#the sacrifice of keeping the window to the land of the dead

[tenracoonsinacrisis]

I finished the his dark materials TV series today, and despite having read the books, the end still broke me. I was watching with my dad, and we were crying so much.

[cera-writes]

"Ma chère, you are mine." 🃏part Four

"Never regret thy fall, O Icarus of the fearless flight, For the greatest tragedy of them all, Is never to feel the burning light" - Oscar Wilde

[: Please, Just Breathe - Written By Wolves]

The sterile scent of disinfectant did little to mask the tremor in Gambit's hands. He traced a finger along the cool metal railing of your bed, his reflection distorted in the chrome. Days had bled into nights, a monotonous vigil punctuated only by the rhythmic beeping of the machines keeping you tethered to this world. You were lying motionless on a bed back at the X-Mansion.

Literal weeks had passed since the massacre of Genosha. The X-men had brought your body back, wondering whether just to bury what was left of you or wait for some sort of miracle.

"Hey there, ma chere," he murmured, his voice a low rumble that vibrated through the cool sheets. "Been a rough couple of weeks, that's for sure. Feels like the world decided to take a nosedive after you were savin' our collective butts."

A wry smile tugged at his lips, but it never reached his eyes. The memory of your sacrifice, of the raw power you wielded, sent a shiver down his spine. You were still here, thank heavens, but how much of you remained?

"Was I ever good enough for you, Eclipse?" the question tumbled out, a ragged whisper. "Did I ever truly measure up to the expectations of the woman who could snuff out the damn sun?"

He knew it was a stupid question. He loved you, fierce and unconditional, but the doubt gnawed at him nonetheless. Had he been just another adventure in the grand tapestry of your extraordinary life?

Taking a deep breath, he launched into a slow recount. "Genosha, chere... man, it was bad. A slaughterhouse. Rogue's beside herself, grief eatin' her alive. Went tearin' after answers, found nothin' but dead ends."

The weight of his unspoken words hung heavy in the air. A tear escaped, tracing a glistening path down his temple, landing with a soft plop on the back of your hand. The silence in the room was deafening, only replaced by the sound of the monitor as it beat to the slow, faint rhythmic pulse of your heart.

"Oh, darlin'," he rasped, his voice thick as he wiped at his tears. "Professor says you're stuck between worlds, a flicker of a flame in a hurricane."

A muscle in his jaw clenched. The diagnosis, delivered by a surprisingly alive Charles Xavier, was a gut punch. You, the woman who could snuff out the damn sun, were a wisp, a fading ember.

"Said it would take someone reachin' in, pullin' you back from the brink," Gambit continued, his voice tight. He knew what that meant. Someone had to wade into the void, navigate the chaotic remnants of your near-death experience, and somehow coax you back to the land of the living.

A wry smile, tinged with desperation, tugged at the corner of his lips. "Looks like it's time to try an' bring you back, wouldn't you say, ma chere?"

He knew the risks. The void could be a treacherous landscape, a swirling vortex of emotions and memories. But the thought of facing life without you was a desolate wasteland he couldn't bear to contemplate.

A flicker of movement caught his eye. Professor X, ever-stoic despite the ordeal with the Shi'ar, sat by the window, his gaze fixed on the storm raging outside, mirroring the turmoil within.

"Professor," Gambit called out, his voice laced with a mixture of defiance and hope. "Any chance that fancy head of yours can cook up a way to get me there? Looks like I got a rescue mission on my hands."

Charles turned, his eyes holding a depth of understanding that only someone who had stared into the abyss himself could possess. A flicker of something akin to approval crossed his features.

"Gambit," he said, his voice raspy but firm, "you've always had a knack for the impossible. Perhaps this is just another challenge in your colorful repertoire."

"I think I'm done waitin' for any possibilty of her coming back from the dead, I gotta reach into her mind now, pull her back. No more waitin' around."

"You know the risks Gambit. And you're certain this is what you want to do?"

"Plus sûr que je ne l'ai jamais été," Remy nodded, placing his hand over your cold, unmoving one.

"Okay," Professor X nodded once, joining you at your bedside. "I'll have to link the two of you telepathically. It's a dangerous gamble but worth a fighting chance. There's also a chance you could be pulled into the darkness with her. But the bond between you should give you good luck in our efforts of bringing Eclipse back."

A surge of relief washed over Gambit, a lifeline thrown across the churning waters. He wouldn't be going in alone. With Xavier's help, he might just have a fighting chance of dragging you back from the brink.

"The odds always be in my favor, Professor." He smirked, a determined glint hardened his gaze.

He wouldn't let the darkness win. He wouldn't let you go. You'd been gone for far too long; longer than he'd had the patience of waiting for. He'd delve into the void, face whatever demons lurked within, and bring his sunshine back home.

Professor X cleared his mind, prompting Gambit to do the same. He pressed two fingers on each side of his temple and began the process of linking all three of your minds together in a psionic surge.

