#stares for a really really really long time at ivor

[bookshelfpassageway]

the only Minecraft movie I will acknowledge is Minecraft Story Mode full gameplay no commentary 1080p

does anyone remember Minecraft Story Mode, that was really self indulgently fun actually

[capituloperdido1]

ACOSAS Chp5

Happy Friday Everyone,

I apologize ahead for the short chapter, I've been traveling a lot the last couple of days and have not been able to write as much as i wanted. I promise to come back with 2 chapters next week.

As always, let me know if you have any feedback, or if you want to be added to the list.

Enjoy!

Warnings: sexual language, but other than that pure fluff.

Gwyn's stomach was fluttering as she walked behind the shadowsinger, Azriel's look towards her still piercing her even after five long minutes of walking. She checked herself again, her dress, her shoes, her necklace; she could not see her face but tried to touch and check if there was anything on her face.

Trying to decipher this male was more complicated than all the tasks she had done for Merrill.

The way he had just looked at her was just... lustful.

She had felt his scent changing as he took her in, combined with the intensity of his gaze.

But she still was not going to accept that it was out of attraction, there had to be another explanation. Because Azriel had too much history of tangling himself with far more beautiful women.

Elain... Mor...

She had heard bits and pieces from Nesta about the shadow's singer's love life. She knew from these short conversations that Azriel did not think himself worthy of having someone who chose him first.

She also knew that at the moment, he was pinning over the middle Archeron sister, graceful and wonderful in her own essence.

She could not blame him, from what she had seen of Elain, she was the beauty of the sisters. Her whole presence was light, class, and divinity. Even she would probably fall for Elain if she had the chance.

So there was no way he was looking at her with attraction, she probably had something on her face.

Feeling her stomach flutter even more at the idea of Azriel being attracted to her, she blurred "i read something really interesting today, about the history of Valkyries".

Azriel stopped, waiting for her to catch up to him, "i saw you reading today. I'm sorry i did not pay attention to you earlier"

"No! no please don't worry," she said, grabbing his elbow slightly, "it's not something that important anyway. I mean, the temples were probably destroyed after the Valkyries were ambushed".

"temples?" Azriel looked towards her confused.

She blushed slightly at the sight of his eyes, "right... i should start in the beginning. Basically, Valkyries were training in temples all across Prythian. They each specialized in different forms of training and powers, each court held a temple that would train females of all ages. Once their training was complete, they would be sent to a temple at the border of the Spring and Summer court. They called it Ivor, and it was said to be in a jungle-like environment that allowed only the worthy to pass through. Amanecer told me that this temple held the final test of the Valkyrie, only the women who passed through were considered full Valkyries."

She stopped, afraid she was rambling and talking incoherently.

Azriel looked amazed, "Ivor... I remember Ivor, there were rumors of soldiers who were male that were killed after setting foot there".

Gwyn's eyes opened widely, sometimes she forgot how old he was.

He continued, "it is weird i had forgotten about the temples, i remember Rhys, Cass and i would read about them. Mother.. even Rhy's sister dreamed about training in the temple of the Summer Court".

She smiled sadly, the mention of her high lord's sister squeezing her heart a bit. "So many women could've been warriors, they could've helped the last war", she looked at Azriel, "many of us could've been saved from so many tragedies if we only knew how to defend ourselves".

"There is no doubt in my mind that you would've kicked some Hybern ass out there in the battlefield. Everyone would've been scared shitless of the redhead Valkyrie running towards them", he said jokingly.

She laughed, appreciating his attempt to lighten the mood.

"In all seriousness, besides looking for the trove, we should definitely try to figure out how we can incorporate all of these Valkyrie books in our training. We have expanded in the last couple of months, but i know many more females have heard about you guys and want to train with you. That includes Amanecer" Azriel said.

She blushed, looking down to her hands,  "thank you Azriel, we will. I will make sure every female at least hears about us, and i will help them as much as i can."

The sound of fair music interrupted their conversation, Gwyn directed her view towards the street they were approaching. Stores overwhelmed the view of the road, vendors selling sweets, foods, clothing, armor and art. The smell of fresh fruits and vegetables filled her nose as she took in the sight before her.

The noise, the sight, the smell...

She was actually in a city, it was not Velaris but it was a place where normal people would go to.

She saw a few people walking, living in their own worlds as if nothing could suddenly happen that would change that.

There were only about fifteen walkings, but for Gwyn, that felt like if a pride of people was coming to surround her.

Her throat began to close, her heart racing faster by the second.

Vile rose at her throat, sweat poured through her pores.

She could not breathe, she needed to run away and get to a safe place.

She tried and failed to control her emotions, telling herself that it was fine. That all the people around her would not hurt her.

But she could not stop the panic rising in her body.

She took a step back, ashamed and humiliated.

She could not do it.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Azriel's eyes were closed, taking in the delicious smell of spices traditional to the Day court. Out of all the things he had missed from visiting Helion, the food was at the top of his list. He remembers the night where Helion would take him walking through the city, feeding him all types of meats, rice, vegetables.

He smiled to himself, remembering when life had been a little easier.

His shadows began swirling fast around him, trying to catch his attention.

Panic, she is in panic.

Mistress is in distress.

She is leaving.

Azriel opened his eyes, turning towards the priestess.

Her brave face had turned into panicked and terrorized as she took steps to retreat from the city. Her eyes were sad, and she seemed to avoid his looks, afraid that he would judge her if she decided not to go through with this.

He extended his arms towards her, "we have two options, you can either tell me to take you back to the palace, and we will try again tomorrow. Or you can take a step forward, grab yourself on to me and look forward."

Her blue eyes shined with tears as she looked at him, hesitant to take that step.

Come on Gwyn, tiptoe if you must, but take a step towards me.

Her eyes widened, and Azriel blushed slightly at the realization that he had said that out loud.

She took one step towards him,

Two

Three

And then she grabbed his arm, looking straight in his eyes.

His shadows began to envelop themselves onto Gwyn, surrounding her arm and holding her.

She smiled again, turning her face and looking forward, "let's do this".

They take a step forward, and soon they are surrounded by the city lights.

Azriel guides her towards the small bookstore that he had visited all those years ago. The owner was an old fae who had collected books from the continent throughout the years, all genres and authors in his small stall.

Not surprisingly, Gwyn ends up almost buying the whole store. Enjoying particularly the romance section.

"This one is definitely Nesta's level of romance," she says, showing him the brown leather book with yellow pages.

"What is it about?" he says.

"A romance between an assassin and the princess" she hands him the book, "look, maybe you will finally read some good literature. Not those boring war books"

He smiles, opens the book in a random chapter, and begins reading.

I couldn’t get enough of him. I was tired and sore but I didn’t care. I didn’t want to sleep. I wanted the ache. I wanted him in me, all the time. His weight on top of me. I wanted to squeeze him in further and further. I wanted to watch his face. I wanted his sweat to drop onto me.

I got on top of him. Letting my breasts touch his face as i held him and put him in. He felt so warm in me.

I'll never forget it.

His face as i took control and he liked it. As i held his hands down and moved on top of him.

Azriel felt heat rising up his cheeks, looking shocked at Gwyn, "all you guys read is smut".

She flushed, noticing the page he now held open. Her face now of regret as she tried to take the book away from him, "that was just a coincidence. If you had opened any other page there would've been romance and adventure. This author writes really passionate romances, it just you don't know anything about romance".

He laughed, extending his arm high up so she would not be able to catch it.

Is that how she likes it? does she like to control? Words screaming in his mind.

He looked down at her neck once again, noticing the pendant moving as she jumped up trying to reach for the book. He noticed the red lips that pouted as she grew frustrated. He noticed the flushed cheeks giving away her shyness and embarrassment.

He stared at her intensely. She looked so flustered, that his mind could not help but wonder if she could be flustered in many other ways. After a kiss to her cheek, or to her mouth, or her neck. After a passionate encounter between them.

She stopped jumping, catching his strong gaze.

Her face became even redder. Which she quickly tried to hide as she looked down and began playing with her hair. Grabbing pieces of hair and tugging them behind her ear.

Azriel's temperature begins to rise at the sight of the smooth skin of her neck, the urge of grabbing it and kissing it overtaking him.

The image of Gwyn grabbing his wrist while on top of him on his mind.

Wait... What, he thinks.

Clearing his throat he extends his arm towards her and gives her the book back, "would you like to walk for a couple more minutes?"

She nods, still flushed and looking everywhere but him.

Idiot, you made her uncomfortable.

"I will take you to a couple more stores before we go, are you comfortable with that?" he asks.

"Y..yeah, it's just a bit chilly now. But i want to keep walking, if that's okay" she says, her voice soft and low.

Without thinking twice, he takes off his leather jacket, placing it around her shoulders.

Gwyn lifts her teal eyes towards him and smiles, "thank you".

They keep walking around the boardwalk, neither of them physically touching each other in fear of making a wrong move. Gwyn stops in a store that sells handicrafts traditional to the Day court. Telling him that she wants to take the chance to buy as many gifts for her friends as possible.

He waits for her outside of the store, as she insisted to go inside by herself.

Sitting on the stairs leading into the small building, Azriel traces his thoughts back to their encounter in front of the bookstore.

He had been feeling pressure in his heart, ashamed and angry at himself for making her uncomfortable.

He had lost control over his feelings, letting his mind play dirty thoughts with someone who was most likely not interested in any sexual activity.

But his mind also took him to her beautiful face, the way she seemed to shine every time she looked at him. The way the necklace highlighted the divinity of the priestess. The way her red hair looked during the day. The way her eyes changed shades during sunrise, sunset, at night.

Something in him wanted more, he wanted to see what she looked like when she slept when she awoke in the morning.

He wanted to inspect her completely, find out if she had freckles anywhere else besides her face. He wanted to taste her lips and find out if they tasted as sweet as they looked.

Sighing, Azriel grabbed his hair and looked towards the floor, frustrated and now even more angry with his selfish mind.

He was lusting after the priestess, while had unresolved issues with two females who he had also lusted over.

Elain and Mor, the two women who he could not have.

What made him think that someone like Gwyn would ever choose him?

She had to know, Nesta would've told her.

Told her how much he had hurt Elain, how Mor had done horrible things just to keep him away from her. How he had pushed his feelings onto them without thinking about the women he claimed to love.

Both Elain and Mor deserved so much better.

Gwyn deserved someone better, not him.

He could never be what they needed, his past had been clear enough.

He was destined to love but never receive love back, he was destined to hurt, destined to be alone.

"Azriel?" her sweet voice came to his ears.

Mother, he was obsessed, even hearing her while daydreaming about her.

"Azriel" sounded again.

The light and soft pressure of her hands on his arms startled him.

He looked up, finding the female looking at him with worry.

"are you alright?" she said

He quickly stood, "y...yeah I'm sorry, i was falling asleep", he lied.

She smiled, extending a paper bag towards him, "well we can head home after you open this".

A small pearl bracelet of blues and whites welcomed him once he opened the bag. White, teal, and navy blue pearls cold and smooth as he touched them.

"I know you probably won't always use it, but I wanted to give it to you, as a thank you for everything you have done for me," she said, flushing slightly.

Azriel's heart threatened to beat out of his chest, a knot forming in his throat.

No, I definitely do not deserve her. He thought.

"I will wear it, every single day," he said, putting the bracelet in his scarred hands.

She smiled, "Want me to put it on you?" extending her hands towards him.

He nods, looking at her smooth skin touching the imperfections of his hands. Looking at how the beautiful bracelet contrasted with the horrors of his skin.

"Beautiful," she said.

-.-.-.-.-.-

Neither of them said anything else as they walked back to the castle, both seemed too busy in their own minds to concern themselves with conversation.

They parted ways, promising each other to sleep only a few hours before meeting for their next challenge.

They go into their rooms, falling on their beds and closing their eyes as they hold on to that new piece of each other.

Gwyn smells the male she loves, covering herself with his jacket as she falls into a deep sleep.

Azriel touches the pearls, his mind imagining each color and what it represents. The navy blue of his siphons, which had and will dust anyone who might hurt her. White of her robes, the purity, and innocence of her heart. Teal of her beautiful eyes, that always looked at him so hopeful, so happy, so proud.

Even though the nightmares came, even though they were even more horrible than the ones before.

Neither of them noticed.

Whether by their exhaustion or by what they held so tightly, the couple awoke unaware of the terrors their mind just had endured.

Their only thought was each other.

TAGLIST: @imsointobooks @gwynkyrie @trashforazriel @meher-sumedha

Chapter 6

[acraftedmistake]

A Person Who Has Never Played MCSM Writes A Story About MCSM Chp. 15

CHP 15!!!!! Some good times and bad times lie ahead...... 

Enjoy!

“Everything okay?” Jess asked. Aiden was about to leave the house but had stopped halfway out the door, turned back around, and scanned the first floor while Jess and Olivia waited for him.

“Yeah.” Aiden said slowly as he began to close the door, twisting the knob to make sure he wouldn’t accidentally lock the three of them out, “Just thought I heard something.” He walked away from the house and patted his hair down. “You two ready to go?”

“Mhm!” Olivia finished zipping up the olive green jacket Stella had lent her. She was hiding her face with the hood of the gray sweatshirt Cassie gave her the day before as well. She knew there weren’t too many people out at this hour, but better safe than sorry.

Jess was wearing the leather jacket and beanie again, but he wasn’t too concerned about hiding his face this time. Earlier, he made a minor complaint that his clothes felt rather stiff after wearing them for a few days straight, to which Aiden promised that once they got back home he would throw their clothes in the washer.

“Let’s get going!” Jess said, adjusting the beanie on his head. Originally, Jess wasn’t too thrilled at the idea of going out at this hour. Knowing there might be Awakening members roaming around, or his alternate self--who had no problem beating Radar in broad daylight--made Jess uncertain over the safety of Obsidian Town’s streets. Aiden assured him that they’d be alright, it’d be three against one, and--in his words--he ‘Wants to do somethin’ nice for Olivia after last night’.

Jess appreciated the thoughtfulness, and in the end, visiting Olivia’s grave was up to… Well, Olivia, but he’d still be ready in case a creep tried to pull something.  

Jess couldn’t really blame Olivia for wanting to check out her grave. It’s her place of death. When would you ever get an opportunity to visit a place like that again? Not to mention, Jess had been wanting to get a better look at Obsidian Town rather than getting glimpses or constantly staring at the ground.

The three walked to the left and started their journey to the cemetery. Aiden and Olivia were making small talk, so Jess took this time to absorb his surroundings.

Up ahead, he could spot a tall, crooked, ivory colored tower in the distance. That must’ve been the library Olivia mentioned before. Even from all the way over here Jess could see how ruined the place was. Cracks stretched across it, it was riddled with holes, and it looked moments away from collapsing.

Jess scanned the streets. The long, thin black lamp posts on each side had thin string-lights tied to their tops that stretched across the streets in a zig-zag like manner. It’s a shame they weren’t on at the moment, they must’ve been wonderful when lit.

There were empty stalls they’d pass by occasionally. Colorful, patterned tents protected the bare tables, empty boxes, and scraps sitting underneath. Jess noticed each stall had string lights, small lanterns, or candles for light. He’d catch quick glimpses at folded signs tucked away and papers taped onto poles advertising items and prices. Seeing all of this reminded him of the farmer markets Beacon Town. Jess would always act so crabby when he woke up early for them, but it wouldn’t take long for him to get hyped up and dashing around the place until closing time.

The stalls and all were nice, but Jess couldn’t help but find Obsidian Town’s buildings to be… Underwhelming.

Many of the buildings, from what he could see, were constructed with the same materials: stone, wood, bricks, concrete, the occasional polished granite and diorite, and the rare terracotta. There were variations with the colors, but seeing the same materials got real tiring real fast.

And most structures here were just shapes. That’s all that could really be said. Squared, rectangled, plain shapes to fit the equally-plain materials. Even the sizes of the buildings felt plain. Many were one to two stories, a large handful reached three, and hardly any were four.

Jess was so used to Beacon Town’s monstrous structures, giant jungle trees sprouting from windows, walls of colored glass creating magnificent designs, and bridges stretching from roof to roof that connected the town together. The fun types of builds! It might sound chaotic but that’s what made Beacon Town feel like home. Obsidian Town was just that. A town.

‘Don’t think the people here can risk being experimental, to be fair.’ Jess told himself as he remembered how often quakes struck. He thought back to his town again. He thought about how so many homes would quickly collapse the moment a strong-enough quake would hit. Beacon Town was fun, but it wasn’t built with ‘sturdiness’ in mind, unlike Obsidian Town.

While the construction and sizes of these buildings were on the more ‘basic’ side, the way the citizens decorated the exteriors of their homes and stores was magnificent. Oh, how he loved their decorations. From markets using barrels, wagons, and carefully stacked crates to advertise their fresh fruit and flowers, to cafes that’d have their furniture with their own color schemes and accessories to make them stand out from one another. Some places had porches decorated with flowers and swinging benches, while others had balconies with tiny lights.

Jess would get a second to peer into windows they’d pass by, catching glimpses of interiors that’d tempt him to come closer and press his face against the glass to get a better look. Actually, he hadn’t noticed it right away, but so many windows in Obsidian Town were colored. They didn’t have any intricate designs--a majority of them were one solid color--unlike the stained glass back at the Order Hall, but they were still charming. He pictured in his head how vibrant the streets must be when night comes… The lights from the inside mixing with the colors of the glass must be magnificent.

One place that REALLY caught Jess’ attention was a stone gray building tucked between two larger ones. It had a simple square base, but had a noticeable tilt to it. It had a staircase that wrapped around it’s walls and led to the roof, where a smaller room sat atop, equally slanted. A wooden sign hung from above the door and had the words “Glass Art” on it. Purple, pink, and blue glass shards and chimes were held by opaque strings from the overhang; there was a large, round, beautiful stained glass window with the same colors beside the door.  

The glass art reminded Jess of Ivor and his potions. Man… How is Ivor? Is he doing alright? Is he worried? Hopefully he’s not working himself to the bone trying to find a way to save him and Olivia. Jess couldn’t wait to get back home and give that old man a big ol’ hug.

Come to think of it, has anyone mentioned anything about potions while they’ve been here? He doesn’t remember Olivia’s book talking about them, nor any of Aiden’s friends bringing them up… Are there no potions here? Or maybe there’s a lack of materials? They couldn’t go to the Nether or mine without a license--which STILL boggles Jess’ mind--so that probably made gathering resources hard. How would Ivor react to this? He’d probably say: ‘Pah! A universe without potions is a miserable one. Back in my day, we’d travel hundreds of miles to find the finest ingredients for our--’

“Jess!” He heard Olivia call his name. He spun around and saw her and Aiden standing under a stone arch. Olivia had her hands on her hips.

“You done dreamin’?” Aiden asked.

Jess didn’t realize how far he had strayed from the two. He hurried over and joined them at the arch.

“Sorry, sorry, I was busy thinking.” He skidded to a halt and fixed his beanie.

“Just glad nobody saw you.” Aiden said, “I almost stopped her from calling you cause I wanted to see how far you’d walk off.”

“Could you imagine if he got caught like that?” Olivia asked, “One moment he’s strolling through the streets, and the next he’s being pounced on by guards all because he was too busy sightseeing.” Her and Aiden chuckled at the thought.

“Oh, so it’s a crime to appreciate a town now?” Jess dramatically placed his hands on his hips, mimicking Olivia’s posture.

“It's illegal for you.” Aiden said, “Now come on, there’s a shortcut through the park.”

Aiden walked through the moss-covered stone arch. On each side of the arch were thick, green hedges that boxed in the park. Olivia noticed that, unlike the buildings in this town, the hedges didn’t form an actual shape; it would jut in and out at random, creating odd angles and corners. It was strange but charming.

A path that started under the arch and looped around the area, creating a horseshoe-like shape. Aiden ignored the path and continued walking straight through the grass. Olivia saw the usual things most parks had: Benches, lampposts, a sign telling people not to litter. She also noticed leftover chalk on the sidewalk, laying right beside children’s drawings of stick figures and hopscotch.

Obsidian Town’s park was small, nice, simple, and… Honestly a little dark. The thick clouds were already blocking most of the sun’s light, but the few, tall, thick trees had branches that hid nearly every inch of the sky. Despite how dim it was, Olivia could still spot wild flowers sprinkled around the grass, along with the bugs buzzing around them.

Honestly--and Olivia felt bad thinking this--she preferred this sort of park over whatever the heck Beacon Town had going on. Yes, Beacon Town was great in it’s own way. People could build whatever they wanted, and that’s wonderful, but sometimes she’d just like to take a walk without a constant ruckus surrounding her. Sometimes she just wanted peace and quiet--

“That guy’s missing his entire head!” Jess suddenly whisper-shouted as he lightly shook Olivia. Her heart started beating frantically as she hurriedly spun her head around. Her mind was going all over the place. Was it a decapitated corpse? A strange, alternate-universe monster? Or--or--

It was a statue.

“Jess, you nearly gave me a heart attack.” She sighed with relief.

“Sorry,” He took his hands off of her and pointed, “check it out though!”

Both Olivia and Aiden were looking at the statue now. It was a man frozen midrun, an axe held back--stuck in a swinging motion--while the other hand held up his battered shield, which covered his face. If he had a face, that is. It had to be The Impossible Man. Olivia wasn’t sure who else it could’ve been.

“He’s definitely seen better days.” She said under her breath. Besides his entire head missing, a majority of his body was covered in dirt, children’s chalk, and other strange stains. Cracks started from his broken neck and traveled to his chest, his armor was chipped and scratched, and a good portion of his axe had broken off as well.

“Yeah, I think there’s a couple more statues around here?” Aiden mentioned as they continued walking, “They’re all in pretty bad shape. The kids like to mess with them.”

Aiden scanned the park. “There’s one,” He pointed to the upper corner on the left side of the park. A statue was placed on a podium right in front of a tree. Despite the fact one of his legs was missing, he appeared to be sitting comfortably, gazing at the tree tops peacefully.

“Annnndddd…” Aiden kept turning his head in different directions, “I’m pretty sure there was a head somewhere… Oh!” He spun around, walking backwards now as he pointed to the direction of the entrance. Jess and Olivia followed his finger, their eyes landed on a wooden bench--and right beside it was a small column with a broken bust of the man on top. Olivia couldn’t make out much of the man’s face from here, but she kept getting the eerie feeling that his fractured eyes were somehow watching her. Constantly. Unblinking. She shuddered.

“You think the quakes are the reason they’re missing some parts?” She heard Jess ask aloud.

“I find it really hard to believe they somehow stood through all of those quakes and just lost a head or a leg. They might've been stolen.” Olivia theorized.

Jess put his hand on his chin, stroking an imaginary beard, “I think I remember seeing Hadrian have a couple of statue parts at his place…”

“What? You think old people just like to steal random body parts during their free time?” She grinned.

“That’s what I’d like to do when I retire!” He chuckled. Olivia rolled her eyes playfully.

The three came to a stop in front of a wall of hedge that stood a couple inches taller than Aiden. Unlike the rest of the hedges, this one probably hasn’t been trimmed in months. The surface was extremely uneven; hundreds of tiny branches and leaves stuck out and got tangled with one another. This hedge was also covered in flowers. Tons of them. Clusters of fluffy-looking, light pink flowers were scattered throughout, and were nearly as big as Olivia’s face. The ground was covered in old petals.

Olivia made sure that every strand of hair was tucked inside her hood. There was no way she wanted to spend the rest of the day picking out the twigs, leaves, and petals that’d get stuck in there.

Aiden walked to the right, staring into the bush and running his hand over it as he mumbled to himself, trying to remember where the shortcut was. Olivia and Jess awkwardly shuffled along. Aiden soon stopped, crouched down, then put his hand into the bush. He then took it out, huffed, scooched over a couple more inches, and repeated the process.

After a minute of searching, Aiden started talking to himself. “Maybe it’s on the left side? I could’ve sworn we--!” Aiden suddenly fell forward and into a large hole in the hedge.

Man, if Aiden hadn’t fell through, Olivia would’ve also thought he’d forgotten where the entrance was. The branches hid the hole well.

Jess helped Aiden to his feet. Aiden thanked him as he moved aside, motioning towards the hole.

“You guys go ahead.” Aiden said, “I’ll wait for you to go through.”

Jess and Olivia glanced at each other before Jess gave her a little bow, “After you.”

“How kind.” Olivia curtsied. She crouched and crawled through. The dirt was already making her pants a little damp.

Luckily, despite a few scratches, the crawl only lasted a few seconds.

She got up, cleaned herself off, and waited for the boys.

