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celestial-leaves · 5 years ago

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“Do not go gentle into that good night.”

Across the barren landscape blew a cold wind, dragging it's fingers over the fragmented rocks so that they rolled and cracked like weak thunder. It danced between ageless columns, under a large stone table and out the other side. It's toneless voice lost to a void of infinite stars. Zaveid crouched on one such column, eyes closed, and senses cast out as far as they would go. He tracked the wind's passage, exhaling steam with every breath, reading what it was willing to share. The information was lacking. Their target - a gang of highway robbers - were nowhere to be found. Slowly Zaveid reeled his senses back in, releasing his grip on the wild winds until it was only his own domain that drifted about. He stepped off the column floating to the ground non-nonchalantly. Once more he eyed the terrain but it remained desolate, not even a whiff of maovelance.

With a shrug the eolian took off across the landscape, domain consolidating into translucent wings that carried him back to the camp. He landed neatly besides Lailah with a soft swoosh. The wings dissolved back into air and he shook out his arms for they had a tendency to stiffen up after prolonged flights.

"Welcome back," Lailah said, her voice no more than a quiet murmur. Zaveid followed her head tilt and huffed. Their shepherd was curled up by the fire, the top of his hair poking out from under the blanket. Asleep as he was he appeared even smaller, barely longer than an oxen saddle. He eyed the rest of the camp but didn't see the other youngsters. "The girls went hunting," Lailah spoke again. "Did you find any leads?"

"No. Where ever they went, they're long gone," Zaveid said. He sat down folding body parts in such a manner that there was limited exposure to the flames. "Might have to go back to town, see if we can scrounge up another trail." There was a quiet hum from the prime lord but nothing more so he fell silent as well, automatically encircling the encampment with an alert breeze.

Before too long the hunters returned squabbling like nest-mates but carrying between them a good-sized deer. "Food!" Their newest sub-lord exclaimed, heedless of the previous quiet. She cast down her share of the burden and immediately crouched close to the fire, holding out her hands. "It's ridiculously cold out there, it shouldn't be this cold so early in the year, should it?"

"Out of season weather are a sign of a troubled world," Lailah said, "I suppose it can't be helped with all that has been going on." At the sound of raised voices, the shepherd stirred and sat upright, rubbing at his face. "Good timing Deryn!" Lailah continued brightly, "come help with this." Mutely, the boy scrambled up and trotted over.

Seeing that the other three had it well in hand, Zaveid remained where he was and closed his eyes. Between the simultaneous training of a new shepherd and seraph, the hunting of hellions, and the tracking of potential lords of land, there wasn't much time to simply relax. In the aftermath of Sorey's impromptu nap there had been much to do and Rose had done her best, but she was only human. Skilled but not perfect or infallible. They'd lost her some 30 years later, the strain of being a vessel and her own human mortality catching up inevitably. After that, the party had split. Mikleo wandering off to travel the world. Lailah had returned to her throne to suss out potential candidates, whilst Edna had walked away one sunrise without a backwards glance. Travelling with either of the two youngsters had been tempting, but he understood Mikleo's pain all to well and didn't particularly wish to tread on it. To Edna, he had offered and she had turned him down flat, stating that "Phoenix was enough for her."

In the end, he had remained seated on the wind trial's highest perch with the perfect view of their retreating backs. When he could no longer see them, he had closed his eyes and cast out his winds. For days he did not move, existing only as a gargoyle of flesh and blood. The sub-lord pact was a thin chain wrapped around his heart and stretching out across the land. Through it he could sense the others. Mikleo was always bobbing about, one moment he would be in Trizolde and the next Pendrago. It was disconcerting. Zaveid briefly entertained the thought of tracking down the boy, if only to remind of his own immortality. There would be time enough to view the world, it wasn't going to disappear even if he dilly-dallied. The idea had been swallowed down shortly after it had emerged as the thought of moving was an unpleasant one.

Edna was a steady presence. He didn't need to put in much effort to track her for once she had returned to her earth pulse, she had not moved again. He tried not think about her too much or on what slumbered near her. Somehow, though, it always managed to pervade his thoughts. Seeping through his brain until the guilt became so strong as to be tangible. He suspected that it had something to do with their bond. Ever since he had made that promise with Eizen, it had only grown stronger. Even the latter turning into a literal dragon had not broken it. Whenever he closed his eyes, fought, ate, or did anything really. It was there. Settled in the far reaches of his mind like a particularly unpleasant fungus. If Zaveid concentrated he could perceive Eizen's emotions, rumbling discontent or hunger. Sometimes it felt as if the dragon could sense his mental intrusions but those times were rare and far between. Usually, it only served to remind him of his broken oath.

Five months after the group had split the sub-pact connecting him to Lailah snapped. He felt it break, present one heartbeat and gone the next. Panic crashed in in the wake of the severing, leaving him breathless. He tumbled more than leapt from his perch, shaking out limbs that had remained stagnant for far too many days, and hit the ground with a teeth rattling thud. The sudden movement and rush of alarm drew an inquisitive feeling from Eizen but he ignored it. The wind coursed around him, dragging him to his feet, shoving him eastward. Zaveid didn't question it just gathered the breeze in and surged forwards, shape blurring out of focus as he sped up.

Ladylake was much as he remembered it -loud, odorous, and over populated- but that mattered little when one did not exist. He shouldered his way through the crowds, leaping walls with one step, and dashing through many a clothing line before he came upon the cathedral. The doors had been closed but such an impediment had never stopped the eolian before. He crashed through the window, rolled to his feet, and skidded between Lailah and the humans. A human. A young girl whose hands were curled around the hilt of a familiar sword and whom was in fact the only human in the cathedral. He froze. Meeting her own startled gaze with confusion that did nothing to distill the fear.

"Zaveid."

Zaveid winced at the cold tone, shoulders curling in slightly, before he straightened up and looked back at Lailah.

"How kind of you to join us," The fire seraph continued. Little wisps of smoke drifted up from her shoulders, her arms, her hair, and though she was smiling it was not a kind expression.

"Ah er, I thought something had happened," Zaveid said hastily, pendulums disappearing, and hands raised preemptively. "The bond just cut out without warning, I wasn't expecting it." He glanced at the girl, but she hadn't moved, still looking like a startled deer.

"It does that," Lailah said mildly, for a moment she looked as if she wished to enact bodily harm but she only sighed and Zaveid relaxed. "My apologies, I thought you'd known," she added.

"It didn't do that when Sheps conked out," Zaveid grumbled half-halfheartedly. Now that the fear was receding, various other ailments were beginning to poke their heads out.

"Rose was already affiliated with the - Zaveid! Are those twigs?"

"What are - ow ow." He trailed off, protests muted as Lailah tugged on his hair and let out exclamations of dismay.

"What ever have you been doing?! You look like you've been crawling through multiple piles of brambles and dead leaves." So saying she removed a handful of twigs, casting them down on the ground with disgust. "It's beyond improper to enter a holy area looking like a bird's nest."

"I doubt Mao would mind," Zaveid said, puling away from her questing hands, "it's better than bleeding everywhere."

"Just because Lord Maotelus isn't present does not mean one can be so disrespectful," Lailah snapped. "When was the last time you bathed?!"

"Recently I-" Zaveid started only to stop and frown, he couldn't remember the last time he'd washed or even seen a pool of water. He sniffed his wrist bracers and recoiled. "It's just manly musk," he muttered in Lailah's direction. "I've been busy."

"Clearly," Lailah said. "Had any visitors at the Wind shrine?" She turned away before he could answer and smiled at the human who didn't look reassured. "Not to worry, dear, he may look like that but he's a good person."

"No," Zaveid said preemptively but it had been of little use. Lailah had over powered his protests with a few choice words but the real kicker had been the shepherd's puppy dog eyes. So, despite his complaints he'd found himself a sub-lord once more and travelling with Lailah. It was more pleasant than he would ever admit.

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Time continued to pass them by. Shepherds were born, lived, and died. The church rebuilt itself stone by blessed stone under Lailah's merciless guidance. Soon fifty years had passed, then a century, and finally one early morning. A seraph emerged from an air pulse.

Zaveid felt it, a tensing of something deep in his soul. He paused, hands deep in the guts of some unlucky forest creature and looked to the coast line. The horizon line remained unchanged and yet the very air felt different. He inhaled, tasting the change on the tip of his tongue, before letting it go. Whatever it was would either come to pass or die still unformed, it was of little concern to him. The thought disappeared into the void reserved for none pressing matters and he returned to his duties.

Their next shepherd - a boy with messy hair the color of straw and mulish eyes - forced that thought back to the forefront. There could be little doubt that the child was Dezel returned to them as a human. Though the physical appearance was different, the soul that shined through - the one that they felt through the pact bond - was the same.

"Grampveid."

A sharp pressure drew him from his thoughts and Zaveid opened his eyes to meet Edna's displeased expression. "Food's ready," she said, adding a moment later "we're switching targets." Before she stomped off.

Zaveid unfolded himself with a groan, he collected a stick from the pile of roasted meat and joined the others. Lailah had spread out a map across two saddle bags, and was carefully etching out their potential routes. Chasing down the robbers would undoubtedly raise the locals opinions of them, but without a lead it was nearly impossible. Besides, it was better to leave such things to the appropriate divisions. That left them with two options; a nest of spiderlyneas had been reported recently or they could put an end to the menace living in the Spiritcrest. Out of the corner of his eye, he eyed Edna but the girl remained as tight lipped as ever.

"How big is this menace?" Deryn asked, voice muffled around by the meat he'd crammed into his mouth.

"Quite large," Lailah said, "and very old. If you remember your lessons it's classified as a 'flee on sight' monstrosity." Despite her grave words, there was a lightness to her tone that both of the youngsters picked up on. Deryn leaned forwards, peering harder at the map as if he could see the dark clouds of miasma surrounding the mountain peak.

Rose pushed up besides him, eyes glittering; "how old is very old, Lai? What's the listed reward price? It's got to be high for a flee on sight!" She chattered.

"Think over a thousand years," Lailah replied calmly and Zaveid eyed her suspiciously. It was clear that she had a goal in mind.

"There is no reward," Edna spoke then, she too was watching their prime lord through half-lidded eyes.

There were confused sounds from the youngsters, but they settled soon enough when Lailah raised her hand. "Allow me to explain," she began and Zaveid tuned her out. His eyes drifted away from the maps and out into the distance. The Spiritcrest was no small hop away, it would take them at least a week's travel or longer should they encounter trouble. Even if they were to arrive safely, they would be fighting against Eizen - the rumble at the back of his mind grew louder as it did whenever the name crossed his thoughts- he brought a hand up to his head, wincing. Deryn had the light but he didn't yet have the battle skills to back it up, his chances of survival were minimal at best. Still, Lailah would not have mentioned it if she didn't have some sort of plan.

The growls returned ten-fold echoing through his skull with a vengeance. Zaveid bit his lip, and focused inwardly. There was an area inside his mind, filled with tangled webs of shadows and bloody promises where lived the reverberations of a beast. It was not the true thing just as it had not always been so twisted, but was only a connection. Once it had been the source of confusion but much warmth as well. Now, though. Now, it was only a chain. Zaveid huffed a little and sent over a thought. <What's got your scales so scuffed up, big guy? You're making a lot of noise.>

He wasn't expecting an answer, he never did anymore. The growling did not recede and further inquiries only brought to mind the imagery of mauled meat. <You're eating,> Zaveid said, deadpan. <would it behoove you to chew quieter?> He received the mental equivalent of a tail to the chest. He staggered backwards out of the shared mind space. He opened his eyes grumbling deep in his throat, and glared sullenly off to the east. Eventually, a consensus was reached. Come morning light the group would head out to the spiderlynea nest. The group retired to their bed rolls soon after, but Zaveid remained where he was volunteering for the first watch with a nonchalant wave of his hand.

Lailah made her way over a few moments later, sinking onto the soft dirt with a groan that she would never have let the children hear. Zaveid glanced at her out of the corner of his eye noticing the faintest smell of incense in the air. He could feel the heat wafting off her skin. "Something bothering you?" He asked.

"Have you noticed anything weird about Deryn?" Lailah returned. She smoothed her dress down stretching the fabric over her knees.

"Are you thinking of something in particular?"

"No. It's- I would just like to hear your thoughts please."

"There's nothing outright weird about the kid," Zaveid said slowly. "Other than being Dezel reborn that is."

"Right, that."

"Hmm?"

"The whole rebirth cycle thing," Lailah continued. "It's," she paused, nose scrunching up as she chose her words. "You remember how it was before lord Maotelus became our Lord, right?" Her eyes flitted away when Zaveid turned to face her, seemingly finding the nearby grass fascinating but there was a tension to her shoulders. Zaveid sighed.

"Not really," he admitted, "my memory pre-that kid's transformation is not the best. But, things changed after he became Maotelus people stopped-" the words tangled together in his throat, leaving his chest aching with an old pain. "Pre-Maotelus it was simpler, malak or human everyone returned after 100 years. No exceptions." Perhaps it wasn't fair to blame the kid for it, Zaveid knew, but he couldn't seem to help it. A bitter tone crept into his voice as he continued. "But after that kid became Mao, well no one returned." He swallowed and spat out the second half of his thought. "The human population kept growing but us? We were less and and less every year."

"That doesn't explain how it is that Deryn and Rose came to be," Lailah pointed out. "If, as you say, the cycle froze when our lord was born then why is it starting again now?"

"Spirits if I now," Zaveid grumbled. "Didn't understand the church then and I sure as fuck don't understand it now." He flopped backwards, resting his head on his arms. Lailah chuckled, and after a moment tilted sideways until she too was laying down. Zaveid bit back the teasing comment he'd been about to make. Lailah despite her laughter still felt tense. "Sheps probably had something to do with it," he said lightly, "that kid never knew when to call it quits."

Lailah chuckled again. Zaveid could feel her shoulders shaking and he smiled to himself. "Still, I am worried," the prime lord said, "regular seraphs being reborn as humans or vice-versa is alright but what if something else took advantage of our lord's nap?"

"Like what?"

"A former lord of chaos or the Calamity herself," Lailah replied matter-of-factually. "If Lord Maotelus was the cycle guardian then-"

"Crowe won't be making a re-appearance," Zaveid interrupted. "She's so deeply buried under whatever seals they're holding Innominat under that it wouldn't be possible." Even as he spoke though, his thoughts flitted away from Velvet and towards something uglier. "Crowe cannot return," he whispered more to himself than Lailah, "but that doesn't mean that the same constraints apply to her human opponents." It was not a comforting idea and he shivered helplessly.

"You know who would return though?" Lailah asked suddenly and there was pleased warmth in her voice again.

"No but I suspect you'll tell me," Zaveid said. The grin appearing on his face despite his mood being far from cheerful.

"Eizen," Lailah said without preamble. She smiled up at him with glittering eyes.

His heart clenching painfully Zaveid couldn't maintain her gaze. He cleared his throat awkwardly. "Edna will be happy, I guess." There was a pause, and he could practically feel Lailah picking and choosing her words but in the end, she only shrugged. "We'll do our best," Zaveid said halfheartedly, "not sure Deryn is the right shepherd to feed to Eizen though." That drew an offended snort but the topic was dropped.

The following morning dawned bright and cold, the sky clear for miles around. As the group gathered their items and shoveled food down into Deryn's bottomless stomach, Zaveid looked at the map. It was a straight forward route taking them through two cities and over a small river. He memorized it easily enough, before folding u the map and returning it to its weather proofed case. They set out within the hour, walking in their usual formation. Zaveid scouting ahead followed by Lailah, Deryn, and Rose while Edna acted as rear guard. The atmosphere was pleasant, just shy of cool where the sun had yet to burn the dew from the grass. The winds whispered in his ears bringing tidings from as far away as the coastlines. Zaveid sifted the information extracting news on hellionic activities. Though the weather had initially improved after Sorey's nap, it was still prone to unleashing freak storms or upending it's innards in molten spews. A pretty sight for sure if one was not fleeing for their lives.

The first town they came across was little more than a ramshackle collection of wooden huts encircling a well. The surroundings fields had not been left fallow which suggested that the local inhabitants were not destitute. They moved on swiftly, stopping for the midday break by a noisy brook. The next contention point - a larger dot on the map- was not for several hours.

Even from a respectable distance away the stone walls could be seen crowding the horizon. Zaveid exchanged a look with Lailah and darted ahead, the wind consolidating under his feet until he was shooting through the air. He landed on one of the walls with a quiet thump ad inspected the town. The streets - winding cobblestone pathways - were empty. The windows of the dwellings visibly shuttered. Zaveid frowned casting out his senses but they came up empty. There was nothing seeping danger in the town. He descended from the wall and wandered through the streets. There was not a soul to be seen, though the space did not feel unlived in. There was water in the well and the wood was unrotted. Whatever had chased the inhabitants away was either recent or -

He froze. The air vibrated. A heavy thumping reached his ears and he looked towards the sky. In the distance a dark shape was speeding towards the city, growing larger by the second. Zaveid blinked, cursed and dove for cover. There was little to be found, other than the insides of a building, the streets did not posses many overhangs. He pressed himself into a narrow alcove, pendulums sliding down his wrists even as his heart tried to beat it's way out of his chest. From his new position he could no longer see the beast, but the wind spoke of a huge wingspan. Automatically his thoughts turned towards Eizen but they were nowhere near Rayfalke. Besides the presence in the back of his mind was strangely quiet, it was always loudest when he was within Eizen's vicinity. He peeked around the corner and saw the creature descending, wings spread so wide that they ought to have blotted out the sun. But the wings were so translucent that the beams pierced straight through, forcing Zaveid to shield his face.