The world dissolved into a swirling vortex of colors, a chaotic kaleidoscope of emotions and memories. Gone was the sterile white room, replaced by a churning expanse of fragmented realities. Gambit plunged headfirst, the familiar tug of Professor Xavier's mental tether his only anchor in this tempestuous sea.

He fought against the relentless assault of disjointed images – flashes of the Genosha battle, the blinding brilliance of your eclipse power, the chilling emptiness of your still form. Each fragment ripped at him, threatening to pull him under in this maelstrom of your subconscious.

Then, he saw it. A lone figure, shrouded in shadow, standing on a precipice overlooking a vast emptiness. You. But this wasn't the Eclipse he knew. This figure seemed lost, a hollow shell consumed by an inky darkness that pulsed around her like a malevolent aura.

"Eclipse?" Gambit called out, his voice a threadbare whisper against the roaring storm.

The figure turned, her head a swirling mass of darkness where her face should have been. Tendrils of inky energy lashed out, coiling around his mental form, a chilling touch that sent shivers down his spine.

Fear gnawed at him, but the memory of your smile, the warmth of your hand in his, fueled his resolve. He wouldn't let the darkness win.

"Don't you give up on us, cher," he roared, channeling his Cajun charm into a psychic shout that echoed through the void. "We need you, the X-Men need you. Hell, the whole damn world needs you."

His words seemed to pierce the veil of darkness surrounding the figure. A flicker of recognition sparked in the empty void where her eyes should have been. A whisper, faint as a dying ember, reached his mind.

"Remy?"

Hope surged through him, a beacon in the storm. He pushed forward, his own memories forming a bridge across the void. He conjured moments of shared laughter, missions where the two of them had to work together to see it through, their own kind of connection that he didn't have with anyone else. Images flashed before the shadowed figure – the comfort after heartbreak, the playful banter during training sessions, the laying of her head on his shoulder the night before she died in his arms.

Slowly, the darkness began to recede. The inky tendrils loosened their grip, revealing fragments of your true self beneath. A tear, a single luminous droplet, trickled down the shadowy visage.

"I... I can't control it," your voice, weak and trembling, echoed in his mind. "The darkness... it's a part of me now."

"Maybe," Gambit conceded, his voice firm yet gentle. "But you're still Eclipse, chere. The woman who fights for what's right, the woman who lights up the darkest corners. You're stronger than you think."

He stretched out a mental hand, a beacon of warmth and love. The figure hesitated, then hesitantly reached back, her touch tinged with fear and uncertainty.

It wasn't enough. You were still adrift, tethered to the void by a threadbare connection.

"Professor?" Gambit called out, a desperate plea in his mind.

A wave of mental energy surged through the connection, bolstering the bridge they had built. It was a risky maneuver, Professor Xavier pushing his telepathic abilities to their very limit.

Together, they pulled. They coaxed. They pleaded with every fiber of their beings.

Slowly, ever so slowly, the figure began to respond. The darkness receded further, revealing glimpses of your true form. A single tear, shimmering with a familiar light, traced a path down your cheek.

Then, with a final desperate tug, they pulled you free. The world dissolved back into the sterile white room, the sterile scent of disinfectant stinging his nostrils.

You gasped, a rattling sound that filled the room with a melody sweeter than any song. Your eyes fluttered open, a spark of life rekindled within their depths.

"Remy?" your voice, weak but hopeful, echoed in the room.

A choked sob escaped his lips, relief washing over him like a tidal wave. He wasn't alone. You were back. And together, you would face the darkness, both within and without.

"You're back! She's back!" Remy couldn't stop grinning and shaking with tears, pulling you into a deep embrace as his arms held onto you so tightly that he was scared if he let go, you'd leave him again.

"Oh cher, don't you ever scare Gambit like dat again!" He shook with sobs as he nestled his face into your hair. You held him back, tears cascading down your cheeks.

"I-I thought I was dead," you choked, voice merely a whisper. "I did too, cher. We all did. Rogue went to out tryin' to get revenge for you." Remy stroked your hair, no sign of breaking your shared embrace.

You took in the scent of him, tobacco and sandalwood with a hint of spice you'd always found comfort in whenever he was around. That scent that you'd loved and missed so, so dearly.

"Remy..." you cried, just letting your emotions tumble out of you. You were alive, and he had brought you back. Your Remy.

"Shh, shh, it's gon' be okay chere. You're okay," he soothed. You sighed into his touch, his presence alone bringing you back to life with every comforting word and soothing touch.

Something else caught your attention for a split second as you glanced over. You'd notice that chair anywhere. It was Professor Xavier, who was still very much alive and well. A small smile graced your lips.

"Professor?" your voice raspy, barely a whisper.

Xavier offered a reassuring smile. "Yes, Eclipse. You're back." He turned to Gambit, a hint of amusement twinkling in his eyes. "I believe you two require some time to reacquaint yourselves. I'll inform the others."

With a nod, he exited the room, leaving you and Gambit alone in the sterile silence. Relief finally battled with exhaustion, your eyelids heavy as you tried to focus on the man before you as you pulled away to finally get a good look at him, that face you missed so dearly.

