenth century charm for less than $100 a night? Sus. Very sus. Should have warned me then and there.

In my defense, I was really tired. I’d been driving for two nights and a day, I was exhausted, all my car snacks were gone, and I just wanted to close my eyes and get horizontal. I handed over some cash, stumbled upstairs, made sure the blinds were down, and passed out.

I didn’t wake up until late afternoon, and I felt like shit on a shingle when I did. It took me a couple of attempts to put on my pants and stumble out of the room to look for some sustenance. My expectations weren’t high, but most places at least have coffee-making facilities, and in a pinch a cup of coffee and chugging all the available milk will keep me going for a while. There might even be some of those little packages of cookies, which usually give me an upset stomach but are better than nothing.

There wasn’t a coffee station. What there was was a vending machine with a buzzing, flickering light inside it that made the dusty snacks look even less appealing than they already did.

I was debating whether to risk a can of soda of unknown brand and vintage - sugar and caffeine don’t readily go bad, and I was starving - when I heard a little cough behind me. “Are you a guest, dear?” the old woman said when I turned around to blink at her. She was thin and tottering, faded-looking, and while there weren’t actually cobwebs on her, she looked as if there should be.

“Yes. Is there a kitchen or something where I can get some food from this century?”

Her eyes flicked away. “There’s a diner,” she told me. “Not far down the road. You should try there. I’m afraid the facilities here aren’t what they once were.” She sighed deeply.

Belatedly, my sense for the uncanny started to tingle. “So I should check out and keep moving, huh?”

“Yes, dear. If you can,” she added, and she glanced over her shoulder. “Before sunset.”

Aha.

Keep reading

[keneestorytimelibrary]

The Well (Short Horror Story)

“Doctor Sullivan, I don’t think I can do this anymore…” Rachel said to the security camera. She knew he was watching her drag the body out the back of the building. That was the third one today, and she knew he wasn’t done yet. His appetite for blood had only increased the past couple of days, and she knew that he had become more twisted and demented with each poor bastard he brought. 

“Shut up Rachel! Get back to it!” he screamed. Though she couldn’t hear him, she knew all the same that she wasn’t going to get a break. 

She continued dragging the body to the giant well he had in the back. He had discovered it by accident over ten years ago, and had been secretly disposing of the bodies there. The well was originally over 100 feet deep, and about 100 feet wide, with the only opening coming from the small well opening. 

He had been disposing multiple mutilated bodies over five years ago, creating a layer of bodies, before dumping cement over it. Once it dried, he would cover it with animal carcasses, and cover that with more cement. Once it dried, the process repeated. The well had only about 20 more feet left; he was running out of space. 

Rachel grabbed the woman’s severed head first, and tossed it inside, cursing at the blood that spilled onto her hands in the process. She then barely managed to pick the woman up and tossed her in, hearing the heavy clunk once the body made contact with the cement floor. 

She wiped herself to the best of her ability, and made a slow walk back inside the building. She knew she was going to be there all night. 

Once she closed the door behind her, she felt Dr. Sullivan’s disgusting hot breath down her neck. Her skin began to itch like mad, and she wanted to rip her skin off. 

“Ahhh…sweet Rachel… are you ready for more?” he asked with a demonic purr. 

“Please Dr. Sullivan… I can’t do this anymore. I can’t watch people die!” Rachel cried out, tears falling heavily down her face. 

Dr. Sullivan slapped her face, leaving a bright red mark on her face. “Silence!” he screamed, almost causing her to go deaf.

Just as quick as ever, he became docile, and began to soothe her face from the sting of his slap. “Ahh, poor baby! I didn’t mean to hurt you!” He began to gingerly place kisses all over her face.

She wanted to kill herself right there, but she knew that he would never let her go. She was his prisoner till Death claimed her.

[petrikaira]

The Butler

Chapter 12: Decision

Pg 2 (Previous, Next)

Rating: T for Teen

Butler tuned out, but he got the gist- Douglas Fir was weaving a tale of how he had been tricked into a rage by being hit with iron by the human maid. How if she had just left him to his devices, she would not have died. Butler rolled his eyes. There was so much that could have been done differently.

“Need I remind you that you killed my maid in my own quarters?” Queen Aikaterine said, her voice carrying over the mumbled, stuttered words from Fir.

“In your own rooms?” Queen Liita parroted back. 

Butler did not tune out the look that Queen Liita shot Douglas Fir. It was an angry, pinched sort of look, one that clearly said how could you be so stupid. It was accompanied by the murmurs from the jury, and a flurry of hands writing.