The dragon was huge. Perhaps the largest monstrosity that Zaveid had laid eyes on, it dwarfed even Eizen's bulk by several feet. It shuffled restlessly, crouching down on the cathedral's spire as tiles rained down to the ground. It's tail looped once and then hung down so that the tip scraped against the cobblestones. It's scales - golden-white in color - shone under the spring sun and when it yawned it's teeth seemed the size of his hand. Zaveid gulped. As the quickest member he'd been sent ahead to scout but the party was not so far behind that they would fail to notice a draconian domain. Except, he frowned and tasted the air once more but nothing had changed. Other than the faintest remnants of weeks old terror there was no maovelance. No reaper's curse. No black miasma. He sensed Eizen stirring, no doubt reacting to the presence of another dragon, and hastily closed his mind to the intrusion. There was a rumbled protest, the feeling of scales scraping against stone and he could almost visualize Eizen glaring at him reproachfully. <<Go away,>> Zaveid thought in his direction, <<this doesn't concern you.>>

Fiddling with his necklace Zaveid considered his options; the dragon had yet to notice him and if it was as he suspected then the party would need to be informed of a new threat. It shifted then and he pressed himself further into the shadows, preparing to wind-step at a moment's notice but it only stretched out it's serpentine neck. As it moved he caught sight of it's yellow eyes, confirming the suspicion that this was not Eizen, though it did not explain how such a monstrosity had come to exist. The eolian thought it over for a moment and then strolled out into the closest courtyard. He pulled his domain in as close as it could, a respect that he would have normally offered only to Maotelus. He heard the sound of scales scrapping across stone but did not look over. There was a fountain in the center of the courtyard, water cascading over some bird stained humanoid shape. He stepped up and crouched down on the crook on the statue's shoulder. It put him slightly closer to the dragon's eye level.

If there was one thing that Zaveid had learned over his long years of existence was how to hide his fear. He could feel his heart decamping up to the base of his throat but he refused to let it show on his face. He met the single draconic eye evenly, pulling up a smirk for size. It inhaled, nostrils flaring visibly. Though it's scales were mostly white there was gold patterning that shimmered in the sun and the scales around it's claws seemed orangish. Zaveid swallowed and when that didn't help coughed. His throat still felt too tight but he spoke anyway, "What's your-"

"You were one of Eumacia's pets," the dragon interrupted. "Were you not?" It's voice was surprisingly soft, crackling on the odd word but not guttural.

The air escaped Zaveid's chest in a startled gasp, and for a painful moment it felt as if his heart had stopped. "I- I don't know a Eumacia," he said shakily, "and I'm no one's pet."

"Eumacia Eumaaaciaa," the beast hissed, "my dearest older sister." It's tail trashed, tearing straight through the ground. It settled again, resting its snout on a paw. "You were hers," it insisted. "Bound you were to her vessel."

"Vessel?" Zaveid asked, the word bouncing around his brain. "You're going to have to put a bit more effort into your explanation, buddy. You're not making a lick of sense," he said eventually. Despite his efforts to shut Eizen out, the name slipped through the bond and he heard the dragon react. A long snarl reaching him.

The dragon rumbled, smoke drifting out of it's nostrils and Zaveid prepared to bolt. "I am Musiphe," it said, still with that same rumbling tone. "Young one, has no one taught you your history?"

"Er."

"I am what your kind calls an Empyrean," it continued, "You serve me."

"Yeah. Er. No," Zaveid said automatically. "I don't serve anyone and aren't you supposed to be, I don't know, up there?" He gestured at the sky. "And not a dragon," he added after a moment. The dragon shifted and Zaveid's attention flashed to it's teeth. He crashed into the side of a building before he realized it, sliding down to the ground with a pained grunt.

"Young one," the beast chided, "you have forgotten your manners." It descended from it's perch, cat-like in it's grace as Zaveid scrambled to his feet. He didn't need to look to know that a bruise was forming, darkening his side like splattered paint. Eizen was roaring now, though Zaveid couldn't tell if he was angry at the empyrean or off on a hunt. His head pounded with each reverberation.

"Mmm, can't say I ever learned them," Zaveid said, a swift appraisal of the situation and he backed away using the building to shield his back. "I'm afraid this where I love you and leave you Musiphe," he continued, "nice meeting you." The wind snatched him away moments before the tail brought the building crashing down. Zaveid saw the cloud of dust from the sky and took off in the direction of the party. As soon as he'd put distance between himself and the city, he dropped to the ground. The last thing he needed was the dragon catching him in the air. He wind-stepped along, small jumps that allowed him to remain aware of his surroundings. The group was still trouping along when he crashed into their midst, appearing between Lailah and Deryn.

"Change of plans, we're not going this way," Zaveid said and snatched up the boy. "Everyone get inside." He didn't wait for them to react, just secured Deryn under his arm and wind-stepped away. The wind rushed past, the surroundings blurring into a streamlined mess. The only constant was the warm bundle under his arm. He did not stop until they'd left the empyrean a whole day's travel behind, setting down on the sandy surface of a cove. The mad dash left him gasping for air like a beached fish, struggling to inhale through lungs that felt painfully compressed. Deryn, the over dramatic brat that he was, staggered away coughing. A small red sphere emerged from his chest and took human form beside the wind seraph. Two others emerged on its heels.

"Grampveid cease your dying and explain," Edna demanded, the point of her umbrella jabbing mercilessly into his side. Zaveid grunted. A hand pressed too his chest as if that would calm the thundering of his heartbeat. It wasn't like he required oxygen to survive but it felt as if his lungs were constricting struggling to adjust to the new environment. Black spots crowded his peripheral vision settling around Rose's head so that she was blotted from view. He closed them. Instinctively sucking in information from the air.

"Shh. It's alright." Warm hands on his face, fingers curling around his chin and stroking his cheek. "It's alright, just breath for me." Zaveid inhaled trying to match the prime lord's steadying breath. Slowly the panic receded, and his heart followed suit sliding back down to settle into his chest cavity. He blinked hazily, swiped at his eyes and said haltingly, "are you sure you're not angel? because your purity is lighting my heart on fire."

Lailah did not look impressed nor did her concerned expression lessen. She stepped back and clasped her hands together. "What happened?" There was steel bleeding into her voice but Zaveid could only shrug.

"Nothing much, just stumbled across a dragon," he said, wincing a little when the group devolved into loud exclamations.

"A dragon? Like an actual dragon dragon?" Rose demanded, her restless energy redirected into bouncing on her toes, teeth bared. She looked ready to set off at once and track down the elusive beast. Deryn too looked inquisitive, though his naturally pouty lips were doing a better job of hiding it.

"It wasn't Eizen," Zaveid specified for the benefit of the little earthen glaring a hole into the side of his head. Some of the tension left her frame but he doubted that anyone else had noticed. "said his name was Musiphta or somethin'," he continued, "nearly ran straight into him. Bastard wasn't emitting any maovelance."

There was quiet gasp. Lailah - hands in front of her face - and eyes wide with evident horror. "Did you say Musiphe?"

"Err, it was something like that," Zaveid answered, rubbing at his neck. "To be honest I was a bit more distracted by the massive spiked tail."

"Musiphe, Musiphe," the prime lord muttered, "An Empyrean. How could this be?" Zaveid frowned at her fretting. The dragon had been large and terrifying, sure but it didn't exude an evil presence. He said as much but Lailah shook her head fervently. "No no, of course they wouldn't exude the maovelance. Musiphe was on of the great lords who ruled this land over a thousand years ago." She began to pace, fingers twisting together as little sparks drifted off her clothing. "He should still be with Lord Maotelus, I don't understand why you ran into him."

"What's an Empyrean?" Deryn asked. Simultaneously, Edna spoke in her typical dead-pan, "It's got to be boring hanging around a sleeping boss all day."

"It's not the first time the Empyreans have descended," Zaveid said, "the guy mentioned someone named Eumacia having a vessel?"

"Did he say anything else?"

"No," Zaveid said, "he tried to eat me after that so I got out of range." There was a rumble at the back of his mind, vague disgruntlement emitting. Zaveid spared an appeasing wave for the beast before resolutely ignoring it again. Within the privacy of his own mind he turned over what the dragon had claimed, but he could recall no facts about an Eumacia much less being bound to her. The only one and even now innumerable centuries later chills ran down his spine at the thought, had been Melchior. The human was well and truly dust beneath the earth out of range of both his hatred and his vengeance. There was no way he'd be returning.

"The kid turned into a dragon," he said abruptly cutting off whatever the others had been discussing. "There's no reason why his lords couldn't do the same." Fingers tapping against his thigh he glowered at the sky. "It's not like Mao was bound to the other plane. The only catching point is why they chose to re-appear now. The humans can't see them."

"Slaughtering humans hardly requires them to be visible," Edna said, a darkness slipping into her tone. With her child-like appearance - still under 150 centimeters - it was easy to forget that she too had lived through the Abbey's reign. Deryn and Rose both looked at her, their eyes wide.

"Seraphs can do that?" Deryn asked, "aren't they supposed to be-" he paused and waved a hand for emphasis, "*good?*"

"Like all things, the seraphim are subject to both good and evil humors," Lailah replied. "It is not so much that the great lords would engage in senseless acts of violence but merely that it is within their power." The shepherd looked skeptical, not that Zaveid could blame him. The empyreans had not lifted a finger when the Abbey had been running around enslaving malakim left and right. They'd been content to remain in their plane, no doubt sipping on the world's lifeblood as they watched it burn. He kept that particular thought to himself, Lailah got oddly offended when he spoke ill of the church. Even now she was herding the conversation away from the empyreans and the Abbey.

Zaveid understood her recalcitrance but could not bring himself to sympathize. Though the church might have evolved since it's Abbey's days and become something a little less oppressive, it didn't change the fact it had engaged and still engaged in the conquest wars. The group settled in the cove, laying their packs down and setting up a campfire. Each was lost to their own thoughts. Not needing food, Zaveid dug out a gel for himself and found a large rock to perch on. Eyes closed and head tilted to catch the sunlight, he was content to sit peacefully. For awhile thoughts of the Empyrean churned through his brain but eventually they too faded into silence.

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It appeared out of seemingly thin air. There was no other explanation. One moment the winds had been functioning as normal, the next they were burning, disappearing so quickly that Zaveid barely had time to react much less warn the others. Their campfire erupted. Flames sky rocketing as the wood exploded. He grasped for the nearest figure, fingers closing around a thin wrist and dragging whoever it was closer. The air felt void, no winds, no breezes just the looming presence of the empyrean.

It landed deceptively softly, huge wings draping out across the ground. Zaveid thought he saw starlight reflecting off them. It's tail swept about, encircling the group nonchalantly as if it regularly herded it's prey. He exchanged a look with Lailah and saw the same fear reflected in her eyes. Rose pressed into his side, wordlessly.

"Young one." For a beast of it's size it truly had no business sounding so gentle. "You ran off before we'd finished our conversation." Yellow eyes blinked reproachfully.

"Was that what you ole ones call a conversation?" Zaveid asked, the retort slipping free before his brain caught up to his mouth. He felt Lailah's wince though she was nowhere near him. The dragon made a sound, and it took Zaveid a while to realize that it was laughing. Hot air blew from it's nostrils but the flesh grinding jaws remained closed.

"Begging your pardon, my lord," Lailah spoke, her head lowered deferentially. "Was there something you required of us?"

The beast blinked at her and then inhaled slowly, its tongue flicking out. Resolutely, Zaveid tried not to think of Eizen doing the same thing moments before he'd attacked a buffalo herd. "I do not recognize you," it said eventually, "one of that child's followers perhaps?"

"I am the Prime Lord Lailah. I serve under his lordship Maotelus," came the reply. Somehow she was keeping a mild tone despite their danger and Zaveid felt a surge of pride. He wasn't sure that he'd have been able to pull off half as much respect.

"Yessss. That child's indeed." The tip of it's tail twitched, just once. "You may refer to me as Lord Musiphe. I am-" it's teeth bared in the semblance of a smile, "that child's older brother." He rumbled again as if laughing at his own words.

Zaveid bit his tongue, swallowing down the protest until it had sunken into the pit of his stomach. There came an inquisitive rumble from within him. The feeling of soil shifting under his clawed feet as Eizen paced the mountainside. Somehow the knowledge that his own dragon was relaxing at home was calming. Zaveid snorted to himself. Eizen was no more his dragon than he was a harmless hellion. Though the longer he delayed on fulfilling his oath, the easier it had become to discern the dragon's thoughts and emotions.

Musiphe spoke again, dragging his attention back to the very real danger. "Tell me children," it said, "what are the occurrences of this continent. I would hear your opinions."

True to his word the dragon remained still and silent listening to the tale that Lailah and Zaveid spun. He did not seem overly bothered when they explained Maotelus disappearance and had in fact snorted when they'd mentioned the destruction of Camlann. The lack of reaction was off putting but for Zaveid it further cemented the idea that Empyreans truly did not care about the state of their world. He scanned the scales, searching for any kinks in the natural armor or traces of a fight. There were none. By all appearances the dragon had not engaged in any acts of violence, other than swatting Zaveid like a fly. It's domain was still clean.

"I see," the dragon hissed, it curled further in on itself as if that could hide it's claws. "Much has changed since I last walked these lands then." It chuckled and small sparks shot out of it's nose.

"Where's your vessel?" Zaveid asked abruptly. Giving voice to the thought that had been pinging him. Even Maotelus had had a vessel, after all.

Musiphe's head whipped towards him, the weight of his exhale causing Zaveid to stagger. A lip curled upwards revealing the edge of a stained tooth.

"Apologies my lord," Lailah spoke up hastily. "He means no harm. It is merely awe inspiring that you remain unaffected by the land's aura. We would not be so rude as to presume that we are worthy of inquiring after your vessel." Though one of the huge eyes rolled towards her, the snarl did not fade.

"What she said," Zaveid muttered after a moment.

"My vessel is my own," Musiphe rumbled, "even now it thrives and I am sure it will grow up into a fine fighter." It's tongue flicked out once more and it looked almost please.

"It?" Zaveid pressed, "is it a living creature?"

"Young one, your manners are truly atrocious," came the answer. "Perhaps you require a lesson or two before Eumacia returns to this land." The look in it's eyes was not a kind one and Zaveid shivered. His instincts were screaming at him to retreat now - that against this fiery vortex he stood no chance. For the first time in nearly a decade, he regretted stowing Siegfried away.

"You know, I'm still a little unclear on who this Eumacia is," Zaveid said, turning a blind eye to the prime lord's disapproving look. Let her bow her head in subservience, Zaveid had never done well in such circumstances and he didn't plan on starting now.

"My sister," Musiphe started but then it paused. It's serpentine head swung upwards and it's tongue swept out to taste the air once more. It remained silent for several moments, eyes hooded as if it were listening to another voice. It rumbled deep in it's throat, fire leaking out between it's teeth. "My sister," it repeated eventually. "has always been the inquisitive type. Though you are but a spotted rock at best she does not mind your arrogant transgressions. I am however not so lenient." There was a warning in those gleaming eyes, and a threat in the fire that continued to burn his winds away.

Zaveid glared up at it, staring into those eyes with all the bravery he possessed. There was an itch in his gut -some would refer to it as foolishness - that needed to be scratched. Giving in to it would be all to easy. However he wasn't by himself. There were children relying on him to keep it together. Letting out a frustrated growl, Zaveid bowed his head turning his vitriol against the earth instead. His hair ruffled under the heavy breath the empyrean exhaled, sweat gathering on his neck and sliding down to soak into his shirt. He heard it settle again, but the pressure did not fade and instead heightened as the large head lowered once more to rest against it's leg. It was close enough to touch, the pale scales turning reddish under it's inner heat.

The intent was clear. *You are a lesser creature than I* the empyrean was saying, *I do not fear you.* Zaveid bristled but there was nothing he - or anyone - could do about it. They were at the mercy of the elder beast. The empyrean remained with them for the rest of the evening and through the night. He could feel it's deep breaths stirring the sand. It's eyes -half lidded though they were - glinted in the starlight. Occasionally it would rumble up a question or revisit something Lailah had said earlier in the evening. It's domain was a massive web, spread out across the land and suffocated all that it touched. Zaveid wandered how it was that the beast was not attracting every hellion in the area. Such a massive source would feed the critters for months. However as soon as the thought crossed his mind, a slightly more worrisome bloomed. Discretely, Zaveid stretched his senses out towards his bonded seeking to draw comfort from Eizen's presence but there was nothing. Only the vaguest hint of cold.

