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justcallmecj · 7 months ago

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To The Past

"Dorm Leaders see a memory of Y/n fighting another dragon(fae?) -this would probably happen because of a potion accident or the ghostcamera somehow brings the prefect into the memory like they were there" Courtesy of- QUEEN Skippy on Quotev

There's going to be a bit of Crowley bullying. And I'm gonna be descriptive with the other dragon but not with Y/N because they're supposed to be you, so you create that image.

Y/N's POV

'Ghost Cameras. Capable of capturing the memory of the events they take pictures of, but also capable of other things. If the connection between camera and caretaker is strong enough, the Ghost Camera can bring memories of the caretaker to life. It can even reveal those memories to others if the caretaker allows it.'

That's what Headmaster Crowley told me when he gave me the Ghost Camera. He assigned me the task of capturing moments of the students of NRC either in their day to day lives, or when something important happens. I happily excepted, being interested in photography as it already was.

Now, the Ghost Camera sat around my neck hanging by a strap. I pulled out my phone. Shit! I'm gonna be late!! Me and the prefects all planned to spend the first day of NRC's only free week, that wasn't caused by a holiday, together. We were to meet up at the Botanical Garden where we'd go to a more secluded part of the building and have a picnic.

Just judging from the time, I wasn't going to make it on time. I hadn't expected Crowley to call me to his office. Dammit. If I'm late, Riddle will be upset with me, Vil even more. With no other good alternative, I decided. Quickly, my wings spread wide and I found an open window. Climbing onto the edge of the windows ledge, I jumped and took flight. So much faster to fly than to walk. I'd do it more often but flying around the halls of NRC is not appreciated by the teachers.

Not long after, I spotted the Botanical Garden not far from me, and in front of it's doors my sharp eyes saw the prefects. Of course I'm the last to show. I slowed down my speed and readied to fold my wings and let my weight drop. I sprung them back open once I got close to the ground, effectively stopping my drop and not crashing into the ground. It was hard for the prefects to not spot me after I came crashing in.

"Y/N! You're finally here!!" Kalim cheered as he ran over and gave me a hug, one that I happily returned. I looked to meet the eyes of the other prefects. Most looked pleased of my arrival, except for Leona who looked annoyed and tired. Typical.

"Good, you made it before you became late." Riddle praised. Vil, standing behind him, hummed in agreement. Azul adjusted his glasses, apparently my decent had knocked them askew. Idia nervously waved and stuttered out a hello and Malleus came up and greeted me. Yep, they haven't changed.

"Well, now that I am here, how about we go inside and continue with our picnic?" I asked. All agreed and went into the Botanical Garden. Surprisingly, Leona led the way to the secluded spot. I guess it makes sense, since he spends the most time here than the rest of us. I bet he knows where all the good places are.

We passed all the pretty plants ranging in colors from red to purple. Big and small. Floppy and stiff. Basically any plant in Twisted Wonderland, except the ones that only grew in the cold. I had to fold my wings in and keep my tail close to make sure I didn't knock anything over.

The Ghost Camera still hung from my neck.

We finally made it to this secret spot. There was a large blanket set out to sit on, baskets filled with food and plates with even more food placed around the space. The sun created lots of natural light through the Botanical Garden's glass ceiling. Plants hung all around, strung up pots, plants climbing up the walls like vines, branching out from wherever they were planted.

It was a beautiful place to spend the rest of the day.

Leona immediately found a place on the blanket and plopped down onto his back with his arms under his head. Soon enough, he was sound asleep. Vil groaned in annoyance with his hand covering his face. We all found spots around the blanket and began our peaceful afternoon.

We talked on and on for what felt like forever, Idia being the only one on a device meaning only he could tell the time. Throughout the afternoon, I took pictures of all of us with the Ghost Camera. Then, I'd take the pictures and let them play out for everyone to watch. Never thought I'd be so happy with something Headmaster Crowley gave me.

But I could've sworn that the camera was getting heavier.

"By the way Y/N, where did that camera come from? It's pretty rare to get your hands on a Ghost Camera since they're so old." asked Azul as he pushed up his glasses. I looked at him and held the camera in my hands. Is it heavier?

"It was given to me by the Headmaster. He assigned me a photography project with it, so now I'm just gonna take a bunch of pictures and collect the film for them." I told him. He and the other prefects seemed pretty interested, even Leona, who I knew was asleep just a moment ago, perked his ears in my direction.

"Crowley did tell you everything about the Ghost Camera, right? I wouldn't be too surprised if he hadn't, knowing him." Vil scoffed with an eye roll. I shook my head.

"No, I don't think he told me everything, but he told me all I needed to know." I said with a shrug of my shoulders, my wings flitted behind me. My arms we getting tired so I brought my tail in front of me and gently laid the camera on it, using my tail as an extra arm basically.

"Can we take at least one more picture Y/N!?!" Kalim yelled with his arms holding him up as he leaned closer to me. "I really like to see when they come to life! Can we please??" He was so energetic, but his smile was infectious and I couldn't will myself to do anything but indulge him in his desire.

I lifted the camera, which seemed much harder to do than it had been when I was taking pictures earlier, and snapped a shot of all of us. I waited for the film to come out of the slit in the camera's base with Kalim leaning over my shoulder. Soon, the film came out and produced and image of all of us smiling at the camera. Even Leona had the slightest hint of a smile on his face.

I took the film and held it carefully in my hand. I then shook the film and out sprang the picture I just took. It was like one of those filters to turn pictures into 3d images, the ones Cater loves to try out on photos to see what happens. Everyone watched the moving image with fascination.

Just then, the camera gained weight and dragged me down. It pinned my hand to the ground due to the weight and I was unable to get myself free. Everyone around me gasped.

"Y/N! Are you okay?" Riddle asked as he scooted closer to me and attempted to pry the camera off my hands. It was no use since the camera didn't budge. It luckily didn't hurt but I didn't understand what was happening.

The voices of everyone trying to help drowned out as my mind blanked. A faint voice echoed in my mind, one I didn't recognize.

Hello. Do I have your permission? The voice rang through my ears. I couldn't speak, but I could think. Permission for what? Who are you? I wanted answers, but the voice gave no response.

Permission to show them a memory. Your memory. All I need is a yes from you, I can take things from there. It said. The voice sounded...gentle. Understanding. Patient. Something about it just sat peacefully in my gut. I calmed down. The next thing I thought shocked me, I didn't think I'd put so much trust in a disembodied voice.

Okay. Sure. Go ahead.

A kind laugh sounded in my ears and my eyes, which had become blurry, closed. Then I lost all track of what was going on.

"Y/N."

A muffled voice. I couldn't see a thing, just black.

"Y/N."

The muffle started to lift.

"Y/N!!"

Now it was loud and clear. My eye lids finally found the energy to flutter open. I saw Malleus leaning over me and it seems it was him who was calling my name. Once he saw that I was awake, he put his hand under my back and helped me sit up. My head ached, but the pain was already fading, but there was a strange inching feeling in the back of my mind.

"Are you alright, Y/N?" Azul, who was kneeled at my feet, asked. I nodded with my hand pressed against my head. The throbbing was gone but there was still that inching. Malleus grabbed my right hand and Vil grabbed my left, together they pulled me to my feet and kept me standing while I orientated myself. Eventually they could let go and not worry about me keeling over.

I took a look around us. We were in a forest, one I found familiar. The trees surrounding the area, the wind that brushed against my wings and horns, the tweeting birds I definitely recognized. We were...back home? To where my house lays on the outskirts of the Valley of Thorns. It felt comforting to be where I had grown up, where everything was familiar. But, weren't we just in the Botanical Garden?

"Where are we? This isn't NRC." asked Idia. He held his phone close to his chest and was frantically typing. "I can't even get any service out here!?" he yelped. I grunted, remembering how shitty phone service is out in these parts. Honestly it's shitty everywhere in the Valley of Thorns. The people here are so old school that most don't even know what a phone is.

"This is the Valley of Thorns. Your hand held device won't work out here, Idia." Malleus informed everyone which made Idia panic until Azul placed a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"True, I grew up here. We're far out enough that there may be a slight chance it'll work, but I doubt it." I said with an eye roll. My wings adjusted and my tail swayed in the excitement of being home. It's been so long it feels since I've been home, since I've seen my family. It was exhilarating, so much so that I didn't realize how different the place actually looked compared to when I left. How...old it looked.

"It this your forest, Y/N?" Leona asked. His ears twitched and tail swayed as if he sensed something being off. Truth be told, I did too, and I think the others had a vague feeling of it as well. I nodded at him.

Then, a deafening roar sounded through the trees and the birds flew off in fear. Something large zoomed past us in the air with a second thing following suite, chasing the first one.

We all dashed behind one of the wide trunk trees for protection from...whatever those things were. Now safe, we all peaked around the trees trunk to see what was going on.

No POV:

From around a couple trees, out stepped a dragon. It's large body stomped into the clearing the NRC students were just in. Its scales were deep red with hints of yellow and orange scales mixed in. Its horns were long and twisted, wings large and slim, clearly meant for flying. The dragons snout thinned out at the end and had a small horn on the tip of its nose.

Its amber eyes were wild. Dangerous. It looked from left to right frantically. Its tail thrashed around and its wings flexed open and shut. Smoke rose into the air from its flaring nostrils. Everything about its body language showed that it was ready for battle, and already had been.

With a low growl, the red dragon swung its tail against a tree hard. The entire tree shook and leaves fell to the ground. Another creature jumped down from a branch high in the tree and landed right were the red dragon was, if it hadn't leapt out of the way first.

This dragon was familiar to the NRC students. The white and blue scales, sharp horns, cold e/c eyes and slender wings. There was no doubt, that was Y/N. All the prefects have seen Y/N in full dragon form before, and there was no mistaking what Y/N looked like. But, there was one difference. This Y/N, the one in front of them instead of beside them, was smaller.

They all looked to Y/N. They had their sharp eyes trained on the scene in front of them, the gears in their head clearly turning a mile and minute. Kalim scooted closer to Y/N.

"Hey" he whispered. "Is that you?" You didn't speak, only nodded in response. "But how? You're right here, with us. How are you also over there." They all looked over again to see the two dragon staring each other down, walking in a slow circle around the other. Smoke rose into the sky, and ice glazed the grass Y/N walked over.

"This is the past." Y/N blurted out. Everyone turned back to Y/N. They finally tore their eyes away from the scene and to their friend. They seemed troubled, like something heavy was weighing on their mind. "This took place three years ago. It was..." they paused. They couldn't continue the sentence without a voice crack if they didn't stop for a moment. "...not a good day for me." they managed to choke out.

The two dragons on the other side of the tree growled aggressively at each other, causing everyone to turn their attention back to the fight. They both stopped circling, staring and watching the opponents every move.

Y/N changed, their body shrinking and molding into a human form. Scales morphed into s/c skin and horns adjusted to a size fit for their human head. Their hair grew out and situated itself into its usual hairstyle. Their tail swayed dangerously behind them as they stayed in a defensive stance, ready to protect themself if the need arises. Y/N watched the red dragon and their sharp facial features pointed up in authority.

This Y/N was certainly younger, around 13 years old. They were shorter than usual (still tall considering Y/N is unusually tall). Their horns were duller and smaller, their wings much littler. But something was the same. The undying determination and anger in their e/c eyes, shooting ice daggers at the red dragon, who towered over Y/N.

"Stop it! Why fight me!?" little Y/N yelled out. "There's no use in escaping, the trees are too dense for you to fly freely here, and I know the area better. I'd catch you before you can get far." Their voice sounded desperate and out of breath. They must've been chasing this dragon for a while.

The red dragon stepped closer to Y/N. Its body shrank and morphed, much like Y/N's did. Red scales turned into tanned skin, the amber eyes stayed. The once dragon grew long, dirty blonde hair that was fixed in a fishtail braid. It was a girl, only a couple years older than the little Y/N, maybe the age Y/N currently is, 16. Her slender, red and orange scaled wings flared out in anger behind her. Her horns were only slightly less curved than before.

"You should back off, Y/N." she crossed her arms in front of her chest. "You're starting to get really annoying, you know that?" she huffed smoke out her nostrils. Long clawed nails tapped on her forearm.

Y/N flexed their own claws, something the prefects had never seen before. "Circe, I will only ask one more time. Go home and stop with this stupid plan of yours! Do you know how much trouble you'll get in if-" they paused and rephrased their wording. "No- when you get caught?" That seemed to anger Circe even more.

Circe lunged forward and managed to grab Y/N by the horns, tripping them with her tail. Circe straddled Y/N's waist and held onto their horns, adjusting her legs to pin Y/N's hand to the forest floor. Circe had Y/N effectively trapped and unable to move.

Circe brought herself closer to Y/N while they struggled underneath her body weight. "Aw, what is little Y/N gonna do now? You can't stop me if I have you under control." Circe looked up, staring at the sky, more at the moon than anything. "I plan on doing something that should've been done long ago." She seemed to be lost in thought while staring at the moon. That was a mistake.

Y/N stopped struggling and gathered their breath. The air got colder, until they opened their mouth and Circe looked down from the sudden cold sensation. She yelped when Y/N released their pent up breath and out came a powerful gust of ice and wind. Circe tried to leap away but Y/N grabbed onto her ankle as soon as their wrists were free from Circe's hold. The ice breath hit Circe's wings which she used to protect herself as she broke free from Y/N's grip and moved away.

She stumbled backwards and held her wings as her breathing labored, she was clearly in pain but refused to cry out. Her wings were coated in ice that she couldn't break.

"YOU BRAT!!! HOW DARE YOU!?! YOU COULD'VE KILLED ME!!!" Circe screamed. Y/N stayed silent and got off the ground, holding themself low to the ground where they may just have an advantage against Circe. Circe ran towards Y/N with a new found anger and slashed where ever she could with her claws. Y/N, being young and inexperienced in combat, only managed to escape most blows by scrambling around on the ground.

Y/N quickly changed into dragon form. Circe was momentarily blinded by the cold mist, but it wasn't enough for Y/N to get an attack in. Circe followed Y/N's lead and changed back too. Now, both dragons, they engaged again. While Y/N knew their surroundings better, Circe was quicker, Y/N only barely escaping injury.

Until, Circe landed a hit. Y/N had turned their head and Circe swirled mid attack and slashed across Y/N's snout. They fell to the floor and held their foreclaws to their snout to try and stop the bleeding.

"Y/N!" Kalim screamed. It shocked all the prefects who had been stunned into silence since the fight started. Riddle held his hand on Kalim's shoulder to calm him down and gently squeezed. Kalim didn't cry, but he was worried for little Y/N, even if this was all in the past. Malleus stepped out from behind the tree while the other prefects watched him. He intended to stop this here and now.

"Hey! Stop this unruly behavior at once!" he yelled out.

Neither dragon stopped.

"What?" Malleus whispered to himself. Leona, Vil and Azul walked out to stand next to him. Riddle, Idia and Kalim stayed behind the tree.

"Could they not hear you?" Vil asked. Leona growled.

"No, Y/N has damn good hearing. There's no way they didn't hear the Lizard yelling." His tail swished in annoyance while he stared down the scene in front of him. Azul, standing next to him, pushed his glasses back up his nose.

"I don't think we can interact with this event at all." Everyone, even the ones still behind the tree who were finally coming out, looked to Azul. "Instead of us going back in time like what we may have initially thought, I believe that we're actually just watching a memory. A memory of Y/N's." he sighed.

Everyone thought for a moment. They realized that Azul was right. This was a memory. Something they couldn't change or interfere with. They couldn't help Y/N.

Ice shattered.

Y/N got up. Blood poured out of their wound, but they ignored it. They tried to walked forward, most likely to attack Circe, but their legs gave out under them and they fell to the forest floor. Y/N reverted back to human form from weakness and lack of energy. This allowed the prefects to clearly see the gash Circe's claws left.

The bleeding gash stretched from the top of their right eye, across their nose and ended at the corner of their top lip. Their nose was slightly crooked, probably broken. Tears swelled in their eyes and ran down their cheeks, but they didn't cry out loud.

Circe turned back into human form as well. She had the most smug smirk on her face, watching in joy as she watched Y/N struggle to get up and ignore the pain flaring across their face. They finally managed to get up and stay standing but their legs trembled underneath them, threatening to give out again.

Circe laughed. It reverberated through the forest and seemed to bounce off the trees, causing it to echo. "Oh Y/N. Poor little you. You seem to be a little hurt." she said through her laughter. Y/N glared ice spikes at Circe, but they seemed to melt as soon as they reached Circe's fiery eyes. Y/N mumbled something under their breath.

"Huh? What was that? I think you need to speak up, that is, unless you're to weak too." Circe chuckled to herself. Y/N, who had been looking down at the ground, shot their head up and locked eyes with Circe. In a final fit of rage. they blew another gust of ice breath at Circe. She easily dodged it. She stepped over the patch of ice and walked up to Y/N. But, right before Circe could reach them, they spoke.

"Ice of My Blood." they whispered coldly. The effects of the ice breath and Y/N's unique magic made the air cold.

Circe froze in place. She grunted as she tried to move, but it was a fruitless venture. Suddenly she was hit with a wave of frost, making her feel as if she had gotten frostbite. She could do nothing but stand there and shiver.

"Remarkable." Azul said under his breath. "Ice of My Blood. Y/N's unique magic paralyzes the opponent as well as freezing them physically. It truly is amazing to see it in action." The others had to admit, it was pretty cool. And it made the perfect trump card for Y/N.

Y/N came closer to Circe, who glared at them like they had at her, but this time the glares couldn't penetrate the ice. They used their tail and swung it against Circe's ankles, causing her frozen form to tumble over and hit he ground. Face first.

Y/N couldn't help but giggle, not after everything Circe just put them through.

Then, little Y/N and Circe disappeared in a gust of wind. The forest didn't change, but the memory was now over. The prefects finally had a moment to breath and collect their thoughts. None could quite wrap their minds around what they just witnessed. Everyone snapped out of their thoughts when Idia spoke.

"U-um, guys? Where i-is Y/N?" he stuttered. They all looked around and discovered that Y/N, their Y/N, was nowhere to be seen. All of them scrambled around to try and find them, but the forest was huge and the trees reached up high, and Y/N loves to climb trees. Malleus listened with his fae hearing, but couldn't find Y/N. Kalim, Riddle and Vil called out their name, but there was no response. Idia tried calling their phone, Azul thought of anyway to find them and Leona tried to sniff out their scent. Nothing worked.

The trees changed. They lost their shape and went from brown to transparent. The grass on the forest floor disappeared into tiled flooring. The moon left the sky and was replaced with the sun which shown through windowed ceilings. In the blink of an eye, the boys found themselves back in the Botanical garden.

And right off to the side, right where they were before they left, was Y/N. They sat peacefully, hands resting in their lap while their tail flicked behind them and their wings relaxed on the floor. Their eyes closed, seemingly in thought.

"Y/N!!!" Kalim shouted as he threw his arms around Y/N's next, ignoring the cold of their scales. Y/N almost toppled over if their tail hadn't stopped them. Their eyes shot open and took in their surroundings while they hugged Kalim back tightly out of habit. Vil stomped forward.

"And where were you!?" his voice was laced in worry more than anger. They stayed silent, taking a moment to respond.

"I left. I didn't want to watch that go down again. You don't need to worry about it, promise." They seemed tired, their words dragged on and came out quiet. Everyone got closer to Y/N and sat on the floor.

"What was that about, huh Lizard? What did that crazy fae want?" Leona questioned. He sounded annoyed but Y/N knew he was just worried.

"She...wanted to hurt people. There was a village nearby my home." they paused and took a deep breath. "I went to school with her. Earlier that day I heard Circe say she was going to burn down the village." Everyone listened to Y/N intently.

"Why did she want to burn it down?" Riddle asked. Y/N chuckled, they sounded so exhausted.

"I don't entirely know why. I know she said it was 'going to be fun', but I personally don't think that was all. I know the village was known for having a lot of half human half fae people living in it, and she came from a very traditional family." Oh, now Malleus understood. Some of the older fae, at least the ones who were around when humans and fae were at war, didn't like humans and fae being close to each other, much less having kids together. It reminded him of Sebek.

"I had friends in that village and I didn't want anything to happen to them. So, that night I sneaked out of the house and tracked her down. That's when the fight happened." They sighed heavily. Everyone was silent, not wanting to make Y/N anymore uncomfortable than they already were. "Eh, whatever. It doesn't matter now, that was three years ago! Circe was taken by authorities and punished accordingly after that." They stared off into the foliage around the garden.

"Are you okay? Physically, that is." asked Vil. He couldn't get the image of that nasty gash out of his head. He scanned Y/N's face for any evidence of it, but there was nothing there. Y/N caught onto his true question.

"Yeah, I'm good. There's no scar and the wound healed with no problems. There's nothing to worry about." they reassured Vil as they reached out and took his hands in their own, rubbing calming circles on his skin. That helped Vil with his concerns.

Azul cleared his throat to get everyone attention. "Well, how about we continue with our afternoon, yes? Y/N, you look absolutely exhausted and you should take is easy for the time being. We can all stay here and finish our food before heading back to our dorms for the night." Everyone nodded and made sounds of agreement.

Y/N released all the tension in their muscles and leaned on Malleus's shoulder since he was sitting next to them. He allowed them to and even adjusted so they'd be more comfy. Everyone ate the food they still had left over. Conversations started, none about what they all saw. There was laughter, jokes, silliness. It made Y/N happy.

The Ghost Camera around their neck grew heavy.

Y/N's POV

You did wonderfully My Dear. That was really brave of you. The voice from before came back. I should've panicked, but I didn't. The voice still brought a sense of gentle peace with it. I closed my eyes and responded.

Thank you. But, you didn't answer me earlier. Who are you? It went silent for a while. You'll learn in due time. There's no need to rush things Dear. I just wanted to thank you for trusting me with that memory. I thought for a moment. Should I press on? Should I ask it to leave me alone? No. What good would that do?

I smiled. Sure thing. Just give me a warning next time. I assume there will be a next time, right? I could hear the soft smile as it spoke. Most likely. But I do promise to warn you next time. There was an oddly comfortable silence between us.

I will leave you to rest now. I promise it'll get easier, Dear. Now, rest well. I didn't speak back, only enjoyed the peace this brought me.

The weight of the Ghost Camera lightened.