Jess’ head soon popped out from the hole. Leaves and tiny branches were caught in his hair. He wriggled himself out and brushed off his clothes.

“Here, let me help with your hair.” Olivia started plucking the sticks out.

“Thanks!” Jess said happily as he took off and shook the leaves off his beanie.

It was quiet for a couple of moments as they cleaned themselves up. Olivia felt her smile twitch.

“Hey, Jess,” She started slowly, “I’m… I’m sorry.”

Jess put his hat back on, “What for?”

“I know you don’t have the best feelings towards Aiden right now,” She stared at her feet, “I hope it doesn’t feel like I’m dragging you along.”

“What? No, no, no!” Jess exclaimed, “Look, I was real mad last night, but I wanted to go with you!”

Olivia brought her head back up to Jess, a tiny smile of relief on her face.

“And I’m sticking to my word. We’ll stick together no matter what.” Jess shoved his hands into his pockets. “And uh… We don’t really have a choice when it comes to trusting Aiden and his friends, but things aren’t gonna get better if I keep blowing up like I did yesterday--” A sudden grunt interrupted Jess and caused both of them to jump.

They turned to see Aiden struggling to get out of the bush. How much did he hear? Hopefully not too much. Hopefully.

Aiden tries to use his free arm to pull the rest of his body out, but after a few more seconds he stopped fighting and let his face fall to the ground.

“... I’m stuck again.” He could hear Olivia and Jess snicker as they grabbed his hand and began to pull. They were able to pull him out in no time.

“Thanks.” Aiden said as he shook off the dirt--and the embarrassment. “The memorials are on the other side of the cemetery. Should only take a minute to get there.”

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

When they entered the cemetery, Jess kept his eyes peeled for any familiar names on the gravestones. A few graves had rather unusual colors to them. There was a dusty red one, an uncommon shade, but not odd. Then he’d walk by a blue one; he’s never seen a grave that color before--well, Reuben’s memorial had bits of blue in it, does that count?--Then he walked by a purple grave, a green one, an orange one?

“This is… The happiest looking cemetery I’ve ever seen.” Olivia said as she beheld the rest of the graveyard.

“Is that a compliment?” Aiden asked.

Olivia kept staring at tombstones until she finally said “I don’t know, I’ve just never seen a place for the dead look so… Lively.”

Taking in the rest of the graveyard, Jess had to agree . What was usually a dark, gloomy, dreary place was so, so vibrant. Even under this cloudy, dull weather, the many colors still popped. This was more like a miniature festival than a cemetery! Many tombstone tops looked like roofs with their pointed tops and little overhangs. Their heights and widths would range from short and broad to tall and scrawny. Heck, Jess could spot a couple of graves as tall as him.

“What the heck are your cemeteries like?” Aiden glanced back at them.

“Plainer colors, I guess?” Jess shrugged, “You know, blacks, grays, browns, nothing too flashy.” The only exception Jess could think of was, once again, Reuben's memorial.

“Really?” Aiden sounded genuinely baffled by this. “We hardly got any of those. What do they mean?”

Olivia and Jess exchanged confused expressions with each other before Jess faced Aiden again, “Sadness? Loss? I don’t think there’s any real meaning behind those colors, honestly.”

“Right, we don’t typically associate bright colors with the dead.” Olivia added in, viewing the cemetery again. Scrawny trees and tiny flowers with stems that reached her knees that were peppered around the area; most were in between the graves. She thought about Aiden’s question, “I’m assuming the colors here represent something specific?”

“Yeah, buncha things. Too many for me to keep track of, but I remember the important ones.” Aiden started as they continued walking down the damp dirt path. “When a person dies, their friends and family can choose the color of their grave. It’s usually… Like… Hm. It’s supposed to show what the person was like when they were alive, ya know? Yellow for the happy people,” He explained while pointing to a shorter grave of said-color, “orange for determination, that sorta stuff. Stella’s memorized ‘em all. If you ever wanna know more, she’s the person to ask.”

As Aiden kept talking, Olivia and Jess kept taking in their surroundings. Jess had noticed something. Every single grave they passed was decorated with gems. The gems were placed close by the names and dates of those who passed, and seeing so many of them in various shapes, colors, and sizes made him curious…

“Hey, uh, what’s with the gems?” Jess spoke up, “Are they real?” He was wondering if maybe they were regular stones that were carved and painted. There was no way Obsidian Town could have an overabundance of minerals, especially since the citizens needed a mining license.

“Nah, they’re glass.” Aiden replied, “I thought they were real myself until we had to choose some gems for Lukas--” He suddenly stopped in his tracks. Jess and Olivia peered over and saw a lit redstone torch placed in front of a grave. Aiden plucked the torch from its place, a scowl on his face as he blew out the flame then chucked the burnt wood across the cemetery.

“Anyways, what was I sayin’?” He began walking again, as if nothing out of the ordinary happened.

‘What was that about?’ Jess thought to himself. It must’ve been linked to the cult, right? Why else would Aiden have done that?

“Right!” He snapped his fingers,” So the gems are basically like the colors of the graves. We had to go to this special place where the people there pulled out huge chests filled with those things. Took us forever to pick ‘em out.”

“Each color chosen means something for the person that passed…” Jess whispered to himself as Aiden’s words from earlier echoed through his mind. He was rather fond of how Obsidian Town remembered their dead. It was more uplifting than what he was used to. Maybe he could make some changes to the graveyards once they get back to Beacon Town.

Aiden was quiet for a minute before he added, “Gill took the longest. He was real worried his gem wouldn’t be good enough.” He paused. “He… he ended up crying.”

His voice got quieter, “I hated seeing him like that.”

Jess and Olivia both tried to think of what to say, what ‘s the next best thing to do, but Aiden immediately changed the subject.

“What do you guys put on your graves?” Aiden asked, he sounded ‘normal’ again, but kept facing away from the two.

Jess hesitated, “Names. Dates.”

“A description of the person who passed.” Olivia added.

“Just words? Doesn’t that get a little… Depressing?” Aiden narrowed his eyes.

“Oh, you think that’s sad? We once wrote out an entire dictionary on a guy’s grave back in our universe.” Jess answered jokingly. Olivia let out a little giggle, and they even heard a chuckle out of Aiden.

That small chuckle was all Jess needed to hear to continue telling quips and share short, funny stories at Aiden’s way to try and lighten the mood. Aiden was soon sharing his own experiences mixed in with his own humor. Aiden and Jess were bouncing off of each other, making fun of their own universes while Olivia would throw in her commentary every now and then.

‘This is so weird…’ Olivia thought to herself. The three of them laughing while walking through a cemetery… it’s something that’d usually feel inappropriate to do, but here she wasn’t all that bothered.

This whole experience has been surreal. Entering a rainbow of a cemetery through a bush felt like something that’d only happen in her dreams, yet here she was. Honestly, it was a nice change of pace to not feel worried for her and her friend’s life for a moment.

She had nearly forgotten the dread she felt when she originally suggested coming here.

And then Aiden spoke up.

“Okay, okay, we’re finally--” Aiden stopped. “Here.” All happiness in his tone had left.

That didn’t sound good. That didn’t sound good at all. Olivia grabbed onto the string of her hoodie and began to pull on it as she slowly peered over Aiden. Standing before him were two graves. Olivia’s eyes were drawn to the shorter one. She trailed down the grave, the coral color fading into a deep shade of red until she stopped at the flowers laying beside a lit, redstone torch.

Olivia held her breath. Jess got close to her as Aiden approached the torch. He grabbed it by it’s barely-scorched base and brought it to his face to blow out the flame. Instead of throwing it away like the last one, he just placed it to the side, only a few feet away from the grave. He wore an expression neither of them have ever seen on him before. Fear? Heartache? Pain.

“We’re here.” He said again. His voice completely devoid of energy. His body was stiff as he walked to the side of the grave, with his hands curled into tight fists and placed at his sides. There was another redstone torch placed in front of the grave to the right, but Aiden didn’t say anything. Olivia took a few small steps forward and gave him a small nod.

As she knelt down in front of the grave--in front of her grave--she heard Aiden tell Jess ‘Come on’, followed by the sound of footsteps growing distant.

She sat alone at her grave.

She didn’t want to read the text. She really didn’t. Isn’t that funny? That was one of the main reasons she wanted to come here. To see if there was a chance she could read about her death, what happened to her, but now that she was here, she was terrified. She looked everywhere else but the epitaph before her. She stared at the small bouquet of flowers on the dirt--the dirt… She noticed it seemed… Messier compared to the other graves. Like someone tried digging through it. The bouquet, though! There was a mix of flowers held together by a red ribbon. Clusters of tiny, magenta flowers, a few pointed, white flowers with many petals, and a type of flower she actually knew the name of: Lilys.

She then brought her gaze up, catching a quick glimpse of her name written in gold, to observe the gems placed into the tombstone. Two orange gems, one yellow, one gold, another maroon, and the gem in the center was amber. They formed an arch around the words in the center.

‘Stop avoiding it.’ She told herself, but she didn’t listen. She turned to Lukas’ grave. She had to see his. She had to. It was right here and--and he’s her friend.

His grave was turquoise and had thin, white stripes that stretched across the top, and seven gems instead of six. Three on each side, and the last gem placed above his epitaph. He was given flowers as well.

The words engraved in the stone read: “LUKAS: Courageous and loyal. An inspiring leader and a brilliant friend.”

Short but wonderful. It was perfect. Reading it over and over again, she thought about just how lucky she and Jess were with having their friend still around. He’s done so much for them. Constantly helping Jess run Beacon Town, aiding the citizens, always visiting her and Axel whenever he got the chance… He could’ve left them during that Witherstorm. He could’ve ditched them at any moment when things got too rough, but he never did.

‘I need to give Lukas a hug when I get back.’ Olivia thought to herself. Lukas could still leave them one day without warning. He could finally get sick of them, die in a brutal fight, or--or end up being kidnapped like this Lukas--Olivia squeezed her eyes shut and shook her head, trying to get those awful thoughts out. Don’t think about that. He’s still alive. He still cares about them. He loves them.

Olivia kept her eyes closed for a moment longer before finally bringing her attention back to her own grave. She forced herself to read the words written for her; “OLIVIA: An intelligent, creative, and hardworking engineer. A bright spark of joy even during the darkest of days.”

Olivia stared at her words. A weird sense of reassurance was arising. She’s never thought highly of herself. She’d sometimes convince herself that others couldn’t tolerate her, and that she was one mistake away from ruining everything. She wondered if this Olivia ever felt a similar way. Was she constantly trying to make sure she said and did the right things? Try to fix any issue immediately so her friends didn’t think she was useless? Always second guessing her own thoughts?

Did this Olivia know her friends always loved her? Or was she riddled with fears and doubts until her sudden end?

‘She died a couple of years ago, didn’t she?’ Olivia tried to recall any mention of her death from Aiden. She wasn’t certain, but whether it was a few years ago, or a few months ago, didn’t change the fact that she died so soon.

She was young.

Younger than her.

To have her life end on an abrupt note… It scared her. It scared her so much. Everything could be taken away one day.

As she sat over her body, she felt her fingers begin to dig into the dirt, like they were trying to reach in and find the other Olivia’s hand. A sick form of curiosity made her want to know more. More about this Olivia. Her life. Her mind. To have a connection with her. It was her body she was sitting over, afterall. Her corpse. Her--

“Olivia?” Jess placed his hand on her shoulder. “Are you doing okay?”

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

“Come on.” Aiden gave Jess a light tap with his hand. He started walking away from Olivia. Jess hesitated. He looked at his friend for a second more before leaving with Aiden.

“We just needa give her some space.” Aiden said.

“Right, totally understand.” Jess wanted to stick around for a few minutes longer to study his friends’ graves, but that could wait. He didn’t want to make Olivia feel like he was breathing down her neck.

Jess thought back to the many instances where his friends’ lives were in danger, when they were so close to being taken away from him. He hated seeing his friends’ lives at stake more than anything; he’d go through Hell and back to protect them, and to be in a place where their deaths became a reality was so hard to wrap his head around.

Lukas left without a trace. No familiar faces to comfort him during his last moments, only enemies looming over him while he was in an unknown place. Just thinking about his fate made Jess worry sick about his Lukas back at home.

It was silent for a few minutes. Only their footsteps filled the void.

“So…” Jess started, wanting to make small talk, “What do the colors for Olivia and Lukas’ graves mean?”

“Olivia’s creativity.” Aiden replied, sounding short. “And Lukas’--” He paused and scanned the cemetery. He took a left turn and continued walking between the graves. “He’s…Don’t make fun of us, but his color stands for friendship.”

“Friendship?” Jess perked up at the word.

“I know, it’s probably super cheesy or whatever, but it fits him. It really does.” Aiden said.

“No, no, I completely agree! He’s a great friend--one of the best! If I had to recount all the times he’s been there for me, we’d be here all day.”

“Right. Same here.” They stopped at another grave with another redstone torch in front of it. This grave was short and purple, with many cool-colored gems placed in it. Jess didn’t recognize the name.

Aiden grabbed the torch and blew out the flame. Jess decided to ask another question.

“Any idea why The Awakening puts those torches there?”

“Probably for no good reason.” Aiden answered through gritted teeth as he chucked the wood as hard as he could across the cemetery.

There was something unnerving about the torches left at the grave. Their red glow would take over the colors of the graves, and their light under a thick, cloudy sky would claim your attention and make it hard to pull away. Their soft crackling would fill in the silence whenever he and Aiden didn’t talk; the occasional loud snaps from the flames would make Jess believe there was a threat following them.

Jess stopped at a tombstone and picked up a vase of flowers that had fallen aside. “The gems on their graves, what do they mean? Do you remember ‘em?”

“Yeah, I’m pretty sure I’d remember what the gems on my own friends’ graves would mean!” Aiden snapped.

“No, I didn’t mean it like that!” Jess held the vase tighter. “I was just--I wanted to know more about them.” Great. Now they’re both feeling terrible.

Aiden’s demeanor softened when he saw Jess’ reaction. “No, it’s okay. I’m sorry. I’ve been--” He hesitated, “I’ve just been thinking about someone is all.”

“No, it’s no problem.” Jess carefully placed the small vase back upright. He folded his arms and joined Aiden’s side.

“I’m uh, still interested to hear bout those gems if you’re wanting to share.” He said.

“Yeah. I can do that for ya.” Aiden answered.

“For Lukas,” Aiden began, walking through the grass. “Gill chose blue. I remember that one’s loyalty. Gold for compassion. White for safety--he’d always double check our belongings every time to make sure we were prepared.”

Aiden stopped and grabbed a torch, “It was kinda annoying, but I miss it now.” He blew it out and threw the wood.

They kept moving.

“Rose picked pink.” Aiden started running his fingers over the grave tops, “She was real embarrassed when she chose it. Kept refusing to show us cause she thought we’d laugh at her.”

“I’m guessing pink’s for love?” Jess said, trying to make sure he wouldn’t trample any flowers.

“Yeah, and--” Aiden chuckled, “Rose wanted his description to be: Pretty blond dork with a decent sense of style. All of us were actually on board with it.”

“Did you end up pulling through with it?” Jess asked.

“Nah, the guys making the grave wouldn’t allow it.” Aiden spotted a couple of gravestones with torches by them. They were already burnt out. He grabbed two of the torches while Jess grabbed the last.

“What a bunch of killjoys.” Jess joked. Aiden laughed as he prepared to throw the burnt wood. Jess mimicked each step of Aiden’s. Hold, aim, then throw. Once they lost sight of the rubbish, they followed the dirt path to the entrance of the cemetery.

The cemetery wasn’t boxed in by hedges like the park, instead, it had a stone wall.

Aiden leaned against the wall. It didn’t look like the most comfortable surface--the rocks were jagged and would probably fall apart in moments--but he seemed unaffected by it. Jess stood nearby and took a peek through the gate beside them. Unlike the rough, uneven walls, the black fence was tall, sturdy, and had a huge, elegantly curved arch.

“Olivia’s got a few similar gems,” Aiden started, putting his hands in his pocket, “Two golds, yellow… She’s got amber--Man, I always mix those three up. They sound different enough but when they’re placed by each other, they all look the same. Amber’s slightly darker than yellow, but not as dark as gold. Amber’s positivity.”

“Lotta happy ones for her.” Jess commented. He’d been staring at the decorated buildings through the gate’s bars as he listened. He could spot bits of pots filled with flowers on the other side of the wall, their colors as eye-catching as the cemetery.

“Always made us happy.” Aiden said with a shrug. “She also had… Ah…” He pressed his lips together, “Orange! She had that one too. And then there’s…” He had to stop to think again.

“It’s not… Well, it looks like red, but it’s darker… Ah, shoot.” Aiden cursed to himself.

“Carmine? Maroon?” Jess tilted his head.

Aiden snapped his fingers, “Maroon! Right! Creativity; same thing as her grave. Picked it myself.” He said rather proudly.

“You guys really cared about her.” Jess mumbled. He tilted his head towards Aiden, “And I’m sure Olivia loved you guys all the same.”

Aiden stared back at him.

A small smile spread across his face, “Thanks.”

The two became quiet and looked over the array of colorful graves before them. The clouds slowly began to part; gems glistened as the rays of sun shone down on them.

“Should we check on Olivia now?” Jess asked after a few minutes of silence.

Aiden got off the stone wall and stretched his back, “Yeah, let’s go.”

~ ~ ~ ~

When the two returned to Olivia, the last thing they wanted to see was to see her in distress. The tips of her fingers were shoved into the dirt below, her eyes were stuck on the golden words in front of her, her mouth was parted--barely moving--with no voice to match. Jess couldn’t tell if she was trembling or not, but she was scared. Very scared.

Jess bit his lip and approached his friend. Aiden was right behind.

“Olivia?” Jess placed his hand on her shoulder, “Are you doing okay?”

Olivia jumped and jerked her hands out of the dirt.

“Yes--! Yeah, no, no don’t worry, I’m fine. Thanks--thank you for checking on me.” She replied frantically. She took deep breaths.

Before Jess could question anything, Olivia spoke up.

“Aiden, this uh--the substance mixed into the stone,” Her fingers trailed down the tombstone, “is it redstone dust?”

Her voice was shaky.

Aiden glanced at Jess, who was equally nervous as him, then said, “Actually, it is.”

He took a step closer to Olivia, “They don’t usually allow people to mix stuff like redstone or glowstone dust with the colors--especially cause they’re hard to find--but they made an exception for us.”

Olivia nodded along, blinking back tears.

Jess read her epitaph, “Guess all Olivia’s are just the greatest engineers out there, huh?”

“Damn right. She didn’t have a bunch of dust to work with, but she’d still crank out machine after machine like no tomorrow.” Aiden said, “Man, I remember every year for her birthday that’d be all she’d ever ask for. Not weapons, not new journals, not even a dang cake, just redstone dust. Course, the only places you could find ‘em were in caves or old shrines, right?” He asked while facing Lukas’ grave and grabbing the lit redstone torch below.

“Yup, we found a bunch of it yesterday.” Jess said, sitting besides Olivia.

“Right, and since it was so dangerous, she told us to not worry bout gettin’ it because ‘It’d be stupid to risk your life for some red powder’.” Aiden gestured with the torch, the flame getting frighteningly close to his hair.

“Well, I’d always lose track of dates and forget to get her a gift, so one of the other guys would back me up and tell Olivia we bought a gift ‘together’, and I felt so bad.” He thankfully blew out the fire after saying that.

“So then guess what I did one day?” Aiden said.

“Walked out and found a bag of redstone on the ground?” Jess asked sarcastically.

Aiden laughed, “I wish.”  

Aiden began pacing, the trail of smoke whirling around him, “But I decided I’d bust into one of those dumb shrine and find some dust for her, and I didn’t tell anyone bout it besides Jesse. He was on board with the plan, he was great at findin’ stuff, plus two people finding dust was much easier than one.” Aiden fiddled with the burnt wood, “We headed off to the nearest shrine and actually found enough dust to fill up a bag and a half, but cause of the state of that dump, some rooms would collapse after you opened the door!”

“You two ended up getting hurt, didn’t you?” Olivia had her hand on her head, already concerned over the direction of this story.

“Course we did!” Aiden threw his arms up. “I swear anytime the two of us were together, things would fall apart or we’d break a bone--” Aiden stopped his talking to quickly chuck the wood away. “Anyways, anyways, we got back home right on time for Olivia’s birthday and man did we look awful. Clothes were all dirty, got some real bad scrapes on my knees, Jesse grabbed so much dust it looked like his fingers were covered in blood, and I somehow got a black eye? I think the top of a chest smacked me...”

Olivia rubbed her temples, “You two really shouldn’t have risked your lives over a birthday present--”

“That’s exactly what she said!” Aiden exclaimed, “Went through all that trouble, and you know how she reacted?”

“Panicked?” Olivia asked.

“Bet she loved it.” Jess said, giving Olivia a nudge.

“She did--but Hero did she freak out! Dropped her cake and rushed over to get us cleaned up. Olivia was wrapping up one of Jesse’s arms--” Aiden thought to himself for a second, “--I think a big rock landed on it? But she was going off on us. Raising her voice and lecturing us like she was our mom, telling us it’s a miracle we were still in one piece, and why in Hero’s name we did something so stupid.”

“I mean, it wasn’t stupid if things worked out for you.” Jess pointed out.

“Yeah, but still.” Aiden chuckled, “It was stupid. It was so, so stupid. But after that, she loved our present. I’d never seen her smile so much. She was working on her machinery, telling me and Jesse how everything worked while we pretended to understand.”

Aiden carefully leaned on Olivia’s grave, “Hero knows I didn’t understand a single thing she was sayin’, but seeing her so happy…” His smile grew as his voice softened, “It was great.”

“That’s all so sweet…” Olivia spoke softly. “I love it.”

She was shaking again.

Jess turned to his friend to mention something, but stopped when he saw Olivia staring at the ground, fingers picking at the dirt just like she was when they came back. That same, terrified expression on her face.

“Liv--?” Jess mumbled, but Olivia started rambling nonsense.

“I don’t know if my words mean much to you--I know I’m not her--but you’re a good friend, Aiden.” Her nails started to dig into the ground, “All of this, all that you’ve done for Olivia--you--you--Even when I just--” She kept stumbling over her words, “Even when she died one day you kept being so kind to me--”

The more she kept talking, the more concerned--the more scared--Aiden and Jess became.

“Hey, hey are you alright?” Jess reached out to hold her, but Olivia shot her head back up.

“I’m under here.” She whispered. Her voice was so unsteady.

Jess was taken aback, “What?”

“I’m under here.” She said again. “I’m so close.”

Her hand began to claw at the dirt, “I’m so close. My body’s all mangled up in that box below, and--and my hair’s so long now.” She felt sick talking about this, she felt sick thinking about it. “It’d be so easy to just dig myself up. For Aiden to see her again. Jesse--Jess, we’re so close. I could look at myself. Look at my body. I’m--”

“Olivia!” Jess shook her, “Do you want to get out of here?”

Aiden wanted to offer his support, but Olivia instantly got on her feet.

“Yes. Yes I want to leave. I want to go home.” She kept repeating that last sentence while she hugged herself, breathing heavily. She was freezing.

“Right, we need to head back anyways.” Aiden’s stomach was in knots seeing Olivia like this. His hands turned to fists, “I should’ve known better. I shouldn’t have taken you here. I’m sorry--”

“Don’t.” Olivia cut in. “I wanted to go. You took me. I saw--I saw what I needed to. I appreciate it. Thank you.” She was stiff as a board.

Olivia took one last deep breath, “Let’s go home.”

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Damn them.

Damn them all.

Locked every damn door and window in this house. They’re hiding her, he knows they’re hiding her.

Did they really think locking themselves in would stop him? He used to live in this Hero forsaken house; he knows every nail, screw, and plank that makes up this despicable place.

He still remembers that trapdoor on the roof. He knows how to claw his way up there. He’ll pry it open with his own bare hands.

He’ll find her.

He will.

[advernia]

fic: the many tea parties of charon

— deck out the flowers and mourning veils, the guests of honor are in attendance. - pre-game: of a child and his trusty guide.

1: contains heavy references to edgar's backstory, so be warned if you haven't read his route yet! please tread lightly. 2: terribly late, but this was written for @unappreciatedotomelove’s day 19 angst prompt, death.

Baron Paulos Arca was mute.

The morning papers narrate the tale of a man unable to scream for help as he fell to his demise. Scratches on grass and soil, torn pieces of cloth and drops of blood scattered on the twisting path leading to the forest's cliff may suggest that he might have been running away from beasts until he had a misstep that led to his untimely fate. Why the man was in the Forbidden Forest without permission or an escort was still being investigated, but the man was already well-known for losing himself to the company of plants and trees over tea parties and soirees, so perhaps that narrowed down possibilities.