#Eizavie #Zavieizen #Zaveid #Eizen #tales of zestiria #Tales of Berseria #Who gave me a pen?

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the-sun-princess · 6 years ago

Text

Warring with Emotions

A quick glance at the beginning of the Alisha DLC (or at least what I remember of it it’s been nearly a year)

Rose grumbled as she turned over in her bed that night. Bad enough that Sorey was gone, she let her emotions and worry about what she ought to do spill over into lashing out at Alisha. She sighed, glad that Alisha had made it safely to the barracks, had grudgingly agreed to be her squire and meet back up with her in the morning, and glad that Lailah and Edna had the kindness to leave Rose to stew over the events of the evening by herself.

Rose grunted and shoved her head under her pillow. She knows what led to her and Alisha’s fight was stupid and wrong. She shouldn’t have picked the easy target of Alisha’s relative privilege and her status; as if Alisha hadn’t suffered and wasn’t worried about Sorey and the fact it had taken Rose three months to make her way back. As if she didn’t have a right to know what happened. What a Model Shepherd Rose was turning out to be. Gets back to civilization and immediately pisses off and gets into a fistfight with her closest ally.

Rose tenderly touched her cheek, wincing at the scrape that Alisha’s knuckles had left on it. Calling Alisha princess in a derogatory way sure didn’t fit the girl. Alisha had the strength and toughness of any typical knight, more so if the callouses on her hands were anything to go by. Rose was glad the fight ended relatively quickly because Alisha’s fists were bruising. As were her words, because it’s not as if they were untrue. Only Rose’s words had been untrue, goading and picking at Alisha despite knowing better simply to let out some steam.

Another grumble left Rose, her thoughts swirling. She shouldn’t have lashed out at Alisha but...the three month trip back was awful. Thinking was Rose’s least favorite pasttime, but she had to come up with a way to explain what happened, to come to terms with it all herself because Sorey had to be so STUPID, to sacrifice himself to a who knows how long campaign purifying Maotelus, ditching her with the seraphim and the Shepherd role as if she had any idea what she was doing-

“You’re doing fine, Rose.” Lailah’s voice came out of nowhere and Rose automatically threw her pillow in the direction it came from, and grinned grimly when she heard the “oof!” from Lailah and the chuckle from Edna.

And then winced once Edna’s parasol smack her legs.

She rolled over, letting Edna hop up on the bed and stare disapprovingly at her. Not that that was new. That was Edna’s Thing.

“Stop it, Rose. You know you don’t do well thinking. Go with your gut.” Edna poke Rose in the stomach with that and Rose kicked her off the bed.

“Yeah, yeah. Keep saying that. It’s hard to not worry with all this,” Rose waved her hands around, “this fucking situation. Why did Alisha have to be in this town of all things. I just wanted one damn night in an actual bed and a shower to actually put thoughts in order to figure out what to tell her.”

“I thought we agreed on telling her the truth when we first figured it all out, Rose.” Lailah spoke from the opposite bed, wearing the pillow Rose had thrown at her like a hat. “It’s the simplest solution and it’s not like Alisha would have been angry at you if you had told her what happened. Instead of, well.” Lailah let the sentence hang unfinished, and Rose chucked the other pillow on the bed at her. Lailah caught it easily, still balancing the other pillow on her head.

“Yes. Fuck, Lailah, I know I should’ve just told her. I just-god I don’t even know I’m just worried about her and worried about Sorey and just-”

Edna popped up from the end of the bed. “That’s no excuse for a fistfight.”

“That’s rich, coming from you, miss gauntlets.” Rose had no pillows left to throw but she chucked the bed sheets over Edna’s head, making her disappear again. “Besides, Alisha started it.”

Edna, sniffed, voice coming from Rose’s own head this time to purposely irritate the woman. “The fistfight, perhaps, but you were the one slinging words.”

Rose grimaced at the ceiling, hating she couldn’t throw a punch at Edna this way and the creepiness of hearing another voice in her own head.

“See, you would’ve slung a fist at her first if she had actually provoked you with something reasonable to be angry at.”

“Edna, now isn’t the time to be mean.” Lailah said sternly, letting the pillow slip from up top her head, as Rose flexed her hands like she wanted to strangle someone. Edna went quiet. “And Rose, I know we’re all tired from the journey and worried about things, but you’re better than this. You can find a way to fix things with Alisha and figure out how to be Shepherd.”

“Oh, are you going to tell me how, for once, Lailah?” Rose glanced over to Lailah, who suddenly became very interested in the nonexistent ceiling pattern and started humming a little song to herself. “Yeah that’s what I thought. Can you at least give me my pillows back so I can sleep on this bout of bad?”

The two pillows landed next to Rose, though one came dangerously close to hitting her in the face. Rose side-eyed Lailah, who was continuing her humming and ceiling examination, before stuffing her face in the pillow nest. Maybe she’ll make it up to Alisha tomorrow. Or maybe she’ll take advantage of Alisha’s squire promise to continue letting out steam….she ignored the feeling of Edna’s invisible eyeroll at that thought, and managed to pass out from exhaustion from the journey home and the fight with Alisha, despite the smarting blow on her cheek and in her heart.

#emi writes #tales of zestiria #roseali #rosali #toz #rose zestiria #edna zestiria #lailah zestiria #rose #edna #alisha diphda #lailah #this was born of me being grumbly at ppl describing alisha as soft and then idk #changed directions lol #vip

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randomactuallywrites-57 · 6 years ago

Text

Origin

Title: Origin Author: randomwriter57 Rating: G Word Count: 9,961 Event + Prompt: @sormikweek day three - Fear/Excitement (Wind) Notes: i love miraculous ladybug. i love superhero AUs. please don't judge me. you shouldn't need to have seen the show to understand this oneshot, but please let me know if anything is unclear! also feel free to come and yell with me about this AU because i love it a lot.

Summary: There is such thing as magic - both the good kind, and the bad.

Also on: AO3

There is such thing as magic.

That’s what Sorey thinks, anyway. Usually his nature tends to be that of a realistic thinker, but he’s always had a soft spot for the supernatural. It doesn’t matter what kind of magic it is; stereotypical witchcraft or spell-casting, or even forces like fate and destiny. Regardless of the type, magic has to exist in some form or another.

Of course, there’s no proof that he’s right. Even if there is, he has no way of finding it for himself, especially not when he’s in a situation like this.

His father’s study feels like a black hole where magic goes to die. The dark, regal colouring and antique flooring might suggest the opposite. But the atmosphere in the room, the hopelessness permeating the air, is what lets him know he’s right.

Georg Heldalf, Sorey’s father, stands before the window, his back facing him and blocking the outside world from view. The light before him creates the effect of his back being shadowed, hidden from view.

“Please, father,” Sorey pleads. “I promise I’ll be careful, and I’ll come straight home afterwards-”

“I’ve told you time and time again, Sorey,” Georg says without moving to face him. “You will not be going to school and that is final.”

“Is it too much to ask for a single year of being allowed to learn more about the world?”

His father scoffs. “How insolent. I pay for the best tutors in Pendrago to teach you everything you need to know for a full education, and this is the thanks I get. Everything you need is in this house.”

Sorey clenches his fist, turning his gaze to the only other adult in the room. His father’s assistant, Runette, only watches silently, her lips pressed tightly together.

Maybe magic isn’t real after all. At least, it doesn’t exist in this house.

“I appreciate everything you do for me,” Sorey says in a measured tone, “but there’s more for me to see outside this house. More people for me to meet. A life lived without going outside is barely a life at all.”

Georg heaves a great sigh, pushing a hand through his blond hair in agitation. “I have given you everything I could since your birth. Now your mother is gone, I am going through more trouble to keep you safe and happy.”

“But can’t you see that I’m not happy?”

“Leave.” His father’s tone is final, strong and low. “You will not be going to school. I have nothing more to say on the matter.”

For a moment, Sorey waits, desperate to say something else, to try to convince him. In the end, though, all he can do is hold his tongue and leave, heading back through the large, lonely house towards his room.

Now, more than ever, he wishes magic was real. Maybe then he’d have a chance at a normal life.

Mikleo would love for magic to be real. Maybe it would make life easier.

Of course, there's no chance of that happening. Though he enjoys thinking of impossible things, he always sees them for what they are - impossible. That's why he doesn't get his hopes up that high school will be any better than middle school had been, or that some miracle will suddenly fix everything wrong with his life.

When he gets up on the first day of high school, his excitement is tainted by a sense of dread. There won't be many new people in his class, judging on how previous years have been. He'll be stuck in another year with a group of people he's never fit in with, and who never seemed to like him anyway.

Switching off his alarm, he takes a moment to gaze at his phone’s wallpaper, his lips curling upward at the sight of a picture of him with his best friend.

He wishes, not for the first time, that Sorey might be there to brave this new school year with him.

Again, there’s no chance of that happening. Even without the factor of Sorey’s father being the strictest man he’s ever had the misfortune to meet, he hasn’t seen Sorey for months, now. Not since his mother, Selene disappeared.

Locking his phone, he forces himself out of bed, where he puts on his glasses and begins to get ready for the day. His new school uniform is a little big on him, the white blazer sleeves almost dwarfing his palms, but he’ll grow into it. At least when he brushes his mouse-brown hair into a more sophisticated style, he doesn’t look quite so young.

Once he’s ready, he heads downstairs from his attic bedroom into the kitchen. His mother, Muse, is already there, brewing them both cups of tea to go with the cereal which sits on the island counter.

“Good morning, sweet pea,” Muse says through a yawn.

Muse has the same problem as Mikleo in that she’s always busy and never takes breaks. She wakes up at 5am everyday to make pastries for the coming day in the bakery downstairs. Then she spends all day working there, and she does the admin work at night before bed. Somehow, she fits in time to clean the house and do the chores whilst Mikleo is at school, too. He has no idea how she does it.

“Morning,” he replies, sitting down at one of the island stools. He grabs a clean bowl and pours himself some cereal. “How are you?”

“Ready for another busy day, as usual,” she says, putting a strong cup of tea on the counter beside him. “Are you excited for school? First day of a new year, after all.”

Mikleo hums in an unenthusiastic tone. “It’ll be the same as it is every year, mum.”

“But you’re in high school now,” she points out, sitting down to get her own breakfast. “Maybe something exciting will happen that will make your whole year amazing.”

“That would take a miracle, mum.”

‘Or some form of magic,’ he thinks.

A man stands alone in a dark chamber. The only light source is a window high above him, which looks out onto the city from a great height. Though the chamber is shrouded in darkness, there is no furniture to be seen. The only other inhabitants of the room are silver energy particles which float around the man, hovering near the ground.

The man holds out his hand in front of him, where a brooch lies in his palm. A red gem glimmers in the centre of its golden body, shimmering in the low light.

“What did you say you are?” he asks.

In front of him floats a strange being, one with skin of a purple hue and a blob-like form. The little creature has small pointed ears atop its head, and a tail with a fluffy tip.

"I am a kwami named Symonne," the creature says. "I live within the brooch you're holding, the Lion Miraculous."

"And if I wear this brooch, you will grant me powers?" he asks.

"Yes. I provide the power to send off energy to people, which gives them their own powers for a short period of time, under your jurisdiction. They will be able to do as you command them to."

Though the man’s face is hidden in shadows, his teeth gleam in the light. "And if I capture two certain Miraculouses, I might be granted special powers?"

Symonne nods. "Capturing the Miraculous of the Magpie and the Cat will grant you both the powers of creation and destruction, and any wish you ask for will come true."

A grin spreads across his lips. "Then I shall do exactly that. And what better way to lure two Miraculous-holding superheroes than to create supervillains, do you not agree?"

"Yes, master," Symonne says, her own lips curling as she watches him pin the brooch onto his shirt. "All you have to do is ask."

The man, standing tall in his lair, calls out. "Symonne, transform me!"

Darkness envelopes him, swirling around him as his clothing changes. A moment passes before he stands once more, this time clad in an entirely different outfit, one drenched in hues of purple and black. A mask covers his face, hiding his identity behind the image of a lion. The brooch on his collarbone holds together a long black cloak.

“Let it be known now that I am Calamity,” he says. "I shall cover Pendrago in darkness, in order to fulfil my wish. That is my answer."

Calamity lets out a roar of laughter, and for a moment, the world sees nothing but darkness.

The dark aura, for the most part, is unnoticeable. Only a few creatures sense it when it washes over them, one of whom stirs in a small house on the outskirts of the city.

Kyme freezes in the drawer where he usually sleeps, his body wrought with fear. This sensation filling him is one he has only felt a few times before, at times which preceded eras filled with chaos.

It is dread which makes him fly out of the drawer, heading quickly to his master’s side.

He finds Zenrus in the living room of the house, sitting on a pillow in front of the fireplace. He takes a long drag from his pipe, his expression all too calm considering the situation.

“Master,” he says.

Zenrus turns his attention to the green kwami. “Kyme. Is something wrong?”

“Yes, master. I felt a terrible aura. It can only mean one thing.”

“The Lion Miraculous?” When Kyme doesn’t respond, he breathes out the smoke from his pipe. “So, Calamity will rise once more. It was bound to happen one day.”

“But master, it hasn’t even been two decades-”

“There is no use in pondering the reason,” Zenrus says. He pulls out a necklace from around his neck, clutching it in his free hand. “We must make haste in stopping Calamity.”

Kyme zooms over, stopping Zenrus from uttering any more words. “Master, with all due respect, your body is too weak now to transform.”

“I’m still young,” he says, though they both know otherwise. For a man who has lived for centuries, even if he is strong, he does not have the power alone needed to triumph over evil. “But you are right. We must call on those with power stronger than any other.”

He gets up from his seat, moving over to where a music box sits in the corner of the room. Though it looks innocent enough, he opens a panel on it and types in a code. When it opens, it reveals dozens of pieces of jewellery, all inscribed with ancient symbols.

“You will choose another Magpie and Luzrov?” Kyme asks hesitantly. He isn’t sure he wants to know the answer. Hearing the truth will only tell him how much their city, and perhaps even their world, is at stake.

Zenrus nods gravely. “In times like these, it is only these two who may put an end to the evil threatening our world. I’m afraid it is a necessity.”

For a moment, they both stay silent, contemplating the war which will begin the moment these Miraculouses come into use. It will be a long struggle, if the past instances are anything to go by. They’ll need to use all of their strength, and choose heroes with unwavering hearts.

Kyme turns his attention to his master. “Where should we begin?”

It’s surprisingly easy to sneak out of Sorey’s house.

He’s only done it a few times before, and he’s never gone much farther than the end of the street. That being said, he could have gone farther, if he’d wanted. His only issue is the guilt which crawls into his throat at the thought of being caught.

This time, however, when he climbs out of his window and over the wall surrounding the house, he doesn’t look back. To get what he’s always wanted, he can’t back out now. Otherwise he’ll never get to go to school, have a normal life, make new friends and see his existing ones more often.

And lord knows seeing Mikleo right now would be good enough to make this whole trip worth it.

He runs down the street, heading in the direction of the local high school. Pendrago is a large city, but most of the public services are very central, and with his father’s house being in the city centre, it’s fairly easy to find where he’s going. Not having an escort tailing him makes getting around a lot easier, too.

As he moves into more crowded areas, he forces himself to slow his pace to a fast walk. He can’t have himself sticking out in such a huge crowd, lest someone recognises him from the few pictures online of his father with his family, back when his political power stretched further.

All he’s going to do is enrol for classes. If he does that, surely his father will understand his resolve.

The school building looms in the distance, and he speeds up, ready to run straight in. However, as he approaches it, he sees an old man crossing the street in front of the school. The man walks with a cane and a hunched back, very slowly and uncertainly. The ringing of the school bell punctuates the moment his foot slips, and he falls to the ground, just as a car turns the corner.

When Sorey moves now, it is an instinct more than a thought process. One moment he’s watching from afar, the next he kneels beside the man on the road. He picks up the man’s cane before turning to him.

“Are you okay?” he asks, offering an arm. “Can you stand?”

The car approaching grinds to a halt as the old man takes Sorey’s arm, using it to levy himself off the ground and onto his feet once more. They move onto the pavement and Sorey passes him his cane with a warm smile, which the old man returns gratefully.

Before either Sorey or the man can say anything, though, the halted car’s door slams, and a familiar voice assaults his ears.

“Sorey!” His father’s assistant Runette stands by the car, her eyes wide with anger, chest heaving. “You must come home at once!”

Feeling his heart crush in his chest, Sorey turns to face her. He doesn’t notice as the old man walks away, barely using his cane at all to move. “Please, you don’t understand. I’ve wanted this for so long-”

“Your father has told you time and again. Neither he or I will make any exceptions.”