"What... what happened?" your voice trembled as you tried to piece together the fragmented memories swirling in your mind.

Taking a deep breath, Gambit launched into a slow, heartfelt recount. He spoke of Genosha, the devastating attack, and Rogue's consuming grief. He touched upon Emma's unexpected transformation and the lingering uncertainty surrounding Magneto's fate. But most importantly, he spoke of the chilling revelation – the existence of a new enemy, a shadowy figure known as Bastion.

As he spoke, a wave of exhaustion washed over you. You closed your eyes, the weight of the world settling on your weary shoulders.

Sensing your fatigue, Gambit stopped his narrative, gently squeezing your hand. "Don't you worry about the rest, chere. You take all the time you need to get your strength back. We'll handle things here."

A weak smile graced your lips. "Thank you, Remy," you whispered, your voice barely audible. "For everything."

He leaned closer, his eyes searching yours. "Don't even think about thank you's, chere. Just get yourself healthy. We've got a whole world of trouble waitin' for us, and it ain't gonna fight itself."

A tired chuckle escaped your lips. You knew he was right. The fight was far from over, but for now, all that mattered was the warmth of his hand in yours, the steady beat of his heart a counterpoint to your own. With him by your side, you could face anything, even the darkness that still lingered within.

"There'll be time to talk later," you rasped, your eyelids fluttering closed once more. "Just... stay with me, Remy. Please?"

He didn't hesitate. Pulling a chair closer to your bedside, he settled in, running his fingers through your soft hair. In the quiet of the sterile room, he kept vigil, a silent promise etched on his face. You were back, and he wouldn't let you slip away again. Together, you would face whatever darkness lurked in the shadows, both within and without.

══════════════════

The sterile white of the infirmary faded to the familiar blue and gold of the X-Mansion as you stumbled out, supported by Remy's steady arm. A day of rest had done wonders, but the echoes of the void still lingered in your mind, a faint tremor that unsettled you.

Remy squeezed your hand reassuringly. "Easy there, belle. You're still movin' a bit like a newborn giraffe."

You managed a weak smile. "Feels like it. I have questions, Remy. About Genosha... about Bastion."

He sighed, a flicker of pain crossing his eyes. "Plenty of time for dat later, chere. Professor wants you to ease back in slow."

But the urgency gnawed at you. You could feel it in the hushed whispers that followed you down the hallway, in the worried glances cast your way. The world had moved on while you were trapped in your own personal nightmare, and you were desperate to catch up.

Suddenly, a commotion erupted from the training room. The sound of crashing metal and shouts echoed through the halls. You exchanged a confused glance with Remy.

"Looks like someone's havin' a temper tantrum," he muttered, a hint of amusement in his voice.

Before you could respond, Ororo burst through the doorway, her face a mask of frustration.

"Remy, Eclipse," she said, her voice clipped. "Professor Xavier needs you in the war room. Now."

The urgency in her voice sent a jolt of adrenaline through you. You exchanged a wordless look with Remy before following Ororo, the tremor in your legs replaced by a growing sense of dread.

The war room buzzed with activity. Xavier sat at the center table, his brow furrowed in concentration. Scott and Jean stood beside him, their expressions grim. But it was the sight of Rogue in the corner, her aura crackling with barely contained rage, that sent a shiver down your spine.

"What's going on?" you asked, your voice cutting through the tension-filled silence.

"We've received a message," Xavier said, his voice strained. "From Bastion."

He gestured to the holographic screen at the center of the table. A distorted figure flickered to life, a silhouette shrouded in darkness.

"Mutants," the figure boomed, his voice filled with malice. "Your defiance has reached its end. You will all face your judgment."

The image flickered before dissolving into static. You felt a familiar coldness creep up your spine. Bastion's voice resonated within you, a dark echo stirring the remnants of fear from your recent ordeal.

"What's he planning?" you asked, the question hanging heavy in the air.

"He's making a statement," Scott said, his jaw clenched tight. "A threat. He wants us to live in fear."

Rogue let out a growl. "He wants a fight. And believe me, he's gonna get one."

The air crackled with barely contained energy. You could see in their eyes the same desperation you felt – the need to act, to strike back before Bastion could make his next move.

"We can't let him control us," Jean said, her voice steady but firm. "We need a plan."

Xavier nodded, his gaze flicking to you. You felt a spark of apprehension. Despite your weakened state, you knew you wouldn't be left out of the coming conflict.

"Eclipse," Xavier said, his voice filled with a question. "Are you well enough for this?"

You straightened your shoulders, a newfound determination fueling your resolve.

"More than well enough, Professor," you replied, your voice ringing clear and strong. "The X-Men fight together. And I'm not going to sit this one out."

A flicker of approval crossed Xavier's face. A sense of unity settled over the room, replacing the fear with a steely resolve. The battle against Bastion had begun, and the X-Men, battered but not broken, were ready to fight. You had stared into the void and come back. Now, it was time to face what lurked in the shadows.

