#that's happening next chapter though! hopefully. theoretically

[dwobbitfromtheshire]

From Hell to Home to Back Again

Summary: At the talent show, Chrissy Cunningham is so hungry that she nearly collapses. When she's found by Hopper, her parents ended up losing custody of her. She ends up being placed in the care of the Hendersons, and she finally finds the family she so desperately needed. She also ends up falling in love. What other changes are made in this alternate universe?

A/N: Sorry about the long wait. I got distracted by side quests.

@emen-98 @1lostsoul0fishbowl @vulpixsworld

Prologue. . .Chapter Twenty-Seven

Chapter Twenty-Eight

The next morning, Chrissy woke up before everyone else and lay in bed, staring at the ceiling as she tried to remember the dream from last night. She definitely felt like she was forgetting something important. The more she tried to remember, however, the more her head hurt as though someone was inside her head and fighting against her. Was there something evil inside of her like Phillip had said? Chrissy shook her head and rolled out of bed. She went to her bathroom and took a shower, trying to get her mind off of it. When she got out, everyone was still asleep. It was still too early. Chrissy opened the window and sat on the sill. It still smelled like the rain from last night, and she smiled at the water dripping from the leaves. She pulled out her sketchbook.

"Chrissy! Come on, hurry up!" Dustin exclaimed.

Chrissy cursed as she scrambled to gather her things and get dressed. She had gotten up early, but now she was so distracted by her artwork that she had let the time get away from her. She quickly pulled on a pair of pink shorts and one of Robin's shirts before running out the door with Dustin. They couldn't borrow the car this time, so they were stuck with their bikes.

"Sorry, Dusty," Chrissy said.

"We don't even have time to check on Will," Dustin cursed.

"Something happen with Will?" She asked.

"Well, he called last night, but we got cut off. It had something to do with a fight with Mike," Dustin sighed. "I can't believe I won't be there for him. Some boyfriend I turned out to be."

"I'm sure he knows that you can't be there for him all the time. It's going to happen," Chrissy said.

"I guess," Dustin sighed.

Chrissy and Dustin met up with the others in the break room. Eddie, Ronnie, Steve, and Robin were already there. Eddie jumped up and hugged Chrissy.

"You alright, sweetheart? You look exhausted," Eddie frowned.

"Didn't get a whole lot sleep last night," Chrissy said. "I had a nightmare, but I can't remember what it was."

"Well, hopefully it was nothing to worry about," Eddie said.

He kissed her, and she smiled into it, letting her walls crumble. She felt a lot better once she let him in. Dustin groaned and coughed loudly.

"Seriously?!"

Dustin got up on the roof again to check out the door the Russians were guarding and then reported back to them. They definitely needed a key card to get in. Dustin paced as they tried to come up with anything else.

"There's got to be another way in," Robin said.

"Well, you know I could just take him out," Steve said seriously, and Chrissy pressed a hand to her mouth to stifle her giggle.

"Take who out?" Robin asked.

"The Russian guard," Steve said, and Robin gave him a look. "What? I sneak up behind him, I knock him out, and I take his key card. It's easy."

"Did you not hear the part about the massive gun?" Dustin asked.

"Theoretically, it sounds easy, Steve, but Dustin's right about the gun. I mean, if it wasn't for that, I'd say you totally had a shot," Eddie said.

"Really?" Steve asked.

"We totally have faith in you, babe," Chrissy said. "Especially since you made the connection that the Russians are here in Hawkins."

Suddenly, Steve was smirking, feeling very proud of himself. He did do that. Ronnie gave a thumbs up to Chrissy and Eddie behind Steve’s back.

"Let's be honest here, Steve, have you actually won a fight?" Dustin asked, and Chrissy groaned with Eddie.

"Oh, come on, that was one time - " Steve said.

"Twice. Jonathan. Year prior?" Dustin asked.

"Listen, that doesn't count," Steve said.

"Why wouldn't it? Because it looks like he beat the shit out of you," Dustin said.

"Hey! Did you forget that monster also put your sister in the hospital?" Eddie scowled.

"Oh, right, sorry, Chrissy," Dustin said.

"Apologize to Steve, too. You were being a total asshole," Eddie scolded.

"Sorry, Steve," Dustin muttered, looking sheepish.

Chrissy smiled at Eddie, biting her lip.

"What?"

"I love it when you get all parental," she said.

"Oh, yeah? How much do you love it?" Eddie smirked.

"Come over here and find out," she said.

Eddie straddled her lap, cupping the back of her neck as he kissed her harshly. They had barely started anything before they were being sprayed with a water bottle. They looked over to find Robin standing there with a scowl on her face. Eddie hissed at her.

"You're spending too much time with Uncle Wayne!"

"It's not my fault he introduced me to gardening!" Robin exclaimed. "Anyway, there is a child present. No making babies in front of other baby."

"I am NOT a baby!" Dustin yelled.

Just as she had sat back down, Robin had an idea about how to get in safely. She ran off with the tip money that usually resided on the counter, and Ronnie, since she had a car now. She left Chrissy, Dustin, Eddie, and Steve in charge of Scoops Ahoy.

"How much you want to bet that she's going to end up making out with Ronnie in the back seat?" Eddie asked.

"Yeah, no," Steve scoffed. "I already know that I'm going to lose that bet."

Eventually, Robin came back to Scoops with the blueprints to the mall and a hickey on her neck. Chrissy giggled quietly with Steve and Eddie. Together, they bent over the blueprints as Robin showed them that their way in was through the air ducts. No one argued with her, it made sense. Steve immediately climbed on a ladder to unscrew the vent. Chrissy and Eddie stood on either side of him to make sure it was stable.

"Nice view," Eddie and Chrissy said.

"Shut up," Steve said, smirking and putting the grate down with the screwdriver now in his mouth. "Flashlight?"

Chrissy handed it to him, and they watched as he looked into it. It was quickly determined that Dustin nor anyone else could fit in there. It was in that moment that Erica showed up, ringing the bell obnoxiously. Robin looked at Erica, smirking. Chrissy's eyes widened.

"No, absolutely not, Robin," Chrissy said. "We are not putting a child into the vent."

"You didn't protest when it was your brother," Robin said.

"That - that was different," Chrissy muttered.

"How?"

"Because I didn't give myself time to think about it!" Chrissy exclaimed.

"If Russians are doing something nefarious in Hawkins, people need to know about it," Robin said.

"Well, I don't like this," Chrissy scowled, crossing her arms.

"Neither do we," Robin said softly.

"Fine."

Of course, it was Erica Sinclair, and everything came with a price. This girl was definitely going places, Chrissy thought. It was how they ended up in a booth, bribing a little girl with ice cream. She ended up pointing out the flaw in the plan and the fact that it was dangerous for her. It made Chrissy squirm, and she tried to reassure Erica that they'd be in radio contact at all times.

"Erica," Dustin said. "We think these Russians want to do harm to our country. Great harm. Don't you love your country?"

"You can't spell America without Erica," she said.

Chrissy shared a surprised look with her brother, Eddie, Ronnie, and Robin. She never thought about that.

"Uh, yeah, oddly, that's totally true," Dustin said. "So, don't do it for us. Do it for your country. Do it for your fellow man. Do it for America. . .Erica."

"Ooh! I just got the chills," Erica said as she finished her float. "Oh, from this float. Not your speech."

"I like her," Ronnie grinned.

After Erica managed to talk her way into free ice cream for life, Operation Child Endangerment was in progress. Chrissy watched nervously as Erica prepared to climb in the vent. She nearly jumped out of her skin when Eddie grabbed her hand. She had been so focused on Erica.

"I don't like this either," Eddie muttered.

Chrissy smiled at him, squeezing his hand. They made sure that Erica was alright before following the others outside to the roof. They all watched in trepidation, Robin holding the talkie in her hand.

"Alright, I'm here," Erica's voice crackled over the radio. "I see those boring boxes you're talking about."

Chrissy breathed a sigh of relief with Eddie. She noted that everyone looked relieved as well. Chrissy pressed her cheek into Eddie's shoulder. All thoughts of nightmares and Heather had faded from her mind completely. All she could think about was Erica.

"Any guards?" Robin asked.

"Negative," Erica replied.

"Booby traps?" Robin asked.

"If I could see them, they'd be pretty shit traps, wouldn't they?" Erica asked.

"Thank you for that," Robin said.

Steve shared a look with Eddie and then a laugh. Chrissy smirked. It looks like Robin was going to get adopted herself by a smart mouthed kid.

"I'm in," Erica said.

"Oh god," Steve said, running his hands through his hair.

"Is it too late to back out?" Ronnie asked, looking stressed herself.

"Yeah, I think so," Eddie said.

"How did we get here again?" Ronnie asked.

"We fell in love," Eddie replied.

"Right."

Erica opened the doors just then, and Chrissy beamed as they locked eyes.

"Free ice cream for life," Erica said.

Yeah, she definitely deserved it. The group rushed into the room and immediately opened one of the boxes with Dustin's pocket knife. Nestled inside was a metal box. Steve opened it, a loud hissing sound coming with it as he did it. Inside were four cylinders, made of the same metal.

"Uh, maybe you guys should step back," Steve cautioned.

"And let you be the hero?" Eddie said, flashing his dimples. "Can't let you have all the fun."

"No," Dustin said and Steve pushed him back gently.

"Just step back, okay?" Steve asked, softly.

Chrissy smiled at the care Steve showed her brother. It still warmed her heart to see it.

"No."

"Step back. Seriously!"

"If you die, I die," Dustin said.

Steve looked at him, torn between being touched and being concerned. He gave up and pulled out the cylinders, revealing a glass container filled with a strange, green substance.

"What the fuck is that?" Ronnie asked.

"Whatever you do, Eddie, don't fucking lick it," Robin said.

Chrissy crinkled her nose as she was suddenly reminded of the time her boyfriend licked Dart's shedded skin. Before she could say something, the entire room shook.

"Was that me or did the room move?" Dustin asked.

"Nope! It definitely wasn't just you," Chrissy said.

"Booby traps," Erica whispered.

There was a mechanical whirring sound, which meant that it was time to go. However, despite all their attempts, the open door button would not work. They all tried, but all that happened was a large metal wall sliding down. The entire room began to drop. They were in a fucking elevator. It was faster than any elevator that Chrissy had been in. Everyone was screaming. Chrissy grabbed onto Erica as she tried to secure her. If she were in any other situation, she'd be amused that Eddie and Steve were holding onto each other rather tightly.

"We're going down. We're going down!" Steve shrieked.

"Yeah, no shit, Harrington!" Robin yelled.

Ronnie was doing everything she could do to hold onto her girlfriend. Finally, it all came to a crashing halt and they all fell to the ground, boxes falling over and onto him.

"My groin! It fell on my groin!" Steve exclaimed. "Eddie! Get this thing off of me!"

"Right!" Eddie exclaimed and took the box off Steve before helping him up. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, no permanent damage, I don't think," Steve said, and Eddie winced in sympathy, clapping him on the back.

"Is everyone alright?" Robin asked.

"Yeah! Too bad Russians can't fucking design elevators!" Eddie yelled.

"Took the words right out of my mouth! Stupid fucking buttons!" Steve hollered.

"I think we probably needed a key card to use the buttons," Chrissy said. "I think."

"Definitely," Robin and Ronnie said.

Everyone's tempers were flaring up, and Chrissy knew that it was also because they were scared. Chrissy couldn't take it when Steve and Erica started yelling at each other.

"Enough! Yelling at each other isn't going to get anywhere, and I know that I'm yelling, but it's to get you to stop yelling!" She explained and took a deep breath. "We need to work together and figure a way out of here. Alright?"

That was when Dustin pointed at the ceiling.

"What if we climbed out?" He asked.

They were all so tired, exhausted from what just happened. It didn't take long for the kids to konk out before they could actually go through the hatch. Meanwhile, Steve, Eddie, Chrissy, Robin, and Ronnie decided to stay up to discuss what their next plan of attack would be.

"So, this is happening," Ronnie said in disbelief.

"I'm sorry, babe," Robin said. "For dragging you into this."

"Don't be a dingus, I chose to follow you," Ronnie said. "And I would follow you anywhere."

"That's my word, you know," Robin said.

"Stealing it," she said. "And I'm stealing you."

Chrissy watched them with a sleepy smile as Ronnie kissed Robin. Even with the situation being what it was, they were finding ways to make it work.

"Can't Chrissy - you know - " she heard Steve whisper to Eddie.

"Man, she looks too exhausted," Eddie sighed. "But it's up to her if she wants to try."

"I'm sorry," Chrissy muttered. "I don't think I can."

"It's alright, thought I'd mention it," Steve sighed.

Chrissy sighed and pressed her cheek against Eddie's shoulder, her eyes fluttering. She felt Eddie drop a kiss onto her forehead.

"Get some sleep. We'll look after the kids," Eddie whispered.

And then she was falling. . .

"CHRISSY, CHRISSY!"

Chrissy was in the dark void again, and she could hear Heather screaming for her. She ran as fast as she could towards Heather's voice, but she wasn't sure if she was moving at all or if it was nothing but utter darkness.

"HEATHER!"

Then came that voice again, that voice in the darkness. . .the voice she could never seem to find.

"YOU ARE MINE!"

8 hours later. . .

Dustin and Steve climbed up through through the hatch. Looking through it, Chrissy could already tell that there was no way to climb up all that way. Dustin did, however, take the opportunity to use his walkie. It was no use, though. There was no response. Steve warned Dustin that he would drain the battery if he kept it up.

"The mall just opened," Dustin said. "Someone could be in range."

"What? You think Petey the mall cop is going to rappel down here and save the day?" Steve asked.

Eddie and Chrissy giggled as they shared a look. God, Steve could be so funny sometimes, especially when he was interacting with Dustin. Suddenly, a wet patch appeared on the wall as Steve went to the bathroom above them. Lovely.

"Ugh, can you redirect your stream, please?" Robin groaned.

"Ooh, speaking of. . ." Eddie said and pulled himself through the hatch. "Mind if I join you, sailor?"

"If you could find a cup up there, that'd be great, babe!" Chrissy hollered.

"There's one in my bag!" Dustin yelled.

"Jesus, you really do have everything in there, don't ya?" She heard Eddie asked.

Chrissy rifled through Dustin's bag and pulled out the cup. Although, it was actually a thermos. She had managed to relieve herself behind a pile of boxes when Erica started to try and drink the green goo, reminding them all that she could still be a dumb kid. Luckily, Robin stopped her.

"God, I didn't it was possible for us all to get even more intimate with each other," Ronnie said, screwing up her face. "I now know what Steve and Chrissy sound like when they pee."

"Implying that you already know what Eddie sounds like," Robin pointed out.

"Yeah," Ronnie said as Eddie cackled. "That was an unfortunate accident. Still, Chrissy, why do you whistle as you do it?"

They didn't have any time to ask more questions as Robin heard someone coming, and they all quickly scurried up to the top of the elevator. They were definitely Russians, and to Chrissy's amusement, she heard one of them sniff. It was Steve who acted quickly as the Russians left. He dove down into the elevator with the canister filled with the green goo and shoved it under the door to hold it in place. Everyone quickly ran out, and Steve was the last one, narrowly avoiding being squished by the door. It slammed down on the canister, breaking. They all watched with wide eyes as it sizzled and created a hole in the floor. And Erica was suddenly grateful she didn't drink it.

"That is a long fucking walk," Eddie whistled.

"Well, if you can't do it, baby, just say you can't do it," Chrissy teased.

She was certainly feeling better after getting some sleep, despite the nightmare. She was even starting to feel her powers begin to ebb more freely now. Eddie scowled and began to walk down the neverending hallway with determination, and she couldn't help but laugh as he swung his hips.

It was impressively long, despite the fact that it had no fire exits, as Steve had pointed out. Although Robin made a good point, too. The hallway was definitely made for transporting cargo. Who knows what they were using that green goo for? Chrissy smiled as Eddie eagerly jumped into a discussion about promethium with Robin, and Steve pretended like he didn't secretly stash comic books under his bed. They all jumped to the theory that the Russians were building some sort of nuclear weapon.

"Okay, but if they are building something? Why here?" Ronnie asked. "Hawkins, of all places?

Robin shared a look with the others, and their eyes went wide. They all knew it was a possibility. They just didn't want to admit it.

"You don't think - ?" Dustin stared to asked.

"I mean, it definitely seems like it's connected," Chrissy said.

"No! No way! It's not happening!" Eddie exclaimed.

"I mean, it's possible, Eddie," Chrissy said. "You and I both know it is."

"Is there something that you'd like to share with the class?" Ronnie asked, her arms crossed. "And no bullshit this time!"

Of course, they didn't get a chance to answer Ronnie as Dustin's walkie decided to crackle to life. It was the same code again, but they knew it was close, and whatever was transmitting the code could reach the surface. They had to find it. They nearly got caught by a bunch of Russians when they turned down a hallway. Luckily, Erica spotted the comms room. When they got in there, it had been occupied. They froze for a moment, unsure of what to do when the Russian spotted them. Robin tried to confuse him with the Russian that she learned, but he reached for his weapon. Steve screamed and ran toward him before he could pull it out. Eddie and Chrissy were about to intervene when Steve managed to knock him out with a phone. Steve ran his hands through his hair, gaping.

"Okay, that was hot," Eddie said.

"Totally," Chrissy agreed. "Nancy is going cream her pants when I tell her about this."

"Gross, but yeah," Robin agreed. "She is."

"I still have no idea what's happening," Ronnie said. "But that was totally badass, Steve."

While everyone was focused on Dustin arguing with Erica about grabbing a key card and going all the way back, no one had noticed that Ronnie had snuck off until she had come back down the stairs.

"Hey! There's something up there!" Ronnie yelled, fear in her voice.

They all moved up the stairs and through the door. They entered a giant room, full of scientists and a giant machine in the middle. It was opening a gate to the Upside Down.

"What. The. Fuck?" Ronnie cursed.

Chrissy touched the back of her neck, feeling her hair raising up as a cold feeling ran through her.

"Chrisssssy. . ."

Chapter Twenty-Nine

[tb5-heavenward]

Hello!!!!! Just read your fic 'Talented Amateurs' and its soooo totally awesome and the writing is AMAZINGGGG!!!

I completely understand if you're not planning on finishing it but was wondering if you had any ideas about the ending you'd thought of? Was super curious as to how the rest would pan out!!!

Thank you <333333

oh man, I am sorry for how absent I have been lately! I have actually spent the past few years moving home to Canada from the USA, and getting settled at home again with my family. I've been split between semi-single parenthood, immigrating my husband from his home country back to mine, and then three or four different jobs across two different countries, depending upon how one counts that, and the rigamarole of generally getting life back into a manageable state. I've been through so many big changes over the past few years that I more or less have to conceptualize just the whole first half of my thirties as having been about just Getting Settled.

As to TA and writing in general, I would love to get back to it someday, the nature of writing for me is that I do end up taking long breaks in order to Live Life for periods of a few years at a time, but I always do mean to come back. I don't want to promise anything, but theoretically things will start to settle back into a real and actual routine in the latter half of 2024, as I whittle my days back down to just working one job, taking care of one household, and having my kid back in school for the bulk of the day.

It's not the only big project or big property I squared myself up against, but it is one that has a very clear roadmap of a plot in my head, so no fear there. As far as Heavenward having been kind of a jumping off point for what I thought the most interesting aspects of TAG Season 1 were, talented amateurs was really the same as far as what I thought about where Season 2 left things, and where I would have gone with what I thought was the other most interesting aspect of the show as a whole, that is to say Penny/Gordon, and the notion of the whole cast as adults with relationships.

The most terrifying thing about TA as it exists right now is that it's maybe only about 30% of the story I ever intended to tell, which speaks to just how awful it is to have my brain. Basically, the intent was always for it to be three parts long, each about 200k words, one for each trimester of the pregnancy it centers around, and for that to unfold in ways that I thought would be entertaining. As a story it is genuinely never far from my head or my heart (I reread it myself with embarrassing frequency) and the broad strokes of the answer to that question of where it goes next actually hinge on whether or not Jeff Tracy is alive or dead in TA's version of the TAG universe, and I never quite settled that question for myself. After how long it's been though, I think I at least have enough perspective to know which way I'm leaning.

I'm very much due for a rewatch of the series, and hopefully I can carve out time sometime soon to make that happen.

As far as something that may or may not resemble a glimmer of hope for a future where I get my ass back in gear, here's a cut and the first half of the chapter I left off in the middle of writing, for whatever that's worth!

61 - knit and purl

Grandma Tracy hasn't had much to knit in a while, and her fingers ache slightly, her muscle memory for the task having gone somewhat to rust. There's no great call for hats and scarves in the South Pacific, no one particularly in need of cableknit when there's Gore-tex and nanofleece to be had. Still, it had all come back quickly enough, and the bag she'd brought with her is no longer full of knitting needles and yarn, but of a gift for her grandson.

Not, crucially, the one whose birthday it actually is, though she'd caught Alan's sideways glances and nods of approval during the flight over, so it's not as though she thinks he minds.

Alan is presently in the process of very carefully putting TB2 down in an empty patch of farmland alongside a dirt road stretching between two fields. The windbreak around the farmhouse is in sight, as is the hulking green pickup truck rumbling along the road towards their appointed landing coordinates. From over her shoulder, Grandma Tracy can feel the intensity of Virgil's silent attention where he leans forward in one of the passenger seats, not wanting to backseat drive, but equally not wanting Alan to fudge the landing. John's still down in the cargo bay, hopefully buckled in.

Grandma isn't worried, though she can see her youngest grandson's tongue caught between his teeth and poking out between his lips as he concentrates. When the Thunderbird finally settles gently to the earth below, she watches him let out a great big breath and grin to himself, and when he glances across the cockpit towards her, she can tell he's after reassurance, and she's only too happy to oblige. "Nicely done, kiddo."

"Not too bad," Alan agrees, though his smile widens at the praise. He pushes his seat back, unbuckling his harness and stretching before hoisting himself upright and clambering back into the cabin proper. "I'm gonna get changed. You okay, Virg?"

Virgil's slept most of the flight through, and could probably do to get up and move around himself, but with his leg still in a cast and TB2's interior not exactly friendly to those in a state of reduced mobility, he's going to need help getting up and out of the ship. "Fine, Al. Good job. Give Grandma a hand before you go."

Grandma Tracy waves Alan away as he turns around, already extending a hand in her direction. "No, no, I'll sit a minute. Go get in your civvies, sweetheart. We're not in a hurry."

Alan shrugs and reverses course, giving Virgil's shoulder a light punch as he passes by, heading for the lockers and showers tucked back behind the cockpit. Virgil looks mildly disgruntled to have been overruled, but his expression softens slightly when Grandma turns in her seat to give him a gently knowing smile. "Hard to be back in your bird and not be the one flying, hm?"

"It sucks."

There's a blunt, uncharacteristic bitterness there that's hard to miss, the past few weeks have been hard on Virgil, in no small measure because they've been hard on his brothers. The pressure release of Gordon's circumstances seems to have done little to improve Virgil's mood, and it's hard to tell if he wants attention drawn to his attitude. She suspects not, and doesn't comment, only nods sympathetically. "Well, we're all on the ground now, and you can take it easy for a while."

This gets no better answer than an non-committal grunt, and the fact that Virgil's been taking it easy for weeks now hangs in the air, obvious but unstated, and then dissipates into nothingness as the cargo lift hums from behind them, and John returns from the lower cargo bay, with the little plexiglass sphere that houses his AI companion held loosely in one hand. "Al getting changed?" he asks, stooping slightly as he moves through the cockpit, coming to the front just in time to offer his grandmother a hand to her feet.

"Showering first," Grandma informs him, and accepts his help to stand and stretch. "Help an old lady back down to terra firma, won't you, dear?"

"Of course," John answers immediately, and offers his arm in a solicitous and genteel fashion, at odds with the way he's often written off as cold and distant. There's a rarely seen streak of gentility in John, most often only seen by his grandmother, who has the fortune of being one of the few recipients of his softer affections. Her hand on his arm is steadied when his palm closes lightly over her fingers, and he contrives to help her aboard the cargo lift in a way that doesn't make her feel doddering and weak. "I'll be back for you in a minute, Virgil, unless Alan gets you first," John attempts to tell his younger brother, but the only response is another dismissive grunt, and this is lost in the hydraulic hum of the cargo lift.

"Never mind about him," Grandma says, tipping her head lightly against her grandson's shoulder when he sighs aloud. "Gordon will cheer him up one way or the other, mark my words."

[strapinandstraponyourstrapons]

puppy pack || thiam centric || completed || 5 chapters || 11k words || fluff and humor and a smidge of angst with a happy ending

summary:

Brett hosts a house party for the Puppy Pack. Liam and Theo get their clothes all wet.

---

“Whatever happened to all your brain cells, anyway?” Theo continues.

“My dad beat them out of me,” Liam answers without hesitation, several seconds before his brain-to-mouth filter in its current intoxicated state can keep up.

holy shit i finally finished this gargantuan (by my standards anyway) monstrosity. the first chapter is up!! and the rest is coming over the next few weeks.

this fic is pre-relationship because, although there’s a lot of cute thiam scenes (i hope), they are drunk, so i didn’t want to make them do anything too crazy. also this fic is kind of written so you can imagine slotting it in somewhere in a larger, slowest-of-slow-burns, overarching thiam story, so it’s not the right timing in my mind for them to get together just yet. this fic would be like a b-plot to an episode somewhere towards the end of the theoretical 7a that i like to imagine, intercut with scott and the older pack members Doing Plot Things like a bunch of losers.

if you want to know what sort of ride you’re getting into, this fic is mostly fluff and humour, just a happy little snapshot of the puppy pack being stupid kids and having fun. we take a brief dip into angst for chapters 3 & 4 but it has a happy ending and the angstiness doesn’t outweigh the shenaniganness too much imo. i wrote it to feel like some of the drinking experiences i have had as a youth, so hopefully it’s an authentic mix of dumbassery in a good way and dumbassery in an oh-my-god-you-could-have-died way. 

this fic is dedicated to

@thiamsxbitch for leaving a lovely comment on “i lost my heart under the bridge” a few weeks ago that got me thinking about writing again, and for encouraging me all throughout, inspiring me with her own writing, validating my choice to post it in chapters even though the poll said no, being a lovely ray of sunshine, and making this fandom a more welcoming place🖤

@pearlspouch for  gifting me a work that i decided to link this one to very slightly… it doesn't line up perfectly but at one point i mention liam and mason making a bet about skirts. if you want to know how that goes, you should read “You Look My Way And I Lose My Breath” by issawhatevah on ao3!!! i absolutely adore it, and it’s a brilliant read especially if you’re unsatisfied with thiam not (officially, anyway) getting together at the end of this. thanks again to sina for being an absolute legend🖤

@nuxmediocre for saying she would read this fic if i left it with its draft title (“weredickheads part four: why are you buying clothes at the soup store”). i did end up with a proper title, but i was just glad that someone appreciated my sense of humour, so thanks for that🖤

and to my real life friend and housemate who drank too much on the day i had literally just started planning to write this idea, for giving me first hand experience about dealing with someone who’s so sick from alcohol that you consider calling an ambulance. glad you survived bud, and your sacrifice contributed so much to gay fanfiction🙏

if you subject yourself to reading this, please leave me a comment with your thoughts and i will be eternally grateful🔥🖤🔥 tell me a song or songs that you think the puppy pack would absolutely thrive to (no, we do not care that it’s supposed to be 2014 in the timeline so don’t worry about that)

[heliosthegriffin]

Class of One Chapter 17

Ao3 Link

---

“And, that is why attempting to use a weapon of, theoretically, mass destruction against my fellow combatants in a social fighting event is bad, and therefore wrong.” Jaune spoke to Goodwitch sounding dead inside.