The sound of a crowd grows, and Sorey knows if he doesn’t want to cause a scene whilst the students are going for lunch, he should stand down. But he can’t bring himself to give up. This is his last chance at convincing his father - or at least his assistant - that he ought to be allowed to attend public school.

“I understand that my father is worried for me,” Sorey says, “but I don’t see any issue with this. School is meant to be a safe place. Why would I get hurt here?”

“You will not be attending, and that is final.”

“Please-”

“Sorey?”

This voice feels like a blessing and a curse when he hears it.

Sorey whips around, his heart racing as he sees the familiar figure of Mikleo standing a few feet away. He’s wearing the school’s uniform, complete with the iconic white blazer Sorey has seen people wearing when he passes the school in the car. The formal dress is a little surprising, but he can’t say it doesn’t suit Mikleo. The only thing which doesn’t seem to belong on his face is the confusion and concern forming in his violet eyes.

“Mikleo,” Sorey says weakly.

“What are you doing here?” Mikleo asks, looking between Sorey and Runette. “Is something wrong?”

When Sorey opens his mouth to answer, he feels Runette’s ice-cold glare in the back of his head more than he hears her speak his name in a warning tone.

He holds up a finger to represent “one second” before rushing over to Mikleo.

“There isn’t time to explain everything right now,” Sorey says. “Can I call you later?”

Though Mikleo looks like he wants to ask more questions, he settles for a nod. “Alright. Just don’t scare me like that in the future, okay?”

“Thanks, Mikleo.”

Sorey heads back toward Runette, hesitating when he sees the escort car waiting for him, ready to return him to a life he will never escape from.

There’s no point in resisting, though. All he can do is obey the wishes of his father. He’s powerless to do anything else.

Zenrus turns the corner, heading into an alleyway behind the school. It’s shaded enough that onlookers shouldn’t see more than a silhouette if they happen to glance over as they pass by. Reaching into his pocket, he removes an ornate jewellery box in the shape of a hexagon, marked with symbols only he and a few others understand.

“Take this to that boy’s house,” he tells Kyme, who comes out from his hiding spot in Zenrus’ other pocket.

“Are you certain? This boy is definitely the right one for the Magpie Miraculous?”

Part of Zenrus wishes Kyme wouldn’t be so cautious, but then again, he is the same way. “I only ever chose wrongly once, years ago. I will not allow that to happen again.”

With that as his answer, Kyme gives in, taking the box from his master. He is dwarfed by its size, but he manages to carry it with him as he flies off into the sky on his mission.

Watching after him, Zenrus grasps his cane. There is nothing left to do now but search for the other hero their city needs, and then hope he’s made the right decision.

As the black car drives away, Mikleo wonders if this day can get any weirder.

Not only has he just been faced with the sight of his best friend for the first time in months, having an argument in front of his school. He’s also been in classes where he doesn’t recognise a single person, and watched his History teacher lose his composure over the rudeness of a few careless students.

To be fair, Mikleo can understand why his teacher was upset. Professor Uno seems like an intelligent and patient man. For a class to give such a rude first impression, interrupting constantly and bickering without any care for their teacher’s warnings, it doesn’t give him hope for the rest of the school year. If the other students would just be more considerate, maybe things would be better.

A crash interrupts his thoughts, followed by a shriek of fear. He whips back to face the school, heart stopping as he sees what stands at the door.

Rather than a person, it’s more of a half-human, half-snake creature. The blue tail suggests it’s more snakelike, along with the scales crawling up the man’s exposed neck and face. His hair falls around his shoulders in a mess, his eyes now slits, glowing with rage. Strangest of all, he wears a snake around his neck.

“Students,” the man calls out, “My name is Uroboros. It is time you were taught a lesson in manners!”

When Mikleo said he wanted people to be more considerate, this isn’t how he expected them to be taught about it.

He backs away behind one of the pillars supporting the school building, watching from behind it as the snake man moves towards the fleeing students, swiping at them with long claws. It’s a sight unlike anything he’s seen before, unlike anything he’s ever wanted to see, and for a horrifying moment, he wonders if this is the proof he desired that magic exists.

If it is, he kind of wishes he never found out.

Uroboros swipes at a pillar, causing the roof to cave in, stone dust and debris falling from above. Mikleo has to run to get out of the way, holding one arm over his head and the other over his mouth, the fabric of his blazer hot against his lips from his breaths. As he reaches the corner of the building, he notices an old man standing nearby, a look of horror in his eyes as his cane lies abandoned a few feet away.

“You need to get out of here!” Mikleo yells, getting the man’s attention. He runs toward him, picking up the cane and handing it to him. “I’ll help you to safety.”

Without giving him a chance to respond, Mikleo grabs the man’s arm and drags him around the corner, running with him down the alleyway toward the next street down. It’s a useful shortcut to know, one which leads to a main street with plenty shops lining the streets. He drags the man into one at random. The door opens with a crash, and the woman behind the counter startles as he rushes in.

“There’s something attacking near the school,” Mikleo explains, letting go of the man’s arm. “Please look after this man. Lock all the doors and alert the others on this street.”

The woman nods, too scared and shocked to say a word, and Mikleo runs out of the shop again. If someone is terrorising the school, he can’t bring himself to sit back and do nothing.

In the shop, Zenrus gives a reassuring smile to the cashier before heading to the door. “The young boy is right. Please stay inside.”

The woman says, “Where are you going?”

“I have far more important things to be doing than hiding,” he answers cryptically.

As he leaves the shop and rushes down the street as fast as his legs will take him - which, to be fair, is a lot slower than it used to be - he can’t help the heavy feeling in his heart.

“I suppose the white cat runs in your blood,” he says to himself as he runs toward a certain bakery, where a pair of violet eyes reside, matching those of the boy he has chosen.

It’s only once Sorey gets back to his bedroom and turns on his TV that he hears about what’s happening.

He sits down on his sofa, reclining and ready to find another documentary he’s already watched a thousand times, only to find himself bombarded with news announcements.

“A man with the tail of a snake has been spotted roaming near the Pendrago High School,” the news reporter says. The footage switches to an aerial shot of the school, where it shows an unbelievable creature who truly has the body of a snake. “The creature is incredibly violent. We urge citizens to stay at home if possible, and not to engage the beast at all costs.”

“This is crazy,” Sorey murmurs, watching in horror as the snake creature swipes at a passing student. “Is this real?”

It occurs to him, that Mikleo had been near the school only minutes ago. He hopes with all his heart that he managed to get away.

His head drops as he wonders how this will end up. Will someone be able to stop the beast? Or will it continue terrorising innocent people? This is the kind of thing which only happens in comic books, but as far as he knows, there aren’t any superheros in Pendrago.

Catching sight of something in the corner of his eye, he looks up. In the centre of his coffee table sits an antique jewellery box.

It’s like nothing he’s seen before. Though the markings have come up in textbooks and online articles he’s read about ancient relics, he can’t figure out its origin era, or what it’s supposed to mean. Most confusing of all, of course, is how it ended up in his room. He’s never seen it before, and neither his father nor his assistants are the types to give gifts at random.

Well, he has nothing to lose. He opens the jewellery box.

Suddenly, a burst of white light surrounds him, and he squints his eyes as something materialises before him. It takes a moment for the light to disappear before he sees an unfamiliar creature floating in the air above the box. It looks a little like a bird, though it’s an unnatural shade of green, and it has a little antenna thing sticking out from its head. It also grins at him, which Sorey is unsure birds are usually able to do.

His expression changes to a disappointed frown a moment later. “Awww, I’d been hoping for a pretty lady this time.”

Sorey blinks, unsure how much more surprised he can get. He isn’t sure whether to ask what it is or why it can talk or what. In the end, what comes out of his mouth is, “Sorry?”

The thing, whatever he is, crosses his arms behind his head, letting his expression become easygoing once more. “Welp, can’t be helped. Hey kid, the name’s Zaveid. Looks like I’ll be your kwami from here on out.”

“What?” Sorey asks, getting even more confused at this new terminology. “What does that mean? Who are you?”

The kwami - Zaveid - rolls his eyes in exasperation. “I just told you, I’m Zaveid, a kwami. Seriously, you got ears, don’t you?” He looks down at the jewellery box, prompting Sorey to do the same. “See those earrings? That’s where I live.”

They’re an ordinary looking pair of silver ear cuffs, each with two black beads attached to them.

“You live in the earrings?” Sorey asks.

“Yup. If you put them on and say “transform me”, I grant you super special powers, and you can purify evil.”

Sorey’s eyes widen, slowly beginning to understand what Zaveid is talking about. “Wait, you can make people have magic?”

Zaveid grins. “Yeah. With my help, you’ll be a superhero. You up for it?”

“Of course! This is the kind of thing I’ve always dreamed of!” Sorey jumps up from the sofa, taking the earrings out of the box. As he puts them on, he continues with his questions, trying to pry more information out of the kwami.

Though Zaveid doesn’t tell him much, he learns this: with these earrings, he will become a hero with the power to create a lucky item to help him defeat villains. These are people who have been tainted by evil creatures known as akumas, which are controlled by - well, he’s not sure, Zaveid changes the subject before he can ask. In any case, as a hero, he’ll have the strength and ability to save those in need, and to purify the akumas, returning the victims to their original states.

“So you mean to say the snake thing attacking the school is an akuma victim?” Sorey asks, looking over to the TV once more.

“Looks like it,” Zaveid says. He doesn’t sound like he’s in much of a hurry as he says, “You should probably be quick. Looks like that guy’s only getting angrier.”

With both earrings on, there’s nothing stopping Sorey from going now. He clenches his hand into a fist, then grins confidently.

“Alright. Zaveid, transform me!”

Zaveid is sucked into his earrings, and light explodes around him. His body is encompassed by a warm aura, and he finds his clothes changing to a black and white bodysuit, fit with a colourful bird’s tail and thigh-high lace up boots. A mask with a pointed, beak-like nose covers his face, and he runs a glove-covered hand through his hair, messing it up a little to make it more windswept. White feathers sprout from his earrings, brushing against his skin.

The moment passes, and he finds himself alone in his room, now in a strange outfit.

Still, Sorey has never felt so powerful before. Now, he feels like he’s capable of anything.

“This is amazing!” he says, looking over himself. “So now what do I do?”

Only silence answers him.

“Zaveid?” he says, looking around himself. The kwami is nowhere to be seen.

“Alright,” he says to himself. “Guess I’ll figure it out as I go along.”

He rushes over to the window and jumps out, ready to take on whatever this creature will throw at him.

Mikleo’s chest heaves with exertion. He’s been running around the school for longer than he can keep track of, now. At least it looks like he’s helped most of the stragglers to safety at this point, but if there are any more here, he’s not sure how much help he’ll be. He’s already out of energy, and no one has shown up to tackle the snake man yet.

All he can do is hope that someone will come to save the day. After all, if snake people exist, then there must also be someone with the power to best them. Well at least, that’s what he hopes.

He makes sure the coast is clear before running out from his hiding spot, trying to find the best way of getting away from the school. It’ll do no good if he gets caught by that snake man now.

The door is in sight. He runs toward it at full speed, hoping the snake is where he left it, nearer the rear of the school than the front entrance. He gets outside, toward the debris where pillars have fallen, and it’s only at the last moment that he hears the sound of crumbling rock.

‘Oh no,’ he thinks.

Before he can even move to protect himself, something comes barrelling into him, pushing him out of the building as the stone pillars fall, blocking the door. He lands on the ground with a thud and a large weight on top of him, pinning him to the ground.

The weight shifts.

“Are you alright?” someone asks.

Mikleo opens his eyes, his heart hammering as he takes in the image of someone new, someone he’s sure he’s never seen before and yet feels some sort of familiarity toward. This guy - he has to be a superhero, no one else would wear that getup and push people out of collapsing buildings with that strength - but there’s something in his green eyes that Mikleo feels like he should recognise.

“I-I’m fine,” he stammers, still shell-shocked. He swallows to regain his composure before speaking again. “Who are you?”

The hero gets up off of him before offering a hand, pulling him back onto his feet with ease. “My name is So- er, Magpie,” he says. “I’m here to help get rid of a snake problem?”

For a moment, Mikleo isn’t sure exactly what to say. He’s never thought about being in this kind of situation before. Everything happening to him has put his head in such a spin, it feels like his whole knowledge of normal conversation has gone right out of his head.

In the end, he looks over in the direction of the school building. “I suspect it’s in there somewhere.”

Magpie nods, his feathered earrings blowing in the wind with the ends of his windswept hair. “Thanks. Let me get you to safety first, though. Can’t have you getting bit, after all.”

He ends his sentence with a cheeky smile. Mikleo can’t help but wonder how he can smile in this dangerous situation.

In the end, he doesn’t get a choice in this matter. Magpie picks him up in a fireman’s lift with ease, using a running start before running and jumping up onto the building opposite the school. He runs along the rooftops, bridging the gaps with jumps Mikleo can’t imagine a normal person making. It’s only a matter of minutes before he drops Mikleo off on the balcony of his family’s bakery, where the trapdoor leads down into Mikleo’s room.

“How did you know this is my house?” Mikleo asks as Magpie sets him down.

The hero gives a loud laugh, scratching the back of his head. “Lucky guess? Anyway, I’d better go. Stay safe!”

With that, Magpie flits off again, leaving Mikleo to watch in a bewilderment.

“Messed that up,” Sorey mutters to himself as he makes his way back toward the school. “I almost completely blew my cover! Of course Mikleo would be the first one I’d bump into…”

Had it been any other situation, Sorey would have told Mikleo everything right away. After all, this is something they could both enthuse over, sharing their amazement at the existence of superpowers and heroes and ancient earrings with magical birds living inside of them. In the end, though, there’s no way he can say anything. Zaveid made as much clear earlier, when he told Sorey about the Miraculous.

“Oh, but you can’t tell anyone,” he said, his face growing serious only then. “Not your mum, not your girlfriend, no one.”

Sorey didn’t know how to tell Zaveid that his mum is dead and that he doesn’t have - or want - a girlfriend. He got the gist, though, and that’s why he knows not to tell Mikleo.

Still, he can’t help but feel a little more comfortable, now that’s over. At least he can rest assured that Mikleo is safe at home. Now he can focus fully on fighting the akuma.

He makes his way back to the school, glad to see that the snake has remained within the courtyard. It fumes with rage, but Sorey tries not to think too much about that. If he stands a chance of beating this thing, he’ll do better if he doesn’t worry about how angry it looks.

The only problem now is that he has no idea how to take this thing down. Sure, he has a weapon, though it’s a magical recorder, which Sorey doesn’t even know how to play, let alone how to use in close combat. The only other thing he knows he can do is summon a lucky item, but there’s no guarantee it will be of any use either.

As he watches the creature tear down another pillar, though, he knows there’s no other option.

Lifting the recorder to his lips, his hands somehow know exactly what to do. He plays a short tune, a ball of light forming at the base of the instrument. Then he throws that light into the sky and cries, “Lucky charm!”

The light grows above him, twisting and forming into an unrecognisable shape before disappearing. At the same time as it disappears, a book falls from the sky into his hand.

“A book?” he says, frowning as he examines the cover. It looks like a school-issued textbook, though he has no idea why this is going to be of any use.

“You!” a voice cries before he can figure it out.

Sorey stows the book in his belt, hoping it won’t slip out, and turns his attention to the akuma. Since it’s noticed him by now, there’s no way he can hide. All he can do is fight.

“Hey, snake face!” Sorey yells to it. “What’s got your tail in a twist?”

“People like you!” Uroboros says, lashing out at the pillar supporting the roof where Sorey stands. He barely manages to escape before it crumbles, running along the roof as the snake follows, pushing every pillar it sees to the ground. “People who have no consideration! Brats like you need to be taught a lesson, and that’s what I will do!”

(Uroboros, in his anger, almost does not hear the voice in his head, reminding him of his duty. When he hears it, though, he hisses, knowing his duty and vowing to obey.)

“Pretty dangerous lesson,” Sorey says, hopping over to a nearby tree. “Does it really need to involve so much destruction?”

“There is no better way,” the snake says. “But your lesson will be different. Before I can punish you, I must have those earrings!”

Sorey sighs. Of course this is how things would turn out. “Isn’t stealing pretty inconsiderate? How ironic.”

He hops out of the tree, moving along lampposts and other trees, using roofs as leverage as Uroboros follows, destroying everything he touches. Sorey can’t help but worry how long all this will take to fix.

Still, as he runs, his head spins with options. He needs to figure out a plan, some way to use this book, or to trap the akuma victim-

That’s it!

He changes his course, setting off in the direction of the school once more. “Bet you can’t catch me!”

Uroboros, as expected, follows in a blind rage, entering the school courtyard through the side, the only area not blocked by pillars. Sorey then runs around the debris, hopping onto the roof supported by the last remaining pillars.

“You will be taught a lesson!” the snake cries out, lashing out at the pillars.

As expected, the pillars crumble. Sorey barely manages to hop away before the roof falls with them, a crash of dust and debris falling to the ground. With all the exits blocked off, Uroboros can only cry out in frustration as Sorey remains out of his reach.