#twisted wonderland #twisted wonderland x reader #ice dragon!reader #justcallmecj fics

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leahnardo-da-veggie · 12 days ago

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A Tragedy of Love, Death and Maggots, Collated

(TW: Maggots, gore, torture. 18k words, read it below the cut or in the Google doc. It's my first completed novella hehe <3 Enjoy!)

The corpse dangled limply, swinging in the wind. The chains attached to its wrists jangle like chimes, creating a melody more off-tune than haunting.

The corpse was beautiful, once, with long eyelashes and a gleaming smile, gorgeous enough to charm sirens. But no amount of smiling could hide the stick-thin limbs, encrusted with bodily fluids, or the gaping sockets where a pair of eyeballs once rested.

The corpse died of starvation, that much was obvious. It had struggled long and hard to be free, judging from the livid marks along its wrists. Every bone was prominent under its bruised and raw skin. Dried blood stained the rags it wore, barely enough to cover what little dignity it had.

Its ribs were opened up like a butterfly, baring shrivelled organs and guts. I could only hope that it had been post-mortem. Maggots had infested themselves in its cavities, worming and squirming with glee, a veritable mass of white amidst the red. The sight was enough to make any man heave.

“What's the verdict, Doc?” Athena was cheerful as ever, either not caring or pretending not to care about the gore before us. “Who dunnit to this poor man?”

I shook my head. My guts curdled at the way she prodded a chunk of squirming flesh fearlessly. “Someone starved him to death, then chopped him up like that. He must have been left in a cell until he died, or else he wouldn't be stained all over. This entire scene's at least a day old, too, or else maggots wouldn't have shown up like that,” I explained. “Damn, but I just can't think of a monster that would've done this.”

“It wasn't a monster,” Mrin replied, her voice harsh. “No monster would be that wasteful. A human had to have locked him up, guarded the cell so no monster would eat him, then maimed him afterwards.” Her one good eye narrowed.

Athena grimaced. “Cultists,” she concluded.

“Yep.” I folded my arms. “They're back at it. I could have sworn we'd driven them away the first four times.”

She shrugged. “They're worse than maggots. Let one live, and soon you'll have twenty swarming your home and setting you on fire for their rituals.” She broke into a grin. “Guess we've got to break out the weapons and go cultist-hunting again, eh?”

“No,” Mrin said suddenly. She had been examining the corpse's wrists. “This isn't a cultist issue. Come here and see.”

“How'd you figure?” I came closer and took a good long look at where she pointed. “I don't see anything.”

“Doc,” Athena said, suddenly bored. She stood behind me, crowding us in. “Who the hell cares? The cultists are probably back by now. Let's go kill them some more.”

“Hunting, killing, hunting. Is that all you ever think of doing?” I rounded on her. Call me immature, but that flippancy of hers was wearing on me. “There's a dead man there. Whether or not it is the cultists, we need to investigate and avenge him. And that means properly working out what's going on. Isn't that what you'd want someone to do for you?”

“If I'm dead, I wouldn't care what you did. Eat me, string me up by the innards, fuck my dead corpse, it's all the same to me.” She paused, and a shimmer of old anger passed over her features. “But cultist hunting is always a good idea.”

“You're like an animal, you know that? Oh, so the cultists hurt you. Boo-fucking-hoo. You can't spend the rest of your life mindlessly chasing vengeance. You're right. The cultists will always be there. So stop worrying about them, and start worrying about this new threat, because we can get rid of that. Or are you too desperate to meet your old friends again?”

Athena froze, and I saw rage flash across her features. It was dangerous to provoke her, to rip her mask off and reveal the ugly wounds that festered within. I did it anyway, because it was the only way to get her to listen. “Shut up, Doc,” she hissed, earlier cheer evaporated. “Don't you dare talk like that.”

“Stop that, both of you. The cultists remain a threat to us all. If we don't stop them, they'll eventually become a threat to us again,” Mrin snapped, forcing herself between us. “But we are perfectly capable of keeping an eye out for this new danger while finding their new hideout.”

Brett, who had been uncharacteristically silent, piped up. “Yeah, guys. Please don't fight.” He shifted himself to stand closer to Athena, pressing himself to her scrawny frame. “Things are bad enough without us turning on each other.”

Wrapped around his finger as she was, she acquiesced, settling against him. “I suppose it wouldn't hurt. Go on, Mrin: How did you work out it ain't the cultists?”

Mrin picked up the corpse's floppy wrist. “Look at this tattoo,” she said, gesturing to the familiar mark that stood out amongst bruises. “The sigil of The One That Lurks Beneath Rotting Flesh.”

“A signifier of high ranking amongst the cultists.” I thought through the implications of it. “This was either an inside job or someone who hates cultists, then.”

“If it's the latter, I say we let them get to it,” Athena told me brusquely. “Maybe even find ‘em and help out.”

“We'll see what happens,” I said. The thought of siding with anything cruel enough to torture a man, even a cultist man, made my stomach churn. “Come on. I don't think there's anything left to do.”

And so our little spat ended just like all the others, full of unresolvable threats and lingering anger. It simmered under the surface as we gathered rusting cans of food from a stash, when I jostled her arm as we ate dinner, while we lay in bed, silent and seething.

I stared at the cracked ceiling blankly, watching the flickering light overhead. When had I last seen natural light? This place was all concrete and grime, endless electricity fuelling my living hell of insomnia and nightmares.

Mrin was hardly faring any better. Her bedroll was empty, as it often was, for she often meandered her nights away, futilely seeking an escape. Were I younger, I would have followed her, and joined her in that pathetic hunt for freedom. But that was the folly of youth, a folly neither Brett nor Athena had inherited.

They slept curled up in a little ball, snuggled up beside each other. I would never admit it, but I envied their love for each other, the companionship I dared not seek. I watched them silently, arms propping me up, heart heavy.

"They're gonna die here, you know," Mrin said. "They'll die young and in love, without having ever seen the light of day again. They'll die here, and we'll die here, and the cultists will die here. Nobody's winning this game."

"I know," I whispered back. "Aren't you gonna go on your nightly walk?"

"It's pointless. It's always been pointless. It'll always be pointless."

I didn't know how to respond to that.

“I hate this place,” she continued. “I hate it so much.”

“You're repeating yourself,” I told her. “And stop standing behind me. It creeps me out.”

Mrin sat heavily beside me. From the narrow slant of her eye, I could tell I wasn't calming her down. Her fingers scratched at the tiled ground, as though she could dig herself out through sheer stubbornness.

“Why doesn't it get to you? The- the claustrophobia, the constant hunting, the cold canned food? Where do those damn cans come from? Where do the cultists come from? Are they even human? Are we?” Her voice had risen in pitch with each question, until she was more shrieking than speaking.

“You'll wake Athena and Brett.” And it did get to me. I sat up and looked away from her.

“Damn it, answer my question! Why. Don't. You. Care?!” She grabbed the lapels of my tattered old coat, and pulled me to face her.

I didn't want to answer that question. “You know how long I've been here?”

“I know you've been here longer than the rest of us. And you're still dodging me,” she demanded.

“I stopped counting at 15 years. I was a kid when I woke up in this hell, fresh out of med school. Now look at me,” I said, forcing the words out. We must've woken the kids up, but I didn't want to check. I didn't want to picture them like me, old and haggard and unable to remember anything more than these off-white walls. “Believe me, Mrin, when I say I do care. I just wish I didn't.”

She looked into my eyes, praying it was another lie, another tale told to get her off my back. Finally, she said, “I believe you.” And it made me regret ever opening my mouth.

All I could do was reach out and grip her shoulder, rubbing it gently. All she could do was fall into my arms, and weep silently. We held each other as her tears stained my clothes. After a moment, I felt another pair of arms wrap themselves around us. Brett had joined in, gripping us like a child would his teddy bear.

“Athena?” I looked up to see her staring at us from a distance. Reflected in her eyes was a coldness that surpassed mine, a coldness that burned like a thousand cultists on a pyre. “You gonna join us?” I held one arm out, reaching to her, begging her to come complete our huddle.

Those dark eyes hardened even further. She turned and walked away.

Should I have run after her? Would it have changed anything? Damned if I knew. Perhaps the rot in her heart had begun long ago, when the cultists chained her in that dark room and did things to her. Perhaps the very first maggot had wriggled in far earlier, when she first wandered into this place. Perhaps it had always been there, a foul seed biding its time, myiasis waiting for the most fertile soil to sprout into a choking weed.

All I knew was that by the time we had drifted to sleep in that little huddle, she was long gone, toting that makeshift spear of hers into the flickering light that passed for night.

“Doc?” Brett shook my shoulder with the dogged determination of a boy who had finally noticed his girl was missing. “Doc, get up. Doc?” He might as well have passed for a particularly large alarm clock.

“Yeah, yeah, ‘thena ran off,” I muttered, more to shut him up than out of any true caring. “She’ll be fine. That girl can smash her way through an army of man-sized cockroaches, she'll be fine. Besides, she runs off all the time. She took her spear, didn't she?”

“Sure she took her spear, but that's not enough! You have to get up. We have to go find her. I know something's wrong,” he insisted. “I just know it!”

That got me grudgingly getting up. Brett's instincts were never off, and it had saved us from trouble more than once. “Fine, fine. What's the trouble?”

“It's…” He frowned, trying to put it into words. His fingers, long and knobby, kneaded each other nervously. “It's dread, panic, terror. It's being in utter darkness, being left at the checkout counter while your mom goes off and grabs something she forgot, being stuck with your leg in a bear trap and the hunter approaching. It's bad.” The last word made my lips pucker with sourness.

Bad. God, how much that word could sum up. I rolled up my sheet and waved Mrin over. “We need to look for Athena,” I told her. “Brett had another premonition, and he says it's bad.”

“Yeah, well, I've got more bad news,” Mrin replied. “We’re out of food.”

“What? That's ridiculous, we had 10 cans last night,” Brett protested.

“I'll bet your girlfriend took it. Who else could it have been? That damned girl is all instinct and no intellect.” I shook my head in disgust.

He glared at me, but did not dispute my conclusion. “We should hurry up and find her, then.”

With that, we were up and at it again. Brett, our resident packmule, carried the waterskins and our four bedrolls. I had our pathetically small kit of iodine and gauze, and Mrin held on to the only other true weapon we owned: a honest-to-goodness cavalry sabre. It wasn't ideal, but anything was better than the vaguely sharp rock-knives Brett and I carried.

We trekked through hallway after hallway, heading for the corner that the cultists called home. Down an elevator shaft we went, through the hallway that no sane human could have designed, up and over a random waist length wall that existed for no reason beyond making my life troublesome.

Even as time stretched on, nothing passed between us. On a normal day, I might have bantered with Mrin, or pitched in as she and Athena bickered. We might have passed around a protein bar, or took turns trying to snatch a flying ant out of the air. We might have done anything to ward off the oppressive misery, and whiled away another hopeless day.

But without a quarter of our crew, I didn't have it in me to get the festivities started.

Brett, however, did have it in him to crack the ice that had built up between us. “Hey, Doc?" His voice was light as the contents of our stomachs.

"Yeah, kiddo?" I didn't turn around, didn't look into those nervous, haunted eyes.

"Everything will be alright, right?" He sounded like Mrin, praying that good ol' Doc would reassure him that everything would be a-okay.

I thought of Athena's eyes boring into mine, the two of us knowing better. I thought of Mrin's hopeless weeping that night, when she finally accepted that we would die in this endless nightmare. I thought of that bright little spark in Brett's heart being put out, as all beautiful things eventually were. And curse me, but I didn't want to be the one to do it. I didn't want to be responsible for being the one to sully his light.

"Yeah," I lied. "We'll find 'thena, and we'll find some more cans of tuna or something, and then we'll all go cultist hunting."

There was a long pause, as though Brett didn't truly believe me. It stretched and slithered and snuck into my chest, where it rested like a stone beside despair.

My joints hurt. My head hurt. My heart hurt. I didn't want to do this. My own thoughts had joined Brett's in whispering horrors to me, warning me that whatever lay in the near future would not be pleasant.

We were at the border to the cultists' territory when Mrin stopped us. “Athena was here,” she told us. “Look at the markings on the wall.”

Indeed, there were nasty little marks on the off-white walls, in the shape of rather inappropriate and anatomical figures. The only person who would have the immaturity to do such a thing, as well as the guts to do it in the heart of the cultists' lair, would be that damned girl.

I sighed. “Of course it's her. Who else would draw dicks on the walls of hell?” I shook my head. “Fool child. Do you have any idea how long ago she passed through here?” For all that she had one eye, Mrin's sight served her better than the rest of ours combined. If anyone could figure it out, it would be her.

“What am I, your blood hound? I can't tell-” she stopped and took a closer look at the markings. “Oh. She was here not long ago. Look, the ink on the wall hasn't dried yet.”

“Oh, thank the heavens! We might be able to catch her if we hurry,” Brett exclaimed. “Come on, come on! We've gotta get to her before something else does.” His breath hitched, and that sunny smile of his cracked. “If- if ‘thena got hurt, I wouldn't be able to forgive myself!”

Ah, the follies and passions of youth. I shook my head and gave Mrin my signature grin, the one we used to exchange two years ago, back when it was the two of us and she had two eyes. She returned it, hesitantly, showing off yellowing, chipped teeth.

Before anything could pass between us, Brett put his hands on our shoulders and pushed, sending me careening down the hall. “Hurry up,” he demanded. There was a wildness in his eyes, like an animal being chased down. “There's not much time left.”

Mrin sighed. “There's never any time, Brett. I know you're worried about her, but we can't afford to rush in. The cultists are dangerous, and if we get caught unprepared, we'll be unable to save ourselves, let alone Athena.”

I nodded in agreement. “Besides, we don't even know where she's gone. Sure, she's here, but here can be in the congregation hall of the cultists or in some random corner, and we need time to work out which exactly it is.”

He held that look of cornered terror for a moment longer, begging us to change our minds. Then he gave up and nodded. “Alright. I take it we're scouting the lair first? Knowing her, that's where she'll be.”

“Yeah, sure.” I started forward again, keeping up with Brett as we made our way towards the home of the greatest monsters in our little hell.

Not that there weren't other monsters there too. Monsters with tentacles and spikes, like the one that gave me a long, barely healed gouge along my upper arm. Monsters like a man with too many limbs, sitting in the dark hiding their extra hands behind their backs and beckoning us to come in such that they might dine on our flesh. Monsters that were nothing more than a glitch, that ruined everything they touched.

Bad enough that they took our flesh, sucked the marrow out of our bones. Worse still, that they took our lives. But what made this place hell, instead of merely dangerous, was that it took our soul. This place had killed the love in my heart and stomped on its shattered bits, just like we had a dozen cultists.

Those cultists were human once, just like us. For all of their cruelties and insanities, that meant they were human when we killed them. Which made us, all four of us, murderers. I looked at Brett, urging us forward like an overeager puppy. He didn't look like a murderer.

If there was anyone I wished I could rescue from this hell, it was him. Athena had her rage and bloodlust. Mrin had her eagle-eye and sudden breakdowns. I had my age, my apathy. He was the only untainted one, the one who shone like the sun, with his dirty blonde hair and sky-blue eyes straight out of a movie.

I… I hated him so much at that moment. It wasn't fair that he could live in this neverending nightmare and still smile like that. His girlfriend was an axe-crazy psycho, his daily life involved scrounging for rusty cans of food and drinking water from leaky pipes, and yet! Yet despite it all he managed to love, to trust, to care with such a passion that it sparked my rage. I was jealous, so very jealous of him.

“The lair's up ahead,” Mrin said suddenly, jerking me out of my thoughts. “I see silhouettes of people.” She paused. “Cultists, I mean. Not people.”

I stepped closer, hiding behind a pillar. Things that could be charitably construed as human twirled in dizzying circles around an altar. “A ritual of some kind,” I whispered to the others. “But for what?”

My question was answered soon enough, and I wish it hadn't. Two masked cultists, heavily muscled and scarred, bore a struggling, furious girl up towards the altar. Despite the ropes holding her wrists and ankles together, she hissed and sputtered like a wildcat, struggling as hard as she could. They hadn't chosen her carriers carelessly, I noted. Anything less than the strongest of bonds and bearers, and that girl would have clawed her way free.

“Athena!” Brett made a move to dash into the rows of dancers, only to be stopped by my outstretched arm.

“Don't be a fool, kid. If you run into a circle of cultists, you'll just get killed along with your dearest Athena. Is that what you really want?”

The glare he gave me could have belonged to a petulant teenager, if not for the undercurrent of terror. “But-”

“Hush, both of you, or we'll all be found.” Mrin, always sensible.

Their high priestess, decked in layer after layer of tattered robes walked up before Athena, bearing a ceremonial dagger. “Feral child,” she began in a voice like the buzzing of a thousand flies. “You have cost us the life of a Precious One, of our Honoured Sacrifice, He Who Would Bring About The Birth Of Our God. For that, you will pay with a thousand years of agony.”

“Cost them the life of their sacrifice? What the hell are they talking about? Athena-” It clicked, and I closed my mouth. “The hanged man. That- that was her. That's why she didn't care. That's why she tried to distract me when we found the tattoo. She knew, this whole time.”

“But that would mean that she had starved, beaten and killed him in cold blood,” Brett protested. “Athena would never-”

“Athena would. You know that. You know that better than the rest of us, Brett,” Mrin replied. “That doesn't change anything. We've got to save her anyways. She's one of us.”

“Like hell this changes nothing,” I snapped. “She tortured a man! In cold blood! Do you not see why I don't want to rescue the bloody berserker who tortures people?!”

“Shut. Up.” Brett, of all people, had said that. He glared at me, knuckles white with rage. “Don't you act like such a hypocrite. You would have left that man in there no problem. Don't pretend that you weren't the one to convince us all to cull the cultists the first time. You wanted us to leave Athena behind, right from the beginning. What is your problem?”

It was a miracle that nobody had noticed us. Somewhere in the background, the cultists began chanting, a deep sound like a boar stirring from dirt, like drums beat to the rhythm of war. “I did what I had to to survive. If that meant leaving someone for dead? Yeah, sure. I'll admit to that. But this is just viciousness! She did this out of malice. She is evil, Brett. That's what evil looks like.”

“No, evil is acting like fear and anger make you a monster. Evil is knowing better, and doing worse. You're evil,” Brett said, shoving me away from him. Mrin caught me, her face turned away to watch the cultists. “And I'm saving her, no thanks to you.”

He stomped off angrily. “Now look what you've done,” she murmured. “Oh, I can see this ending badly.”

I glared at her. “Don't jinx us,” I replied. “Who knows? Maybe the kid will pull her out of it. He's done greater miracles, after all.”

Her silence told me she saw through the lie.

“And so-” The priestess' voice drew my attention back, ringing with ugly power. We had missed… something. It felt important. If only I knew what it was. “Do you have any last words?”

We all turned to Athena, us and the cultists and whatever gods there might be. A thousand eyes stared up at the tiny girl bound up, on her knees atop the altar, her gag released so she could say one last thing.

And true to her nature, she hawked a great gob of saliva and spat at the priestess' face. “Go fuck yourself,” Athena proclaimed, chin raised defiantly.

“So be it,” the priestess replied, and gestured to a servant. We'd wasted too much time bickering, I realised. Too much time. Perhaps Brett had been right, after all. Not that my admitting it couldn't do anything.

Perhaps- Perhaps Brett could save her. He was strong, and fast, and- Oh, if only I'd gone with him. If only I had looked past my petty grievances earlier. I really was always too late to save anyone, was I? Right from the very first time someone had died on me, I should have known. I was no Doc. I was a failure.

But I had to hope. I had to hope that Brett could right my wrong. I had to hope, even as the priestess took her ceremonial dagger from an awed worshipper, even as she raised it with a black-toothed smile, even as-

Commotion on the other side of the cultists told me Brett had been intercepted, that he didn't make it, that our one chance to save her had failed. The priestess raised her dagger. Its light glinted like a sudden glimpse of the sun across the horizon. Athena screamed bloody murder, curses and obscenities and the murderous rage that lay in her heart. I screamed too, and reached out. Mrin let out a gasp.

And that was it.

It was a sudden limpness, a voice cut short, a flicker of false sun dashed by blood. The priestess raised a triumphant, gorey hand and grinned right at me. “So it is done,” she announced. “The sacrifice has been made. She has been summoned. Welcome, our Lady That Lurks Beneath Rotting Flesh!”

Something bubbled out of Athena's chest, something grey-white and squirming. Her body jerked upright, cracking its neck with a sickening twist, shoulders jerking like a prop from a bad zombie movie. Her eyelids fluttered open to reveal two eyeballs quickly overwhelmed with crawling things.

Mrin let out a gasp beside me. “Maggots,” she whispered. “We have to get Brett and run.”

This time, I didn't protest. My foolishness had cost us enough. Between the pillars and our running, I caught only glimpses of the thing wearing Athena's body. It stretched lasciviously, throwing uneven arms back and grinning ear to ear, quite literally. The foul worms that made up her flesh multiplied, spreading and growing like a miasma, until she was the height of two men.

The Lurker, or whatever I was to call this abomination, was beautiful like a statue, all elegant and evocative and ethereal, if statues writhed and crawled upon itself and wore a smile that split its face ear to ear. It looked nothing like the girl I knew. And it was gazing down at where I knew Brett to be.

“Shit,” Mrin snarled, forcing us both to a halt behind a crumbling wall. “They're blocking us.”

Indeed, there were hundreds of cultists standing around her, watching their goddess in blind ecstasy. A few had their hooks in Brett, baring him before her like her very first sacrifice.

I wanted to scream, to beg him to cut loose and run, but Brett stood there steadily, light ringing his golden hair like an angel's halo.

Athena, or the thing wearing her face, grabbed his wrists, claws the size of knives digging into the open wounds. “Brett,” she cooed, swaying with delight. “You came looking for me.” The maggots churned and coursed, making her facade of a woman ripple.

He nodded unsteadily. “'thena, I know this isn't you, alright? Snap out of it,” he said, not a trace of fear in his voice. “We're here for you, me and Doc and Mrin. I'm here for you. We believe in you.”

He took in a deep breath. “I love you, Athena. So come back to us, okay?”

For a moment, she froze. I thought- I hoped, against all hope, that it had worked, that the power of love would triumph.