He had just got done writing a paper on the wrongs of using excessive force against combatants that weren’t using lethal force against himself.  All he did was try to fire Good Samaritan at them! He wasn’t even sure what happens when he does fire it, every time he tries to remember, his head gets all screamy. But, Miss Goodwitch very much did not approve of his actions, and had confiscated his bazooka, and then made him write a paper until she was happy.

Hopefully, this was it.

His teacher, and captor of not only his hoodie, but also his bazooka, nods. “Good, you’re making progress, on your next fight, just go in with your standard weapons, they will serve you well enough.”

“Thank you, may I go now?” Jaune asks with building hope.

“No, “ Which Goodwitch promptly crushed without mercy. “Instead,  we are going to the training room to improve you as much as possible before the next round.”

Jaune winced internally, but smiled weakly. “Yay.”

Then was enveloped in a purple aura as he was floated out of the room by his teacher.

-----

Jaune screamed as he hopped from floating disc to floated disc, sliding to and fro on the near-friction-less planes, he ducked as bullets flew all around him, only his sense of danger keeping him from being hit.

Solider from the Atlas military were drawing beads on him and firing expertly at him. Where had Goodwitch even got them?!

He kept moving, eyes going wide as a literal ring of fire appeared in between him and the next platform, leaping through it, possibly singing his eyebrows in the process. 

Landing, almost skidding off the sides, Jaune gulped uneasily, as he saw boulders moving at highway speeds in front of him in the air in between the planes of force, like a trap lifted out of a video game. A game made by people that hated you!

Jaune thought he heard a sound, turning around a fraction too late, as a missile of force hit him on a chest, knocking him off the plane, and harshly onto the ground.

A barrage of bullets then struck him, as the soldier fired mercilessly on him.

Followed by a boulder that had been floating falling ontop of him.

“Ow.” Jaune moaned.

“Cease fire!” Goodwitch turned to the soldiers with an aura of military authority. “Take a break, return in five!”

“Ma’am, yes Ma’am!”

Turning to Jaune she levitated the rock off of him. “Go get some water, and get back here for more training.”

Jaune groaned in acceptance.

----

Jaune almost threw up leaving the training halls, back at Beacon, he had heard his upperclassmen, and women, whisper enviously about how he got to train one on one with Goodwitch, the most physically attractive teacher in the school. They didn’t know what they were talking about.

Yeah, he was doing stamina training.

Yeah, he was getting disciplined.

Yeah, he was having his limits tested, every. SIngle. Day.

But, it wasn’t the depraved training they fantasied of! Jaune was most certainly not getting what they were wanting! 

Or, at least he thought so, but maybe some of them were into that? Jaune wasn’t into being bossed around by older women, he had gotten enough of that back at home, so that was definitely his anti-interest if anything.

Poor dad, he was the only man left at home now. If he focused, he could distantly hear screaming. That's just his imagination, though.

Hopefully.

Anyway, Jaune was not in any way getting ‘special training’, or ‘giving special training,’. The boy doubted Goodwitch could get his heart racing in any way besides utter fear.

She had him running an obstacle course, while she levitated boulders over his head, and set the room on fire! She was a real-deal witch!

Then set him on fire! While practice drones came after him!

It was like everyday he came back able to move, she took it as a personal insult and challenge!

He hardly even wanted to think about what she’d have for him tomorrow, today was bad enough!

“Uggh.” Jaune let out a long sigh. That was tomorrow at least, and the next day after that was the two v two matches, or in his case, the two v one matches, which he was now looking forward to, win or lose, as it meant she wouldn’t put him under a boulder again, for that day at least.

At least for now, he had the rest of the afternoon to himself.

Looking out the window across Haven’s expansive lawns and gardens he spied the stalls of the festivals. Jaune nodded. It looks like a good place to start.

What’s the worst that could go wrong?

Jaune turned pale. “Oh, why’d I have to go and think that? Everything, everything could go wrong.” He sighs. “Might as well get it over with.”

-----

The festival was packed wall to stall by people of every color and creed, and he didn’t mean skin color or whatever, literally every color of the spectrum was on somebody here. Pink hair, blue skin, neon brown clothes, it was enough to cause him to almost throw up.

But, that may be from seeing so many souls packed together, their energies pressing next to each other, little sparks of soul friction firing into the air whenever someone with an active aura brushes against another. Which, unsurprisingly, was quite a few, considering this was a festival themed around the protectors of humanity. 

Still it was neat to watch, it may have led to him walking into a wall or tree every so often, though. Jaune was fine, the obstructing object, not so much.

No one got hurt at least.

He played some clearly rigged games. Managed to throw a dull dart through the back of the tent and into the horizon, and broke the hoop of a ball game, shot a pop gun and broke the bottle and shelf it was on. The game-masters just pushed a giant beowulf plush, a cheap katana, and a disguise kit into his arms, and told him to never return.

Sitting on a bench, eating some terrible, but delicious food, that was also completely overpriced. Jaune realized that he had more or less had the complete festival experience in roughly an hour.

It sucked.

What had he seen in these before?

A group of chortling boys and giggling girls ran in front of him.

Jaune had a pang of longing for his family. Then a pang of loss at having no one to spend this time with.

Staring out across the festival, now more than ever, he felt the truth of his situation emerge over him.

Fraud or not, he was alone. Jaune had seen so much, that he was no longer sure where his luck ended now and his skill began, luck couldn’t have gotten him this far, could it?

He was a fifteen year old boy by himself in a foreign kingdom eating by himself, fighting to show off his skills to the rest of the world, pretending that he was two-years older than he was and had proper training, yet was somehow beating people who did have such training. Had exactly two kinda of friends who were old enough to be either his mom or elder sister respectively, a mentor, and almost supportive family. 

What is his life? 

Where is it going? 

Was this anyway to live?

Why did he see Peter Port when he got swallowed by that Grimm? He should probably follow up that line of reasoning later.

He watched a group of hunters walk by in Haven Uniform, and felt a deep longing for something similar, followed by a dark, ugly emotion he quickly identified as envy.

Watching them walk by, it dawned on Jaune, that being a Hunter was not a one person job. No matter how skilled or strong, no person was meant to stand by themselves. 

Even Headmasters had staff to assist them. 

Even Kings had Knights. 

Gods had Spirits.

Wait, where did that last thought come from?

He shook his head. No matter, Jaune thought, he didn’t like being alone. But, who was he going to relate to? How would anyone listen to him and not think him insane? 

Jaune then touched his wallet. 

“I’m already a fraud, am I really above bribery?” Maybe he’d find someone to rant to for a few hours, and throw money at them until they stayed.

He snorted. No, he wasn’t that desperate.

Jaune thought for a moment, thinking who he could talk to, who was actually available. He could call his dad?

He knew his secret, and was kind of supportive?

“No, not right now.” Calling Dad would only make him homesick, and then his sisters would join in, and mom, and that would mess with him too much.

Then he thought to the only person who he really interacted with daily, Ms. Goodwitch.

Jaune started to shutter, but fought it back.

Sure, she regularly beat his ass in training, but she was the most regular human contact he had. Maybe, just maybe, they could be friends? … Not like she had many options either, she was a workaholic.

Jaune chuckled then immediately felt bad. 

She did a lot to help him, and he was laughing at her. He should do something nice for her.

Like not getting involved in dangerous shenanigans that would give her tons of paperwork and make Beacon look bad.

Yeah, that wasn’t going to happen. Jaune knew what his life scheduled trouble for him, just not the exact date. Getting up and walking, he started thinking, passing through the gaps in the stalls. Avoiding people and breakable objects. Eventually entering an alleyway, and passing by what looked like a shady dealing. 

Two vaguely familiar looking people, one was a short ginger and the other, a taller ninja-looking guy, both in trench-coats faced as they faced a trio of girls that ran the entire spectrum of pretty. 

A tall and athletic redhead, a short tan red-head with a beanie, and an average height, dark-skin girl with a beanie.

He nodded his head approvingly at them, they all had pretty auras too. Not that they noticed him.

“You’re the supplier, correct?” The dark-skinned girl asked.

“Yes.’ The ninja answered.

“Then, you have what we requested?”

“And more.” The ginger said suddenly, pulling out a baggie. The trio of girls looked with awe at whatever was in it.

He felt he had zero reason to interfere, even if his skin crawled at the scene with a distinct feeling of being violated.

So, he left.

“Taking all my Lien!” Was the last thing Jaune heard, as he began to sprint away.

Only for him to be pulled into a doorway.

Jaune made to strike with overwhelming force, only to stop at the last moment, seeing a familiar face.

“Lisa?”

“Correct.” The lavender haired reporter affirmed.

----

Mercury was not having a good time.

Become a butler they said, it would be alright they said.

Nobody said a word about the psycho midget! Or the rude customers! Or having to be polite!

Running down the corridor, he slid and hid in a dark hallway.

Breathing softly, Mercury looked at himself, dressed in this monkey suit. It was so formal he wanted to vomit. The son of an assassin turned into the butler of mysterious prodigy, wasn’t that the plot to some Mistrial drama crap?

He hoped to the Dark Brother that wherever his life was going it did not involve yaoi. 

Or if it was, that he could be the top, he refused to be a bottom as he was done being bent over by life.

Regardless, Mercury took a breather, and reminded himself that if nothing else, he looked damn fine in this suit.

HIs scroll vibrated.

It was Ezekiel, the manager of the Vista, The Miracle Boy aka Jaune Arc’s personal hotel/fortress/orphanage, and also his boss and trainer in the way of butler hood.

He wanted to know where he went.

Mercury simply typed Midget.

Ezekiel responded with a stay safe, and directions to a first aid kit.

Mercury frowns. “Maybe those Mistriali types at that club are still looking for muscle?” He mused. Those twins were certainly his type…

“Koff-Koff!” A sharp bark of noise caught the butler in training's attention.

Following the noise, he saw a sickly little girl with ash-gray hair hiding not too far from him.

Mercury frowned awkwardly, and waved at the child, as he took slow steps back. 

The child waved back just as awkwardly.

‘This is weird.’ The assassin turned butler thought.

“So, you good? Need a hot towel or something?” Mercury prodded. She technically lived here, so he probably was obliged to help her.

The little girl said nothing, looking at the ground miserably.

Mercury bit the inside of his cheek. ‘Aggh, why do kids have to be annoying to deal with?!’  He really wanted to leave.

Then came another round of coughing.

“Alright, what crap is bothering you, kid?” Mercury said bluntly.

It certainly caught her attention as she looked at him in surprise.

“Yeah, you! Tell me what’s up? Why aren’t you with the other kids? Playing and shiiii, I mean shoving each other, right?” 

“I’m sick.” The girl said softly. “I’m always sick. Doctors say there's something wrong with my body, it can’t fight off diseases that well.” Mercury was surprised how well spoken she was. 

“So, the other kids don’t let you play because you’re sick?”

The girl shook her head. “I can’t play, and I don’t like watching them. It makes me sad. If I try to play I start coughing hard and pass out.”

‘Wow, that is depressing.’ Mercury thought his life was shit, or had been shit up till recently, but at least he had his health.

Down the hallway, an elevator opened, and Mercury froze, as he heard familiar boots of a certain psycho midget exit.

Reaching down and picking up the girl. “Hey,  I got something you can do, something only you can do.” He said to her as he began running.

She looked confused. “What?”

“Hang out with me, and make sure that psycho doesn’t get the drop on me.”

-----

Sitting in a booth of some hole in the wall bar in Haven had not been on his to-do list today, but Jaune had to admit it, Lisa was as close to a friend he had at the moment. What else would he call her after he had saved her life, when she had helped make him a multi-millionaire, then dragged him into a conspiracy to risk both of their lives, and then disappear without a word for months?

Well, probably not a friend. 

Or was she?

“Are you about to drag me into another adventure?” Jaune asked, pointing at her with his chopsticks.

She chuckled. “No, not today.” She took a sip of her beer. “I just saw a friend, and decided to press him into keeping me company.”

“Oh.” Jaune nodded. “Well, I would have come politely, if you bothered to ask.”

“I can’t exactly call you when I’m on every hit list in Vale.”

“Not every hit list.” Jaune said carelessly.

“Ok, I know that. It’s just a manner of speech. But, the point is, I’m in hiding, I can’t exactly contact a world-famous celebrity, can I?”

“I’m world-famous?” Jaune asked skeptically. “I thought I was just kingdom-famous?”Lisa looked at him blankly, then shook her head. “You’re lucky, you’re pretty.” Then she took another drink. “Yes, you are world-famous, you’re competing in Vytal, and were already famous beforehand.” Jaune’s eyes widened in realization. “Oh.”

“Yeah, anyway, you should probably use this opportunity to advertise your businesses, it’s a once in a life-time opportunity for you.” She thought for a moment. “Actually, scratch that, probably only an annual opportunity for you, you lucky jerk.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.” Jaune nodded, then ate some udon. “If you’re in hiding, why are we here? Shouldn’t you be in a bunker or something?”

Lisa smiles. “Not anymore, I have backing now.”

“Backing?”

“As in, I have someone’s protection.”

“Oh, like being part of a secret organization?”

“Sort of, but more boring. I dig up information, look through old reports and books, make phone calls, and they make sure I don’t get my head turned inside out.”

“That’s nice of them.”

“Yes, that is very nice of them.”

A beat passed.

“Who is it?”

“One of the families that run Haven. The Aegis Clan.” Jaune nodded. “And, that’s supposed to mean something?” Lisa sighed. “Some hunter you are, it’s not that important.”

“What are they looking for?” Jaune asked. “I can’t imagine they just protect a journalist like you out of the goodness of they’re hearts.”

“You’re right.” Lisa looked conflicted.

“You’re not allowed to tell me, are you?”

“By contract they had me sign, there is nothing stopping me, but in the spirit of the contract would be damaged.”

“That’s unfortunate.” Jaune moaned. He was starting to get curious. But, holding your word was a big thing in his family, and he wouldn’t have anyone break their word just to satisfy his curiosity.

“But, if you were to help me look for it when you can, I guess that doesn’t violate the spirit of the contract.” Jaune bit his lip. “Alright, I’ll do it. I’m sure it’s fine.”

Lisa nods gravely. “Good. Now, does the phrase, ‘New Genesis’ mean anything to you?”

He shook his head. “No, I can’t say I do.” “That’s fine, I can’t say I expected you would..” She took a sip of her beer. “It’s a eugenic program started sometime after the Great War in effort to make Aura-Users capable of surpassing The Last King of Vale, by some of the greatest scientific minds of the time backed by powerful people from all over the Kingdoms.”

“Um, what’s eugenics mean?”

“Selective breeding to achieve a desired result, like how people will breed dogs together in effort to get a breed they want, except in this case, it’s humans and Faunus.” Jaune looked disgusted. “What? I mean, people should do that out of love right? Not for just … power.”

“Not all of them were given a choice, Jaune.” The glass in his hand shattered. “What?”

Lisa ducked under the table. “Cool your head,” Glass rained around them. “Nothing you can do now.” Lisa sighed. “This is all public knowledge if you know where to look. The project was dismantled almost two decades ago.”

Jaune relaxed. “Oh.” He looked sheepish. “Sorry.” Lisa nodded. “You’re paying for the glass, not me. Anyway, dismantled is the wrong word.The island where the experiments were being carried out was blown into the next dimension, along with all the data that came with it. It was only found out later after receipts that didn’t add up started being found out, and people who were involved in the project that weren’t on the island after it was blown to bits, started making confessions in order to avoid jail time, or worse.”

“Did they?” Jaune asked, sincerely hoping that they were rotting behind bars, or worse.

“They did, they knew too much valuable knowledge and they were snatched up by various kingdoms, and now they’re either head of other projects, or dead.”

Jaune looked like he drank vinegar. “That’s not satisfying.”

Lisa looked at him tiredly. “Life rarely is.”Jaune sighed in contempt. “So, why are you telling me this? I don’t see how I can be of help. It seems open and shut to me.”

Lisa looked into her drink. “Well, that’s the thing, it’s not.” She looked at Jaune intensely. “In the reports and interviews I found, many of them, they all referenced something, something that many researchers never responded to, as though they were scared of it.” Lisa chuckled. “One, allegedly, had a heart-attack when it was mentioned to him.” 

Jaune smiled. “That’s good to hear.” He picked at his Udon, happy that one of those evil bastards got what's coming to them. Family, love, and trust were big things to an Arc, to break any of those things was a terrible thing, but to warp, and defile all three, it was unforgivable to him. If he ever met one of those people still living, he’d fix that. “What was the thing?”

“Alpha Specimen - The Original One’

Jaune looked at her blankly. “And?”

“That’s it. That’s all we know about it.”

“That’s what gave a man a heart-attack?”

“Allegedly, a lot of these reports are second, or third hand, they might not even be true, and just rumors made to blur the truth.”

“Then… How do you know, that ‘New Genesis’ wasn’t just one big lie to cover up something even bigger?”

“Wow, you’ve really become an optimist since we last met.”

“Shut up, you had to have considered that yourself, right?”

“I have, and … It definitely happened,”

“How do you know?”

“We have one of the survivors.”

Outside, on the other side of the wall, a short girl with silver hair and red-eyes listened intently to the conversation inside. Then disappeared as the world seemed to ripple like silvery-white water.

[zoroara]

OCtober challenge Day 30 - Worm

The longer the wait more the anticipation from both parties grew. Tyr had made sure to keep an eye on the brat as he trained. After all, just because he was hoping this kid would be able to beat him. Didn't mean he was going to lie down and let him take this win.

No, he was going to make him go through a living hell that he had to barely worm his way to victory if he could. Teach him the hell that exists even if you're skilled that you'll nearly die against some opponents, and hopefully, that even if you're a seemingly invincible monster. That the opponent being somewhat inexperienced doesn't mean you can't be taken down by them.

When the battle finally happened, Tyr was more than ready. He was surprised how well Squalo kept up with him, occasionally mimicking moves that Tyr had used and then trying to throw him off with it. It was exciting, he had never fought himself, his own sword style, so having that mixed in as well as the brat learning quickly as they fought made this battle exhilarating.

Blow for blow, swords crossed, blocked, parried, a dangerous dance that went on almost endlessly neither could even think for a second about the fact it had been two days and a whole night since they started. They didn't have time, they needed to ignore the hunger and thirst they had as they continued to clash, bleeding out more and more. It was no longer a battle of pure skill but endurance, and Tyr being a bigger target, meant it was easier for Squalo to eek in more damages.

But Tyr was always inhuman with his limitations, charging the kid he goes to stab him but blocked again, though Tyr could tell he was weakening much faster. He could see an intense fear flash in Squalo's eyes, that he was forcing to become excitement and enjoyment of this battle so that he wouldn't falter. But that only made what happened next make sense. Squalo when Tyr had been pulling his sword back from the block ran at him wildly swinging his sword in what was clearly unthinking desperation. A move only someone who was still new would even attempt.

These were the final blows needed, tearing apart Tyr's chest and leaving him with lethal wounds. He laughed, falling to the ground. He weakly says to Squalo.

"Heeeeey... Welcome ta the Varia brat... You know, the victim's supposed ta choose how they die... So can ya take my head off fer me with my sword? I think that'd be fittin'."

He was glad that Squalo didn't hesitate. Whatever was the reason it was that he listened seeing his own heavy blade lifted over his head, the last sight that many of his own victims had seen, made him elated. Shame he couldn't experience the full drop as his life was removed as it slammed into his neck, decapitating him.

And one chapter closes, that doesn't mean I won't write about him other times for before this time. But it felt a fitting end in the terms of this month.

It should be noted that yes, Tyr's signature way of killing people is kicking them over and decapitating them. Which is why he thought it'd be fitting that his life was ended that way too. But this fight gives Squalo plenty of reasons that he never fucking talks about this to the point that the only person who even mentions this battle is Dino.

Also yes, that was Scontro di Squalo, as it was said this was the final move that Squalo created and what was that killed Tyr. Which I had been thinking about a lot. We probably only see a more refined version of it, and interestingly a move we only see succeed against other sword masters as every battle that it's used, even Yamamoto's version of it fails against non-swordmasters or people who aren't playing by normal sword play rules like genkishi.

It is a move that would only theoretically work against someone expecting mastery, and is extremely hard to deflect or counter just due to the sheer amount of sword swings coming your way. But if they don't do that and go around it, then you're kind of fucked.

[plague-of-insomnia]

It's so nice to have new Sebagni content with big feelings and disabled Sebastian

So much content of this ship is made by antis and I don't want to suport them so thank you for making this story that I identify with

Anon 🥺🥺🥺🥺 … this ask made (makes) me so happy.

I’m such a sucker for all those things in a story and there just…. Isn’t a lot of it in the fandom, especially for ships like sebagni. I also am sad that antis love that ship so much, bc as wholesome as it can be, I also like exploring some darker aspects of Agni’s character.

I think it’s easy to see him as this perfect paragon, and maybe he did become that, but he wasn’t always that way, and even so, he was still human. I think antis especially like to pretend the “bad agni” that existed before Soma never existed…. But I think the fact that Agni wasn’t always so pure and saintly is part of why he such a loveable character.

I’m glad you can identify with the story, too (though I’m sorry if it’s bc you also deal with illness/disability and all the frustrations that go with it 🫂)…. I really didn’t ever intend to publish the story. At first, I was just gonna write it for myself as I desperately needed something to cling to with the absolute bullshit I’ve had to deal with in the last couple years (this year especially), but I am glad that I did opt to share it, as it does seem to have resonated with a niche group of people. <3

I’ll spend the next day or two on editing and formatting, so hopefully I can update officially on Wednesday. Unless something happens, it should absolutely be this week.

I’ve been really enjoying finally writing sebagni, so much so that if I am able to finish this story this year (that would be amazing if I could), I may try and start another sebagni piece, maybe one of my abandoned (put on the far back burner) ideas, or maybe another one in a similar vein…. I guess time will tell.

For now, I’m really enjoying the relationships in this fic, especially Seb & Tanaka and Seb & Agni ofc. But also Tanaka/Vince. In fact, I may end up doing a oneshot spin off that covers some of their relationship, like how they met, why they couldn’t be the couple/family Tanaka wanted, and how Vince died…. But it’s possible that may end up as part of Synch proper….

I have a semi-concrete idea of what the rest of the fic will entail, and I think it’ll be around 10 chapters. But so far it’s been surprising me, so it may be longer than that… but it’s not gonna be a fraction as expansive a story as WDH, so it is theoretically possible I could finish it this year.

I’m trying to take a laid back approach to this story, just write what I need to for my sanity and enjoy it as I go.

But I’m excited bc we’ll have two new characters to meet in ch 4!

Ty again so much for this ask. I’m really glad you’re enjoying the story. (^_^)

You can read the first 3 chapters of Synchronize on AO3.

Anyone is welcome to read and comment as long as you’re respectful and kind. 🥰

[tottwriter]

I actually wonder if it goes beyond even just tumblr asks.

Because, as I'm sure anyone involved with fandom will know from those various plea posts which make the rounds now and then, there’s been a big shift in the way people consume fanfic as well. Comments used to be way more common than they are these days.

I think it’s part of a wider shift, not just in terms of tumblr culture - though I do wonder if there’s something of an overlap there, since a large chunk of fandom on tumblr migrated away post-nipplegate, and it definitely never fully recovered from that.

But just...overall, as you say, there’s been a definite swing in recent years away from websites - and even fandoms - being communities, and more...people see them as a hub. A landing page. A hashtag. It’s not the building where you and your friends hang out anymore, it’s a social stage on which you promote those aspects of yourself you are willing to be judged upon.

Because being honest, even on other platforms, there used to be a lot more interaction. I met friends on twitter, from following them and replying to tweets, or even sending random DMs. I got to know people from messaging them on ff.net after one of us left a review on a chapter and we got into a back and forth conversation.

And all of that that happened in a way I wouldn’t conceive of doing these days. These days, it feels as if you’re intruding to send someone a DM, or to insert yourself into their thread. Like, that’s a big gamble because you don’t want to come across as weird. You don’t want to be called out. It’s much safer to just join a Discord and get to know them there first...but of course, it’s not all that easy to find these discord servers, because it’s not as if they’re all public, either. 

So you have this catch-22 of people becoming isolated because their fandoms have splintered, and losing the confidence they either once would have had, or would have seen openly modeled for them by other people if they were new in town. And then because the social dynamic has changed and people don’t interact that way anymore, it just causes more isolation because those avenues to build community aren’t drawing people together.

Realistically, I think this isn’t just about ask culture. Ask culture dying off is a symptom of a wider problem, which is just that people are warier. You go onto a social media platform and you’re hearing about this or that drama, this or that person who people don’t like. Depending on the platform, and where and when you arrive there, you might know who’s been called out before you ever know who your fandom friends are.

For a bit of a stretched metaphor, we’ve gone from a playground of kids who all just play together and don’t question it unless someone is flagrantly a jerk, to a whole mass of clique-y teens who are just so much more self-conscious about their image, and fear being the next designated pariah.

Callout culture has a lot to do with that, obviously, and the rise of DNIs and various other tribal badges. But to push that poor metaphor even further...you have to assume that this is also a part of the internet as a whole growing and changing as we learn how to socialise in a way which wasn’t even theoretically possible fifty years ago.

These are digital society’s growing pains. And they suck, don’t get me wrong. But we have to hope that, as with children, one day we’ll mature past them, and look back on our awkward paranoias as just the folly of youth.

And hopefully we’ll send asks again, because ask blogs are fantastic and those who run them deserve better than to be starved into obscurity.

You know, an interesting tumblr transformation that's happened gradually, and which I've seen no one talk about: ask-culture has essentially dropped off to nothing.