A most unfortunate accident, his uncle reads before pressing the rim of a teacup to his lips.

It almost sounds humorous; the way the word accident rolls off his uncle's tongue. He pokes at his breakfast, watches the tines of his fork sink into the meal on his plate.

Metal through meat.

Sharp tearing soft.

Trident piercing flesh.

Very unfortunate, he says dryly in reply, feeling the twist in his stomach.

Marchioness Marie Marithe Lacelle was weak.

He's been taught manners, and one of the basics say that is it most rude to stare. Young boys like himself shouldn’t dare ogle, especially at girls and ladies and at their bare skin. Propriety is important. And if he must stare, there is an unspoken rule among gentlemen that whispers subtlety is key.

So he and his uncle don't stay too long, don't find a need to linger any longer around a casket that held a woman so dainty, even her gloved fingers gave off the impression of fragility. On these occasions his uncle spent more time exchanging pleasantries anyway, and while waiting he would just stand away and observe his surroundings. Today wouldn't be any different. 

On one side of the refreshment table, he studies the champagne flutes that form beautiful rows. Despite the bright crystal lights, the liquid inside each glass remains a hostile purple; dark from the top and eerie come the bottom. Almost like vials of poison, he figures.

The smile on his lips turns awry.

Merchant Duriel Atlas was sickly.

In the modestly decorated hall he's seated somewhere around the middle aisle next to a relative, a child who may or may not be a member of the main family. His uncle is seated somewhere around the front row, becoming one of the many gentlemen offering an ear to an elderly man with a face that's positively ghastly. The deceased's father, he guesses.

Hey, the child seated beside him suddenly speaks. It's only then that he looks at her properly, at the girl beside him who was clutching a stuffed bear close to her chest.

How do you know my papa? she asks, raising her head to stare at him. The edges of her eyes are bright red but their centers remain gray, the kind of shade that's a tad dull but with an edge to it that's oddly sharp; like the deceiving end of a rusty needle pricking the most sensitive spots of skin.

Her scrutiny pokes uncomfortably at his throat, and for once isn't quite sure what to say.

Professor Sarietta Pierre was careless.

It's amazing, really - in one room where all sorts of individuals gather there are those who truly mourn, but in that same room there are those that hide behind their feathered fans and quiet corners, believing that keeping their voices in hushed whispers could hide remarks such as:

A professor of magic put to rest by her own spell - what an end!

She was bound to make a mistake sooner or later with that ego of hers.

Serves her right, I'd say. That woman was far too arrogant.

And to think that she bragged about how her prudent magic wielding was second to none...

And so on and so forth - he listens to wails in one ear and criticism on the other until his uncle comes to stand beside him, gaze set on the deceased's portrait.

They sure enjoy wagging their tongues before using their heads, don't they? he says, tone casual.

Government official Ivor Xies Grellol was bedridden.

It was bound to happen... but oh, I wish it didn't happen so soon, too soon, the now-widow cries with her puffy eyes and scratchy voice. She angles her head away from them to stare at the body fit perfectly in the coffin, clothed in his very best and surrounded by fresh flowers. I... I... just wish we had more time.

... I'm sure he felt the same way, his uncle is a picture of sincerity with a gentle tone and perfect bow, my deepest condolences for your loss, Lady Grellol.

Tears start streaming down her eyes again, so as an act of courtesy he takes out the handkerchief in his pocket and gingerly offers it for her to use. She blinks for a moment before accepting the cloth, breathing in deeply and dabbing quickly at her damp cheeks. 

Such a kind child you are, the woman says in between sobs.

He'd swallow a lump down his throat and say his thanks, but he finds himself too distracted by the powdery smudges of red now staining his handkerchief.

Arles and Ceres Clemence were bastards.

There's no caskets, formalities, procession. No flowers, people, crying, portraits - just a deep well of soil, two large sacks, torn shrouds of cloth, a shovel.

Two people - a child and an adult - looking down at the well and its contents.

The sound of raindrops hitting an umbrella's canopy, going tap tap tap tap tap every second.

A voice cutting through the rain, soft yet with a fury so cold.

Blame society for deciding that your greatest sin was to be born, Claudius Bright hissed.

Claudius Bright was limping.

A result of an accident or the curse of aging? Either way it didn't change the fact that today, he was assisting his uncle in the act of walking for one of his legs seemed to be struggling. Together they cross the halls and go past the door, down the path and inside the carriage that was waiting for them.

It hardly suited the Jack of Hearts - an image of susceptibility, a flaw. Vulnerable, oh-so vulnerable to the eyes. A target with an obvious weak spot, easy prey that didn't require much effort to take down. A strike to the knees or a well-aimed hit to the thigh, a poke of poison or the bind of magic, the pierce of a bullet and his uncle might as well -

"... Perhaps," he says when he enters the carriage and sits himself across from his uncle, "we should get you a cane. Trying to walk on your own adds to the strain of your sore leg, and we can't have that if you want your leg to heal properly."

"That does sound like a good idea," Claudius hums, but then he checks his wristwatch. "... Ah, but that will have to wait. We can't afford to be late, now can we?"

A funny concern when they've never been late for an appointment in their life.

With the subject temporarily put on hold though, his eyes keep drifting back to his uncle's left leg; to the bandages secured around the kneecap. Weakness, the sight seemed to whisper strongly. Balance disrupted, equilibrium lost, weight of the body favoring one side over the other -

Hands balling into fists and teeth digging into the inside of his cheek, he urges himself to look out the window instead.

The sky above them is nearly dressed in murky grays and heavy blacks.

Perfect weather for another funeral, Edgar Bright whispers to himself.

3: charon from greek mythology is the ferryman of the rivers styx + acheron, the rivers said to separate the world of the living and the dead. he serves under the god of the underworld, hades. intended context puts edgar as charon (he who follows) & claudius as hades (he who commands), but can also work in a reverse manner with claudius passing off as charon - he 'leads' souls to edgar and his nephew unwittingly becomes hades; he who passes 'judgement' on said souls. 4: supposedly this went with a desensitized edgar in claudius' perspective, but somehow turned out to be novice!assassin edgar dealing with his conscience + claudius rubbing salt on the wound by bringing edgar to the funerals of the people he ordered his nephew to kill. it does give a different spin on the theme of death, so i guess it works.

[lucastheunlucky]

Timshel; Salva, Gotch, Lucas

Location: Downtown, few streets from Luke’s Apartment Time: Late Evening; 5/28 Triggers: gore, body horror @drunk-and-howling

Summary: It's been a little over three weeks since the arrest and attack against Luke at the precinct. The pack has set up a lot of precautions to keep him with backup, but this week has limited participation from the pack. With Winn missing and steering a lot of the attention to his whereabouts, and Luke staying in his apartment full time, and life, in general, moving on as expected. The patient hunter, Ivor Gotch, has found an opportunity to set up an attempted snatch involving a small crew of people and special weapons. Salva, without telling anyone, has filled a gap in the patrol; knowing Ivor won’t stop.

Salva is right and he finds him. 

Ivor Gotch was outside a bar, across from a bus station, wearing a long leather jacket that barely hid the shotgun tucked under his arm and secured to his back. His broken arm wrapped up in a sling, but the hunter didn’t seem put off by it. The man was staring at his phone with a strange intensity. Four other people sat on the benches, lounging around, and looked up when they weren’t alone. The hair on his arms raised, and his eyes lifted from the bright screen. 

“So you are in town,” the words spoke like Ivor already knew, though with a frustrated edge to it. Gray eyes drifted over to the wolf, cold and calculating. “Must we do this all over again? How poorly it ends every time for you. Do you really want to involve yourself in my business?” 

Salva prowled closer to Ivor, his body language stiff, but hands still kept rather casually in the pockets of his bomber jacket. "Naturally," the werewolf answered, and his voice was barely human... in it was such a rumbling growl that an unpracticed ear would doubt if he was even speaking English, like car tires rolling over gravel. Scenting the hunter after all this time gave him such a violent bloodlust that he felt light-headed, and his body was alive with phantom pains of their past encounters, but somehow he managed to keep it under control. 

"Give me one reason I shouldn't tear your throat out with my bare hands, right here."

“Because we both know under all this snarling-- you have proved you are weak against me.” 

Ivor laughed a cold chuckle, pulling a cigar to his lips with a deep pull and puff of smoke as if hinting to all their past altercations and breaking even often. Ivor pointed the cigar lightly towards him while he spoke. “We don’t care if you kill others. Hunting families never liked bothering with us. Yet you still want to cause us problems. Over and over.” A tsk clicked the man's tongue like he was reprimanding a child, and the four people around actually chuckled lightly, but didn’t look as confident as the man speaking. 

“I will warn you one more time Salva, stay out of this.” 

With anyone else, Salva would have been goaded into action long ago, but this was a different story. This hunter had nearly killed him before, on several accounts, and he was still injured from his forest run-in with that hunter on the night of the full moon. He knew that if he started a fight here, four goons aside, Ivor would have little difficulties adding a new pelt to his wall. "You don't deserve to speak my name," Salva rasped with that voice like broken glass, coming closer still to Ivor. 

The state of the wolf wasn’t entirely unnoticed, and when he stepped closer Ivor stayed still though alert that this could dissolve quickly. The cigar billowed sweetly between them. “So, what’s this about?” Ivor said calmly, the arm broken by Lucas, moved to take the cigar, the wince small, but noticeable. “Could it be? Lucas-- hmm. Finally getting help?” The man’s smile dropped, and his pulse went up just a tick at that thought. He wouldn’t.

"If you don't deserve to say my name, you sure as hell can't say his." Salva couldn't keep it under wraps any longer, feeling like he would bust apart at the seams until it was painful. As one of the henchmen made a slight shift of footing next to the truck, the werewolf reached out, grabbed the man by the hoodie, and yanked him in close - he didn't even shift, but used his human teeth to bite into the man's neck and give a solid wrench. Thick black lifeblood sprayed onto the pavement, and shortly after the man's body hit the street, limp and severed under the chin. Salva then took another step towards Ivor, making no effort to wipe the blood staining his mouth. No words, just a savage snarl and baring of teeth. 

Ivor put his hands up towards the other men pulling out various weapons and pointing them at the wolf who tore open one of his men’s throats. The others were nervous now, and Ivor didn’t need a fast shoot out in the middle of the road without a good backup plan in place. Regardless, his pulse rang in his ears as the rush of a hunt always was enticing when so close, and this particular beast was one to fear. There was no doubt about it, that having them here in town, knowing Lucas of all things, and seemingly to be protecting him was going to make this an issue. Salva’s wolf hide would be worth millions, but even faced with this creature-- one who has crossed his path countless times, Ivor didn’t want him. Ivor flipped the shotgun by his side with a turn of the wrist and struck it out right at Salva’s nose. 

The gun found purchase, and there was a wet metallic thud as it crashed into Salva's jaw, strings of blood flying from his teeth. But the pain wasn't felt, not at all. His features began to contort to be increasingly monstrous as Salva quickly shifted into his black-furred form. The wolf's body was severely impeded, and the physical stress of shifting forced stitches to pop out of his skin, but his lips were stretched back in an ivory snarl as Salva shook the blow off and came in for another attack. His narrow jaws aimed to snap onto Ivor's arm, a snarl like glass shattering ripping from deep in his chest. 

“Start the truck!” Ivor ordered, taking the weight of Salva as he shifted and bared down on him, his feet slid across the concrete and kicked up the dirt as the two collided. His broken arm creaked under pressure, the fracture broke again from the stress. Sweat formed on his brow as the pain increased, making his teeth grit. Blood coated the butt end of the shotgun and splashed on the ground with a flick. Ivor met the feral wolf with his own snarl. Eyes wild, and a face Salva has seen before-- manic and excited. “Grab the lines!” Another order from someone else, his people were moving around, seconds passing as the shotgun exploded between them. Blasting out part of his hearing, but it aimed purposefully upward and between them to damage them both in that way. The beaded rounds cut bits of himself as well as their velocity and explosion gave him a second to shove forward, flipping the gun with a release of a shotgun shell and a reload. rounds cut parts of himself as well as their velocity and explosion gave him a second to shove forward, flipping the gun with a release of a shotgun shell and a reload.

Salva felt the thrill of victory as Ivor struggled to take his weight, and relished in the taste of the hunter's blood bathing his tongue. But there was a reason why countless wolves had fallen at Ivor's feet - he was devastatingly strong, and that crazed intensity in his eye was enough to challenge any wolf's dominance. When the shotgun went off between them and hot shrapnel exploded into his face, Salva's lungs contracted in a sharp, pained yelp, and he briefly fell away to paw at the stinging wounds freckling his muzzle. His hearing was reduced to a high-pitched whine, but this series of events only served to heighten the wolf's aggression. Salva came forward again to leap onto the hunter, this time attempting to take up the shotgun in his teeth and rip it away. Fight harder, Salva… came a distant voice in his ears, his own, from somewhere deep in his being. Or you're going to die here.

Blood coated Ivor’s face, dripping down his chin, turning the snowy white beard into speckled red. Both wolf and human blood splattered across his clothes, and carved lines from the shrapnel of his buckshot bubbled up to the surface and spilled over. Ivor didn’t hesitate one moment, didn’t move, didn’t go to step back or run. He just stood there, looking the beast in the eye, and a freshly loaded shotgun bullet in his single round barrel; these bullets aimed for damage over death. His hearing was white static, but the hunter didn’t seem to care, his chest heaved slightly, a wildness to almost match the beast making the whitest grins spread on his face. “Fire!” he yelled, but could barely hear himself as an explosion of compressed air sent two small harpoons flying at them with a trail of rope. Ivor ducked down in a low squat and met Salva’s leap forward to keep him upright in hopes they connected. 

Salva was on his two back paws as they grappled, but his ears swiveled as he heard coordinated movement behind them… he barely had the presence of mind, but the wolf managed to twist out of the way just in time as two harpoons came hurtling at him. One of them missed and clanged against the pavement, but the other hooked into his shoulder, the long-toothed blade catching against the grain of his flesh. Salva let out a blood-curdling howl, but it rose from a place of pure hatred for Ivor, and he used the pain's momentum to bite down on his arm. He wrenched his head to the side with the intent to rip flesh, the threads of Ivor's clothing splintering. 

Ivor��screamed, the teeth tearing into his flesh never able to be described-- the pain unbearable, even if known over and over, added scars and deep hatred for these creatures. Except one. The men pushed a retracting button on the harpoon that struck as they called for Ivor from the truck. The weapon was cruel and designed to inflict a lot of damage should it be pulled out. Blood dripped everywhere, and Ivor was furious. This was transpiring when it wasn’t part of his plan. How had Lucas gotten on Salva’s radar? Who told him to come to White Crest? Was it his brother? Or fate toying with his desires? Ivor’s anger imploded, and he almost roared back, feral in sound. The shotgun fell to the ground, replaced with silver, and he turned the same sharp blade used on Lucas and shoved it down, through the cheekbone of the beast’s face, and embedded it into Salva’s jawbone to pry it open, so he didn’t lose his arm.   

The weapon's cord snapped taut, and the harpoon head retracted, pulling out of Salva's shoulder and taking with it a sizable chunk of muscle and coarse, black fur. But before he could even react, the silver blade landed squarely at the base of his jaw - such a blinding, burning pain made the wolf want to die, and his yellow eyes widened to stare at Ivor's face, almost pleadingly, like the unfeeling beast in him longed for death. However, the stab only served to lock Salva's jaw, and the human in him abruptly decided that this was his moment to get even. The massive black wolf crunched down as hard as he could, feeling the man's arm shatter between his teeth, and gave a mighty wrench… sinews pulled, the joint was forced out of place, and skin and muscle were rented asunder as Ivor's arm was severed at the shoulder. Blood spattered on Salva's face, and he kept the limb in his jaws as he staggered backwards, blinded by anguish - his legs buckled and he collapsed onto the pavement, claws unable to gain traction over a film of his own lifeblood. Is this what it feels like to die…? 

Ivor went into immediate shock and his body-- it didn’t know what was happening and his mind was slowing down. He knew that something was missing, that the feeling-- the pain, it wasn’t there as the shock protected him and made his teeth clatter, but it wasn’t good. The blood loss had him stagger back as two of the men ran over and pushed his jacket into his arm. Trying to stop the blood gushing, and he felt like this might be the first time in a while where he might die on a hunt. “Fucking, Salva-- I’m sick of this!” He reached for his shotgun, and though weakened, the closest guy put it in his one hand, holding it steady and pointed it at Salva’s face. But before the trigger pulled, Ivor’s gaze moved bleary towards the road, and his heart almost stopped. A monstrous beast with amber eyes, on all fours, tearing up the asphalt from sheer speed was running right for them. “Go-- go, go--” the two men said at the same time and started to drag Ivor towards the truck who didn't have a choice but to go. The men had already pulled the body of the man killed into the back. 

Lucas’ hair was on end, and he barreled towards them, long gashes from his claws tearing up the ground as he pushed himself to go faster and catch the truck. The world blurred to that fine point, and Lucas felt his mind drift dangerously into a place of no return. The tired squealed and spun at the press of the acceleration, kicking up smoke that filled the road. As Lucas got close enough, he caught Ivor’s eye from the back window. The last time such an event happened, it was when he was shot in the head. Somehow, even with his arm torn off, seeing Lucas, even in wolf form, had the hunter smiling when he saw him. It made Lucas sick, his stomach rotting in disgust and his steps faltered against his will. The truck weaved and almost clipped him, and raced down the road. Lucas wanted to chase them but pivoted and ran towards the wolf; half shifted enough to grab his face with both hands, making sure he could smell him and looked him firmly in the eyes. His voice was deep, barely human tongues. 

“Salva-- hey, come on-- stay awake. Need to pull this out.”  

Somehow, even through the blood loss, Salva had managed to remain at least semi-conscious, and watched incredulously as a shotgun pointed at him was suddenly redirected. Another wolf came barreling in… that scent… Lucas?! He couldn't believe his eyes as Ivor and his men sped away in their truck, tires squealing in its haste - just like that, the hunter had once again vanished into thin air, and all that was left of him was that dark blood smeared on the pavement. Salva's ears swiveled to listen to Lucas as the young wolf approached, and his body language betrayed his usually cold demeanor - the tip of his long black tail thumped slowly against the concrete, as if to say Jesus, is it good to see you, kid. Salva raised his head to Lucas so he could help wrench the knife loose… he knew if he were to shift back with the metal in his jaw, the damage would be devastating. All he could do was brace himself for the pain. 

“I got you--” He held Salva’s face almost tenderly for being partially monstrous, and his chest ached at the damage. Lucas couldn’t fucking believe this. He was so mad, and it had been a freak chance that his nose caught Salva’s scent when he was outside to take out the trash. Damn, he owed his mother so much for training him so well in marking scents, and fuck, Gotch was close to his apartment. If Salva hadn’t caught onto to him-- well. Luke just happened to be alone tonight of all nights. Lucas held his jaw still, pressing his thumb near the tip of the blade to line it up, and pulled it out quickly, not wanting Salva to jump and cause it to go into the bone more. He held the beautiful item for a second, and his mind echoed at the sight of it-- knowing it was the same one used on him weeks ago, and all the other small cuts on his body ached in reminder. It felt like a warning or a threat being in his hands, and his eyes drifted back to the road before he half snarled, putting it in his back pocket, so it didn’t burn him. “I didn’t know you were on patrol, shit Salva-- he almost killed you.” 

The wolf's jaws fell open, and Ivor's arm thudded wetly onto the ground. Salva snarled hotly against the pain as the knife was removed, and it twisted into a string of human expletives as he shifted back. "Lucas, you idiot... you shouldn't be here," the man snarled through clenched teeth, his words broken up with frustration and shaking breaths. He looked as though he'd been thrown in a meat grinder… needed to stop the bleeding somehow. The man grabbed at a nearby patch of gravel and rubbed a handful onto his jaw and shoulder, knowing that it was definitely going to make the wound infected, but at least it would help the blood congeal. He looked up the road to where the truck disappeared. 

"Motherfucker… I fucking HAD him." Salva waved Lucas away and began to pull himself to his feet. "You shouldn't be here, kid. I had it handled." 

Lucas swelled with anger, and it was at a level he wasn’t familiar with. It was the word ‘had’ which stoked the coals. A meaty growl rumbled from him, and his body shifted subtly more with a creak of bones. His heart rate was still up from the run, and he was furious at being told he shouldn’t have come when a shotgun had been pointed at the other’s face. That perspective of Luke running up the road had him leaping forward and shifting entirely to get there. The entire time, he was expecting an explosion and Salva’ head in pieces on the goddamn road. The smell of Gotch was saturated in this space, and Luke inhaled it deeply, his body shaking from it against his will as fear swirled in his gut. His clothes were barely on his body from the shift and run, and he couldn’t slow his breathing. “I will not... see someone... die for me. Not from him!” he said frustrated. “I’m tired of this!” It shifted into a roar that he had to swallow down as not to alert anyone. His entire mind burned red because of it. He was right there. Salva almost died and if anyone could have killed Ivor-- Lucas’ thoughts darkened. Wanting to chase after the truck more than anything else.

“Come on, my place is right there--” Luke offered his shoulders. 

Salva managed to get to his feet, but only for a moment… he staggered and reached out to grip Lucas’ shoulder, his knuckles white. Dark black lifeblood steadily dripped onto the pavement, and it could be easily observed that he was going strictly on adrenaline alone - his heart thudded, and his breaths came heaving from a chest shining with sweat. He glanced sidelong to the tire marks the truck left on the road, licked some of Ivor’s blood absently from the corner of his mouth, but however alive he seemed, no one had scented death that night more clearly than Salva. The wounds he’d sustained were grievous, perhaps worse than any of his other run-ins with Ivor, and the image of staring down the barrel of the hunter’s shotgun was burned into his retinas. If Luke hadn’t shown up when he did… “Let him go, Lucas,” Salva said after a long moment, and his voice, usually so strong and confident, was nearly lifeless. It was undignified to accept help from a younger wolf, especially retreating to recover at his house, but if he didn’t get rest, death was still a very real possibility. “Yeah, if I could just… borrow your floor for a night…” There was a hot pressure in his throat. Why do I feel like crying…? 

His grip tightened around Salva’s waist, and hoisted him up enough to bare more of his weight so he didn’t stagger so much. Luke’s heart was hammering in concern for Salva, it was bad-- and the wound to his face might not heal well with that silver. Dammit. The silver dagger was tucked in his back pocket and it carried so much reminder to his own torture. “Gotch, when he was cutting me-- and I couldn’t get out of my head, even with the pain--” Lucas felt guilt suddenly swallow up the anger, and it nearly formed a black hole in his chest and it ached so bad he had to grit his teeth to stop frustrated tears from coming up. He walked steady, not wavering in keeping him up.

“He promised, he’d cut someone’s face I care about, scar them-- because I told him no again. To act as a reminder, that he will always win. No matter who I go too.” Luke’s breath faltered a little bit, the seam of his own wound had sealed up but was still causing him issues. It was aching and bleeding a little from the shift and run on all fours, scarred badly forever, another jagged reminder. He took them towards the back alleyway, which would keep them more out of sight. “Next time-- next time I don’t want him too. Please don’t go alone again.” 

Lucas's words were growing faint, as if spoken on the other side of a long tunnel, as Salva's healing responses were finally kicking in. He could feel it, his skin and muscles surveying the damage dealt, shocks down his limbs as reinforcements rushed to carry cells to the wounds and fight off bacteria… everywhere except the ripped gash in his cheek. There, no blood flowed, and the skin was becoming dark and dead from where the silver blade corroded his flesh away. He could even feel the chilly night air on his teeth as he glanced to Lucas, his expression tight and brow furrowed with the effort of speaking. His healing would soon be sapping every iota of his energy. "I'll never stop," Salva breathed flatly. "I'll find him again. And when I do, you're gonna be there, Lucas. I'm gonna hold that motherfucker down…while you rip his goddamn face off." A slight hitch in his voice. "I promise, kid." 

Luke looked sideways and down at Salva, noticing the further weakness in his steps which had Luke holding him tighter and situating him on his side differently so he didn’t fall down. The weight of Salva was not a hindrance, but it was always awkward to half drag someone. Luke pushed the code into the apartment, and the back door opened. They met eye to eye when Salva spoke, surprised he wasn’t unconscious with the dead weight, amber rings, and spots of fur, the two beasts a bloody mess, with anger still burning hot in their veins for more fight even with the current state. Luke smiled, something brighter than a full moon, making that youthfulness he always carried spread out over his cheeks, and struck his eyes with hope. “Okay. Come on, I really should hose you off,” Lucas joked, but got them up the stairs into his apartment so he could make sure Salva didn’t die. 