Then that horrible mass of writhing rot grinned. “How cute. How darling. Why, I could just eat you up, dearie,” she exclaimed.

And she did, her swarm bending down towards his face. Brett's scream was cut off abruptly as she pressed her lips to his, kissing him deeper than the real Athena ever had. He squirmed in her grip as wave after wave of larvae poured down his throat, gnawing and gulping down his innards. I caught flashes of red as he was engulfed, each quickly overwhelmed by the swarm.

It was too much, just too much, and I bent over, heaving sour bile onto the floor. It tasted like Brett's screams, wet and sour and horrified.

I would have sat there retching my wretched lunchless guts out until she found me, had Mrin not dragged me back. She might have been smaller than me by a half, but she made up for it with her sheer persistence.

“Doc, don't do this. We need to get out of here, and we need to do it now.” Her voice, normally so calm, was tinged with panic. “Come on, be a dear. Get up. Keep moving.”

I lurched along with her, leaning on her shoulder, leaving behind the two people who had been a staple of our lives.

“They're gone,” I whispered, when we were just beyond that vile cathedral. “Both of them. And it's all my fault. I let them die. Oh god, Brett was right. I am a monster.” My legs felt weak.

“No, you're not. You're a fool man, like most men, and I'm a fool woman, like most too, and we need to get out of here before we become dead fools. Now, don't stop. Keep moving. One leg after another. That's right, Doc. We'll work out what to do afterwards,” she coaxed, not a hint of the frightened woman I'd seen just a day before lurking beneath the surface.

“How can you be so calm? They're dead! I might as well have killed them myself. Oh god, I'm a monster. It should have been me, not them. They're just kids, and I was so harsh. This is all my fault.” The words kept on spilling out of my mouth, circling like vultures above a battlefield.

Mrin slapped me. Hard.

“Move, for fuck's sake. Or else we'll be dead too, and you'll have to answer to whatever cruel deity is up there. You're too old and I'm too mean and we’re too stubborn for it all to end here, so let's fucking go!” Tears rimmed her eyes, glistening like reflections of a half-forgotten summer day. I reached out to wipe them away, and she swatted my hand. “I don't want to die, Doc. Come on, get up. Get up. Get up!”

I did, stumbling to my feet, the taste of hunger and phantom flesh spurring me on like a whip to my hide. Her fingers were locked with mine as we ran. It didn't matter where we went. We just had to go away. Get away from it all, go back to the fields of green and a lover's arms, dishes in the sink waiting to be washed, a memory faded like the details on your grandmother's photo.

I missed reality. Oh, how I missed it. This was a bad dream, a bad dream so long and visceral that it had eclipsed awakening like Not-Athena looming over the flickering lamps. I stumbled forwards through the haygrass, my knees aching from running all day. The sun, just beginning its golden descent, laughed at my pathetic fleeing. The wind, thick with pollen, whipped at my over-long hair.

Where was I running from? I remembered concrete, grey, endless running and hiding. Dark eyes, distrustful and hurt, boring into mine. A golden smile, brighter than the sun that shone in my eyes. A scarred woman with a sharp eye and businesslike mannerisms, breaking down before my eyes.

And something worse. Something so bad I had forgotten. I caught myself against a scarecrow, rough sackcloth and woodgrains bringing a tear to my eyes. I wanted to stop, to rest, but that something pushed me forward. Come on, get up, it urged. Get up. Get up!

The words echoed in my brain, bouncing about like the sting of a slap and the ache of my bones. Why did my cheek sting? Better yet, why did my bones ache? I was still spritely, young-

Old. I was old. Yes, that was it. How could I have forgotten? Mrin was just ahead of me, torn between fleeing and keeping me with her. Athena was possessed, probably dead. And Brett- Oh, gods, Brett!

I shook my head roughly. Why was I crying? I had to move. Keep moving, stop thinking about- whatever it was I remembered.

I didn't want to dwell on the past. I never did, as an ambitious young man. Better to look to the bright future. It was time to retire, wasn't it? Yes, I could leave the big city, move back out to the old cottage Granny Bella left me, make a home with my love-

My love. Something about that struck me. I didn't have a love. I'd dedicated my life to work, hadn't I?

But I did. And she was right in front of me. In a blaze of fire and scarecrows and memories that weren't, I burst forth from my dream and back into my nightmare.

With a gasp, I sped up and grabbed Mrin's arm. It was warm, familiar, and utterly paled in comparison compared to that feverish moment. When I took a moment to regather my senses, I realised I knew this corridor. Even better, I remembered hiding in this corner, an eternity ago, when I rescued a two-eyed Mrin from monstrous things. “To the left!”

Without responding, Mrin turned with me and we crawled into the little tunnel where my safe room lay. It was hardly more than a crack in the walls, and my body protested as I shoved myself in. For a moment I was afraid we would not both fit, for even I alone was a snug fit. But Mrin pulled herself in behind me, squeezing herself until we hardly had room to breathe.

The two of us hardly dared to watch as the ground's rumbling grew louder, beating like war drums with the feet of a hundred cultists. They were out to get us, I thought, and prayed that they would not find us.

The cultists drew closer, and I realised their movements were disorganised, frantic, terrified. They weren't hunting us. They weren't chasing. They were fleeing.

Fleeing what? I knew the answer as soon as I thought of the question.

Athena. Or to be specific, Not-Athena. She- It had turned on its summoners. I wiggled closer to the corners of our hidey-hole and clung to Mrin closer. “That thing's going to notice us,” I whispered in her ear.

She nodded. “Not if we stop breathing. That thing hunts through the sound of its prey. Hold on to me. Hold on tight, and hold your breath. I'll get us out of here.” There was something cold in her voice, like she was recalling a thousand-year-old memory and found it distasteful. “Just remember: Don't give in to it.”

She hushed my protests and began murmuring under her breath, a slow, steady chant whose cadence reminded me of the cultist priestess's ritual. It stole my breath away, quieted me like a pillow pressed against a sleeping man's face. For a moment, I felt my soul scrabble for breath, drowning in her words. But it was only a moment, and like all moments, it passed.

I breathed through my nose, curled up as far from the Something that swarmed above my head, something ancient and cruel, something that wanted me and Mrin dead. It glided past me, leaving a trail of slime and straggler maggots. One of the larvae crawled towards me. Would it alert the others if it found me? Could it?

It reared up, looking me right in the eye. Did maggots have eyes? Could they see? Was the game already over, before I had even realised it began?

We stayed like that for an eternal moment, that tiny scrap of Not-Athena and I. I wondered if each maggot had its own mind, its own opinion. I wondered if it had a tiny scrap of our Athena in it, having become what it ate. I wondered if, when it turned away, it was out of pity or ignorance.

Either way, we were safe. For now.

My fingers found Mrin's hair as her murmurs slowly died off. “It's over,” I told her. “We're safe. Come on, let's get out of here.”

She nodded unsteadily. “Right. Get out. Get away. Move.” Her voice was hardly more than a whisper, a thought leaking out of her tongue. With a heave, she hauled herself out of our hidey-hole. Out in the open, I could see blood dribbling out of her lips. Whatever she had done had cost her something, that much I could tell.

I followed her out and pressed her into a seated position. Her eye was blank, glossed over like she was high. “Come on, Mrin,” I coaxed. How quickly the tables had turned. Me reassuring her, her protecting me, me healing her- it was an endless cycle, like a satellite's orbit of Earth, always falling and never hitting the ground. I needed to get her back on her feet, just like she had me. Well, not her physical feet. Her metaphorical ones. Damn, my head hurt. It was getting hard to think.

I peered into her mouth. Her gums were what bled, raw-red and potentially infected. No, not potentially. Definitely infected. When had it happened? She hadn't complained of such issues previously.

Curse it all. “Mrin, can you hear me? You alright?” She obviously wasn't, but I was running out of things to say. Everything was falling apart. I wanted to get back to falling apart too, but I couldn't. Not when she was like this.

She didn't respond. “Mrin? Please respond. I need you, Mrin.” Her pulse was soft, chest moving ever so slightly.

“Mrin?” Gods, I was repeating myself like a broken record. My own pet peeve, and I'd stooped to it. “Mrin, please. You got me out of there, and now I need you to get out of whatever dreamland you're in.”

Still nothing. If anything she was fading away. But this couldn’t be it. That was unacceptable. I'd spent a good fifth of my life with her. She’d had my back. She was my friend, my companion, my partner. I couldn't lose her. “Mrin?” I clasped her face, looking into those unfocused eyes of hers.

“I love you.”

If this had been a romance or a fairytale, she would have opened her eyes. If this had been a dream, a good dream, she would have whispered it back. If there had been any justice in this world, something should have happened.

But it wasn't. I was no pure of heart hero, and my knight in shining armour was none more than a tired, scared woman who'd pushed herself too far. Perhaps… Perhaps it was all I could do to sit beside her and hope.

I settled down next to her, running my fingers through her hair. It was matted to hell and back, but I had all the time in the world to detangle it. Not-Athena wouldn't come back here, not so soon, not when it had plenty of prey to pursue.

How were we gonna get out of this one? Was this how all the monsters in the labyrinth were born? From rude, self-obsessed little girls? From the corpses of their soft-hearted boyfriends? From the tears of an old man who had never wanted to care so much?

My tears were silent, landing on the knees I had pressed against my chest. My stomach ached. My mouth was dry from screaming and heaving and all the other vile things my day had been occupied with.

I wanted to go off and find some food, some water, some relief. I had chosen this hidey-hole well, even if I rarely visited it. I knew of a leaky pipe with semi-clean water, and a little stash of only slightly rusted cans of beans. But I couldn't leave Mrin. Not when she was like this.

The part of me that had truly hardened itself to the world told me to get up and walk away. It was sensible. I didn't know how to help her. I was no magician or wizard, to cure wounds caused by magic (or what I presumed to be magic, at least). I was only a useless little boy, who hadn't saved anyone, though he'd dedicated his life to it.

Some Doc I was.

Still- It was foolish to choose to let myself rot in here beside a woman who would probably die. It was foolish to waste time that could be better spent rebuilding my life from the corpses of my lost companions. It was foolish to hope.

But a fool I was, and a fool I had always been. There was a third choice beyond staying at my post and walking away. There has always been a third choice, even if I had neglected it so often. There was a third choice, and it was to not give up, to get back up on my feet, to try and try and try, no matter how many times I failed.

My bones creaked, my muscles screamed, and oh, oh, did my body cry. But I bit my tongue and swallowed my pain, because for once, I wasn't going to leave another person behind.

I wrapped my arms beneath Mrin's armpits and hauled, lugging her against the ground. A long time ago, I went for a first aid course. They taught us how to carry people there, with fancy names like fireman and piggyback. I couldn't remember any of it, and I wouldn't have had the strength to do it anyway.

But I hauled all the same, feeling my muscles clench and bones pop as I did so. My head throbbed like the worst hangover in a dozen lifetimes, and my fingers cramped such that I thought I'd never be able to move them again.

But still I hauled. My knees ground against each other, heels digging into the ground. I could taste blood from where I bit my tongue. Something tore in my back, and my vision flashed red and white like Not-Athena gulping down Brett.

And I continued hauling.

I pulled and dragged and heaved all the way to the very end, to where a single leaky pipe stood. A veritable oasis. I dropped Mrin down, collapsing beside her as I did so. What possessed me to give all our water skins to Brett? Damn it all.

With one dusty, aching hand, I caught a few droplets of water and washed Mrin's face. Her bare hands were skinned and covered in cuts from the concrete I had dragged her across, but she seemed stable. I dribbled some more water into her mouth and dripped my iodine onto some gauze.

Slowly, gently, I daubed it against her wounds. First the arms and the legs, cleaning them of the dust that permeated everything. Then it was her gums, taking care to clean it out with tissue afterwards. Then, last of all, I wiped the empty rim of her eye. Even after so many years, it pained me to see her socket. There was something so ugly about it, so visceral and harsh. It didn't belong on her face.

I cradled her in my arms after that, alternating between hydrating her and myself. With the water and the knowledge that the stash of cans was in a hole in the wall somewhere nearby, I found myself drifting off to sleep once more, leaning in a corner uncomfortably.

I dreamt of running through a golden field at dusk.

***

I was awoken by a gentle tugging on my arm. “Fuck off, Athena,” I mumbled. She always did this, raring to go at too-fucking-early o'clock. “We've got nothing important to do, there's no rush.”

“Yes, there is,” came the response. Too deep to be Athena and too feminine to be Brett, I consigned myself to the grim day at the hands of Mrin. Goodness knew what she wanted with-

Ah, fuck. The memory of the previous day rushed into my brain with a mental ‘pop’, and I winced. “Bloody, fucking hell. We gotta stop that thing, don't we?”

Mrin, somehow looking more alert than me, nodded. “Yep. According to my prediction, she's gonna overrun this entire place if we let her. Already, she's begun expanding. Give her two more days, and who knows what we might be facing?”

With a sigh, I rested my head against the wall. “Great. Just fucking great. Can't we run? Brett and Athena aren't gonna be rescued either way, and I don't think they'll want us to die fruitlessly.” A second thought adjoined itself to my grumbling, and I found myself adding, “Besides, you shouldn't be in action right now. You had some god-awful kind of infection just now, and you were half-dead. What even was that thing?”

Suddenly discomfited, Mrin shrugged. “Look,” she said, “It's complicated. What happened to me… Let's just say it was a occupational hazard. Thanks for cleaning me up, though. I'm better now.”

That statement did not make me feel better. On top of this hostile shithole, on top of Brett and Athena's deaths, on top of that monstrosity roaming the halls, Mrin was hiding something from me? Had been hiding something from me? Would continue to hide something from me? Did our years of travelling together mean nothing? Damnit.

I trusted her, yes. I'd always trust her. That was just how a partnership worked. But it was the first time I'd ever considered that this didn't go both ways, that she was lying to me. Probably for my safety, or perhaps for her own, but it still stung. It was another straw upon the back of a struggling camel.

She saw it in my eyes. “Look, Doc, it's complicated. After this is all over, I swear I'll tell you everything. No more secrets between us, okay?” There was a pause, as though that promise cost her something. “And, speaking of which… Did you mean it? What you said while you were trying to wake me up, I mean.”

Oh. That. For a moment, the old Doc, the one who got himself blackout drunk on the day of his med school exams and flirted with every woman in the bar came rushing back. Refutations landed on the tip of my tongue, as familiar as the lies I'd always told myself. I forced them back down. Had I not made a promise to myself? To not take the easy way out, as I'd always done?

“Yes. I meant it. I love you, Mrin. And I'm no poet. I don't have a way with words, or a thing for grand gestures, or even the ability to make this… place romantic. All I can offer you is what I've already given: a steady pair of hands and a partner to watch your back. You don't need to love me back. I know I'm a difficult man to love.” I found myself gripping her hands and looking into her eye. “But I hope you do. I really do. I hope you love me like a rock against the stormy sea, like the sun rising in the East every day, like a couple growing old together.”

“There's a word for that,” she whispered back, leaning in close. “I can't recall it, but I know the Greeks gave it a name. I know it means sensible love. And I know- I know I love you.” She pulled me into a hug, resting her chin on my shoulder. “Never figured I'd find love, you know. Always thought that was for women prettier and smarter than me. Of all things, to find it here and now…”

A tiny sigh escaped her lips, like the swish of a guillotine. I didn't like that sound, not one little bit. “Doc, there's something I need to do.” Her fingers dug into my clothes. “I- Stay here, will you? Wait for me.”

We disentangled from each other, and I said, “I'll wait for you forever if need be. After all, we did wait for each other all this time.”

Mrin pursed her lips, the sides of her eyes crinkling up. “Yes, I suppose so.”

Path G:

As she turned to go, I stopped her. “Wait. I want to help you. Didn’t I just say I was your partner? Let’s do this together, Mrin.”

It made her break into a proper smile. This time I could see the cracks in it, where something that horrible and despairing lurked. “Are you alright? You look… troubled, my love.” The last word lingered on my tongue. It tasted like the fields in summer.

“It's nothing, Doc. Nothing at all.” Mrin turned away, but I caught the flash of grief. Stronger, it was. Starker against the warmth in my chest.

“No, it's not nothing. Don't brush me off, Mrin. Not after everything we've done,” I said, grabbing her arm and pressing it to my chest. “I swear, Mrin, I'm done trying to accept my fate. I'm done trying to make my own heart freeze over. I'm done refusing to admit that I don't care about you, or Athena, or Brett.”

I don't know when I decided that. To be honest, I hadn't quite realised it until the words flew out of my mouth. I suppose it must have been when Mrin burst into tears that night. It always did come back to her, after all. Her and that piercing gaze of hers. It revealed things I didn't know about myself.

But it was true. I was done, once and for all, of letting harm coming to the ones I loved. It was time for me to step up and be a man for once. I pressed her calloused hand to my chest. “Come on, Mrin. Tell me what's wrong. Let's face it together, no matter how horrible. Isn't that what partners are for?”

She looked down, avoiding my gaze. “I've come to a conclusion of my own, Doc. I think- I think it's time I stopped trying to make the impossible happen. I've been stuck here for what, a decade? And no matter how hard I've tried, I can't find a way to escape this place. I…”

“I don't think there is one.”

The admission made her voice crack, and she yanked her hand from my chest as though I'd stabbed her. “Fuck, that hurts to say aloud. But it's the truth, isn't it? There's just no way out. We're stuck here. Doomed.”

It was the opposite of my decision. “Mrin…”

“No! It's pointless, don't you get it?! It's so… so accursedly unfair of you to say something like ‘I love you', right when I've made my choice! I admired you, Doc. I admired how stoic you were. I tried so, so fucking hard to stay calm in the face of everything. I tried so hard not to care. I tried to be like you, and just as I succeed, you do this?!”

She shook, though with rage or grief, I could not tell. “You stupid bastard. You and Athena and Brett, you've all left me no choice.”

“I've got to save you all. Even if it means killing myself.”

“Mrin, what the hell are you talking about?” I tried to reach out again, and she gave me an infuriated look.

“Run the numbers, Doc. I'm never going to be happy here. I don't want to spend my life chasing something that will never come to pass. It's all so pointless. Pointless, I tell you.”

“You're repeating yourself again, Mrin.” Even as I said it, I knew it was useless. We really were doomed to repeat our mistakes. This conversation had been the lead-up to Athena's death, and it was gonna be the lead-up to Mrin's too. I felt that mantle of despair settle about my shoulders, unavoidable as ever.

Yet I had to try anyways, didn't I? Wasn't that what I'd told her just now? Damn, this trying thing was hard. It was hard to get arms to move when they'd stayed still for so long, hard to get the ball rolling when it'd been gathering moss for forever, hard to try when it was so much easier to just not. But I had to. For Athena, who I hadn't reached out to in time. For Brett, who I could have saved if I'd been less of a fool.

For Mrin, who I still had. Who I might lose. Who I couldn't lose, not when we'd admitted the truth to each other.

“It's not pointless, Mrin. You're a fool if you believe that.”

“Are you looking at this place? You said it yourself: we're in Hell. The one with the capital H. We're fucking doomed, Doc.” She gesticulated to the walls around us. “Do you really want to scrape out a life eating out of rusty old cans and drinking stale water?”

“If I get to be with you? Yes. I'd endure all the torment in the world to be by your side,” I said. And somehow, I meant it.

It took her aback. We stared at each other, silent save for the steady drip of the leaky pipe. Finally, in a soft, wavery voice, she said, “oh.”

“I mean it, alright? You bring the light back into this world. I love you, Mrin. You've made an old heart come back to li-”

She hushed me. There was a glimmer of light over her eye, the sheen of tears she refused to let fall. “Don’t start on that. You’d really suffer through torment for me? Endure that much?”

I nodded. “Like I've said, I'm no romantic. But what better reason is there to live than for love?”

“I- I suppose so.” The light was coming back into her, something firm, strong and unyielding as steel. Something like the Mrin I knew. “Okay, then. I guess there's a change of plans.”

“Here's the thing, Doc. I know how to stop that thing.” She paused, as though for dramatic effect.

“And?”

“It's gonna kill me.”

God-fucking-damnit. “Of course it is. Because this entire place just wants us dead, doesn't it?! Well, screw that, if that was your original plan. If we have to, we continue running from it until the end of time.” Or until we died, but I didn't want to think of that then.

“Yes, yes.” Mrin swatted away the thought. “We just agreed on that. I promise you, Doc, as long as I love you and you love me, I won't abandon you.”

The pronouncement made my heart warm. “But then… What are we gonna do?”

She scrunched her face up. “I don't know. Not for sure, anyway. You don't drive away such a powerful possession without great sacrifice. But- And bear with me here, this is absolutely ridiculous, but we have the power of love on our side.”

It was ridiculous to hear the words out of her mouth. What were we, children? This wasn't some silly little fairy tale. We weren't a bunch of sanitised little heroes to go against the big baddie. We were doomed, in hell, fools all of us.

Weren't we?

I swallowed my refutations and said, “Okay? And what does that mean?”

“Love, in and of itself, is a sacrifice, Doc. It's giving a piece of your heart away, letting yourself risk getting hurt, allowing hope to sink its insidious claws into you. To love truly and without reservation is a sacrifice that might just drive away a beast of pure desire like The One That Lurks.”

“This is stupid,” I said, before I could catch my tongue. “What are we doing, Mrin? We've both considered giving up. How the hell is the power of our love and hope going to make anything work? We can barely keep ourselves together! Bloody hell, in the past day we've lost just about everything and everyone.”

“I want to believe, Mrin, I really do. I want this all to work out perfectly. I want to wake up and discover I'm back in the fields near my childhood home. I want to wake up every day and feel the sun on my face. I want Athena and Brett to suddenly come back to life and live happily ever after.”

“When I said that I was gonna try my best, that I was gonna stop surrendering to my fate, that I was done being a coward, I didn't mean that somehow everything was gonna turn out alright. That just… doesn't happen. Not to people like us.”

Her expression remained eerily faithful. “But what if it could, Doc? What if it could?”

“If it could, then you'd have done it by now, no?” Shit, I could feel the worm of hope gnawing its way through the applecore of my soul again. It was a foul feeling, but I resisted crushing it.

“I alone could never have done it. Love isn't something a person can do on their own. But I love you, and you love me, and together, maybe, just maybe, we have the power to stop this. To revert Athena to her old self and put the scraps of Brett back together.” She took my hands in hers. “After all, don't we have to try?”