By which I mean, asks used to be WAY more of the tumblr economy. They used to be more common to send, and receive, and see. They were integral to the collaborative, forum-like behavior of old tumblr communities, not even to speak on the HUGE number of ask-blogs that used to exist to only be interacted with in ask-form.

I'm not saying this in a vying-for-attention way but instead in an observational way: I used to get way way more asks in like 2015, even with a fraction of my follower count. I wonder if it's due to the homogenization of social media sites? There's a lot more of this divide between "content creator" and "consumer" instead of just a bunch of peer blogs who would talk to each other. "Asks" aren't really a thing on twitter, are they? And as I understand it, the closest thing to an "ask" on instagram or tiktok would be a creator screenshotting some comment and responding to it in a new reel or video or whatever those content mediums are. Are asks just too tumblr-specific? Is that aspect of the site culture dying out as more and more people converge to using all their social media sites in the same way?

[azems-familiar]

a kotor novelization update, after several weeks! in which Shala wakes up and conversations are had

[akitokihojo]

Monster - Chapter 19

chapter index

“How far off are we talking?” Inuyasha asked, kicking out the fire as the rest of his team hurried to pack up camp.

“Ten miles, give or take.” Koga answered.

“How are you so sure it’s Hakudoshi?” Kagome asked next, strapping her bag over her shoulders.

“Anyone want to fill us in on what a Hakudoshi is?” Miroku implored with a bemused frown.

“A short, evil minion that we need to kill.” The wolf demon answered.

Blinking blankly, Miroku shifted his eyes over to Kagome for an actual explanation.

“Naraku created a group of demons. As far as we know, he had five. We killed one already, so now he’s down to four: Hakudoshi, Kagura, Byakuya, and Goshinki. Hakudoshi, we really don’t have a lot of information on other than he’s a child and has long, white hair.”

“He’s a child.” Miroku gasped.

“An evil one!” Koga feebly defended.

“Miroku, think of it as a design.” Inuyasha spoke. “Remember how we explained Naraku to you? How he’s an inorganic half demon? Anything he creates is essentially inorganic, as well. Child or not, Hakudoshi is still a demon of his that needs to go down.”

“Excuse me?” Koga sort of gaped at how that bit of information was so casually mentioned and how no one else was the least bit fazed by it.

“He’s just a little boy though, right?” Sango inquired sympathetically. “Isn’t there a chance he can be turned around and saved?”

“No, I think he’s a bit too far gone.” Kagome grimaced. “We had a friend that was sort of tortured into shape by Naraku’s guys. Hakudoshi was the main offender and was a fan of sharp objects.”

“Oh, okay. Evil child with a knife. Got it.” Miroku cringed, immediately throwing aside any further argument he could have thought of.

“The only one that’s worth saving is Kagura, but that’s a story for another time. We’ve gotta get going.” Kagome added.

“Hello?” Koga called, demanding their attention. “Inuyasha, what the fuck did you just say about Naraku?”

“Oh, that he’s an inorganic half demon? Yeah. You didn’t know that?” The hanyou shrugged sardonically. It was high time the secret got out to all that were involved since everything was so real now, but that didn’t mean he planned on sitting Koga and Sesshomaru down to have a nice, mature, informative conversation. That just meant he’d openly talk about it in front of them so that they could piece it all together on their own. It wasn’t like they could do much with it, anyway. He kept it under wraps for the protection of himself and everyone around him. Now, there was no further reason for it.

“Yeah, come on, dude.” Miroku arched a brow, playing along. He felt it was only his right since the guy just tried to punk him. “Even we knew that.”

“How the fuck… Inuyasha, what are you talking about? What does this mean?” Koga questioned seriously.

“It means he’s not a full demon like he wants everyone to believe. I can tell you’re looking for his weakness though, and I don’t know that. Technically, at this point, him being half demon is useless information. It’s nothing more than a fun fact. Half demon or not, he’s still a force to be reckoned with.”

“No, but half demons have specific traits about them, don’t they? They have a time of the month dedicated to basically emphasizing their weaknesses, right?”

“We turn human, yes.” Inuyasha tried not to grumble with his admittance. It was common knowledge. What wasn’t was the day and time it happened. “Naraku, doesn’t. I don’t exactly know what he transforms into, but it’s definitely not human, and potentially even more damaging to him. Be that as it may, do you know when that is?”

“Obviously not.”

“Then, it’s useless information.”

“How do you know this? Did you see it?”

“A long ass fucking time ago, I did. I was a kid; I wasn’t paying attention to the phase of the moon. Unless you know where he is and want to camp out every fucking night outside his place to wait and see if you miraculously feel his demonic energy die off, I’m going to have to repeat, this is all useless information now. It serves as nothing more than a stab to his ego.”

“Dammit.” Koga hissed. He was hoping that since it was new information to him, it’d be something they could grasp onto and utilize in the future, but the mutt was right. No one knew where Naraku was hiding, and camping out was obviously out of the question. Not to mention, a monster like that with the pride he harbors would take extensive efforts to protect himself during his moment of incapacitation. As quickly as he’d clung to the hope, the wolf demon was going to have to drop it. “Can you guys keep up while running? We should head out.”

“Kagome, get on.” Inuyasha kneeled, securing her rear as she climbed onto his back. With a little hike up, he was set to carry her at a decent speed.

“Kirara, let’s go.” Sango firmly ordered, and the small cat demon by her side let out a little meow, hopping into an open space as she transformed into her larger, saber-toothed version.

“Uh, there are things you don’t see every day, and there are things you see that make you think you took a little too much of Kaede’s good shit. What the fuck is that?” Koga pointed to the large cat demon, beyond perplexed.

“Kirara.” Sango replied nonchalantly, jumping on the demon’s back with ease. Miroku followed, not quite as skillfully, but not as sloppily as he used to either. “She’s my cat.”

“You’re not high, buddy.” Miroku grinned. “This is not an illusion.”

“Kagome, you’re from a weird ass village.” He shook his head, heading off in the direction he came from as he led the squad forward.

Koga had had to slow his pace down a bit since he knew he ran faster than the average demon and he didn’t want to lose his new comrades, but he was glad to hear no complaints from anyone. In fact, it was him that ended up doing the complaining. By the time they reached the fork where he’d left Sesshomaru, the high and mighty dog demon was nowhere around. As fruitless as it was to even call out for him, given his scent and aura weren’t in the immediate vicinity, the wolf demon still found himself audibly searching.

“Let me get this straight,” Inuyasha began, safely setting Kagome back down to her feet. “You told Sesshomaru to wait for you?”

“Yeah.” Koga frowned.

“And, you actually expected him to listen?”

“He said he would!”

“Did he say he would or did he grunt?”

Koga paused as he recalled the conversation with Sesshomaru, realizing it was the latter that he’d received. “Fuck!”

“Who’s Sesshomaru?” Miroku asked after climbing down from Kirara.

“Inuyasha’s older brother.” Kagome answered.

“Half brother.” Inuyasha corrected.

“They don’t get along.” She continued with a grimace.

“From the smell of it, he’s long gone.” The hanyou mentioned, his nose in the air to gather the area. “He went right. We’ll go left. There’s no use in you trying to catch up with him, so just come with us.”

“What happened to no teaming up?” Koga meagerly mocked, barely putting any effort behind his deriding tone.

“You can come with us, you can stay behind, or you can seek out the imp fucker. I don’t care. I was just giving you another option.” Inuyasha rolled his eyes, leading the way toward the left route.

“Alright, alright. No need to beg, Inuyasha. I’ll help you out, but only because you asked so nicely.”

Inuyasha barely bit back his groan, his head falling as he kept walking. He was going to regret this, wasn’t he?

“Koga, you never answered my question from before.” Kagome said, jogging a little to walk beside him as they all continued down the path. “How do you know this is Hakudoshi? Didn’t you guys say the underlings all give off the same scent as Naraku?”

“Oh, yeah. They do. We caught something feint and followed it. You’re not gonna like this, but we ended up coming across a house at the edge of the woods -“ Koga paused, pointing behind them to the West. “And, everyone inside was…”

“Dead?” Miroku attempted to finish for him, wondering if that was the word he was going for.

“I mean, yes, but a little more than that.”

“How can you be a little more than dead?” Sango asked.

“It was gruesome, okay? The bodies were mangled. It was an entire family torn to shreds. The smell of Naraku was strong there, so we followed it out. We got all the way to this path here, and the scent of him went down both ways. Hence, why I came and found you. That way, no matter what, more ground is covered and we can hopefully corner the fucker. Sesshomaru was adamant that it couldn’t be Kagura, Byakuya doesn’t look like the type who’d want to dirty his nails doing something like that, but who’s the one we discovered has a thing for torment? Hakudoshi.”

“You cannot possibly be that stupid, can you?” Inuyasha gruffly asked, abruptly stopped in his tracks as he spun around. His brows were furrowed and his lips turned down in disapproval. “This is most likely the biggest trap anyone has ever willingly walked into.”

“No, that was definitely considered.” Koga plainly responded. “But, it’s a chance we have to take. And, one you readily hopped on board with without any further information.”

“Because, I decided to trust you for once. A big mistake on my end, clearly.”

“So, if you knew it was potentially a trap, you’d let it all slide and allow him to get away?” The wolf demon challenged.

“I would have taken a moment to establish a plan.” Inuyasha scowled.

“Hakudoshi could theoretically lead us to Naraku. Sesshomaru and I already came up with a plan. Cover more ground and pin him.”

“You’re forgetting one major thing here, Koga.”

“Goshinki.” Miroku concluded. It was the only name he’d heard that hadn’t been considered.

“Right.” Inuyasha assertively confirmed. “That’s a creation we have literally no information on, and you two are going off of assumptions. Assumptions that could get us all killed.”

“What’s happened to you, Inuyasha? You used to be so carefree and reckless.” Koga teased. “Now, all of a sudden, you’re rational and want to put as much thought into everything possible? Why’s that?”

Inuyasha didn’t answer. His jaw clenched tight, and his amber eyes pierced through Koga’s blue irises.

“Oh, got it.” The wolf laughed, patting Kagome’s shoulder. “It’s because your sweetheart almost died, right? Well, don’t worry. I’ll be right here to save her again if anything happens.”

“You son of a -“ Inuyasha ground out, stopping himself before he could throw a punch at him.

“Koga!” Kagome pushed his hand off of her.

“Kagome, what?” Miroku demanded, marching forward.

“Goddammit.” She grumbled before turning to him. “Look, there was an incident, but I’m fine.”

“What happened?”

“Naraku’s puppet kicked my ass; I told you that already.”

“You didn’t tell me it’d almost killed you!”

“It’s not imperative knowledge, Miroku. It happened, it’s done, I’m okay, so let’s drop it.”

“What happened?” He repeated more sternly.

She hesitated. She didn’t want this to make her cousin worry more, which was why she’d chosen to never include that tidbit of information in the first place. It wasn’t necessarily her most prideful moment, either. It was terrifying. For she and Inuyasha. Bringing it up would help no one, and would ease the pressure on no one’s shoulders. Still, Miroku pierced her with his indigo stare, and she felt compelled to give him something.

“He tossed me off of the mountainside and into the river after the heavy rains had filled it. Koga saved me.”

Miroku could say nothing, his hand flying to rub the tension from his forehead as he closed his eyes. This was why she didn’t want to tell him. What good is it doing? It seemed to only be reinforcing his stress and the longer he was silent, the heated sighs leaving his nostrils, the more uncomfortable she was becoming. She could only hope he was taking this long because he was processing the information and throwing it away. He got what he wanted, there was nothing anyone could do to change it, and now the best thing to do was to let it all go.

But, then his dark blue eyes transferred to Inuyasha. “I thought you’d said she’d been safe with you.”

“Hey!” Kagome quickly shouted, though she didn’t immediately regain his attention. Nevertheless, she spoke. And, she spoke powerfully. It was like she could feel the admonishment sitting heavily in Inuyasha’s chest, and she wasn’t about to allow that to overtake him again. “It is not his fault! My safety is in no one’s hands but mine, so don’t act like I need bodyguards standing at every side of me! I am not fragile, you know I’m not fragile! I know it upsets you that you weren’t there, Miroku, but that’s the thing! You weren’t there! You don’t know how it all went down! So, don’t blame Inuyasha, because you don’t know how hard he was trying to save me!” Finally, his look had shifted back to her, and it seemed his frown became something less angry and hinting more on the remorseful side. “Redirect it towards me! Ask me what I had done wrong! I can list everything! I was too scared, I let my emotions get the better of me, I wasn’t strong enough, I hesitated - I can go on! But, you’re not gonna do that, are you? If you aren’t going to blame me, then I can guarantee you that it’s not going to make you feel better to place the blame on anyone but Naraku, so just drop it! It happened, it’s done! Let it go, Miroku!”

Swiftly, while the heat still bubbled in her core, Kagome turned around to face Koga. “And, you! What was that? Were you just trying to gloat because you didn’t like that Inuyasha opposed you!? Grow up!”

“I - I didn’t know that not everyone here was aware of what had happened.” Koga feebly defended.

“No, you just didn’t think before you said anything! You were throwing whatever you could out there to get under his skin! If you want to tag along, you need to learn to communicate better, understand!? Work with us or go find Sesshomaru!”

Then she turned to Inuyasha, sighing out some heat and allowing her glower to relax a little before speaking to him. He was innocent, he didn’t deserve her temper. So, with one exhale, she pushed as much infuriation from her being so that she could continue semi-reasonably with him. “I don’t really think that there’s any way we can come up with a plan for this. I think the best thing we can agree on is to be on high alert. Expect the unexpected. Or, did you want to turn around?”

“No, you’re right.” Inuyasha agreed.

“Okay.” Kagome breathed, though she faced the others in challenge. “Anyone else want to say anything?”

The group was quiet, and she’d noticed Koga’s tail drooped almost fearfully, his azure eyes on the floor and away from her. Good. It was immature of him to bring up her near death experience anyway; he should be ashamed of himself. He didn’t just cause Inuyasha to recoil, but gave her, her cousin, and Sango grief in doing so, as well. What an idiotic move.

“Great. Then, let’s keep going.” She concluded, turning around on her heel and walking forward at a quick pace. Everyone else, though, had to stay put for a quick breather.

“What did I tell you about pushing her?” Sango asked Miroku, coming forward to give him a half-sympathetic rub on his arm.

“Yeah, I know.” He grimaced, turning to follow after his cousin so that she wasn’t wandering off alone. “I’ll go calm her down.”

Inuyasha pinched the bridge of his nose. “The answer you were looking for is, I’m not sixteen, seventeen years old anymore, Koga.” He sighed. “But, it does also help to have someone else to consider when making your decisions. You should try it sometime.”

“That was terrifying.” Koga admitted.

“Yeah.” Sango laughed, her cat demon companion following her forward. “That’s what you get.”

Kagome could hear the footsteps approaching, easily identifying the gait as Miroku’s, and as soon as he was close enough, she glanced over her shoulder at him. “I’m sorry I left home without telling you, and I’m sorry if that felt like betrayal, but can you please try to get over it?”

“Well, that was blunt.” He muttered. “I wasn’t betrayed, Kagome. I was worried sick. Look, stop for a second.”

“No, because then the others will catch up and I don’t want them to overhear us.”

“Okay, fine, fair enough. Just try to look at it from my point of view. Please. Our entire lives, I’ve spent looking after you. Not just after I moved in when dad and uncle died, but always. I was the one who gave you the boost on top of the counter to get the cookie jar, and then helped you down. I was the one who put a bandaid on your knee when you tripped and fell. I was the one who stood in front of you when the henchmen came to our village. I know you don’t need protecting, but I’m your older brother. Whether you need it or not, I want it for you. I like to know that you’re safe, and when I don’t, it scares me.”

“That’s very sweet, but it also sounds like you’re saying if you weren’t there to monitor the situation yourself and something went wrong, you’re going to be judgmental about it.”

“How did you get that from anything I just said?”

“‘I like to know that you’re safe, and when I don’t, it scares me.’”

Miroku grimaced. “That wasn’t supposed to be turned against me.”

“I don’t know what you want from me, Miroku. I’ve said I was sorry like ten times already. I can’t go back to two months ago and change my mind, and even if I could, I wouldn’t. You can be mad at me all you want, I completely understand, but can you please try not to take it out on Inuyasha?”

“I didn’t take it out on him. I asked him a simple question.”

Kagome stopped walking then, pinning him with a stare that read right through his weak facade.

“O-okay,” He babbled awkwardly. “So, it was less simple and more a question that put him on the spot. I met the guy yesterday, Kagome. I don’t know him yet, so if he’s telling me he’s ensured your safety but Koga’s telling me you almost died, I feel like I have the right to -“

“Be judgmental?” She interjected, walking again.

“No.”

“He never said that, anyway. He’s contributed to my safety, but no one can ensure anything. Especially out here. You said it yourself last night, you and Sango have been through the wringer, as well. How many times have you guys been really hurt to the point where you needed to lay low?”

He bobbed his head in a small motion. “A couple times.”

“Right. It’s impossible to know what to expect outside of the boundaries of home, and we’ve all had to learn that the hard way. I’m not asking you to be his best friend, I’m asking you to take common sense into consideration, and to think before you react. You cant control what happened in our separation, and you just need to come to terms with the fact that I’m fine. I know you want to protect me, and I sincerely appreciate it. I do. I want to protect you too, which was why I suggested you two go home. But, you made your choice, and as much as I wanted to fight you on it, I respected it. It’s not like you’re blind to the craziness we’re dealing with; I’m sure you’ve gotten a pretty good taste of the morbidity out here. All I’m saying is, what’s done is done. Let it be done. Stop trying to make up for lost time, and just be with me now.”

“Okay, okay, okay. I get it. I’m sorry, but I’m also not sorry. I didn’t want to upset you, but it’s sort of shocking to find out you’d almost died. You can’t blame me for responding in a manner that wasn’t exactly the most positive.”

“In my defense, you weren’t supposed to find that out.” Kagome sighed. “I’d wanted to keep that from you, and clearly for good reason.”

“Why? Why wouldn’t you want me to know that?”

“Because, that information only hurt you, Miroku. Are you telling me it’s a good thing you know now?”

“Okay, I see your point.” He finally relented.

“It’s not like I’m trying to keep secrets from you or offend you in any way. I’m just keeping my business on a need-to-know basis.”

“I understand now. I do. Is there anything else I need to know?” He gave a crooked grin to try and lighten the mood.

Kagome heard the footsteps of the rest of their group coming around the bend not too far behind them now, and she peeked over her shoulder to make sure Inuyasha wasn’t in sight. Still, to be respectful of his sensitive hearing, she chose to keep her voice low. “Yeah. The day I’d almost died, it was really hard on Inuyasha, too. He was scared he’d lost me. He’d felt like he’d failed me. So, what you said - salt in the wound, Miroku. Not cool.”

“Oh. Ouch.” His smile stiffened. Faltered. “My bad. I can’t even apologize to him, though. I take it from the way you’d whispered that I’m not supposed to know.”

“Yup. Just keep it in mind for the next time you want to act like a tough guy. You don’t know the full story. I know that’s what’s bothering you, but handle it.”

“Are you saying I’m not tough?”

Kagome stopped walking and analyzed the size of her cousin’s biceps, teasing him by pursing her lips disappointedly as she pinched the muscle. The flicker of her brown eyes up to his said it all and Miroku gasped.

“Is this what I get? Is this the treatment I get because I care about you?”

“No, it’s the treatment you get because you’ve got puny arms.”

“The audacity! You’re small, too!”

“Miroku, she stabbed a guy in the groin with an arrow yesterday. I wouldn’t say that if I were you.” Sango chimed as they all appeared down the trail.

At hearing that, Koga’s eyes went wide, aghast, and he swiftly spun around on his heel mid-step to head back in the direction they’d come in. He’d been the most recent to piss her off, so it was evident he was the one she’d have no problem turning on if he spoke out of pocket again. He’d much rather head out to find Inuyasha’s brother than stick around to potentially share the same fate as arrow-dick-guy. Before he could take another step though, Inuyasha snagged the back of his vest, dragging him along.

“Keep going, wolf. She’ll only turn on you if you pretend to be alpha.”

“Inuyasha, I am alpha. I’m literally the alpha wolf of my pack.” He murmured unnervingly to the mutt.

“I know.” He smirked. “I want to see what happens.”

“Uh,” Inuyasha heard Kagome up ahead, noticing she’d stopped walking, she and her cousin facing off to their right. From his vantage point a little down the path, he couldn’t see what they were gazing at, but he could tell there was a break in the trees right where they stood. “It’s a cave.”

“Do you sense anything?”

“Yeah. I think so.”

She was right. The scent was feint, but Naraku’s trail ended here and went inside. He could feel demonic energy, but what was disconcerting was, he couldn’t pinpoint just how dangerous it was. Even worse, from outside of the cave, he felt eyes on him. Eyes he felt would only peer harder the moment they went inside.

“You got anything to help prepare us?” Sango asked. “We haven’t faced anything belonging to Naraku yet. How strong are we talking?”

“That sword on your hip,” Inuyasha pointed. “It’s not just there for show, right?”

“No. I’m highly skilled with it.”

“Good. You’ll find it’s a valuable asset to keep you alive then. Other than that, all I can say is to stay vigilant. If Koga or I tell you to back up, you back up. We tell you to get down, you get down. Understand?”

“You two went from arguing to playing co-leaders?” Miroku asked with an arch of his brow.

“You got heightened senses?” Koga asked. “You got keen instincts?”

He scrunched his nose in regret of his remark. He was on a roll today. “No, but I’ve got nice hair and great listening skills.”

“Wonderful. Then, you’ll be just fine.” The wolf remarked with a wink, bravely leading the way inside.

“Hey, you okay?” Inuyasha checked, grabbing Kagome as he sort of forced her to walk slower and stick behind everyone with him. His arm wrapped around her shoulders as he pulled her closer to kiss her temple, her stride falling in line with his.

“I’m fine.” She dismissed. “Sorry for what he said back there.”

“Don’t be. You still mad?”

“Nah, I was more frustrated than anything. I get where he’s coming from, I just don’t know how to make everyone happy right now.”

“Don’t worry about making everyone happy, kid. He’s spent over sixty days worried about you. By now, it’s almost a learned behavior. Show him he’s got nothing to worry about. Show him what you’ve got. Just like you did with me.”

The advice made sense. It made a lot of sense. Miroku had always stood in front of her, shielded her from so much while growing up, so simply telling him no one needed to do that anymore wasn’t going to be as effective as showing him what she’d learned she could do. He hadn’t been there to see her develop into the conjurer she now was, so his absence went both ways. He was going to have to drop his need for control, and she was going to have to demonstrate her formed abilities.

In reply, she smiled and nodded, glancing up to the hanyou in appreciation. Kagome gave a little perk of her lips to silently request a kiss while he was still so near, and he grinned, leaning down to quickly give her what she’d wanted.

Inside the cave, it was dark. Ominous. Inuyasha was right, he felt closely watched. Almost studied. He jogged ahead to catch up with Koga, the hit from his boots against the cavern floor echoing off the surrounding walls.

“You feel that?”

“Yeah.” Koga agreed, blue eyes searching for the culprit. There was nowhere for anyone to hide, though. Not so close to the entrance at least. The only way to discover the source, he felt, was to delve deeper, but deeper was where it would definitely grow increasingly dangerous. A turn of events they were prepared to expect. No matter what, Koga didn’t like the feeling swimming in his gut. “Come out of hiding! You wanted us to follow you, right!? Well, here we are!”

The wolf demon’s loud voice bounced off of the walls, repeating down the chambers the cave harbored, but no one replied. No one came out from behind a rock, or a nook in the siding, no one approached, no one was there. Except someone was. Someone had to be. This was Naraku’s scent, there was no mistake of that, but for some reason, the demonic aura was so engulfing, it almost felt like they were inside of a demon, itself.

“Well, if they didn’t know we were here before, they sure do now.” Inuyasha remarked dully.

“We give off demonic energy, ourselves, dipshit. Of course, they knew we were here.”

With a roll of his amber eyes, Inuyasha trudged on beside him, remaining observant of their surroundings as they traveled through the tunnels. The deeper they walked, the more sinister the feeling became. It was like wading through a sludge of demonic energy, and that sludge was toxic and thick, almost entrapping. Still, there was no way to pinpoint the source. It was all around, and he was trying to figure out the direction of a stronger pull, but he couldn’t.

Kagome fell behind. Just slightly. Out of nowhere, a very subtle dizziness began to hit her, but she didn’t want to worry anyone. She hadn’t had much water today, so maybe she was a bit dehydrated. It wasn’t bad at all, so there was no need to bring it up or ask for a small break. Maybe it was the energy of the cave. It was putrid, that was for sure. Definitely similar to what she felt when Moryomaru was near. Vile and rotten.

That had to be it. It was just overwhelming. Kagome tried to blink her slight case of vertigo away when the tiniest ache in her head pinched right over her eyes. No one else was reacting, though. Were they not affected by this? With a deep breath and a thick swallow, she pushed it all aside. If the demons of the group, more sensitive than she, could go forward, then Kagome could, too.

The further they went, the worse it got. She found herself squinting to see straight, tensing her throat so her pained sighs wouldn’t alert anyone. Her head wasn’t consistently throbbing, but came in waves. Not even quick waves. In fact, she couldn’t grasp the pattern, sporadically coursing through and causing Kagome’s brow to crease and her nose to crinkle each time. Again, she tried to gather if anyone else was having adverse effects to the atmosphere. Koga and Inuyasha seemed relatively uncomfortable but that was the extent of it, Sango and Miroku appeared fine, and Kirara had reversed her transformation to perch in her owner’s arms. Then, Kagome’s vision blurred momentarily, and her fingers twitched. What was wrong with her?

As much as she didn’t like it, she was going to have to say something. This wasn’t going away. Something was off. She was feeling a haze drifting over her, and it almost seemed like it was legitimately clouding her vision now. Kagome opened her mouth to gather Inuyasha’s attention, but her voice didn’t seem to work. Her body stopped as they all kept going, though she hadn’t told it to. Her brain was sending signals to her legs to keep walking, to her mouth to speak, but her command seemed to be meaningless all of a sudden.

And, when she blinked that time, she opened her eyes to see the bars of a cage before her. It was pitch black all around, not a sound to be heard, not a person in sight. No longer was she dizzy, and her head pounded no more. To her right, her left, beneath her feet, and above her head, she was surrounded by metal that sealed her in. The bars were cold and didn’t budge at all when she thrusted her bodyweight into it, trying to shake the lock free.