“Thank you--” he whispered later. Watching over him.

[holmesiswherethehartis]

please write Zavier realizing hes gay for Danny if you're feeling it! this fandom had like 4 fics i need it😂

One Zavier x Danny fanfiction coming right up!! This is my first fanfic, so forgive me if it’s shaky, but I did my best. It’s long—I’ll warn you now—but hopefully that will keep you occupied!!

Part One

Warning: Contains Firestarter references and spoilers

Zavier traced his fingers along the map, following the path that he planned on taking to the city of Bern, Switzerland. He had toppled that tower in early November, and without a doubt, the Builders planned on putting up a new one. Last he’d seen of the Builders, they were still working their crimes in Bulgaria. Hopefully, they still had a week or two before any of them split off and came their way.

“You called a meeting?”

He cast a glance over his shoulder, then quickly returned to the map. “Edmund. You’re early. I was thinking we could meet up once everyone had a chance to eat. You know how Liddy gets when she’s hungry.”

Edmund whistled. “She got that from our dad. He had a temper.”

“He had a drinking problem.”

“That too. But you should have seen him when dinner wasn’t ready the minute he got home.” He walked over to him. “Anyway, what’s the meeting about?”

“I want to change our route to include going to Bern. I think we can get there before the Builders do, and maybe send some kind of warning to the clock mechanics union there.”

He was so concentrated on the map, it took him a minute to realise that the coughing sound behind him was actually Edmund laughing and trying to cover it up. He looked over his shoulder, and his suspicions were confirmed.

“What?”

Edmund shook his head. “It’s nothing. I think it’s a good plan.”

He hated it when Edmund did things like this. Ever since they were young, he had liked to hide things from Zavier. He was sort of like an older brother--but he was the kind of older brother that picked relentlessly on his siblings. Nevertheless, they got along very well. Zavier trusted Edmund more than just about anyone else. He usually told things to him before he even brought them up to Sally or Aunt Jo.

Still, he didn’t like that he was snickering at him. “What? What’s wrong with it? Did I make a mistake?”

Edmund couldn’t wipe the grin off his face. “No, not at all. I just think your sudden interest in mechanics and their unions and everything is… touching.”

“What the hell does that mean?” Zavier asked, even though part of him already knew the answer.

“I’ll let you figure it out. Use your brain for something besides staring at maps all day. By the way, I came in early because I needed to talk to you.”

Zavier raised an eyebrow. “About?”

“Mister Hart wants to know if he’s invited to this meeting. He says he’s well enough to walk.”

Danny.

Zavier doubted that he was, in fact, well enough to walk. Earlier that month, in the city of Prague, Danny had rescued him from an exploding clock tower--a situation that Zavier had gotten himself into--and he had taken the fall for it. Since then, Zavier had gone to check on him constantly, but he was rarely awake. On the occasion that he was awake, Zavier usually turned around quickly and left the room before Danny noticed, pretending that he’d walked into the wrong place. He wasn’t sure how to go about saying ‘thank you’ to the mechanic quite yet. He felt immeasurable guilt, and he was caught in a web pulling him in one thousand directions. Should he say sorry? Thank you? Sorry and thank you? He’d stopped blowing up clock towers completely, ever since Danny’s boyfriend, a very sweet clock spirit named Colton, had asked him to. But somehow, that didn’t feel like enough. What Danny had done for him was the kind of thing that couldn’t be repaid in a single lifetime.

Maybe he ought to take him back to London. The poor young man had already lost so much at Zavier’s hands. He deserved a break.

But giving him a break would mean that he would need to find a new way to figure out the secret of time. Meena had already claimed that she didn’t know it. Daphne scared him too much for him to go near her. It had to be Danny.

But Danny deserved to go home.

For some reason, the thought of him leaving made Zavier...sad. An image in his mind manifested of Danny going back to London and never thinking twice about the Prometheus. Whether or not that would happen should Danny go, Zavier was left in the dark. But he couldn’t get it out of his head. He would miss Danny. Yet, Danny probably would be better off back in London, unbothered by the thought of the Prometheus or any of the people on it. Him included.

It was as if he wanted to somehow give Danny everything, but the situation kept forcing him to take more away. Time after time, Danny saved him and gave him a second chance. One of those times--Zavier didn’t remember which one, it was somewhere in between talking with him on a bench by a fountain in Prague and seeing him as he floated in and out of consciousness in the tower--something had changed.

One of those times, he had stolen a glance at Danny for no reason.

Another time, the young mechanic had made him laugh.

Once, he’d been unable to sleep, and he’d been looking out over the sleeping city of Prague. Danny had woken up, too, and they both pretended to not notice each other. Zavier had curled back up on the floor and tried to fall asleep, but he hadn’t been able to. Maybe it was because he was so tired--but more than anything, really, he’d wanted to stay up with Danny and talk with him. Even for just five minutes.

Something inside him… wanted Danny to stay. It had nothing to do with time anymore.

Zavier wanted him to be happy. More than that, though--he wanted to be someone who made him happy.

Just like he did for him.

“He… he can come to the meeting if he wants,” Zavier replied. “If he thinks he’s stable enough to walk.”

Edmund winked. “I think he’ll be happy to see that you’re sticking up for unions like his.” Then, he left the room.

Zavier didn’t need a mirror to know his face had gone red. “What the hell--what--”

There was no use talking to the door, swinging behind his friend as he’d left.

Part Two

Just as Zavier had suspected, Danny needed help to even walk inside the meeting room. Edmund was helping him, supporting him on the back and allowing the young mechanic to drape his arm over his shoulders.

The second the two of them came inside, the entire dynamic of the room changed. No one else seemed to notice it, but Zavier felt it as surely as a change in temperature. He was no longer talking to his crew members about making a course change. He was taking a stand, of sorts. He was letting the world know that he was starting to care.

Maybe the entire world wasn’t listening. Danny was, and that was all that mattered.

He collapsed in a chair, and instantly, Zavier could see his muscles relax. Walking was still hard on him. But after a long, deep, cleansing breath, his shoulders dropped and his chest stopped heaving.

Zavier cleared his throat and tried to focus on the rest of the room. Astrid and Prema were snickering about something in the corner, faces too close to one another for it to be overheard--even by Liddy, who was sitting next to them with her arms crossed as she munched on some crackers. Edmund sat next to Danny on the other side of the table, with Ivor and Felix on his other side. Dae had neglected to show, as Zavier had suspected. Aunt Jo was still up flying the plane. Closest to him was his younger sister, Sally Holmes. She sat silently as always, her grey eyes softly on him.

He gave her a brief smile before he sat down. “Thank you for coming here on such short notice. I’d like to make a change to the route that includes stopping by the city of Bern in Switzerland. The Builders have not yet gone there to put up a new tower, as they were mostly preoccupied in Bulgaria, and before that, India. However, they are nearing the area.We know that the Builders have a ritual that they perform, and it involves sacrificing a clock mechanic.”

“Murdering,” Danny breathed. It was only just loud enough for Zavier to hear, but if he heard it, he could be rather certain that everyone else did, too. He was about as far away from Danny as possible--both physically and emotionally speaking.

Zavier cleared his throat. “Murdering might be a more appropriate term, yes.”

Edmund grinned knowingly at him. Zavier ignored him, though it was difficult as the murmur swept through the whole room. Even Sally, his own sister, seemed to find something funny.

“Anyway,” he continued, hoping that his cheeks were not as red as they felt, “it might work in our favor to stop by Bern and alert them of what’s coming. The fewer casualties, the better. There is a strong mechanics union there, and if we warn a few of them, I suspect that word will spread. In order to do that, though, we’ll need to actually stop in Bern for a day or so. We’ll need fuel anyway. Thoughts?”

Liddy raised one hand while she wiped crumbs away from her chest with her other one. “I’ve got a question.”

He hoped that it had nothing to do with his sudden desire to help the mechanics unions, but before she finished her sentence, he knew it was exactly that. “Yes?”

“Why are you suddenly protective of mechanics?”

You could have phrased that better, he thought. This time, there was no hoping that his embarrassment was hidden.

“Liddy’s got a point,” Astrid elaborated. “We ‘ave not exactly ‘elped mechanics in the past. They might not be open to us.”

“I’ll admit, this is different for us,” Zavier responded, choosing his words carefully. He glanced over at Edmund, who gave him a small nod of approval. “But after what we saw happen in Prague--”

At this, he accidentally looked at Danny.

The mechanic looked tired, and at the mention of the city’s name, his eyes fell down to all the cuts and scrapes on his arms. Then, he looked up again, and for a brief second, and his emerald gaze lingered on Zavier.

Zavier, trying and failing to not sound distracted, continued talking. “I don’t want anyone else to get hurt.”

For some reason, that made Danny smile.

And his smile made Zavier feel happy.

It made him feel like maybe, an apology wouldn’t be so hard. Maybe he could do it. Danny might even forgive him. Hell, part of him wondered if Danny was even upset. His smile looked so reassuringly genuine.

The rest of the meeting went on, and Zavier answered any questions thrown at him. It took a mere ten minutes for things to draw to a close and for his crew to leave. Edmund walked over to Danny and offered to help him stand up and walk back to the medical wing, but he politely declined. Instead, he looked over at Zavier. “Would you mind if I talked with you for a minute? Don’t worry, you’re not in trouble.”

Without thinking, Zavier smiled at him. “I wasn’t too scared.”

Edmund walked over to Zavier and patted him on the shoulder. “I’ll see you later, Z. Good luck.”

Good luck? What’s that supposed to mean, Ed? he thought. But Edmund was gone before he got the chance to continue.

So, he walked over to Danny. “You wanted to talk.”

He nodded. His green eyes looked brighter with the dark circles around them. Zavier was fairly certain his shirt was on backwards, but decided not to say anything. His hair almost looked windswept, though no one had been outside in a few days--especially not Danny.

“I’ve actually been wanting to talk to you for awhile, but you never came and saw me in the hospital,” he began.

That wasn’t true. Zavier had gone and seen him several times. Twice a day, at the beginning. It was just… he didn’t want Danny to see him. He hadn’t been ready.

“I suppose I have missed you. I did check on you--quite a bit when you were first admitted to the hospital. I just didn’t realise you had a reason to want to see me.”

Danny looked up at him. “Of course I have a reason to want to see you. The last time I was conscious and in the same place as you, we nearly died. I know I’ve been doing pretty shitty, what about you?”

Zavier sighed. Something about the way Danny said it made him want to smile-- there was a distinct sense of sarcasm--but he was also worried that he might be telling the truth. Perhaps everything had been horrible for him. “I’m sorry, Danny. We’ll do what we can for you--”

“You missed the important part.”

He raised an eyebrow. “Excuse me?”

“I asked you how you’re doing.”

I have been wanting to talk to you for days, but I’ve had no idea how to go about doing it. I feel guilty. I want to apologise to you and help you put everything behind you, if that’s what you want. But I can’t. I made a promise to free Aetas, and you’re the only way I’m going to do it. I don’t want to hurt you. But what else can I do?

Instead of saying any of that, he just cleared his throat. “I’ve healed up pretty well. Still have a bit of a limp, but even that’s not too bad anymore.” Then, he nodded to him. “Thanks for asking.”

Danny returned the nod. “Of course. Yeah, anytime.”

Neither one of them spoke after that. Maybe the silence lasted a minute, maybe it was an hour, or maybe it was only a few seconds. Danny could stop time. He could control it. It made sense that Zavier lost track of it when he was around him.

Finally, Danny looked over at him with his tired expression. There was something in his eyes--maybe mischief, maybe excitement--that both momentarily terrified and exhilarated Zavier.

“I know you wanted me to have some kind of revelation when I read Prometheus Unbound,” he began, “but I didn’t. I took something else away, it just wasn’t what you wanted.”

The book had been fascinating, but only to Zavier. Sally had read it and told him that she found it boring. Edmund hadn’t even finished it. “What was it?” he asked.

“At one point, the character Demogorgon says that all things are subject to eternal Love.”

Zavier paused, waiting for Danny to go on, but he didn’t. “What’s so captivating to you about that line?” he asked.

Danny looked over at him. “I think that it’s true.”

“And?”

He leaned in. “And I don’t think that you’re an exception. I think that you’ve loved and loved, and you’ve lost and lost. You told me about your mother. I think that it’s easier for you to pretend you’re cold and heartless, but you’re not. You love more and deeper than you’re letting on, and frankly, I think that the concept of loving others has started to terrify you. But you do. You do, and I see it.” he was getting more passionate the longer he spoke. His voice wasn’t rising, but it was growing more heated. “I think you’re trying to forget what love feels like, because you don’t want to get distracted from your work. To you, it’s so much easier to make everything about work. About Aetas and your mom. But you’re subject to love, too. And you need to start showing it, or else I am not going to work with you.”

With that, Danny stood up. He was having a hard time walking, and so Zavier stood up to help him, but the mechanic dismissed him.

“Don’t. I can get back. It’ll be good for me to walk on my own.” He stabilised himself against a wall and looked at the leader of the Prometheus. “I’m not trying to sound mad. I just think you need to get it together.”

Usually, he would have lashed out at Danny, but he was already in poor enough condition as it was. So, instead, he straightened his jacket, readjusted his collar, and looked at him. “Sorry to disappoint you, Danny, but love needs to come second, in my line of work. There are millions of people that depend on my succeeding in this mission, and I ought not to let them down by getting caught up in my own emotions. There are bigger problems out there.”

Danny shook his head. “You need my help, and I won’t help you until you break down a few of your own walls. I tried to do it for you, but obviously, it didn’t work.”

Zavier watched Danny leave. He was struggling with walking, but if he wasn’t going to accept the help from him, there was no point in offering.

So, he turned back to the map, pretending to study it. His eyes drifted immediately to Prague, and he took a deep breath.

His walls were broken. Did he really need to shout that to the world in order to get a simple answer from Danny Hart?

There were other ways to find the secret of time. Maybe, he didn’t need Danny’s help. He could improvise.

Part Three

“How was it?” Edmund asked, stepping into line with Zavier as he walked down the hall.

Zavier shrugged. “It could have gone better. Danny says that he is not inclined to work with us.”

“Anything new?”

He sighed. “He was just rambling about how I don’t show enough emotion. Things like that. I’m trying to help the mechanics unions--is there any pleasing him?”

Edmund bit his lip. “I was going to talk to you about that, actually. The whole emotions thing.”

Part of him wanted to tell Edmund to save it for a rainy day, but he decided that he was too tired to argue. “What’s your stance on it?”

“I kind of agree with Danny. But, that’s not what I was going to say.”

Zavier raised an eyebrow. “What was that, then?”

“I--can I talk to you in a more private place?” he asked. “I don’t want Liddy to hear this. She won’t drop it.”

“That bad?” he asked, lips twisting up into a half-smile.

“Oh yeah. If Astrid or Prema hear it, they’ll go nuts. This needs to be private.”

And so, the two of them stole away to a small room off to the side. It was usually used by Felix and Charlotte when they needed ro get away from everyone and share sweet conversations. There was a couch and a window, but not much else.

Edmund stayed standing while Zavier took a seat. “Zavier, this is a theory that I’ve had for awhile. It’s… regarding your taste in people.”

“I don’t… taste people.”

“Well, not yet,” Edmund replied, tongue-in-cheek.

Zavier, for the one thousandth time that day, flushed bright red. “What the bleeding hell is that supposed to--”

“Never mind!” Edmund interrupted. “Forget I said that. You’ll know what it means the day you figure out what it means.”

“Who are you, Nietzsche?” he asked. “Are you trying to philosophise something here?”

“Nietzsche didn’t talk about this stuff, Z. Also, just don’t compare me to that guy.” He took a deep breath. “Anyway, I think that you like men.”

How many people could lecture him about love and romance in a day? Zavier groaned. Edmund was starting to sound like Danny, with his talks about love and acceptance. “Is this really necessary?”

“Yes! I think you’re in denial,” he continued.

“What about me makes me seem like I fancy other men?” he asked, quickly closing off his body language. He crossed his legs and his arms, and then for good measure, leaned back.

“Well,” Edmund began. “Let’s start with the basics. Men who like women don’t dress in white button-up shirts with vests or wear their shirts tucked into their pants.”

Zavier’s face grew hotter. “Men with status do.”

“You’re a criminal. An outlaw. A vagabond labeled by the masses as a terrorist.”

“But I have style,” Zavier protested.

“You also put far too much effort into combing back your hair and sometimes even gelling it.”

“I’m sorry, are you criticising my fashion or is this going to feed into your point?” he asked, getting annoyed.

“Oh, no. It feeds in. But up until this part, it could all be written off as a strange sense of style.”

“Strange?” Zavier asked. “Is that what everyone thinks?”

“But what happened in Prague--you got visibly upset when I asked if Danny would be uncomfortable sleeping with another man. You stood up for him.”

“I just don’t like discrimination.” Then, he quickly added, “I didn’t feel like you were necessarily discriminating--”

“I wasn’t. You knew that. You got protective over Danny. Also, you took him out and sat for nearly half an hour, talking with him on a bench by a water fountain. You two were laughing. He made you laugh. You need that. I think he brings out the best in you, and he seems to really care. He took the bullet for you, so to speak, in Prague.”

Zavier uncrossed his arms and leaned forward. “Are you suggesting that I’m interested in men, or are you trying to set me up? Because it clearly won’t work. He’s in a happy, albeit illegal, relationship and I won’t allow anything to come in the way of that.”

The moment the words left his lips, he realised that he could’ve phrased it better.

Edmund smiled. “I think you care for him quite a bit. But we can leave off for today at you accepting your romantic preference in men.”

After that, he left. Zavier leaned back on the couch and looked out the window, trying to comprehend what had just happened.

There was no way he liked men. He didn’t have a romantic preference. Frankly, he didn’t believe that romance was his thing.

His mind drifted back to Danny, as it had been lately when it had nowhere else to wander.

All things are subject to love.

“That is a line from a book,” he reminded himself. “No matter what Danny and Edmund are trying to tell me.”

For some reason, though, that line had started to stick in his head, too. And he associated it with Danny, and his brief smiles, witty jokes, and selfless character.

All the things that made Zavier lose his composure and start to laugh. They were what had broken down his walls, and made them crumble like a clock tower to the floor.

It all came back to Danny. Every time.

With a start, he even realised that he’d been thinking of Danny while Edmund talked to him about being in love with other men.

Zavier didn’t fall in love. He couldn’t afford to. There was too much for him to lose, and too much that had already been lost. He didn’t want to add Danny to that list. It was a composition of broken hearts, tears, rage, and a sense of helplessness. Danny was… so much more than that.

Danny was happiness that spontaneously caught him off-guard, appearing out of nowhere and refusing to go away. He was a sense of security and belonging. He was a reason to be a better person, someone to look forward to.

That was when it hit him.

Love was happiness that spontaneously caught him off-guard, appearing out of nowhere and refusing to go away. It was a sense of security and belonging. It was a reason to be a better person, someone to look forward to.

Edmund was right. He fancied men.

Zavier was in love with Danny Hart.

Part Four

Danny collapsed on the hospital bed. The talk with Zavier had taken everything out of him, even though it had been worth it.

Colton was already inside, waiting for him. He ran over and helped him lay down in a more comfortable position. “Danny! Why didn’t you have anyone walk back with you? You should not be walking around by yourself right now. You’ll get hurt!” He paused. “I’m gonna make a great dad someday. Just listen to me.”

Danny laughed. It still hurt like hell to even breathe, and so the laughter felt like a medieval torturing method, but he couldn’t help himself. “Thanks, Colton.”

He smiled and kissed Danny on the forehead. “Really, though. I don’t want to see you walking around and getting yourself all banged up.”

“I won’t! I promise, Colton,” he replied. “I just needed to stretch my legs.”

“And?”

Danny sported a lopsided grin. “And I needed to talk to Zavier. It went alright, but he didn’t like what I had to say. I didn’t get punched, though.”

“That’s a plus. He’s getting better.”

He stretched out, and Colton sat down next to him. He leaned in closely and kissed the top of his nose, and then sat back up to allow for his boyfriend to keep talking.

“I told him about that line that made me think of you during Prometheus Unbound. The one that goes ‘all things are subject to love’,” he continued.

Colton ran a hand down Danny’s cheek. “You’re so sweet. What did he think of it? Did he have a revelation about clock spirits having emotions, too?”

He shook his head. “We’ll get there. I was actually trying to talk to him about his own emotions. I told him that I wouldn’t tell him the secret to time unless he started breaking down his own barriers. I want him to show that he cares, and stop pretending like he can’t show weakness. Weakness is what makes us human. And I want him to see that he’s human, too.”

The clock spirit smiled. “You have a lot of faith in that guy. Do you think he really does feel love? I personally thought he was a sociopath, until he stopped blowing up towers.”

Danny laughed dryly. “I think he’s got more of a heart than he lets on. And I want to see it.”

“Who would he love, though? I mean, I know he loves his family and his mission and things like that, but who would he love? Romantically? I just can’t see him in a relationship with anyone here. Maybe he’d fall in love if he ever left the Prometheus.”

Danny thought for a moment. Who would Zavier love?

He went through the options in his head. Liddy was too obnoxious, and for some reason, he felt that Zavier deserved better than a girl like her. He deserved someone who would watch out for him and protect him. Someone, he thought, who would bring out the better parts of him.

There was Daphne, but she was in a relationship of some sort with Akash. Besides, she hated him.

Meena was far too young. Zavier was twenty-two, whereas Meena Kapoor was only sixteen. Eight years apart, with one being a minor, was way too much of a gap for Danny to want to think about.

Astrid and Prema were together, too. And they both liked women, not men.

Then, a thought struck him.

What if Zavier liked men?

It was a bizarre thought, but he decided to bring it up to Colton. “If anyone, I think he’d make more sense dating a bloke.”

“You think?” Colton asked. “Edmund seems like too much of a brother figure to him. Dae hates him. Felix is old and married. Akash is together with Daphne.”

“Dae hates everyone, except you, to be fair. But… I don’t know.” He took a deep breath. “It’s not our place to decide, anyway. This is his love life. I just meant that I think he should start showing more happiness and fondness toward other people. I tried so hard and for so long to force even a laugh out of him.”

Colton stroked his hair gently. “Did you? Did you ever get him to laugh?”

Most of what had happened in Prague was blurry in his head. Bits and pieces came together until he could stitch a picture of what had gone on. A few things, though, were clear.

He had sat on a bench by a water fountain and talked to Zavier. Zavier had asked him if his scar ever hurt him, and he’d asked him the same question. Then, he had made him laugh--or maybe that was before--by making a morbid joke. That time, he hadn’t even been trying to be funny. It was just a witty comment that came to mind, so he said it. Zavier had liked it.

Edmund had asked if Danny would be comfortable sleeping with another man. Zavier had instantly stuck up for him and even given Danny an entire bed to sleep in, alone, in case he was uncomfortable. It might not have been saving him from a clock tower, but he had been so willing to give up his own comfort if it meant that Danny would sleep soundly and without trouble. Looking back on it, he almost wished that he’d invited Zavier to sleep with him.

Next to him, he would have been able to make sure the young man was alright.

One night, he had woken up and thought about escaping, but then he’d seen Zavier, sitting on the floor and staring out at the city of Prague with a sense of young innocence that had been unfamiliar to his face. More than anything, he had wanted to sit down and talk to Zavier about why he was awake so late. Danny had nightmares--maybe he did, too. He wanted to know if the two of them were as similar as he thought.

Similar, and yet strikingly different. Danny wore his heart on his sleeve, whereas Zavier kept his tucked away. Danny saw beauty in everything, and Zavier struggled to find it at all.

Zavier needed someone like Danny to keep him stable.

Colton could see where his train of thought had arrived, and he started to mess around with his hair again. “You’re worried about him.”

Danny looked up. “I think I can help him. I just really need him to open up to me.”

“How much?”

It was a hard question to answer, but Danny knew what he wanted to say. “Entirely. I want to see him admit what he’s feeling, and I want him to ask for help. I want to see that side of him that he hides away from the rest of the world, because I think I can help heal it. I want him to--”

I want him to love me.

Colton understood what was implied. “Do you think he ever would?”

“I don’t know, Colton. Frankly, I don’t care. I have you, and you’re all I could ever want.” He reached up and ran his hand through his golden hair. “I will always be yours. That won’t ever change.”

Colton leaned in and kissed him. Danny kissed back, hand still on the back of his lover’s head.