There’s no time to celebrate, though. Before he can even wonder what to do next, his earrings beep at him, reminding him of something else he’d forgotten: time.

Zaveid's voice floats through his mind, a reminder of their earlier conversation. “If you use your power, you’ll only have five minutes until you transform back. We kwamis can’t keep up for longer than that.”

He groans. Even if he has the villain cornered, of course he’s going to run into another complication. And all for the sake of a book he doesn’t know the use of.

Pulling the book out from his belt, he begins to sift through the pages, ignoring how the snake man yells at him from below. He doesn’t hear when the snake man grips the debris, trying to climb up the wall to reach him.

Sorey reaches the last page. Uroboros reaches the edge of the roof.

Someone suddenly plucks the book from Sorey’s hands and throws it at the snake, making him fall down once more.

When Sorey looks up, his heart stops. In front of him stands a boy painted in white, with fluffy cloud-like hair and a white super suit not unlike his own. Two pointed ears pop up from between tufts of hair. His left wrist bears a bracelet of gold, with a small aquamarine jewel embedded within it.

Perhaps the most intriguing thing about him are his eyes, hidden behind a white mask, a vibrant violet against his pale palette. The colour extends to the sclera, covering what would usually be white in a pale lilac hue.

Sorey’s first thought is, ‘I’m in love.��

His second is, ‘This guy is like me.’

“Aren’t you reckless,” the stranger says, regarding him with a judging gaze. “You should pay more attention to your surroundings.”

Sorey barely manages to snap put of his stupor to give a response. “I- uh- thanks?”

The stranger's lips curl up a little, and he turns away. “Go and rest up, and come back once you’re done. I can hold this thing off for now.”

The beeping in Sorey's ears reminds him that he ought to hurry in doing so. Before he leaves, however, he asks, “Who are you?”

The hero looks over his shoulder at him, his gaze steady as he answers. “Luzrov.”

The name tingles sweetly on Sorey’s lips, and he can’t help but smile when he repeats it. “Luzrov. Thanks, I’ll be back!”

He rushes off, feeling his energy soar at the thought of having someone like Luzrov at his side.

Mikleo isn’t entirely sure how his day has gotten to this point. He’s a little under the impression that he’ll wake up at some point, finding this all to be a dream.

The too-real feeling of fear as he stands near the snake akuma, alone, is enough to tell him that this is actually happening.

Once Magpie dropped him off at home, he rushed back into his room, turning on the computer in his room and waiting impatiently for the live news stream to load. As he tapped his foot, he noticed a jewellery box sitting on his desk where he knew it hadn’t been this morning.

Long story short, that jewellery box is what got him here. Who’d have thought, when he woke up this morning, that he’d be a superhero by afternoon?

Of course, he’d been entirely disbelieving, at first. It had taken a solid ten minutes for his kwami, Lailah, to calm him down, speaking carefully to get him to understand the situation. She went through everything she could with him, though there were certain things she couldn’t answer due to lack of knowing, and other things she wouldn’t answer, for reasons Mikleo did not know.

In any case, he has the gist of it, and now he’s here.

Fighting an akuma.

Alone, apparently.

Well, not entirely alone. Magpie will come back. All Mikleo has to do is wait until he has rested enough. It should be easy to keep the snake man trapped until then.

Except the snake is stronger than he anticipates. By the time Magpie leaves, Uroboros has carved away a chunk of the debris surrounding the courtyard, trying to dig his way out. Mikleo springs into action, running over to that side of the roof and using his staff to whack the snake away from the new exit.

A moment later, the snake swipes out at him, throwing him to the other side.

“Another brat!” he yells. “You will be taught a lesson, all of you! But not before I take your Miraculous!”

“You’re not taking anything of mine,” Mikleo says through gritted teeth, forcing himself back onto his feet. “And you’re not getting away, either! I can’t have you destroying Pendrago just because of your anger.”

“Oh? You think you can stop me?” Uroboros hisses. In a flash, he makes his way toward him, giving him only seconds to jump back onto the roof.

Still, it’s not quite safe yet. Uroboros swipes at the wall supporting the roof, causing that part of the roof to crumble under Mikleo’s feet. It’s all he can do to jump at the last second, scurrying away from the falling chunks, trying to find stable land.

“Hurry up, Magpie,” he mutters, his heart freezing as the snake lashes out at the wall beneath him.

“Grape mille-feuille? Seriously?”

Zaveid nods with a serious expression, though the effect is dampened by how exhausted he looks. His antenna droops from lack of energy. “Yup. Best thing for getting back energy, don’t you think?”

“Are you sure you can’t eat anything else?” Sorey asks, glancing at the kwami where he rests in his bag. “There aren’t many bakeries that sell something so fancy, you know.”

“Come on, there has to be somewhere around here,” Zaveid says. “And you can’t complain about the price. I saw your house. You’re loooooooaded, kid.”

“Just because my family has money doesn’t mean I can magic up fancy sweets at your whim,” Sorey mutters.

Seriously, he never would have guessed kwamis would be such hard work. Sure, he’s worried. He doesn’t want Zaveid to be low on energy for too long, but they’re kind of running on a time limit, here.

Glancing around himself, he sees that most of the stores nearby are closed, shutters down over the doors and windows. That much is to be expected, of course - this is the first time an attack like this has happened. It could destroy anything and anyone. This way things are much safer. It does make it more difficult to find a bakery that is still open, though.

The only one he can think of that might let him in is-

“Oh, that’s it!”

Sorey rushes down the street, turning a corner and heading in a direction he knows all too well.

“What, you found someplace?” Zaveid asks.

“My best friend’s family runs a bakery,” Sorey explains. “They make all kinds of sweets. I wouldn’t be surprised if they make your fancy grape things, too!”

It only takes a minute to reach the bakery, which thankfully doesn’t have its doors locked. He rushes in, the bell chiming above his head as he does. Muse looks up from the counter when he enters, her eyes widening.

“Sorey?” she says. “What are you doing here? Are you looking for Mikleo?”

“Not this time,” he says. “Do you by any chance make grape mille-feuille?”

“Yes, we do,” Muse says, her eyebrows drawn inward.

Catching a glimpse of his bag, Sorey sees Zaveid flash a quick thumbs-up, and he nods at Muse. “That’s perfect. Could I get one, please?”

As Muse bags up the treat, she says, “Isn’t this a strange time to be looking for sweets?”

“I guess,” he says. “Oh, speaking of Mikleo, though, did he make it home safe?”

Her hand freezes on the tongs, and she lays them down. “I haven’t seen him. I thought I heard the roof trapdoor open, but he wasn’t there when I went up to check on him.”

Fear strikes Sorey’s heart. If Mikleo isn’t here, then where could he be? This is exactly where he left him, after all. And how could he have left the house again without Muse noticing? And why would he?

All this worrying is making his head hurt.

He quickly pays for the mille-feuille, thanking Muse, before rushing out of the bakery again, this time with a new sense of urgency. He needs to get back and help Luzrov, before it finds Mikleo, or anyone else it could hurt.

At Pendrago castle, Uroboros pulls down a tree without mercy. Mikleo hops out of its branches, leaping between lampposts and praying he won’t catch up. There aren’t many civilians around, at the very least. Most of them seem to have left when the news alerts were broadcasted, though a couple of stragglers scream their way away from the akuma as it approaches. It’s lucky Mikleo is as fast on his feet as he is now, or else he’d have no chance of distracting Uroboros long enough to give them time to escape.

Speaking of luck, he thinks his is starting to wear thin. He's running out of lampposts, and the only other thing nearby that he could possibly use as leverage would be the castle itself. The possibility of this creature damaging such an important historical building makes him feel sick to his stomach, but he supposes he'd rather have that over someone dying because he lured the villain too close to other people.

He braces himself before leaping onto the castle ramparts, running along the walls to reach the main building. Uroboros follows behind, though he can only tell by the sound of its tail slithering over the ground and his angry complaining. He doesn’t dare look back at it, too afraid of what he might see.

Once reaches the main courtyard of the castle, he leads Uroboros in the front, taking him as far into the castle as he can from above. Only once they reach the innermost chamber before the main building does he pause, turning back.

In contrast to the destruction outside of it, the castle itself is entirely undamaged. Not a single brick lays out of place, not a dent within them. Uroboros doesn’t even try to strike out at the walls around him, where Mikleo has him almost cornered.

“It’s not attacking,” he murmurs in amazement. “But why?”

“Maybe because he’s a history teacher.”

Mikleo jumps in surprise at the sudden reappearance of Magpie, who stands a few feet away, holding the forgotten textbook.

“How do you figure?” he asks once he gets over the sudden shock, ignoring the mischievous grin which spreads across Magpie’s lips at his reaction.

“This is a history textbook,” Magpie says, flipping it open to a chapter entitled The Era of Asgard. “I looked through it earlier. It's really fascinating stuff, and that has to be the reason why he won’t damage the castle.”

“What, because he cares about history? I suppose it makes sense, but then you have to wonder how he became akumatised in the first place.”

Magpie shrugs. “I think he was angry at his students.”

Looking back at Uroboros, Mikleo squints, trying to see through blue scales to the face underneath. Something clicks for him a moment later.

“It can’t be – Professor Uno?!”

The snake yells in anger. “I am Uno no longer! My name is Uroboros, and I will punish all those who do not listen!”

“You know this guy?” Magpie asks.

“He’s an acquaintance,” Mikleo answers. “But that answers one question. Now all we have to do is purify him, right?”

“Yeah!”

A long moment of silence passes between the two of them. Then, hesitantly, Magpie says, “How do we do that?”

In that moment, the amount that Mikleo was impressed by Magpie goes down exponentially.

“Didn’t you talk to your kwami before transforming?” he says.

“O-of course I did!” he sputters. “He wasn’t exactly specific about methodology, though. All I know is that we need to find the thing that was infected by the akuma and destroy it.”

“So like a trinket of some kind?”

“Yeah. Glasses, a bag, anything that’s part of his personal effects that was there before he turned.”

Mikleo turns to look at Uroboros once more. He looks so different from when he was human that Mikleo can’t really tell what’s new and what he had on him already. All he notices that looks suspicious is the snake around his neck which looks almost like the blue tie he’d worn earlier in class.

“Do you think it might be his tie?” Mikleo asks.

Magpie hesitates for a moment before nodding. “Might be. It’d be worth a shot, right?”

“Well sure, but we still have to get close enough to break it.”

“Time for some close combat, I guess,” Magpie says, moving to the edge of the roof. “You up for it?”

“It’s not like there’s any other choice.” Mikleo moves to stand at Magpie’s side, looking out over the castle where the akuma lies. “If you distract it, I might be able to destroy the tie using my power.”

“You can destroy things?” Magpie asks, wide-eyed. “That’s so cool!”

Mikleo rolls his eyes at the praise. “You can create things from thin air. I’m just doing my part, too.”

They both turn back to face the akuma victim, and on the count of three, they drop down, ready to fight.

“I’ll distract it,” Magpie says before calling out to Uroboros. “Hey, snake-face! Over here!”

When the distraction works, Mikleo takes his chance. He rushes around the side of the snake, watching out for its tail as he swipes it at Magpie. He pulls out his staff and extends it, quickly thinking through the logistics of how this thing might work in their favour.

“Gotta try harder than that!” Magpie yells at Uroboros, flitting out of his reach again. He glances over in Mikleo’s direction, waiting for a signal.

Mikleo gulps. This is all on him - if their plan fails, it’ll be his fault.

All he can do is try.

He raises a hand in a claw and summons his power. “Cataclysm!”

A tingling sensation fills his hand, a buzz of darkness swarming around the white glove of his suit. He holds it out of the way as he uses his other hand to hold the staff, extending it beneath him to push himself into the air. As he jumps over Uroboros, he reaches his other hand down, his fingers grazing the edge of the tie.

It’s enough to do the job. The snake-shaped tie hisses as it crumples into dust. A purple blob of energy comes out of it, floating slowly upward. Before either of them can do anything, it suddenly grows larger, collecting in a giant mass above them, forming into the shape of a lion’s head.

“Listen well,” it says in a low, deep rumble. “I am Calamity. I cannot be stopped or quelled, and I will without doubt take those Miraculous of yours. I will cause chaos in this city. Weaklings like you will not stop me. You might as well hand them over right now.”

Mikleo glares at the lion’s head, ready to answer, but Magpie steps out before he can say anything.

“Don’t be so sure about that,” Magpie says. He stands tall and confident, even against the threat of a supervillain. “You can try as much as you like to cause destruction, but Luzrov and I will always be here to stop you. There’s no way you’ll be having our Miraculous. So just wait, Calamity. You’ll be the one giving yours up, and then this city will be brought to peace again.”

When Magpie looks over his shoulder at Mikleo, he steps forward, joining him at his side.

“That’s right,” he says.

“Fools,” Calamity says. “You will pay the price for your idiocy.”

Magpie smirks, then using his weapon, he jumps up and cuts through the ball of malevolence, purifying it with a single strike. The akuma is the only remnant, which he quickly purifies with a short melody. Then he tosses his lucky charm book into the air. A flame-like substance spreads from it, reaching endlessly over the sky for a moment, fixing everything that was broken by the fight.

The moment ends, and the city is brought to peace once more.

“Okay, that was pretty incredible,” Mikleo says, turning to his new partner in fighting crime. He holds up a fist. “Nice job.”

Magpie grins before bumping their wrists together. “Nice job, Luzrov. I couldn’t have done it without you.”

At that moment, Mikleo’s bracelet decides to beep at him, warning him of his time limit. “Well, I’d better go. See you soon, Magpie.”

With that, Mikleo uses his staff to move to higher ground, ready to get back home and finally rest.

(He doesn’t notice how Magpie watches as he goes, eyes filled with a fondness which seems far too great for people who have only just met. And yet, the warmth in his heart indicates that this bond will only become stronger, and he can’t wait to see his new partner again.)

It’s only natural that Mikleo is exhausted, the next morning.

When he got home last night, he barely said a greeting to his mother before collapsing into bed, passing out quickly from all the excitement of the previous hours. He wakes up not long before his alarm, starving and still aching from the fight yesterday. The sound of raindrops on his window soothes him a little, but not enough to make him feel any better physically.

“Oh, you’re awake,” a small voice says.

He turns his head to see Lailah on his pillow, smiling at him. She doesn’t look at all tired, and he supposes she must have gotten herself something to eat whilst he slept.

“Morning, Lailah,” he says. “So it wasn’t a dream, huh?”

Lailah gives a little laugh. Her tail flicks on the pillow. “No, it was real. You both did a wonderful job, yesterday.”

“Will that happen often?” he asks, uncertain. Even if he has this power now, knowing that the city will be in danger is concerning.

“Yes,” Lailah says, her ears drooping. “I’m afraid Calamity will not stop until the city is covered in chaos. Only you and Magpie have the power to stop him.”

He lets out a deep breath through his nose. When he signed up to this yesterday, he had no idea how serious this would become. And yet, he can’t bring himself to regret his decision, when he thinks about the number of people he saved yesterday.

Sitting up, he says, “I suppose I’d better do my best from here on out, then. I’ll be counting on you, Lailah.”

Floating up to his side, Lailah’s eyes are filled with hope. “I have every faith that you’ll make a wonderful Luzrov, Mikleo.”

He gets ready for school as usual, feeling a tad less reluctant than yesterday. When he heads downstairs for breakfast, his mother greets him with her usual smile. Somehow, today she looks more tired than yesterday. She stays quiet as he comes in, watching him as he pours his cereal for himself. He’s glad his bracelet is covered by his blazer, since he can only imagine the questions he’d get for having it.

Eventually, his mother speaks.

“Where were you yesterday?” she says. “During that attack, we were so worried for you. We heard you come in, but you weren’t there when we checked.”

Mikleo tries not to let his thoughts show on his face when he thinks, ‘Oh crap.’

“I forgot something at school,” Mikleo lies. “It was my phone. I couldn’t leave it there.”

Muse’s expression only becomes more distraught at his answer. “I thought you had more common sense than that. Wasn’t that monster at the school?”

“It wasn’t there when I got back,” Mikleo says. “I won’t do it again though, I promise.”

For a moment, she keeps up the pretence of being angry with him. She can’t hold it forever, though, and she ends up moving over to hug him tightly.

“You’d better not,” she says.

Mikleo hopes he’ll be able to hide it better in the future, or else this superhero business will be a lot tougher than he thought it would be.

Once he finishes breakfast and gathers his stuff, he says goodbye to his mum and heads out of the bakery house. The rain falls lightly on his head, cool and refreshing. He doesn’t have an umbrella, but that hasn’t stopped him from walking in the rain before. He might be soaked by the time he reaches school, of course, but he tries not to think about that.

Stepping away from the bakery door, he moves out onto the pavement-

Only to find that the rain suddenly stops.

Well, it doesn’t stop completely. He can see it falling in front of him, and can hear it pattering on the umbrella over his head. Sure enough, there’s now a stretch of clear plastic above his head, an umbrella held out by none other than-

“Sorey?!”