The shock to go from behind her group to wherever the hell she was now in a split second had her shaking, her lungs pumping as a panic sprung over her. She called for Inuyasha, Miroku, Sango, Koga, but no one answered. Her voice merely echoed in the darkness she was trapped in, the rattling of her cage from her forceful jerks against the bars hitting her ears over and over as the sound bounced off of walls she couldn’t see.

When she heard someone speaking, Kagome held her breath. Ice pebbled her skin. The voice was that of a child’s, a young boy’s, yet it held the underlying hint of menace. It was like she could sense the smile he wore, the enjoyment on his tongue, but he wasn’t talking to her. What he was saying, it didn’t make sense.

Inuyasha felt a spike, and both he and Koga stopped immediately. Ominous energy no longer filled the air. It was focused now. It was heavily concentrated in one spot. Behind them. The hanyou turned around to scour the open area they’d reached deep within the cave, spotting no one that didn’t belong, but then his stomach unexpectedly sank. It dropped so low, he thought he was going to be sick. The threat they were feeling, it was coming from Kagome.

She stood there, her hands raised up as she steadily moved her fingers one-by-one, her expression blank. He could hear the smallest mumble coming from her lips, but what she was saying, even he couldn’t make out. A sense of dread was overcoming him. Why was he feeling this? Even Koga seemed struck, confounded, saying nothing, but instead, actually taking a step away. The evil, it was growing. Evolving.

Miroku and Sango had turned to look, and Miroku was quick to notice something was wrong with his cousin, but as he went to step forward, Inuyasha hastily reached for his collar, pulling him back.

“Kid?” He cautiously asked. Kagome didn’t even look up from her hands. “Kagome?”

After a moment, she sighed and shook her head, her dark tresses fluttering around her shoulders. She made a few more subtle sounds from her mouth, the only clear word Inuyasha gathered being, “testing.” Otherwise, it was almost like she was learning to speak, clicking her tongue once or twice to discover how to make audible noise. Her brown eyes wandered around the large cavern, blinking as if to adjust to the dull light in the cave, panning over them, up, and then coming back to land on him.

“Kagome.” He tried again, this time more seriously. His heart was pounding as it would in the face of an enemy, his instincts were ready for an attack, but everything felt wrong. This was Kagome. This was his Kagome. He wasn’t supposed to feel this with her; it was all wrong.

Her plush lips parted, and a breathy, “huh,” was released. Her voice was high, sweet, and a timbre she rarely used.

Inuyasha let go of her cousin, knowing he was staying put now, and his fists clenched at his sides. Worse, Tessaiga began to quiver in its sheath, calling for his attention. It only did that in dire situations. It only asked to be released when he neglected to recognize it needed to be wielded for his own protection. It was wrong. It had to be malfunctioning because of the weird aura.

“Oh,” She sighed again, beginning to speak more clearly from then on. “There it is. Finally. That was tough - she’s a tough one.”

“Kagome -“ Sango tried.

“That’s not Kagome.” Inuyasha said, cutting her off.

A smile began to curl at her lips, and it scared him. It scared Inuyasha. It was crooked, arching more in one corner before it expanded on the other end, and her tongue tipped out between her teeth in a playful manner that made his blood go cold. That wasn’t Kagome’s smile, that wasn’t the grin he loved so much. Even Miroku twitched agitatedly at his side, stepping away before he looked at him with disturbance hindering the glow in his eyes.

“What’s wrong with her?” Miroku asked.

“What?” Kagome leaned her head to the side. “Don’t you recognize me…?” Her voice trailed off at the end as she nibbled her bottom lip. “Miroku?”

She seemed unsure of the name she spoke.

“Or, are you Miroku?” She asked, pointing to Koga, ending with a frustrated groan as she tapped her head. “Hang on, it’s a little jumbled in here. She wont let go just yet.” A few more taps. “Come on, lady. Let it go. Ah, no, I was right. Miroku.”

“What’s going on?” He reached, jaw taught.

“And, you’re Koga.” She pointed again to the wolf demon, completely disregarding the question. “Which obviously makes you Inuyasha, and you’re Sango. Got it.”

“Who are you?” Koga asked, stoning as he nobly squared himself.

“I’m Kagome.” She giggled.

“Who are you!?” Koga repeated in a lethal growl.

“Woah. Someone’s testy.” Her smile shifted to a wry smirk. “What are you so upset for? I haven’t done anything yet.”

“Don’t make me ask you again.”

“Or what? You’ll choke me out? Kill me? Look at me, pal. Whose body am I in? If you come at me with those claws of yours, it’s not me you’ll be touching. Come on, use your brain.”

Koga didn’t rebuttal, clenching his jaw and slanting his eyes dangerously, and her gaze bounced around to gather the discomfort written over all the others’ faces. Inuyasha, in particular, seemed the worst off. His hardened features screamed his seething anger, but his golden irises communicated something much different. Something more desperate.

With a grumble in the back of her throat, one that was small and held the attitude a young teenager would, Kagome rolled her eyes and lolled her head slightly, a small stomp being given from her right foot. “You guys are no fun. I’m Hakudoshi. Duh. Who the hell did you think I was?”

“So, this is what you can do? Mind control?” Koga glared.

“Way to simplify it. Don’t do me the dishonor.” Hakudoshi gestured to his entire self inside of Kagome’s body. “This is much more than mind control. I have control over her heart, brain, soul, you name it. Kagome has left the building.”

“Where is she?” Inuyasha questioned, his voice coming off husky.

Hakudoshi pointed to her head. “Right up here. She’s annoying as shit, how do you handle her?”

“Let her go. This is your one warning; let her go.” The hanyou growled. “You hold onto her, you hurt her in any way, not a single one of us will blink when it comes to ripping you apart.”

“You’d hurt your precious lover?”

“You think we don’t know your body is around here somewhere? You honestly think we’re that stupid to believe your entire entity is inside of her right now? No, you’re in this cave, we know that much.”

“But, where?” Her smile widened tauntingly. “This cave goes on for miles, and what makes you think you have that sort of time on your hands? You can go searching for me, but what’s your plan? Is someone going to play babysitter while the others go on a wild goose chase? Not a single one of you is strong enough, and that’s what’s fucking funny. Two humans and three demons against a conjurer. From the looks of it, three of you would be too sentimentally stunted, maybe four of you, and the last one - that’s you, Koga - would just get absolutely wrecked. Or, are you going -"

“Get out of her head, you stupid, fucking brat!” Inuyasha demanded, his claws biting into the heels of his palms with rage that was only building at an uncontrollable speed. How did this happen? It couldn’t have been that quick. Did Kagome feel anything weird, anything abnormal, or was Hakudoshi stealthy while he slid inside and took command.

She arched a brow at the interruption. “Well, that was rude.”

“You’re forgetting something, Hakudoshi.” Miroku spoke. “So long as Kagome is in there, she can still fight back. If one of us has to restrain her while the others go searching for you, so be it. Kagome wouldn’t allow you to hurt us.”

Hakudoshi guffawed, laughing hard as Kagome’s frame doubled over to clutch her stomach. “What!? Again, look at me! I have complete control over her!” He boasted, flailing her arms about. “This is all me, you fucking moron! Kagome can’t stop shit right now! She had just enough darkness in her heart for me to grab hold, and now the fight she’s putting up is worthless. I can utilize the knowledge and skills she’s learned by flipping a switch in her mind. If I want to kill any of you with her abilities, I can and there isn’t a damn thing you guys can do to stop me!”

“What darkness?” Inuyasha asked.

“I’ll actually entertain that question, because it was hard to find and I’m proud of myself. Apparently, holding Kikyo while she died was what did her in. Just a tiny bit. It’s been eating at her for a while now, hasn’t it? That’s not where it started, though. There was a little girl? One she failed to save, or something?” She grimaced carelessly. “I would say that created the smallest, dark spot in her heart, and Kikyo’s gory death made it about the size of a small ink stain. She’s resilient, I’ll give her that. But, not resilient enough.” That last part was almost sung while he emphasized each word of the sentence, tapping her finger in time. “All I need is an inch. So long as there’s darkness, I can take rein.”

Kagome could hear everything that was being said from within her cage, listening to this little boy speak through her. She could hear the others reply to her. It was like she was just a bystander to a conversation while she was also the main focus, and it was driving her insane. She felt completely powerless, rattling the metal bars as hard as she could, but the lock refused to give.

It didn’t surprise her to have darkness in her heart. In fact, what surprised her was how small it was. Kagome was the type of person to pick herself back up again, she never lost hope. In the era they were living in right now, darkness surrounded them, but it was what they fought for that made the difference. She knew that was what had divided her from Kikyo. She knew she’d been strong enough to avoid allowing it to take over her. But, she was human. Kagome was a human who’d been through a lot, who’d had her heart broken, who’d seen others have their hearts broken, who’d had her world turned upside down over and over. So, she wasn’t upset to know her heart had taken a hit. She was upset that her anguish was being manipulated against her.

How was she going to get out of this? Her back was bare; she didn’t have a single weapon on her. She stood in her cage in nothing but the clothes she’d donned that day, stripped of her bag, her arrows, and even her father’s blade in her boot. It was like the demon wanted her to feel as vulnerable as could be, to watch helplessly while he plotted in her own body.

Still, she shook the door of her crate, the metal hitting loudly, echoing, muting her scream as she demanded to be set free. Kagome refused to be a prisoner in her own mind, her own vessel. If he thought she was annoying now, she was going to create as much noise as she possibly could to give this guy a pounding migraine. Hopefully it would throw him off or distract him, though he seemed well versed in tuning things out. It was the best option she had until something better came along, and it was more important that she didn’t sit back and take it.

“Naraku’s not going to be too happy to learn she’s still alive.” Hakudoshi mentioned. “Though, given there was no validation of her death, he was fifty-fifty on the possibility, so maybe he’ll just do his notorious grunt before giving us our next orders to kill her. Which brings me to my next course of action. See, I honestly didn’t expect all of you guys to show up, no less the conjurer. I was trying to draw in Sesshomaru. I’ve been bored and felt like taunting him a bit, and since Naraku asked us to dispose of him, I figured I’d have some fun beforehand. Goshinki went one way, I went the other, and I was really hoping Sesshomaru would follow in my direction, but my dumbass of a brother broke his muzzle and found some villagers to eat, which stole Sesshomaru’s attention from right under me. Anyway, in you guys walk, and the moment I saw the conjurer, I couldn’t resist. Now, I’m toying with the idea of taking her back to Naraku. It’d save us both an enormous amount of time -“

“No.” Inuyasha rumbled.

“-and he can choose whether to keep control over her and use her to gain the power he’s always wanted, or kill her on the spot and remove any inconsequential threat she thought she ever was.”

“Like hell!” He barked.

“Right, right. Of course, you object. That’s to be expected, but it brings us around full circle. Obviously, you all were going to die the moment you set foot in this cave. No matter what, Sesshomaru and the wolf were going to be goners today, and Koga made our jobs a hell of a lot easier by bringing Inuyasha along. The rest of you are just bonuses, I guess. The thing about me is, I’m not really the, um, remorseful type.” Kagome leaned her head to the side, the smallest smile curling her lips. “I like it when people scream. Watching blood seep from wounds excites me more than anything I’ve ever experienced. I couldn’t have imagined a better scenario. Now you all get to die by the hands of someone you care so much for.”

“Kagome.” Sango stepped forward, a valorous pinch to her brow appearing. “Kagome, you have to fight harder. I know you’re in there, I know you can hear me. Kick his ass. Push him out. Push him out.”

Kagome’s eyes were on Sango now, and for a moment, her expression had completely fallen. Her lips were straight, brow was uncreased, and her entire body had stilled. Then, she dropped her gaze, a shudder running over her, and a pout formed so fully that her chin quivered.

“S-Sango?” Kagome trembled.

“Kagome!” Her friend called urgently. “We’re all right here! We know you can do it!”

“It’s so cold.”

“Keep fighting! Keep -“ A flash of heat ran through Sango’s veins when she stopped, realizing Kagome’s frown had crumbled and it seemed like she was pinching back her laughter. Gradually, her stomach shook with amusement and a snort came through her nose, giving in to the one-sided humor of the situation as she laughed.

“Man, you should have seen your face!” Hakudoshi gloated. “How could you fall for that so easily!? You’re clearly not the brains of the group!”

“You’re despicable.” She said through clenched teeth.

“Thank you.” He replied with a grin.

“You guys need to go.” Inuyasha spoke lowly. “Find Hakudoshi. Kill him.”

“What’s that you’re saying over there?” Kagome rose her eyebrows in question, her head inching to the side curiously. “Trying the whole divide and conquer thing?”

“Go.”

“Inuyasha…” Miroku started, appearing more tense than he had before.

Was he expected to just run off and leave her behind? Sure, Inuyasha was strong and he and Kagome clearly cared about each other, but this was his family. This was his cousin, his little sister, being manipulated right now, and he was being told to leave her to someone else to take care of? That wasn’t going to sit right with him. It was logical that Inuyasha would be better at tending to this situation given he was stronger and faster, but Miroku was struggling with the aspect of leaving her at all.

Hakudoshi took the moment to shrug everything off of Kagome’s back, heedlessly dropping her bag to the floor before returning her quiver full of arrows where they belonged.

“Ah, that’s better.” She spoke, wiggling her shoulders freely before pulling an arrow free. “Miroku, tell me she won’t do it again.”

“You need to go.” Inuyasha insisted, giving the guy beside him a pressing look. “Get out of here.”

“I can’t leave her.”

Hakudoshi lined up the nock of her arrow with the string of her bow, utilizing Kagome’s skills by simply reaching into her brain. It didn’t matter if he had never shot before. Kagome knew how, and it was her being he inhabited. Anything she knew how to do, he was able to do as well. Pulling the string back, he leveled his aim, lining the arrowhead up in Miroku’s direction.

“Awe, let him stay, Inuyasha.”

“Look, I can’t protect you and her at the same time. It’s better if you go and find him. You need to save her.”

“Inuyasha’s right, dude.” Koga concurred. “We’ll only be in the way, and for what?”

“To help!” Miroku strongly stated.

“Where’s that arrow aimed, Miroku? You think you’re helping right now?”

“They’re right.” Sango said, backing up. “Inuyasha can handle this. We’ll be of more help if we find that bastard.”

“But-“

“I can sense your anxiety.” Hakudoshi grinned, teasing them all, adding to the tension on their shoulders. “You really think it’s gonna be that easy to find me? Do you think my body is somewhere in this cave, sitting helplessly alone? Don’t take me for a fool. Of all of Naraku’s creations, I am the genius. I am the more cunning. I am the imperceptibly strong one. You think Naraku made me a child for nothing? No. It was to deceive everyone. It was to strike more fear. You may only see your precious Kagome right now, but believe you me, you’ll be an idiot to think finding and killing me will be as easy as running off to save the day.”

“Oh, shut up!” Inuyasha commanded angrily. “The only thing you’re good at is fucking with people’s heads. You want to make us think it’s going to be difficult so we second guess or stall. Well, it doesn’t fucking matter. Either way, you’ve fucked with the wrong person.”

“Oh no, I’m shaking in my boots. Whatever shall I do?” She giggled. “I’m not just good at messing with your head, Inuyasha. Want to watch me drag you all down one-by-one? She’s yelling right now. Kagome’s trying so hard to break free, and she’s frustrated that she’s gotten nowhere. She’s beginning to lose hope. She’s really reliant on her weapons, isn’t she? Without them, she’s powerless, and boy is that catching up to her right now. ‘Inuyasha! Inuyasha, please!’” Hakudoshi called out in the exact scream Kagome was internally fighting with.

The hanyou flinched painfully, his jaw tensing, and a trembling breath left his nose. Every muscle in his body went unbelievably taut for a moment, horrified by how scared she was. He’d had to fight his instincts to protect her, because he couldn’t. He couldn’t do a damn thing for her right now except face her as she currently was.

“Miroku, she just wants to make you proud. Awe, you two have such a sweet bond, don’t you?” Hakudoshi said, violating Kagome’s mind as he discovered her thoughts, her emotions, laying them out on the table for everyone. No longer did she wear a smile. In fact, she seemed nothing short of serious now. As if hurting people was a business matter. “Grew up together, got into trouble together, lost your fathers together. The look on your face when you watched your one remaining parent die has stuck in her head for even this long. Wow, it’s so vivid, too.”

“Stop it.” Miroku muttered.

“You only held it for a moment before you realized she was looking. Then, you wiped it off and never showed it again, and she didn’t know why. But, it’s stuck with her ever since. Oh god, and your fathers went down in flames, didn’t they? Fire and bloodshed, demons everywhere, they were doomed from the start. You were trying to stop the bleeding even after your father shut his eyes. She saw you put on that brave face when it made the least amount of sense, and since then, she’s felt like she needs to put one on with you too in order to be taken seriously.”

“That’s not true.”

“Isn’t it?”

“I know her better than anyone does. She knows perfectly well that I respect her and take her seriously whether she’s got a brave face on or not.”

“Knowing her better is irrelevant, Miroku. I’m in her head. I can see everything. You want me to scream again so that you’ll believe me, or what?”

“No!” He quickly sputtered, terrified to hear her desperation again. “No.”

Hakudoshi blinked, lowering the bow and arrow Kagome held. Her plush lips were relaxed together, and her gaze lowered just for a second before he looked back to her cousin.

“Her heart’s pounding right now. She’s scared. She really doesn’t like that you’re the one I’m threatening.” He cocked a brow in speculation, and as he continued speaking, it was more to converse inward than anything. “Would you rather Inuyasha? No? Sango? No, again? Koga?” He sighed in irritation, re-stringing the arrow. “Then, silence.”

“Go.” Inuyasha urged, feeling the gravity of the situation upsurge dauntingly. “You guys need to go.”

“What are you gonna do?” Miroku inquired when Koga grabbed his shoulder and began pulling him back to continue through the tunnels.

“Whatever the fuck I can.”

“No! I’m staying with you!”

“Oh, please do.” Kagome’s voice sinisterly brushed their ears while she once more aimed.

“Miroku, I know you don’t trust me yet, but right now, you’re going to have to!” He barked, shoving Miroku away. “What the fuck are you so worried about!? If anyone’s in fucking danger here, it’s me! So, if I have to tell you to get out of my way one more fucking time, I’m gonna kick your ass!”

“Let’s go, Miroku!” Sango dropped Kirara to transform, reaching for her boyfriend’s arm to pull back.

Kagome inched her arrow back further, pinching an eye shut for better aim.

“We’ve got this, Inuyasha.” Koga promised.

Inuyasha had turned away to regard them for a split second, grateful that Miroku had finally given up his obstinance, when he felt the incoming threat. Thinking as quickly as he could, he pulled Tessaiga, the sword transforming as each inch was freed from its sheath, jutting it out to successfully block the shot that was too close to hitting Miroku in the back.

In his peripherals, he’d caught Kagome waver. Her head had notched to the side and her hands twitched. Her face had twisted almost painfully, but before long, her deadly stare was back. As if it had never left.

“Oh, you’re fast!” Hakudoshi grinned.

Tessaiga transformed when defending against her arrow. It had been calling for his attention on his hip. No. He was almost scared to see if his hunch was true, but he had to. Turning back forward, Inuyasha squared, holding Tessaiga in the direction Kagome stood and watching as it stayed transformed, swirling with energy that should have died off. As if betrayed, he nearly dropped his sword to the ground. It was detestable, compromised, ruined, wrong. Tessaiga didn’t work against Kagome. It wasn’t supposed to. He’d figured out a while ago that it was meant to aid her. It was meant to protect her. Fate was a funny thing, and it managed to tell him he was born to be by her side, not opposing her.

“Inuyasha.” Miroku whispered apprehensively.

The hanyou slid his sword back into its sheath, and then removed the sheath entirely from his belt, tossing it to the side. “Go. I promise, I won’t hurt her.”

Finally, he heard them run off, the sound of their feet fading down a corridor as they rushed to find Hakudoshi. There was a chance. Before, her fidgeting, that was Kagome trying to regain control. It had to be. Hakudoshi had almost struck her cousin, of course she was going to object powerfully. Inuyasha could reach her, he was confident of which. It was going to be tricky, but it was possible. She was conscious in there.

“So, it’s lover versus lover, is it?”

“Kagome.“

“You realize you’re part demon, right?”

“Baby, I know you’re giving it your all right now, but you’ve gotta put in a little more effort.”

“All I have to do is flip that switch in her brain to use her conjurer abilities.”

“Push him out, kid.”

“It won’t even take a lot. You’re only half demon, so with the power coming from her, I’d say ten percent would be enough to do you in. Twelve percent to be safe. Six percent if I want you to suffer.”

“Come on, kid. Fight.” Inuyasha pushed.

“Oh, give it a rest.” The grumble in her voice was deep, another octave she rarely used. “All you’re doing is agitating her; you’re not helping her any. What is this? You think some motivational speech is all you’re gonna need to save her life? Or, is it your own life that you’re more worried about?”

Inuyasha could barely fight his glower. It felt off giving it to Kagome, but it wasn’t Kagome it was intended for. It was Naraku’s minion. Hakudoshi was lucky it wasn’t he going after him, because Inuyasha would make his death agonizing. As if he didn’t already hate Kagome being touched as it was, she was now being held captive from the inside. He wanted Hakudoshi to beg for forgiveness before he ended his meager existence.

At the exact same time that Koga had sensed something was off, Kirara gave a low growl of warning, reinforcing the wolf demon’s decision to stop immediately. The further they’d gone down the corridors, the darker it had become, and the drip of water echoed loudly in a cavern up ahead. Quickly assessing it, Koga could tell there were no living beings anywhere near, but that somewhere in the cave was another dangerous demon. It was either Hakudoshi’s body or the fucker wasn’t lying earlier.

“There may actually be someone else here. With him.” Koga mentioned to the others.

“Are we near them?” Sango asked.

“No. I can’t tell where they are, but the further we get from Kagome and Inuyasha, the more clear their energy is becoming.”

All he smelled was Naraku, though. Which meant, no matter what, they were going up against an underling. Considering he was traveling with two humans, Koga almost wished they were facing an off-brand demon. These were like mini bosses before the big boss, and Koga just wasn’t sure how skilled these humans were with the weapons belted to their sides. Would they pull through and be actual assets to him, or was he about to have to keep their lives in tact while facing a direct descendant of Naraku, himself?

“Stay close. Follow orders. You go against anything I say, I’m knocking you out myself so I don’t have to deal with saving your sorry asses. Got it?”

“Who died and made you king?” Miroku grimaced.

“The previous leader of my clan.” Koga snorted.

Miroku and Sango exchanged a bemused look before shifting back to Koga.

“I’m the leader of the wolf demon pack. That may mean nothing to you, but let it mean something here. I know how to look out for people, I know how to make quick decisions in the heat of battle, and I know how to make the best calls. We’re all fighting for the same thing, right? So keep up and don’t hold me back.”

“How about, you don’t hold us back.” Sango countered, slanting her eyes brazenly. “There. You wanted a challenge, right? You wanted to make sure we weren’t submissive and weak? Well, go ahead. Lead the way, King Wolf Demon. We’ve got your back.”

“How far ahead do you think they are?” Miroku inquired, gazing into the dark shadows in front of him.

“Not sure.” Koga replied, impressed by the boldness of the woman. She was gutsy, he could grasp that much. “It helps that Hakudoshi’s presence isn’t hanging over us anymore. Now that it’s centered, whomever’s with him is standing out.”

“You can’t follow their scent?”

“I only smell Naraku, but it’s all over the place. It’s like they’ve touched every fucking wall in this maze to throw us off.”

“They probably have.” Sango agreed. “It would be a good reason to back up Hakudoshi’s arrogance regarding our difficulty finding him.”

“So, we go forward, right?” Miroku asked.

“Only way to figure out where the scent gets stronger. Be on your guard.”

Kagome was protesting as hard as she could, wrestling, yelling, trying to break the lock on her cage. Hakudoshi was reaching back to equip another arrow, and he was moving agonizingly slowly. His way of taunting both she and Inuyasha with the threat.

“Stop it!” She demanded. “I won’t let you hurt him!”

But, she went ignored. Time and time again, she went ignored. What did she have to do? What had she done earlier to make Hakudoshi’s control falter when he’d shot at Miroku? She was frantic and scared, and she was resisting. She was resisting, and that resistance was like the spark of a flame in the kindling. While she pulled back, there was a thump in her core that pushed forward, but what was it? How did she fan the spark to grow into flames? How did she do it again?

“What would you do if I spoke to you entirely like I was Kagome from this point forward?” Hakudoshi asked, aiming an arrow at Inuyasha.

The hanyou didn’t answer. The bastard would have him dead in a second if he didn’t think up a plan, and he needed to be quick. He’d need to dodge and then he’d need to disarm him. That was the best course of action. Pinning her down would be second. He had to believe that the rest of the group would pull through, would kill the brat and free Kagome. Until then, he was going to have to do everything he could to survive, which may very well be as difficult as facing Kagome in the flesh. He knew what she could do, and this child was inside of her putting her skills to the test. Against him. If he really could utilize her conjurer powers, Inuyasha would have to be incredibly careful. It was ironic to think about, a demon using conjurer powers, but wasn’t something he was willing to underestimate. Technically, he was just possessing her, not completely encapsulating her body as it was easy to assume. Which meant, Hakudoshi probably wasn’t all talk.

“Her mannerisms are right here.” He pointed to her head, nearly nicking her flesh with the arrowhead. “Oh, whoops.” He flinched too casually, cringing at his mistake.

Inuyasha had had to tense rigidly to avoid reacting. He couldn’t feed into Hakudoshi’s bullshit. It would egg him on. It could potentially cause him to actually hurt Kagome, and Inuyasha refused to allow that.

“So, anyway, what’s your plan? You really gonna fight Kagome? Or are you gonna take every hit she throws at you?” When Inuyasha neglected to answer, she shrugged her brows. “Silent treatment, huh? I bet you wouldn’t ignore your girlfriend.”

Her expression softened, brown eyes shimmering as they always had as a very soft curve appeared on her lips. When she spoke then, it was in her natural tone, and it struck Inuyasha directly in the heart. “I understand if you can’t fight me. This is scaring me, too. But, can you do me a favor?”

It took everything in him not to respond, but he’d failed to keep all of his reflexes at bay. His amber eyes flickered away and his frown deepened momentarily before he forced himself to look back at her. Whatever existed of Kagome’s smile had shifted as she now worried her bottom lip between her teeth, and her gaze had fallen to the rocky floor beneath their boots.

“Inuyasha, I really don’t want to hurt you.” She tremblingly admitted. “Kill me before I do. I can’t stop him. I’m trying so hard, but I can’t stop him. So, you have to stop me.”

“No!” He growled. “Stop it! Hakudoshi, stop it!”

“Baby, please.”

His stomach clenched painfully.

“Why can’t I break free? What do I do?”