Soul meets soul on lover’s lips, he thought, pressing himself as close to Colton as he could go.

It was a refreshing feeling, and once they both pulled away, he couldn’t stop smiling as he looked at him.

“I know it wouldn’t,” Colton replied. “You have proved that to me, one hundred times over. I’m not suggesting that you should leave me.” He slowly laid down next to him and put his hands on Danny’s hips. “I don’t think either of us could actually survive not seeing each other for a week.”

“And you’ve proved that one hundred times over,” Danny joked, thinking back to all those months ago, when Colton vandalised his own tower, just so he would come back and fix it. It had been over a year, even though that feeling of seeing him for the first and second and third time was still as fresh as ever.

“But I don’t think you should push Zavier away. I think you’re right--he needs you,” Colton muttered, only loud enough for the two of them to hear. “He’s falling apart, but he’s not letting anyone see.”

“He’s got Edmund,” Danny replied. “Sally. His aunt.”

“But I think he needs you.”

The mechanic touched his forehead to the spirit’s, and they stayed in that position for nearly a minute. Finally, he gathered the words that he wanted to say and started to talk again.

“Don’t get me wrong. I loved kissing you and holding you and having you on top of me back in the tower, right after you saw someone else kiss me, but I don’t want you to get jealous again. It’s a hard feeling, and no one deserves it.”

Colton laughed. “Don’t worry. I’ll kiss you and hold you and lay on top of you any day. I don’t need to be jealous.”

“Time sped up. Almost a day.”

He smiled. “It was a good day. We were both having fun.”

“I know. But my point is, I know how you are when you get jealous. You get overwhelmed with passion. And while I love the feeling that gives me, I don’t want it to happen more. It puts other people in danger. You’re a clock spirit. We can still be in a relationship, we just can’t do that together. And I don’t want you to feel left out--”

“Danny.”

He looked over. “Yeah?”

“This is different from Harland, back in Enfield. That guy wasn’t thinking about you. I didn’t like him.”

“And you do like Zavier?” Danny asked, confused.

“I like the version of him that you talk about. He sounds really pleasant, when you describe him letting you have the whole bed to yourself and whatnot. He’s putting you first and himself last.” He paused. “I also like the fact that he stopped blowing up clock towers when I asked him to. I think he’s getting softer.”

He almost laughed. “No. He’s not getting softer. I tried to get to him--”

“I think you did.”

His laugh fell short. “Really?”

“Yes. Listen, Danny. I want you to be happy. If it’s going to take two people to make you happy, then I want you to be in a relationship with two people.”

Danny thought for a moment. Did Zavier make him happy? He had held Colton and him both as prisoners, up until recently. Now, though, they were allowed to go anywhere they wanted, and he treated them as equals.

That made him happy, in a satisfying sort of way.

Zavier had kidnapped him multiple times and threatened him. He had been cruel and cold. That, too, had changed in the past couple of weeks. Recently, he had stopped any kind of blackmail and Danny had even heard discussion of Zavier dropping him off back in London.

That side of Zavier made him happy, too.

And then there was the side of Zavier that he had seen in Prague. The side that wanted to protect him and look out for him.

That made him happy enough that he considered taking Colton up on his offer to attempt to hold a relationship with two people.

“I can’t push you away.”

“You wouldn’t have to. And I don’t think you would. He needs you, Danny. Maybe he’s not even in love with you, but the more I think about it, the more I think he is. He checked on you a lot in the days following the explosion. He cares about you in a different way than he cares about anyone else on this whole ship.”

“All things are subject to love,” he whispered. “You think he loves me?”

“I do. And really, I wouldn’t mind if you kissed him. Besides, he stopped blowing up clock towers for me. I guess I can try to share.”

Danny leaned in and kissed Colton’s cheek. “Alright. I’ll see what I can do. I think we’ve got a long road before he admits anything.”

Although inside, he knew he’d done it. He really had broken down Zavier’s walls.

[comic-is-trying-to-write]

The Origin Of The Order [C4]

“Soren…it seems that you’ve forgotten that we’re only children…” Voice calling out into the gentle light blue of pretty morning, Soren’s feet frantically paced him back and forth, Soren’s mind itself desperately striving to come up with a plan of which he and his friends could become renowned heroes that day. Granted, the ginger did understand that legends weren’t simply summoned out of the thin airs; they had to begin somewhere. Somewhere mild. Somewhere simple. Somewhere tedious…After all, there wasn’t all that much that was “heroic” for children to do without getting cold stares and judgement gazes from adults and kids alike as time itself hardened, annihilating his self-confidence and positive atmosphere alongside his determination and encouraged character while piercing mocks haunted within his head, throughout the rest of his life. Oh, and that’s only a portion of Soren’s illusion, if you were curious. There had to be something impressive that they could do! Something–anything that would get them acknowledged! As the ginger continued to sink back into the darkened blacks of deepened, desperate thought, his friends were beginning to recognize that their dear friend, Soren, was losing more of his unprotected patience by the moment. Even more so when Ivor made that comment as if he wasn’t already aware of that. And continued. “We’re not going to get famous overnight…” “I know that!” Soren corrected, almost aggressively. Almost. I don’t think any of them would like Soren when he’s angry, “I just…want us to be known…” “We’ll get there, Soren!” Gabriel encouraged, “It’s just going to take some time! We can start small for the time being!” “Exactly!” Ivor added, “It doesn’t really even need to be something grant that we do…!” You know that moment when you keep talking for no reason? Even when you don’t really stand by what you’re saying? Even when it’s completely pointless? As if you’re unconscious? “Even something small, like…” “…Community service…?” Did Magnus just try to bail Ivor out, saying that slowly? Well, if he was, that was until everyone’s judgmental stares instantaneously darted at him, donning expressions that just screamed how stupid that he sounded saying that. Even Magnus himself recognized how out-of-character it was for him to suggest such. Why did he? Glancing away, desperately trying to evade eye-contacts with his friends and change the topic whist keeping his pride up, “Alright…” “Or…!” Ellegaard suddenly perked and spoke up, “We could try to get our parents to take us to EnderCon…! If I remember correctly, they have all sorts of contests and conventions and…! We’re all so varied…! We could really shine individually there!” “Yeah, let’s just ask our parents to take us hundreds of miles to EnderCon!” Magnus mocked, “’cause that’s gonna work out oh-so-well!” “It was only an idea, Magnus,” Gabriel interfered. “And it’s a good one!” Soren insisted, “Maybe we’ll be able to go this summer! How long do we have before the con?” Speaking up, Ivor momentarily sighed, “Not long, I don’t think…you’d need tickets in advance to go…” A breath of disappointment from a ginger, “Well, there is always next year and… next year we’ll have more experience in…well…clearly everything!” A sentence of optimism from a green-eyed. Of course, everyone’s spirits were slightly uplifted by Soren’s words of encouragement, however, despite that, this isn’t some sort of Disney-princess story; they still hindered at this standstill for as what to do to get themselves accomplished and acknowledged amidst the sickening streaks of overlook, frantically streaming through the world of ordinaries and evils. There they were, fleeting a few moments of being showered in sun, alongside each other’s diversified personalities, not sure what to say. That is, before Gabriel had a suggestion. “Maybe we’re looking at this the wrong way then–we’re all so worried about getting noticed in the world when we don’t even know what our ultimate intention is…” Thing is, the entire idea of the Order of the Stone was Soren’s idea, so was it official that he was the leader? Maybe he just did the majority of the talking. Guess that’s why Gabriel turned to him curiously. Alike to the rest of the group, “what is our goal, Soren…?” “To become the world’s greatest heroes, of course!” Soren exclaimed, “To be able to help so many people and revolutionize the world with our exploits!” “Then we just need to start by saving someone!” Magnus noticed aloud, “That shouldn’t be too hard, yeah? We’d just have to find someone in danger…!” Of course! It was so simple! Why didn’t they realize that sooner? In fact, everybody in the group agreed without too much of an extra comment! Besides Ivor, that is, “But…we save who…?” Perhaps he was the most down-to-earth. Perhaps he was a pessimist. Regardless of which one, once again, everyone had become grounded in a standstill, stuttering, trying to figure out what to say. 

Feminine sigh. “I mean, I guess we could just walk around until we find someone to rescue…” Train of thought. “Then…they’ll…really let us know how much they appreciate us and tell the tale of The Order Of The Stone–the kids who saved them!” 

Though that was a perfect idea, who’s to say that that wouldn’t be harder said than done?

They didn’t have a compass…

They didn’t have a trace…

They didn’t have a clue…

Of where to look.

They just…

Hopelessly wandered around their towns.

But mainly their forest.

The children desperately sauntered throughout the broad proximities for several hours, striving to locate someone in need of help. They asked people about their problems, looked at “missing person” fliers, questioned their parents if they needed assistance with anything but, of course, nothing was there that children could truly do. Naturally, the one day that they were actually aiming to listen and fix people’s difficulties, there was no one in need of any sort of support. Then again, they were expecting what? Evidently, everything was just as peaceful as ever. Not that the hushed atmosphere was a complaint though; if it was dangerous about, it was dangerous about. Despite that, that didn’t stop Soren from sighing fiercely, becoming frustrated with, to put it simply, everything;

“Why is it just so hard to find someone with a problem?!”

“I mean, it’s not like the world’s in peril,” Magnus reminded, “Everything’s been peaceful for a long time around these parts…!”

“Well, sometimes I wish that something more interesting would happen around here…” Soren stated unobtrusively, “It gets boring when everything’s so tranquil…” 

“I mean,” Gabriel suggested, “we could always go and explore another cave.” 

“I’m not sure…” Ivor spoke up shush-ly, glancing away to avoid eye-contact with anyone, “Caves’re dangerous…”

“Yeah, that’s a terrible idea,” Ellegaard added, “Don’t you remember what happened last time? Besides, I don’t think anyone, especially Ivor, is too keen on going back until we have something other than wooden swords.” 

“Well, then we just need something to protect us then!” Magnus debated, “Maybe armour or bigger and better swords and weapons!” 

”Magnus,” Ellegaard continued, “Where are we ever going to find ‘better and better weapons?’ You’re forgetting, we’re all kids…! We can’t use them; they’re too dangerous!”

“Well, I miss going caving!” Magnus proceeded, “We need something to protect ourselves, otherwise we’re never gonna have any fun anymore!” 

“It’s not a matter of that, Magnus…!” Gabriel explained, “Our parents aren’t going to allow us to use anything better than wood! They’re too dangerous…!”

“We’d be careful…!” Magnus claimed.

“Magnus…!” Ivor told-off, Magnus, himself replying after, “They’re not going to trust us, even if we ask!”

“Why not?” 

“We’re children!” Soren belated asserted, “They’re swords! They’re dangerous!”

“We just need to get them to trust us…somehow…!”

“How?!”  Everyone simultaneously chanted back.

“I don’t know…!” Magnus shouted, “I mean…maybe, as Soren said, we find somebody to save?!”

“That’s idealistic!” Ellegaard argued.

Magnus slightly irrelevantly returned, “This is all idealistic!” 

“What…?!” Soren retorted.

“Ugh!” Magnus without thinking calls-out, “You really think that we’re gonna become a gang of legends?!”

“Magnus…!” Ivor stood up for Soren, saying that debate-ly; Soren was just too stunned in the abrupt-nature of that sentence to speak, only being able to haphazardly stutter.

“Yeah, Magnus…!” Gabriel spoke up loudly, continuing the argument tone, “This isn’t-!”

“AWOOOOOOOOOOOO!”

Suddenly, a powerful wail fiercely howled beyond and throughout the enigmatic forest, sweepingly sending vibrating chills up the children’s spines, everybody effectively freezing in their tracks as they gawked at each other in both confusion and fear. The deep howl just sounded so…unhuman. Sure, the kids were generally, genuinely looking for an obvious indication of disturbance but…that? In fact, none of the kids even knew how to react. They just kinda stood in place for a moment or two, giving themselves and their friends time to comprehend what the actual hell had just cried out…not that that really helped when trying to think of a slight clue on what had presently called.

“What on earth was that?!” Ivor was the first to ask, kinda afraid of what the indefinable being may’ve been, alike to the rest of the group.

As Soren began to run off in the direction that the creature howled from, his voice called, “Whatever that was, it came from this way…!” 

- - -

I think that people will be peer-pressured into doing things that they don’t really want to, at least, once in their life. That wasn’t really the case here. Sure, Soren’s can be a bit more impulsive than an ordinary child, but that doesn’t mean that his friends weren’t curious as well, though they were scared. Honestly, none of them were really thinking when they started to pursue the howl. That is, the creature they had wailed its voice into the atmosphere didn’t call any other tie, I mean. For all that the group knew, the entity had already left the proximity. It didn’t whimper at all, it seemed. Not loud enough to be heard at a few-minute distance anyway. After the group traced the creature’s cry through the woods, none of them were able to do anything but stare nervously yet inquisitively at the discovery that they had stumbled upon. 

“It’s…” Ivor quietly murmured as he knelt down and extended an arm out to get a closer look at the being and gently touch it, “…It’s a wolf…” That is, before the critter protectively growled and barred its teeth and the group, startling Ivor to swiftly shift back onto his feet, the other four to take a smaller step retrograde, “…I’ve never seen one before…” Indeed he hadn’t. Especially not one that had such outrageously red, stained fur. The wolf’s natural, ruby-coloured, blood continuously depleted from its owner, cause of an arrow vigorously lodged into its side, overwhelmingly suffocating the children’s thoughts of anything else other than the injury fixed against the pitiable animal.

“But what could have struck it with that arrow?” Gabriel asked.

Soren casually answered, “Likely to be a-” Suddenly, something rather slender and remarkably fast intensely thrusted past the group, including Soren, “SKELETON!”

Some of them tripping to the ground, they all heard a noise that they recognized all-too-well. As they concurrently glanced at what had sounded, red-flags violently began to go off in their heads by survival-instinct. Heavily. Because, dear god, If they didn’t have reflexes, they would’ve died. Or, at least, would’ve been in extreme pain. Brutally. In front of their friends. In the middle of nowhere. Yeah, did I say that a shooting arrow was a laughing matter? One of which their red-flags had been was that, if there was a dart, a skeleton must be in proximity, no? Sure enough, as the team coincidently glimpsed upwards, in the shade of a tree, stood a skeleton, frantically preparing another arrow for its antagonists.

Fortunately, Gabriel was competent enough to lash out the boarded sword which he had always carried alongside him and sprinted towards the skeleton, but not before Soren instinctively, instantaneously shot out one of his arms, as if he could just stretch out and grab Gabriel, stopping him that easily–stopping him from jeopardizing his life, him not getting much of a personal benefit. However, luckily, the darker-skinned was able to efficiently evade the monster’s ranged assaults and strategically lure it out into the day’s sunlight, where it eventually, inevitably began to smoulder and shortly blazed into its hushed, ash grave.

As Gabriel started to saunter away from the deceased enemy, the children all turned their heads to get another look at the wolf yet again, which they had nearly forgotten about following the entire “and-there’s-a-skeleton-now” thing. Although every one of the kids was absolutely fine with acting as passive as could be to the pure-white-furred critter, they could clearly see that the animal definitely didn’t feel likewise. Evidently. The wild fiercely glared back at them, defensively snarling and growling its fangs, giving an obvious warning to anyone who had dared to come near it and, god help, touch it. The children could swear that the wolf’s eyes were nearly gleaming into a bright red, its fluffed tail hissed. Looks can be deceiving, guess…?

“Since it was attacked, it seems to be hostile…” Ellegaard mentions, “And…since I like wolves more than I like people, I wanna help it.”

“Thanks for the input, Ellie,” Magnus rolled his eyes and sighed before continuing, “Right…and we don’t know if it’s rabid or not…I don’t wanna touch it…Maybe we should tell someone else about the wolf instead…?”

“But…!” Ivor quarrels, “Couldn’t this be out chance…? Couldn’t we save this wolf and show the town…?” 

“It’s not a tamed wolf, Ivor!” Gabriel responded, “If we bring this wolf back to town, it’d just attack, the townspeople killing it!”

“But if we help it, wouldn’t it trust us?” Ellegaard insists.

Ivor comments, almost angrily, “We help it how though?”

“We don’t!” Magnus interrupts, “It’s a wolf.”

Ellegaard and Ivor debated simultaneously, “Oh, come on!” 

Whist the four diversified children were sharply bickering regarding the plan for the animal, Soren slowly began walking towards the wolf, delicately and cautiously reaching a hand out to it, seeking to assure the wolf that he and his friends weren’t any sorts of threat towards it. He believed that all that they needed to tame this wild was to thoroughly persuade the creature that they weren’t going to harm it more than what was already done. Sure, Soren unquestionably didn’t want to risk him or his companions getting bitten, scratched, or generally attacked by it, but, at the same time, he did feel like they were obligated to help it. After all, they did dedicate several minutes only to assisting this creature of they didn’t even know what it was, when they started. Even beyond the endless squabbling, Gabriel was able to notice Soren kneeling towards the wolf out of the corner of his eye;

“Soren!” The other three turned to glimpse at the purple-eyed in a concerned matter as Gabriel shouted that, continuing his sentence, “Get away from it!”

Soren didn’t listen. The wolf emphasized its aggressive, bared teeth and intensified its snarling growl of self-defence as Soren approached her. Soren, himself, only performing as much as a quick, brief pause, but not fiercely flinching his hand away in panic like the wolf appeared to have rathered him to. I mean, of course, Soren was actually somewhat apprehensive about touching an untamed animal alongside the incredibly menacing appearance that the wild bestowed him and his comrades with. 

“Shhhhhhhh…” The ginger soothed in a quiet, calming tone as his friends remained radio-silent, “It’s alright…we aren’t going to harm you…” The white-furred upon hearing that had been hushed to suspend its guarded growling with Soren’s reassuring pitch, but it still persisted with the intimating expression that it had worn, still not exactly trusting anyone yet. Soren’s arm halted in place for a moment or two. He was waiting for something. He was waiting for the wolf to stop hissing its fangs. It did slightly, but that was just fine with Soren. Better than nothing. Soren lowering his palm before the wolf, he dropped his hand to the wolf’s head, animal closing its eyes, troubled expression in tow. After all, the kids did just destroy the thing that had hurt it. Besides, what could they possibly do to it? As Soren released the somewhat heavy weight of his hand insignificantly, he warmly smiled and fully knelt down, bringing his other hand upwards to pet the mane on him.

“Hush…” Soren quietly murmured to the creature, the animal letting out a weak whimper as it softly shifted its head forwards, reluctantly streaming her tongue over Soren’s face, the ginger himself to crackle a small laugh as his emerald-green eyes playfully glimpsed back at his friends who had, for whatever reason, remained soundless throughout all of his hazardous experience with the white-furred cutesy, “See? We can help it now!”

The others anxiously strolled over, evidently acting extremely cautious of the barely tamed animal that was literally gnarring and threatening them two minutes ago, them hoping that it wouldn’t abruptly lash out on them as they sat down. Especially when they began to settle their fingers on the arrow, obviously intending to take it out of its wound. Luckily, Soren, Magnus and Ellegaard were able to keep the wolf sidetracked with lots of pettings and cuddles as Gabriel and Ivor took care of the dart, to which the wolf let out a surprised yip suddenly started to growl, mainly at the purple and blue-eyed yet again, prompting all of the children to instantly stand up and take a step backwards, away from the animal in case it tried to make any violent actions onto them as its dark-red blood began pouring from the wound as the children observed the injury in disgust.

“Ugh,” Magnus said, “we need to cover it with something…” 

“Thank you, Captain Obvious…” Ellegaard gibed, sighing after, “Anyways, I don’t think that it’s been injured for too long, so we just need to stop it from bleeding to its death.”

Everybody quickly, briefly glanced around the proximity with no success with spotting anything that could possibly be used to be enveloped around the white-furred. As Soren skipped his eyesight from left to right, scanning for something to bind the wolf’s blood in, he noticed the scarf that was neutrally wrapped around his throat, gently choking him. Sure, scarfs couldn’t really be washed properly but what was the most important this right now, was that they save this animal’s life. After he generously unhitched his grey-or-sable sash from around his neck, he benevolently waved his hand over the eyes of the critter, aspiring to reassure the creature that it was only him and to somewhat divert it. Once the animal had stopped the majority of its growling, the ginger settled his scarf up to the wolf’s bloody fur and firmly pressed. 

- - -

“I can run home and grab some medicine for them!” Once the scarf had belatedly absorbed all of the flowing blood, they removed Soren’s sash, and although the scar had appeared to stop bleeding, a scarf wasn’t going to work forever. The cut would just open back up, obviously. The children needed a permanent fix for the harmed animal. That’s why Ellegaard suggested that. “My parents are scientists and they work with medicine–I think that they may have something for her!”

With that, she was off to get some supplies.

“So what’re we gonna do with it?” Magnus urged, “We can’t just leave her here.”

“Well, they’re in no condition to walk,” Gabriel explained, “It needs to rest up.”

“When Ellie gets back, we’ll see how she’s feeling,” Soren added before being licked off the stroke of wet togue from the wounded.

“He really seems to like you, Soren…!” Ivor quotes, “He’s been doing nothing but showing affection to you since you got to her.”

“I’ve had a cat before,” Soren mentions, “But she died when I was younger, so I don’t remember them all-that-much. Perhaps I just have a way with animals?”

“Or perhaps this wolf just likes you,” Ivor proposes.

Soon enough, Ellegaard had eventually returned alongside all sorts of medical supplies in her arms although they definitely didn’t need all that she had brought with her. Granted, she does explain how her father was at work and that she already knew that her mother wouldn’t allow her to take any sort of medical equipment. Fortunately, they didn’t really have to tell them. However, it was a bit of a risk of how they sort of just…randomly chose a treatment and applied it onto the bruise. Luckily, sure enough, it appeared that the scar was actually beginning to heal and seal up. The…the kids had done it…? They actually saved someone, rescuing this wolf’s life…?! Of course, they were hoping that it would but…they had actually achieved something?!

“Wait…we actually did it…?!” Magnus asked more than said, “The Order of the Stone’s first official mission was a success…?!”

“The Order isn’t even official yet,” Ivor answered pessimistically.

“YET!” Soren corrected, “The Order isn’t official yet!”

“Right…” Ellegaard added.

“Well,” Gabriel urged everyone, “we should head home now, don’t you think?” 

“Wait!” Soren brought to everyone’s attention, “What do we do with the wolf?”  

“Um, leave them?” Magnus reminded, “It’s a wild animal.” The wild animal growled slightly at that, Magnus looking at it, back at the rest, “I don’t think that any of our parents are gonna let us keep it.”

Soren peered down at the critter again, “They can stay with me!” Soren realized that the stone was slightly cold as he sat next to the wolf, “My parents love animals! We’ve been thinking of getting a dog anyways!” The green-eyed looked curiously at the creature, “Whatcha’ say, buddy?” He directed, “Wanna come home with me?”

Bark!

“Yay!” He cheered, hugging the wolf, “I knew you’d want to, Krita!”

“Krita?” Magnus asked, “Is that their name?”

“Yes! I just came up with it!” Soren explained, “Pretty nice name huh?” 

“Actually, it’s kinda dumb,” Ellegaard added, prompting Ivor and Gabriel to angrily glare at her for lowering Soren’s self-confidence.

“Well, if Krita’s coming with us, let’s head back,” Gabriel declared, “I don’t wanna be caught out in the forest at night.”

Soren earnestly nodded and stood onto his feet, urging the newly-named dog to accompany and follow behind them. Well, more like “follow alongside them.” Although the canine distinctly staggered, still injured, it shadowed among closely. Occasionally, the children would take a glimpse at the said animal, only to notice that it seemed more peacefully open-minded than anything. Which was fine. They were completely okay with that as long as it refrained itself from violently clawing their hearts open. But at the same time, it certainly seemed to be friendly. And fierce. But it was unquestionably better than nothing.

The kids continued to saunter to Soren’s address and to everyone’s surprise, the ginger’s parents actually allowed him to keep the previously-wild hound that was clearly threatening to end their lives and literally rip them to shreds twelve minutes ago! Despite that, she was properly tamed and even got a snazzy new collar, padding down its furred chest. Of course, not all can be good. Several of the other kid’s parents were a tad annoyed that their child put themselves in dangers, only to save a desert creature; That said, they were at least pleased that they were able to help it. 

Unfortunately, none of the children actually got many recognitions for bettering Krita’s well-being. Though that was the whole purpose of this mission, nobody really heard about it. In any of their villages. Of course…there’s always a bright side…At least now they had what they had lacked! An identifiable and iconic mascot for their smaller team of heroes! Krita would be a supplementary charm that everybody amidst the world of sin would acknowledge and know of! That is, alongside its famous owners, obviously! And, of course, who would be famous, well-trained, legends! This was nothing more than another factor in their required acknowledgements!