When the meeting was seemingly dismissed, you lingered in the halls with Remy for a beat too long. There was still so much that lingered unspoken between the both of you. Neither of you had admitted actual feelings yet. You reached out for him, but he brushed you off, a coolness to the air. "Sorry chere, I'm just...still gettin' used to dis. It's crazy. You bein' back from the dead and all. Don't get me wrong, I'm more than happy you're back. It's just...I dunno chere, I guess I just need time to process it all," he sighed heavily flipping a Queen card between his fingers.

You understood all too well, your own feelings of displacement fresh. You'd been away for weeks but present at the same time.

"Right, no...I-I understand. I need time too," you replied, feeling an air of indifference between the two of you. You parted ways, even as your feet dragged the halls. It stung. You couldn't lie. But if time was what Remy needed, you'd give that to him with respect and space.

The sterile halls of the X-Mansion echoed with an emptiness that mirrored the hollowness you felt inside. The near-death experience had left you adrift, a ghost haunting the place you once called home. You craved a connection, a familiar voice amidst the strategizing and simmering tension.

Spotting Morph lounging by a window, a pang of relief nearly flooded through you. "Hey stranger, finally back from the dead to catch up on our horror movie sessions. Sorry it took me so damn long."

Morph smirked. "There's that dark sense of humour I missed. C'mere." They opened their arms and brought you into a bone crushing hug. "Careful there, or you'll break me in half." you smirked, hugging them back with equal comfort.

"I've missed your dumb face. Your real one. You know how many times I had to shapeshift into you just so I could get by without breaking down? Every time I did, only to see you staring back at me in the mirror, telling me you were okay and shit was gonna be alright?" They sighed, voice trembling and threatening to break with each word.

"Oh, Kevin..." you were trying so hard to fight back your own wave of emotions. "Don't ever pull that shit again Eclipse." They pulled away, serious this time.

You decided to take this conversation to the living room, a vast open area where the two of you used to laugh at stupid rom coms. You took a seat on the sofa, patting the seat next to you for Morph to join.

They settled in beside you, popping a can of soda in the process, soaking in the rare moment of calm. The weird sensation of having you back.

"Tell me about Genosha, Morph. Remy filled me in on the big stuff, but…"

Their face hardened. "It was bad, Eclipse. Real bad. I watched the events transpire on television and let's just say, no horror movie could pale in comparison to what I saw on the news. And Rogue… well, she was not herself."

They recounted the raw grief that had consumed Rogue, her powers surging out of control as she sought vengeance. He spoke of the fight with Synch, the desperation in her eyes.

"And Remy? How'd he cope with it all?" you finally asked, voice tinged with trepidation, the question lingering heavy in the air.

Morph hesitated, then sighed. "He was lost, Eclipse. He cared for you deeply. But after… well, after you were gone, Rogue was on a one-woman warpath. Gambit tried to reason with her, but…" they trailed off, leaving the unspoken words hanging in the air.

You felt a flicker of something akin to disappointment. Despite your connection with Remy, the knowledge that he might have sought solace in Rogue during your absence twisted a knot in your gut. You couldn't have blamed him though.

"There was more to it than that," a voice cut in, sharp and laced with a raw honesty that made you turn. Rogue stood there at the archway into the living room, arms crossed.

"Rogue," you said, your voice cautious. "I can't imagine what you've been through."

"Hey sugah...things ain't been easy since you went lights out on us."

She took a step closer, her voice dropping to a low murmur. "Don't pretend, Eclipse. You and I, we both know there was something between Remy and me after you… after you died."

A wave of unexpected honesty washed over you. You met her gaze, your voice equally as raw. "I always felt there was something lingering between the two of you. Remy made no mistake of hiding it... but Genosha, and that dance with Magneto... did you love Remy?"

The question hung in the air for a beat too long before Rogue finally answered. "Maybe. In a way. But it wasn't the same. He was… broken, Eclipse. After you were gone, a part of him just… shut down. The man i knew wasn't my Remy."

Her words struck a chord deep within you. You remembered the haunted look in Remy's eyes, the way his touch had seemed distant, a mere echo of the warmth you once shared.

"He tried to help me," Rogue continued, her voice heavy with regret. "But he was just going through the motions. It wasn't fair to either of us," she explained, making her way closer to you.

A strange sense of understanding bloomed between you. You saw the vulnerability in Rogue's eyes, the unspoken grief she'd been trying to mask. It wasn't about betrayal, you realized. It was about two people clinging to the wreckage of their emotions, seeking solace in a broken bond.

"We all lost someone, Rogue," you said, reaching out to place a hand on her shoulder. "But we can't let that break us. We have to fight. To live to see another day. And for Remy too. Maybe, just maybe, by fighting together, we can help him find his way back to himself."

Rogue flinched but didn't pull away. A flicker of something akin to hope flickered in her eyes, a silent pact forged in shared grief and a newfound understanding. She was still your best friend and nothing would ever change that.