“God fucking dammit, stop it!” Inuyasha slammed the heels of his palms into his temples.

Kagome began to walk closer, and the hanyou had to remind himself to take a step back. The aura coming off of her, the threat, it wasn’t hers and it was to be heeded. This wasn’t his girl he was up against; he couldn’t be fooled so easily. But, each step away from her was physically painful. He was supposed to be protecting her, but he was refusing her quivering form.

“Why won’t you let me near?”

“Knock it off already!”

“You have to promise me that you wont let me hurt you.” She whispered.

“Hakudoshi!” He back stepped again.

With a small groan, the demon relented. “Fine. This will be more fun, anyway.” He said, making Kagome grin as she lunged to attack Inuyasha.

Swiftly, he grabbed her wrists to protect himself, flinching back when she’d almost cut his face with the arrow. Getting her to drop the bow was easy, but her grip on the sharper object was white-knuckled and fierce. Already, he knew his hold on her was too strong, but he couldn’t let go just yet. He could feel the danger levels spiking, which made him believe Hakudoshi was legitimately using her conjurer powers. If he didn’t make her drop it soon, if Hakudoshi cut him, he could be severely hurt, and then what? Lose Kagome? Allow his death to sit on her shoulders? Neither were going to happen.

“Kid, keep fighting for me, okay?” He said directly to Kagome, thrusting her back against the cavern wall to smack her hand against the uneven rock. Finally, her grasp relented and the arrow slipped from her fingers.

“Remember when Naraku was holding me over the cliff?” Hakudoshi continued his charade, speaking as if he were Kagome again. “Just before I was thrown over, I wanted to tell you that I loved you. I didn’t want to die without you knowing.”

“Stop it!”

“And, I know you know now, but I feel like I should remind you.”

No, no, no. He couldn’t hear that. Hakudoshi or not, he didn’t want that tainted in this moment. They said those words so rarely, spoke their feelings through actions and other versions of affectionate discourse, but whenever that phrase did come out, he didn’t want it to throw him right back into this incident. He wouldn’t have it taken away from them. He was frenetic to shut Hakudoshi up.

He’d acted without thinking. It was a natural impulse, and before Inuyasha knew it, his knee was being thrusted up into Kagome’s diaphragm. She doubled over with a violent cough, her breath coming raggedly, unevenly, struggling at first until Hakudoshi started laughing with saliva dribbling over her lower lip.

Inuyasha had backed away in unrestrained regret, holding his hands out at his sides as if they’d abused their privileges. How could he? He’d hurt her.

“Holy crap, dude.” Hakudoshi guffawed, and Kagome’s voice both caressed and defiled his ears. He wished the possession changed her tone to the child’s. It was painful to hear her be talked through, no matter how out of character it’d been or not. “You really kneed her. That wasn’t even a warning tap either, that was a full on hit!”

“Fuck, baby! Fuck! I’m so sorry!”

“What kind of abusive boyfriend are you?” He asked, standing straight.

“Oh, fuck off!” Inuyasha ground out, setting his jaw irately. “You can’t get under my skin with that shit.”

“Maybe you’re right.” Hakudoshi bobbed her head. “Only, ‘I love you’ will do the trick.” She grinned tauntingly, picking up her foot to pull out the knife in her boot.

Kagome slowed down a moment. Too long, she’d been fighting the restraints of her bars and it was getting her no results. She needed to take a minute to analyze the situation, no matter how difficult it was to do right now. It was easier to let her nerves get the better of her, to keep fighting and struggling, but it was fruitless and Inuyasha needed her to come back to him.

She looked closer at the lock keeping her closed inside the cage. So many times, she’d kicked it with everything she had, applied her entire bodyweight into it, and the only thing she’d achieved in doing so was creating loud clanks to echo in the darkness she currently resided in. The lock didn’t look to have received any damage whatsoever. That was impossible. It should have at least sported a dent, or a nick. Something. This was getting her nowhere. Why?

Because, she wasn’t shut in by a key. Of course. She was confined by demonic energy. She’d been so heavily consumed by Hakudoshi’s that she hadn’t even been able to feel the power engulfing the thick, black padlock. That being said, she still wasn’t sure how the hell she was going to get out of there. Yet again, she was held back by her inability to transmit spiritual power into her hands.

That wasn’t going to work for her right now. Kagome had no other options. She couldn’t wait for an alternative to appear, because nothing ever would. She was going to bust out one way or the other, and this was how. Hakudoshi had no right to threaten Inuyasha with the power that was hers. It was hers. And, she was going to use it exactly as she willed.

Koga’s heart was beating hard, his lungs were pounding. It felt like they’d been traveling through the cave for way too long and only ended up turned around, but before he’d even sensed it, Kirara caught onto something to their right. She led the way, her hackles raising, her growl growing more violent when they finally found the right path. Koga felt it, too. Up ahead was a threat waiting for them. Literally waiting.

“For a while there, I honestly thought you’d never find us.” A woman spoke, her arms crossed over her center. “The child’s been out for half an hour now? Forty-five minutes? Were you guys walking or something?”

For a quick moment, Koga took in the sight before them. They were in another opening, one just a smidge more narrow than the other they’d left Inuyasha and Kagome in. Water had leaked in through the cave ceiling, coating the ground in puddles all around, the drip loud to his ears. The woman in front of them, she was tall. More interesting, she looked to be about as done with anyone’s shit before anything had even happened. It was like the expression of annoyance was forever etched into her skin, her eyes naturally slanted in that manner. Her hair was brown, medium-length, worn half up in a twisted bun that a white feather decoratively stuck out of. Red painted her lips, nearly matching her bold irises, and along her body, she wore a plain, black dress that dipped down low in the center of her chest.

On the floor at her side, a young child slumped in his seat. His hair was white, long, untamed. He was unconscious and still he managed to give Koga the creeps. Nothing more needed to be studied about him. That was Hakudoshi.

“Kagura?” He asked, just to be sure.

“Don’t try to be my friend just because you know Sesshomaru.” She shook her head, rolling her eyes. “I’m still under orders to kill you and protect this freak.”

“Because of Rin?”

“Because of Naraku.”

“Because he has Rin?”

She sighed out heatedly, shaking her head in irritation again. “You clearly already know the answer to that, so why are you asking?”

“Don’t you think it’d be easier to save her if we knew where Naraku was?” Koga tried, carefully stepping forward with a subtle hand gesture for Sango and Miroku to hang back. “Give me something that I can pass on to Sesshomaru. Better yet, come with us. We -“

“Stop.” She ordered abruptly, and it was said in a tone that brought Koga to listen. Very slowly, very steadily, she shifted her head from left to right, her scarlet eyes never parting from his azure. It was her way of conveying something she couldn’t say out loud, but whether he understood was up to him. Hakudoshi wasn’t completely unconscious; he could still hear everything. The last thing she wanted was him bringing anything back to Naraku, and that fucking rat would. “Back up.”

“I don’t want to fight you.” Koga admitted, following her gaze as she glanced over to the child’s limp form, then back up. What was she telling him?

“Then, this’ll be easy.” She said. This guy had to be as daft as they came. There was only one way to make this painfully obvious, so careful of the ruffle of her clothing, she grabbed her ear and once more looked at Hakudoshi. That seemed to do the trick. Koga stiffened slightly, nodding in comprehension.

“Kagura, what am I supposed to tell Sesshomaru?”

“Nothing.” She frowned. “You aren’t leaving here today. So, I suggest you fight, or you’ll die in shame.”

As Hakudoshi lunged at Inuyasha, Inuyasha had to be quick to grab Kagome’s wrist again. He couldn’t afford to be conscientious or apologetic right now. He had to disarm her and pin her down. Swiftly, he stepped a leg behind her ankle, shoving her back to throw off her balance, and dropped down to the floor with her. He tried smashing her hand against the ground to make her fingers release their grip on the blade, but they actively refused. She held onto the knife for dear life, and Inuyasha had to shove the worry that his clutch was bruising her to the back of his mind.

“The first time we made love -“

“No! Shut up!” Inuyasha demanded, silencing her sweet voice. “Get out of her head!”

“Make me.” She rumbled seductively, the switch in her timbre nearly giving him whiplash. “Of course, that brings us to the third time we made love.”

“Fuck you.” He growled, pinning her still as she tried to buck him off. “Those are intimate moments between she and I.”

“Not anymore.”

Inuyasha thrusted her hand along the ground again, fighting against her incessant battle to stab him, but still she clung to the dagger with a grasp that would not yield. He was just going to have to pry it away from her, then.

It was difficult, but his main focus had to be her dominant arm. He couldn’t let go of it whatsoever, so he had to figure out a way to use his hand that restrained her left. Dragging it down, despite her opposing struggle, Inuyasha managed to capture it beneath his knee, freeing his own hand to force her fingers to release the knife. She’d given a jolt and the sharp blade clipped his palm, making the hanyou hasty to retract back.

“Man, I really messed that up, didn’t I?” Kagome giggled. “I’ll admit, it’s hard to multitask. This lady’s got it down to an art.”

There was no conjurer power that backed up her attack, and Inuyasha got fucking lucky. His hand was seeping blood now, but he didn’t have time to even think about it. It was actually working in his favor. The more blood that got on her hand from his prying, the more slippery her grip became. Finally, Inuyasha stole the dagger away, dropping it to the side of his leg as he quickly rolled her over to her stomach.

God, he’d forgotten how fast she could be. Immediately, Kagome was pushing up against him, and he’d barely been able to really define his dominance. He had to apply his knee to her back to shove her back down while he expeditiously scooped the arrows from her quiver and threw them out of reach.

“You fucking jackass!” Hakudoshi protested on a wheezy breath.

Inuyasha removed his knee, realizing his bodyweight was hindering her breathing, and everything else was by pure instinct. He’d jerked one hand behind her back, hiking it up so she had limited use of her shoulder, and took a solid grip in her hair. Maybe he’d gotten too lost in the moment, too aggressive. He could feel how forcefully he was pinning her down, feel her cheek scrape against the rock, but it wasn’t until she cried out that he slackened.

“Ow. Inuyasha, you’re hurting me.” Kagome moaned.

“Shit!” It was reflex, his reaction to let her go. But, he shouldn’t have been so precipitous. He hadn’t realized her free hand had reached for the blade he’d thoughtlessly dropped so close. Kagome rolled over nimbly, and Inuyasha hardly had time to react. She swung the dagger at him, and he was incredibly fucking grateful it was in her non-dominant hand, because it was held at an angle that gave him the advantage to jump away without harm in the nick of time.

“Wow, you really are weak for her.” Hakudoshi commented, rising to Kagome’s knees. “If you don’t wisen up, those emotions will be the very thing that kill you.”

“Shut the fuck up.” Inuyasha responded, wiping the blood from his hand on his pant leg, a vain effort as he felt more warm liquid cover over the burning wound. He had to ignore the angry spot on her cheek he’d caused, one that went right over the small scrape she’d received the day before, making it larger, darker.

“You know, maybe I’m going about this all wrong. Maybe I’m attacking the wrong person.” Kagome smiled mischievously.

Immediately, Inuyasha knew where Hakudoshi’s thought process was headed and he stiffened.

Steadily, Kagome lowered the knife to her thigh, scratching the blade against the texture of her pants. “What if I -“

He’d moved promptly, he had no choice. He went to pin her down again, to steal the dagger from her grasp once more. He was going to throw it so far away that it’d be lost in the shadows and worthless to find in the depths of a struggle. But, Hakudoshi got the better of him that time. Inuyasha hadn’t established proper form, and Kagome bucked her hips upward, tumbling his balance and rolling him over.

Good fucking god, she was strong. He was hanyou, he had formidable strength, and yes, the fear of hurting her was drastically holding him back from doing anything too impetuous, but he was now in a pressing conflict. The knife was inches from his throat, and she was pushing all of her weight down into him. Inuyasha was lucky he was quick enough to stop it in time from stabbing him through, and now he was fighting to keep her lifted so she didn’t succeed.

“Kagome, baby!” He called warily. “I could really use your help right about now!”

“Kagome says to suck a dick.” Hakudoshi grinned.

“Kagome!” His options were limited. Rolling her off of him was a feeble choice if she still had the fucking knife, though it gave him an opportunity to pick himself up and create space. There was the potential that she’d be faster in that sort of predicament, and that obviously needed to be taken into consideration. He desperately needed to disarm her and he needed to act quickly, because she was bouncing her weight down on the dagger now in an attempt to wear out his muscles.

His best option was to take her by surprise. He needed a split second, that was all. He had no choice, and he would make up for it in whatever way that he could later. For now, Inuyasha fixed his grip on her hands holding the knife with one palm, trusting the strength in his arm, and with the one he now freed, he slapped Kagome in the face with what was absolutely too much vigor. But, it worked. Hakudoshi was discombobulated for an extremely brief moment, a gasp leaving her lips, eyes wide from the jolt of it, and Inuyasha utilized the time to push Kagome back and rip the knife from her fucking hands, throwing it in a direction unknown even to him.

Hakudoshi began thrashing against Inuyasha. He hit him back, he scratched, he laughed wickedly, and it was difficult for the hanyou to take hold of Kagome’s wrists again with how wild Hakudoshi made her flail. Inuyasha was trying. He was sorely trying to get her under control, only really failing to block one good hit from her, and when he’d thought he had a forearm in his grasp, Kagome sprung off of him, ripping herself free to run toward something.

He rolled himself over and pushed himself up, his body going insurmountably tense in response to what he was facing that his gasp was silent and nothing more than a hitch in his chest. Hakudoshi had snagged an arrow and her bow, and was inching it up to aim at him. Kagome’s smile was one of victory, her bottom lip stained with blood he’d caused her to bleed.

She was furious. She was screaming. She was desperate and frantic. This was her body, and Kagome had no control over it. This was her mind, and it wasn’t listening to a thing she was saying. What caused her stomach to ache painfully was that she could feel Hakudoshi pulling her spiritual power, rounding it up, saturating an arrow as he aimed it at Inuyasha. Hakudoshi had the upper hand, she could practically see it, and her panic was beginning to overwhelm every inch of her.

“Inuyasha, run!” Kagome cried, but unsurprisingly, she went unheard. Until Hakudoshi had the audacity to tease by repeating it. His tone held no inflection. It was said casually, carelessly.

“Inuyasha, run.”

“Please! Run!”

“Please. Run.”

“No.” He replied gruffly, and Kagome froze, realizing he was replying to her. “I won’t leave without you.”

Hakudoshi inched her arrow back to create a tauter string, and she could feel that he was about to release it. No. No!

Feeling helpless, Kagome shook the bars of her cage again, frenzied enough to try anything to save him. She was hot all over, her heart was pounding erratically, her mind was racing a mile a minute.

“Stop!” She screamed. “Stop it!”

This wasn’t supposed to be happening. This was her body, dammit. This was her mind, this was her heart, this was her ability. Why wouldn’t her powers work for her? Why would they never work this way? She’d been trying to burst the lock, and nothing. Failure was not an option right now, she needed to recondition her strength.

Protect yourself for me, my little bird. Keep it in its cage.

Her father. His words. It rang so relevant right now that it hurt. She was nothing but a little bird trapped in a cage, but it was the most unsafe she’d ever felt. Her papa thought it’d be her salvation, to hide away, but this was irony at its worst. The fact of the matter was, her powers weren’t what put her in danger. It was the people around her. The people against her. Locking her gifts up to defend herself had been the counterintuitive option all along.

“They’re mine, Hakudoshi! Stop!” He was about to shoot and Kagome was terrified, shouting so loud that her voice broke. “They’re my powers! You can’t use them!” She rattled her cage defiantly, feeling a pull in her abdomen that helped her push against her restraints. “They’re mine! Not Midoriko’s, not Kikyo’s, not yours, they’re mine!” Hakudoshi released his shot. “Get out!”

Inuyasha grunted, the sharp strike of her arrowhead piercing the right side of his chest, causing him to stumble backwards a few feet until he hit the wall. There was nothing in her arrow. He was dealt nothing more than a painful blow through his flesh. Still, he found himself holding his breath anxiously. Her powers would have taken effect by now, right? The tail of the weapon stuck out in front of him, and he watched it to see if it would disintegrate. When nothing happened for thirty seconds, Inuyasha nearly slumped in relief.

There it was, she could feel it. Hakudoshi’s hold on her was destabilizing. Warmth radiated from her being, and Kagome urged it to grow. He was trying to reattain his control, like hands slipping over an oil-slicked rope, but she couldn’t allow that. The fire charred the kindling in her core and raged violently within her. It hurt, but she didn’t care. She let it expand through her veins, through her flesh, through her fingertips.

“Get out!” She repeated vehemently, doubling over as she vividly visualized the demon expelling from her soul. “GET OUT OF ME!”

Inuyasha watched Kagome’s frame fold, falling to her hands and knees as unrestrained grunts and groans left her mouth. Her fingers raked against the rock beneath her, and letting go of a cry, she stumbled down to her forearms with a wild tremor that racked her entire body.

“Kid?” He spoke through heavy breaths from his lungs.

“Get -“ She was fighting. She was pushing so hard, and he felt a manic energy soaring from her that greatly intimidated him. Kagome was giving more than what she had to free herself that her voice came out low and throaty, like she was forcing her words out while her body was battling intensely that it was nearly impossible to use her vocal cords. “Get out!”

It was her. Inuyasha’s stomach twisted achingly, desperately needing to support her, to be next to her. “Kagome!”

He ripped the arrow from his chest, clenching his throat to swallow the pained moan. It was unimportant in retrospect. Fuck his discomfort, he had more critical things to worry about right now. Inuyasha pushed himself from the cavern wall, sprinting over to Kagome’s crumpled body and skidding to his knees.

“Don’t touch me!” She screamed at him, and the hanyou went rigid. His hands hovered just inches above her back, twitching as he struggled with himself to listen to her.

“Kagome, it’s me!”

“It’ll hurt you! My power! It’ll - It’ll hurt you!” She claimed through choked exhales.

It was emanating from her. That’s what he was feeling. He may not be able to see it, but she was shrouded in her conjurer strength, seemingly able to do what she’d never been able to before as she fought back against Hakudoshi.

“He won’t -“ Kagome released a wrenching sob, trying to pick herself up to her hands but collapsing back down. “He won’t let me go. He’s still here.”

“Keep going, baby!” Inuyasha encouraged, dropping his palms to the earth while staying as close as allowed. “Fight him! You can do this!”

“Get out!”

“You can do this!”

Kagome whimpered through the engulfing and searing heat of the flames, taking as deep a breath as she could muster in an effort to fan the fire and keep it growing. Blinking open her eyes, she could see how vibrant the lavender of her power was, appearing like a legitimate blaze from her skin. At this point, Hakudoshi’s presence was barely lingering. She needed to be diligent to make sure there wasn’t an ounce of him left in her soul. If she wasn’t thorough in getting all of him out, he could potentially seep back in to take rein of her again.

Never. She wouldn’t allow it. She was going to make him regret ever taking her hostage, she was going to make him regret ever using her against her people.

“Let me go!” She demanded, slamming her fist against the ground.

“Good, Kagome! Fight him! You’ve got this!” Inuyasha shouted.

He was in her heart. He was clinging to the small fleck of darkness that’d been created from the times she’d endured, his grimy hands slipping but catching, slipping and catching again. Kagome tensed her breath then, concentrating her strength there as it torched and incinerated whatever presence he left within her. It was overkill, but it was necessary. She felt like she’d inhaled smoke, coughing and sputtering when she finally breathed again, but that was it. She was freed.

Hakudoshi was gone.

Inuyasha felt her powers calm, but didn’t reach for her just yet. Gradually, the stiffness in her muscles noticeably decreased. Kagome was gasping in air, her back excessively rising and falling with how her lungs pumped, but progressively, her body was relaxing.

“Kagome?” He whispered.

She couldn’t help the chuckle of relief that left her mouth, or the way her arms refused to work with her, failing to even try and pick herself up. Her head went from the balance on her forearm to the hard surface of the ground as her rear sank back to rest against her legs. It didn’t matter that her head scraped along, nothing mattered in that moment. She was too fatigued to care, or feel pain, or worry about anything more.

Extremely sluggishly, Kagome reached out with one hand, blindly feeling around for Inuyasha. He was still there, she could sense him, but words weren’t coming to her right now. All she wanted was his touch. She wanted to feel his warmth, his callouses. With her opposite hand, the side she’d yet to try, the side she’d assumed he had to be closer to, Kagome turned it over, sliding it out in the hopes that he would know what she wanted.

Inuyasha swallowed thickly, hoping he was reading her right. She was searching for him, wasn’t she? With her hand opened for him, he slid his fingers within, feeling the sweat that coated it and sighing out so deeply the moment her fingers curled to hold him there.

“Is it you?” He asked, unable to control himself any longer as he scooted closer. “Are you back?”

Kagome hummed, nodding lazily.

Inuyasha made haste to pick her up. He released her hand, grabbing around her shoulders to pull her to a sit so that she wouldn’t have to push with her defeated muscles. Her dark hair was everywhere, but she managed to sweep her arm over to fix the tresses out of her face, a small smile curving her plush and blood-stained lips. But, her eyes. Though lidded, they glimmered with tears and the earthy tones pulled him right back home.

“You did it.” He chuckled proudly, sweeping hair behind her ears as he admired her for all that she deserved. “You did it, baby.”

His fingers trembled as much as she, the ice was finally leaving his bloodstream, and Inuyasha cradled her jaw when Kagome finally got a good grasp on supporting herself. As tears fell to streak her cheeks, he gently swiped his thumbs to clean each one, careful of any sensitive marks that marred her face.

“I’m sorry. Fuck, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt you.”

Kagome leaned into his attention, uncaring of how she felt or looked while she couldn’t take her eyes from the wound in his chest. Though his shirt was black, she could still see the blood causing the cloth to stick to his skin, seeping through in a thick coating. Her fingers shakily reached for the injury she’d inflicted, stopped by his quicker hand when he grabbed her wrist and brought her knuckles up to kiss.

“I’m sorry.” She cried.

“Don’t be. You saved my ass, kid.”

“No, I -“

“You didn’t hurt me. I promise. This wasn’t you, baby, remember that.”

Feeling like she needed him or else she’d be unstable and incomplete, Kagome urgently grabbed his shirt and pulled for him, nearly losing her meager balance in the process. Inuyasha wasn’t hesitant in the least to comply. He moved closer at the same time he gathered her forward, hugging her tight while breathing her in.

“Are you okay, kid? You okay?” He rushed to ask, taking her jaw again to tilt her head to the side and analyze the blemishing of her face.

“I’m fine.” She replied.

Inuyasha swiped his thumb over her bottom lip and froze when she winced. Reflexively, Kagome sucked in her lip, finally tasting the copper as her tongue traced over the cut that bled. It must have collided against her teeth when he’d hit her. She could hear everything, she was aware of the general happenings of the fight going on, but given it wasn’t a direct reality for her, it was weird coming back to deal with the repercussions of it.

“Oh, that was a good one.” She commented, and Inuyasha immediately released her, a look of panic striking his expression. He’d almost backed away fearfully before Kagome reached for him, and she steadily pulled his hands back toward her. “No, it’s okay! Inuyasha,” She hovered one of his hands by her cheek before she nuzzled into it. “It’s okay. I promise.”

“I hurt you.” He breathed contritely.

“You didn’t do it on purpose. You were defending yourself. I’d have a problem with you if you hadn’t.” Kagome brought the other back to hold her as he had been.

Inuyasha curled into her, tilting her face again as he softly brushed a kiss to her scraped cheek. The tremble in her fingers was increasing, the shock of the situation really settling in. They rested on his forearms, her hold barely there anymore. She had to be fucking exhausted. It had to be so hard just sitting up right now. Her eyes were sunken and hooded, her smile was present but listless, her skin was pale and clammy, yet she still pushed through it all instead of collapsing and saving affection for later.

With a kiss to her forehead, he decided it was best to gather everything up. The battle wasn’t over. As much as he wanted to get her out of there, he needed to help the others, and Kagome was undoubtedly safer with him at this point.

Making sure she could support herself, he stood to find the knife he’d tossed. Thankfully, her scent was good guidance, and he was able to locate it hidden in the shadows in the distance. He fixed that in his belt before he picked up her arrows, unsurprised when he heard that grumble come from her as her stomach clenched in pain. Inuyasha made his way back calmly, smoothly, setting everything down beside him so that he could pull her hair out of the way. His hand was gentle as it stroked her back, soothing her heaves while she vomited.

“You’re okay.” He kissed her shoulder. “You’re okay, babe. You did such a good job. I’m so proud of you.”

Kagome coughed, a shuddering whimper following her discomfort, but Inuyasha continued to console her the best that he could. This was to be expected. She’d busted her ass saving them both and presented a level of power neither of them had yet to see. He’d take care of her tonight. He’d watch her carefully, he’d tend to everything she needed. Thankfully, Kaede had given them some of her medicine that helped Kagome the first time around, so she’d at least be able to sleep through the evening and fight the fever with a little help.

He helped her crawl away from the mess, whispering that he’d be right back when he walked in the direction of their kicked-aside bag, grabbing Tessaiga not too far off along the way. He pulled out the canteen of water and opened it up, ambling back and handing it over for her to sip on.

“Where is everyone? Can you smell them?” Kagome asked as she handed the bottle back over to him.

“Yeah.” He gave a small nod, replacing the lid before reaching for her arrows to drop back in the quiver over her shoulder. Her bow was within reach, so he stretched from his spot, dragging it their way. “They’re somewhere deep, but I’ll be able to find them.”

“We’ll return for the bag later.” He said, helping her to her knees so she’d be able to rise easier. Turning around, the hanyou readied himself for her to climb on his back, keeping a grasp on her hand to help leverage her up before he scooped up her rear to support her.

Thankfully, he not only had multiple scents to guide his way, but just a mile in, he could catch the sounds of fighting, of yelling. The cat demon’s roar was distinct and echoed, and Inuyasha picked up his pace.

As he got closer, he scouted out a spot to tuck Kagome in. She was already growing feverish; he could feel it through his clothing. Her part was over, she’d done more than enough. Now, he needed to protect her.

“Stay here, okay?” He whispered as she settled into her little nook. Her body was tired, and she leaned against the rocks for support.

“I want to come with you.” She said, but everything else about her communicated otherwise.

“No,” He shook his head, smiling softly while pushing her bangs from her eyes. “We’ve got it from here, kid. I’ll come back for you. I promise.”

Inuyasha leaned forward and brushed a kiss to her forehead, feeling how she subtly relaxed. “Tell me you’ll stay here. Nod.”

Kagome gave a listless nod, her face expressionless as she fully sank back now.

“Good girl.” He cooed. “I’ll be right back.”