Oh, god, this was stupid. But I'd promised, hadn't I? “Yeah,” I said. “We have to try.”

***

And that was how we ended up standing back in the altar-hall of the cultists, Mrin and I, our hearts pounding with fear. Mrin's sabre was unsheathed, and she held it in a low guard.

Sure, the hall was empty. Sure, the cultists were gone. Sure, we were in no danger. But that was about to change, and fast. “How much longer have we got?”

She shrugged. “Five minutes, max? We'll hear the first of her soon, if at all.”

Our plan, insofar as it went without reaching the ‘pray the power of love saves us' stage, was simple. Leave a trail of blood from our hidey hole to here and hope Not-Athena would follow.

The blood we'd gotten from a wide, shallow cut on my wrist. Only one person's blood could be used, lest Not-Athena catch wind of our plan. For all of Mrin's knowledge, she didn't know just how smart that thing was, and I didn't want to find out.

It wasn't five minutes when she found us. It wasn't even one. Just as I opened my mouth to respond, a vast shadow coalesced from the ceiling.

“My, my. Two measly mortals. Beckoning me, are you?” Her voice came from all around us, layered repetitions of our Athena's voice circling like vultures. “Something you need, dearies? Perhaps you'd like to join your little friend in feeding me?” The sugary glee in her voice made my bile rise.

“I- No,” I said, feeling my voice crack. “We're here to make you give us back our kids. Whether you like it or not.”

God, what was I doing? How dumb was I? This was a suicide mission. In a moment, I was going to be ripped to shreds and sliding down the gullet of a thousand worms.

Speaking of them, the worms of Not-Athena began sculpting themselves into her form. Save for the size and composition of her body, she might well have been the girl I knew. “And how do you think you'll do that, little man?”

Without waiting for an answer, she continued. “I know what you are, mortal. You're a coward. A worthless, snivelling little coward. And your girlfriend is no better. She is made of bloodthirst and ambition. Unworthy, all of you. Foul. Tainted.” The mass chittered with laughter. “How fortunate you are that I like taint.”

Mrin raised her blade and pointed it right at Not-Athena. “We don't care for your pretty words. Give us back the kids. Now.”

“Or else?” Not-Athena tilted her head to a side. “Will you raise your hand against me in futility? Will you sacrifice yourself in a grand gesture of hopelessness? Will you die for those two snot-nosed brats?”

She shook her head. “I'll do you one better than that. I'll live for them. I'll live and worry and fret and accept that I'm never going home for them. I'll stay for them, for the ones I love.”

“Is love something you'd understand? I don't think so. For all your power and all your greatness, you'll never truly know love. It is what makes leaf litter into a sapling, what spins death back into life, what makes your precious rot into something beautiful. Love will turn the worst of hell into home, love will turn these lights into a blazing sun, and love will turn you back into our Athena.”

The monster hissed, rearing back as though she'd struck it. “And you, little coward? Would you truly wish to suffer for all eternity in the name of an ungrateful whelp, a naive fool and a lying, thieving witch? Would you make that sacrifice? Would you, truly?”

There was an edge to her voice now, as though she were afraid. As though we had wounded her somehow. I stepped forward, ready to back Mrin up, ready to fight for what I believed. I took a deep breath. By some trick of the weather or the presence of the woman I loved by my side, I found the strength to do something, for once.

“Begone, foul beast. You're not welcome here. Athena might be an ingrate, but goodness knows I've been one too. Brett's naive, sure, but look who's standing here trying to save two dead people? And yes, Mrin lied, but we've all done that. Any sin they've committed I've done tenfold. Any flaw they hold in their hearts, I hold in mine too. Any thing I would condemn them for would make me a hypocrite.”

“Nonsense, child. You had a reason to do what you did. You're different from them. See, boy?” Her voice was wheedling, weaker and weaker. We were… winning, somehow.

“And? So what? They had their reasons too. And even if they didn't, would it truly change anything? They're family. That word doesn't mean anything to you, does it? I love them. I love them all enough to plunge myself through hell and back again. I love them enough to face the greatest of monsters for them. I love them, and that love is damn well greater than anything you could possibly summon!”

“So give us back our kids, damn you, and crawl back to whatever dimension you came from. Go away and hope you never come across love again, because it can and will burn you to ash.”

Not-Athena laughed, a vicious, deep-bellied noise, and I felt my hope wither. What did we think we were doing? She wasn't hurt at all. We couldn't make rot bleed, the same way you couldn't kill death. And now we were going to pay for our hubris.

But still I did not flinch, did not run, did not let that fear into my heart. I couldn't, not with Mrin by my side.

“Mortals, mortals, mortals. Always so confident in love. I am the One That Lurks Beneath Rotting Flesh, and nothing so pathetic as true love can stop me. I know what love is. I've felt in my bones. When I gulped down my worshippers, their love filled my stomach and made me warm. What makes you think yours could be any different?”

I spat at the ground before her. The gesture reminded me of Athena. It reminded me of her ferocity, her defiance, that sheer doggedness that would shift mountains. I needed some of that right there and then. “First off, I don't love you. If you gulped me down, I'd burn your innards all the way and give each and every one of your disgusting little maggots a stomach ache.”

I shifted my stance, lowering my centre of gravity the way Brett did. I could use some of his bravery then, some of the faith he held in his heart, that unshakable kindness that should have protected us all. “Second of all, Love doesn't destroy. It creates. It protects. It nurtures. It is the antithesis of love. What you felt was mere worship.”

I grabbed Mrin's hand and clenched it. Oh, how I prayed her wisdome and insight would strike home one last time. Oh, how I prayed whatever black magic she had dabbled in would ring true. Oh, how I prayed our love would be enough. “Thirdly, by the power invested in us, the strength of love, faith and hope, we bind you away, One That Lurks Beneath Rotting Flesh! Begone!”

Not-Athena let out a great roar, her larvae rippling as though struck. It was working. It was working itwasworkingitwas-

She absorbed the invisible blow, rearranging herself and fixing a look of pure fury upon her features.

“Fine! Infuriating creatures. Keep your lives, you are hardly worth it. I will leave. Be grateful for the mercy I have shown you,” Not-Athena announced.

Oh, how my heart leapt! I would have seized the opportunity immediately if it had been me. To be happy ever after with Mrin, I'd bite the bullet and accept that Athena and Brett weren't coming back. Shit, it would be enough for me to just have her. I wanted to save Brett, sure, and it wasn't fair to leave Athena behind either, but even escaping with our lives was more than I'd hoped for.

I opened my mouth to tell Not-Athena so, to thank her for the mercy and hug Mrin and let the world be good. But my love silenced me, and took another step forward.

“Bullshit. Give us back the kids. Now. Don't make me ask again, Lurker.” The last word came out as a sneer, reeking of arrogance I hadn't thought Mrin had.

“Tch. You presume too much of yourself, little witch. Your love is not enough to spare more than two. Direct that blade at me all you want: You shall not get a better deal.” Not-Athena, the Lurker, stared her down.

Still, Mrin didn't budge. “You really wanna risk it? Really?” Her lips twitched. “So be it. If pointing my sabre does nothing, perhaps slashing it might help.”

Before Not-Athena could react, she lunged. Quick as a flash, she drove the sword into the thick of the maggots. As one, they screamed, a wholly terrifying noise, like a banshee and a ambulance siren had a demented love child. I cringed from it, stumbling back and clamping my hands over my fingers.

Mrin, somehow, remained unaffected. “I warned you,” she yelled over the din. “Now give us back Athena and Brett!”

The swarm pulled itself back. “Never,” Not-Athena snarled. “You will regret trying to fight one such as I.”

“Like fuck I will,” she said, pulling back her sword for another go.

That was when it all went wrong.

I'd known from the start that it would. Nothing went right in this hell. Nothing at all. That little nugget of terror, my old frenemy, was the only reason I was prepared when something flew at Mrin.

I dodged the swarm as it descended upon her. They were flies, thousands of them. It made a horrible kind of sense. Of course there would be flies when there were maggots. Nasty, disease spreading flies. They flung themselves at Mrin with reckless abandon, not caring if she shook them off. Their little feet and mouths dug into the exposed flesh from the maggots' attack.

She should have been able to push through it. Mrin was strong, after all, far stronger than me. She should have brushed them off with a single stroke. She should have overcome them, and plunged her blade into Not-Athena's heart, slaying the beast.

But she didn't. Instead, she flung her sword down and curled up, screaming in sudden agony. It was worse than any banshee, that sound of hers, for it pierced me to the very core. Before I could think straight, I was on my feet and running to her.

As I grew close, I saw what plagued her so. Beneath her skin, under the thick cloud of flies, lumps shifted and gnawed. Myiasis sprung to my mind instantly, a remnant of the semester I spent as a volunteer medic in some poverty stricken, war torn land. The laying of eggs beneath flesh.

Not-Athena, The Lurker, that beast, intended to eat my love from the inside out. “Run,” Mrin mouthed at me, before more flies flew down her throat. I wanted to hurl, the sour bile coming up my throat, but I forced it back down. This wasn't the time to be weak. This wasn't the time to run. We'd come too far to do that.

I grabbed her fallen sword and hefted it. Rising to my feet, I turned to face Not-Athena. “You,” I snarled. “You don't get to hurt my love. You don't get to hurt my love, or my kids, or me. You let go of her this instant, you hear me? You're not gonna eat my girlfriend alive, you fucking bitch. I won't let you.”

I ran at her. Goodness knows my form was awful, and my arms were hardly more than noodles, but I don't think that mattered there and then. What was more important was that I made good on my promise, and didn't hesitate. As soon as I finished my words, I was slicing through her.

Slime, insect blood, and goodness knows what else splattered me. I felt things squirm across my flesh, seeking open wounds to bury themselves into. They made me itch all over, a nearly unbearable feeling in and of itself. But Mrin had endured this for me. Mrin had suffered, was suffering, for me. I couldn't just abandon her like that.

“Fine! Take the warrior-girl. I will leave,” Not-Athena snarled as I buried myself in the mass of her body. Somehow, they died by the swarm, everything Mrin's sabre touched dying like… well, flies. Which they were, in a way.

“No,” I yelled back, spitting out the worms that fell into my mouth. “Give me back both of them. I'm not abandoning anyone, you hear me? I'm done! You pushed me and pushed me, and this time I'm not backing down! Prepare to die.” I cleaved one more time, and a face appeared from underneath the writhing maggots.

“Athena!” Her eyes were closed, a shallow slice over her throat. It would not kill her, I realised, though she would carry the scar for the rest of her life. I lowered my blade immediately to haul her free.

“If you do that, I will kill the witch,” Not-Athena buzzed around me. “My children will erupt from her skin and eat her alive. Will you make that sacrifice, little coward?”

Between agonised sobs, Mrin said, “Do it, Doc. Trust me. You- You have to.”

I turned back, shaking off more maggots as I did so. “But-”

“Do it.”

I looked into her eyes desperately. Was this a trick? I couldn't sacrifice her. But that steel in her gaze told me not to disobey. “Do. It.”

So I did. “We'll make that sacrifice,” I told Not-Athena. “No, I'll make that sacrifice. Together. Let me take on her burden. For Brett and Athena and our safety, I'll do it.”

The maggots halted for a second. “You mean that, little mortal? You would endure unspeakable agonies just to lessen your love's? You would sacrifice that much?” She paused, as though wagering something. “Would you sacrifice your entire being, take on the witch's agony and carry twice the burden? Would you die for them?”

I nodded resolutely. “I would endure it a thousand times over. I would die and be reincarnated in the flames of hell for them. What greater cause is there than to die for the ones you love, after all? Take my life, Lurker. I will go willingly into the night for love.”

As a boy, I'd never understood those tales of men holding down the fort, sending themselves off to certain death in a faraway warzone for their wives and children. I'd always told myself that I would desert, flee like a sane person, live a life of comfort far away as hostiles ripped the land I loved to shreds.

Damn, but I was wrong then.

Not-Athena cackled. “What a fine choice, little boy. What a fine choice indeed. I will release those children, and my young will slither out of the witch, and then I shall have you. I shall take you until you scream and tell me that you can bear no more. Then your bargain shall expire, and I will feast upon you and your loves.”

Her maggots clung to my eyelashes, crawling into my ears and nostrils. I felt them in my innards. “Deal,” I managed to say, swallowing maggots as I did so. They tumbled down my gullet, squirming like butterflies all the way into my stomach.

Then everything went black.

No, that wasn't quite right. Everything went to pain.

Maggots slithered under my nails, like those bamboo sticks the Japanese used on POWs. They wiggled past my eyelids and into the sockets, gnawing through flesh where needed. They were everywhere, at my crotch, into my belly button, deep in my ear canal. I was swimming in maggots.

Hot damn, it hurt. There weren't words for the agony. I would have scrubbed my skin clean, ripped my ribs free from my chest, strangled myself with my own intestines just to be free of the itch. I screamed, but it only let more maggots in.

They chipped my teeth, ripping at the sensitive nerves beneath the enamel. Sobbing, I clawed at myself. I'd do anything to rid myself of the sensation. Anything to get rid of the pain, the itch, the squirming. Anything at all.

“So do you go back on our deal? I'm more than happy to release you,” came the reply. It reverberated inside my bones, where worms ate their way through my marrow.

No. Never that. Anything but that. I couldn't sacrifice them for me. I wouldn't. I-

A new wave of agony overtook me. I clung to sanity by the tips of my fingers, trying to think of anything except the pain of those little mouths biting into me.

The memory of a field came back to me. Golden wheat at sunset, wind ruffling my hair. I kept it longer back then, long enough to make girls swoon. I cut it all off less than a week into my life in hell. It was pointless to keep it, after all.

No, I didn't want to think of what happened to my hair. Not when something was squirming into the pores of my scalp, wriggling past layers of flaky dandruff.

I should've gone back home right after I graduated, shouldn't have stuck around, shouldn't have made all those crap choices. Maybe I would have still been at home. Maybe I would have had kids, raised them up in the city, started my own practice and made enough to live comfortably. Maybe I would have been happy.

But I didn't. And who was I kidding? I would never have done it. I was a fucking bastard back then, a bastard through and through. Perhaps this was karma, my payback for my past actions.

At least I'd saved Mrin from it. It hurt my very soul to think that Brett suffered the same agony. Even if I'd deserved it, he didn't.

Still ruminating on your mistakes, mortal? You've paid the price, you know. You've paid it a dozen times over. You could go back to that field of yours, if only you ask me to. You could go back in time and undo every bit of foolishness that led you here. Think about it.

All you'd need to do is go back on your bargain. It's a bit of selfishness you deserve.

Was that my voice? Or was it the monster's? Damn, but it was hard to think beneath all the wriggling. Perhaps the maggots had eaten past my thick skull and into my brain.

But one thing was for sure: I wasn't going to go back on it. Not this time.

Why? You know they don't deserve such loyalty. They wouldn't return it. They've all done something to deserve it, Doc. That's why they're here, after all. Remember that they lied to you, Doc. Remember that.

The wriggling ceased sharply as I moved to agree. Yeah, they didn't deserve it. Sure, they'd probably done something equally horrible.

But- and I felt a blast of agony as I thought it- I loved them. I cared. And that alone meant more than a thousand lies. That meant more than all the maggots feasting on me. That meant everything to me.

A pair of arms seized me then, grabbing my elbows roughly. In my shock, I coughed out a handful of larvae.

Through the grey haze, a girl was yelling. Her voice was high, familiar, and absolutely furious. “Let him go, you crazy insect bitch! He's ours, you hear me?! Keep your filthy worms off of him!”

Athena. My Athena. Our Athena. She was alive and kicking, the very same as she had been before. That, too, was everything.

So when a second and third pair of hands caught me, I began struggling towards them. Because they were my family, my everything, and I meant something to them in return.

I coughed up thick worm-ridden phlegm, kicking my legs in a twisted facsimile of that time I'd tried and failed to swim in the lake, and crawled. My progress made the movement of a snail seem lighting-fast; the maggots resisted me at every turn, contracting simultaneously like a sphincter.

But still I was stronger, and soon I found my nose free of the swarm. Miraculously, my insides were un-maggot-infested- had it all been a hallucination? A ploy by Not-Athena to make me break my own promise? It sounded like something she would do.

She released a furious cry as I gasped for air. “You are mine, mortal! You sacrificed yourself to me. Don't you dare deny me now,” she snarled.

Mrin let go of my hands. “He's ours, Lurker, fair and square. He has paid his debt with a whole-hearted sacrifice, and refused to back down. He, my two friends, and I are all free to go. Or are you going to cause a fuss?” The deadly gleam in her eye gave even me pause. “You know who the forces of nature will side with here, Lurker. Scram.”

Not-Athena puffed herself up angrily, but spat me out. “Do not think I do this because I fear you, little witch. Keep your not-coward, he was hardly worth it. And those two children were practically all skin and bones anyways.” She paused for a moment to look at our Athena. The maggots whispered something that I could not catch, something that sounded like an offer. One last ploy to catch us, one last worm of a string to reel up her dinner.

For a fleeting moment, desire came over Athena's face, a yearning that I'd never seen before. This was it, I thought. After everything we did, we were gonna die because that damned girl never learnt the meaning of self control. I closed my eyes and flexed my wonderfully free fingers one last time.

“No,” she said suddenly. “I’m sorry, but I can't accept that. You should leave, worm bitch. Don't let me catch you hanging around here again.” She puffed up her chest in a vague facsimile of Mrin, staring down the monster coldly.

Not-Athena let out a final hiss, then evaporated. Hundreds of thousands of larvae burst into flies simultaneously, scattering faster than I could catch them. Within seconds, we stood in an empty hall, safe from cultists and monsters and all the other nasties. Just me and my family.

We stared at each other, me drenched in slime and them panting heavily, all mysteriously unharmed. Even the slice at Athena's neck was naught more than a scar.

I reached out to put my hand on her shoulder, and she backed away. “You saved me,” she stated. “Even though you knew what I did.”

I shook my head. “That was all Mrin. If it were up to me, I would have left both of you in there and ran for my life.”

A bitter laugh escaped her lips. “Sure you would. That's why you put yourself through… that. Because you just wanted to run away and abandon us.”

I couldn't argue with that.

Brett stepped up and pulled me into a bear hug. Damn, but that boy was too big for his own good. “Thank you,” he mumbled. “For saving me. And I'm sorry I argued with you. It was wrong of me to call you all those names, especially when you've been looking after us all and I know it must have been hard on-”

I shushed him. “Nonsense. You were in the right there. We're family, aren't we? And family lets the little things slide.”

“Little things like torturing a cultist? I do believe your exact words were ‘I just can't think of a monster that would've done this’.” Athena, of course. Who else would speak like that?

“We're having a moment here, girl. Stop trying to ruin it.” I patted Brett on the back again, and he released me. “Thanks for not crushing my lungs, Brett. I've had quite enough suffering for one day.”

He laughed at that and stepped away, turning to his girlfriend. “Athena,” he said, lighting up as they locked gazes.

“What?” She looked away guiltily. “Are you mad at me for… you know, killing that guy? Because it was inexcusable. And it was unforgivable. And if you hate me now, I completely understand.”

Brett shook his head. “I don't hate you, Athena. I would never hate you.” He took a deep breath and stepped closer. This time, she didn't move away, looking up at him with arms crossed. “I love you and I loved you and I will always love you.”

“That's a bit excessive, isn't it?”

He scoffed. “I ran into a horde of cultists for you. I looked a monster in the eye and confessed to her my undying love for you. I would give you my head on a plate, Athena.”

Then they kissed. Sometimes it upset me that they seemed to be living in a post-apocalyptic romance and I a horror movie.

That, of course, was when I realised I hadn't heard a peep from my love, the one who had saved us all, whether she was willing to admit it or not. I turned to face her, and found her staring, dead on, down a hallway, half-turned away from us. “Mrin?”

She didn't respond. “Hey, you good?”

A quiet sob escaped her lips. “You’re an idiot, you know that?”

“Huh?”

She whipped around. “Did you even understand what I was trying to do? Did you know how badly that could have gone, when you ran off the script? Did you even think when you volunteered to get tortured like that? I knew how to get myself out, damnit! Why would you just sacrifice yourself like that?”

“Because I love you, Mrin. I love you and I would burn in a thousand hells just to keep you safe,” I replied, reaching out for her.

She all but threw herself in my arms. “Stupid old man,” she mumbled into my neck. “Doesn't know the first thing about magic and goes and makes a deal with a fucking Lurker. Stupid, stupid old man.”

I gave her a helpless smile. “You didn't know that already?”

“Do you know what you've done? You've singlehandedly made a sacrifice grand enough to dispel a goddess and resurrect the dead twice. You healed me. You damn well worked high magic.” She snorted, as though disbelieving her own words. “And high magic is exactly what we need to escape this hellhole.”

“Oh god, not this again.”

“No, no, hear me out here. All we need to do is repeat this entire ordeal. We can simulate it with the Twisteds down by the hospital rooms. Start by chaining, say, Athena, to a wall-” She cut herself off.

“Wait, you're right. This- This isn't going to work out. We're stuck here, and the price we'd need to pay to unstick ourselves is just too high. Out of everyone, I suffered the least throughout this. I have no right to suggest that all of us go through it again.”

With a quiet sigh, Mrin shook her head. “It's alright. I have you,” she said, looking into my eyes. “And I think that's more than enough for me. My love.”

The words sent a shiver down my spine and a smile up my lips. We held each other close, Mrin and I, and for once, I didn't shy away from making a choice.

I leaned in and pressed my lips against hers. It wasn't amazing, as kisses went. I'd lost most of my touch with age, and the memory of both of us in ugly agony still lingered. But it was a kiss, and my first one in decades at that.

Hell was never quite so hellish after that.

Path B:

I watched her get up, a tiny voice whispering to me as she left. You'll never see her again, it said. She's going to take her secrets with her and leave.

I couldn't let that happen. I couldn't be all alone again. I couldn't let her keep her lies to herself. So I scrambled to my feet and followed her, keeping to the walls and praying she would not notice the Doc-shaped shadow that stalked her.

Mrin moved resolutely, as though driven by a homing instinct. Not once did she turn around. Not once did she look back to where I should have been. Not once did she hesitate to abandon me.