[ckret2]

Chapter 18 of Mabel has made the questionable decision to befriend human Bill (real title TBD), and the first chapter with an actual title!

After the emotional rollercoaster of the last chapter, this one's pretty lighthearted. Featuring: food poisoning, anti-intellectualist propaganda, ritual sacrifice, arson, burns, injury, cannibalism, and children almost dying. And friendship!

####

One of the things that came with immortality—mature, cosmic-scale immortality, not baby immortality like you found in vampires with a few measly centuries under their belts—was an expertise at meditation.

And it had nothing to do with being particularly wise, or serene, or enlightened (although Bill would argue he himself happened to be all those things). Even the most rambunctious, cantankerous, petty, spiteful, impatient, silly immortal in the multiverse could drop into a thoughtless trance deeper than the Mariana Trench with nothing but five seconds' notice that he had some time to kill and there was nothing interesting on TV. 

Most mortals struggled with this idea, the same way fish struggled to understand how it was so easy for land mammals to hold their breath underwater. They didn't understand that it was a necessary survival skill.

Some millennia were boring. "You've had every conversation you can imagine with every person you know, you won't see a fresh planet for an eon, you're floating in the void of space, and your only company is the glitter thrown off of dead stars" boring. So boring the only way to get through them was by holding your breath until they were over. And in those times, the only way to endure the soul-crushing mind-shredding suicide-inducing boredom of those long, slow, dull millennia was knowing how to productively dissociate for the next five thousand years without so much as needing a snack break.

Bill was very old. Bill was very good at meditating.

It wasn't doing him a bit of good.

He'd lost count of how many hours he'd spent meditating since his capture: sitting in the dark, legs crossed, hands on his knees, eyes shut, trying—trying—trying to do anything. Trying to astral project out of this prison. Trying to see into the mindscape. Trying to connect to the countless windows through which he could see all over Earth. 

Trying to feel the vast stores of pure energy that made up the core of his being.

He couldn't feel it.

And he was not terrified, he wasn't he wasn't he wasn't.

Surely the Axolotl hadn't taken that energy away—that would be infinitely cruel—but he'd done an amazing job of sealing it away. Bill was psychically dead when he was awake, helpless prisoner when he was dreaming. Here he'd thought the Ax was gonna help him avoid punishment.

Well, what do you do when you're in a cage and you aren't strong enough to break the bars? You pick the lock. Where could Bill find a psychic lock pick?

Someone knocked on the bathroom's doorframe. "Hey Bill?"

He snapped out of his futile meditative state. "Yeah?"

"Are you using the toilet or just lurking creepily?"

"Lurking creepily!"

Mabel pulled aside the curtain and turned on the light. "Do you wanna help me make a video on—"

"More than anything." Bill got to his feet and—ow—cracked his sore back. Meditating could keep you sane when you were in the deepest depths of sensory-deprivation boredom, but it didn't actually offer you any entertainment. Mabel, on the other hand, did.

He'd find a lock pick later. Something would come up. It always did.

####

The weaving camera only revealed a blurry patch of carpet and upholstery back before it managed to focus on its target: half a hot dog lying between the back of the sofa and the living room wall. "There it is!" Mabel said. "I knew I smelled something in here."

"Wow, look at the colors on this thing! The green splotches kinda look like tie-dye," Bill said. "Hey, nobody's had hot dogs since you locked me up, have they?" There was a moment of silence as they tried to figure out how long that hot dog had lain, cold and forgotten, behind the couch.

Then the camera jostled as Mabel tried to reach past it to the food. "I'm gonna eat it."

"I'm gonna eat it."

"Hey!"

Bill's arm stretched past Mabel's, snatched up the hot dog, and disappeared. 

"Biiill! I wanted to try it!"

"No way, it's mine now! You snooze, you lose, kid!"

Mabel whipped the camera around to focus on Bill's grinning face as he inspected his prize. "Hey, this thing's growing mushrooms! It's provided its own condiments!" He held Mabel back at arm's length as he shoved the hotdog in his mouth, chewed quickly, and swallowed.

"Jerk," Mabel said. "How did it taste?"

Bill looked thoughtful. "Kinda sour and vinegary," he said. "Probably from the mold."

"Gross! Do you think it was safe to eat?"

Cheerfully, Bill said, "We'll know in a few hours, won't we?"

####

Mabel sat outside the downstairs bathroom with the camera turned toward the curtained doorway. A radio on the floor playing a Sev'ral Timez song unsuccessfully drowned out the sound of Bill heaving into the toilet.

One trembling arm reached out of the bathroom toward the radio. Bill croaked, "You're my only proof that time is still passing." He feebly patted the radio. "Tell me the universe keeps moving forward. Songs play. Moments end. I'll be free again." He made a choking noise and the arm quickly withdrew.

Mabel turned the camera toward herself. "And that concludes Mabel's Guide to Indoor Foraging! Tune in next time for... I don't know, how about animals?"

Bill replied with a deathly wheeze as he inverted his stomach.

"Animals it is!"