It looked like he hadn’t taken the exact turn everyone else had. The tunnel he inhabited inclined and he came out on a ledge overlooking the scene below. There was a wind picking up in the cavern, one that only bewildered Inuyasha for a second before he pieced together who the woman facing off with Koga and Sango was. Kagura could control the wind, keeping their advances at bay while assaulting them with sharp thrusts of rocks shooting mercilessly through the air. Miroku and Kirara faced a child, a malicious grin on the little one’s face as he whipped his white hair over his shoulder.

Hakudoshi.

Taking out his sword, Inuyasha jumped from his ledge, slicing through the current Kagura flared with a wind scar that carved a passage. The moment his feet were on the ground, he raised Tessaiga over his head and slammed it down, watching Miroku get shoved out of the way by the feral cat demon as his attack went straight for the evil child. A barrier protected Hakudoshi, forcing his second wind scar to trail right over him in a circular motion before dying off as it hit the far wall.

“Long time no see, half breed.” The boy sneered.

“Inuyasha!” Miroku called. “Kagome, where -“

“She’s fine. She’s safe.” He quickly replied, amber eyes never parting from the purple ones belonging to the demon child.

“Eh,” Hakudoshi’s top lip curled cynically. “You tend to use those words lightly, don’t you.”

“Fuck you.” Inuyasha spit.

“You did quite the number on her.”

The hanyou nearly dropped his sword in his vehemence, marching forward. He could see the arrogant twitch of Hakudoshi’s mouth, thinking he had the upper hand with his barrier, but with a tightening of Inuyasha’s grip, the fang of his sword grew red and he stabbed it through. The wall around the child disappeared, and it was pleasant to watch his expression dwindle instantly. His small legs hurried to back up as he tried to rebuild another barrier, but Inuyasha went and broke that one two, reaching forward to strike his face.

“Not so tough now, are you?” Inuyasha grabbed the demon by his neck, lifting him up, ignoring the way Hakudoshi clawed at his wrist and hand to be set free.

“Kagome blames you for not saving her when she was thrown from the cliff.” Hakudoshi claimed through his clenched throat, choking but still speaking tauntingly with whatever willpower he had. “She saw you trying to grab your sword, but couldn’t understand why you weren’t able to get it because it was right there. She thinks you should have been stronger. Stronger like Koga. Like your brother.”

“No, she doesn’t.” He evenly refuted.

She’d lied. She’d never intended to stay behind and wait. Kagome just knew it was the only way to keep Inuyasha from worrying. She would be upset with herself if she didn’t do everything she could to help, and there was still some fight left in her.

At first, she’d tried climbing to her feet, but her legs shook and gave out from beneath her. Twice, she’d tried to stand, but it was no use. Not even with the wall as support was she able to walk up the incline. Just trying to pick herself up was exhausting, her stomach wringing painfully, and she’d had to pause to pass some bile. Trembling horribly, Kagome wiped her mouth clean, continuing forward on her hands and knees.

It was a strenuous path uphill, but Kagome pushed herself as hard as she could, swallowing thickly to fight through her body’s resistance. She could hear the action, she could hear Hakudoshi spewing nonsense to try and hurt Inuyasha again, and she could practically feel just how livid Inuyasha was as he faced him. She wanted to see to his end. She didn’t want to risk him getting away. If anyone needed to be disposed of in Naraku’s army, it was him. He was the termite, the demon who destroyed you from the inside out, and he was going to choke on his arrogance today.

“Kagome thinks you could have done more to save your mother.”

“You’ve lost your spark since you can’t speak through her anymore.” Inuyasha firmed his hold on Hakudoshi’s throat.

He wheezed, his voice breaking, but still he continued. “You were fourteen, you weren’t helpless. Just inexperienced and stupid. That’s no excuse. You could have helped her.”

The hanyou turned around, walking back the way he came.

“Kagome believes she would have survived if only you were full demon. Your mother would have been better off.”

“Kirara,” He called, holding the child a little higher. “Hungry?”

Tossing Hakudoshi, the saber-toothed cat leapt forward and caught him in her mouth, biting down and vigorously shaking her head from side-to-side. His screams echoed as he was mauled alive, ripped apart in Kirara’s teeth.

Kagome perched on the edge of the ledge on her knees, aiming an arrow in her bow downward. It was almost too much effort to pull the string taut, the muscles in her arms quivering horribly, but she powered through. Supplying a lethal dosage of her power into her weapon, she locked on the best she could.

“Kirara, drop him!” She ordered, and the cat was obedient to the ring of her voice. Spitting the maimed demon out, she backed away and Kagome released her shot, killing off the wicked underling of Naraku.

She’d had to catch herself before falling forward, her balance off kilter, her body weak, her stomach objecting, but she swallowed the bile the best that she could. She had everyone’s attention now and there was still one demon left.

“Kagura!” Kagome stressed demandingly. “Go! If you want to protect Rin, then go! Now! Otherwise, we’ll have to kill you, too.”

“You aren’t even going to try to ask questions?” The woman asked through a tense jaw and uneven breaths. “You’re just going to let me go? Just like that? That doesn’t seem like the wisest thing to do.”

Aggravated, Kagome pulled an arrow from her quiver in a means to challenge her attitude, aiming it in her bow. It worked. She was stopped promptly by Kagura’s quick reaction to raise her arms in way of yield.

“Alright, alright.” She murmured. Her scarlet eyes looked the countering woman over, how she was fighting just to stay up. She was dangerous. She was a force to be reckoned with, and she could tell that with nothing but a glance. Kagura was there when Hakudoshi came to, and he hadn’t been touched with her around defending him. Which meant, Kagome had pushed him out. No one had ever succeeded at doing that before. Hakudoshi was violent and sadistic. He’d make a home out of your body and then kill you while he was in it. But, when he regained consciousness here, he was pissed. Which meant, he lost. He didn’t get up as easily, either. He seemed out of breath, he carried himself as if he’d been wounded, as if his strength had been compromised, and she couldn’t help but wonder if he’d been sent back not only with a damaged ego, but damage to his being, as well. “I hope you win, conjurer.” Kagura said before backing out, leaving the cavern.

With a breath of finality, Kagome let her hands fall to the ground beneath her, supporting her body the best she could. Spotting her cousin gazing at her with pressing concern, she gave a feeble wave, a smile containing minimal effort accompanying it as she gave a thumbs up. Miroku chuckled exasperatedly, rubbing his forehead in agitation before running his fingers through his hair.

“You said you’d stay.” Inuyasha said as soon as Kagome’s eyes glanced his way.

“Sorry.” She mouthed. Matching his tone, as light as it was, was just too much energy right now, and it was a struggle on its own not to collapse.

As if reading her fatigue clearly, Inuyasha effortlessly made his way back up to the ledge to check on her. The backs of his fingers caressed her cheeks, pushing hair from her face. She was burning up; it’d hit her hard this time. They needed to get her to a place where she could safely recuperate.

“I don’t think any of those things Hakudoshi said.” She whispered on an exhale. Her body gave the slightest sway, and Inuyasha’s hands moved to her sides to prevent her from falling.

“Shh,” He soothed. “I know you don’t.”

“I - I would never.” Kagome looked as if she were about to cry, sparring against her exhaustion to stay upright. “I think you’re perfect the way you are.”

“Kid, stop.” Inuyasha lulled. “Come on, you need to rest.”

“Is the fight over?” Her brow furrowed tight, and one of her hands pressed into his thigh as she wavered again. It was like she couldn’t feel his support. “Are there - there anymore demons?”

“No. It’s over.” He shook his head. It clicked. She was about to pass out, and at the perfect moment, Inuyasha caught her when she fell into his chest. Giving it a second, he waited. Her breathing was still there, her pulse was still beating, but she was undeniably unconscious. Honestly, it was surprising that she’d lasted this long.

With a sigh of relief, Inuyasha held her tight for just a moment longer. Everything was fine now. Her body was forcing her to rest. Kagome was going to be extremely unhappy when she woke up later, but for now, she was okay. He pressed a lingering kiss to the top of her head before adjusting her legs so he could scoop an arm beneath the backs of her knees. She was safely cradled in his hold as he stood, silently gesturing to the others that it was time to leave.

| previous chapter | <-

[typically-untypical]

Cursed

Story Plot: Roman lost his connection with his soulmates 8 years ago because of a mistake he made. Now that he is being freed from his isolation, hopefully he can fix his mistake and become worthy of his soulmates.

Ao3 Link

Chapter 2 - Hope and Fading Lights

As Logan made his way back to the cottage, his mind drifted to the man at the gate. Something about him had seemed familiar but slightly off when he first saw him. Though, that wasn’t a surprise when he found out it was Prince Roman. King Remus had been the one who built the library and once it had been constructed he had visited multiple times, constantly asking for Logan to pick his mind. It had started off with simple conversations that the King seemed to be completely absorbed in, and before Logan realized it, he had basically become the King’s advisor while he was in town, or plaything maybe. He wasn’t really sure.

Prince Roman was his spitting image, except for the cleanly shaven face, yet something about him was more handsome than Logan would have expected of Remus’ brother. Not to say the King was ugly, but the Prince had a refinement about him that the Chaotic King simply didn’t . As he made his way home, his mind seemed to categorize the differences, pointing out the different things about Roman that might lead to Logan’s preference. It was a nice thought project to focus on as he walked home, especially considering what was waiting for him.

No, he shouldn’t be thinking like that.

He faced the door, hand hanging in the air. Logan had been lucky to not only meet one of his soulmates when he was young, but to recognize him immediately in their dreams. Virgil had been living with Logan and his mother for two years before they both turned 16, and on Logan’s 16th birthday he had dreamed of Virgil, or more, they had dreamed together. Though they didn’t necessarily look like themselves, Logan knew that voice all too well, and it was easy enough to confirm in the morning. Their next two years had been blissful, and all too domestic, but then it went sour.

Virgil was not a generational witch like Logan was. He didn’t draw his powers purely from what the earth was willing to give. Virgil had power that burned in and through him, it was strong and it was destructive if not focused in the right direction. Those powers were a constant source of fear for his beloved, and it was only made worse when Virgil killed Logan’s mother in a training accident.

In no way did Logan blame Virgil for what happened, his mother had been adamant in teaching Virgil something new, something that Logan knew he wasn’t ready for. He had begged her not to try that spell work yet, to wait just a bit longer, but she insisted. Virgil had not been prepared to work on curse-breaking techniques, he shouldn’t have been learning them and she knew that. Only wild mages had the power to do something like that so his mother hadn’t even been able to do a proper demonstration, only theoretical ones.

Logan looked down at the doorknob. He had lost more than just his mother that day. Sure, she had been destroyed by the very magic she was trying to foster but Virgil had been destroyed by his guilt. Logan watched as the man that he once knew grew distant and closed off, every wall he had painstakingly broken down now rebuilt out of stronger material. Not to mention the third soulmate Logan now had no way to contact, his Ember, his light. Logan had almost lost hope in finding him, but that had all changed. Looking down at the bag in his hands, he squared his shoulders. If Virgil was not going to accept that their curse, their nightmares, were not his fault, Logan would have to prove it empirically by finding their other soulmate and figuring out the origin of the curse. The library was the greatest blessing he could ask for in that regard. His mother had some books but there was only so much knowledge he could gain from such a small collection. When he heard the library was being built he started going to town more, getting involved in the project, and now he could access a wealth of knowledge, the expanse of the kingdom’s magical intel at his fingertips.

It was something he could have only dreamed of just a few years ago.

Pushing the door open, Logan looked at the soft sight in front of him. Virgil was curled up in a chair by the fire, resting softly. It was nice to see him by the fire again. He was always so cold, but for the longest time, fires reminded him of the soulmate they couldn’t speak to. On his bad days, Virgil couldn’t look at the dancing flames without collapsing in on himself. Today must have been better, hopefully, that could continue in his dreams. Their nightmares rarely started immediately when they fell asleep, so there were always a few moments of calm before the storm and Logan relished those moments. Walking over to the kitchen, heset down the ingredients, noticing a pot of stew left for him on the stove. He loved Virgil, with everything in his heart and mind; he just wished they could come to an understanding. It was lonely living so close to someone you wanted to be with, but couldn’t have.

Sighing, he grabbed a blanket out of the basket, gently laying it over Virgil and kissing him on the temple. His soulmate took in a sharp breath, but relaxed when he recognized the warmth and scent around him. “I love you,” Logan whispered before walking back over to his ingredients, taking them out to the sunroom where they made their potions. Though, Virgil hadn’t worked on anything in years.

Logan wouldn’t start working tonight, it was already late and he needed to get to bed himself, but soon. Soon he would find a way to break the three of them out of this curse. Soon he would be able to hold Virgil in his arms again without a wall of guilt between them.

After he ate dinner, Logan made his way to his room, the room that had once belonged to his mother. The bed was too big for one person and he didn’t know how his mother had handled the empty space for so long. Maybe it was just because Logan knew exactly who he wanted in the bed beside him, the man who felt like home yet was so distant. He grabbed the extra pillow, curling around it and hoping for a few hours of peaceful sleep.

He was pleasantly surprised when he felt the familiar calm of his dreams, a vast ocean that not only surrounded him but formed his body out of the reflective starlight. He smiled softly looking at the water droplets that formed his hand knowing that his body was not the sea itself but the light of the stars that reflected off of it. It was so rare that he could be in this dream world, the one where he had met his two soulmates, his storm, Virgi, and their fire.

“Starlight!” Speaking of which, a ball of flames came speeding towards Logan, crashing into him in a sizzle of steam and warmth that was far too comforting for words to ever express. For the first time in too long, for a reason Logan couldn’t fathom, his Ember was finally in his arms again.

“Starlight, I thought I would never see you again. Have you been safe? Are you taking care of yourself?” Ember’s voice was desperate, full of love, hope, and fear.

“I have been adequate, though the nightmares that keep us separated have been difficult on me.”

Logan could feel Ember nod against his chest. “Same, I am sorry, I think I might have caused this. I found our Storm Cloud before you fell asleep. He would barely speak to me.” His arms were wrapped around Logan’s neck in pain as he lamented Virgil’s distance. This needed to be fixed. Though, with all three of them here now, was the curse finally broken?

Had something happened to lift it and give them this peace once again? He hadn’t cast any spell, but something was changing. He had occasionally had dreams with just Virgil, but with Ember here now….

Logan was motivated, more than ever. He would find Ember in person and solve this. They would all be together, they could heal, and grow.

“Please don’t blame yourself. I am working on something. If it turns out well, I will be able to find you. I can kiss you outside of this dream. Then, we can solve this problem together.” He pulled back, only enough to gently caress the flames of his cheek. “I will fix this.” He leaned forward, kissing Ember. It wasn’t enough. It never was, but he could see how breathless it left his soulmate. That soothed the pain in his soul just a bit.

“It’s not your burden to carry, but thank you,” Ember muttered.

“Just because you have convinced yourself this is your fault, doesn’t mean I subscribe to the same idea.”

Ember relented, and for another few moments, they just held each other, basking in the light of being together again.

It didn’t last.

The winds began to blow and a turquoise hue overtook the horizon. Logan let go, looking into Ember’s eyes. “Run.” He whispered, wanting to at least see him get away safe, but he knew how this story went.

The winds ripped through their quiet moment, snuffing out his fire’s light. Logan heard the screams for help, heard the terror shriek through the echoes of the wind, and before he knew it, he was running, trying to find Virgil before the wind could tear him apart as well. He was too late. He was always too late, then the wind came for him, scattering his light across the barren darkness, leaving him to be snuffed out.

Logan woke with a start, easily calming himself down as he had done for many years now. Yet, no matter how many times he watched his soulmates be torn from him, it was the pleading help in the wind as his lights faded that really left him shaking.

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[votederpycausemufins]

Welp, it’s finally ready. I’ve started writing for the Scattered au by @hermitcraftheadcanons and their community. I didn’t find them until after it was made, so I couldn’t shove my ideas in there and while I’m in the discord, it’s a little overwhelming for me in there.

so next best option is to just write what I want to write. I’ve already got the first two chapters prepped and ideas for after that, but I’ll take suggestions on who people want to see next. (Especially from @helleborusangel​ for they give me so much in the way of rambles and I want to give back to them.)

The name of the story is Hermitcraft Season Beta 1.17, so look out for the masterpost with that title.

Welcome to Season Error

When he first spawned into the world, Xisuma was a bit confused. He couldn’t see anything. Everything should have been set up correctly. There was nothing at spawn and it should be day. Looking up, the admin can’t even see any stars. He went to tap his helmet and check on the world information when he heard an odd noise. It sounded like a sculk.

In researching the new biomes and creatures, he had grown familiar with the sound, and he was sure the hermits would find them before long, hearing it first thing into the world should have been impossible. Still, Xisuma took another step and heard the noise again, this time catching the bioluminescence of the sculk.

The admin was confused even more, before using the light to look at his surroundings, having to take a few steps to keep the creature lit. All around him was stone, specifically deepslate. That meant he had to be close to y-0, which made no sense.

Again, Xisuma reached for some buttons on his helmet, ready to sort things out, but a growl stopped him in his tracks, keeping him frozen in place. A warden. The admin could barely breathe as he strained to look in the pitch black. His helmet was helping ever so slightly, but it was still extremely dark. He carefully stepped away from the sculk, sneaking so as to not alert it. Netherite was barely enough to face this thing and he had nothing. He needed to get as far away from the monster as possible and try to find a way higher into the cave, hopefully not needing to mine.

Xisuma heard another sound from the warden and froze again. It sounded closer this time. His mind raced slightly in panic, starting to get a message ready to send to the other hermits, when he saw some messages in the chat.

ZombieCleo slain by Iron Golem

MumboJumbo slain by Vindicator

FalseSymmetry drowned

ImpulseSV drowned

StressMonster drowned

Docm77 hit the ground too hard

MumboJumbo slain by Vindicator

ImpulseSV slain by Guardian

ImpulseSV slain by Guardian

FalseSymmetry drowned

StressMonster drowned

MumboJumbo slain by Vindicator

GoodtimeswithScar fell out of the world

ImpulseSV drowned while trying to escape Guardian

Though he was still quiet, Xisuma took a step back in shock at the messages. He wasn’t the only one who came through, and he wasn’t the only one in a bad situation. What had- He stepped back and yelled in surprise as his foot was caught. He had forgotten about sculk jaws.

The admin managed to free his foot, but then he was slammed into a wall. He was hanging on at half a heart, not sure how he survived the blow. He tried some of the buttons on his helmet for emergencies, but it just sparked, broken from the impact. Before he could even take another breath, he was killed, respawning behind the warden since he hadn’t gone far in the first place.

Xisuma tried the buttons again, only to find the helmet still broken even after respawning. That didn’t make sense. It should have been- he ducked at the last moment, dodging the fist of the warden. Not having anything else to do, Xisuma ran. He knew there was no way he could outrun the monster, but at the very least, he could lead it away from his spawn.

Another death, and it seemed to have worked. The warden was far enough away that it didn’t notice him. Taking what little time he had, Xisuma pulled up chat to find more death messages, and at the very least, a few advancements from hermits who hadn’t died. He quickly put in a message and sent it, only to get an error. The message had failed to send. At the very least, that explained why none of the hermits were asking questions in chat.

Xisuma’s next option was to use admin commands that weren’t linked to the damaged part of his helmet, but that wasn’t working either. Theoretically, it should, but since the admin was essentially blind, for all he knew, the damage was much worse. At the very least, it was still functioning enough for him to breathe. It also let him access chat, but right now, that seemed less of a blessing than a curse.

And then the warden found and killed him again.

.

.

“Alright! Welcome to your new first season of Hermitcraft!” Grian said happily, gesturing to the land in front of him. Except, there wasn’t much land there. “Wait, I thought we were spawning in the plains.”

The avian hermit looked around. There were no plains in sight. There weren’t even any grass or trees. He was just on the top of a mountain, all alone. Well, he wasn’t completely alone. “Dad? Why are we on a mountain?”

Grian looked down, Grum and Jrum looking up at him. Originally the plan was to leave the two of them behind to look over the old world, but Grian couldn’t take it, so he and Mumbo gave the robots their own reasonably sized bodies. They took a day to go over everything with the bots, well, two because they needed to comfort Grum when he learned the past few months of his life had been a lie. But after that, they were ready to all move to season eight.

“I don’t know. This doesn’t make sense. Let me just-” He cut himself off, pulling out his communicator and seeing the death messages starting to fill up the chat. His eyes focused on the message of Mumbo being killed by a vindicator. That made no sense, but neither did spawning almost alone on top of a mountain. Grian tried to message something in chat, but it didn’t work.

The avian pulled a hand away and breathed into it to warm it up before switching hands to warm the other. He may have been wearing a sweater, but against cold like this, it wasn’t the best. “Okay, it looks like something went wrong. Your daddy seems to be at a woodland mansion, Cleo’s at a village, Impulse in a sea temple. I think Scar’s in the end or something and Xisuma’s dealing with a warden. Doc’s somewhere high, False and Stress are underwater…” A new message came in. “And TFC is fighting the Ender Dragon.”

“Does that mean we’re stuck up here?” Jrum spoke up, sounding concerned.

“Uh, no, of course not.” Grian smiled to reassure the bots. “You two can stand the cold much longer than I can since you’re robots, but I can just g-glide down. I’ll just g-grab some wood and b-be right back.”

The avian put his comm away and rubbed his arms for a bit of warmth before jumping off the edge. He let his wings open up and ignored the sting from moving them. He was just about to the cloud layer, ready to look for trees, when his wings suddenly stiffened up painfully. Grian yelled in pain, glancing back to see ice crystals that had formed on his wings. In fact, they were still forming. They matted his feathers, keeping them from catching the air as well as making him heavier.

Grian looked back down. He just needed to make it to the ground safely. He could last that long, right? Once he was down, he would get everything sorted and help the bots down. Then they would figure things out. It was going to work. It had to work.

And then he was falling.

Grian respawned back on the top of the mountain. Before the bots could say anything, he jumped again. He was so close before, but now that he had respawned, he could make it this time. Because now his wings were- still frozen over. Instead of gliding, Grian immediately dropped like a rock, once again killing himself from the fall.

“Dad? What happened? Are you okay?” Grum asked. Grian didn’t respond, just pulling the bots into a hug. It was a stupid idea, the metal of their bodies sapping what heat he had, but right now, he was too distraught to care. They were stuck, and there was nothing they could do.

Grian tried to ignore the damage he was taking from the cold. At the very least, he would just respawn there again. He knew where everyone was, or at least a number of people, from their death messages. He would just die a few times and people would know where to look. But the bots. The bots would have to watch that. They would have to watch him die over and over until who knows when help would come. But there wasn’t any other choice. He felt as his life slowly drained, recognizing he was on two hearts, then one and a half, then one, then just half. Grian closed his eyes, ready for his death.

His eyes shot open, glowing purple. His health was suddenly fully restored and fire appeared in his palm, warming him and the bots. But just as soon as it happened, it was gone, Grian slowly freezing once more. He couldn’t die, but he couldn’t actually survive. They were stuck, and it was worse than he thought.

.

.

Impulse entered the new world and tried to take a breath, only for water to fill his lungs. In shock, he looked around and saw the familiar sights of a sea temple. He panicked and tried swimming, lungs burning from the salt water filling them. He swam out of the room he spawned in, hoping and praying to find a way out. Spots started filling the edges of his vision, but Impulse just kicked harder. He just needed to find a way out and-

He drowned, respawning in the same place. Part of Impulse was hoping it was a fluke and upon dying, he would respawn at spawn, able to jokingly tell people he found the first sea temple. But he was back underwater, and this time, there was a guardian in the room with him. It killed him once, then a second time. Before it could try a third time, he swam out of the room, cutting its vision off from him. He had less health this time, but he needed to find a way out. There had to be a way out.

His lungs were burning again and the guardian shot at him. It hit him once, leaving him with barely any health, and then drowning finished the job. He respawned in the same place, though the guardian was absent this time. He tried punching at the wall, hoping just maybe he could break through the block before dying again. But it was tougher underwater, not to mention every minute, the elder guardian would lay its curse on him.

So breaking out didn’t work, so he tried swimming again. Trying every path, hoping to find a way out. But the best he could manage was finding one of the elder guardians. After that, he gave up. There was no escape. With nothing left to do, he finally pulled out his communicator and saw others were in a similar situation. There was just death. Even Xisuma was stuck. And if Xisuma couldn’t keep from dying, there was no hope for him.

.

.

“Okay. Real funny guys.” Scar rolled his eyes, having spawned on an end island. “Did we have to start with this?”

There was no one around, so Scar just huffed and walked to the edge of the island. “Alright, let’s just get this over with.” And he jumped into the inky abyss. For just a fraction of a moment, he thought he heard someone yell, but then he respawned and found himself back on the island. “Ohhh no. This is not good at all.”

Scar looked around. There were no islands close enough for him to jump to, and he had nothing to bridge across with or use to get materials for a bridge. Then, to add insult to injury, he could see an end city, sitting in a place he couldn’t reach.

Scar grumbled. Obviously something went wrong, so he would just need to wait for it to be fixed. At the very least, while his island was small, it wasn’t a miniature one, so there was chorus fruit growing there. He pulled off a branch and watched fruit fall from the plant, glad for something to eat. At the very least, it would grow back as long as he didn’t take the full thing. And maybe if he got lucky, it would somehow grow into a bridge.

That being said, if he was really lucky; eating some chorus fruit would take him to another island. He tried to hope for the fruit to be wizard fruit, since that teleported much better than regular chorus fruit. But no, he was just taken to another part of the island, stuck all by himself.

Sighing, he flopped down on the island and looked up into what substituted as a sky there. After a while, he sat up suddenly, thinking he heard someone, but carefully looking around, all he saw were enderman, well, at least he saw their legs.

Scar sighed again and looked back up at the ‘sky’. At the very least he wouldn’t starve. And maybe if he got lucky, he could eventually get over to another island. And since there was an end city nearby, he wasn’t completely hopeless for gear. Sure, some things might have curses, but at this point, something was better than nothing.

Scar suddenly regretted looking up at the sky as an enderman walked into his line of sight. In a panic, Scar ran to hide somewhere, only to not find anywhere to hide, there being no cover in the island. With no gear, it only took a few hits before he was respawning. This time Scar made sure to look at the ground, lying on his front this time. And this time, as he rested there, he could swear there was some whispering from nearby.

.

.

Mumbo didn’t expect to spawn in a pile of wool when entering season eight. He didn’t think he was late to moving to the new season, but he supposed he could be wrong. It was also dark instead of morning, so perhaps he was just late. He got up, surprised to see the wool was shaped in the imitation of a bed, but not actually making a bed. There weren’t any torches around, but there was a window, which showed it was actually day outside.