I hadn't known she was that heartless. It hurt. But still I tracked her, growing more and more daring by the moment. It was clear she would not catch me, not with her so occupied as she was.

Round a corner we went, past where a trail of tattered clothes told me those fleeing cultists had fallen. Not even the bones were left of them. I stepped over them, wincing as I did so. Nobody, not Brett or the cultists, deserved the fate of being eaten alive.

As she walked, it slowly became apparent that Mrin was retracing her steps, heading back to that fateful hallway where Athena had been morphed in the first place. That was… Bad, to put it in the words of the late Brett. What were her intentions?

She stopped in the middle of the hallway, just beyond the grand room where the cultists had held their fateful ritual. The movement was sudden enough that I nearly revealed myself.

Mrin unsheathed her sabre. She took in a deep shuddering breath. The grief in that noise made my heart break, and I yearned to reach out to her. But she had lied to me, hadn't she? She had hidden parts of herself from me, and if I wanted to know the truth, I too had to remain hidden.

Falling to her knees, Mrin slammed her sword into the concrete before her. By some miracle, it didn't chip. Another deep, shuddering breath. Her shoulders slumped. Then she spoke.

“Our Lady That Lurks Beneath Rotting Flesh! I call you. I have lost kin to you, soul-kin, our bond thick as any blood. You have taken one of mine and turned her to your schemes, stolen another and drank his lifeblood. Now, I call you, and I demand redress.”

Her voice rang clear as a bell, an undercurrent of power within it. It was so at odds to the defeat within her mere moments ago, so at odds to her appearance, that for a moment I wondered if it had not been her who spoke. But no: Mrin and I were the only people around for miles.

She looked up, as though expecting to see something. “Lurker,” she called out warningly. “I'm not in the mood to play games. You know the rules well as I. You know what you're obliged to do. What you don't know is what I'm willing to sacrifice to protect my family. And let me tell you: You won't want to know. So let me tell you again: I call you, and I demand redress. Right here. Right now.”

I held my breath. For a moment, it seemed as though Not-Athena had ignored her entirely. Then the walls began to shake.

Out poured maggots, of course. That was what this whole thing had been about, after all. They dribbled down the cracks in the walls, worming between my feet. I suppressed a scream and stepped away from them, but they had no interest in me.

Worming their way to the hall, they skirted around Mrin, diving between her legs like seafoam and crawling upon each other on the other end to form a tower. Divots formed, mimicking eye sockets and a mouth. Within moments, a woman stood before us.

She looked… different. Better fed. More assured. Older. The ferality of Athena, the form she had taken last, was replaced with a majesty. This was a goddess in truth, I thought, and it made me quake where I stood.

Mrin, however, was unimpressed. She stood her ground, sabre in hand. The great beast of Not-Athena stood before her, filling up half the hallway.

A grotesque smile stretched across her lips. “My, my. Two measly mortals. Beckoning me, are you?” Her voice came from all around us, layered repetitions of our Athena's voice circling like vultures. There was a smirk in it, a tilting of the hat at my hidden presence. That frightened me more than anything else. “Something you need, dearies? Perhaps you'd like to join your little friend in feeding me?” The sugary glee in her voice made my bile rise.

“Give me back my kids,” Mrin snarled, pointing the tip of her blade at Not-Athena's torso. She seemed so small there. I wanted to reach out, to scream and tell her to run, but my legs were ground to a halt.

No, there would be no saving done by Doc today. It was all just too much, the weight of all the suffering I'd carried. How could I care when caring brought me nothing but suffering? Love was good and all, but it had only hurt me. Better that it had happened this way, a tiny voice whispered to me. She was a liar anyways, wasn't she? She would never have trusted you. Nevermind that we were partners.

“I'm sorry, Mrin,” I whispered. “You fool.” If she'd told me, if she'd reached out, if she had opened up, we might have found a way together. We might have run away and stayed safe, instead of this foolish sacrifice.

No, that voice whispered. It was always your fault. Fool boy. You thought you could defeat me a divine being? You're nothing. That's all you will ever be.

Coward.

Blaming the witch for your own apathy? It was your fault all along. You could have changed this with just a little effort. You could have reached out to the girl, stopped bickering with the boy, actually bothered opening up to the one you call your love. And now, you're going to pay the price.

Not-Athena unhinged her jaw, releasing a cascade of grey-white larvae upon my partner. I watched, frozen by horror, as they fell upon her. I watched Mrin slash and hack her way through the horde, somehow parting the sea of vermin. I watched and I hoped and I prayed as she grew closer and closer to the heart of Not-Athena, the One that Lurks Beneath Rotting Flesh.

Oh, gods, how I hoped. How I prayed that Mrin’s faith would be enough, that the power invested in her would bring us all a happy ending. But hope and love and happy endings were for men better than I, and belonged to a world kinder than mine.

By some miracle of magic, neither of them noticed me. I wept and screamed silently as Not-Athena overwhelmed my final ally. It was not a swift process. First, the maggots piled up on her, ripping through clothes and exposing her skin. She did not slow then, not even as they bit into her, gnawing open little patches of exposed flesh that reminded me of Brett's demise. Perhaps that was what it was, a repeat of her death, an encore for a callous audience, a final lap of sacrifice to end the monster those cultists had brought about.

Up until the very end, she refused to slow, the sliver of her steel blade flashing and glinting in a relentless attack. Gods, she was a hero, brave and brilliant and bold. I wish I had told her that. I wish I had had more time to love her. I wish… I wish I wasn't such a failure.

But you are. And that's all you ever be.

As she plunged into the depths of Not-Athena, to her certain death, I did not weep for Mrin. I did not weep for her or Brett or Athena. I wept for my own cowardice, that uselessness that had cost everyone everything.

But Mrin wasn't half as useless as me. No, she was better than I deserved. With the last of her strength, as bone peeked out from the maggots' assault, she tossed out the small, frail body of a girl. The small, frail body of Athena.

How had she done it? I couldn't say. It had something to do with her magic, something about the essence over the material. Athena had been the maggots, and then the body of Not-Athena, and then herself. Or so I theorised, anyway.

It broke the spell that held our enemy together, and the maggots lost their form, collapsing onto Mrin.

Snapped out of my reverie, I reached out and grabbed Athena from Mrin's outstretched arms. She was light in my arms. Had she always been so?

I cradled her against me, watching the woman I'd only just admitted to loving be devoured. I didn't bother reaching out: There was no point, anyways.

As Mrin died, she watched me. There was no shock in her eyes. Had she known all along that I was there? Had she done all this with the faith that I would save her?

Her mouth was open, though I could not tell if she was screaming for me to save her or for me to run. No sound came out, for her windpipe was ripped to little shreds. Not-Athena left her face for last, perhaps out of sadism. Compelled by the strange twist in my chest, I stepped closer until our noses were practically touching.

“Mrin,” I whispered. “I'm sorry.” She didn't say anything, only kept that horrified expression. The maggots started on her eyes. There had to be something I could do, if only to put her out of her misery. I didn't, for I feared attracting the maggots’ attention if I touched them, even with the tip of my knife. I was too much of a coward to even save the life of my love. But there was one thing I could do, one thing I did, one simple, ugly thing.

I kissed her on her lips, the last thing to go.

Then I stepped back and let the worms finish their work. They turned on each other when they polished off her bones, lapping over one another like cannibalistic waves until there was only a single bulbous maggot remaining. Then it too ate itself, grabbing its own tail and slurping itself up in a way no science could explain.

I went back to Athena. She wasn't worth it, wasn't worth all the death we'd seen. But still, I took out my needle, unwound a single thread from my shirt, and set to saving her.

The cut on her neck was shallow, though it had bled like a lamb at slaughter. She was breathing, though her chest barely moved. Somehow, the maggots that had burst out of her skin had done nothing to damage her clothes. Magic, I supposed. If only that same magic had saved my love instead of that irritating child's clothes.

Once I was done, I laid her down and waited. A scream built in my chest, bubbling and toiling, gnawing at my insides. Mrin was dead. Brett was dead. And for what? To save that irritating, crude girl?

I wanted to dash her brains on the rocks. I wanted to kill her horribly, like how she'd killed them. I wanted her to suffer like they did.

My fingers found Mrin's sabre. I clenched it until my knuckles turned white. I could hear that call echoing against the off-white walls.

Kill her.

I didn't do it, of course. Why would I? It would be an exercise in futility. They'd sacrificed themselves in the name of saving her. I'd be betraying them if I killed her.

And if there was one thing I was good at, it was not doing things. I stood there and observed her coolly, vaguely reminded of that time we had to put an animal down. It had shivered like her, sick and wounded and yet unwilling to die. I had wept and turned away, unable to witness the necessity of the act.

Unlike that poor beast, Athena recovered, for a certain value of recovered. Her eyes opened and her body grew strong, letting her breaths grow stable and her arms push herself into a seating position.

“What the hell happened?” Her voice was raspy.

“You got caught by cultists,” I said, trying to keep my bedside manner. “Stupid girl.”

Well, there went that.

Her brows furrowed. “Yeah, I remember that bit. I mean-” she gestured around her. “Where are the others? Why the hell are we here? What the hell is going on?”

Was I supposed to tell her everyone was dead? Was that the foolishness we were going to undertake now? “Quite a bit happened,” I replied cautiously.

“What do you mean?” She froze. “Oh god. Did they get taken by the cultists? I'll kill those fuckers if they hurt Brett. I'll rend them to fucking shreds.” She reached out to grip a spear that wasn't there. “Dammit. Lend me Mrin's sword. Did she get taken along with him?”

“No,” I said, disliking her all the more for her brashness. All that bristling, that determination, and she didn't even know she'd killed them.

“Then she gave her sword to you?” The disdain in Athena's voice was palpable. “Idiot. Where even is she?”

I didn't know how to respond to that.

“Doc? You're giving me a weird look.” She froze, as though picturing something horrible. Then she shook it away. “Come on, we've got no time to waste. The cultists will notice us here eventually, and without backup or my spear I'd prefer not to be there when it happens. Where is it, anyways?”

Her fingers reached up touch the scar on her neck, and vague confusion passed over her features. “Say, did… Did Brett try to save me? For some strange reason I remember him. He was saying something about… Believing? Yeah, believing in me. Having faith that I would do the right thing.”

She clenched Mrin's sword tighter. “Let's go. I've got to save him.”

“Don’t bother. The cultists are all dead.” I barely closed my mouth on the remainder of that sentence. And your love, and mine, are dead too.

“What?” For a brief moment, her face lit up brighter than any memory of the real sun. It was one of the few times I'd seen her truly happy. Then it was gone under the clouds before a storm.

The storm, in this case, being telling her they were dead.

“But if the cultists aren't an issue… What happened?”

And the thunder was brewing. Still I couldn't bring myself to tell her in a way that did not involve tactlessly blurting it out. I was a Doc, for goodness sake! I needed some bedside manner.

“Let's take a walk, shall we?” I offered my arm to Athena. She glared at it like it was poisonous.

“Not happening, dude. I'm not going on a fucking stroll while Brett is in danger. Tell me where he is. If you're too coward to go save him, I will.”

I sighed. “You’re not going to be able to save him.”

“Doesn't matter. I'll try anyways. You've gotta try, no matter how impossible it seems,” she insisted.

It sounded like something a younger, less hopeless Doc would have said, and that upset me. “Listen here, kid. You can't save him. At all. You know why?”

She didn't, only staring at me with those dark eyes like a charred piece of wood, burnt to nothing by hopeless rage.

“He's dead. Both of them are.” I spat out the words with more vindictiveness than I should.

“No. You're lying.” She pressed her lips together and backed against the wall, chin raised. “You're a lying fucking bastard.” It was as though she could make it true simply by insisting.

She shook her head, tears brimming, the greatest show of grief that I would ever see from her. “They're here somewhere. They can't be dead. I mean, Brett and I-”

She didn't finish her sentence, instead sinking quietly to the ground. “They're alive. They have to be. They're safe and fine and this is just your stupid attempt to freak me out again.”

“They died and it was your fault, Athena. Do you remember that?” I tried to temper my voice, to deliver the news like she were the loved one of a terminal patient. But I couldn't. I was never that good of a doctor, and this was far too close to my aching, coward heart. “You ran up to the cultists without thinking, you got yourself captured, and they used you in their ritual.”

“Brett died trying to save you, and Mrin died successfully doing so,” I continued. “They loved you dearly, Athena. Enough to sacrifice themselves for you. And look how you repaid them.”

You could hear her little glass heart shatter. She stared at me from across the room, shaking her head in tiny jerking motions. Her breath came in shuddering gasps, like a woman about to have a heart attack. But those eyes of hers only hardened accusingly, as though I were the one to blame for this.

I supposed I was. The thought came with a wave of guilt. Athena was just a child, after all. A hateful, murderous, torturer child.

“I'm sorry,” I said. “That was cruel of me.” I reached out to give her a hug. “We're all we have anymore.”

“Don't come near me,” she hissed, when I tried to embrace her. So I sat just out of arm's reach, staring at her. If it weren't for the lack of Brett and Mrin, we could have been recreating that fateful night when she ran off, right down to the forced coldness on her face. In a way, I could understand. I had spent my whole life trying to do the same, after all.

We waited there for a very long time, her and I, facing each other in matching positions. I wondered if she would cry, if she would reach out to me, if that facade of hers would freeze over. For a moment, I thought she would do all three, those black-as-night eyes of hers welling up while she unfolded herself.

But it was only to get up, and look down at me with that precariously balanced expression. When she spoke again, her voice was even. “Goodnight, Doc.”

With that, she left, retreating into the dark walkways of the cultists' home, just like she had done the first time. I was too tired to curse her out and chase after her again. Brett and Mrin had done that, and I knew where it had gotten them. So I wrapped myself in my bedroll and went to sleep, feeling oddly vulnerable all alone.

***

The next morning, when I awoke, there was a corpse hanging from the rafters. It dangled limply, swinging in the wind. The chains attached to its wrists jangle like chimes, creating a melody more off-tune than haunting.

The corpse was beautiful, once, with long eyelashes and a gleaming smile, gorgeous enough to charm sirens. But no amount of smiling could-

Ah, who was I kidding. The corpse was too young to die, too vicious to die, and too stubborn to die. But she was dead nonetheless, rope digging into the stitches I had made across her neck, dark hair obscuring her face, the rock she had jumped from not far away. She was dead, and I was all alone. Just as I had been before.

I looked at Athena's dead body grimly, shaking my head. “Fool girl,” I whispered.

And it was a testament to my apathy that my voice only broke a bit.

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hexxbug · 2 months ago

Text

ACT 3!!

I can't believe it's over :((

This is probably more analysis than the other ones I've done lol, spoilers below :o

─ ─ ──┉─ ¡! • !¡ ─┉── ─ ─

AHHHHH so sad, I loved it sm

WE GOT MORE EKKO!!! FINALLY!!!!

THE RECORD BEING JINX AND EKKO INSTEAD OF VI!!

I was joking throughout ep7 and saying oh this is the closest we'll ever get to timebomb when she hugged him, then when they were working on the hextech AND THEN WE ACTUALLY GOT TIMEBOMB???!!!!!!!!

At first I wasn't a massive timebomb shipper, I preferred them platonically icl but it was SOOO FUCKING CUTE and I've been converted! (mostly, I still think they're sweet as a platonic pairing too but either is good) (the au has definitely won me over lol but I personally still think in the main timeline they'd have a different relationship anyway, maybe Ekko has/had a crush on her and in the finale maybe it was mutual but it needed more time to be fleshed out for me to properly ship it, I generally see Jinx as not really in a place to be interested in romance)(grey romantic/demi maybe???)

MA MEILLEURE ENNEMIE?????? THAT SONG HAS BEEN LIVING RENT FREE IN MY HEAD SINCE THEN AND I AM NOT OKAY. ABSOLUTELY FUCKING SPECTACULAR SONG

I think they should've given us a couple extra episodes because him and Heimerdinger, Mel and the whole Jayce Viktor story did not get enough screen time imo, could've done with a bit more interaction idk

Claggor glancing at Mylo being bros!!

HEIMERDINGER STAYED BEHIND!! NOOOOOO. he was such a silly guy I was very sad

ik yordles basically respawn or whatever but still :((((

Cait being like "who decides who gets a second chance" like it wasn't her busting Vi out of jail like 6 months prior

JINX SHE WAS SO BROKEN😭😭😭😭MY POOR LASS

lowkey wish we'd got to see her go absolutely batshit over Isha's death but I get the direction they went in (or just been able to see more of their reaction and recovery from her death in general)(because that shit was glossed over)

Vi being so upset and destroyed about Jinx, saying she shouldn't have done this and then Cait going mf I practically engineered this whole encounter😭😭😭

CAITVI IS A GO!!! I REPEAT CAITVI IS A GO!!!! HHHHHHGHHHHHGGG THEY'RE SO FUCKING CUTE!! I really love how the scene played out

VI'S "Cait I don't FUCKING CARE" just marry her already (ngl not the way I thought that confession would go but I'm glad it was pretty happy)

MEL!!!! I love her character design smmmm it keeps getting better and better🤩🤩🤩she needed more time and practice with her powers though, I think they rushed that a bit.

EKKO MY MAN!!!! HE REALLY WAS THE BOY SAVIOUR!!!!! COMING IN CLUTCH THERE AT THE END

JAYCE. VIKTOR. YOU GAY MFSS LMAO (platonic or romantic they are so in love) I also think they rushed their whole story because both of them were suddenly like "oh yeah besties again✨✨" and I wanted a bit more story there but THEY STARTED IT TOGETHER AND THEY ENDED IT TOGETHER🥲🥲(they basically saved Piltover with the power of friendship lmfaoooo)(jayce's whole monologue to Viktor was absolutely adorable though)

JINX NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO I'm not okay💔 I know it's what she wanted, really, but it felt so flat idk I wish she'd lived and come to terms with every (also I love her and she needs to come back so that's probably why I didn't like it too lmaoo)(ik she fell like a hundred stories or whatever and canon divergence is a thing but my girl is a big part in LoL so maybeeeeee????)(I'm once again in denial....)(COPIUMMM)

ALSOOO CAIT WAS LOOKING AT THE BLUEPRINTS FOR THE HEXGATE AND HAD JINX'S BOMB SO I WILL STAY UNDER MY LITTLE DENIAL ROCK THANKYOU VERY MUCH

Honourable mentions:

Heimerdinger being like "you sure it's 4 seconds???" and Ekko just like •_• "mmmhm yep definitely" poor guy was TRAUMATISED😭😭😭it was so funny to me

Also Heimer's bard moment, him just being able to chill for once hahah<3

All the outfits in ep 7, I loved them! ALSO THE DANCE SCENE!! SO SWEET

LEST!! I wanted to see more of her she was so cool!

The blue haired woman who died:(( rip to a queen

And the guy who took over manning the hex gun🫡

Maddie, ngl I wasn't expecting her to betray Cait but it was unsurprising really, I would've loved to see what she'd make of the aftermath and better terms the city's are on but it was also a very dramatic moment for Mel and I liked the twist lol.

FIRELIGHTS(EKKO) FIGHTING TOGETHER WITH JINX!!!! AYYY

Just the whole union of Piltover and Zuan in the fight against Ambessa and the Herald(I wanted more build up for that too tbh but anyway)

VIKTOR GOING THROUGH ALL THE TIMELINES TO FIX IT AND IT BEING JAYCE!!!

The sweet little Cait and Vi scene at the end🥹

My mum who's been subjected to all of S2 and her main comment at the end was "I'm still a bit confused" 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

#arcane #arcane spoilers #arcane season 2 #arcane jinx #arcane vi #caitvi #arcane caitlyn #mel medarda #arcane jayce #jayvik #viktor arcane #ekko arcane

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skitskatdacat63 · 8 months ago

Text

Tysm for the tags @fernando-jpg and @rubywritten !!!!

F1 Asks:

Who is your favorite driver?

Fernando and Seb! They come as a pair. Do not seperate :)

Do you have any other favorite drivers?

Yep! But mostly retired drivers </3 I love Mark and Jense! And then for current drivers, I like Oscar, and Max a bit as well(I can't help but feel loyal to him bcs he was my first fav)

Who is your least favorite driver?

I dislike being a hater on main but....#3 and #4. Also tbh I feel neutral to dislike about most current drivers, other than my 3 guys, so!

Do you pull for drivers or do you like teams as well?

I'm mostly driver motivated, I think I'd follow Fernando anywhere, and probably Oscar too. I like and support teams as well but mostly just because my guy is there! It's like, I love Aston, right? They support Fernando, they're willing to do so much for him, they love him, the vibe is really good. But if he decided to blow up Aston tomorrow, I'd be like "I'm right there with you!!"

If you like teams, what team do you pull for?

+ HOWEVER! I am an RBR devotee. Like it's not even that much about the drivers, I like Max a lot, but I think I'll always keep my eye on RBR as long as I'm into F1. I just love the history of the team and their vibe. My fav team of all time will always be RBR 2009-2013, just so special to me 🥹 Not that I was actually around for it but, the way they evolved from a team that was mostly there to bring fun to the paddock to one of the most successful teams of all time, as well as being a fucking energy drink company in a sport full of car companies, is just so cool and inspiring to me. And I love the red bull golden boys so much(Seb and Max beloveds!!!) And I also have an addiction to red bull....But I got into them first so I have a special connection, even if I don't root for them all the time. Them and their aesthetic makes me happy :) they are F1 to me :)

How long have you been into F1

Probably over a year and half by now? I wish I could say I've been into it longer but unfortunately I am an American shjfkgkg

What got you into F1?

I've mentioned this several times before but. I read some oneshot in my prev fandom that was an F1 AU. And I was just like, enthralled. The first time I read it, I had to keep looking up stuff, and I kept going back to it. And then I went on the author's blog, and saw they talked about DTS and how to get into F1. So I tried watching DTS and it was alright I guess. But there happened to be an actual race that same weekend, so I tuned in, and was so into it!! Ah man there's nothing like that first race tbh. I knew only one driver, Max, and I rooted so hard for him and he won 🥹 it was just fun back then not knowing enough to be stressed and having pure focus on one guy. I'm happy where I'm at now, but that first race was cool :,)

Do you enjoy fanfic/rpf?