Everything just falls into place sometimes, doesn’t it?

In bad ways too.

[mcsmseason3]

MCSM Origins Book I: The Trade, the Gem, & the Storm - Part 1

Summary:

Several years later, Jesse and her best pal Reuben support their friend Petra in a trade with Ivor and Emerl - a wither skull in exchange for a diamond. However, the trio are conned when they receive an odd lapis necklace instead, and Jesse quickly learns that it’s no ordinary necklace either...

Previous Chapter: Here

Next Chapter: Coming Soon…

A Few Years Later…

‘…wh…what happened…? I can barely remember anything…I can’t see anything. Where am I…? …I remember…Emerl…I was stopping her from doing…something…we were in the Nether…she was making…something…we fought and…I was poofed…why did she poof me…why can’t I reform…? Something’s wrong…I can hear voices…what’s going on…?’

 “Dark. Dark. Very dark in here.”

Two figures and a small pig snuck into an alleyway behind several brick buildings. One of the figures was a woman with long black hair with part of it dyed yellow, and dark green eyes. She wore a red and white t-shirt under light blue dungarees and brown boots.

Right by her side was a small pig with big eyes, a dark patch on his back and a black eye.

They were both following a woman with pale skin, long auburn hair and grey eyes. She wore a turquoise bandanna, a black vest, dark blue shirt, black shorts, and black boots. She also had a long black sleeve on her left arm, and a finger-less glove on her right hand.

“That’s weird – they said the dark, creepy alley close to the gates, but they’re not here.” Petra glanced around the alley with a confused expression, “Maybe they’re late.”

“Are you sure THIS is the dark, creepy alley they meant?” Jesse asked. “Hmm. I WAS.” Petra muttered before turning to face Jesse, “Okay, new plan. You stay here just in case this IS the spot they meant, and I’ll look around.” Jesse seemed a little hesitant but nodded, “Okay, I’ll hold down the fort.”

“Thanks, Jesse.” Petra smiled as she turned to leave, “I’ll be back before you know it. If they show up while I’m gone, just stall for me.”

 Jesse watched as Petra left they alley. Something felt off about this ordeal, but she just pushed it to the back of her mind as her attention was grabbed by a small chest that sat in the corner of the alley. It was strange. It felt like something was drawing her to it; like something inside was calling out to her. She and Reuben slowly walked over to the chest and crouched down to open it when-

 *SHINK!*

 Jesse whipped around only to be met with the point of an emerald blade inches from her face. Jesse looked up from the blade at its wielder. A woman, who was silhouetted by the lights of the street outside the alley, stared daggers at Jesse with piercing yet tired emerald-green eyes that seemed to glow in the darkness of the alley. As Jesse’s eyes adjusted, she could make out short, side-swept, black hair with bright green tips and bangs that looked like it hadn’t been brushed in a long time. She wore a black and green coat with frilled sleeves and an opening in the centre that revealed a shining emerald on her chest she wore trousers and gloves that matched her coat and dark green shoes. She seemed to be in her late 40’s.

The blade she held was an emerald sword with a golden hilt, its point aimed right at Jesse. “At ease, Emerl.” A voice spoke from behind Emerl. Emerl’s eyes narrowed at Jesse in suspicion but complied, dismissing her sword and stepping to the side, allowing another figure to step forward. Ivor glared at Jesse and Reuben, “And just who are YOU?” Jesse just glanced between Ivor and Emerl in surprise for a moment. Emerl glared at Jesse as she growled, “He asked you a question, kid.”

“The name’s Jesse.” Jesse replied, breaking out of her shocked stupor before glaring back at Ivor and Emerl, “What’s it to you?”

“I’m supposed to meet with Petra,” Ivor replied with a snarky tone, “Not whatever you’re supposed to be!”

“You best give us one good reason not to walk out of here right now.” Emerl growled as her hand hovered over her gem which was glowing now, prepared to summon her sword, “Or you might not be walking out of here at all.”

Reuben let out a frightened squeal as he ducked behind Jesse’s leg. Jesse stood defensively in front of Reuben as she replied, “I’m with Petra.”

“Our deal is with her – not her partner.” Ivor replied, looking fed-up.

“She’ll be here. But we can get started without her.”

“Do you have the skull?”

Jesse’s tough act shattered as she glanced around nervously, “Uh…well…”

“You do or you don’t.” Emerl snapped, her hand still hovering over her gem with her eyes trained on Jesse. “Petra has it – and she’ll be back any minute now!” Jesse confessed. “Well.” Ivor seemed to calm down a bit, “As long as she’s bringing it…I suppose it wouldn’t kill us to wait a minute longer.” Emerl, still keeping her eyes on Jesse, removed her hand from her gem as the glow faded, leaning on the wall of the alley as Ivor folded his arms. 

Everyone stood in awkward silence before Jesse broke the silence, glancing at Emerl, “So…you’re, uh…you’re a Gem, right?”

Emerl raised an eyebrow, slightly suspicious, “Yeah. How’d you guess?”

“I have a friend – well, not really a friend, more like a rival – who’s a Gem. She’s a rose quartz.”

“Hm…not many quartz Gems leave Kwartzil. She must’ve emerged here…” Emerl muttered, before addressing Jesse, “Well, Jesse, it’s nice to meet you. I’m Emerl, an emerald. I’m a bodyguard for-”

“Ivor.”

Everyone turned to see Petra walking down the alley. “Ah, here she is.” Ivor seemed a lot calmer seeing Petra arrive. “Sorry I’m late,” Petra began, “But good things are worth waiting for. I’ve got what you’ve asked for.”

“IF you have what you promised us.” Jesse added. “You didn’t say anything about an ‘us’ when we first met.” Ivor frowned, “And I don’t like surprises.”

“Ivor, if you don’t mind me saying,” Emerl began, standing up straight from her leaning position as she kept her eyes on Jesse and Petra, “If these are the kind of people Petra associates herself with…it might be in our best interest to call this little trade of ours off.”

“My friend is fine, right, Jesse?” Petra interrupted, glancing at Jesse, “There’s no problem here.”

“I’m cool if he’s cool.” Jesse replied. “Proceed then.” Ivor took a step closer as Emerl kept an eye on everyone, making sure nobody tried anything funny. Petra handed over a wither skull to Ivor, who took it and closely inspected it. Emerl seemed content and took a step back. “I’ll take that diamond now.” Petra spoke up. “Take it.” Ivor motioned with his head to the chest Jesse was inspecting prior, “You’ve earned it.”

Jesse, Petra and Reuben walked over to the chest and Petra opened it up, expecting to see a diamond. “Uh, this isn’t a diamond…” Jesse called behind her. At the bottom of the chest was a round piece of lapis lazuli with a gold trim around it. It was encased in a silver ring with green runes carved into it with a chain emerging from the top. “No, it’s lapis!” Petra growled as she glanced behind her, but Ivor and Emerl had disappeared. Jesse picked up the lapis and put it around her neck. ‘Pretty stylish, though.’ She thought to herself before getting to her feet, “Let’s go after them!” Petra, Jesse and Reuben took off running out of the alley, a determined and agitated look on Petra’s face, “I’m either getting that diamond, or I’m getting my skull back-”

“Or you’ll make them pay, right? Right?” Jesse piped up, almost looking eager to see Petra lay a smack down on Ivor and Emerl. “Come on!” Petra called behind her, dismissing Jesse’s question.

“…ugh…what’s going on…?”

Jesse jumped at the sudden voice in her head, “Huh? Petra did you say something?”

“No, why?” Petra glanced at Jesse with a confused stare. “Uh…nothing. It’s probably nothing.” Jesse replied, shaking it off as being tired from the building contest and saving Reuben. The three ran out into the streets where Endercon was taking place. “Do you see them anywhere?” Petra asked as they looked out over the sea of people. “We lost them.” Jesse sighed. “Then we’ll just have to find them again.” Petra replied, “Go!” Petra and Jesse split up, Reuben following Jesse a few feet behind as they darted off into the crowd. The two searched through the crowds of people by the stalls when…

“There he is! Gabriel!! Gabriel!!!”

A crowd of people pushed past Jesse as Gabriel the Warrior walked by with two ushers who kept the crowd at bay.

“…Gabriel..? He’s…he’s here?”

Jesse jumped as she heard the voice again. She ducked behind the back of an empty stall as she called out, “Hello? I heard your voice. Show yourself!”

“Ugh…not so loud. My head still hurts…” The voice groaned. Jesse’s eyes widened as she watched a slightly transparent, blue figure appear in front of her. She had long hair that seemed dyed in some places, and freckles on her cheeks. She wore a short-sleeved shirt over a slightly longer-sleeved shirt with matching trousers. There was a sash around her waist that was tied at the front and wore shoes with matching gloves. The symbol of the Order of the Stone was on her shirt and on her chest was a stone similar to the lapis Jesse was wearing around her neck.

Lapis held her head in pain before groggily looking at Jesse. Here eye’s widened a bit as she spotted the gem that Jesse wore around her neck. Her gaze kept switching between her own gem and Jesse’s before she eventually stopped and went, “Huh…well this is weird…definitely a first for me…”

“Uh…me too…” Jesse replied, still in shock. “Oh good!” Lapis smiled, “It’s not just me then. Then again, it’d be pretty concerning if you had gone through this before, huh?”

“Uh, yeah…” Jesse shook her head as she snapped out of her surprised state, ��Sorry, but who are you?”

“Oh right!” Lapis chuckled, “I’m Lapilisia Lazul, but you can call me Lapis. And that,” Lapis motioned to the gem around Jesse’s neck, “Is my gem you’re wearing. Now this is just a hunch – plus my memory is a bit off right now – but I think I was poofed, sealed inside that necklace, and now I’m in your head because you put it on. Gem magic, am I right?” Lapis went to playfully elbow Jesse, but her elbow just phased right through her, causing Jesse to jump in surprise but Lapis just shrugged it off, “Anyhoo! What’s your name?”

“I’m Jesse.” Jesse replied, recovering from her shock. Jesse then noticed Reuben looking at her with a confused and concerned look. Lapis gasped excitedly, “Oh. My. Stars! That is the cutest pig I’ve ever seen! What’s his name?”

“Oh, that’s my best friend Reuben.” Jesse replied before turning to Reuben, “Bud, I know it looks like I’m talking to air right now, but apparently this isn’t an ordinary lapis Ivor and Emerl traded us.”

“Ivor and Emerl…” Lapis muttered as something seemed to click in her head, “Yeah…yeah I think I remember…”

“Wait, you know them?” Jesse turned back to face Lapis. “Yeah…my memory is really fuzzy right now…but I remember I used to work with them…but I got into a fight with Emerl over…something…we were in the Nether and she…yeah, that’s right!” Lapis’s eyes went wide before she pouted angrily, “She poofed me! She must’ve put me in that necklace. Of course, why didn’t I think of that?! She’s an expert in Gem arcane! Ooh, when I get out of here, she’s gonna get it! I dunno what ‘it’ is yet, but you can bet she’s gonna get ‘it’ big time!”

‘She pretty eccentric…’ Jesse thought to herself before talking to Lapis, “Well, Ivor and Emerl promised to give my friend Petra a diamond for a wither skull but traded us your gemstone instead. Wanna help us find them?”

“Well, I’m along for the ride anyway,” Lapis shrugged motioning to the necklace, “So sure!”

“Alright! Let’s go find them and get that diamond! And maybe we can get Emerl to set you free.”

“Win-win! I love it! Let’s do this thing!”

 To Be Continued…

[minecraftoworymode]

picked a whole bouquet of whoopsie-daisies the other day reading some Very badfeel content so to cheer myself up here’s some super self-indulgent ramblings about romeo recovery post-s2

“YOU CAN DANCE IF YOU WANT TO YOU CAN LEAVE YOUR INTERNALIZED MISOGYNY BEHIND” or how romeo learned to stop worrying and indulge in the ““feminine”“ shit in life

when romeo transitioned he scrubbed everything that could be potentially viewed as feminine from his appearance and behaviour. while he did everything he could about the former (hairstyle, clothing, body language, voice), it didn’t feel like enough bc he couldn’t change some things that ppl used to be jerks- his frame (short and lithe), his family, his being trans- so he made up for it by trying to “act” like a “real man”. this unfortunately meant he was super vulnerable to manipulative alt-right indoctrination tactics (”we will validate you as a man as long as you endorse our assholery and share our shitty beliefs about what it means to be a man”) and he was on the verge of getting sucked into gamergate ideology when [THIS LORE IS ANOTHER POST] and hey, now the world is minecraft. u dont gotta perform gender roles for villagers they dont care. xara will not only actually eat ur liver for pulling The Bullshit but when you are kind she smiles, so bright and warm, and it is very very nice so maybe you should keep on doing that. n fred? fred is chill with their Everything in a way uve only ever Dreamed of. romeo marinates in this sauce for a couple centuries and comes the closest to being comfortable in his own skin he’s ever been.

however,

after the Incident he slam-dunked himself back into the hypermasculinity juice bc it was a mindset “safe” from feeling pain, whether his or others’. n since the worlds the admins created dont have the same ideas of gender as the world they came from, once he’s been dethroned romeo has a particularly hard time adjusting wrt That on top of all the other 2750347502730 issues he has to face

anyway flash forward a couple months of being incredibly volatile bc he now has to confront all the terrible things he did and how Dare u make him do that and maybe if hes nasty enough he can provoke someone into killing him and saving him from having to unpack All Of That- (note from @simple-mooshroom-herder​: Xara and Jesse at least grasp that Romeo will probably burn himself out on this bullshit eventually and the best thing to do is interact with him with a certain level of healthy detachment. Eventually he'll see that theres no "getting out of this" and he'll start to do the Work but until then its very frustrating to see that tactic take him nowhere.)

- one day petra notices how he’s constantly staring at all the ppl wearing cute dresses in beacontown and at first she thinks he's being creepy but then realizes that he's not being creepy and actually she knows exactly how he feels bc she also used to look at ppl wearing clothes super not suited for combat like that, like she wished she could wear them too, like if she just didnt have to keep up this image of the Warrior who is Not Soft Ever-

n ok. listen. these worlds have been specifically engineered to be better and kinder than the one the admins came from, and when people mess up- even REALLY mess up- people are generally not only willing to forgive you but support you as you try and get better. it’s instinctual for communities to respond to misdeeds with rehabilitation and reconciliation, rather than retaliation and renunciation (tho its not an overnight thing and it generally takes 1-3 people to spearhead the process, esp if the actions have affected a large group of people). like. ivor created something that almost destroyed the entire world, not just beacontown, yet by the end of season one he’s grown to be a part of the team- n its not just jesse & co being forgiving here, bc when ivor made his s1 build with 3 lava source blocks people objected to it, but by s2 he not only has lava in his build but a giant lake of it. (im assuming the fences around said lake are coming eventually, bc safety is still important, but the implications im choosing to take from this are a) despite almost ending the world people let him into their lives anyway and b) the community not only grew to accept but encourage his self-expression.)

BUT ANYWAY before i go off on that even more one day petra and romeo basically put on an impromptu fashion show in jesse’s house (bc their house is huge and, kind of perfect for a fashion show, and also right next to the order hall’s armory whence they stole a bunch of fancy swords to match the outfits) n theyre having a blast until the hero in residence , returns to their residence (and with COMPANY) n romeo is absolutely Mortified- caught red-handed showing feelings of an almost human nature, oh my god, this will NOT do- n this whole grand soliluquy of shame and excuses and apologies grabs the steering wheel of his tongue but he cant even spit a single syllable out bc jesse and lukas almost immediately dip leaving romeo panicking for a second before they come back with their inventories FULL of cute outfits, including a billion skirts and dresses, some of them are even enchanted so theyre like. super shiny or constantly flowing or things like that.

this actually ends up spiralling into a town-wide... not quite fashion show bc there's no runway or anything, everyone just shows up in their cutest/coolest outfits .. fashion convention?? Anyway several people come up to him and compliment him on his outfit casually before continuing along, not recognizing him not only bc of how hes done his hair and makeup n what hes wearing but he just seems... so happy (he might be wearing something on his head? like a headpiece or hat or something? but also maybe not hmm)- whoever this is, he's not hunched over like he's got several centuries' worth of sins crawling on his back he’s not trying to shrink and make small a human-shaped apology for the simple fact of his existence not dragging his feet like hes ready for, dreading, a hundred mile trek through the desert repenting hes just. hes literally just Vibing

anyway he's mostly been silent or just providing very quiet "thank you"s but when it turns out that some people showed up ready to play music and there's a song that he knows he literally cant help but start jamming out its the GOod Stim everyones a-dancing and a-jiving and some people start to sing and so of course he does too (the healing power of dancing and singing in cute outfits.... unfathomable) but. ppl recognize his voice

and after a few seconds he notices how quiet it's gotten all of a sudden n everyones looking at him like "oh shit thats the admin" and honestly his heart breaks. visibly

but

then someone starts singing, so quiet it takes a moment for him to hear over the sound of an encroaching panic attack (oh god he has airpods in), but when he looks over theyre smiling - theyre smiling at hiM???? AND IT DOESNT EVEN LOOK MEAN??- and doing this very simple step, that he catches onto just as easily as he matches their singing (its a fairly common little tune n dance)

theyre like standing like a good few meters away but as they take turns with lines in the song they slowly inch closer

and he thinks hes starting to recognize the dance that the steps theyre doing is from but at the part in the song thats coming up ur supposed to allemande left and even tho theyre like, less than a meter away now literally no one has really wanted to get close to him, let alone actually touch him, so hes totally expecting them to be like 'psych' and humiliate him in front of the entire crowd-

BUT THEN THEY ACTUALLY GO FOR IT???

he completes the step without even thinking about it n continues onto the next in this state of dull bewilderment where there is but one braincell active in his head and it is just going, in a very tiny voice, "danser?"

- when they linked arms the person briefly seemed surprised that he didn't like, chew their arm off or anything (he had. kind of snapped at people a few times during the past few weeks), but then their shock turned into a wide smile and they sort of- nodded? at someone over his shoulder like 'come and join us, it doesn't look like he's going to kill me after all you guys can put the eulogy writing on hold'

what rly makes his heart do the confused and hopeful conga is that this isnt even anyone romeo knows, its a total stranger. or- like- he saw them while he was pretending to be jesse he just didnt care to get to know them beyond ‘name and gimmick’- its not even someone who has any reason to think he'd be cool to befriend its literally jsut someone taking a chance on him (tkae a chance take a chance take a chance take a cha)

afterwards hes like "i should thank jesse for putting you up to that, it was fun" and theyre like "what? jesse didn't "put me up to" anything, dude, you just looked super choked. * something something surfer lingo who would i be if i just left someone to feel bad when they could be having fun dancing you know?*"

he H

[lunaraen]

"We don't have to talk about it, but when you're ready... I'm here." with Radar trying to help out Aiden when he moves back to Beacontown?

Radar likes sunrises more thansunsets. Sunsets promise darkness and the looming need to sleep that'll end upgetting ignored about as long as he can ignore it, while sunrises promise fullnew days to continue what he knows and to experience different things and meetnew people.

But for every sunrise there's asunset, and he's not the only one feeling melancholy tonight.

There's only a little shame inadmitting to himself that he's focusing so much on the view so he won't have tofocus on Aiden's next sigh, the latest in a string of far too many.

Beacontown doesn't quietly slipoff into the darkness of night, hasn't in all the time Radar's worked here andeven before then, and it lights up in a different way once the sun sinks lowand the moon soars high. The maintained protections for people's creativitywhen building means there are a lot of different designs, but so much of thecity glows even at sunset.

Even the calmer districts andareas tend to have a number of sea lanterns and blocks of glowstone, gentle, in comparisonto the multicolored beacons and the beams reaching to the clouds at the center of the city, but still lit.

It makes the city that much saferwhen the sun can't protect them from mobs and it all looks stunning, chill bluesand warmer golden glows mixing together nicely and spiced up by the glowstinted by colored glass, the cooler neons of the night almost a trademark ofthe busier areas. It's impossible to see the intricate designs many of thelanterns have from here, but their smaller glows and tinted glass help theshops stand out.

It's another part of Beacontown'scharm. 

Even when close up detail isn't available, it stands tall, beautiful, andsafe, radiating life and warmth as far and as loudly as it can.

(He can even see the glassencased lines of lava surrounding Ivor’s home, tubes of orange snaking theirway to the ground, the skull house itself used more for storage now thanliving, given Ivor’s well used room and lab in the temple.)

Radar might not like sunsets asmuch as sunrises, but he still likes them. It's hard to dislike something sopretty.

Night, as pretty as it is, hasfar more hate-able features, like wandering seas of monsters and bloodthirstycreatures, and it still brings sleep, serene moonlight nights, and skies full ofglittering stars.

He doesn't even hate night.

(It used to be his favorite timeof day, once, when he slept more often, probably more reasonably. Even when hewas being worked to the bone under Stella, he looked forward to sleeping assoon as he could, as soon as the quill was down and the paperwork finished.

Dreaming was his favorite thing,when he could be anybody and anywhere, before it became another distraction,another problem demanding attention and time.)

The hill is plainer, almostunremarkable save for the view it gives them and the way the city's colorsreflect off the grass, muted and soft.

It's like a beacon of peace.

Or loneliness.

(Radar needs to leave the poetryto Lukas.)

Beacon of everything or nothing,or both, it's treated all the same by Aiden, fingers plucking at some of thepurple-tinted blades of grass and one hand curling into the loose soil. His jawkeeps clenching and unclenching, and the fingers digging into the dirt mimicthe motion.

It's been a bad day.

(Maybe a bad week, or even amonth. Aiden's been more melancholy than usual lately, just a bit morewithdrawn and snarky, and there's no real telling how long he's been feelingdown.)

And Aiden stares.

He stares down at the city, atthe lights and the milling people, the same way Petra eyes an encroachingmonster horde or the way Ivor monitors a notoriously tricky potion.

There's a hunger in his eyes, a want, tempered by experience andexpectations.

They've been here before, whenRadar was first tasked with giving Aiden a tour of Beacontown and Aiden wasonly hesitantly trusted (and trusted at all much more by Jesse than by Lukas)to not try and pull anything. It was almost an entire season ago.

The walk here was meant to berelaxing, meant to be a chance for Aiden to vent, and he's just as relaxed asRadar is.

Radar, for the record, is notrelaxed in the slightest, doing his best to keep from rapid-fire tapping hisfoot against the ground while his fingers card through his hair in an almostfrantic manner and his mind keeps returning to reminders of paperwork stillunfinished and projects that need more attention.

He needs to diffuse thesituation, whatever it is, for both their sakes, to be a good friend and alsoto keep each of them from spiraling in silence.

(Having a panic attack on anondescript hill outside of town isn't what either of them needs.)

Radar almost rests a hand onAiden's shoulder before thinking better of it, hand instead resting on his own kneeas he sits cross-legged beside Aiden and foot tapping quietly against thegrass. From this angle, he can see the bottoms of his shoes are temporarilygrass stained, tinged green.

"We don't have to talk aboutit, but when you're ready... I'm here."

There's no real ideal or expectedresponse to that. Radar's ready to respect his answer, whether he spillseverything now, lets Radar know he's not ready now and may never be, or giveshim the silent treatment.

Aiden stays quiet just longenough for Radar to begin to suspect he's going with the third option.

"...there's not a lot todiscuss." The answer is as unfortunately unhelpful as expected and feared.The follow up helps only incrementally. "You've read Lukas's book– everybody here has. You already know what happened."

Trauma isn't easily coped withafter years of stewing and barely a season of healing. Guilt is just as hard.

And Radar is officially trainedfor none of this, though he's had plenty of unofficial on the job trainingthanks to the mountains of trauma trailing behind and hidden by the Order.

"And it's been kind ofterrifying, I won't lie. Knowing you did those things and that Jesse stillwanted you to come here, and live with us." Radar swallows, hoping itisn't as terribly loud as he thinks. More importantly, he worries this is justmaking Aiden feel worse, and Aiden doesn't look much more comforted by theadmission. "But Lukas doesn't seem to know much about what happened to youafter that, after you first got to Sky City, and he definitely never publishedanything on it. He changed your names for a reason."

Different names kept their livesfrom being any more stressful or rough upon returning to their own world, andkept Radar from knowing exactly who Aiden was or what relevance he had to Lukasand Jesse until they'd decided to clue him in.