Confused even more, Mumbo started to walk out of the room. “Hello? Anyone here?” He called out, and then almost immediately got an answer as an axe chopped into him, killing him almost instantly. Mumbo respawned, back on the makeshift bed. The vindicator that just killed him was outside the room, so it didn’t see him immediately, so he still had some time to think. He was in the middle of a woodland mansion, all alone. That made no sense, they would never choose a new world that would spawn them there. And by the window of the room, it didn’t even look like he was on the first floor.

Mumbo paled. He wasn’t even on the first floor. He needed to get through the illagers alive and somehow find the stairs down to the first floor and hope to void he wasn’t on the third floor. He went to pull out his communicator to send a distress message, but then the vindicator wandered in again and killed him.

With the room he was spawning in no longer being safe, Mumbo immediately started running as he respawned. He ran through the halls, trying to remember his way while also not dying. He dodged a zombie and turned a corner, only to freeze as he met eyes with an evoker. It started to cast a spell and he immediately backed up, only to find the vindicator that had been chasing him kill him once more with its axe.

Respawning, he tried another path, but this one was filled with vindicators. One hit him, and he was surprised to still be alive, but then he was trapped between two more and killed. Maybe since he knew about the evoker this time, he could take that first path, so Mumbo went that way instead.

He ran down, dodging the zombie again as well as the vindicator from before and ignoring the evoker. He kept running, getting hit once, but still alive. And then he got further, only to reach a dead end with two zombies standing there. Between the monsters, Mumbo found himself killed by another vindicator, spawning back on the faux bed.

This time, nothing was in the spawning room, so Mumbo pulled out his communicator, only to see messages from other hermits dying. He sent one asking for help, but only got an error. He had no way to contact anyone, and based on the messages, everyone was in similar situations to him. That meant all he could do was run and hope to get out.

Putting his comm away, Mumbo tried again. He tried the second path, turning the corner, dodging a new evoker. His eyes widened in excitement as his eyes landed on the stairs. He quickly raced down them, glad to see the exit right there at the bottom. He would be fine. He could escape. He could- get shot by a skeleton that happened to have a punch bow. It pushed him back into the mansion and into yet another vindicator.

Grumbling, Mumbo tried yet again, only to find the vindicator at the exit. Fine, now he would have to lead them away and try again. So he did. Only to find them on the stairs and killing him again. Another attempt had him out the front door, but the place was surrounded by water. He wasn’t able to swim away fast enough when a vex came from out of nowhere and killed him, leaving him frustrated. So he tried again. And again. And again. He respawned again, only to find an Evoker in his spawning room, and Mumbo gave up to the death loop.

.

.

Etho appeared in the new world with plans for the season already in his mind. His feet touched down in the plains of the large starting island. From here, he could see the even bigger island that they were planning to use as the main district with the first one getting converted to an initial spawn area.

Looking around, he was a little surprised to only see Joe and Beef with him at spawn. His first thought was that maybe there was a delay, but then his communicator buzzed with a message. Joe and Beef didn’t have theirs out, so it couldn’t have been a message from either of them. Etho pulled his device out as the pair did the same. Another message came in at the same time, and Etho was surprised to see some death messages appearing in chat.

He tried to send something, hoping to figure out what was going on, but there was just an error. He tried again, but again, the message didn’t go through. Etho looked back up, hoping that the killed hermits would reappear at spawn, but there was no luck of that. “Guys, I think we’ve got a problem.”

“Yeah, I think that’s kinda obvious.” Joe replied. “Question is what we’re gonna do about it.”

Etho looked back at his comm. “Well, we seem to be at spawn at zero zero. It looks like everyone else is scattered though. Since we can at least look at coordinates, others probably can too.”

“So if they’re not dying, they’ll probably come this way, right?” Beef asked, Etho nodding.

“Now for the most part, I don’t like it one bit. But if we’re probably the only safe people right now, we can’t go out looking for everyone.” Joe spoke up. “At least, we can’t right now. I mean, Mumbo’s at a woodland mansion, Impulse is dealing with guardians, and it seems like Scar and TFC are in the end.”

“And Wels just got killed by a hoglin, so he’s in the nether.”

“Right, well, without supplies, we can’t do anything. Since people are probably going to get back to spawn, we need to make sure they’ll be safe.”

Etho nodded at Joe’s statements. “So for now, we’re just going to have to pretend everything is normal and set up for anyone who needs help.”

“I guess we’ll start by getting wood.” Beef spoke up, walking to the nearest tree. Etho and Joe followed him, doing the same. They did the normal starting rigamarole of getting wood, replanting saplings, and getting a shelter in place. Joe went out hunting for sheep, hoping they could at least make beds. If people were stuck in horrid spawns, they likely would want to die and get stuck there after travelling so far.

Etho was the first to go mining, bringing back stone, coal, and even iron. He continued to staircase, trying to gather as much as he could. Every time his inventory looked even a little too full, he would go up and drop off supplies just in case. It was good that he did, because at one point he dug into a cave. A zombie attacked him, shearing off a few hearts. Etho was able to kill it, but then realized something and ran back to the surface.

“Guys, I’ve got some more bad news.”

“What is it?”

“I just ran into a zombie.” Etho said, holding his wound before moving his hand away from covering it. “My health isn’t regenerating.”

“Alright, I guess we’re going to have to be even more careful. You want one of us to mine now?”

Etho hesitated before shaking his head. “No. Even if I die, I should just come right back here.” He tore off some of his shirt and wrapped it around the wound. “We’re not dealing with what everyone else is, so we owe it to them to push through this.”

Before Joe or Beef could say anything more, Etho went back to the mine. He was able to make two more deliveries, but then he ran into a dungeon. He lit the room up and started grabbing things from chests, racing back up to tell the others. He had to be a bit fast, as a skeleton spawned in a corner that wasn’t light enough.

Etho reached the top of the stairs, shouting to get the attention of the other hermits. Then they watched as he was hit in the back and killed. And then were horrified as they didn’t see him respawn.

But Etho respawned, just not where he started, now finding himself in a ravine. While he was left there confused, he suddenly heard Ren’s voice saying his name before it turned into a shout and his voice got quieter as he fell into the ravine. It looked like there was even more going on here than they thought before, and Etho wasn’t sure how to feel about it yet.

[shadowsong26fic]

Coming Attractions!

I usually do these on the first Monday of the month, but that would be the seventh and that feels Weird to me XD So here I am, a few days early.

As always, come check out my writing discord if you’re so inclined--it’s pretty quiet, but theoretically a more interactive extension of this blog.

Also, open question night! For anyone who’s new, while my askbox is always open, tonight I’ll be actually keeping an eye on it to respond to stuff, which I don’t always do. Anything I talk about here on this blog or have posted to AO3 is fair game. Right now, I’m actively writing in Castlevania (which I haven’t posted yet); Star Wars; and BSG (which I’ve recently fallen back into hard XD). I do take prompts, but make no promises for how quickly I will fill them.

Okay! Housekeeping done, on to the actual updates!

Star Wars:

Precipice!Verse:

I swear I am not giving up or formally hiatus’ing this project ^^;; It’s just been slow going lately. I’m not sure I’ll get anything out this month? I think if I haven’t gotten anything by the time SWBB is over (which should time out nicely with the end of the Super Busy Season at work), I’ll do a full reread of everything I have, and hopefully that’ll get things flowing.

But even more hopefully that won’t be necessary and I’ll have the next chapter or the next Prelude out soonish, haha...

SWBB

I am behind where I want to be at this point but lol what else is new XD Artist claims are happening soon, though, so I have some Motive to get shit done. I also need to sit down and rewatch ROTS before I can write the first chunk (everything I have comes later in the story).

It doesn’t help that my brain is already feeding me ideas for next year, and it’s like, no, we’re not going to work on that yet even if it would be pretty cool, we can do that Later. (it might be a crossover if i can actually ride this thread to a storyline, we’ll see how it goes...but yeah that is a problem for Future Me; Present Me needs to work on this year’s fic which I am Committed to XD)

Castlevania:

See, the annoying thing here is, I have the second, third, and most of the fifth chapters/scenes of Incinctus largely finished (along with a bunch of later stuff). But not the first! So I can’t start posting it XD

My actual writing on this project has slowed down lately, but I think once I get that first chapter finished and start posting I’ll get some momentum and it’ll go through smoothly.

And then I do still have at least one other idea noodling around in my head, but Incinctus is my focus right now.

BSG:

I posted the other day about actually putting some work into making The Other Battlestar AU happen. XD This is a concept I came up with like ten years ago and now that I’m falling back into the fandom I wanna make it happen.

Essentially, this is What Happens If Professional Human Disaster Gaius Baltar Is On Pegasus Instead Of Galactica: Discuss. With appropriate TWs because this is a Pegasus storyline.

Right now, I’m prooooobably planning on ending it with the Resurrection Ship two-parter? I do have some vague idea of what would come after that, but some of it depends on how the holes in the Galactica storyline get patched. That side of things is an In Spite Of A Nail AU up until the two ships reconnect, with Baltar’s canon role being split across at least two OCs, one of whom I still need to design, lol.

Apart from that (and rewatching the parts of the show I need to before I can make this happen), I have a couple of logistical issues, lol.

First, how much of the pre-Fall stuff I want to cover. I do need to establish the relevant OCs (one of whom is Baltar’s teenage daughter; she fills his Science role (and changes nothing about his gloriously terrible decision-making because that does have to happen and...I am not going to go on a tangent about how Atia both does and does not change him lol that is a topic for another day); the other is going to do the politics stuff and I still need to figure out exactly how I want to approach that); plus how/why Helo stays behind in this context; some of the details on how exactly Baltar gets off Caprica and in position to be picked up by Cain instead of Roslin. But how much of that do I want to do right off the bat, do I want to do some of it with flashbacks, how much time should be devoted to introducing Atia and This Other Dude and how they relate to the people around them before we actually get going with the stuff we came here for...

also the more of that I write the more likely it is I have to make up an alias for Caprica-Six because Natasi was dumb even before Natalie existed to make it confusing lol

Second, figuring out enough Stuff to happen on Pegasus so the two storylines will have about the same weight/etc. leading up to the point of connection. Some of that will probably be fixed when I rewatch Razor, but right now I basically have...One Very Intense Storyline and a scattering of things relating to Head!Six and a couple OCs I already have built to flesh things out and fill a couple plotty roles in said Very Intense Storyline. Meanwhile, Galactica has...uh...a season and a half + the miniseries of Plot, quite a bit of which has to be reworked around the two+ new players, plus some sidestory stuff with Felix essentially adopting Atia as the little sister he never knew he needed, and the two of them and Billy and Dee hanging out on the fringes of all the Really Important Shit Going Down.

[Billy/his eventual fate is another Question I potentially need to resolve, especially if my scope does grow beyond the Pegasus arc but that’s not as serious a plotting question. Because I love him.]

Third, there are three key character/plot points that are a little Complicated to rework. Exposing Doral; whatever the fuck I’m gonna do with Shelly; killing Crashdown/the rest of what happens with the first Kobol landing party. Still working on those. XD Shelly is the hardest, I think--I can handwave Atia (because it probably has to be Atia to establish her in the role she’ll fill later) pinging Doral some way; having Chief pull the trigger probably works; but Shelly...is Complicated, lol.

Fourth, because [spoiler] is not in play at the time, someone else has to [spoiler] [spoiler] (like I said, I have One Very Intense Storyline already mostly plotted lol take a guess). I have a couple of options and am just figuring out which would be best.

I do have some other stories I’d like to work out At Some Point (rewriting For Sorrow Sung; a few other closer-to-canon AUs; getting back to Serenissima...) but right now I think this one has the most Potential.

...also totally unrelated but yeah BSG is the crossover I’m toying with for next year’s BB; there are some Interesting Things that can be done here; at least six or seven BSG characters I would pinpoint as Force-sensitive; plus the messengers/Head!People, not to mention the hilarity that will ensue when introducing Starbuck and ::gestures at all the hotshot pilots I can choose from depending on era/setting::...

So I think that about covers it! I do in theory want to get some original stuff down, too, but that’s more in the background and I don’t have anything specific to say. Plus other semi-hiatused SW projects, etc., lol. Anyway, let me know if y’all have any thoughts, or what you’re working on, and again open question night!

[king-paimon]

Houseki no Kuni Chapter 94 Thoughts: Inheriting the burden

This chapter was worth the two month wait. And to be honest, I’m kind of glad that we didn’t get this chapter last month because, if you saw my previous post, October had been very hard for me for several reasons. 

But yeah, this chapter... So short but impactful. And heartbreaking, as usual. I’m still surprised by how some of the things in my old prediction from over a year ago happened, but the results are more gut-wrenching. One of main differences being that Adamant was actually happy to go and the other is Phos being alive, though clearly dead inside now. If you’re interested in seeing this post, here’s a link: https://king-paimon.tumblr.com/post/188597157145/hnk-theoretical-ending-worst-case-scenario

Anyways, this chapter is very straightforward and I don’t have a lot to talk about so this post won’t be super long. Like always, feel free to share your own thoughts with me and I apologize for mistakes I’ll surely make. I’m definitely going to make edits on this one. (I did make some edits. I hope you read them!)

Goodbye Adamant

(Chapter 94, Page 03)

Sigh. Seeing Adamant disappear the way he did was very sad, and also tranquil, in a way. It looks like it was true that after everything he went through, from watching humanity die to watching his precious gems be taken time and time again because of him, and him being unable to fulfill his true purpose, he had been wanting to disappear for a long time. And finally, Phos was the one who liberated him, even though it was definitely not intentional. I talk more about this in depth in the post for Chapter 93: https://king-paimon.tumblr.com/post/631282595252043776/hnk-chapter-93-bittersweet-victory-bittersweet

Also mentioned in that post, I made a prediction that when Adamant crumbles, all that would be left was an eye. This was based off of several observations of him in the previous chapters and for a while, an eye would be associated with him, like him holding onto Phos’s eye or the first machine’s eye. I can’t believe it actually happened. I was loosing it when I saw the first leaks.

Now Adamant’s eye is part of the Phos’s new ‘human’ form, and it’s showing Phos these horrifying visions. Just like when Phos inherited Lapis Lazuli’s head and Cinnabar’s mercury, it looks like Phos inherited Adamant’s memories and those scenes were likely memories of humanity’s destruction. I wonder if these visions also somehow alludes to the possibility that this destruction might happen again.

One thing that has me a little perplexed was his final words to Phos. At first, I thought it was nice that his last words were words of encouragement... But I looked again and he said to Phos that they should “pray wholeheartedly for happiness.”  Was Adamant specifying to Phos to pray for their own happiness or for everyone else’s? Like, did he also envision Phos taking over his role? I hope not. I don’t know, but I want to think that Adamant was wishing Phos luck in finding peace. I hope I’m just over thinking this page, in fact, I’m sure I am. But let me know what you guys think!

I’m a little disappointed that we didn’t get to see Adamant and Aechmea interact directly. Maybe Ms. Ichikawa would find a way, since it looks like the lunarians collected Adamant’s remains, but we’ll see.

But yeah; Adamant is now free from the burden of existing. But sadly, and predictably, that burden is now Phos’s.

Inheriting the burden

It looks like it all but verbally confirmed now: Aechmea’s true goal for Phos was for them to take over Adamant’s role as the one to pray. And it was fascinating how even though Aechmea didn’t say a thing in this chapter, he continues to show how methodical and conniving he is. What an amazing antagonist he is.  Hopefully he’ll talk the next time we see him. Maybe he’ll try to manipulate Phos into thinking that taking over Adamant’s position is a good thing for them, maybe play on Phos’s old desire to find their purpose. But I’m also fine if he doesn’t. I’m glad that it’s becoming clear to Phos that Aechmea was just using them once again, but this time the price of their actions have permanent consequences. 

(Edit: In addition to Phos becoming Adamant’s replacement for praying, it’s understandable to predict that Phos would somehow take up Adamant’s other role; a leader for the gems. Who knows how this would happen. Maybe new gems will come to be while Phos is alone on Earth, or the other gems somehow come back, though I have doubts right now and you’ll see why in the next paragraph. Either way, Phos would find themselves ironically taking over Adamant’s role amongst the gems. And to make it more ironic, what would happen if another gem were to take up Phos’s old role and cause this whole cycle to repeat again. Wouldn’t that be tragic? Or maybe it’d be an opportunity to prevent the same mistakes Adamant made? Or maybe it just shows how history is doomed to repeat itself, no matter what? Who knows. This was a thought that I original had when the leaks came out but I removed it after the translation was released because I thought it wouldn’t be possible anymore. But seeing other people make similar predictions gave me the inspiration to add this edit. I wonder if anyone will notice...)

As for what Aechmea’s plans are for the shattered gems? I think he’s going to dispose of them. I highly doubt Aechmea’s going to rebuild those gems, unless he’s somehow persuaded by the remaining moon gems but that’s very unlikely. He purposely didn’t fulfill his promise to Phos to restore other gems, and if he can convince Phos to pray for him and everyone else, there’d be no point to rebuilding them anyway. I think he’s taking them so Phos would isolated again. He’s used this tactic many times make it easy for him to manipulate Phos and I’m sure he’s going to do it again to convince Phos to pray. Speaking of which...

And there’s no one left....

(Chapter 94, Page 23)

Look how far this poor child has fallen. So different from how they were in the previous chapters, from a hellbent vengeance beast to this being of pure sadness and desperation. I’ve stated many times that at the end of this sugar coated vengeance crusade, reality would hit Phos right back in the face and push Phos to rock bottom. And it happened. And it was so sad to watch. 

Ms. Ichikawa did such a good job emulating the sense of emptiness, despair, and desperation in this chapter. Everything, especially the school, looks so big and empty now that there’s no one there but Phos. And Phos’s face and demeanor as they looked everywhere for the fallen gems and Adamant, when they desperately grasped for Adamant’s eye because “they want happiness” and when he witnessed those visions was the icing on the cake. 

Poor Phos. Everything is out of their grasp again, but this time, there’s nothing to turn back too. He wanted to restore the gems, but they are all taken away, likely forever. He wanted Adamant to pray for him, but he’s also gone forever. Phos sacrificed so much to get to this point; Phos destroyed their relationships, their former allies, their own BODY to try to find a solution this situation they were put in. They did all of this not just for everyone else’s sake but for their own sake, so they can finally have some control over his life. So he can be happy. But once again, it all led to this situation that he has no control over. Phos now knows that he was once again used as a pawn for Aechmea’s grand plan and it looks like there’s no way out of it. No one’s there to save him.

The only other gems that aren’t destroyed are Yellow Diamond, Goshe, Ame, and Cairn. And at the bottom of the last page, it sounds like we’ll be focusing on the moon gems in the next chapter. What’ll happen with them? No clue. But honestly, I don’t care right now. 

Phos is alone again, but it’s absolute now.

Adamant is gone. Cinnabar is gone. Padparadscha is gone. Any gems or Admirabilis that gave an ounce of care for Phos are no longer on earth. 

There’s no one left. 

All Phos has now are tragic memories that are not their own and the feeling of despair. 

And if that’s not lonely enough, if Phos were to pray, it’s highly likely that they’ll be the only one left behind while everyone else permanently disappears. That’s how it was for Adamant, after all. And just like Adamant, Phos would continue this painful existence, sacrificing parts of themselves for others, and no one’s there to save them. 

So it doesn’t matter how the situation will turn out; in the end, Phos doesn’t win and will be all alone. 

(edit: It’s also fascinating to see how similar Phos and Adamant really are, from the loneliness of knowing the truth of everything to watching the ones they care about be taken away from them and being practically powerless to do anything to change it. These two characters are so tragic.)

I said this many times before and I’ll keep on saying it until something changes:

Phos’s cycle of suffering is never going to end.

Phos will never have a happy ending.

[jwillowwolf]

Magic and Miracles - Chapter 11

Sanders Sides Big Bang fic, Chapter 11!

< Previous Chapter | Next Chapter >| Masterlist

Summary: He sighed in relief only to tense up when he noticed the expression on Logan’s face.

“What happened?”

“We need a miracle.”

Warning/s: food mention, minor violence.

Characters: Logan, Virgil, OCs, Roman, Remy, Remus, Patton, Janus.

Tag List: @theimprobabledreamersworld @remy-please-come-back

Read on AO3

11 | Danger Unknown

Once Virgil and Logan returned to the room, Virgil made a request not to be disturbed and they put up a magical barrier to keep anyone from using enchanted items or spells to spy on them. The group was sitting in the living area, with the tv turned off, and trying to come up with a plan of action, or at least a logical theory as to what is happening. So basically, they were stuck with no idea as to what was going on or what their next move should be.

Logan frowned. “Could these events be connected? Virgil’s parents and grandmother both being essentially missing.”

Remy shrugged. “Possibly. Right now though we’re just guessing.”

“I think that our next move is more obvious than we think,” Remus declared. “We need to find Virgil’s grandmother.”

Roman nodded. “But where to start?”

Remus shrugged. “Her room?”

“Whether she’s there or not though, they’ll have guards stationed there to keep up the ‘she’s sick and quarantined’ charade.” Janus pointed out.

“Oh! What if we use the teleportation spell?” Patton proposed.

“Would that even work in this realm?” Willow wondered. “And what if they have some kind of magic barrier like we have here?”

“Virgil, is there anyone who you would trust to tell you the truth about what’s happening? The best thing we can do is find a reliable source to inform us what’s going on.” Remy said.

Virgil sighed. “The Earl was my grandmother’s closest advisor, and I don’t think we can trust him at all.”

“What about the reporters? You said they give news to the people of this realm, so surely they would have some information,” Logan reasoned.

Virgil perked up. “I don’t know how reliable they’d be, but I guess that’s a start. We’d need to comb through the news channels on TV.”

“Ooh, I can do that. I figured out how to use the remote properly,” Patton proudly stated.

“I could do some reconnaissance. Like covertly listening in on what people say to each other,” Willow suggested.

“I can help keep you hidden while you’re doing that,” Janus added.

“Roman and I could also do some covert reconnaissance. Our hearing isn’t as good as Willow’s but it’s still pretty sharp,” Remus stated.

Virgil nodded. “Alright, Pat can look into what’s on the news while Remus, Roman, Janus and Willow act as our spy teams. Logan and I have left the room before, so we can go out again and try to see my grandmother or at least fake that we’re doing that to see how well her room is being guarded.”

Remy frowned. “Hang on kids. If there is something going on, I would like to get us out of here as soon as possible. You shouldn’t be getting too deep into stuff like this.”

“It’s dangerous, but we knew this was going to be risky when we agreed to it. And, really, this might be our safest option considering how the Earl was trying to convince Virgil to go back home.” Logan noted.

Remy sighed. “If you really need to check in on the queen, then I may know a spell that can help. But it’s difficult for normal mages to cast.”

The group exchanged curious glances. “What is it?”

“Mind linking,” Remy stated. “It’s a high-level spell that can allow a person to link their consciousness to someone else. You can’t do a full connection unless two people are doing the spell with each other, but there’s a way to use the spell to specifically disconnect one’s consciousness for a time in order to find other minds in the space around you. Aka this building. The spell goes through all kinds of loopholes and can work even inside or through magical barriers, but the caster needs a proficiency in mind magic…”

“So, theoretically, I could cast the spell?” Virgil asked.

“Yes, but another rule is you can’t cast the spell onto yourself.”

“You could cast it onto me though,” Logan said.

“I was actually thinking I could take the spell,” Remy declared.

“I think Logan should do this. If Pat’s watching the news, the twins, Janus, and Willow are out spying, and I’m maintaining this spell, then it would probably be a good idea to have someone checking news sites online, and we don’t have time to teach Logan about the internet,” Virgil pointed out.

“Inter-net? Is it some kind of magical net you catch information with?” Roman asked.

“Like I said, we don’t have time to introduce you guys to it. Maybe later though.”

Remy sighed. “Alright. But we’re going to need to go into full detail with this plan…”

The team did plan things out as best they could. Virgil explained to the spy team how to navigate the building. After that, Roman, Remus, Janus and Willow went to the elevator, casting invisibility spells on themselves that would make it so only they could see/detect each other, then went their separate ways.

Meanwhile, Remy showed Patton which channels were for the news and gave Logan the instructions for the Mind spell. Pat made notes on everything that was being said on TV in a small black notebook and once Remy finished instructing Logan he found a tablet to use the internet on.

“Remember, I’m only able to keep this up for five minutes, then you’ll be pulled back into your body,” Virgil said. “You know where to go?”

Logan nodded. “I’ll be fine, Virge. We can both pull this off.”

Virgil nodded. “Okay. You might want to lie down then.”

Logan laid down and closed his eyes as the spell was cast. He could feel as the magic flowed through his body like a gentle wave washing over the shore. For a moment he thought that the spell had failed since nothing else changed, but then he sat up and opened his eyes only to realise that he was outside of his own body. More specifically, he was floating just above his body like a ghost.

He felt suddenly excited at this discovery. It was like he was now a ghost completely disconnected from his physical form. A glance over to Virgil however reminded him of the current urgency of his mission. He was watching Logan’s body with a particular concern. Right now he had no idea what was happening to Logan and it was worrying him a great deal.

Logan wanted to reassure him in some way, but this form wouldn’t really be able to do that, so instead, he focused on finishing his task so that when Virgil pulled him back he would have some useful information. He floated up to the ceiling and then phased through it like it was nothing more than a cloud of fog. He navigated his way literally through the building quickly until he came to the hall outside of the queen’s bedroom.

There were indeed a pair of guards outside the door, but no one else seemed to be on this floor. Logan phased through the door and looked around if anyone was there. The room was lavishly decorated in silver and lavender tones, with a pair of ornate wardrobes on either side of a large vanity table, a wall to wall bookshelf, and a large king-sized bed. In the bed, someone was laying down.

On closer inspection, Logan found that the someone was a fae woman with long tresses of silver hair that was spread out all over her pillows. She looked weak and sickly, with cold sweat on her forehead. Logan reached out to touch her so he could hopefully see into her mind when a voice from behind him said.

“Hello.”

Logan whipped around to find the spirit of the woman in the bed standing behind him. “Gah!”

“Oh, sorry darling, I didn’t mean to scare you there. You came looking for me, right?”

“Queen Valeria?”

“The one and only!” The woman said with a smile before her face turned serious. “You’re my grandson’s friend. Correct?”

“Yes ma’am.”

“Then I need you to get him out of here. Immediately. Tell my son what’s going on here so that he can save the rest of this world before it’s too late for the others. I won’t last long enough to see him again...”

“I- no, your majesty I don’t really know what is happening but I’m sure that Virgil will not leave if you’re going to-- to die.”