Yes of course >:) I think I probably looked at the ao3 page for F1 before even watching my first race actually, it's very habitual for me when joining a fandom. I draw rpf and write my own AU lore stuff, and meta and all that. And I think I check the ao3 page at least once a day 😭 its an essential part of my fandom experience

How do you view new fans?

Hmmmm sometimes I feel like an old person, even though I haven't even been here that long. I think F1 has such a learning curve and barrier to entry compared to most fandoms. Like you have to learn so much about racing and the drivers as well until you feel like you actually have a good grasp imo. So I guess it's weird for me to see new fans bcs im like, oh god was I like that back then 😭 I'm happy to see new fans ofc!! But it's also like, good luck on your learning journey 🫡

If you could take over as team principal for any team, who would it be and why?

I am not a good leader, I think we'd crash and burn if I took over a team 😭 they'd be like "Catie! What should we do???" and I'd have a nervous breakdown. Go back in time to be TP for McLaren and be like, be careful who you invite to your garage at the Miami gp LMFAO

Are your friends and family into F1 as well?

Yes! My brother was into F1 before me(what a bastard for not getting me into it earlier.) Which is hilarious though because I pay for the F1TV account that he leeches off of. Like, damn who's the real F1 fan 🥱 I got my dad into it last season, and it was a very gradual process. He's a huge Fernando fan though, which is really fun, and sometimes he's much more positive abt the sport than me hahaha. He likes Fernando bcs they're both old men, and getting to see Fernando succeed last year is what pulled him into the sport. Some of my irl friends know of F1 but I don't think they watch all the races.

Are you open to talking to other fans/friends?

Of course!!!!! I am always desperate to talk to new people, feel free to hit me up always :D I will talk about anything F1, Fernando, Seb, Vettonso, etc related whenever :) I remember I got an ask a while ago last yr that's like "are you open to being friends/mutuals w strangers." It's like, um, yeah??? Its a lot of fun to be on here, I love making connections

Hmmmm ive seen a lot of people do this already so don't mind if I tag you and you've done it already aahh. But I will tag @suzuki-ecstar @sansebastinae @boisinnot @astronomical-light @thatdemonbish

#dont ask me who i hate 😭😭#im constantly on the verge of haterism and vague posting rn LOL #fun game!!#catie.rambling.txt

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ryanthel0ser · 11 months ago

Text

My Reactions to Trigun Stampede After Watching the 1998 show

So I watched all of the 98 show in less than 24 hours and adored it so I went into Stampede cautious and yknow I liked it just a tiny bit (as I am writing this I am on my 4th rewatch, I watched it for the first time 3 days ago, I adore it). I decided to document my reactions cause I feel like a few mutuals will enjoy this.

Episode 1

SPACE??? ALREADY??? JUST RIGHT OUT THE GATE???

awww hi Vash, lil guy <333

what are they cooking here, showing us the Rem situation immediately

Rem 😢

This is very much like Eva in DMC5

Oh they're reporters now?

WHERE'S MILLY, WHERE IS MY GIRL MILLY, WHO IS THIS GUY AND WHERE IS MILLY

i miss milly...

yep that's Meryl

VASHHHHHHH <333333 MY GUY <3333333

JOHNNY YOUNG BOSCH <333333333333333333333 (yes i watched the dub, it's good and I love Johnny Young Bosch)

only 6 million??

He's so sillay <333

MAJOR aesthetic difference

"Careful the kitchen's serving lead" queen

so weird to see a town not running Vash out

love that they're still mixing the music so that it's louder than the dialogue (not)

THEYRE JUST HANDING THE VASH AND KNIVES LORE AT THE VERY START?????

Knives you are so close to playing the Interstellar theme

I should really read the manga to see what they're adapting that 98 didn't

Ooo i love this song

98 STYLE ART ASDJFKAJDSFLJADFKJA THEY DID THAT FOR ME THAT WAS FOR ME THAT CATERS TO ME

Episode 2

I just noticed he calls him "Nai" euueueueueu

*insert catjam here* intro goes so hard

It'd be funny if Roberto went "man this sounds like Dante and Vergil"

Not him trying to cry his way out asjkdfjlkadf that's Vash for sure

I'm so glad they got Johnny Young Bosch for this I don't think anyone else could do it

July is still around??

"MAMA LOVES YOU BABY NOW SHOO" iconic

noooo :[

NEBRASKA FAMILY

"why'd they have to use this photo" it's a cute photo!

HE'S SO REAL

ONE BULLET VS 2 DOZEN DONUTS, LIKE YEAH CHOOSE THE DONUTS THAT'S BASED

Did they model Rosa after Milly to atone for the fact she isn't here

Me seeing things that are identical to the 1998 one: excited pointing at tv while pogging

"Mm, Yeah no <3" I love him so much

"what's wrong with being a little timid" I want to hold you and never let go, you do not deserve what's coming

look at my boy dodging lets go

"I don't have any reason not to...eh, I don't really care...I told you I don't" Vash you deserve the world

hell yeah gunslinger moment

VASH HOW STRONG ARE YOU??

that smile AUEUEUEUEUUEUEUEUEU it really reminds me of 98

HUH?

Episode 3

uh oh

well how we getting outta this

OH THIS GUY I REMEMBER YOU

HE GOT CLOWNED ON BY SAMURAI GUY

ANGRY VASH HELLO HI KING MISSED YOU

love seeing Vash angry some of my favorite moments are when he's pissed

oh this is a smart plan actually

"who's side are you on anyway" is this going to be recurring

KNIVES

man Knives you really arent holding back

the creators of this show went "hey we saw your twin angst in DMC Capcom and how much yall emphasize the twins so we'd like to do the same since you probably were inspired by Knives and Vash for the Vergil and Dante situation"

YOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO THAT GORE IS SICK <- blood and gore enjoyer

is Johnny Young Bosch the only returning voice???

this is the third ask for who's side Vash's on this is definitely recurring

uhhhh whatcha doing there

◉_◉

"you would shoot me?" lowkey wish it was still as funny as it was in the 98 version

WOAH RELOAD ANIMATION

He's living up to the Million Knives name

that is certainly a Million knives

Metal Gear ass name

WOAH THAT'S SO COOL AND PRETTY

holy crap they quickly established the difference in serious tone oh my god, there is so much emotional weight here

also the music is gorgeous

yeah the stakes are much higher in this version, they are not afraid to kill characters

this is just heartbreaking

Vash 🥺

"because I dont deserve to cry" VAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAASH AEUEUEUEUEUUEUEUUEUEUEUEUEUEUEUEUEUEU

so will we get to see what happens to July or will it just not happen

Episode 4

hi Wolfwood

not gonna lie I don't like this fit, the pants specifically

where's your nose king, they took it away

THEY HIT WOLFWOOD WITH THE CAR AHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAH

oh well this aint good

Not a priest????

yep that's Wolfwood (lollipop scene)

he's much more emo here tho not as charming as 98

ASJDFJFSDL LMAOOO

loved that animation of Vash looking at the bill

well Roberto isn't wrong, you did work for Knives

hey isnt that Meryl's gun

"don't worry I can see through his emo persona ^-^" "HEY"

I KNEW IT WAS THIS KID

woah cool design

we are getting so much more of these guys than we did in 98

YUHHHHH THE DESIGN IS BASICALLY IDENTICAL

WOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH

that actually looks good, id eat it

REVEALING THIS ALREADY?????

WHAT ARE YOU COOKING STUDIO ORANGE????

"i can see it in your eyes" dont think i didnt notice that little parallel

gate????

im snorting those end credit arts like crack cocaine

Episode 5

Todoroki that you?

WAIT I FORGOT WOLFWOOD IS VOICED BY TODOROKI'S ENGLISH VA AHAHAHAHHAHAHAH

the radio spouting religious stuff and doomsday talk is giving DMC5 intro

It's so interesting that at some angles the style is identical to the 1998 show

Vash in particular, they translated his facial expressions perfectly

OH THIS GUY

OH I LOVE THIS REDESIGN

I LOVE THIS REDESIGN A LOT

what's the deal with this kid

man they really are just tugging on my heartstrings in this show

"If God won't, I will!" STOP

Alice Angel that you?

OH NO

IS THIS WHERE I THINK IT'S GOING

OH NO

OH NO THIS MAKES THIS WHOLE SITUATION SO MUCH WORSE

HE KNEW HIM SINCE HE WAS A BABY???? SHOOT ME IT'D HURT LESS

HE WAS JUST SOME GOON GUY IN THE 98 VERSION I CANT AEUEUEUEUEUEUEUEU

same face as the 98 guy tho just with the scar

Oh Wolfwood doing that has so much more impact now

although in the 1998 version by having it not be someone Vash knew it added to how far Vash's ideals went and it caused Wolfwood to have introspection but this is a different arc

And in the 1998 version the situation is much more ambigous cause Vash is talking to the "kid" but he hasn't turned back at all yet and Wolfwood shoots

so it's more unclear who is right in that situation while in this you can see Rolo is sorta just frozen there and thinking so you're inclined to Vash's side more

what are they cooking, im so intrigued

Episode 6

WOAH WOAH WOAH WOLFWOOD WHAT IS YOUR DEAL

WOLFWOOD WAS A NORMAL GUY IN 1998

HE IS CLEARLY NOT HERE

"im like the cool big brother" tumblr does not agree

I have seen some art

THE SUITCASE THINGYS

CHARACTER THAT WASNT EVEN IN THE 1998 ONE???

MANGA CHARACTER AYOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

this guy must be a bleach fan

OH THAT'S SO MUCH FUNNIER KNOWING JOHNNY YOUNG BOSCH VOICES ICHIGO AJAHHDAHHAHAHAHA

i love this 2D style can I get an entire anime in this style

Little Wolfwood and Little Megumi need to be in a idgaf competition

tiny menace to society

stfu this is so cute, how will this go horribly wrong

smoking at like 7 years old asjkdfalfd

Woah Trigun, your mom lets you have TWO tragic sibling plots???

wow they made Wolfwood trip balls

WOAH

THEY ARE NOT HOLDING BACK ON THE BODY HORROR <- thrilled about this

man they did screw you up

LEGATO

they took his emo swag

S+ what is this Devil May Cry

they flipped Legato's design and put the spikes on the right side and the part the other way

Livio has become Sans Undertale

Wolfwood better have a tiddies out fit next season

they were POPPING in 98

that jacket was STRUGGLING

"Ryan you're objectifying him" yes I am

I want to see his tiddies hand em over

Not gonna lie Wolfwood, you calling Vash "blondie" isnt helping the allegations

Episode 7

LMAOOOO THE BADLANDS GANG GETTING THEIR PHOTOS TAKEN AJSDFLJFSDK

i can't with this im AUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUEUEUEUEUUE

if Buddy Daddies hadn't sucked me dry from crying so hard (i had just finished it the previous day) I would be weeping

WELP HE JUST DID THAT

he aint dead though i saw stuff about him

Legato not gonna lie I prefer your 98 version so far, like he made me shake in my boots a bit

Vash why is your arm made of the blown glass stuff they use to make little glass figures you see in the glass cabinets at the back of the PX or at a big gas station

that gun definitely hit something, just not the town bet

the title card of "Wolfwood" after he calls himself the punisher asjkdfjlaf

hello why am I crying at the scene of Vash with his hands against the glass in the plant

this just in, scene so pretty with pretty music that it made Ryan cry

not the first time

OH HE'S A PLANT

THAT MAKES SO MUCH SENSE

IM SO STUPID HOW DID I NOT REALIZE THAT DURING 98

ONCE AGAIN GOING FERAL FOR END CREDIT ART AALALALAAODFOAOAOAOAO

Episode 8

oh nooooooooooooooooooo

dont show me this

dont show me them being happy

my little baby boy auaueueueueueueueueueueueueueueu

"im mom to the sweetest boys in the universe" ONE sweet boy

The little blush on Nai dwaw

Plant lore????

Saverem? Really that's her last name??? Is this Metal Gear

BRAD???? THAT'S BRAD???

actually not surprised that's Brad

"there has to be something special that only you can do" be the most babygirl anyone could ever be, though you gotta grow up for that

I CANT LITTLE VASH AUEUEUEUEUEUEUUEEUUEUEUEEU

I NEED TO TAKE YOU FAR AWAY AND SPOIL YOU WITH ICE CREAM

when is this going to go horribly wrong

IM GONNA CRYYYYY HE'S SO ADORABLE AUEUEUEUEUEUUEUEEUUEUEUE

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

HE'S NOOOOT

HE ISNT WORKING WITH KNIVES HE DIDN'T LIE HE SAID HE'S PROBABLY DEAD WHICH UNDER MOST CIRCUMSTANCES WOULD BE TRUE

Man they made Knives look EXTRA Vergil

Episode 9

epic piano, also how are you playing both parts by yourself

WOAH 1998 TYPE SHOT

i fully believe they're emulating the 1998 style just in 3D now, the side profiles give it away

well that's messed up, i can see why Knives hates humans

that doesnt explain why he crashed the ships though

"Millions Knives" i really do think you played Metal Gear

Knives I do wonder what your plan was cause how do you expect the plants to survive here

oh so the gun isn't custom made

98 THING HE SAID THAT KINDA IN 98 TOO ("all this time and you're still just as useless without me)

i appreciate them trying to keep the deranged faces Knives makes in 98

WOAH WOAH WAOH WOAH WAOHWOAH

IS THAT THE BLACK HOLE THING, I SAW SOMETHING ABOUT IT FROM THE MANGA

Now Vash is even MORE like Nero

WAIT HAS IT NOT BEEN 100 YEARS???

oh nevermind, its been 150 years

hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

a whole ship of passengers...I'm sure this won't be relevant later they're going to die arent they

oh my gosh that's right she's never seen flowers and such like this

more of this side picking stuff

I'm not ready for when he does kill again, that will actually break my heart

oh they are just bugs

OUR PRONOUNS ARE THEY/THEM, BECAUSE WE'RE NON-BINARY AND A BUNCH OF MFS

Episode 10

I'M ON EPISODE 10 ALREADY???

I literally became a Trigun fan in less than 24 hours

Hundred Spoons lmaooooo

so weird to hear them talk about Earth, but it's not as much of a HUH like 98's

than you remember??? when did you come here last

I need him to say Love and Peace

please please say it

"I DID NOT GIVE THAT ORDER" "OH SHUT IT" "OKAY" asjlkdfjlskfd

okay is Conrad aware Knives probably aint gonna let him make a new race of humans, like have fun with your experiment he does not want human to live at all

"they're disgusted by you" that is the most babygirl man ive ever seen

i have the exact opposite reaction

also his scars aren't as gnarly as 98...will he get more later

ULTIMATE LIFE FORM MENTION 🗣️ 🗣️ 🗣️ 🗣️ 🗣️ WTF IS A POWER INHIBITOR 🗣️ 🗣️ 🗣️ 🗣️

well that's what you get for mixing Knives genetics in that

El-what's her face got homophobia in her eyes

I KNEW IT

I KNEW HE WASNT MAKING IT

HE'S GOT MERYL'S GUNS FROM THE 1998 ONE SO IF SHE'S GONNA HAVE THE GUNS THEN SOMETHING HAD TO HAPPEN

God Knives you drama queen with this piano

oh NOW he's a pastor

BRUH i cant

HE DIDNT CAUSE IT THAT WAS YOU

wtf did you do to him Conrad

also Knives's VA sounds so much like Vergil at times

it's not Dan Southworth but this guy can sound close

Episode 11

oh intro immediately you know it's gonna be intense

okay Wolfwood Im begging you next season at the very least change pants the skinny jean look isnt good

ALSO KNIVES HELLO

PUT ON SOME CLOTHES

jesus kids these days

always wearing revealing outfits

DOUBLE CHEEKED UP

man they aren't letting up the bible allegories

"dawn your crown of thorns"

1998 had more subtle ones and then the super obvious one with the garden of eden stuff

"we're going to reverse humanity's suicide by killing them all" do yall...do yall not see the problem with that logic

god this makes me want to read the manga now just to see how much this version pulls from it and how much the 98 version pulls from it

Knives what is your workout routine do you workout with Toji or something

HE LITERALLY DIDN'T THOUGH KNIVES, STOP BLAMING HIM FOR A CHOICE YOU MADE

"comparison is the thief of joy" SO REAL AND BASED

Knives yknow I have this gut feeling that Rem did mean something to you and you are just in SUPER denial

OH OKAY

ALRIGHT I GET WHY YOU'RE THE WAY YOU ARE ABOUT THIS KNIVES

OH HE LITERALLY READ THE BIBLE

STFU NO IT WASNT KNIVES STOP TRYING TO MAKE HIM THINK IT'S HIS FAULT

was it Knives was it? Cause you seem willing to sacrifice your brother for all this

Knives this is gonna backfire on you

Knives read the bible and took all the wrong lessons

dont think i didnt notice that the giant plant resembles Rem

Episode 12

"like a western, life on the frontier" STFUUUUUUUUUUU

YOU DO NOT WANT KNIVES IN THOSE GENETICS THEY'LL JUST START KILLING EACH OTHER

ONCE AGAIN THE MERYL REM CONNECTION (referring to 98 when Vash sees Rem in Meryl)

YUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUH

STUFUFUSDFLKJSFDF

Sjaesjk

fpaesjf

THE HAIR THAE THE HAIR

SHUT THE FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU

YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

YES

EYSYEYSYEYSEYSEYEAYEYSYEYSYE

THE ANGEL GUN

SHUT UP

THEY PLACED US KINDA AT THE INTRO OF THE ORIGINAL

ALSO HE'S DOING LOVE AND PEACE IN THE PHOTO

INSURANCE SOCIETY

AJKLSDFLJKSDFJKLFDSLJKDFSLJKFDSJLAKFDJLFKDSFDLK

JDFASLJKDSFAJLKFSDJKL;SDZFLJK

MILLIE MILLIE MIILEYLAWER

FHJAERSKJDFLK' SDAJKLFAHKLASFDJLKDFHL;AJSFHJASDFLJDFSALKSDALKJDSFHJLDSFAHDSHJLSDAFHKLFSLAJ

THE EARRINGS SHE HAS HER EARRINGS

JKLDSJLKSADJLKDSZJLKSDFJLKSDFJLKZSLDFJ;ZKSFJLKSDFZJLKASDFJLKSFASDF;LJZVDXLNKXZVLS

VASH

ERIKS ASLDKJJLKSDAJLKSDFALJKSDFAJLKSDFAJLKSDFAJLKSFALJKASFDLJKSDAFLJKDSFJLKSDFAJLKSDFLJKSDAFLJSADFJLSDFJLDSFJLKSDFJLKLSDFJKA

OH MY GOD

OH NY GOD

OG TY G SD H ASDFLJ

OH MY GOD

SCREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

YEAH

YEAH I WAS RIGHT TO WATCH 1998 FIRSR

I WAS SO RIGHT FOR THAT

OH THAT MAKES THIS SO MUCH BETTER I

M LSOING MYS ASDFJMIND

WHEN

WHEN NEXT SEASON

WEHN WHEN IN ENED

IN ENEE NEED

IN EEE

IC NAT

#discord peeps saw some of these already cause i was spamming a chat #yes i watched both in dub just because of Johnny Young Bosch #both dubs are really well done though #trigun #trigun stampede #tristamp #yes the Devil May Cry superfan ADORES Trigun how surprising /s #shoutout the discord server im in that's been getting me chewing on Trigun and Trigun Stampede #and crying over Vash #he's already covering all my notes and sketchbook #hasn't even been a full week since I started 98 as I'm writing this

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cyber-sleuth-paldea · 14 days ago

Text

A Video is Embedded. Watch it?

[The entire thing is shot in first person, as if we're looking through the eyes of someone else. Mari's, probably?

The person filming is climbing up a staircase made of some kind of white metal (?) edged with gold. There's background noise overlaid, white and black shifting in strange patterns. Other footsteps can be heard - there's at least three other people here, possibly a fourth?

Another step and suddenly everything

warps.

The camera (Mari) is left floating in a psychedelic void of black and, to some degree, white. A sharp intake of breath as the view comes to rest of a figure floating serenely in the chaos.

It... looks like Mari. What the people on the blog know of Mari, anyway - a singular braid over her shoulder, bangs swooping away to the other side. A penchant for yellow and black clothes - the one floating here is wearing a Raglan shirt, black sleeves and neon yellow, with a black mini skirt and thigh-high neon yellow socks. Black loafers with yellow soles. Dark grey-and-blue goggles nestled on top of her head - a Digivice. One black glove on the girl's hand. The harsh golden eyes set in the girl's face are... crying. It doesn't seem like she can stop.

"Hello."

A voice from outside the view of the camera - Ryuji Sakamoto, for those familiar with him, though he sounds a lot younger than usual. "Um. Hi?"

The same voice as the Shadow - and it has to be Mari's Shadow - answers a beat after. "Hi."

"We knew this was coming," the Shadow muses, tilting her head to the side.

The camera bobs up and down - a nod. "Yeah. So... So. I assume you've. Uh. You got some things you want to say?"

There's a small noise of realization from off-screen.

What the Shadow does in response can't be called a smile, exactly, but she nods back. "I do. Are you ready to listen?"

"I - no, not really. But I can try."

"Better than nothing, I suppose," the Shadow shrugs. Then claps her hands with another not-quite-smile. "So! How are you doing with that whole trying-to-replace-your-friends thing you've got going on in Paldea?"

The camera jolts, like Mari just flinched. "... Not... Not replacing. Exactly. I - I wondered if I was. But - they're like my friends, Arven and Penny and Nemona. Is it... It's not wrong, that I get along with similar types of people again, is it?"

The Shadow chuckles. "Practice talking to the mirror paying off, I see." It's not a denial.

"Wait," comes someone else's voice. Goro Akechi. "Mari - did you know this would happen if you came?"

The camera briefly swings to - yep, that is Goro Akechi. In his detective prince outfit, though it's got the colour scheme of Black Mask and a significantly shorter nose on the "Crow" mask. Huh!

Then Mari looks back to her Shadow again. "I... Had a feeling, yes."

Her mirror image curtsies. "A true one, as you can see!"

"Oh, hi second Mari," comes another voice. She - whoever it is - sounds very surprised, and somewhat off-balance. "When did you show up?"

The Shadow waves at the speaker. "Hi, Nokia! I've been here the whole time." Then she turns her focus back to the camera - Mari. "And I suppose Arven isn't quite like Yuuko. We'd never have a crush on him, after all!"