####

Mabel's Guide to Animals

####

The camera opened on a shot of the living room sofa, where Bill sat cross-legged and grinning next to a large easel pad. The first page of the pad was covered in drawings of cute animal faces, birds, fish, and (closer to Bill's side) skulls, lightning, and triangles.

From behind the camera, Mabel said, "Welcome to Mabel's Guide to Local Animals—"

"I'm helping," Bill said.

"—featuring Bill Cipher as my cohost!"

"That's me!"

"Yes it is. Lots of different systems have been proposed to help categorize animals—"

"These are called 'taxonomies,'" Bill said.

"—but together, we've picked out some of the best, most useful ways to categorize the animals of Gravity Falls. Such as: size!"

Bill flipped the first page of the easel pad, revealing a page covered in drawings of a couple dozen creatures ranked in size from mosquito up to lake whale.

"Color!"

Bill revealed a page with animals arranged in rainbow order. (Several of the overwhelmingly brown population had been circled in various hues of blue, purple, green, and pink, as Bill made mental notes to himself on how he'd recolor some of Gravity Fall's more visually boring creatures. Mabel had stuck star stickers beside the ideas she liked the best.)

"Friendliness!"

Another flip, and four columns capped by faces ranging in emotion from smiley to angry. The angry column was very long, but several creatures had been scratched out and hopefully moved to the sorta-smiley column.

"How good they taste!"

Bill turned another page to reveal a list of animals ranked by flavor, and said, "And a very important follow-up..." He turned another page to reveal one titled "How Many Times You Can Survive Eating It." There was a lot of overlap between the previous page's "Delicious!" column and this one's "Only Once" column.

"Super important," Mabel agreed.

Bill said, "You can also sort animals by..." Flip. "Quantity of bones!" Bill's handwriting utterly filled the page. It was unnervingly thorough. He'd listed "humans," "human babies," and "toothless humans" as three separate species.

Flip. "Planet of origin!" There were twelve different headings, only one of which was in English. One heading titled "?????" simply had a doodle of Bill underneath.

Flip, revealing a pie chart. "Percentage of known timelines in which a species has conquered the Earth!" Bill pointed at a slice that took up almost a quarter of the chart. "Humans are in the lead!"

"Yes!" The camera jiggled as Mabel pumped her fist in the air. "USA! USA!" Her chanting petered out. "Hey—what's that bit next to it—?"

"Don't worry about it." Bill smacked his hand over the pie sliver labeled "Bill" and quickly turned the page.

Mabel said, "Anyway, after several rounds of rigorous scientific debate, we've determined the most efficient and useful way to categorize the various creatures in Gravity Falls: the Fuzziness Scale!"

Bill gestured proudly at the heading on the final page, and then pointed at each category as Mabel listed them off.

"Starting with hard animals—"

Bill said, "Such as turtles and rocks."

"—then crunchy ones—"

"Roly-polies, ants, and baby turtles."

"—then smooth and firm—"

"Snakes and fish."

"—smooth and squishy—"

"Slugs, pigs, and Soos."

"—part fluffy, part bald—"

"Humans and winged snakes."

"—regular fluffy—

"Cats, dogs, and bears."

"—extra fluffy—"

"Alpacas and baby chicks."

"—and super deluxe MAXIMUM fluffy!"

"Tarantulas!"

Mabel said, "Our primary goal is to offer the scientific community a new, more accessible taxonomy that everybody can enjoy!"

Bill said, "And our secondary goal is to remind humanity of the inherent futility and cruelty of categorization! Reject boxes, embrace irregularity, and destroy the tenuous connections between concepts and synapses that you call 'knowledge'!" He pointed directly at the camera. "Return to the times of Icarus when humans could fly because no one had taught them they couldn't! Raze your universities, turn your libraries into origami, and execute your teachers as witches! Burn it all down!"

"Burn it down!" Mabel cheered. "Burn it DOWN, burn it DOWN—"

####

From atop the kitchen table, the camera recorded the stove, upon which the easel pad lay engulfed in flames. Mabel and Bill watched the mini-inferno silently.

Mabel turned to Bill. "I'm gonna get some sticks so we can roast marshmallows."

"Good idea. I'll watch the fire and not make it worse."

Mabel shot him a skeptical look.

"I promise."

"I'm holding you to that!" Mabel jogged from the room.

Bill glanced out the kitchen doorway to make sure she was gone, turned toward the stove, and slowly, ever so slowly, stuck one finger into the flames. "A—"

####

Mabel smiled at the camera. "Welcome back! My co-host has been banned from the rest of this episode so he can reflect on his behavior."

Behind her, Bill, one hand bandaged and face covered by a paper bag that read "PLAYED WITH FIRE," said, "It was worth it!" He'd persuaded Mabel to draw his triangle face over the text.

"So, now that you know several ways to categorize the creatures of Gravity Falls, you can go meet them! And hopefully befriend them!" Mabel said. "Now, meeting animals is difficult, but there's several ways you can make it easier! Such as fishing, going to a petting zoo, sneaking into your friends' homes to talk to their pets, disguising yourself as an animal—"

Bill threw in, "Using a spell to summon them."