Sorey stands behind him, holding out the umbrella as the rain dampens his hair, running down his silver earcuffs and onto the shoulders of a brown cardigan, emblazoned with a familiar coat of arms.

“Morning, Mikleo,” Sorey says. His smile and the fondness in his eyes are warm enough to make Mikleo shiver.

Mikleo finds for a long moment that he can’t speak, his throat constricted by some unknown force. When he finally finds words, he says, “What are you wearing?”

In a teasing tone, Sorey says, “What does it look like I’m wearing?”

“Did you actually convince your dad?” Mikleo asks in disbelief. “How?”

“Turns out sneaking out of the house to go to school is a good way to make strict parents believe you want to go to school,” Sorey says with a shrug. “I dunno, though. When I got home Runette told me he’d said it was okay.”

Mikleo’s heart stutters. Somehow, everything he’d wanted is coming true. Magic is real, life is looking up, and his best friend will be in the same class as him from now on.

He couldn’t be happier.

“We should get going, or we’ll be late,” Mikleo says, pushing the umbrella so it shelters them both. The proximity between them strikes pins and needles into his arm, but he doesn’t shy away.

Instead, he walks at Sorey’s side towards his - their - school.

#sormikweek2018 #sormik #tales of zestiria #toz #tales of zestiria fanfiction #HI I LOVE THIS AU #this fic took so long to write though #why is the origins part so difficult and long ughghggh #i've written like three different reveals and combined they're all shorter than this oneshot

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zarahjoyce · 6 years ago

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ToB/ToZ Fic: Illusory Veil

Summary: You have nothing to worry about anymore, little sister.

I still worry about you, brother. When will you come home?

Notes: my recent playthroughs of Zestiria and Berseria gave me so many feels about these ill-fated siblings SO

1. He had always thought she was delicate. An early-blooming flower who'd sooner wilt against a strong gust of wind than bend.

It was a good thing no one ever said her brother wasn't an idiot.

2. She developed the Barrier arte because it'd be useful to one who lived alongside the Reaper - like her.

There was no time to test it, however; the day she had it perfected was the day he'd gone from the Spiritcrest.

3. There were some things she couldn't forgive, and his disappearance without saying goodbye was one of them.

She got a letter from an unknown sender five months to the day he left, and gifts very soon after; vindictively she left them unopened, untouched.

4. (Until one day she didn't, and she very nearly cried at the atrociousness of her brother's grammar.

her brother really was an idiot.)

5. The Lord of Calamity, a witch, a daemon, a freed malak, and an ex-exorcist, all willingly travelling with the Malak and his Reaper's Curse.

Well, there's a bunch of losers if she'd ever heard of one.

6. The Lord of Calamity is gone. Innominat has been defeated. All malaks are free to live their own lives, set their own course. You have nothing to worry about anymore, little sister.

I still worry about you, brother. When will you come home?

7. It didn't take her long to realize that he had sent her neither a letter nor a gift in the past year.

When that year turned into three, that was when she knew.

8. Heavy footsteps resounded in the night, and with it, the beating of wings considerable and, well, malevolent. Not like this, she thought, utterly shaken at the sight of a dragon - no, her brother, right at the very top of the Spiritcrest. Not like this.

9. When the dragon slept, she tried her damnedest to creep closer to it, pretend that he was still there, somewhere. Barrier! she cast in panic, when his large claw came crashing down towards her. At least she was able to practice her arte with him now.

10. Quietly, she watched as he devoured humans foolish enough to enter her domain. How ironic; he'd loved them so dearly before. Now they were just flesh and bones stuck between his teeth.

11. Then let's go together and find a way to save your brother. There must be a way to purify dragons somewhere, just waiting for the right person to find it! All right. You win, Sorey. I'll go with you.

12. Four seraphs - or at least three seraphs and one walking sexual harassment - and two humans with resonance strong enough to see them. What would her brother think of that, if he knew?

13. "When I become a dragon, kill me. I don't want Edna to suffer for it." What does that even mean? That's so selfish of him! Didn't he even think how lonely I've been without him?

14. I'm sorry it took so long.

I'm so--

15. Sometimes to kill 'em is to save 'em.

Standing in front of his grave, Edna thought she finally understood. You're free again, brother. Free to explore the world you loved so much - this time without that stupid curse making everything difficult for you. So long and see you around. Eizen.

#did i just write something what #tales of berseria #tales of zestiria #edna #eizen #my feels #TAKE THEM ALL

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tmariea · 7 years ago

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Young at Heart

It’s a bit late posting a tumblr version ORZ but here is my gift fic for @pastelgabby, her good recovery and continued happiness.

Summary: Sorey and Mikleo build a pillow fort, all in the name of Sorey regaining memories.

Read on AO3

“Mikleo!”

As soon as Mikleo looked up, he could see Sorey bounding up the hill from the direction of Elysia’s gate, blond ponytail whipping behind him. Mikleo could swear there were tiny sparks visible around his head, even in broad daylight. That meant Sorey was excited, and that no further work would be done today. He set aside his notebook on the steps to their house, and waited for his lover to approach.

Sorey skidded to a stop in front of Mikleo, barely avoiding pitching himself forward into the steps. “Guess what?” he said, in a voice that sounded only a bit winded.

Mikleo just raised an eyebrow and sighed. “I’d guess that I was actually starting to make progress on that outline I’m supposed to be writing, and now you’re going to distract me?”

Sorey just grinned wider; he was well acquainted with Mikleo’s tactics for feigning disinterest. “Do you remember that time as kids where we made a blanket fort and lived out of it for a week?”

“I do.” He couldn’t remember the details of the fort, what exactly it had looked like, how many days they had camped out there. But Lords if Mikleo could remember the sense of excitement, and the fantasies of building grand ruins to leave behind. He also didn’t remember ever telling Sorey that story. “Did you remember that on your own?”

“I did!” Sorey bent down to grab Mikleo’s hands, and haul him up from the step so they could spin around. Mikleo let him do it; Sorey’s memories were still spotty at best, so every bit of recollection was something to be celebrated.

As soon as they stopped spinning, Mikleo caught Sorey’s eye. There was a distinctive glimmer there. Before he could even ask, Mikleo grinned and said, “You collect the blankets and pillows from our room and the guest bedroom, and I’ll go see what I can steal from anyone else who’s home.”

“You bet!” Sorey took the steps up to the house two at a time, and disappeared inside.

Mikleo shook his head and turned down the hill, wondering exactly how he was supposed to explain to his family that yes, they did need every pillow and blanket in the village.

A few hours, and several good-natured structural engineering debates later, Mikleo and Sorey stood huddled against their front door. It was just about the only space left, given the fact that their entire front room had been taken over by the fluffiest fort in existence.

“Ah, Fort Sorey. It’s glorious, isn’t it?” Sorey proclaimed, hands on his hips as he surveyed their new domain.

Mikleo glanced at him from the corner of his eye with a raised eyebrow. “Excuse you. The entire east wing would collapse if it wasn’t for my staffholding it up. I think that merits it being named after me.”

“But I was the one who thought of building a fort in the first place,” Sorey countered, and then picked his way carefully around what space was left between the edge of the fort and the wall. He held a hand to his chin and inspected the spot where Mikleo’s staff was indeed bracing the intersection of a blanket and a pillow wall. “You know, we could probably get the broom.”

“Excuse you!” Mikleo repeated again, louder.

Sorey was already laughing though. He walked back to join Mikleo at the entrance to the fort. “Okay, I won’t get the broom. But for the name, how about Fort Zenrus?”

Mikleo let out a slow breath. “Fort Zenrus. That sounds perfect.” He took a step back and made an ‘after you’ gesture.

Sorey dropped to his knees to crawl into the low entryway, and Mikleo followed. To make sure the entrance wouldn’t collapse, they’d used the chairs from their kitchen table as a frame on either side. It was a tight fit. He was surprised that Sorey had made it through, but he wasn’t going to bring it up, because that would be admitting to being smaller. Still. After all this time.

They had built several different chambers inside, because Sorey had insisted that no proper ruin only had one room to it. Thus, in the main area, there was just about enough room for the both of them to sit side by side, or to lie down together if they curled up close. Sorey had already flopped out on his back into the layer of pillows cushioning the floor. He held his arms wide as an invitation.

The corners of Mikleo’s mouth turned up, and he crawled fully into the space. He drooped onto his back, lying on top of Sorey’s arm, and partly over his side. He could feel the gentle rise and fall of Sorey’s chest under his shoulder. Dim light from the lantern overhead filtered through the blanket roof, and cast the weave of the fabric into sharp detail. Among the drapes and folds, Sorey had scattered a handful of tiny, floating sparks for a bit of extra light.

“You know, only a month or two ago you would have burned down this whole place with those,” Mikleo commented. He raised a hand up toward the blanket ceiling and stretched out his fingers, to allow the tiny points of glowing mana coalescing there to spread and settle between Sorey’s sparks.

Sorey was not impressed. “You never had to deal with possibly catching things on fire while practicing that trick.”

“I was also doing it when we were seven.”

“If we’re going to talk age, technically I’m only three in seraph years.”

Mikleo closed his eyes and let an amused smile part his lips. “So, what you’re saying then, is that I probably shouldn’t have sex with you for the next fifteen years.”

“What?” Sorey exclaimed, and sat up suddenly so that he could treat Mikleo to his most insulted glare. “That is absolutely not what I’m saying.”

Mikleo just grinned wider. “That kind of sounds like what you’re saying.”

“Not a chance.”

For a moment, he got to think that he had won this argument. But then, Sorey used the advantage he had from sitting to swing one leg over Mikleo, and pin him to the ground before he even realized what was happening. He only had the time to blink up at Sorey in surprise, who was suddenly sitting across his thighs, before wiggling fingers attacked his sides with pokes and prods.

A shriek of laughter escaped Mikleo’s lips before he clamped them shut to try to preserve his dignity. His dignity, it seemed, did not want to be preserved, because before long he was laughing breathlessly under Sorey’s hands. His best attempts to wiggle away or fend them off proved ineffective.

When it reached the point where it felt like Mikleo’s sides would split in two, he cried, “Sorey, Sorey stop! You’re knocking down the fort!”

“Huh?” Sorey’s hands fell still, as he twisted his body around to see behind them, to assess the quality of their precious structure. There was not a blanket or pillow out of place, but Sorey wouldn’t be Sorey unless he fell for that trick every time.

Mikleo used the momentary lapse in attention to grip Sorey’s arms and roll them to the side. Sorey landed on his back with an ‘oof,’ and Mikleo arranged himself above with very little sense of urgency. He leaned in close, hair spilling over his shoulders and around his face, hair tie lost somewhere to the pillow pile beneath them. Out of the corners of his eyes, he could see tiny flashes of gold and blue, a field of stars brought down to earth to cluster around his head. Sorey was looking up at him with something akin to wonder.

Slowly, slow enough that Mikleo didn’t suspect any attempt to retaliate, Sorey lifted a hand. He caught a strand of hair with his palm, let it gently run across his fingers as he brought it to his mouth to kiss. “What did I ever do to deserve you?” he whispered, barely audible, before letting the hair slip away.

Mikleo scoffed gently, but lifted an arm so that he could lay a hand against Sorey’s cheek. A hand came to cover his, and fingertips lightly played against his skin, brushing with deliberate care over the gold band at his ring finger. Sorey’s eyes were wide and bright with the same trust and love as all those years ago, and his lips stretched into a relaxed smile.

Some days, Mikleo asked himself the same question.

A breath passed, and then another, as Mikleo smiled back. But then, the intentions at the corners of his mouth curled wickedly, and he said, “Nothing that’s going to save you from revenge,” and let his hands dive for Sorey’s sides.

Sorey yelped and cried, “Wait, no, not fair!” He squirmed and kicked, but to no avail.

“You started it.”

“But I was,” he tried between laughs, “being cute!”

“If being cute was all you needed in life, you’d rule the world,” Mikleo told him, far too interested in tickling Sorey until he could barely breathe anymore to be embarrassed by his statement.

Once Sorey could hardly even laugh anymore, Mikleo halted abruptly. He cocked his head to the side and asked, “Truce?” before leaning down to steal a peck from Sorey’s panting lips to seal the deal.

Sorey pouted impressively. “Who are you to decide that?”

“I would have to say, the one who won.”

“Only because you relied on a dirty trick.”

“And I’ll stop using it the moment you stop falling for it,” Mikleo said, and climbed over to sit next to Sorey. “Now, help me find my hair tie? It’s somewhere in here.”

Both of them shuffled off to the edges of the blanket walls as best as they could, to start turning up the cushions on the floor. A moment’s search later, Sorey’s hand shot in the air with a triumphant cry. He brought it back down so he could work on gently smoothing out the rumpled edges of the feather attached to it.

“Ah, thanks,” Mikleo said as he held out a hand.

Instead, Sorey stretched out his legs to either side, and patted the space between with a hopeful smile.

Mikleo heaved a large sigh, and stated, “Okay, you’ve convinced me.” He twisted around awkwardly on his heels in the small space and then sat with his back to Sorey, who began immediately carding his fingers through his hair.

“That really took a lot of convincing.”

“Shut up.”

He decided that was a good enough argument and let his eyes slip shut as he could feel Sorey’s deft fingers separating out three small strands at the front of his head. There had been a time when Sorey had been so bad at doing his hair that he’d wanted to restrict him from touching it all over again. But, the fingers against his scalp and the gentle tugging amongst the strands felt too good, and Sorey could do quite a nice braid now, even if he couldn’t help with any of the fancier styles Mikleo liked to wear. He let himself fall into the sensation as more small bits of hair were gathered up and added into the braid.

There was a moment of silence as he worked, before Sorey said, “Thank you, Mikleo, really.”

“What for, building the fort with you? You don’t have to thank me for that; it was fun.”

“No, but I do,” he insisted, but with just the hint of hesitation in his voice that said he was still trying to put together the right words. His hands stilled for a moment as he thought, and then resumed as he spoke again. “I’ve got all these fragments of memory, some hardly more than a flash and then it’s gone. And some of them? They just seem like pictures in a book, a tome dusted off for the retelling. Like things that happened to someone else, not me.”

Mikleo wound his hands together in his lap and held them tight. Everything in him screamed to twist around and gather Sorey into his arms. He’d watched how difficult this process of trying to regain his past life had been. He’d seen the flashes of confusion and hurt deep in those green eyes when Sorey couldn’t piece together some tale that had been brought up. He’d watched as Sorey wept for friends he could hardly recall enough to mourn, and then held him in the still hours of the night when he admitted that he didn’t even feel he had the right to mourn them. But for now, Sorey’s voice was calm and his hands steady. Mikleo clenched his own hands tighter and let him continue.

“This though, sitting here with you and remembering? It feels genuine. It feels as if this piece actually fits back the way that it should."

“Sorey,” Mikleo said quietly, as the hands in his hair finished off the last of the braid, tied it off and let him free. It had barely swung down and the tie settled against his lower back before he’d turned to see Sorey. There was some lingering sorrow on his face, for those memories that might just never fit right, but mostly his eyes were bright.

He lifted a hand to the back of Sorey’s neck and pulled him gently into a kiss. When he moved away, he said, “If we have to recreate every memory, I will do everything I can.”

“Well, I don’t know if you need to do that with every memory.” Sorey laughed, a hand moving up to rub at the back of his neck. “But, this is still nice. And you know, I think maybe all those years ago, this was the moment I fell in love with you.”

Mikleo, who had become distracted tracing his fingers down Sorey’s arm to take his hand, looked back up with a snort. “Sorey we were – well, to be honest, I don’t fully remember what age we were when we built the fort – but far too young to be falling in love with anyone.”

“Well, I didn’t have the words for it,” Sorey said with a pout, “but you were so bright and excited for the opportunity for us to create something together. The way you smiled, and could always help me figure out the pieces I couldn’t, and were so invested in leaving our legacy – ours. Even if that ‘legacy’ was doomed to be taken down the next time we needed to do laundry. I still knew that feeling was special. Something I never wanted to let go of.” He paused for a moment to lace his fingers with Mikleo’s hand, which had finally connected with his. His other hand came up to cup Mikleo’s cheek, to caress the skin and play with the tiny wisps of hair at his temple that couldn’t tie back into the braid. “So yeah, I was definitely in love with you then.”

Mikleo could feel his cheeks heating, but there was a contented smile on his lips. “You know, that’s another thing that hasn’t changed one bit – you’ve always been this cheesy.”

“That I remember. Which also reminds me, I have a new poem I’m working on for you to look at.”

Mikleo felt his smile wobble just a little bit, but he recovered it. “Maybe later, huh?”

“Okay, fine. Besides,” Sorey said, and started to lean back into the pillow pile, trying to drag Mikleo with him, “this seems like a perfect opportunity for a nap.”