The camera takes an abrupt nose-dive into a pair of hands - gloveless - as Mari lets out a mortified squeak.

The Shadow laughs.

Someone else's voice - quieter, calmer than 'Nokia'. "I bet your version of me would like to see if it would work out, when you return home."

A flinch goes through the camera again, and everything blurs. Tears.

The laughter stopped as abruptly as it came, too. The Shadow sounds... Somewhat helplessly angry, now. "Mh, I wouldn't count on it. And it's not like we can go home, either way."

Nokia's voice, again, now puzzled. "How come? Aren't the folks in the Pokemon world working to get all the displaced people home?"

A shuddering breath in. "There's probably already a 'me' there," Mari mutters.

"Not that it matters, since nobody remembers anything!" The Shadow adds, more manic than cheerful. "It's a good thing, of course, but damn if it doesn't make it impossible for us to go back."

"Um," Ryuji's voice (young young young) comes, horrified sympathy colouring his tone. "Do you want a hug?"

"I-" the Shadow falters mid-sentence. "... Save it for the one next to you."

The camera begins to focus again, Mari wiping her tears. It's a bit bizarre to witness from a first person perspective. "Are you going to keep rehashing our old insecurities or can you get over here already? We both know you're me, that reaction just proves it."

The Shadow blinks, thrown. More tears roll down her face. She chuckles weakly. "I still had material, you know?"

There's a glimpse of Mari's arms as she opens them. "Shut up and hug yourself."

The Shadow laughs weakly and throws herself into Mari's arms. There's the sound of Mari returning the hug, and the Shadow dissolves into blue light.

The camera focuses again on Mari's hands. "Hi there, Persona." The view tilts alarmingly, and then the video ends.]

#rotomblr #pokeblogging #pokeblog rp #pokemon irl #(mari's experiences)

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w000ble · 1 year ago

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TRANSCRIPT - FROM 31:39

Tim: I found out that atoms don't look anything like every atom I've ever seen drawn looks like. (Bryn: No, that's complete lies) Tim: They're all lies! Bryn: Yep. Tim: Because all of the electrons are basically everywhere in a big cloud of potentialness— (Bryn: Yes, absolutely.) Tim: —and so it wouldn't look anything like every atom I've ever been shown! EXPLAIN!

Bryn: Atoms are drawn like solar systems because... apparently people who draw diagrams of atoms believe children are stupid. Tim: I would have preferred a cloud of— look, here is a globe, the atom is everywhere and nowhere all at the same time— again, if you'd have told me that, and that dude's crazy-ass name, I'd have been much more interested in science! Bryn: (Cracking up) Ben: To be fair though, it would make it much more difficult to count the electrons when you were doing one of those puzzles about like, 'we knock the electron out and what isotope does it become' so you have to count the electrons and work it out. Tim: Just dissolve it into a cloud and go, 'best of luck!' Ben: Yeah exactly, exactly you just flick one out of the cloud and like (PFBBBT) 'Have a guess. :)'

Bryn: This is actually an important point about science— is, y'know we talked about science being a method of understanding truth, or not, as the case may be. Tim: It's an onion of lies! Bryn: —and a lot of science is lies, because what science really is, is a model of the universe; of reality. It's not— you know, it is not necessarily a perfect understanding, and especially when quantum physics was being developed, where we discovered stuff like: an electron is actually a cloud of possibilities, we discovered that the universe is much weirder and harder to understand than we could possibly have imagined before, Tim: So we stopped trying. Ben: (Pffffft) Bryn: Basically, yes. What we have to accept is that our understanding of the universe is what we call a 'model' and the model is only useful as long as it makes predictions. But the model can also be useful, even when it doesn't necessarily reflect reality. And so chemists, to understand chemical reactions, and to understand things like isotopes or chemical bonding between elements— their model of the atom doesn't need to care about the fact that electrons aren't little balls of stuff orbiting around the center of the atom. (Tim: Okay. Alright.) Bryn: Their model allows them to make accurate predictions of the real world based on something that is not technically true, but— We've talked about the scientific method— hypothesis, test conclusion. If their hypothesis is a model that, in certain circumstances, we can say, 'an atom works like this,' and it makes correct conclusions, then it doesn't matter that the real picture is more complicated. And we do this all the time in physics as well. So you've probably both studied— y'know back in school— stuff like the laws of motion, and you probably had to calculate cars moving around, or billiard balls, or things on slopes.

Tim: I was asked to, I can't claim that I ever did— but I was certainly asked to.. Ben: Probably, and at some point I was asked about Boyle's law, and shown a spring, and I was like 'ah, (unintelligible), I dunno.' Bryn: (Cracking up) Sure. In all these examples, we ignore air resistance. Unless you're studying— y'know, and depending on what age you're studying these things, you may or may not ignore friction. But we know these things from our everyday experience exist, and we know that if we wanted to get super accurate results, we'd have to include air resistance and friction, but actually the results that we get by ignoring them are close enough that if we don't need to be 100% accurate, if we're just trying to make a decent prediction, the prediction is good enough most of the time.

Tim: It's spherical chickens again. ((I think this is a reference to the previous Tim & Ben do Science episode)) Bryn: It's spherical chickens in a vacuum, absolutely. And it's an important joke in a way, because what it says is, 'well, reality is complex and messy as we've already established, and science helps us understand it, but if science is making accurate predictions, that's really what's important.' And accurate predictions are essentially specific to a certain field or a certain test. If I say, 'well if I chuck this acid and this alkalide into a cup together, I don't need to know what's going to happen with every single atom inside. What I need to know is what's gonna end up in the cup at the end. Tim: There's potentially a lovely analogy, I think, from cartography where they say 'the only true map is the exact size and shape of the thing you are trying to map.' (Bryn: Absolutely.) Tim: '—but best of luck taking that on a short camper-vanning holiday in the Cotswolds.'

END TRANSCRIPT - AT 35:45

And you're telling me we're supposed to be more engaged, as high school students, with a model by some guy named Bohr than the QUANTUM CAT BOX guy??

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bunbeeplays · 10 months ago

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The Lemon Legacy: Generation 1, Chapter 50 - Telling HR (The H Stands for Hilary)

Oh. Word spreads fast, I guess. They should probably tell Xander's family before they hear it from someone else.

You know these two love their shower woohoo!

Well, apparently Ophelia takes her phone into the shower with her, because Becca calls her with a very urgent question. Of course she tells her to say yes!

Talk about multitasking!

Newly discovered neat freak Xander helps Ophelia out with laundry.

Xander: Why do you have your initials on all your clothes labels? What are you, ten? Ophelia: I used to do my laundry at a laundromat and I didn't want to accidentally take someone else's panties home. Sue me!

Ophelia: Now that things are official, we should probably tell Hilary and Hector, right?

Xander: Definitely.

Ophelia: It's going to be weird to look my boss in the eye and tell her I'm dating her brother.

Hilary is managing the restaurant while their parents are away but she can make time for her baby brother.

Hilary: Alexander, what a surprise! You don’t have a shift today. And Ophelia, hello.

Xander: Hey, Hil. Can we talk?

Hilary: Sure. Is it work-related?

Xander: Sort of.

Ophelia can’t help but feel awkward. This is not only her boss, but her boyfriend’s sister. She doesn’t know how to say it.

Ophelia: Xander and I have started seeing each other. Romantically. Like, as a couple. That date.

Xander: Smooth, babe.

Hilary takes a second and nods.

Hilary: I see. Thank you for letting me know. Obviously Hector and I don’t discourage workplace relationships, as it’d be a bit hypocritical. I trust you both to keep things professional.

Ophelia: Of course. Thank you.

Hilary: Okay, that was my reaction as your boss. Now, Xander, as your sister, let me just say I’m thrilled for you two. I’m happy you found someone good for you. Come here.

It’s kind of weird getting a hug from your boss, but Hilary actually gives great hugs.

Xander: You don’t seem that surprised.

Hilary: That’s because I’m not, Alexander, I was just trying to be polite.

Xander: So you knew?

Hilary: I figured you were seeing someone, since our parents say you’ve been spending the night elsewhere half the time.

Ophelia: Oh. But you didn’t know it was me?

Hilary: Not until I was helping Mom with housework the other day. I was doing Xander’s laundry and found a thong with the initials OL on the tag mixed in. Doesn’t take a detective to crack that case.

Ophelia: Oh my Watcher.

Hilary: Don’t be embarrassed, dear. I was young and in love once too. But now that it’s out in the open…

She turns to her brother.

Hilary: Alexander Amir, stealing a woman’s underwear? You were raised better than that!

Xander: I didn’t! I must have grabbed it by accident!

Hilary: I'll choose to believe that. Oh, Ophelia, we were going to go to the Spice Festival this Friday with Hector and the kids. Would you like to join us?

Ophelia: That sounds fun but I don't want to intrude on family time.

Hilary: Oh, nonsense. We'd love to have you.

Ophelia: Thank you, I'd love to go!

Xander: I know you met the kids already but I can't wait to reintroduce you as my girlfriend. Jace has been asking me since he was a toddler why I'm single. According to him grown-ups are all supposed to be married.

I think Hilary ships it.

Hilary has to go tell the chef to actually cook and not just stand outside on the sidewalk, so she leaves the lovebirds alone.

Xander: Well, that went better than I thought.

Ophelia: Yeah, we really lucked out.

Xander: Looks like the hard part's over.

Ophelia: Yep. So now that we don't have to stress… Haha, you got in trouble, Alexander Amir!

Xander laughs as she blows a raspberry at him.

Xander: I don't want to hear it, Ophelia Marie! You probably snuck that thong into my stuff!

Ophelia: When do you think I can meet your parents?

Xander: I called them this morning and told them because I didn't want to wait, but we can probably have dinner with them the day after they get home. They're going to love you, I just know it.

#The Sims #The Sims 4 #The Sims 4 Legacy #The Lemon Legacy #TS4 #The Sims 4 gameplay #sims 4 #generation 1 #ophelia #xander #hilary #miko #technically lol

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fireemblems24 · 2 years ago

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Azure Gleam Ch 7

Man . . . my "only use one unit" thing is really going to make this . . . interesting. . . .

STORY

Man, I use Dimitri, Rodrigue, and Dedue. And now all 3 are gone. Nooo. Whyyyyy. That's ok. I'll just grind Ingrid, Sylvain, and Felix up a few levels if I can't catch them up bc Dimitri's MIA. If I can just give them a few levels, we'll be good lol.

So Sreng caused trouble, but not as much as it sounded like. Relief that Sylvain's dad is ok.

Yeah, they're luring Dimitri into something, aren't they? Cornelia? Is this why Dimitri's MIA? Story stuff.

Shez is like let's go Felix. I agree.

Unless this soldier is a liar.

Love seeing Felix get to call shots for real though.

Sylvain's like we have to get to Dimitri. Felix says Dimitri manages to give him a headache when he's not even around, lamo. Accurate. The Dimilix is strong in this one and I'm not angry about it.

MAP/SIDE BATTLE

Yep, like I thought, Rodrigue, Dedue, and Dimitri are gone. But I CAN level anyone up to 30 where Dimitri is, so I'm fine. I'll just give Shez and co a little boost. Plus, it's a good excuse to use Felix, Ingrid, and Sylvain a bit. Mercedes too.

"King Awakens" is the chapter name. Looking forward to this. Something is obviously about to go down. I'm worried though. This is obviously a parallel to the AM chapter where Dimitri retakes Fhirdiad in AM, so what happens this time then?

Kinda torn about this. Some of me wants it to be another "Dimitri the good king" kinda moment, like a big positive growth thing going on for him. But another part of me wants Dimitri's proper villain arc. But I just don't see that happening unless they killed off Dedue and Rodrigue, but if that happened, I would've gotten more comments. Either way, I'm stoked about this.

Petra's thoughts on Sreng is interesting, esp since she called it peace between Brigid and the Empire despite her not willingly being there.

Man, I feel there is just so much more going on in this route than the other two, with Miklain, the mystery of what's happened to Dimitri, drama with Sreng and the Empire that's a consistent threat (and not like what just happened in GW).

Duke Ifan sounds like a badass, people are like "no way she'd let someone invade." I wish we'd get to see her, but since she's a woman she won't get a unique face, that's reserved for Dads only.

Felix's dialogue was interesting. It starts like he's repeating one of Dimitri's lines about the dead and ends with him understanding and sympathizing with Dimitri more now that he knows what it's like to lead.

I'm really interested to see where this leads for those two. I'm so happy Felix is getting all this attention. Man, my Dimilix heart is loving AG so far.

Of course it's Cornelia and the Western lords. They're the reason we haven't heard from Dimitri :(

So that bitch threatened the people and Dimitri surrendered to protect them 😭😭😭😭😭 Of course he did.

But if they haven't heard from Rodrigue or Dedue, that means they got away. Gilbert is probably ok too.

Will Dimitri still have two eyes after this? Or is he going to get one taken out again 😭😭😭

Shez is so worried 😭😭😭

Felix called him "our fearless leader" that's not the first time I don't think. You know, I'll take that over boar.

So we'll be doing the prison break this time. Cornelia better not have hurt him unlike last time. Or that this doesn't cause him to "snap," because this is like the only route that's different so far. I love that story line, but I want something new.

Oh, Dimitri. I wish he would just behead Cornelia. He could crush her head with his hands probably. You know the only reason he's not is to protect his people 😭😭😭😭😭

Rodrigue and Dedue are trying 😭😭 Don't worry, Felix, Shez, and everyone are coming.

She's boasting that she'll hang Dimitri in front of all of them. God, I can't wait to kill her. And get Dedue, Rodrigue, and Dimitri back.

I reallllly am dying to see this reunion. Felix is going to let Dimitri hear it lamo.

Lamo, Dimitri's like "I almost appreciate such bald faced sadism." Cornelia's like "such flirting."

She's also like "you deserve this for reforming things." What a bitch.

You know Dimitri is probably blaming himself for this. For pissing off the Western lords, who are unquestionably awful. Someone get in there before he gets too far into his own head 😭😭 Well, someone other than Cornelia, who sure loves to gloat. She's so evil. I love it.

Dimitri gets all the best villains Cornelia (hammy fun villain) and Edelgard (interesting, personal, complex villain) are wayyyy more cool than "exists" Nemesis and CF!Rhea (Rhea is awesome, but my God they made her one-dimensional in CF). Not gonna lie, though, it would be nice for Dimitri to get to punch TWSITD as a whole out on purpose and hoping this game will let him.

Catherine just mentioned Shamir. Is her girlfriend showing up soon? Please tell me they have supports in this game.

Poor Ashe's like "our King is suicidal." Poor dude can't catch a break this game.

Sylvain's ready to lecture Dimitri about his recklessness. Good.

SYLVAIN & MERCEDES B SUPPORT

This is their only one. I'm bummed.

The boys and girls are flirting!!

Mercedes is engaged? To someone from Gautier? It's just her father again.

Mercedes has no interest in this guy. It would've been pretty funny if she got engaged to some random guy lol.

Mercedes is a confirmed heart breaker, getting tons of proposals.

Sylvain just proposed to Mercedes lamo. He's offering to marry her just to block anyone else so Mercedes can live how she wants. 😭

HOW THE FUCK IS THAT THEIR ONLY SUPPORT 😭😭😭😭😭

They had, 1, 1 support, and it was a better romance story than most novels. 😭😭😭

The background music was so romantic too.

Guys, I propose all the Blue Lions just enter a poly marriage together, then I won't have to ever sort out all my ships.

SHEZ & INGRID B SUPPORT

So far just talking about some mercenary crew. Shez's old captain used to be in there.

This merc was super loyal to a noble and would help out with even farming and building stuff. Wonder where this is going.

Shez's whole point to this was telling Ingrid no one is tied to their role and can do what they want. The whole Ingrid struggling with being a noble and knight.

Oh, cool! Ingrid's grandmother knew Tobias. Nice tie in.

SYLVAIN & INGRID B SUPPORT

Oh, this is their first one!!!

Sylvain brought up someone acting up and Ingrid suspects Sylvain is talking about himself lamo. He's not.

Ingrid is just satisfied as fuck, because Sylvain now has to deal with someone like she used to have to deal with him, lamo.

Sylvain feels pressure to feel like the mature one of the group. Ah, that's cannon!!! Everyone always suspected he felt like he had to be the older brother to everyone.

Ingrid is just soaking this in. Queen deserves it.

Awww, Ingrid said she would've just abandoned him if she was really miserable and actually seemed to enjoy covering for Sylvain, on some level.

Basically the whole "we aren't kida nymore. We've grown up, hunh." Stuff. I love it. This is why you end up loving all of the Faerghus Four. Because they all build off each other soooo much.

HAPI & BERNADETTA C SUPPORT

Bernie's bug hunting. And when Hapi talks to her assumes Hapi's trying to kill her for no reason. So typical. Bernie is this close to being a good character is the game took her seriously.

They both enjoy carnivorous plants. I think Hapi just likes eating them though lamo.

Yep these two are not having the same conversation.

SHEZ & MERCEDES B SUPPORT

They worked together, and now are having a tea party together. Shez wanted to go out to eat. But Mercie is a lady of class and wants tea.

Mercie likes her sweets.

Ohhhh, Shez's mom incoming. The treats reminds Shez of something her mom used to make.

Sounds like Shez's mom lived the #cottagecore life, picking food from trees to make and living in a forest.

I think Mercie wants to live in the past days. She asks if Shez wants to and seems like she misses living with her mom 😭😭😭

Mercie. No. Why do all your supports get the sad face?

SHEZ & SYLVAIN B SUPPORT

Sylvain's studying magic hardcore. Probably to try and fix the Crest only gets access to super weapon thing.

Also gets to be the Sylvain is actually smart support.

Oh, classic fantasy trope, learning how to weaponize fireworks. Mat Cauthon says hi, Sylvain.

Sylvain's out here about to invent guns to Crests are useless. Empire, you guys are up shit creek if Sylvain invents guns, lamo.

I want guns, AG only route where everyone gets guns and this game ends realllllll fast.

Miklain and Sylvain have different moms?

Sylvain admires Sreng. Good. That's promising for the future.

Oh, Shez is actually smart! Recognizing that when the king shows power (lends Sylvain's family soldiers), then everyone else loses power.

Sylvain loves the Kingdom 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭 he's like "he's a half-frozen stretch of dirt, but it's MY half-frozen stretch of dirt. And only home I've got."

Eat shit every "Sylvain makes so much sense in CF" person.

SHEZ & ASHE B SUPPORT

More Shez's mom talk. She thinks her mom was weird and mysterious.

Mystery mom was really smart, knew a lot, and knew magic.

I'm glad some of these are actually about Shez. Helps flesh her out so much. I actually really like Shez.

Awww, Ashe is going to help Shez investigate. Because he knows how it feels. Poor baby looked for info on his parents and couldn't find much. 😭😭😭

Blue Lions need a "sadness incoming" warning on all their supports, ISTG. Or maybe I'm just way too attached lamo.

Ashe is willing to visit the village with Shez in the future to help her find her mom.

This was so fucking wholesome, guys. 😭😭😭😭😭😭

SETETH & FLAYN B SUPPORT

I cannot believe they don't have an A support. Whyyyyy?

Seteth is like "Flayn, you're making yourself useful! How dare you!"

Man, it's weird hearing her call him brother.

Ok, I'll cut Seteth some slack. He's terrified Flayn will fall into an endless sleep again. Poor dude. Right when he lost his wife too.

This support would be so confusing to someone who didn't play Houses.

😭😭😭😭😭😭 Flayn is afraid of sleeping because of this. Poor, baby.

Oh, finally! She called him father 😭😭😭😭😭😭

Poor baby Flayn just wants peace.

They're also so scared of what will happen if they lose the war. Oh, God, I can't keep playing Edelgard's route.

"If I lost you, I'd love the very meaning of my life." - Seteth to Flayn.

Flayn's like I'll eventually grow up, dad. lol. But she won't leave him all alone.

Don't worry, Seteth. I will literally never leave you supportless.

MAIN BATTLE/STORY

Hyped for this one, guys.

I don't want to deal with Cornelia's weapons, ugh.

RODRIGUE AND GUSTAVE ARE OK 😭😭😭😭😭😭 Ifan is alright too. She sounds badass.

But what about Dedue? And Dimitri?

Man, Rodrigue is such a badass.

Western Lords aren't alone. Let me guess, TWSITD? And those two are creating a diversion?

Annette told Felix off, lamo. Saying they need to go help them out. But Felix just wants to rescue Dimitri.

But they know Dimitri won't leave the prison until the people are safe.

Ashe mentioning Dedue. All the points. 😭😭😭😭😭😭

See Felix take command like that does things to me.

Dedue and Rodrigue!!! They're back 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

Cut scene in the middle of a battle.

Dimitri's like why did you show up. Idiot. He won't leave though 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭 He's too worried about the people. Plus, he's Dimitri, so.

He's like Idk if I die. Dedue is like shut the fuck up, Dimitri. 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭 "I will not allow it." (is what he actually said and holy hell in a deep, badass voice) Dedue just told Dimitri off. Good. So now we know that Dedue can and will push Dimitri around if need be.

And then hand holding a spear. Because that's not suggestive.

Oh, badass Dimitri in the cut scene. And Dedue got a moment.

OMG. Guys, is that fanservice? I think I just got fanserviced.

They somehow made it Dimilix and Dimidue in the same scene.

Ok, but this game has been serving Dimilix, but can we note Dimitri didn't take Felix's hand? Dedue had to like storm in and put his hand over Dimitri's and force him to pick up the weapon? And it was DEDUE who made Dimitri change his mind? Felix got to lead the mission. Both getting the spotlight.

Guys, like, I need to rewatch that like a thousand times. Because we also can't skip the Dimitri and Dedue being complete badasses afterwards shots.

DIMITRI'S BACK. I CAN USE HIM AGAIN. Ohmygod I forgot how strong he is. 37 strength. WTF Dimitri.

Margrave Gautier just showed up. Holy hell this is epic.

Wait, Cornelia just talked about tearing Dimitri's eyes out. Does this confirm that bitch took his eye in Houses?

Dimitri finished her off with Atrocity. Seems fitting.

Cornelia's like don't kill me! Or the truth will never be known. Dimitri's like ofc, bitch.