Beyond the Order and the BlazeRods themselves, and him, no one knows the connection between the old Ocelotsand the harrowing Sky City adventure.

The only reaction Radar's seenfirsthand is the occasional surprise and excitement that Aiden, Maya, and Gillare back, having been gone so long but still being known for their fantasticand award winning building skills, and none of them have reported any harsherinteractions.

"Yeah, well, all theexciting stuff ended pretty much when the Order left. What you read was allthat was worth reading." It's hard for Radar, sometimes, to see Aiden asthe monster from Lukas's retelling. He thinks whatever personal growth Aidenhad before writing his letter to Jesse would be much more interesting to read,more enlightening and less horrifying. "Gill got slammed, once, with abrick. He was bleeding pretty bad– he's lucky it only ended up leaving him aconcussion. We're lucky."

"...you aren't worried aboutanyone here doing something like that, are you?"

Aiden says nothing.

He almost speaks, for a moment,mouth opening before it shuts and he shrugs, looking away from Radar. His nosescrunches slightly as he gives a hollow half-grin, a tired huff, his fingersbrushing his hair back and only almost getting tangled in it.

The Yeah, I mean, come on goes unspoken, and Radar has to swallow again.

The paranoia's understandable,and it's terrifying.

And Radar has always protectedhimself with knowledge in the face of terror, when he has no shield to bash,because sometimes it feels cowardly but it's comforting in the end to knowthings will likely turn out okay and how, because Jesse almost never fails andgets up every rare time she does.

"There are few areas in townas well protected as the temple, and people here don't have the same connectionto what happened as people who actually lived in Sky City. You can always goback to living with us if you don't feel safe." Aiden's shoulders hunch,and Radar has the dismal realization that he's not helping yet, too blunt ortoo intense in his desire to help fix everything. He forces any dismay at thisrealization out of his voice, letting it relax as he also forces himself tobreathe. "If anyone here has a problem, all they have to do is see that theOrder's already forgiven you guys. It's done, it's over, and the Order wouldn'thave you living here if they didn't trust you."

The look Aiden levels him isalmost blank, unamused and flat before he raises an eyebrow.

"They kept Cassie."

(Okay, so that's one other personwho knows their actual involvement in Sky City.)

"Who's been making her ownprogress!" Aiden's expression doesn't change much, while Radar's wilts."I don't think she's murdered anybody recently."

Aiden snorts, his bangs fallinginto his eyes as he shakes his head.

"Right, there are just giantrats and disappearing spider colonies actually mutilating bodies in those cavespeople keep somehow wandering into. That might fool a couple of reporters, butI don't think it's really got the press duped either. Not all the way."

It definitely doesn't fool Radar,if only because he's sat in on a number of conversations about Cassie's meansof disposal.

As much as they could beconversations, with Cassie disregarding them.

And while Aiden hasn't sat in on anyof those yet, he's smart enough to have figured it out, especially when everynamed body, the few not mutilated past the point of recognition, ends up linkedto some plot to overthrow or harm the Order.

And he's smart enough to knowRadar knows better too.

"I don't think she'smurdered anybody who didn't have it coming?"

Maybe letting Cassie into theirlives, their home and headquarters, was a questionable decision, but it wasJesse's, and Cassie defends herself by pointing out that she only attacks peoplewho she has good reason to believe are a serious danger to the Order orBeacontown.

Her "interventions" arerare and occasional enough, not to mention helpful. The shadier parts of BadLuck Alley are understandably more fearful, more cautious, and Radar thinksthey're all the better for it.

(He's admittedly not much of afan of Bad Luck Alley, as much as he likes Jack and Nurm, because people living"off the grid" more often than not seem to think they're above orbelow the rules enough to not worry about them, and that includes basic stufflike "please don't try to overthrow the Order that saved the worldmultiple times". This way, no matter why they're pulling that kind ofstuff less, they're safer from Cassie.)

It comes down to Jesse being really nice to a lot of people in waysRadar doesn't understand and in ways he's kind of okay with neverunderstanding.

He doesn't understand it any morethan how he understands why Jesse's good with forgiving him for his occasionalslip ups and lost forms even when it costs them so much time and stress.Jesse's done so much for so many people, and if she wants to do more, who'sgoing to stop her?

(There should probably be adifference between her forgiving him for screwing up on the job and activelytaking serial killers and old tormentors into their temple, but it's Jesse. She knows what she's doing.Well enough to somehow pull it all off, anyway.)

And he's right, but that's notthe right thing to say. Not with how Aiden tenses up, eyeing him more critically before relaxing his hands.

Radar isn't sure when they curledinto fists in the first place.

"Would I have it coming?Would Maya? Would Gill?" Radar doesn't have a good answer, and Aiden knowsit. He doesn't pause long, gaze drawn to the scarlet sunlight bouncing andshimmering off the rooftops and windows of Beacontown. "If you didn't knowus, only knew we tried to kill the Order, that I tried to kill Jesse, and Cassie thought we were some kindof threat? Would it be okay then?"

Heck of a question to ask.

(Radar's first thought is thatAiden is perhaps unfairly charitable towards Maya and Gill, happy as Radar iswith all of their progress, and that Maya and Gill don't view themselves theway Aiden does and actually kind of hate it when he blames himself foreverything that happened.

They've made it clear they're asguilty as he is, not more and not less.

But he doesn't want Aiden, with abad history of being angry near edges, to nudge him off the cliff here and now,and he doesn't want him to storm away, so Radar doesn't bring it up.)

"...morals are hard whereCassie's concerned."

Aiden's look softens, half-smilehumorless before he sighs.

"Yeah, I get that. And Idon't know if I can really blame her for it. But... the idea that some peopleearn that kind of stuff, getting attacked, because they're suspicious enough ordid bad enough things before is what got us so much hell in New Sky City. Gillgot more than just a brick chucked at his head, you know."

He knows.

"...sorry."

"Nah. Don't– don't worryabout it. It's just– everybody thinks they're doing the right thing. Even ifthey're throwing junk at people's heads, or attacking them from shady cornersand dark alleys, or burning cities to the ground."

It's a good thing Aiden doesn'tsmoke or drink, because he looks ready for either, and Radar isn't planning ondriving him further down that path.

"We try to avoid doing thatsort of thing here. It's not really good for making people feel safe, and itjust kills tourism."

It doesn't quite get a laugh outof Aiden, but the snort sounds amused.

"Smart."

"...do you feel like you'redoing the right thing?" Radar doesn't mean to contribute to Aiden'scrisis, or whatever it is that he's exactly grappling with, which might just bea moral dilemma topped with trauma. He just gets the feeling that he is, andAiden's guarded look prompts him to clarify. "Now that you're here?"

Maybe that's not the point.

Maybe he's missing something.

Maybe Aiden doesn't even know,stuck in the past and still clawing his way into the future.

"Hell of a lot better thanwhere we were." Aiden shrugs, tilting his head to the side as he looksaway from Radar and up at the gathering wispy clouds above them. "...itfeels too good and I'm scared of messing it up. Jesse trusting us doesn't meananything– sure, it's nice and all, but she's Jesse. Cassie offers protection, but Jesse took in Romeo too–and she pretty much has to teachhim how to be human again. Us being here doesn't make it all better, doesn'tmake us seem like anything other than scumbags she's feeling sorry for. I don'tactually have to worry about walking on eggshells around her, but I'm halfafraid she's going to wake up and realize she has no reason to trust us, orthat we're a threat to her city and her people. There were no powers to takefrom us, no fancy gauntlet to guarantee everyone’s safety."

(Radar might still not fullyunderstand the story, but it sounds to him like they lost plenty of power whenAiden tried to kill Jesse and she came back, when she had him at sword pointand spared him.)

It's complicated.

Radar knows from experience thatthings that are complicated tend toultimately just be good fuel for thinking in circles.

He's no Jesse, but he'll have todo.

"You're not a threat–you're getting a second chance, doing your best with it, and Jesse knows it.And if you're worried about other people seeing you that way, then you'll justhave to show them that you're not taking it for granted, that you are trying tomake it better." Radar dusts off the knees of his pants as he stands,shrugging as he picks a bit of fuzz off his vest. "We've seen a lot ofweird things here. Even if everybody knew who you were, what you really did, Idon't think it'd shake or bother too many people. You're not hiding here– you're making amends."

"It's probably not a goodidea to just shout it out, anyway."

"Probably not." Theidea of Aiden doing that, running down the streets and just snapping from thepressure, isn't realistic. It still gets a smile out of Radar. "But Idon't think you were planning on that– or bringing it up at work for fun. Itdoesn't sound like great lunch break small talk."

What Aiden talks with hiscoworkers about is his business, but bringing up past failed attempts to murderOrder members or an entire city hardly seems his style. However justified hisparanoia is or isn't, for himself and for Maya and Gill, he's careful and smartenough to take care of himself and not test Radar's theory over how badlypeople might react. Aiden's history as an award winning builder sounds likesomething he'd be more likely to bring up at work or get ribbed for.

"Not really."

Jesse's secret, Radar suspects,is that she's too good at forgiving others because she knows they need help.

It's not out of any ignorance, orblind hope that they'll get better, but the sheer determination that they can be better people and that she can helpthem do less damage, be less cruel to others and themselves, while working outwhat they want their lives to be. It works well enough, from what he's seen,and few worlds will complain about having less serial killers and megalomaniacsto worry about.

Jesse has that sort of inspiringeffect on people.

There's no reason Radar can'thelp with the healing process, and Aiden doesn't scare him the way Cassie does.

"You know, you can spend thenight at the temple with us." It's been a while since Aiden's stayed longwith the Order, visiting regularly after moving into his own place nearby butvisits rarely going over an hour at a time. Walks around town like this havebeen only a bit more common and a smidgen longer. "Ivor makes pretty goodhot chocolate."

"Is there anybody that triedto personally kill Jesse who didn't end up forgiven?"

"I mean, a couple, but it's ashort list." One was an evil supercomputer, and two others werepower-happy maniacs who didn't know when to ask for forgiveness from someonewho's nearly an endless well of it. "And that's not an answer."

It might be because of hispersonal experience, or lack thereof, with them, but Radar thinks he likesAiden much better.

"Sure. Let's go get cavitiesor sugar crashes or whatever that stuff will give us."

In Radar's experience, Ivor's hotcocoa is great for getting good rest, helped by the right amount of sleepingpotion mixed into it, and he knows that the last time Aiden tried it, he endedup taking an impromptu several-hour nap on their couch.

A repeat performance might not benecessary, but it's probably tempting.

Besides, if Radar actually endsup getting to sleep at a reasonable time tonight, he's taking Aiden with him.

[enby-enderdragon]

OH?? mcsm?? i havent heard that name in years.. give us the ships :3

Alright, since Aryne wants the ship headcanons, I gotta do 'em.

So Lukas is demi and about the time that the Sky City arc rolls around is when he realized he is in love with Jesse.

During the murder mystery episode, when everyone is accusing Lukas of being the White Pumpkin, is when Jesse realizes they love Lukas.

Petra: "Why are you so wound up about proving Lukas is innocent to these guys? (jokingly) What, do you love him or something?"

Jesse, softly, but with feeling: "Fuck, I think I do."

When the group finally get back to their home dimension, Petra, the gentle and loving woman she is, cliche-ly locks the two oblivious fuckers in a closet in her house

They're in there for three awkward hours before Lukas sums up all his courage and just kisses Jesse

When the new couple is let out, they find Ivor begrudgedly giving Olivia ten dollars and Axel blowing one of those party whistle things for them

And that's how Lukesse/Jesskas got together.

About six months after the whole Admin thing happens, Petra realizes, "Oh, shit, I think I've caught feelings???" after Jesse catches her staring at Olivia one too many times

The thing is, Axel and Olivia are one of those on-and-off couple and Petra's not sure she wants to step in between that

Petra goes to Lukas (a horrible idea, really) and asks him for advice, since his and Jesse's relationship is going so well

Lukas tells her to just be honest with Olivia and (he gives her a smile that seems to imply that he knows something she doesn't) maybe it'll all work out in the end

Petra keeps putting it off because this is the first time she's ever had a crush on someone, so she's scared to ruin her already kinda fragile relationship with Olivia

However, Olivia suddenly invites Petra (along with the rest of the New Order) to Redstonia

When everyone gets there, Olivia is visibly nervous while Axel keeps comforting her in boyfriend-y way (you know what I mean, I'm just having trouble describing it)

Petra gets a little jealous, but she's more concerned about why Olivia, confident and fearless Olivia, is nervous

Turns out, about an hour later, Olivia had invited them all to Redstonia to come out to her friends as bisexual and polyamorous, something she's been wanting to do for years, but has never had the nerves to do

Everyone is happy and supportive of her and that night, when Petra is trying to sleep in one of the guest rooms in Olivia's house, she keeps thinking "maybe I have a chance"

So, about a week later, as everyone is getting ready to leave, Petra decides to stay behind for one more day, claiming that she doesn't get to have enough girl time with her friends anymore

Jesse, Lukas, and Axel all leave Redstonia

As Petra tries to figure out a way to bring up her feelings, Olivia cuts her off with a deep breath and a long ramble

Olivia: "Petra, I know this is gonna seem sudden and maybe kind of weird, but I really, really like you. I like the dimples that form on your left cheek when you smile. I like the way that you push your hair out of your eyes when you're training." Etc, etc

Petra is shocked at first, but she quickly smiles and tells Olivia that she returns the feelings

And that's how Olivia and Petra got together.

[anorderanditsstone]

How would New Order,Old Order and Admins react when their child says to them that they hate them ,after an argument.

(Kind of angsty I guess. Okay this might be a bit hard to do but sounds fun! Let’s do it!)

New Order

Lukas

-The argument might’ve started around a topic like how he’s gone a lot or how he’s always busy writing that book

-He didn’t mean to raise his voice, but he just lost control

-So when you scream those words he doesn’t move

-He knows you don’t mean it but why does it hurt so much?

-You didn’t mean it right?

-He unconscionably says that out loud and the look on his face and the tone just makes you stop and think what you just did

-He gently talks it out with you and maybe even a hug at the end of it all

Petra

-The argument  was probably also about how much she’s out while adventuring

-Petra can be short-tempered at times so she ended up losing control and yelling back

-But those words hurt more than any blade through her chest

-It might as well have been one too

-She’s silent for a while as she just stares

-She can’t help but start to tear up a bit….Stupid emotions

-She wants to say something and snap back but she can’t

-She waits until you realize what you just did before speaking up

-”You…. Don’t really mean….That…Do you…?”

-You two end up lightly discussing it and she promises to try and stay home more and to bring you on adventures if you’re old enough/when you’re old enough

Axel

-The argument was likely about how he gets to mess with explosions while you can’t

-He doesn’t really yell but he’s not exactly calm either

-He’s a bit hotheaded and doesn’t back down in an argument unless he must

-But those words blow him away like a TNT explosion

-He’s silent. Glancing from one side of the room then back to you

-”No you don’t….You don’t really right?”

-He tries to talk it out calmly but he nearly starts another argument

-He decides that physically finding something that works for both of you that doesn’t result in any injuries

Olivia

-Argument topic? How she’s busy with her projects or something

-She’s not one of a yeller or anything. She just tries to defend her argument

-But for her own kid to say that to her? Worse than years of working on a project down the drain

-She doesn’t know what to say. What does she do? Do you really mean that? Has she been a bad parent?

-She decides to calmly ask the last question in a quiet tone

-Afterwards she offers for you to help with the projects if you’re old enough

-If your a bit to young to handle that yet, she’ll offers to teach you and start with smaller projects together

Old Order (After the events of MCSM)

Magnus

-Same argument topic as Axel. He gets to have fun with explosions while you barely get to try anything like that

-Of course he’s going to argue back and play the victim because that’s just what Magnus does

-But all the goes out of the window for a second once he hears those words pierce him worse than the Witherstorm could have

-He just sits there for a second, trying to keep his dignity up

-”No you don’t!….Probably”

-He just sits there for a while, thinking of a way to get you to have you’re own fun without having to suffer any health issues

-He’ll think of safer ways to mess with TNT until he thinks you’re ready to move onto more dangerous stuff

Ellegaard

-It started when you pointed out that she was always busy with her Redstonia duties

-She just had to get all defensive

-But those words pierced her heart full of redstone

-She also gets a bit anxious and asks similar questions to Olivia

-”Well I-!….Uhm…..That isn’t true….Is it?

-Afterwards she promises to make it up to you by spending more time with you

Soren

-You likely didn’t even mean to start a fight of any sorts. Just point out that your father’s obsession with endermen might be a bit dangerous to his health

-He took this the wrong way and now you’re yelling back and forth

-Those words hurt someone who has issues with close ones more than anyone can imagine

-He still remains confident and feisty for only a couple more seconds before becoming doubtful and worried

-”Wha-No you don’t!……I…..think?”

-He explains that after his friends left him he had issues with human interactions, thus creating a un-healthy obsession

-He promises to lay off of it and spend more time with actual humans than mobs

Gabriel

-As I stated before I don’t know much of Gabreil’s personality, but I suppose the argument could’ve started by you saying you want to explore more dangerous areas and Gabriel telling you that it’s far to dangerous for you at the moment

-He’s not a fan of arguments but he doesn’t exactly know how to defuse them the best either

-Those few words are even worse than withersickness could ever be

-”You….Don’t really mean that, do you…?”

-You can’t help but feel a small guilt in your chest at his worried tone

-You end up hugging it out and he says that you can explore slightly more dangerous areas as long as he’s there

Ivor (Since this is after the MCSM events I can add him here)

-Honestly he probably started the argument

-He was ranting about something small and you ended up saying that it wasn’t that big of a deal. Weather or not you meant to.

-Now he’s ranting and now you’re yelling

-You couldn’t take anymore of the whining and you just said what you’re mind told you to

-But what you said was worse than any poisonous potion effects

-He doesn’t know what to say

-He ends up asking in a strict but soft tone if that’s true

-At the end of it he says that he’ll try to tone down on the ranting but no promises

-Gives you a quick hug before running off to do work

Admins

Romeo

-Honestly Romeo would argue over anything it doesn’t matter what

-Obviously he’s playing the hardest victim card imaginable

-But he wasn’t expecting you to say THAT

-He just freezes for a minute

-His guard is gone

-He just makes these disgruntled noises for a bit before screaming

-”Oh yeah!? W-Well…Prove it!”

-At the end of it all he mumbles an apology and tries to make it up to you

Xara

-The topic is likely once again due to her duties and such

-She’s the type to try and calmly explain herself

-But once you yell that she just freezes

-She’s hesitant but she’s softly asks if you truly means that

-Afterwards she promises to spend more time with her child

Fred

-Fred doesn’t really start arguments but he can get caught in them

-He’s trying to defuse the argument but he’s not doing so well

-That’s when you scream those words

-His heart shatters more than he thought possible

-He actually tears up a bit

-He asks if you really, truly mean that

-At the end of it all you’re in his arms and he promises to make whatever’s wrong up to you

(This took me like 3 hours oof. Was fun to do though! Hope you liked it!)

[lukasmcsbr]

MCSM Season 3 Chapter 5:The Pearl of Deception

Yo guys,how have been you all going?I'm good by the way,just been very busy with High School...being in 1ist grade is very lame y'all know...anyways,please share this New Chapter of my concept plot for Minecraft Story Mode season 3 so i can keep having the motivation to keep writing,now let's get this reading started:

When The New Order of the Stone arrives at Sky City's dimension's lands,they see a huge new city built by the people and Isa,they walk throught the town,seeing all the gold and iron buildings and monuments

Olivia:It's so...beautiful...and shiny

Petra:Man,they must really like gold and iron...

Jesse:Nah,Beacontown is way more shinier than here

Petra and Olivia:Are you jealous?

Jesse:WHAT!??!I'M...NOT JEALOUS!!!

Petra:Yeah right!

Jesse:Let's just keep going ok?

As they are heading to Isa's new palace,the town's citizens begin to greet their heroes

Citizen 1:LOOK,IT'S THE NEW ORDER OF THE STONE

Citizen 2:OUR SAVIORS HAVE RETURNED!!!

Citizen 3:[spots Aiden behind Lukas]WAIT,THAT GUY BEHIND THE BLONDE BOY...IT'S OUR OLD CITY'S DESTRUCTOR!!!

All Citizens:UUUUUHHHHHHHHH GO AWAY YOU DORK

Aiden:What a nice gretting to me...

He sarcastically states,and then they see a few guards running towards them

Lukas:(sees guards)are those guards...charging at us?

Guard 1:Stop right there!

Guard 2:You are under arrest

They start to run away from the guards

Petra:[running]AIDEN!!..CARE TO EXPLAIN?

Aiden:[running]I TOTTALY FORGOT ABOUT IT BEFORE,ISA FORBID ME AND THE BLAZE RODS TO EVER GET CLOSE TO HER OR HER PEOPLE!!!

Ivor:[running]HOW DID YOU EVEN FORGET SOMETHING LIKE THAT IN THE FIRST PLACE??!?!

Axel:[running]SEE,I KNEW TRUSTING HIM WANS'T A GOOD IDEA!

Jesse:[running]NOW'S NOT THE TIME FOR PLAYING THE “I WAS RIGHT GAME”,WE HAVE TO KEEP RUNNING

They end up in a wall without any exit and are surrounded by the guards

Guard 1:Frezze!!!

Guard 2:You're all coming with us!

Axel:[whispers to Jesse]Should we fight them?

Jesse:[whispers to Axel]No,they are just doing their jobs,besides,they can take us to Isa,can't they?everyone surrender and do all they demand

They are taken to the palace and met with Isa,Milo and Reginald

Isa:Jesse???...you came back..??

Reginald:They came back and brought an criminal with them founder

Milo:Wait,is that true?

Jesse:No wait,we didn't know Aiden was forbidden to aproach you guys

Lukas:We swear!

Aiden:They are telling the truth,i forgot about my sentence of not getting near you your highness...i'm sorry

Isa:[stares at them)release them!

Reginald:Excuse me your highness,they brought an criminal to our city and you tell us to let them go?

Isa:I gave you a direct order,release them now!

Reginald:...yes your highness...

They take their handcuffs off and give them back their weapons

Jesse:Thanks Isa

Isa:No problem Jesse,sorry for the unfortunate meeting...hello Aiden

Aiden:Hi Founder...

Lukas:You two are friends?

Isa:Well,since keeping an grudge for seven years is unhealthy,i've decided to give Aiden a chance to be a friend of mine,after giving his deserved...treatment of course

Aiden:You call not letting me see even the sun light for seven miserable years a "treatment"???

Jesse:Aiden chill out...

Aiden:I won't chill Jesse,after everything you made me pass throught,i don't have any interest in being your friend Isa!

Isa:[stares furiously and a little scaredly at Aiden]THEN YOU ARE NOT WELCOMED HERE,GUARDS,TAKE HIM TO THE TOWN'S EXIT

Guard:Gladly

As Aiden leaves,Lukas goes after him

Lukas:Please,can i have a minute with him?

Guard:Be quick

Lukas:Aiden,what was that?Why did you treat Isa that way?

Aiden:You were not here Lukas!She locked me up in a cell and never allowed me to even get out of it,not even for lunch time!

Lukas:Aiden i...we didn't know

Aiden:Of course you didn't,Jesse never cared for me,he was just glad i was far from his so beloved city,but it's okay,i won't lose my chance of redemption with you guys just because of her!

Lukas:But...were are you going?

Aiden:I'm just...gonna walk a little in the forest,i met up with you guys later ok?

Lukas:Ok...

Meanwhile,in the palace,the New Order of the Stone talks with Isa and Milo about the Blaze Rods and the Ender Pearl of Deception

Jesse:Were sorry for Aiden's behavior Isa...

Isa:It's okay Jesse...i don't blame him,i admit that i was to harsh on him when he was jailed here,i let my anger and grudge for him make bad decisions in the past,now i'm afraid we both cannot get in good terms...it's a shame thought,we actually wanted to be his friends,i even brought books for him in his cell

Reginald:Yes,he would always read to spend time,but never spoke to us or asked for anything

Jesse:Okay...Hey Milo,what are you doing here by the way?

Milo:Oh,Isa promoted me to be her personal conselour,i help her when she haves to take hard decisions

Jesse:Cool,but we have to talk with you guys about something serious

Isa:What is it?

Jesse:The Blaze Rods reunited and are planning to take the Ender Pearl that you guys have

Reginald:Ender Pearl?But we have plenty of those in the basement

Isa:I think i know what pearl he's talking about,come with me please Order of the Stone

Isa takes them to a room with a glass pedestal in the bottom,containing the Ender Pearl of Deception inside of it

Petra:whoa,now that's a rare pearl

Ivor:It's so fascinating,it's shine and powers are unlimited!