“Yes. In front of me as my guard was telling me our local update,” Queen Aikaterine said. “And so, I have two people I would also like to bring before your fae majesties.”

“As you will,” Queen Liita said.

“I call Ilse Fairbanks to the stand,” Queen Aikaterine said.

Ilse Fairbanks swept forward, the bottom of her maid dress in her hands and her back held tall. In the sunlight her hair was like straw, her skin like earth- and the anger in her eyes like an eagle ready to strike. Butler was struck that she looked like the woods themselves rising to eat Douglas Fir whole.

She delivered. Her words sang of confusion, a coworker dragged down the hall. Her attempting to save him- Butler’s heart sang. Oh, her wondrous self, protecting him! A human, by every means weaker than he, a demon was, protecting him. He stilled remembering her body upon the floor. And something else clicked in his head. She had protected him. Prince Canis had protected him. And the Queen had given the last protection of all.

It had been so long since he had been protected he barely remembered it. His mother’s claws, pressing him to the dark stones as a stronger demon on the rampage passed. The sound of crunching bone. Paws over his eyes. 

Yes, it has been since then. He had been small. When he had gotten older, his mother could no longer protect him. How was it now that not only were some of the most powerful demons he personally knew protecting him- but also someone weaker than himself? He curled his fist at his chest.

She went on, talking of how she didn’t know Douglas Fir was fae, how she had died. A scar on her chest. A scar she would wear for protecting him, for the rest of her days, just as he wore his nose for tricking the first people he had run to. There was something humiliating about that, for just a moment as the voice in his mind told him that she was a hero and he had done this to himself.

King Mifispectuus’ face looked grim across from the court. Butler knew the fae laws claimed a scar needed compensation. For a fae that received one, usually it meant a pound of flesh.

Sneering, Butler focused on Ilse. Her head was held high and defiant, even before the fae. Even before demon courts. She was defending herself. Defending him. He had been, too, in his own way. He couldn’t fight head on as she was doing now. He hadn’t had the protections of a Canis court, or a magic that could bring him back to life as himself.

He had only had his wits. He would forever be sad about his nose.

He would not be sad he had done it.

He would, perhaps, feel a twinge of guilt that Ilse had died for him for it, but nothing more.

“You may step down, Miss Fairbanks.”

(Previous, Next)

[ender-obsidian]

The Six-eared Macaque & Qì Bìlán Gui

these are spirit titans (I invented them): Spirit titans are giant creatures, with the body of a human but fluffier and are pitch black-colored and, most of the time, have some stars, constellation patterns, etc. across their fur. They also have four pairs of giant fluffy ears and flowey hair wether it’s long or short. Their eye number ranges from 2-5 eyes. They can use spells, and magic, change their form to look like many creatures including humans, they can grow body parts (most commonly arms or mouths), they are also very powerful beings surpassing the power of the monkey king, celestial beings and demons, and possibly the Jade emperor himself. That is why the celestial realm hunted down and killed all the Spirit titans, or atleast that is what they believe. As, Qi bìlán Gui is the last spirit titan in existence.

============[<Qì Bìlán Gui>]=========== <<information>> Qi bìlán Gui is a young lady that owns a bakery and is truly a spirit titan. She is famous for her amazing and home-baked pastries which she sells at her shop! “Jade Mist Bakery”. With one of her regular customers being the Six-eared Macaque. He is distant friends with her but mostly enjoys her pastries, (and her company but doesn’t admit it) especially her pies, and since he’s a regular customer, Bìlán makes offers for him and sometimes special orders. She is fascinated by Mk and his abilities, being a monkey king fan herself, she has her own theories on how MK came to inherit monkey king’s powers even though they are “only” mentor and successor. She never expected a life of adventure and danger when she left the orphanage to work, but eventually gets dragged in MK & the gang’s adventures. Especially since she believes that she owes MK her life for saving her (from Yin & Jin who tried to use her against MK in their shenanigans as usual) and her orphanage (from LBD), to Macaque’s dismay of course. Even though she herself isn’t aware that she is a spirit titan, monkey king knows and macaque theorizes it. (she has a little crush on macaque, and she acquires her powers in a scenario similar to when Mei got the Samadhi fire)