"Using a spell to su— Doing what?" Mabel stared at him. "Do you know a spell to summon animals?"

"Oh yeah, it's easy!"

"What kinds of animals."

"Any animals in hearing range," he said.

Mabel gasped. "Can you teach me?!"

"Sure! It's easy. You've gotta be a girl, put on the fanciest dress you own, stand somewhere in the open, sing a song—"

"What song?"

"You make it up on the spot. It's one of those 'sing from your heart' deals."

"Oooh, Mabel likey."

"The most important part is keeping your mind focused as you sacrifice a..." Bill hesitated, glancing toward the camera, and said, "Well, the whole world doesn't need to know this trick, do they?" He covered the camera lens with his hand, and the screen went black.

####

Bill shot from the attic window as Mabel stood on the picnic table in a frilly lime green dress and a dozen multicolor bead necklaces and held up a cardboard sign for the camera that read, "Summoning animals with magic: ATTEMPT ONE!" She gave Bill a thumbs up. Visible from the edge of the camera's shot, Bill gave one back.

She tossed the sign aside, turned toward the trees around the shack, and started singing into a megaphone loudly enough that the camera faintly picked it up: "My name is Mabel, queen of the animals! I want all creatures to be my pals! La-la-la—um—la-la, la—be my best friends foreveeer!"

"Hey, she's not bad at this," Bill muttered. "Even got a rhyme in." He panned the camera around the scene as squirrels, rabbits, gnomes, and other small critters curiously emerged from the tree line. A couple of deer watched thoughtfully.

"To animals everywhere, small and huge—come to me and I'll give you a hug—aaAAAH!" Mabel jerked up the hem of her skirt and hopped from foot to foot. "Bugs, that's so many bugs! Ack!" She shakily resumed singing, "Um—The queen of the animals is friends with bugs too... but it'd be cool if you didn't... climb on my shoe...?" She started. "YEEK!"

The camera wiggled as Bill flinched. "Oh, uh-oh, M—Mabel, watch out—!" He banged on the window. Mabel evidently didn't hear. Under his breath, he muttered a word not designed for human tongues but that probably should have warranted washing his mouth out with soap. And then a giant hand with fingers like tree trunks reached from the woods and snatched up Mabel.

The world blurred and bounced past the camera as Bill tore across the attic, screaming, "WHATCHERNAME-MABEL'S-BROTHER YOUR SISTER'S GETTING STOLEN IT'S NOT MY FAULT—"

####

Bill aimed the camera through the tiny window in the front door to watch as Dipper and Mabel limped back to the shack—weary, dirty, clothing torn, sticks and leaves in their hair, arms slung over each other for support. Bill stepped back as they opened the door. Brightly, he said, "Hi, kids! Have fun?"

Dipper gave him a murderous look. Exhausted, Mabel looked at the camera and said, "This has been Mabel's guide to... how not to befriend the local animals." She slithered out of Dipper's grip and lay on the floor. "I'm gonna take a nap here."

Dipper looked tiredly at Mabel, then glared again at Bill, then just sighed and muttered, "Bill, take that stupid bag off." He trudge up the stairs. "This is all your fault."

"Is not!" Bill called; but the camera picked up his quiet chuckle.

The view dropped to the floor as Bill decided his amateur cameraman duties had been completed, recording his feet as he walked into the kitchen to leave the camera on a counter. He didn't turn it off.

It caught the scene through the kitchen doorway as Bill tossed his paper bag mask aside and surveyed Mabel on the floor, hands on his hips. He crouched in front of her and loudly whispered, "Hey. Shooting Star. Can you hear me?"

She didn't respond.

"Out like a light," Bill murmured. He studied her face; and then gently placed a fingertip on her forehead. The camera recorded his lips moving as he murmured, too quietly to pick up: videntis omnium, magister mentium...

He finished his chant. Nothing of any note happened. Bill frowned, stood, and sighed.

And then, after a moment of shifting his weight as though debating what to do next, he knelt back down, awkwardly picked Mabel up, and carried her upstairs. He paused cautiously on each stair step to ensure he didn't trip. A few minutes later, the camera watched him stumble back downstairs, trudge into the living room, and turn on the TV.

Half an hour later, Waddles wandered into the entryway and Bill went into the kitchen, came back with a stick of dry chorizo, ripped off chunks with his fingernails, and tossed them to Waddles while singing a song he'd made up about cannibalism. And then he returned to the living room and Waddles wandered upstairs.

Nothing else of interest happened. The camera kept on recording, forgotten, until the battery died.

####

[supercap2319]

Can you do an Ikaris x Male reader who is known as the Sapphire Wizard and the brother of Wanda (she’s technically dead here because of the end of MOM so ikaris is all he has) and in an attempt to weaken him Ikaris is hypnotized to fall in love with anther man but in the end he breaks the spell with true loves kiss (I know it’s probably overused but it’s one of my faves! Also if possible could you include the part where ikaris is hypnotized. Like the entire trance part and during the story he is brought in and out of trance until MR saved him at the end?) if it’s too much that’s ok!