For a moment, Mikleo held his ground against Sorey’s weight pulling at his shoulders and stayed upright. Sorey switched tactics and wriggled lower until he could wrap his arms around Mikleo’s waist and press his face into his side. “I really did mean to get something done today,” he admonished, letting a hand fall gently to Sorey’s head anyway. “Maybe I’ll get my notebook from the desk and work while you nap, huh?”

“Mikleo,” Sorey whined. He’d used the advantage of his position to nose up the hem of Mikleo’s shirt and kiss at his waist.

“Sorey,” he replied, doing his best to imitate the whine. It wasn’t going well. It was hard to do a whole lot of anything other than just caving in to whatever Sorey wanted, especially when his lips were pressing again and again to his skin.

“Could you even get to the desk right now?” Sorey paused to say, looking up with an expression which said, ‘really, I’m just being the logical one here.’ He ducked back down for another kiss.

Mikleo thought about the floor plan of their fort for a moment. Maybe he could if he went into the next room to the right of them, but it was very possible his notebook had been sacrificed to the book pile holding a corner of the roof blanket in place. He grumbled, and brushed Sorey’s hands away from his waist, but only so that he could lie down, too. Sorey’s grin was massive as he settled in, practically nose-to-nose. “What?”

“I. Win.”

“Insufferable,” Mikleo declared. “I don’t even want to see that smug face.” He turned over onto his side, and then snuggled back close into Sorey’s chest, taking all the bite out of his words.

Sorey slung an arm around him, and hoisted his knee up over Mikleo’s thigh. “That’s okay, I like this too.”

Mikleo concentrated for a moment, drawing back to himself the mana he’d used for his bubble lights. The lightning sparks flickered out, too, although he suspected that was more from lack of concentration than anything else if Sorey really did intend to take a nap. They were left in only the dim light filtering through the blankets, warm and close and nostalgic, and Mikleo couldn’t find any reason to disagree.

#tales of zestiria #toz #sormik #suremiku #tmariea writes #soymilk #sorey #mikleo #pure fluff

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lord-of-calamity-blog · 7 years ago

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braids her hair n puts flowers in it uwu

It had been a quite a lot of months since they found each other-- more like since she stumbled in front of him screaming and trying to take his life. Velvet, as the powerful daemon she was, wouldn’t have doubted a single instant in ripping his throat the moment he’d try to touch her hair, the moment he’d try to just put his hand in one single fiber of her long ebony mane... but he had shown her trust, he had shown her many things in such little time that her own determination and self-loath had diminished quite a bit. It still was there, somewhere, like an infection ready to attack the immune system the moment the white blood cells would lower their guard. But her bitterness had indeed disappeared... she wasn’t resentful towards the world since the world didn’t know what had happened. She didn’t have the abbey to pour her poison on, nor was Artorious alive... and definitely there was no way for her to go back-- somehow, someway, she had traveled across time. She had met Lailah, whose behavior was... very familiar. She had met Eizen’s sister, Sorey, Mikleo, Rose and... seen an old face she’d be happy if she were not to see again: Zaveid’s.

Yet the demon lord was this time tranquil, at the feet of a stake, resting her head against a chunk of wood in which the new claimed shepherd would be sitting. Just before she fell asleep for once in many weeks, she felt her hair being caressed slightly. As she opened her tired eyes, she could see his picture braiding her messy hair and putting flowers on it-- it looked gorgeous. His affectionate smile was contagious, way more than the infection lurking deep beneath her skin, her heart.

Cautious yet trusting eyes zoomed at him right before she finally began closing them, to finish with just a short sentence before she finally fell asleep, having the first deep slumber without any nightmare since the day her brother was killed.

“Just... just this time... alright?”

#Follow the path you've chosen. follow it to the very end (ic)#Light and darkness were not mean to be apart (Sorey)#<3 #shepherdiing

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larkawolfgirl · 7 years ago

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Tales Femslash Week, Day 2: Passion (Rosali)

Read on a03

Alisha storms into the hotel room. It’s unladylike, but right now she doesn’t care. Her emotions have been strung along for too long. Rose lounges on one of the beds, entirely unimpressed by her show of irritation. “Just tell me what happened.”

“I already told you, just leave it alone.”

“Do you have any idea what it’s been like knowing he’s been gone these months and not knowing why?”

“No, I don’t. But princess, this doesn’t concern you.” Her posture is lazy, voice provoking.

Alisha swipes her hand. “I’m a part of this if you like it or not. You can’t keep me in the dark forever.”

“Can’t I? When you are already blind?”

That hurt. Alisha turned her face away in shame. “As if it’s a choice. I wanted to be there with you all. I wanted to so badly. But all I did was get in the way.”

“That’s right, princess.” There it was again, princess. The title sounded insulting coming from her lips. “You should just mind your own business so we can do our jobs.”

“Damn it!” She doesn’t usually swear, but she doesn’t usually allow herself to become this worked up either. “Why are you being like this? Sorey was my friend. I deserve to know.”

Rose gives a bitter chuckle. “I don’t owe you anything.”

On a better day, she might beg, but real anger is beginning to churn in her chest. “I demand that you tell me this instant.”

“Or what? You’ll arrest me? Under what authority? I’m not from Hyland, remember?”

Alisha shrieks, lunging at her. Rose’s eyes light with challenge, and she lungs back, forcing Alisha back against the nearest bed.

“I’ll…I’ll—” Her mind is spinning in blank circles. What can she do? Then, without rhyme or reason, she’s kissing her. Rose pulls back, confusion written on her face. She isn’t angry, more…thoughtful. Alisha is suddenly aware of how close they are. She’s flat against the bed with Rose’s body hovering right above her. Just a little closer and…

“What in the hell was that?”

Alisha’s mind stutters. What was it? “A threat,” she says. “Tell me or else I’ll kiss you again.”

Rose straightens her posture, a smug expression on her face. “Fine. Do it.”

“What?” Alisha’s anger has all-but disappeared now, embarrassment taking its place. She surely can’t back out now, can she? “Fine!” she stutters out.

She sits up, pressing their lips together softly. Rose is quick to react, though, pushing them back down flush against the bed. Her lips work against hers insistently. Alisha’s mind is becoming hazy. Her hands find Rose’s upper arms and hold there. Rose’s body is warm against hers. It’s nice.

Finally, Rose pulls back to allow them to breathe. Her smirk reminds Alisha of their conversation. “That’s not fair.”

“Life isn’t fair, sweetheart.”

As condescending as it is, the endearment makes her face warm. “For the love of Seraphim, just tell me!”

Rose heaves an exaggerated sigh. “You really aren’t about to give up, are you?”

Alisha balls her fists. “No.”

Rose climbs off her, sitting on the edge of the bed instead. “Okay.”

Alisha blinks. “Really?”

“Do you want to hear it or not?”

“Yes, yes, please.” Alisha sits up quickly, full attention at the ready.

“He’s asleep.”

She waits, but Rose doesn’t continue. “That’s it?” she asks annoyed.

“Yep.”

Alisha shrieks, plopping back onto the bed again. “You are hopeless.”

Rose side-eyes her. “Yeah, yeah.”

“The worst.”

She chuckles and the sound is light, genuine. “Can’t deny it.”

“Hey,” Alisha rolls onto her side, facing her, “it’s okay.”

“What do you mean?” she asks, composure shaky.

“I get it. You don’t want me to worry. You want to be the one to shoulder it all.” She reaches for her hand, surprised by how calloused it is. “You’ve dealt with a lot already. Besides, it’s honestly killing me not knowing.”

Groaning, Rose whirls on her. “You are killing me!”

“Me?”

“You.” She gestures at her crudely. “You’ve got this all wrong. You shouldn’t be threatening me. You should be bribing me with what I get if I tell you.”

It takes a moment for realization to hit her, but when it does Alisha can only stare. Rose wants her to kiss her. She…She…Again, Rose diverts her wheeling mind. The woman crouches over her, face impossibly close. “Has anyone told you you have the most gorgeous eyes?”

There’s no more room for doubt, now. Something fits into place, and Alisha kisses her again, hand finding her back this time. The kiss is slow but lingering. It’s real, without challenge or anger. Just desire. She’s slow to open her eyes when they break apart, the feeling of her lips too pleasant to let go immediately. Her eyes snap open when Rose begins chuckling.

“It’s like you’ve never kissed anyone before.”

“I haven’t.”

It’s Rose’s turn to be dumbfounded. “You’re shitting me?”

“No. I have never kissed anyone.”

Rose flops onto her back beside her. “Jeez. You could have said something.”

Alisha smiles, brushing a hand through her hair. “I was the one to kiss you, so…”

“True.” She’s smiling too now, and the air between them is finally settling into something more natural. “Okay.” There is a brief pause before she goes into explicit detail about what happened to Sorey. He isn’t dead, she assures her repeatedly. They just won’t be seeing him again.

Alisha is silent for a long time, digesting the information. “Thank you.”

“Huh?”

“For telling me.”

Rose snorts. “I really don’t get you.”

“That’s fine. It just means we need to get to know each other better.”

Rose smirks. “Are you sure you’re up for it?”

“Believe it or not, I don’t easily give up on a challenge.”

#talesfemslashweek2017 #rosali #rose x alisha #alisha diphda #rose #tales of zestiria #tales #tales of #my writing #by me

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pattyspatio · 1 year ago

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Harmony’s Parents are fighting over parental rights, but where is Harmony?

Harmony Montgomery is a 7-year-old girl that went missing from Manchester, New Hampshire in 2019. Her disappearance was just reported a few months ago and the search for Harmony is still on. Police say that the more we keep her name and pictures out, the more likely it will be that the little girl is found. A reward for information leading to Harmony is now up to $150,000. Crystal Sorey updated…

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bokudou · 7 years ago

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♬

affectionate symbol meme: closed. ♬: our muses slow dance together.

@mabufu

so often, he expects to wake up with empty hands. not because he thinks yusuke will leave, of course. the one constant in his life since the shepherd’s fall is a cause he’ll never fail to believe in. unfortunately, that doesn’t change the fact that he gets caught up in how dreamlike he is… particularly when they wake, and filtered through the window is the gentle morning sun.

they so rarely pass through towns that don’t recognize the shepherd’s garb, so he slings the identifier over one arm and pockets his earrings. sometimes, it’s good to get a little sleep in a comfortable bed. even while yusuke’s never complained about their sleeping arrangements… or complained period, he itches to repay him in the small kindnesses that yusuke offers him tenfold. hence the rented room they rise in, the covers cool against his skin.

he leans closer, eyes foggy with sleep, into yusuke’s chest and expects to disappear. he��s so safe like this… it’s almost like not existing as a part of the world’s wrongs at all. it’s no wonder he never wants to go.

but the quiet hum of drums rustles him from his place, and he rolls out of bed with a clumsy few steps, tilting his head. “hear that? it sounds like a band is playing just outside.” he hasn’t heard strangers doing something so festive or generous for no reason in months! needless to say, sorey can’t wipe the grin off his face as he helps yusuke off the mattress, sweeping him into his arms and leading into a silly square-step.

“may i have this dance?” he asks, belatedly, a laugh coloring his voice as they match pace, the tambourine and strings growing in tempo. lazily, he presses closer, gathering their hands up tight and hiding his face in the crook of yusuke’s neck, as he so often does. “did you sleep all right? it helps to check in somewhere every once in awhile, huh?”

#mabufu #uheuu....ehuheuheuehue #god i love them just quite enough 2 die #❛ ・ﾟ come as you are to me — mabufu. ✰#❛ ・ﾟ in from an ancient tongue — asks. ✰

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karereiko · 8 years ago

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Pointless Zestiria X post (you can skip it) Talk about sormik, other canons and silly dreams

You know I had dream tonight about last episode of anime. It's coming close so idea of going through sea of salt once more (after almost month of curing my wounded soul) started to stress out my brain once more. Not mention reading yesterday post about salty comment about possible Sorali ending.

I don't think that it's a case. It would be like Namco shooting themselves into heads. They already posted article in „Romance” newspaper in japan featuring Sorey and Mikleo. They probably see that posts saying about sormik on unfotable tweeter have more like 600+ favs when normal Zestiria X and Alisha things have like 50-/+. They wouldn't bring the wave of hate on themselves if they are sane.

Yet, I'm not looking forward to read about last episode of anime.

So, back to my dream. I dream story for last episode of anime where Ufotable made Heldalf disappear in first seconds of episode like Smaug dies in first 10 minutes of 3rd Hobbit. So after that Sorey is possessed by new bad guy jumping from nowhere. Team fights him and after beating Sorey to the ground team doesn't know how to return Sorey back to normal. Then Mikleo leaned down to kiss him. Camera doesn't show it clearly but you know Mikleo is kissing Sorey (as to not cross line to showing their lips together in anime, airing in japan since they aren't open to things like that).

Sorey is returned to normal. There is skip after all that to inn room where Sorey and Mikleo is talking about last battle and what to do next. Mikleo is still shaken by last battle and fact someone possessed Sorey. They sitting around 15 centimeters away from each other but Sorey rises his arm above Mikleo's shoulder and says sorry for worrying him and giving him his support ( whole anime didn't do even single scene like this, when Sorey is grateful for Mikleo's feelings, like he was in game and seeing this made me really happy in my dream). Anyway Mikleo is moved and he falls with his head on Sorey's lap and cries.

There is where my dream ended and I was sad that it wasn't real. It was damn stupid, it was cliche, it was cheesy, it was silly for Mikleo to act like this. And yet I can feel that real last episode of anime is going to be worst than this. Worst than silly dream just like rest of episodes were.

I'm not saying that Sorey and Mikleo romance was perfect in game. If you watch scenes and skits clearly you can see how much they take care of each other. We have famous Sauna skit. But they aren't labeled as romance and that's Sormik main problem. Namco made them always stood beside each other but always with some space between them. Many scenes just scream that this is the right moment for them to hold hands or just put hand on other's shoulder. I'm not talking about kissing, none tales story had it, but since one putting of Mikleo's hand on Sorey's shoulder we didn't get anything like this later. I read somewhere that while making game they have „toned down” their relationship, yet I don’t know if that's true/real. I didn't saw note talking about it myself. The other question if it's real is what they „toned down”? Did Sorey and Mikleo hugged? Did they held hands on some point? We will never know.

We have words of „One and only” but that all we got and it would never let some people stop screaming that Sormik isn't canon. We have „unfinished” confession from Mikleo. Because I think it's main problem that made anime look like this. That made sormik fandom die faster than you can say Xenosaga.

There is no clear announcement that Sormik was suppose to be canon. Not in game. Not in anime. The words of „one and only” aren't enough for some people. No amount of explain behind Alisha leaving party, Mikleo being Sorey's one and only, that Sorey and any girl would work out going to change people minds.

I don't think fans who support Sormik need any more prof of them being canon. It would be nice but not necessary. We want it so others could stop hurt Mikleo, so both Sorey and Mikleo could be happy and other characters could be themselves.

When I thought about romances in tales games, and yes I played them for 10 years right now, many romances weren't greatly done. But since it's boyxgirl it's easier to find simple looking in eyes with affection, grab hands or supporting each other as romance affection.

Sormik as it is now it's hard to clearly label as romantic for everyone. Some may think it more or less or just simply brothers relationship.

Let's look at other Tales games. At beginning I want to say that I support those couples too just like Sormik.

I think most unclear romance is YurixEstelle. After watching gameplay I asked myself question, was that love? Or simply friendship? Really, compare to those two Sormik is already romance. Someone can say but Yuri tried save Estelle so many times! They had alone talk with each other before final battle.

Sorey and Mikleo had moments alike this a lot with other ones and I don't think Yuri even once said Estelle looks sexy after sauna. If YurixEstelle are canon then Sormik too in Tales of games style.

LloydxCollete was nice done, we clearly see Lloyd care for Collette and it's not only because she's his childhood friend. Symphonia anime, also made by Ufotable was heaven compare to Zestiria. It followed main plot, didn't change characters personalities and the most important thing, it cherished LloydxCollette canon. So don't get me wrong over hating Zestiria X. I wanted simply repeat from Symphonia, to see Zestiria story/moments as anime and I got something that trashed plot and characters.

Xillia, as much as it's clear that canon pair is JudexMilla they doesn't touch or kiss to feel that they are canon. They only hold hands at the end before... they simply parting ways. I remember loving those two, Jude's love for Milla was so sweet and ending broke me. I never played Xillia 2 because I was afraid it would ruin my beloved canon. Did someone said that Milla didn't start to romantically care for Jude, or Jude for Milla? No. Even the reality when he was human (ehem Sorey) and she spirit (ehem Mikleo) didn't make canon less possible. Milla may over live Jude, but that's another story.

From all clearly romance canon couples from Tales games I can say are: ShingxKohaku (he clearly says in game at least twice that he loves Kohaku), KylexReala (this whole game goes around their romance and later when Reala's going to disappear Kyle don't want for that to happen. They hug a lot too.