[age] 1218 y/o (real age) 18 y/o (fake age) (she has the mind of a fully matured adult) [pronouns] she/her [origins] a small village of spirit titans then an orphanage [species] spirit titan (she isn’t aware of that) [friends] macaque, MK & the gang later on [mentors] the orphanage warden, but is mostly self-taught [abilities] skilled at baking, hidden spirit titan powers [scars] a scar on her eyebrow hidden under her hair [disabilities] clumsy, insomniac, amnesiac, easily manipulated [status] a baker (owns a bakery called: “Jade Mist Bakery”) and a performer at festivals [weapons] none

<backstory> One thousand two hundred years in the past from now, a family of three, all of which are spirit titans in their human forms, are having a peaceful picnic on a cliff. A four years old Qi bìlàn Gui is playing with her father as her mother set up the food to be eaten. Suddenly, a gate from the celestial realm opens up as the sky darkens. Celestial soldiers come through and get ready to attack the family, waiting for their general’s command. Bìlán’s parents stand in front of her, her father growling ready to fight in order to protect his family. Her father roars, fighting the soldiers as general orders the soldiers to attack. Bìlán’s mother joins the fight to help the husband, but when I soldier is about to kill the little defenseless terrified Bìlán, her mother pushes her off the cliff getting stabbed instead. Bìlán let’s out a cry of horror, her parents getting killed right in front of her eyes as she fell into the ocean. When one of the soldiers asked if they should go after her the general tells them that there was no way such a young child could survive the fall. But on the contrary, from fear, Bìlán’s powers activate creating an energy ball around her that froze, causing her to stop aging, as if time inside it froze. It drifted off in the ocean unnoticed, and hidden from anyone for one thousand two hundred years, until it finally submerged in a beach withering away leaving behind Bìlán unconscious, and with utterly no memory but her name, Qi Bìlán Gui, meaning: “Together Jade Mountain Mist of souls of the dead”.

[writerig]

events !

THRONE -

summary: Everything seems to be alright in the nation of Suzdal, or is everything not so fine in the country? With the rumors spreading that Her Imperial Highness plans to destroy almost everything that the King has. Is it true or false? And what about the demon child, Medea? What exactly is she? Will they ever know-?

CHARACTERS: MEDEA. IRINA. XAVIER. ETHAN.

ANY WORKS? ↳none as of now.

ADDITIONAL NOTES?! this wip is in the second draft, hence, it's editing. the second one in the series is being written.

FORBIDDEN -

summary: What happens, when everything you have known turns out to be a lie? When everyone has back stabbed you? When you are not sure who you even are? That's how Achilles has been living his whole life, losing people he cares for. And then comes a Lady, who gives comfort, not for long. But he still wants to believe that she loves him or has she never cared-?

ANY WORKS? ↳ none as of now.

CHARACTERS: ALBERT. OLIVIA. CASSENDRA. ACHILLES.

ADDITIONAL NOTES?! this is still being written, it's a romance novel and has many tragedies. please beware what you are signing up for.

THE CASE -

summary: Yumi's older sister has been dead and as far as she knows, the authority will not solve the case. She knows her sister had not killed herself, she knows it well enough. And she also knows she would drag her sister's killers no matter what.

CHARACTERS: CHARLIE. SOPHIE. YUMI. ALEKSANDER.

ANY WORKS? ↳ starting.

ADDITIONAL NOTES?! this is being written and is pushed back as of now, though the story is figured out. this also has darker themes, please beware.

WISTERIA -

summary: A princess and a prince. They fall in love and have children! Sounds repetitive and a little too cheerful to be true? In truth there are tensions brewing between the nations. Deep dark secrets burried down the road. And did the princess...run away? Who knows?

CHARACTERS: WISTERIA. LILY. PARIS. THE EMPEROR. THE EMPRESS.

ANY WORKS? ↳ the problems. the ball. the disappearance.

ADDITIONAL NOTES?! this is being written and has it's bit and pieces ready.

BARREL -

summary: How does it sound being an overachiever? How does it feel like to have powers and a high ranking job, which requires you to be a marionette? Or framing it better, how does it feel to be an assassin? That's what Lia asks herself everyday too. She's a mystery who has goals no one knows. Will she ever achieve them?

CHARACTERS: ADONIS. LIA. ASTRO. ANNABEL. PHOBES. ANGELICO. KORE. DYLAN. ASTRAD.

ANY WORKS? ↳ to be a mother.

ADDITIONAL NOTES?! this is being written as of now. the plot is figured out.

if anyone is wondering what I am writing, it's Sakura, That Mortal and Forbidden. Yes, romance novels. Please feel free to ask about them &lt;33. all these belong to @writerig. do not edit any of these without permission.