“Child, there is no way to save me. All of you need to go to Nico and explain to him that Earl Ynclementia has overthrown me. Then he’ll know what to do next once my powers transfer to him.”

“Ma’am… Prince Nico and King Thomas have both disappeared. They were attacked by an unknown spellcaster during a meeting and no one knows what’s happened to them or where they vanished to.”

Valeria paled. “No… then Ynclementia’s plan was successful. That’s just all the more reason for you to get Virgil out of here. If he receives my powers then… it all will fall to him…”

Logan felt a lump in his stomach at the realisation of what she meant. With his parents gone and his grandmother dying, Virgil would be forced to take rulership over both humans and fae. Except the fae realm has been stolen by the earl, and if Virgil reveals his heritage without his parents support, then lord knows what might happen.

The people could rise against him in fear. Dethrone or even kill him. Even if he were completely accepted as half-fae, they could still try to take away his throne on the excuse he was underaged and possibly didn’t have the necessary training to rule in his fathers’ steads.

“Your majesty, there must be something we can do. If you’re here outside of your body then surely there’s still time to heal you.”

“Dear, I don’t have much time left. The spell I’m using to keep myself alive will be gone soon enough. Nothing but a miracle could save me now. Please, my only wish is that Virgil is safe. Take him home and… tell him to destroy the porthole. Right now, I’m using a spell to keep Ynclementia here, but once I’m gone he will try to take over your realm as well. That cannot happen.”

“No, there has to be something. There has to be a way to save you.”

“As I said, nothing but a miracle could do that.”

Logan looked down at his feet sorrowfully, then an idea struck him. “A-a miracle. Like the mythical creature, Miracle?”

Valeria gave a short laugh. “I doubt there are any of those just walking around in your realm, much less this one.”

“But if we found one, it could save you?”

“Well, they’re supposed to have boundless knowledge of the universe, so possibly. But it’s impossible to find one. Please just… just get Virgil away. Right now he’s going to need good friends more than ever.”

Valeria stared sorrowfully at the painting above her door. Only now Logan noticed it. A large portrait of Valeria, Thomas, Nico, Tanya, Dune and Virgil, all together smiling happily. If the queen died now then Virgil really would need friends. His fathers were completely missing and neither Tanya nor Dune could leave the forest. In the castle, facing the duties of ruling a kingdom, Virgil would be completely alone.

Logan couldn’t let that happen.

He tried to say more to Valeria but he felt that his soul was being pulled back. As his vision faded he heard Valeria say one more time, “Take him home.”

Barely a blink and a breath later, his consciousness returned and Logan found himself back in his body, with Virgil staring at him in concern. He sighed in relief only to tense up when he noticed the expression on Logan’s face.

“What happened?”

“We need a miracle.”

Virgil tugged on his hood. “Is it that bad?”

“No, well, what I mean- ugh, do you remember Remus’s dream?”

“That one about the giant bagel?”

“No, the recurring one. That one that started on our vacation.”

“Oh, the nightmare.”

“Yes, that. To save the person, we needed to find the miracle that time left behind, right?”

“I’m with you so far.”

“I think that that dream was very literal…”

An hour later, the group was reunited and once again stuck thinking of what to do next. Logan explained everything that happened with Valeria, leaving Virgil terribly distressed, and then the spy team returned with the news that Ynclementia planned to use them as hostages since the plans to get rid of Virgil’s parents and assassinate Virgil ‘failed’.

“Assassinate me?”

Willow nodded. “That’s what a rockslide was. The agent Ynclementia sent must have believed they killed you then went off to get your parents.”

“And now Ynclementia thinks both plans failed so he needs you as a hostage to use against your fathers.” Janus sighed.

“The news isn’t giving me any hope either,” Remy stated. “It seems that they’ve… erased the queen. Like she or any of your family never existed. They’ve made it look like Earl Imbecile has always been in power and no one is speaking up about it.”

Patton nodded. “From what I’ve seen on TV they’re scared to even talk about him. Whenever they refer to anything he’s done or is doing, they have this terrible fear in their eyes.”

“Then it isn’t like they’ve been brainwashed or anything. They’ve been traumatized.” Roman theorised.

Remus chewed on her fingernails. “We need to get out of here.”

“Well, it’s not like we can just walk out of the place.” Janus declared. “They would lock us up for real if they caught us.”

“A porthole,” Willow said. “We can use a porthole to get ourselves back to the realm porthole and go home.”

“You pointed out earlier that kind of magic might not work in this realm.” Roman reminded them.

“Well, yeah, but how many successful spells have we used now?”

“Okay true.”

The group used a porthole to get themselves back to the realm porthole, then went through the second porthole and found Tanya, Dune, and a few other pixies waiting for them. Tanya looked at Virgil with a worried expression. She could already tell that something had gone wrong.

“Virgil?”

“...We need to close the porthole.”

---

A/N: thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed this. I'll be posting two chapters a day until the full fic is up, so if you want to be tagged, you can just ask.

I'd love to hear what you thought about the chapter if you wouldn't mind commenting. Thanks again for reading! Here's hoping you have a magical day 💜

[matchasprouts]

The Walls - Chapter 3

[ couldn't write for a while but [ hands you a glimpse into Felix's gay brain ] come and get your juice ]

First || Next || Previous || Last

It took a while after getting upstairs for Felix to grab everything he needed (literally just the clothes he was going to change into, he was just easily distracted), but finally he was in the bathroom.

He didn’t shower in the mansion bathroom very often, since he lived in the cabin on the property, so he was immediately worried about the thing in the walls.

Well, it wouldn’t hurt to check.

Slowly, he made his way over to the most uncluttered wall that would have the crawl space attached to it. He knew it wasn’t omniscient, so if it were far enough away, it wouldn’t hear him. Hopefully it would be attached enough to Greta that it would be downstairs.

He paused for a moment, let out a breath, and lightly knocked three times on the wall. Three knocks was a greeting, or a goodbye between them. The thing usually only took a few seconds to respond.

…

Silence. Felix let out a sigh of relief, making his way over to the shower and turning it on. It was an old shower, but comfortable. He really did enjoy any chance he could use it without worry.

After a few seconds of making sure the water was at the right temperature, he started getting undressed. The overalls were off first, followed by the sweater he wore in the colder seasons. And then there was his binder.

He used to struggle a lot more with taking it off when he first started wearing it, but now he pulled it over his head without a fight. He draped it over the sink, away from his dirtied clothes, since he only really washed it when he absolutely needed to.

The water was almost scalding when Felix stepped into it, but that was on purpose. He’d basically shot his nerves when it came to hot water, barely feeling it if it wasn’t hot enough to leave marks on his skin.

He’d been told multiple times to go to therapy because of this. He assumed his nerves were so fucked because of the arson. Who fucking knows, he refused to go to a doctor.

The shower didn’t last very long, Felix just took as long as he needed to get the dirt off him and be done. The longest part was his hair, and he honestly wasn’t sure if he’d even gotten all the soap out of his hair by the time he stepped out of the shower.

It was while he was drying off his hair that he noticed the change in the room. Next to the t-shirt and sweatpants he’d laid out to change into sat a dark green, and very large, cardigan.

Felix knew for a damn fact that he hadn’t put that there. He didn’t even own cardigans- just an assload of sweaters. So where did this come from? It was too large to belong to Greta, too tattered too.

After a few seconds, it clicked. It belonged to the thing in the walls. The thing that always heard him complaining about the cold, or how it was hard to hide when he wasn’t wearing a binder.

And, it seemed, it finally did something about it.

Theoretically, he enjoyed the gesture. He was definitely going to wear it, the warmth was worth it, but still… this meant that it had come in while he was showering, and he hadn’t heard it. That didn’t imply good things.

He got dressed quickly, pausing before pulling on the cardigan. It was huge on him, even though he was average height and pretty well built. It smelled like wood, and smoke. It was… incredibly comfortable too.

After quickly glancing in the mirror, the green of the cardigan making the green of his eyes really pop. It probably helped that he was extra pale from the blast of hot water, bringing his freckles out as well.

He didn’t look too long. Felix didn’t like his face, and staring at it would make him shut down.

---

Greta had already started on dinner when he made it to the kitchen, and he was pleased to find Brahms sitting at the kitchen table.

“Hey. Sorry if you’ve been waiting long,” he said, rolling up the cardigan sleeves and jumping right into helping. She was making a soup apparently, probably because they didn’t have much at the moment. Malcolm was supposed to deliver some groceries tomorrow.

“Don’t worry about it,” Greta replied, handing him a knife and some vegetables to cut. He didn’t hesitate before getting into it, making quick work of them. “I hope soup is okay. We really need groceries.”

Felix hummed in response, keeping most of his focus on what he was doing. “Soup is always good, I’m just glad we could make something at all.”

Silence fell after that. They weren’t friends, they really didn’t have all that much to talk about. So they worked. At least it made the cooking go faster.

---

“So, where’d this come from?” Greta asked after they were finished and sitting down to eat, gesturing to the cardigan. He was surprised she could tell that it wasn’t his, especially because she knew next to nothing about him. Maybe it was because it was so big, or because of it being a dark colour.

Felix shrugged at the question, not willing to scare her off when Brahms clearly liked her. “It just kind of showed up. I’ve probably had it for years without realizing it. I can be forgetful like that sometimes.” No, he couldn’t. Distractible? Sure. Forgetful? Unfortunately, his memory was near photographic.

But Greta accepted it without question, just like he thought she would. It seemed like she was doing everything she possibly could to not question anything about this house. He vaguely wondered if she had seen Brahms move yet, but he doubted it.

When they were finished, it was Brahms’s bedtime. After making Greta promise she would follow the bedtime rules properly, he let her go to put the doll to bed, cleaning up the kitchen for her.

He heard rustling in the walls as Greta headed upstairs and smiled slightly to himself, knowing that the wall thing was making sure that she followed the rules.

The thought made him pull the cardigan tighter against himself, surprised at his own fondness toward the thing. Six years was a long time to grow attached to something, and he was honestly fine with being attached to it. After all, he never truly interacted with it. It probably wouldn’t hurt him.

Probably.

He shook those thoughts away, finished cleaning, and headed upstairs for bed. Greta’s door was already closed, Brahms was in bed, and the walls were quiet. Felix inspected his temporary bedroom once arriving at it, only laying down when he was satisfied that it was empty.

For once, sleep came easy.

---

The next morning, Felix woke up before Greta, and about an hour before Brahms needed to be woken up. Happy for the chance to get something done without Greta in the way, or needing to look out for Brahms, he wasted no time in getting up and dressed. He laid the cardigan out neatly on his bed for the thing to take back, making sure to close the door when he left the room.

Once downstairs he did some cleaning to take a bit of the workload off of Greta. Before heading out to do his gardening, he paused, glancing around the kitchen. They really needed that grocery delivery today, but he figured he could make breakfast before becoming the garden cryptid again.

So, he made something simple and wouldn’t need to be warm, put it in the fridge, and left a note for Greta. Once satisfied, he grabbed his gloves and headed outside. He’d probably come back in when Malcolm got there, just because there was something he’d need for later that he needed to ask him to grab.

It was time for Brahms to be woken up by the time Felix had started his gardening, a small smile crossing his lips when he looked up at the window and saw the light click on, followed by Greta opening up the curtains.

Well, maybe she was finally taking him seriously. He hoped so. He would sure hate to hate someone like her. She was nice and all, and really the only off thing that she’d done so far was not take care of Brahms right.

How unfortunate that that would change.

Felix happened to walk in during a conversation between Greta and Malcolm, relieved he hadn’t missed the man. He only caught part of the conversation, something about going out tonight. He didn’t hear Greta’s response, so he wasn’t annoyed yet, but it was getting there.

“Hey Malcolm,” he said as he grabbed a bottle of water, taking a sip before continuing, “could you grab something for me next time you go out? Nothing time sensitive or anything, it would just make my life a little easier.

Malcolm, sensing the change in conversation, replied without hesitation. “Sure man, what do you need?”

“A new pair of garden gloves, mine are falling apart. I’d get them myself but I don’t have a car and you know I don’t like leaving the grounds.” Felix was a little surprised when Malcolm nodded and wrote it down, but relieved. He really did need those gloves.

“I can grab ‘em for you today, I’ll be coming back tonight anyway,” Malcolm said as he tucked the small notepad back into his jacket. Felix immediately narrowed his eyes at him, his expression asking the “why” that he didn’t vocalize.

That’s when Greta cleared her throat and stepped in. “Malcolm offered to take me out to see the town tonight, and I accepted,” she explained, cringing at the harsh glare Felix sent her way. Before he could say anything, she continued, “Brahms will already be in bed by the time I leave! So there’s nothing to worry about.”

Nothing to worry about? She was breaking the rules! And it would know!! It was significantly more dangerous than Felix was!!!

He let out a sigh that bordered dangerously on a growl, before running a hand through his short hair and deciding that this was a battle he shouldn’t fight. “Whatever. Don’t say shit to me when something bad happens because you chose to break the rules.”

“Oh, come on man, she shouldn’t be cooped up in here-” Malcolm tried to step in, only to be cut off by Felix’s shears hitting the table hard enough that it shook.

“Don’t try to tell me what should or should not be happening here!” he snapped, the rage bubbling over before he could stop it. It was his fatal flaw- shortest temper in the Shaw family. “All I know is that she’s breaking the damn rules, and we’re all gonna get hell because of it!”

He hated arguing. He did. So, with that, before they could continue, he stormed off. Before he knew it, he had slammed his bedroom door and fallen heavily onto his bed. It took a godly amount of self control to not break anything, but he managed.

This was slowly but surely turning into a fucking nightmare.

[sproutsgcrden]

sentinel of naruhata | chapter one

all might hoodies and a random cashier

warnings: graphic descriptions of violence, manga spoilers for my hero academia: vigilantes

word count: 2959

masterlist | read on ao3 | next chapter

want to be tagged? send me an ask and let me know!

There used to be a time when Izuku could remember feeling nothing but love towards his father. Before quirks mattered, Izuku’s father was very involved. Hisashi spent every waking moment he could allow with Izuku and his mother; when he wasn’t working, he was home. It was simple. Domesticated. It was a life Izuku looks back on with a bitter fondness. He was happy, then. But knowing that it was all an act? Those few memories he could recall of loving parents and a happy childhood were poisoned, left to rot under the guise of being a victim of All for One.

After spending years underneath his father’s thumb, he knows exactly why Midoriya Inko was All for One’s priority. Her quirk, Pull, was really a perfect fit for a favorable genetic combination. Hisashi’s use of All for One relied on touch- really, that is the only drawback of his quirk, if you don’t count the pain on the other party’s behalf (Hisashi sure didn’t). It’s no wonder why he would pursue a romantic relationship with a woman who could theoretically provide him with the cure to his greatest ailment.

But, as is usually the case with genetics, there was a major problem for Hisashi. Inko’s quirk gave her the ability to pull objects toward her body- she could not push objects away, only bring them close. When Izuku developed his quirk, Hisashi’s initial plan was to take the quirk and leave. He would have no more use for his wife and son afterwards, so really there was no point in staying. So, when Inko had left the apartment and he tried to take Izuku’s quirk, he was of course met with disappointment. Pull had merged with All for One, and unless Izuku deemed otherwise, the quirk stayed with him.

One last final “fuck you” from his brother. Hisashi had a habit of making mistakes when it came to his family.

So instead of taking the quirk that he so desperately desired, Hisashi was forced to take a different approach. It didn’t take long for his frustration to boil over, and he managed to wrangle Izuku to the bar. Kurogiri took like a fish to water when it came to caring for Tomura, and Hisashi hoped it would be no different with Izuku. His son already reminded him too much of his brother, what with his heroic ideals already formed, best not get too attached and make the same mistakes a second time around.

Perhaps that was another error on his end. Maybe if Hisashi had been a bit more careful, a little more parental, he wouldn’t be in the position he was in now.

Oh, there’s no doubt that All Might and All for One would’ve met when they did, in a clash of blood, guts, and horror. The carnage was unavoidable, as was the comatose state the villain was in.

Which served as the perfect distraction for Izuku to make his get away.

The small convenience store on the edge of the street was lit up like a beacon, drawing Izuku closer and closer. The journey from Kamino Ward all the way to Tokyo took a lot out of him- his father would be disappointed in his lack of progress in just a few days. What should have been merely a seven hour trek on foot took approximately three days. Not only did he find himself having to stop for breaks quite frequently, but he also had to stop every so often in order to hide from his father’s lackeys.

Izuku wasn’t sure what Tomura and Kurogiri thought had happened. He had tried his best to make it seem like he was forcibly taken, even going as far as hiring a low level thug to act like he had knocked him out and taken him somewhere. With the state the underground Boogeyman had been in the last few months, it wouldn’t be shocking that someone would go after his son. But, with the tracker he had ripped out of his neck and the funds he took from the stash in his bedroom, he wasn’t sure if the set-up had worked. What he did know was that his father’s very large army was on the lookout for him.

Which is why he had to find Eraserhead as soon as possible. Izuku had thought about looking for All Might, but even he knew there was no way that a union between the two of them would go well. Plus, he was sure that the number one hero was still healing, even if he had begun making appearances again. He wouldn’t be in the state to take on the seemingly kidnapped child of his most-hated enemy, even if he wanted to. But Eraserhead? Izuku knew that the underground hero would help, even if he had to push a little hard.

The Erasure Hero was always appealing to Izuku, and his quirk was always appealing to his father. Hisashi had been after the man’s quirk for as long as Izuku could remember, though it was put on the backburner once the Noumu project began in earnest. But Izuku was awed by the hero’s ability to defeat multiple enemies, even if his quirk didn’t allow him an even playing field with everyone. And from personal stories of those who frequent Kurogiri’s bar, Eraserhead is much more terrifying in person.

It wasn’t hard for Izuku to narrow down where Eraserhead patrolled; with a little cross-referencing between the few short clips he could find, it led him right to Naruhata Ward.

Izuku pushed forward, barely registering the jingle of the bell positioned above the door to the convenience store. The worker behind the counter gave a half-hearted welcome, clearly distracted by something. Izuku gave it no mind and made his way to the aisles in the back, where he knew they would keep the hygiene items. He grabbed the necessities, crowding them in his arms as well as he could. He also picked up a box of black hair dye; if anything were to give him away it would be his bright green hair.

Izuku meandered through the aisles, picking up small snacks and easy meals. He didn’t know how long he’d have to be on the streets before he found a sliver of activity from Eraserhead- best to be safe. It would be nice to have a bowl of katsudon sometime, hopefully he would be able to find a place soon. He knew it wouldn’t even hold a candle up to his mother’s cooking, but it would be lovely to eat his favorite dish without it being a manipulative gift from his father.

The doorbell jingled again, and Izuku spared a small glance just in case. It didn’t seem to be anyone who was looking for him in particular, but it was best to try and hurry out of here quickly. The trio who had just walked in were talking to each in obscenely loud voices, but what had caught his attention was how the cashier had greeted them. A soft welcome in greeting was cut off abruptly, and Izuku heard the bell jingle once again, this time in a more aggressive manner.

Shrugging, Izuku rearranged the multitude of items in his arms. He really should’ve grabbed a basket when he walked in. He huffed his way to the front of the store, nearly throwing his purchases on the cashier’s counter before he realized the man he had seen earlier was nowhere to be found. Twisting his head, he did a quick sweep of the store, not seeing where the cashier could’ve gone. Izuku thought that maybe he had gone to the restroom- that was, until he heard the unmistakable sound of a fist hitting flesh and bone.

It was a sound Izuku was intimately familiar with- All for One did not hold back in his training whatsoever- so it was easy to pick up on. With a sullen sigh, Izuku made his way through the door once again, leaving his items on the counter. As he turned the corner to the alley next to the building, he saw the trio that had walked in earlier towering over the cashier.

“Like my quirk? It’s called Spike.” The man talking seemed to be the ringleader of the little group, red spiky hair and an attitude to match. The other two were just standing behind him laughing. Izuku felt his eyes narrow as the man continued to speak. “Getting stabbed hurts real bad, y’know. Scared yet?” He moved his leg up as if he was going to kick the cashier in the stomach, and that’s when Izuku decided that he had had enough.

The thing about quirks like All for One, is the feeling of emptiness that settles in your bones once your quirk is gone. It’s jarring, and it definitely throws you off balance. Izuku, luckily, has never experienced it, but a man who traded quirks with his father once described it as “someone throwing you into the deep end of a pool and not knowing how to swim. You don’t know if it hurts or not, but it’s uncomfortable and terrifying.” Izuku’s quirk is different in one major aspect from his father’s- he can only pull quirks to him, he can’t give them back. However, in his multitude of training exercises with his father, the two of them had found a loophole of sorts. Before the quirk fully makes its way to Izuku’s and integrates within All for One, he can let go, and it will snap back to the original owner. So, when Izuku threw his hand out, he fully expected the sight that greeted him.

Instead of landing the kick to the cashier’s stomach, the spiky man faltered. His eyes grew impossibly wide as he sputtered profanities in his shock. Izuku chose this moment to step forward, hand falling to his side as he let go of the quirk. He felt the snap that signified that he had lost hold of the other’s quirk- good, he hadn’t gotten rusty.

“Why don’t you leave the dude alone? He’s at work, I’m sure he’s had a shitty day without you bozos in the mix.”

The man with the spike quirk growled, to which Izuku could only cackle in response. “What the hell is an eight year old doing out here so late? Don’t you have curfew?”

Izuku’s glare deepened. “I’m nine, so shut the fuck up. Unless you want me to take your quirk for good?”

The way the man’s face paled instantly nearly made Izuku feel bad. He hates instilling fear the way his father is so used to doing. It isn’t at all what he wants to be in life. But also, he’s not the kind of person who can just watch an innocent get beat to hell for no good reason.

“No way a little kid like you could take my quirk.” Spiky man shook his head, putting on his tough guy act once more. “So why don’t you stop at playing hero and go home, yeah? The grown-ups have some talking to do.” He let out spikes from his knuckles and held them out towards the cashier, making him gulp in fear.

Izuku, tired and impatient, thrust his hand out once more. The spikes instantly disappeared, and the look of fear returned in full force. “I’m not going to warn you again.”

The groupies in the back began to drag away their leader, who was frozen in disbelief. His eyes were clouded over with an emotion Izuku could recognize so clearly. Everyone who interacted with All for One had glazed-over eyes soaked in petrification. It was hard to miss, and it made Izuku feel awful, even as he felt the quirk snap back into proper place once more.

The group left the alleyway quickly, probably searching for someone else to harass. Izuku did his best to ignore the mutterings of names they were calling him. He was no stranger to being perceived as a freak. That was Tomura’s favorite nickname for him. Izuku let his eyes trail over to the cashier, half-hidden in the shadows. Hardened green eyes met soft brown, and everything seemed to click back into place. Izuku shook his head free of his thoughts and walked the short distance to the hunched over man.

“Are you okay, sir?”

The man looked up at Izuku- not a very far distance, he was merely hunched over and Izuku is still quite short- and gulped. “Oh yeah, I’m fine! Not terrified at all! Everyday I work I’m cornered by a group of dudes I somehow pissed off earlier in the day, ya know? It’s totally normal!”

The green haired child blinked slowly, and the cashier shook his head softly. “Uh, I’m sure you’re ready to get checked out, yeah? It’s pretty late, I’m sure your parents are worried.” He began to walk back towards the entrance of the building, fixing his smock and not waiting on Izuku. After standing still for a few seconds in thought, Izuku slowly followed him.

The monotonous beeping of Izuku’s items being rang up did nothing to cut the tension between the cashier and the glare the owner was giving him. Izuku felt bad, but his shy and awkward nature prevented him doing anything but hopping in place and glancing around the store. His green eyes landed on an All Might hoodie hanging on a rack near the window. Izuku quickly bounded over to it, and decided that, while it was a little big, it was worth the price. Plus he needed a new hoodie after a few days of slumming it on the streets.

Izuku walked back over to the cashier and plopped the hoodie on the counter next to his other items. He didn’t miss the fond look the man gave it before he rang it up and put it in the bag. “This jacket is super comfortable- plus it’s based on his Silver Age costume, which is obviously the best version. I never understood why he changed it.”

“No way! The Bronze Age costume is obviously superior! How is this even a discussion!” The green haired child’s eyes lit up in mock defiance as the two had a short debate over what made each All Might costume better than the other. Many things changed in Izuku’s life once his father took him away- but his love for All Might and All Might related things did not. Though he did have to be more careful in how he was able to show it- neither his father nor Tomura appreciated it when he brought up the hero in a positive light. It was nice to talk about him with a normal person.

The cashier announced his total, and Izuku cringed as he provided the necessary yen for his purchase. He was going to have to be more frugal in the future until he found a way to skimp more money.

“Take care, kid.” Izuku grabbed the plastic bags off the counter and gave the cashier a nod in thanks. Sparing one last glance at the owner, Izuku felt a shiver run down his spine in fear. He did not envy the conversation that the poor man was going to have once he left the establishment.

As soon as Izuku exited through the door, hearing that jingle once last time, he began to stuff the plastic bags inside of his worn yellow backpack. He quickly shrugged off his ragged hoodie, dirty and grimy from being worn on the road for three days, and threw on the brand new All Might hoodie. He would have to find someplace he can dye his hair in peace soon, but that can wait until tomorrow. Looking around quickly, Izuku made sure no unwanted eyes were on him as he stepped into the nearby alleyway. Closing his eyes, he let the power of a stolen quirk flow through his veins. Bending his legs, Izuku hopped as high as could, bouncing from wall to wall until he landed on the roof.

Enhance was what the previous owner of this particular quirk liked to call it. It did exactly what one would think. By using this power, Izuku could enhance his physical abilities, making him stronger, faster, more lithe. It was the very first power that Hisashi had “given” him. Of course, at the time of the quirk being stolen, Izuku didn’t know that he was taking anything from anyone unwillingly. And he most assuredly was not aware of the fact that Hisashi had killed the original holder moments after Izuku left the room.

Despite the dark origins of how he received it, Enhance was one of the only quirks Izuku felt comfortable using. Not only was it helping him get away from the tyrannical hold of his father, but it was also one of the only quirks he had that didn’t affect others. It wasn’t something that could be directly used to harm someone unless he was aiming for it. The other quirks in his possession were destructive and hard to handle. They reminded him of his father, so he tried to push them down whenever they fought to be released.

Izuku narrowed his eyes as he forced Enhance to increase his speed, bounding from roof to roof. He had escaped his father, for now. There was no telling when Tomura would get fed up with the so-called NPCs bringing back failure after failure, and decide to go find Izuku himself. He was on a very tight time limit, though he wasn’t sure of the limit itself. As he raced across the rooftops of Naruhata, only one thought was in his mind.

He needed to find Eraserhead. And quick.