Jesse:Ivor,remember our primary objective?

Ivor:Yes,yes,protect the pearl and stop the Blaze Rods from stealing it...you're all so lame

Isa:Please,you must protect this pearl with your lives

Jesse:We will,let's split up guys,Lukas and Radar go the palace's entrance,Axel you go to the gardens,Petra and Olivia,you both are coming with me,and Ivor,you stay here and guard the pearl,let's go team!

At night,in the town's entrance,the Blaze Rods are preparing their bikes(because in my story,they are a biker gang ok😎)and waiting their signal to attack

Maya:Ugh,what's taking so long?He should have sent the signal to attack already

Gill:Give him time,he's probably waiting for a better oportunity

Biker 1:He?

Biker 2:Who's he?

White Pumpkin:The Quiet One

Maya:Wait,you can talk?

WP:Yes

Gill:Why don't you talk more often then?

WP:My face was damaged when i escaped the hole Jesse and his friends imprisoned me in,and because of the scars,i can't-talk--to---much...

Gill:[spots a red glowing bean in the sky]Hey look,it's the signal,let's get moving everyone

Maya:Oh hohoho yeah!

She evily giglles as they head to the palace in their bikes,and the Chapter ends

Hey guys,that's it for now,please share this so i can keep having the motivation to keep writing to you guys,chapter 6 may come out very soon so stay connected ✌

[cargoshortsenjoyer]

I try to balance myself on the silver archway, my arms flailing and spinning to help keep my body from falling off and into the pavement.

“Keep going! Keep on!” Isaac laughs, face scrunching up in the corners where his smile meets his eyes. I laugh to. 

I don’t know exactly why we make big deals of walking on this thing. It must be 3 feet off the ground at most. But every day we walk home from school, one of us tries to make it without falling the entire way. I don’t think I’ve ever made it the entire way before, but apparently Jinn has before. 

Jinn was here last year, before I moved here from Ireland, he was the head of the friend group. He was one of those people who, anyone you talked to, they’d say great things about him. He was especially good, however, at athletics and grade stuff, from what I’ve heard. Isaac and Ivor say he’d down it a couple times before, once in, like, third grade and another right before he left. They said he tried to make it and kept falling for almost two hours until he finally made it. 

He was almost the Gary Stu of real life. I try my hardest on the silver line as much a I can. I always feel like I let them down when I fall down. 

“Ack!” My arms spin in an erratic circle until I fall to the ground, scrapping my knees a little. I laugh as Isaac grabs my hand and helps me up. I can see a sad smile on his face, but he wipes it off before I can comment. 

And even if he hadn’t, what would I say?

“I’ll make up for your lame defeat next time!” He says as we round the corner. It would be too long of a walk back if we wanted to try again right away.

I wonder if I should, though. If maybe, if I run back and try again quickly, I can become just as good-or even better-than I always am. More like Jinn. 

“Hey, you comin’?” Ivor raises his eyebrows and I realize I was staring the other way. I run back ahead to catch up with them. 

I sorta zone out as Isaac talks about rappers and Ivor talks about Jazz and as they both start debating which one it better, I tune them out completely. 

I take a low breath out of my nose. I don’t really listen to music all that much, I realize. I guess on the long road trip up here, or whenever someone else wants to, but I never do it for myself. But music seems to be these kid’s lives. Ivor plays the tenor saxophone and Isaac sings and raps and writes his one music and stuff. I don’t really have any interest in that sort of thing. 

I was sort of thrust into my friendship with them. I saw them the day of initiation, the week before school, and they complimented my blue-with-white-specks jacket. They said it reminded them of an old friend’s. 

I realize that I’m probably their crutch, helping them get over their best friend moving away. They always say how things aren’t the same anymore. 

I might not be anything to them but a resemblance of a boy I’ve never even met. 

“Hey, bro,” Ivor says. He seems a little annoyed, like this isn’t the first time he’s asked, “do. You. Want. Any?” He holds out a bag of Cheetos. Isaac smiles at me through his orange-covered fingers. 

“...Sure.”

I take a Cheeto. There’s lots more to share, and it’s not even finished by the time we all reach our stops. 

[jamie-leah]

Dancing Shadows- Part 10

Bucky x Reader 

Summary: You’re a fire elemental that has been in love with Bucky for a long time. He doesn’t know and you can’t tell him because of his girlfriend. And with an enemy threatening you and everything you love, will you and Bucky find each other before its too late?

Word Count: 3340

Warnings: lots of new information, some angst, swearing, not much else?

A/N: Sorry this took so long to get out, I’ve just been really down lately and finding it hard to keep up with life. But here is another part! Enjoy Lovelies, feedback would be appreciated! Tags are OPEN 

Dancing Shadows Masterlist  Series Masterlist   One Shot Masterlist 

You had barely left the edge when you and Bucky hit the ground. It didn’t really hurt, it was as if you were standing and decided to just fall to the ground. The real startling part was that you had both landed on grass. In a field in fact, full of different flowers of all colours surrounded by forestry.

You and Bucky scramble to your feet and look at each other in relief and amazement that it had worked. You both turn around in the field taking it in. The sun high in the sky, the trees swaying gently, the flowers looking like jewels themselves. The air seemed fresher and everything seemed calmer.

You and Bucky hear a squeal behind you, like a door opening, and when you both look a woman stands on the porch of a cabin she must own. She was nothing you had expected, hair as red as rubies and as wild fire. She was wearing a dress the colour of the sky on a clear night. She seemed to be in her early forties but had an arura that seemed older. Perhaps the most notable thing about her to most people would be the scar that ran from her left brow, along her cheek, and ending just under her chin. But to you she looked mesmerising, and Bucky seemed to think the same as both of you were speechless.

Her voice carries on the wind, “come on, we don’t have all day”. You and Bucky turn to each other before making your way across the field and up the steps onto the porch with her.

She looks you both over, up and down, down and up. She looks at you, “you’re the elemental?”. You simply nod at her. She motions for you to follow her as she goes inside the cabin. You both follow without a word. When the door closes behind you, you’re greeted with dogs, lots and lots of dogs. There was about ten of them, a few German Shepherds, a few Labradors, a few smaller ones like spaniels and shih tzus.

They’re all friendly and vying for your attention as you and Bucky bend down to stroke them. You look up to find the woman watching intensely. She meets your gaze, “they’re great judges of characters, dogs. Come into the kitchen, I have some tea to settle your stomachs”. You and Bucky make your way to the kitchen slowly, trying not to trample on any of the dogs.

When you finally make, she’s sitting at a round wooden table with a pot of tea and three cups. She gestures with her head to some hooks, “take off your coats, you’re probably warm”. That’s when you realise you’re still wearing the winter gear and at the same time you realise just how hot you are.

Once you settle into the chair at the table, cup of tea in hand, the impossibility of the situation hits home. You struggle find words, but you try, “I’m-“.

She cuts you off, “Y/N Y/L/N, I recognised you. I knew your parents. You look just like your mother”.

If you struggled for words before you had completely lost them now. Your mind was reeling like it had been punched. Bucky sensed you needed a minute, so he introduced himself, “I’m Bucky”.

She gives him a friendly smile, “I’m Aviana”.

You’re still shocked, “you knew my parents?”.

She nods, “I did, but I sense that you’re not here for that”.

She’s right, you had nearly forgotten the reason you had come in the first place. You take a sip of tea, wishing it was something stronger, “you’re right, we’re here to ask about the Black Death”.

You could see her body tense up, her lips drawn into a grim line as a frown appeared between her brow causing her scar to tighten. She gestures for you to proceed so you do, you tell her the whole story of how you came across him, of how you thought he was legend, of how he held you prisoner, and of how you escaped. She seemed to take it all in. She never interrupted, she never gave anything away in her expression which seemed carefully guarded.

When you were done, she sounded as tired as you felt, “and you want a way to stop him, that’s why you’re here”. You nod, perhaps a little too eagerly, but this was important. She looked like a doctor giving bad news, “ordinary elementals can’t stop him”. Your heart began to sink as you thought about coming all that way for nothing, just find out that you were going to lose anyway.

She takes in your disappointment as she asks a question, “do you know the real story of the Black Death?”.

You shake your head, “there are many stories of him, I can’t tell which one is true”.

She takes a sip of tea before launching into her own story, “the Black Death was once an ordinary elemental. He was an air elemental with no significant power. His name was Ivor. No one knows what really happened to him, why he decided he wanted more than he was given at birth. There are many theories, but I guess it doesn’t matter now. He learned that there was a way to become a soul elemental without it being given at birth. I won’t tell you, I swore that secret would die with me, and him. But it involves ripping the element from other elementals. He already had air, so he ripped water, earth, and fire. Combined they create the power of the soul. Except he found that he also had some left-over power, he was more powerful than natural soul elementals, so they were no match for him. He thought that the earth should belong to the elementals and that humans were a waste on the planet. Centuries ago he nearly wiped the human population from the face of the earth. Elementals fought with him and against, the ones against never won. When the human race was on the edge of extinction and Ivor had become too powerful, a group called the Royals came to earth. They looked like angels, but they were nothing like the angels you picture. They were fierce and unforgiving. They smite half of Ivor’s army in a single blow. Ivor went into hiding before they could find him”.

You sit there in silence for a while, taking it all in, a flurry of questions swimming around in your brain, “who are the Royals?”.

She sighed, “they are complicated. Not much is known about them, but from what I can gather is they’re like the enforcers of elementals. They keep us in check. Some say they were the first elementals that ever walked the earth. They have strict rules ever since that battle. Elementals could not breed together for fear the child would be too powerful and no one under any circumstances could do what Ivor did. If those things happened they intervened”.

A shiver ran through you at coming face to face with one of these royals, but they seem like the only ones that could stop the Black Death, “are they still around? The Royals?”. She nods so you ask another question, “do you know how I can get in contact with one?”.

 She tilts her head at you like she’s trying to figure something out, “I can get in contact with one if you wanted to speak with one”.

You nod at her in confirmation before asking a question that had been bugging you from the start, “you were one of them, weren’t you? You were the fire elemental that Ivor ripped the power from, weren’t you? That’s how you know so much”. Her silence was answer enough and you didn’t push her. You understood not wanting to think about the horror he puts you through.

Bucky breaks the silence that settles, “do you have cell reception here by any chance? We have some people waiting for us on Everest…”. He trails off.

She points outside the kitchen door, “there’s a telephone in the living area, use that to contact your friends”. Bucky looks at you for a moment and you nod, telling him that you’d be okay.

She waits for the door to close before she turns back to you, “you’ll have to stay the night, the Royals will probably come tomorrow if I contact them now. But first, we need to talk”.

 BUCKY’S POV

He didn’t want to leave you with Aviana, but he was conscious that Steve and Tony would be waiting in the freezing cold wondering if it had worked. It was on old looking phone, but Bucky learned not to question anything after this whole experience.

He dialled Steve’s number, he picked up on the second ring, “hey, is everything okay?”.

Bucky smiled at all his worry, he worried about everyone all the time, “everything is fine. The woman is here, her name is Aviana. She told us some intense things, but she thinks there’s a way to stop the Black Death. I can’t explain it all now, but we have to stay here over night, so head back to the jet. We’ll try and be as quick as we can”.

Once the phone call ended Bucky realised he was surrounded by a sea of dogs, like a moat around a castle. He grinned, he loved dogs. He always wanted one, but he just never had the time to look after one. Bucky crouched down to give them affection better. He was getting licked in the face by the larger dogs and the smaller ones were trying to climb into his lap.

He spent a few minutes with them, but he was conscious that you had been on your own too long. He got up, manoeuvring around the dogs, he made his way back to the kitchen. When he got closer he heard whispering. He tried to listen, but he was catching the end of a conversation that didn’t make much sense to him.

When he pushed open the door the tension in the room washed over him. Aviana got up from her chair, “I’ll contact the Royals then”, and with that she left. Bucky looked at you. He noticed that you looked paler as you stared at a spot on the table. He sits next to you, laying a hand over yours, “is everything okay?”.

He watches your eyes flit up to his, “of course, why wouldn’t it be?”.

He studies your face for a few seconds, “there just seemed to be some tension in the room. What did she say?”.

He watches the mask you slip on to convince him that you’re okay, “we just had a difficult conversation about my parents, but we’re okay. I’m okay”.

Bucky wasn’t entirely convinced, “you don’t have to pretend with me you know that, right?”.

He sees your mask slip for a few seconds before you recover, “I know Buck, but sometimes I pretend for me. I do it so that we can get things done. As soon as this is done, I’ll stop pretending”. Bucky nodded, he didn’t want to push you, but he couldn’t help thinking there was more to your words.

 YOUR POV

The day went by quick. Aviana was a good host. She offered to cook food, but you refused, sick to your stomach after the conversation you had with her. She made Bucky sandwiches as you just drank water.

You knew Bucky was worried and you were trying your best to not do that. Aviana said she had chores to do so as she potted around, you and Bucky sat on the living room floor with the dogs. They loved him, trusted him even and Bucky seemed taken aback by it, but it made sense to you. When you watched how gentle he was with them, trying to only use his flesh hand to stroke them. The dogs didn’t care though, they licked, nudged and sniffed his metal arm.

When night finally fell you left him in the middle of all the dogs and stepped outside. You breathed in deeply as you took in the place at night. You would have thought it would be creepier but with the moon high in the sky and the stars glowing next to it, the field was illuminated.

You wrapped your arms around yourself against the slight chill as you stared up into the sky. You stared at it like it could give you all the answers. Sadly, you found none.

You heard the porch creak and was surprised to hear Aviana speak, “the Royals will be here at first light. They’re sending one to speak to you”.

You don’t say anything, not because you were being rude, but because there was nothing to say. You felt her presence next to you as she speaks again, “are you sure this is what you want?”.

You ignore her question with another, “what is this place? How did you come to live here?”.

“You’re avoiding my question”, she said it like a statement.

“And you’re avoiding mine”, you say as you turn to her. She studies you as the wind causes waves in the grass and flowers.

She looks out over the field, “the Royals gave me this place as the sole survivor of Ivor ripping the element from people. It is a place in between everywhere. It’s a place I don’t think even I understand”.

“You seem awfully close to the Royals, so close that if I didn’t know any better I’d say you’re one of them”, you say it simply, without accusation.

She laughs, “I was offered a position in the ranks, but no, I’m not one of them. I have had contact with them over the years as other elementals have come knocking on my door seeking advice and help”.

Silence stretched, only broken by the rustling of trees. It felt like hours had passed when her voice disturbs the peace, “do you have many regrets in your life?”.

You were taken aback by the question. It took you a while to respond, “a few”. You think about all the people you killed. You think about not treasuring the last time you saw your parents. You think about how long it took you to tell Bucky how you really felt.

Her voice is heavy with sadness, “well, I can promise you that this decision will be your biggest”.

You were shocked by her response. You don’t know why you expected different, “do you not think humanity is worth it?”.

She ponders your question for a couple minutes, “I think that humanity will always live in blissful ignorance and your loved ones will not”. She walks back into the cabin and instead of feeling like you’re standing in a fairy-tale, you feel like you’re standing in a nightmare.

 You barely slept. You took the time to watch Bucky sleeping. The steady rise and fall of his chest as quiet snores fill the room from his parted lips. His hair is everywhere, and it never fails to make you smile.

You were glad when the sun started to show itself that Bucky stayed asleep. You left him there as you met Aviana in the kitchen. She raised a brow at you not waking Bucky up, but she never said anything.

She ushered you and the dogs outside and we waited on the porch for them as the dogs roamed free. You were in the middle of a conversation when a flash of light like a camera stopped you. You looked out into the field and saw two men. They were wearing traditional metal armour, carrying spears that looked like they were made of glass. The spear stopped just before their shoulders, their Black and Blonde hair shining in the sun. All of that seemed to fade away against the giant wings behind them. They weren’t white like you would imagine, the black-haired man had wings tinted blue and the blonde-haired man had wings tinted green.

They were impressive, but in the dangerous sense. Aviana was right when she said they looked like angels, but the feeling you got from them were anything but. When they approached they only looked at Aviana, it was like you didn’t exist.

When they were close enough Aviana introduced them. She pointed to the blonde first, “this is Royal Elwood, and this is Royal Callen”. They looked at you then and the air changed. Their eyes glowed white and they tensed. They pointed their spears at you causing your fire to spring to your hands. Aviana stepped between you and the Royals.

Her hands were up, her shoulders tense, “woah now boys. I told you about this. El, can I talk to you in private? I can explain the situation a bit better”. Elwood stands down at her request and they move far enough away to not be overheard. You smother the fire with great difficulty, but by doing so Callen stands down too. You stand there in silence for a while, just regarding each other.

When they finish Elwood stands next to Callen as they speak in hushed tones. You have to stop yourself from rolling your eyes and sighing. After a few minutes you lose your patience, “so, do we have a deal?”.

They look at you, Elwood looking amused and Callen looking angry at your attitude. Elwood is the one to speak, a voice that seemed to carry across the entire field, “we have been looking for the Black Death for centuries and for centuries he has evaded punishment. We had hoped he had died in a hole years ago, so we were interested to hear your story from Aviana. Based from the story, you are the only one that can orchestrate a relatively safe destruction of this abomination once and for all”.

You manage to keep your attitude in check when you say, “I don’t see how, but I just want to know if we have a deal”.

Elwood chuckles, “you have a psychic connection with the Black Death ever since he tried to enslave you. You can use that to summon him at a place of our choosing. Your part in this is invaluable, so yes, we have a deal”.

Callen speaks for the first time, his voice deep and naturally angry, “be grateful you get anything from us”.

You can’t help but narrow your eyes at him as Elwood lays a hand on his friend’s shoulder. Elwood turns to you, “we must leave. We have preparations to do”.

“Wait, where are we meant to go? When? What’s the plan here”, you say slightly exasperated.

Elwood nods, “Aviana explained where you live, I am familiar with the building you call the tower. Seven days from now at midnight, go to the top and fall, just like you did here. We will make sure that you end up in the place of our choosing. When that happens, and you summon the Black Death it may take us a while to get there so you will have to hold him there until we can intervene”.

You felt like they were asking too much, “how long are we talking here? Me and my team can’t hold him for long and I won’t ask them to die just because you couldn’t get off your lazy asses in time”.

Callen looks like he’s about to slap you, but Elwood stays calm, “the travel from our place to earth can take some time. We ask for ten minutes”.

You think about it. Ten minutes doesn’t sound like a long time, but in battle they can feel like hours. However, you didn’t really have much of a choice. You nod, asking one more question before they leave, “how am I meant to contact him?”.

Callen answers with a smirk, like he takes pleasure in your discomfort, “simply call out to him”. When you blink you see the flash and they’re gone.

Permanent Tags: @glimmering-darling-dolly , @justakpopfan4 , @overlywhelmedfangirl , @marvel-th

Dancing Shadows Tags: @imeannooffensebabybut , @wandressfox , @animegirlgeeky , @writing-for-a-chance , @damnbuckyishot , @sw-michelle , @lovely-geek , @spngeronimo , @sideeffectsofyou , @myladytitania

[arizaluca]

Rewrite of Superhero AU - MCSM AU Month

Aiden can't help but be impressed by Jesse. Just a little bit.

At the first Endercon Building Competition he ever saw them at, the familiar green hoodie and huge build of Axel, even back then when he was about eight or nine, and the green beanie over bouncy pigtails of Olivia overshadowing a tiny girl with short brown hair, a red pin pressed into it, her extremely dark green eyes practically glowing with excitement, he thought she looked like a five-year-old.

(He couldn't help but raise an eyebrow when she said she was eight years old, puffing her cheeks out and crossing her arms playfully at the three of them with her eyes sparkling with amusement. She seemed to think he was joking.)

(He hadn't been.)

She was short and very nice even when Aiden started calling her names, Lukas shooting Aiden a disapproving look and Maya simply following his lead.

Gill was a little slower on the uptake but finally also began to be rude to Jesse, calling her names like "Tiny" and "Coal" (her hair was black) and "Green-Eyed Monster".

Jesse either didn't understand that they were trying to mock her or simply chose to ignore it, chirping back that 'the last one's pretty clever!'

Which made Gill puff his chest out, grinning. He'd been the one to come up with the Green-Eyed Monster taunt.

Six years later, six years of teasing and mocking and smirks and taunting when they lost the competition- every year- when they arrived at the Building Competition, six years of Jesse simply nodding and smiling at them, slowly going from friendly nods and smiles to the occasional eye contact to glares whenever their eyes locked (Aiden told himself he didn't care even as his chest twinged when Jesse finally stopped smiling at them in a friendly way, started treating them as rivals, as enemies, because that's how Aiden had primed them to think, it was fine, he didn't care that one of the few faces that showed up every year now no longer saw them as friends), Jesse was gone.

Instead, there was a short boy with chocolatey brown hair and bright green eyes, a warm grin dancing across his lips and his red suspenders pulling up a pair of slightly-too-big pants. He looked rather cheerful to be there, considering the company he was with.

Interestingly enough, the pig that had started showing up a few competitions ago was still there, even though it seemed to be Jesse's pet.

Maybe it was Axel or Olivia's?

They didn't exactly seem like the type of people to keep a pet pig, though.

"I see you've ditched Jesse," he snarks at Olivia and Axel. "What, she finally got too annoying for you?"

The boy gives an awkward cough, one that is oddly familiar.

When Aiden stares intently at him, scowling slightly because a new member means he has to rebuild that wall because they're competing, a friendly competition makes it harder to compete when you're cheering someone else on while working on your own thing, he suddenly is able to pick out tiny little mannerisms and quirks.

The way they tilt their head. The way their familiar bright green eyes shift awkwardly when they're trying not to be rude. The way he was shifting his weight awkwardly. The way his fingers fiddled with the straps of his suspenders like her fingers had twisted the straps of her overalls.

The new boy's next words confirmed his suspicions.

"Uh... actually, I'm Jesse."

It takes a few minutes for the boy to stammer out a brief explanation, looking as if he's torn between being embarrassed and glaring at Aiden because that's how Aiden's set up their interactions, he's set them up to be rivals.

Enemies, almost.

How Jesse recently got the ability to shapeshift, about half a year before this year's competition and through some mishaps he learned how he can change his appearance at will, change the size and shape of his voice box and the way his vocal cords are manipulated, change his build from skinny to heavyset to a strange hourglass shape, even alter his height and weight to an extent.

How he demonstrates briefly, morphing into a perfect copy of Lukas for about half a second before back to the boy, except now the boy's skin is a little darker and his eyes seem to be a darker green.

Instantly, Aiden couldn't help but be jealous. The only other people he'd heard of having superpowers was the Order of the Stone, so for Jesse to have superpowers was incredible.

(Incredible, but what did they do to deserve it?)

Jesse toggles between being a boy or a girl from day-to-day life- when they're asked, they blush profusely and mumble something about being genderfluid. Their appearance changes, their face can morph in an instant, skin tones warping every time to an impressive degree.

Once Aiden spotted Jesse- the old Jesse, the eight-year-old girl now grown up and striding through town with Reuben at her heels, a pleasant smile on her face- until she locked eyes with Aiden and her eyes darted away and she abruptly did a 90 degree turn and walked away.

At other times she was a male with a chocolatey skin tone, at others she'd have short hair, a couple times he saw a doppelgänger of someone he knew dashing through a crowd as if running away from someone.

So now he's kicking himself for realizing that of course the Founder wouldn't be able to spot Jesse in a crowd, even if Aiden had provided a clear explanation of every detail of how she looked the last time he saw the original Jesse, looking like a normal seventeen-year-old with a friendly smile and a shyer if somewhat dorky attitude than the original eight-year-old girl that had tried to be friends with him.

(He declined.

He ignores the way his lips thin at the fact that he declined her offer, he forced them to be rivals, he forced them to be enemies, he got what he was trying to do, so why did he still feel weird about it?)

If they wanted to, they could change into somebody completely different and slip away, and never be discovered.

If they wanted to, they could become anyone in the crowd, shove that person forward, and claim that they had shapeshifted, they were really Jesse.

A huge commotion rises up, and Aiden looks up to see Jesse, Lukas, and that weird bearded guy (Ivor?) being dragged to the front of the crowd by several guards. Jesse's a girl this time, with long black hair, bright green eyes, and a golden pin pinning back her waist-length thick hair.

Interestingly enough, if he glances from the Founder to Jesse, the two of them look strikingly similar.

Had she done it on purpose?

He wonders.

She gives a sheepish little smile and a wave when she realizes the Founder is staring coldly down at her. "Um... hi. I'm Jesse."