So Cornelia arranged most of the pieces of the Duscur. So glad Dimitri's finally getting to ask all these questions 😭😭😭😭😭😭

Edelgard knows what happened to Patricia? Or is Cornelia blowing smoke?

This bitch is about to warp, ugh. Though, that means I get to kill her again, so not too upset.

Man, is AG really going to focus on Dimitri discovering the truth about Duscur and fighting TWSITD because if that's the whole plot . . . I'm so happy 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

But like, why does Dimitri get the whole new plot? Edelgard and Claude are getting crumbs. Oh well.

Dimitri, Rodrigue, and Dedue have rejoined you. Helllll yesss.

Dimitri ready to go after Cornelia. But Felix saying to chill.

Ohhhh Felix got words for Dimitri this time. He's yelling at Dimitri for taking on too much by himself. Calling Dimitri out for not listening.

Ingrid's like, Felix stop. Felix isn't listening.

Dimitri just called killing Rufus "murder." Like stawp. Dimitri, it's self-defense at that point. I swear to God Dimitri would find a way to blame himself for cancer 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

He didn't choose any of this 😭😭😭😭😭😭

He wants to take all the guilt for Edelgard's and Rufus's and TWSITD's actions. Baby, no. 😭😭😭😭😭😭

Felix is telling everyone else to tell Dimitri to knock it off lol.

OMG, I'm so glad for this scene. They're all telling Dimitri not to shoulder everything alone. 😭😭😭😭😭😭 Guys, this is the missing scene from AM that I was desperate for.

Guys, this route is like 10000000x better than the other two.

I need to write some kind of hybrid AG/AM route.

Cornelia's in pain. Good. She's getting the Western lords whipped into a frenzy lamo.

And you know what, no Byleth or Jeralt! I'm so fucking tired of them showing up every. single. battle. Good on AG to knock that off for at least 1 chapter. It gets fucking old.

God, this chapter. I'm going to be thinking about this for a long time.

Man, I really am tempted to just drop the other two routes and only play AG. 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

xxx

#azure gleam #fire emblem #fire emblem three hopes #three hopes #three hopes spoilers #azure gleam spoilers

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zhongrin · 11 months ago

Note

Hi Miss Rin! *excitedly waves at you as I order and pay for a drink*

Usually i pop by here with thoughts on ZhongWrinTh and I am here with more thoughts about you all… no surprise there oh but this time I do have another question not exactly related to ZhongWrinTh.

What’s some interactions you’ve had with the boys close friends? Do you play pranks on Zhongli with Hutao, do you visit Xiao together with Zhongli? Has Kaveh ever visited the teahouse? I get the feeling Kaveh, Cyno, Tighnari and Al-Haitham would play Genius Invokation TCG in the teahouse if you ever opened a Sumeru branch! As for Wriothesley… i like to think Sigewinne’s passed you makeup before, maybe even some in a shade or color Wriothesley likes! Clorinde hm… i can see her stealing you away into the city if Wriothesley’s busy and even introducing you to Navia.

It’s pretty amazing to see how many more people you could meet!

OH MY GOD TUMBLR IS HIDING THIS ASK FROM ME IT'S NOT APPEARING IN PC I AM SO SORRY STORM HAIFHWOFKSLDJSLJF

hu tao is my beloved granddaughter (and so is yaoyao and ganyu and nahida and furina and sigewinne and-)!!! she drops by the teahouse every now and then to scout for clients lol let's be real here most of my patrons aside from my friends are probably older people so-

xiao drops by too every now and then, but most of the time you won't see him. HOWEVER, you will be able to spot little trinkets all around the teahouse which emits some adeptal energy. we have a special 'magical' vase which sometimes suddenly 'sprouts' fresh qingxins. definitely not the work of an adeptus, yep!

the only reason why we'd have some wine in the house (aside from my hubbies (read: al haitham) bonding together by drinking glasses of wine sometimes) is because of kaveh! we get along a little too well. wdym that's a sumeru desert fox in our backyard? surely you jest haha haha hah- ahem. anyway. he's like a brother to me. i'm looking for a rich spouse for him. anyone interested- /smacked

the 4ggravate boys playing tcg on the teahouse's sumeru branch i'm shdflksjdlkfjsld dear gods. that's adorable. maybe i can talk to the manager there so they can organize monthly tcg tournament nights for the masses. we can sell 'tea blends that stimulates the mind and makes one's senses sharper' for the players and the spectators.... hmmmmmmmm.

sigewinne making a makeup for me i will cry hsdfusjdklf that sounds like something she would totally do, yes. i'd love to doll her up and send her some cute dresses or onesies ueueue she's so adorable.... clorinde and navia oh my god i don't know if i am considered cool enough to hang out with these two queens. i will just. i will just admire them from afar.... they're so pretty and badass..... adopt me big sisters..........

wriothesley: you know i can always introduce you to them, ri- mei: NO STOP I AM UNWORTHY I WOULD PERISH wriothesley: ok fine but must you drag me here then-

#rin answers #rin is having tea with: storm 💚#rin selfships #zhongwrinth #navia probably: why is the duke and his wife peeking at us- // clorinde probably: ignore them. if you intimidate a stray it'll run away-

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maybelinefox · 9 months ago

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2003 Lighthouse AU Chapter 4: Human

Chapter under cut?

"Hey, Ayla?" Donny's voice drifts down from upstairs.

"Mhm?"

"There's a boat coming."

I look up from the papers on the desk.

"This way?"

"No doubt."

I look through my recent contacts to see if I was told of a visit, but I see no emails notifying me of anything. Quickly, I make my way up into the light with Donny to see what he's talking about.

Sure enough, a boat I've never seen before is plowing its way towards the island, but from a different direction than normal. Everyone who travels to and from this island must go through a thorough check before leaving the mainland and after returning, so all boats come from the same direction.

This one's coming from almost a completely different side of the island. Almost like they made a wide berth around any part of the mainland where someone might see them.

"Ok, go let your brothers know. And don't do anything reckless that could get you seen. I think I know who that boat belongs to."

Donny gives me a look before heading towards the stairs.

"It's them, isn't it?" he asks as he opens the front door. "The people who took Father?"

"I think so," I say through a deep sigh. "But that's not for sure yet, so let's not jump to conclusions. Stay home. I'll come to you guys once they're gone, ok? Be safe."

He nods, then slips out the door, climbing down the side of the rock opposite where the boat is to prevent possibly being seen.

I take a deep breath and head out to the beach to meet whoever this is.

"Well, hello there, ma'am," a mustached man says as he steps onto the pier, taking off his hat.

"Well, I would love to greet you back," I start, stepping onto the pier myself. I'd rather keep this conversation here if I can. "But, as you could probably guess, I'm not exactly used to unexpected guests."

"Oh, of course. My apologies."

He reaches out his hand, and I take it.

"Name's Parker, ma'am."

"Ayla. Not that I don't appreciate the company, but could I ask what it is you're doing here?"

His hat pops back onto his head.

"I'm sorry, I was under the impression you were aware of my business."

"Your business?"

"Well, yes. We did a lot of, uh, cleanup work for the last lighthouse keeper. He told us that he'd alerted you we'd be coming by."

Yep. That's what I thought.

"I received no such alert, unfortunately."

"Huh," his hands are shoved into his pockets. "Well then I really do apologize. I was unaware my short-notice visit was that short-notice."

"I think I know who you are," I explain. "And I'm not sure what Phil told you, but I am not currently in need of your services."

"Ma'am."

And there it goes. The sudden condescending tone, no longer speaking to me like an equal and understanding adult but as a child who can't comprehend the words he's about to be spewing.

I fight to hold back an eyeroll.

"The creatures on this island are dangerous and need to be removed," he explains slowly.

"Creatures I have yet to see. Phil made it seem like they were around all the time, but I've been here four months and haven't seen a thing outside of the ordinary island inhabitants."

"Then they've gotten good at hiding."

He turns to step into his boat to get something.

"If you don't mind, I'd like to just take a look around and see what I can find about their recent habits."

"I do mind."

He looks up at me, obviously ready to throw in another "you don't understand" remark.

"Sir, if this is all you want, I'm afraid I'm gonna have to ask you to leave. This is private property."

He holds out his hands as he steps back onto the pier, looking around with an "I don't see anyone watching" attitude.

"I've been here many times before. Allowed to be back then."

"Then why did you make sure to keep your boat outside of mainland view on your way here?"

His hands go back in his pockets, a smile spreading across his face.

"If you were allowed here by the previous keeper, it was certainly off the record, as I saw no trace of your visits in official files. Which means you were never allowed to be here, and he was breaking some major rules. Rules that could get him and you arrested due to the nature of this job and the repeated visits I've been alluded to. Rules that I do not intend to break."

His smile has left his face.

"Now, if you do not want me calling the main office and alerting them to these previous visits of yours, as well as your current whereabouts, I'd suggest you leave. If you don't mind, sir."

He stares at me for a moment before the grin is back and he's laughing. He continues laughing and shaking his head as he turns back to the boat.

"Alright, alright," he chuckles out as he steps into the boat. "If you wanna get yourself killed by island monsters because you were too prideful to allow help, then by all means, I won't stop you."

"It's not pride, sir," I state as he switches on the motor. He looks up at me with a sarcastic, expectant smile as he waits for me to finish my thought.

"I simply have already fallen in love with everything on this island, and intend to do my best to protect all of it."

His smile drops again as he searches my eyes, but if he sees anything that confirms my meaning, he says nothing. Silently turning back to the wheel, he pulls his boat away from the pier, speeding off in the direction he came from.

I make my way back to the lighthouse as casually as possible in case Parker decides to look back and see what I'm doing for whatever reason, but the second I make it inside I bolt up to the office and quickly sit myself in front of the computer.

He had a logo on his jacket.

I search for the company name for a few minutes of nothing before finally finding a website link so obscure I almost overlook it. There's absolutely nothing on their website about monster hunting, but they do label themselves as "licensed exotic animal traders".

Of course.

They probably hunt "monsters", capture them alive, and sell them to freak shows or something similar. I'm willing to bet there's private collectors out there.

After searching around on their website for a bit, I'm almost ready to give up trying to track down any locations before I see something hidden in the drop-down menu. I have to click through a few of the other options to see what falls under them, but eventually I notice that there's a few things hidden in the secondary lists that seem to be worded rather...strange.

"Weird and wacky...." I mumble out loud curiously as I click it. A few options fall down under that one that I glance over, not expecting much.

"Not your average...."

That one changes the page to show strange looking rare animals. I scroll through it all the way to the bottom and am about to get back into the menu when I see in fine print at the bottom of the page....

"Rarest trade deals...."

I figure why not and click it, and it takes me to a page where I can choose what I would like to trade.

Thinking maybe I'm getting somewhere, I look through the options, and eventually find one called "oversized". Well, that's probably the one the turtle's father was in, if he was ever on this website, since he’s supposed to be a giant rat. So, I click it.

"Ah, great."

Now it wants me to fill out some information about what company I'm affiliated with that wants the trade.

Well of course it wouldn't be that easy.

Unless...

I type in everything I could find about the company that owns the very website I'm on, then submit.

Bingo.

Except now it's asking for a five-digit code.

I'm about to think there's no way until I remember there was a series of numbers I saw on a badge Parker was wearing, mostly hidden under his jacket. Five, to be exact.

Thinking there's no way that could be it, I input the numbers and submit.

And I'm in.

"There's no way that was that easy...."

There has to be a way they either set me up or are now aware of me looking through their stuff. I should be quick, just in case.

There aren't many creatures here, so it should be easy to find him if he's on here.

And find him I do.

A picture of an old, oversized rat wearing shackles and sitting calmly on his knees stares at me through the computer.

With the word "sold" plastered across it.

Looking around his picture, I see a button that says "Do you want this for yourself? Contact the buyer to see if they'll negotiate."

Convenient.

I write down the phone number it gives me and snap a picture of the screen with my phone before exiting the page.

Ok, that was strange, but maybe now we're getting somewhere.

Looking up the number gives me literally nothing except a relative location. Didn't think it would be that easy, but hey it was worth a try.

I sigh as I pull away from the computer.

I'm gonna need help for this, aren't I?

I contemplate for a moment, but it doesn't take long for me to decide.

I know my own skill set. And tracking things with no paper trail, hell, with barely any trail at all, is not in my skill set.

And I know them. They would probably be shocked at first, but they're good people. Once they know what's happening, they'll help. And they can keep secrets.

I debate whether I should ask the turtles first, but I know damn well I'm gonna do this anyway, so I pull up April's contact in my phone and press the call button.

After a couple rings, she picks up.

"Ayla?" She starts, the disbelief evident in her tone.

"Hey, April."

"Wow! You're calling instead of texting or sending a letter? Must be serious."

"It...yeah, it kinda is. Do you think you and Casey could come over to the lighthouse for a bit? I need your help with something."

"If something broke in the mechanics, isn't that up to your employers to fix?"

"This is more of a personal matter, April."

There's a pause. Then she calls her husband over to her to ask him if they have anything too pressing to come over.

"We can come,” she states after exchanging a few words with Casey. “Can you tell me the issue, or will we have to wait on that one?"

"You'll have to wait, I'm afraid. I'll let them know you guys are coming tomorrow. As far as they'll know, it's a social visit, nothing more."

"Sure thing, Ayla," I hear Casey's voice. "We'll be there."

"Thanks guys."

I hang up.

Now that I've already done that, I need to tell the boys. Grabbing my bag and some food I’d already packed up to have Donny take to his brothers, I look through the windows to make sure Parker is truly gone. Once I’m positive, I head out to the cave.

"So there's more people heading over here?" Raph huffs, arms crossed, leaning against the wall.

When I made it to the cave, the boys had jumped me, making sure I was ok and asking what had happened. It took a few minutes to calm them down so I could actually talk, but eventually I got the whole story out to them.

"She's better at computers and hacking than I am," I explain. "If anyone I trust can find him through that website, it's April."

"So, she builds machines and stuff?" Donny asks, a hopeful gleam in his eye.

"I'm gonna break it to them slowly, just to make sure they're really ok about all this. But once all the major stuff is out of the way, I'm sure she'd love to talk to you about tech, Donny. It's pretty much her entire life."

He taps his fingers together in excitement as a grin spreads across his face.

"When are they going to be here?" Leo asks.

"Tomorrow, around noon. They're coming in with the supply boat."

"And how are we expected to show them all this?" Raph asks, annoyed, moving his hand around his face in a "wax-on" motion to emphasize what "all this" is.

"I'm not gonna talk about you guys just yet," I tell them. "I want you guys to stay secret for the time being. I'm gonna explain to them that your father was unfairly taken from this island and I want to bring him back. Once the situation has died down, or, I guess, if they push me enough for explanation beforehand, then I'll explain more. I feel like Casey will be fine but I'm not sure if April is gonna take it too well at the start."

"You're the only human that took it any kind of well," Mikey points out around his mouth full of chips.

"Well, I'm not the only human like me out there, and I happen to trust these guys will be ok with all this. I've known April since high school, and she wouldn't have married Casey if he wasn't actually a good guy. I know both of them very well and wouldn't be calling them here if I thought they'd be any threat. I promise."

"Yeah?" Raph pipes up with a growl. "Well believe it or not, princess, you ain't exactly the most trustworthy yourself."

Donny's eyes widen in shock.

"Raph!"

"Just wait a moment," Raph walks by Donny towards me, holding his hand up in his brother's face to shush him.

"We've known ya, what? A few months? Barely even that. Sure, ya didn't freak out when ya saw Donny, but that doesn't mean you can be trusted to make decisions like this for us just 'cause you got an idea in your headstrong little noggin."

"That's enough, Raph!" Leo's hand clamps onto Raph's shoulder to get his attention.

Raph's only response is to narrow his eyes at me.

Donny gets up from his place on the ground next to Mikey, where they were sharing the chip bag, and hurries over to me, gently placing his hand on my shoulder.

"I'm sorry, Ayla. He just gets a bit stuck in his head sometimes and-"

"I know," I interrupt him, staring Raph straight in his still uncovered brown eyes. "We've had this conversation before."

Raph's eyes widen slightly as he remembers, before his angry face falls into one of exhaustion and slight regret.

We have had this conversation. Just last week, he'd made a solo trip to the lighthouse and confessed to me that he has anger issues and sometimes struggles to control himself, apologizing for anything he may have said before that upset me. We had a long conversation involving different methods that could be used to help someone with anger problems.

He does have a point, though.

I let out a deep sigh.

"It's fine, though. He's right."

All eyes look to me, suddenly worried. Except Raph. He just looks slightly confused at my apparently unexpected agreement with him.

"No, Ayla, we trust you-"

"Why?"

Donny backs off a little, confusion taking over his big brown eyes. But he doesn't remove his hand from my shoulder.

"As he said, we've literally known each other four months, Donny. Look I hate to say something that'll make humans look even worse to you than we already do, but you shouldn't trust someone with your life if you've only known them four months just because they're the only person you've met that didn't immediately hurt you. They could still hurt you at some point, whether they mean to or not. And believe me, there's people out there that will mean to that can and will play the waiting game."

I look Raph in the eyes for the next part.

"Raph told me he was waiting for me to do something. Play a trick or lure you into a trap using your trust in me. And he was right to feel that way because people do that."

I shake my head and turn away, beginning the process of packing up the plates and other dishes and utensils I brought. I need to have something to do with my hands when I talk a lot.

"Humans suck, ok? We're selfish, greedy assholes who destroy the world around us for our own gain and take advantage of anyone and anything we can find that's weaker. If something doesn't talk or think like we do, we deem it inferior and use, abuse, and otherwise mistreat it until we've drained it of all its usefulness. And then we throw it out a window because it no longer means anything. This is how humans are. How we've always been and always will be."

Turning back, I look to each of them to emphasize my points.

Donny.

"That's why weapons and other detrimental technology exist among the helpful, useful technology."

Mikey.

"That's why things that poison and brainwash and otherwise cause serious harm exist among things meant to bring fun and entertainment."

Leo.

"That's why people in high positions of power always end up richer and more powerful than they were at the start after doing basically nothing, despite being put in that position because of their promises of good things for the common people that put them there."

Raph

"That's why people who open themselves up to trust others are often the ones that get hurt the most."

I sigh again, slinging the bag over my back to carry it home.

"But the thing I think is most important about being human is finding the strength and courage to allow such things. If you never allow yourself to trust someone, you'll never be hurt by anyone, but you'll also never find someone you can seek true comfort, acceptance, and peace with. If you don't try things because it could be bad, you may be missing out on the things you'll truly love. It's hard. It sucks. There's a lot of risk involved. But if you don't do it, you'll never truly live. You'll never truly feel free. You'll just be trapping yourself in your own safe, private little bubble and never truly get to experience the world. And some people are fine with that. You can't miss what you've never experienced. But some people just can't accept the sad loneliness that often comes with it.”

As I talk, I begin to realize I’m no longer really talking to the boys. I think I’m talking to myself.

I need to get back on track.

“Look, I don't want you guys to think I'm trying to force you into probably the greatest risk you've ever taken. This isn't just trying some exotic food for the first time and not knowing if you'll like it. Your lives could be on the line. I get that. The point I'm trying to make is that not all humans are like Phil and those hunter guys. Phil isn't a bad guy, but he is the type of guy to shoot first, ask questions later. And he didn't take the time to understand you guys before he started shooting. That's his fault. That's the kind of person he is, and there's a lot of people like that. And unfortunately, you’ve had to suffer for it. The other humans you've encountered were brought here by him, so of course they'd be of a similar mindset to him. You haven't had the good fortune of meeting a human who didn't want you dead or captured. And that's not your fault, but it's warped your idea of what humans are like. Not all humans are like those guys, and I just wanna get that across to you before you make any decisions on whether or not you want April and Casey to see you."

I take a deep breath, not used to long speeches, then check my phone to see what time it is.

"Shit, it's gettin late. I've got a couple more chores to do before nightfall. Look, I don't expect you boys to make a decision right now, and I promise even if you don't by the time they get here, I'll do what I can to keep you out of the conversation. And if you don't want me taking risks like this to get your father back, I get that too. I'll find an excuse to keep them out of the whole thing if you decide that. This is your family, your decision. I'm sorry if I jumped the gun. Wasn't my decision to make. I don't even have an excuse for that. I guess I just...thought I was doing the right thing. But good intentions doesn't always equal good decisions, so I definitely should have-"

I suddenly feel arms squeezing me from the side, and it takes me a moment to realize Donny is hugging me.

"Oh, well..."

Mikey scrambles up off the ground as I feel someone taking my bag off my back only to wrap his arms around me as well right when Mikey arrives to utterly glomp the crap out of the three of us.

Raph shakes his head. Then he slowly steps towards us and pushes his way between Mikey and Leo so he can involve himself in the group hug as well.

I've only got two arms and I’ve probably been in a maximum of one group hug in my life, so I’m not sure what to do about this.

"Guys?"

"Shhh," Mikey pulls an arm away from Donny to put a finger over my lips. "Enjoy the moment, sister."

I chuckle, shaking my head at the utter strangeness of this impromptu group hug, but ultimately shut my mouth to enjoy it.

"Sorry," Raph mumbles under his breath, but I know we can all hear it with the close proximity. "Shouldn't-a raised my voice and gotten mad like that...."

I shake my head.

"Don't be sorry about taking actions you think are necessary to protect your family."

He watches my eyes a moment before nodding and leaning his head against mine to continue the hug.

Gotta say, I’m starting to feel like I'm gonna want to be in many more group hugs after this.

After finally making it back to the lighthouse, I set to work finishing up the chores for today before cleaning the dishes from the trip to the cave. After I finish that and notice the sun has nearly finalized its trek downwards, I decide a little more research may be a good thing if I do it right.

After some discussion following the impromptu group hug, the boys agreed that I should go ahead with the plan I already had for revealing their situation to April and Casey. So now all I gotta do is wait until noon tomorrow.

I sit down in front of the computer again, ready to do some more looking into of this company Parker works for, and quickly notice I've received an email. Emails from the company are immediately flagged by the computer so my attention is grabbed by a popup that won't go away until I view it.

Wondering if there was a policy change or something wrong with tomorrow's supply transport, I click the email.

Reading through it, I can feel my eyes widening and my mouth falling open in shock.

No. Fucking. Way.

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#tmnt 2003 #tmnt lighthouse au #tmnt lighthouse au 2003 #writing

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