Tales of games have a lot cuples that comes from childhood friends: ReidxFarah, VeiguexClaire, LloydxCollette, AsbelxCheria, SenelxShirley (if in the end they are canon... Well, their relationship is complicated too, first Senel loves Shirley's sister, but she died, then some people ship him hard with Chloe (ehem... she tried to kill him)) and SoreyxMikleo are just as another one of those couples.

So, to end this post, anime isn't going to help Sormik matter, it made it only worse. I don't think we ever get side story in any crossover game that would say „Sormik are romantic canon.” There is no way, even other canon couples rarely get their relationship on romance level in those games (usually they are at beginning level when they just know each other for some time example: LukexTear, LloydxCollette are mostly childhood friends usualy). We won't be able to hear anything beyond „Sorey wants to spend rest of his life with his CHILDHOOD friend Mikleo” (Asteria's radio audition) or Sorey knew Mikleo's true name but oh well they are boys, it doesn't mean Mikleo told it as romantic confession (Berseria, Berseria guide that says it's different when boy telling another boy his true name). Even Zelos joking about Sorey and Mikleo being on date (Asteria) isn’t going to help everyone view Sormik as canon or let tell sormik supporters that we have nothing to worry about and just enjoy canonical Sormik.

First episodes of anime gave hope about Sormik being something even more big than in game, but it was quickly destroyed. It was treated even worse from episode to episode. What comes from Ufotable sketch of Sorey and Mikleo sleeping on eachother shoulder, close and happy if it wasn’t in anime?

As for myself I'm sad about anime waste as whole Zestiria, not only Sormik. I don't care how Zestiria X looks like, I don't need to watch it. But each time I think that we never going to get because of Zestiria X a GOOD adaptation of game like Abyss or Symphonia had (gosh, even eternia was better, at least characters wasn't so ooc even if it plot was awful, graphic too, but it was in the end only filler to main story. No one tried to change main plot). Chances for reboot of anime is 0%. That's it. We never see tickle fight, fake marriage scene, Sorey losing his resonance, Rose hitting him, Dezel death (no, no kamikaze kill without real reason), fight with Tiamat, night at Lastonbell, EVERYONE seeing Sorey and Mikleo's past, the ending of story... The only nice scene from game we got was Sorey holding his breath to let Alisha communicate with Lailah. That's all.

I love Zestiria OVA. It has perfect pacing and it was close as possible to game. I just simply wish we got something like this instead of Zestiria X.

#Tales of Zestiria #Zestiria #sormik #3 pages of writing because sormik dream #and last ep of anime is coming #I'm afraid what they make #sorey #mikleo

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decordepuro-blog · 8 years ago

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Together Again

It’d been a long time since he was in any ruins. Not that Sorey had had any sense of time passing while he was asleep, but knowing that he’d been asleep still gave the new seraph a sense of nostalgia. It’d been an entirely new world Sorey had had to trek thought trying to track down his best friend, but ruins would stay exactly as they were no matter how much time passed, they would always look the same aside from looking more..... well, old.

Finding Mikleo had been nothing short of difficult. It wasn’t like he could just teleport to wherever his best friend was and show up as a surprise for however long he’s been asleep for. It had taken what seemed like months traveling from town to town, asking for Mikleo and hearing things like ‘Grand Seraph Mikleo’ said to him, it still took time to get recent information on where the water seraph actually was. After what seemed like a long time of following Mikleo’s trail, Sorey had tracked him down to the old Water Trial location.

Walking through the ruins, the age old temptation to stop and examine things and explore tugged at Sorey’s mind, but he was a man on a mission. He couldn’t truly explore ruins without his best friend by his side. Not yet.

Given how long it’d been since he was in the Water Trial, Sorey was almost just wandering through it hoping for a sign of Mikleo’s presence. And soon enough, he did. The white hair was unmistakeable even from a distance, and Sorey’s heart leapt at finally being this close to Mikleo again. Getting down from the higher ruin level down to where Mikleo was took a lot less time given Sorey’s eagerness to get to where the other was, and he’s immortal this time so human injuries aren’t as big a concern this time around.

But as ironic fate would have it with an almost comical twist, right as Sorey was quietly ascending the tiny flight of steps, Mikleo was suddenly disappearing into the ground as a booby trap activated yes Mikleo it was a booby trap and the ground crumbled beneath Mikleo’s feet. Lunging for the seraphs hand, his aim had been just straight and true enough to grasp the gloved hand that’d almost been hovering in midair as Mikleo fell. Grasping on as tight as he could, the drop was not enough to cause Sorey to fall too. He was firmly planted on the ground, and wasn’t about to let go of Mikleo’s hand as if his life depended on it.

#praesideoaqua #no icon just yet

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capell0 · 8 years ago

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RoseAlisha Week 2017 - Day 2: Family

Summary: With a rare quiet moment at hand, Alisha starts wondering what family means. Can Rose help her reach a conclusion? (Set after the DLC)

Rating: K

Day/Promt: Day 2 - Family

Day 2 – Family

They were half way to Ladylake when the sun was beginning to set and they decided to set up camp at Falkwin Hillside, finding shelter by a group of trees. They hadn´t been on the road for long yet. Just this morning Rose had gone over some last minute changes in the contract she´d been discussing with a member of the Sparrowfeathers over in Marlind, and after some errands and detours, the group had set off, heading for the capital and the next point of order. Alisha sighed at the thought. It wasn´t like she was unhappy to return to her home town. Quite the opposite, actually. With their travels, and, subsequently, their responsibilities as Shepherd and Squire, she and Rose, as well as Lailah, Edna, Mikleo and Zaveid, had been more than busy these past couple of months. They´d been to a lot of towns and ruins in that time, and if it wasn´t quelling hellions and countering the still lurking malevolence, it was Rose´s business as guild leader or Alisha´s duties that kept them occupied. And one of them was the reason for her return to Ladylake today.

Being a Squire, a knight and a member of the royal family was not an easy amount of responsibility to shoulder for one person but she had managed. As a knight she was used to being on missions far away from home, while by trying to act as a peace maker it was necessary to travel a lot as well, so fullfilling her duties as a politician when she had time, it was not too hard to make them coincide with her role of Rose´s Squire. Alas, the reason for returning to Ladylake without even a proper day´s rest was connected to Alisha´s being part of the royal family. It wasn´t anything too big, simply that her attendance was required at a ceremony that was to be held at the palace. And no matter how distant her alligance to the throne, she was still of royal blood. At least in theory.

She might be of higher standing, speaking in ranks, than many that were part of running the Kingdom of Hyland but that did not mean that she was less frowned upon or belittled by them. This ceremony would be just another event the chancellors and politicians who took issue with her could use to make their point of how little they thought of her and how little they thought she´d achieve with her pushing for peace between Hyland and Rolance. But that didn´t matter. They had ridiculed her before and she was sure they would in the future, too. What mattered was that peace talks were actually progressing and there were results to show for it, as well. Thanks to Sorey´s and everyone´s help.

Trying to keep herself from falling asleep to the warmth and soft sawy of their camp fire in the winds, Alisha looked up at the fragment of night sky she could make out through the leaves, admiring the beauty of the few stars she could find on it. Usually she would feel a little calmer, pretending the tranquillity of the sky to be her own, but with the ceremony drawing nearer with every moment passed, it was hard not to feel unease in her chest. It was true that she thought it didn´t matter what the other´s attending made of her. Just another day of standing, smiling and socializing with other royalty, wearing a dress she was used to but not comfortable in, and trying to keep conflict at bay. She´d lived hundreds of those. That didn´t mean it made it any easier to bear sometimes.

She had talked to a lot of people at such functions and some of the more inconsiderate brought up the topic of her parents, her upbringing. Alisha had never been ashamed of it and while she thought nothing but fondly of her late parents, too well did she know others did not. They´d ask her of what it was like being raised by a commoner mother into the royal household, if she wasn´t miserable about being so far from claiming the throne as her own or whether she sometimes resented her father for choosing his wife so poorly. It was all just jibbering and jabs at her temper and nerves so that she would loose composure and on a lot of ocassions it was hard not to grant them that satisfcation. However, she´d kept calm– on the outside at least– and learned how to reply in a manner that would put a stop to the topic or direct the conversation another way, if nothing else. She loved her parents even if they weren´t there for her anymore and nothing would change that. Even if that didn´t make her feel less lonely sometimes.

Her heart grew heavy in her chest as a certain memory resurfaced. Now that she thought of it, the concept of family seemed a little strange to her. Her parents had died when she was still very young, yet she still knew what it was like to have them of course. However, after that she was passed on to caretkers and teachers who raised her in mannerism and academically but not in a way that she would grow attatched to them emotionally. Until Lady Maltran came. She had been made her instructor to teach her how to fight and to train, but, unlike before, Alisha had soon found herself looking forward to her lessons with her. At first, she was a poor student and Lady Maltran was a very strict teacher, but as time passed and Alisha´s determination and effort to improve grew day by day, Lady Maltran started to accept her and sometimes she would even hear a word of praise. Over the years, even if Lady Maltran might still have been her instructor, Alisha had started to adore and idolize her, as a teacher and as a person and although they were both knights first and foremost, Lady Maltran would always lend an ear to her if there was something on her mind. She´d become Alisha´s biggest support, someone she thought of and loved like a mother. Even if the older woman would not let herself be labled as such. “I´m too young to be your mother!”, she would rebutt in that disapproving tone of hers that secretly made Alisha laugh at her master´s uncharacteristical display of vanity. It was a very dear memory to Alisha and yet never left unaccompanied by the sour taste in her mouth and the empty feel in her heart. Not ever since the way things ended.

She leant against the tree behind her, her gaze dropping back onto the camp fire. She watched the flames lick at the darkness arround them, small flakes flying away into the night sky. Sometimes it would be nice if things were this easy, she thought. If all the pain and torment of the past could disappear like a spark.

“Alisha!”

She startled. Eyes darting to the voice´s origin next to her, Alisha found herself face to face with the other girl. She blinked a few times, beginning to regain focus. “Ah, Rose”, she said.

“What ´Ah, Rose´? What´s up with you? I´ve been trying to talk to you for ages now, y´know?”, the red haired girl scolded her, the expression on her face not looking any friendlier than her tone was.

Again, she blinked. “...You have?” All this time, their seraphim commarades had slumbered soundly and peacefully and since she and Rose had agreed that Alisha would take the first watch, Alisha had assumed her to be napping just the same. I didn´t even notice she was awake. “My apologies. What was it you wanted to talk about?”

Alisha waited patiently for Rose´s reply, knowing it wouldn´t be too kindly worded. Not if the look of annoyance on her face was anything to go by. However, the longer she waited, the more she noticed how Rose´s expression started to change. Soon it wasn´t an angry one anymore. Her eyebrows were still drawn together but turned more upward and the courner of her mouth a little quirked. To her, she looked suspicious. “What´s up?”, she asked.

“Eh?”

Rose still looked at her questioningly but her features softened just a bit as she said: “You´re making that face again.”

“I am not making any faces”, Alisha replied calmly, her voice levelled. And still it came out too soft to be convincing to either of them.

“Right”, Rose stressed, looking her straight in the eyes. “So, what´s up?”

Alisha dropped her gaze again, avoiding to look at the other girl directly. She didn´t want to discuss things now and having to tell her that while withstanding that intent gaze boring into hers would not help her accomplish that. Quite the contrary. She would probably...

“It is nothing. I was simply a little in thought”, she managed to say, looking to the side, her voice much firmer than before. Firm enough, she hoped.

She´d hoped in vain. Alisha knew, once Rose was hung up on something, be it simply – or mainly – for entertainment or for her job, she wasn´t the type to let up until she´d gone through with it. All the time they´d travelled together and everything they´d experienced, Alisha only knew too well how stubborn and unyielding she could be. And how painfully forward.

So this was an approache she did not expect.

Alisha had waited for her to ask again and again until she´d finally have enough of it and tell her eveything but instead, the red haired girl reached out and lay her bare hand over Alisha´s gloved one. Alisha startled at the sensation and the unexpected tender touch, staring down at their hands and then, unnoticingly, up into Rose´s gentle, blue eyes. There was still that urging look in them, the awareness that she knew something was troubling Alisha, but she adressed none of it. She merely returned Alisha´s stare and said nothing. It probably tore her insides apart, Alisha figured, yet she waited.

She closed her eyes. She sighed. I guess I lose. Opening her eyes again, she finally gave up. “I was just worrying about something.”

“Well, yeah, I figured as much, but thanks”, Rose bickered, earning herself a scolding look from Alisha. “...Sorry”, she said, scratching the back of her head akwardly. When she´d regained her cool demeanour, she continued. “I know there´s been something troubling you for a while, you know. But with everything that´s going on, that was to be expected, no? But, just now, you...” Her voice died down at the last words and her face looked like she was conflicted about how to end her sentence. She looked away for a moment before deciding. “You looked sad.”

Alisha looked down at her lap, hoping to not look too concerned anymore. “Sorry”, she apologized again. “I was just thinking about a lot of things. Like the ceremony.”

“Really, who needs those stiff and ritzy events anyway?”, Rose whined, making a sour face at the idea. “That´s what I personally say, but as the leader of a merchant guilde, I say keep ´em coming, guys!”

“Your delicacy really is unrivaled”, Alisha sighed. She gave a light laugh at her childlike demeanour. Although it was for a different reason, she felt better, thanks to her. “I do not exactly like to attend but they can be quite pleasant, too”, she admitted. Then her face fell again. “But that´s not all I was thinking about.” Before Alisha continued, she drew in a calming breath. “I... was wondering what ´family´ meant.”

Rose raised an eyebrow. “What family means? Well, family is family, of course.”

Simple as that. Sorey might have a weird naming sense, but he defintelly picked Rose´s true name accurately. “Rose is Rose, huh?”, she mumbled to herself.

“So, what do you think family is?”, Rose asked, not having heard Alisha´s words.

“Eh?” The question took Alisha by surprise.

“You´ve been thinking about it, right? Then you should have come to a conclusion”, she said.

A conclusion...? She wondered. “I know what family is. Even if I didn´t have them for long, I had my parents. And typically, a family would be described as people who lived together and shared the same blood and home, so...” She thought for a moment before she shook her head. “No. Even if my master and I might not have been related by blood, she was still dear to me. She might have been strict with me, but I always thought of her as a mother. Yet–“ Her voice broke.

There was a moment of silence in which Alisha didn´t know whether it was because Rose expected her to continue or if she just didn´t know how to respond. Either way, Alisha didn´t like it. She enjoyed a quite moment but ondragging silence made her feel even more alone.

“Family is not necessarily something you´re born into, if you ask me”, Rose said, making Alisha look at her. The red haired girl was facing forward, looking into a distance. The orange light of the camp fire danced on her face, shadows playing on her usually so stern features. “Everyone in the Sparrowfeather´s not connected by blood either. But we´re still family.”

“Family...”

“Like you and your master”, Rose continued, raising her head. “I only met her a few times but when Sorey told me she was your teacher it kinda klicked for me. She was all grace and honor, a real knight with nobility for you. There was a lot I thought you two had in common. Like that stubborness”, she said in an attempt to tease her, shooting Alisha a playfull grin. “So, maybe you weren´t related but so what? You were there for each other. And isn´t that what family´s about?”

She mulled over it, then laughed lightly. “How can you always make it sound so simple?”

“Because it is”, Rose nodded, flashing her a bright grin. The kind of grin that always reassured her, the kind that made her heart flutter whenever she saw it. A squeeze on her hand brought her out of her thoughts again. She had been staring. And not noticed how close Rose had gotten to her in her daze.

“R-Rose?” The red haired girl had taken the opportunity to lean in closer, their shoulders bumping into each other, their faces barely a hairs breadth apart. Too close. That was simply too close.

Somewhere, in a far courner of her mind, Alisha was still aware that they were not alone and should probably try not to sit too close like this, but at that moment, all of those thoughts were meaningless to her. All she could do was listen to the pounding of her heart and look into Rose´s gentle, blue eyes.

Closing any gap between them, Rose lay her head on Alisha´s shoulder, cuddling into her without a care in the world. Her cheeks flushed red, looking down at Rose´s open, broad and content smile. The smile of the girl that had become so dear to her. The smile of the girl she loved.

“I know losing family is hard to take”, she continued in a smaller voice. Then, with a much more content tone, she said: “But don´t forget that you´re not alone, princess.”

Alisha froze. Bit by bit, her mind was flodded with the awareness of how hot her cheeks felt, the warmth of Rose´s body seeping into her own and the almost painfull urge to wrap her arms tightly around the other´s form. She didn´t know what to say. Her heart swelled with gratitude and affection as she couldn´t think of anything else to do but smile down at her in return. All this time, she´d been so caught up on what she´d lost that she almost forgot what she´d gained. She squeezed her hand again, resting her head on Rose´s. “You´re right”, she finally answered, quietly but surely. Because two can make a family.

#roseali week 2017 #AlishaRose #RoseAlisha #Rosali #rose toz #alisha diphda #Tales of Zestiria #ToZ #Day 2 #Rose/AlishaWeek2017 #Day 2 Family

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