It was no secret to who Y/N's sister was–had been. Wanda was the mythical Scarlet witch and was prophesied to rule the cosmos. But she didn't want to rule, no, she only wanted her children back and she did anything she could to be with them. Even steal them from another mother's arms. In the end, she made the ultimate sacrifice. She sacrificed herself to destroy the Darkholds in every other universe, so no one else would be tempted by its power. She died as Mount Wundagore came crashing down on top of her.

While her sacrifice was noble, it was not without consequences. Her brother, the Sapphire Wizard, was all alone in the world now. The last of his family and the Avengers he came to trust were gone forever. In their place were complete strangers that Y/N had no desire to get to know, so he turned to the only person he had left in his life that he could trust. A powerful being by the name of Ikaris. He was an Eternal created by the ones who created this universe and everything in it as it was Ikaris' mission to protect it from Deviants, but now, his mission was Y/N.

For a while, things were going well between them. Y/N had come to rely on Ikaris and sought his comfort and reassurance, but all came crashing down when fellow Eternal, Druig came to pay Ikaris a visit.

It happened on a quiet night. Y/N was asleep in his bed and Ikaris was watching something on Netflix, when he felt Druig's mind calling out to his own. "Come out and play, Ikaris. Come and get me." Druig's phantom voice echoed inside his head. Ikaris had taken that as a challenge as he flew out of the apartment window and followed the source of where Druig could be broadcasting from. "With pleasure, dear Druig." He responded back.

Ikaris hasn't seen any of the others since the emergence was stopped. Since Ikaris betrayed them and tried to stop them from stopping Tiamut's birth and the destruction of this planet. He feels they all secretly hated him, Druig and Phastos especially. He found the other male in a dark alleyway as he landed behind him as he strolled towards him. "I was wondering when one of you was going to come and get me. Guess I shouldn't be surprised it's you." Ikaris said.

Druig smirked and turned towards him. "You had this coming, Ikaris. Arishem's golden boy is finally getting what he so rightfully deserves. Consequences for his actions."

Ikaris tried to keep his voice calm, and his lasers chilled as he looked at him. "I think I've already paid for it. Sersi hates me."

"Yeah, you're gonna pay for it. And it's going to be all your fault." Druig sneers.

"Don't think you can threaten me, Druig. You and I both know what I'm capable of." Ikaris warned.

"And you remember what I'm capable of, and thanks to my few seconds in the Uni-Mind before you intervened, I learned that I can do this." His eyes flashed gold and so did Ikaris', but Druig was faster as he latched onto Ikaris' mind and buried his subconscious underneath a mountain of mental bricks as the fight in Ikaris' mind was quieted and Druig had control of him. He smiled. "This is going to be fun."

Druig knew that after Ikaris flew into the metaphorical sun after what he did, the Eternal escaped to New York City and he sought comfort and companionship in Y/N Maximoff. It was cute watching the two of them get closer together, but this was how Druig was going to punish Ikaris. He was going to make it so the only person in Ikaris' life hated him as much as the Eternals did, and he was going to be all alone for the rest of eternity. How delicious.

He forced Ikaris to go to a bar and find anyone that he could to bring home to his and Y/N's apartment. He settled on a cute guy as Druig pulled his strings like a puppet and had the Scottish sounding Eternal bring him home and fuck him so Y/N could hear it all happening. The young man walked into Ikaris' room to see him dick deep inside another guy. Timing it just right, Druig released Ikaris from his control right as he came inside the other male's ass as he looked around in bewilderment. How did he get here, and why was he fucking this guy? Then he remembered what Druig had done to him and immediately knew this was his dirty work.

Before he could do anything else, Ikaris realized that Y/N was in the doorway, tears streaming down his face as he looked absolutely crushed. Ikaris felt a wave of guilt as Y/N ran out of the doorway and into his bedroom as Ikaris gave chase. "Y/N, wait! It's not what it looks like. I can expl–" he trailed off as Druig once again took over his mind.

This happened for weeks. Ikaris would fuck this guy in front of Y/N and when he tried to explain why he was doing this, Druig would pull the metaphorical rug from underneath him and let Ikaris take the fall.

Y/N started to believe he deserved this. He was paying for Wanda's sins against the lives she destroyed and Ikaris was paying for his betrayal. They were both in hell and they couldn't do anything about it, until Y/N had enough. He had to know where they stood, because he wasn't going to take this anymore.

"Ikaris, I don't know if you're trying to punish me for something you think I did, but I don't think I can stand to see you parading your new boyfriend around in my face. So, I just wanted to let you know that I'm moving and I won't bother you anymore." Y/N said.

Ikaris didn't say anything as he stood there motionless as his subconscious was fighting and crying underneath his bricked prison as he heard everything that Y/N was saying to him. He remembers everything he did, even if he didn't do it by choice. Every kiss. Every touch that wasn't Y/N's was permanently inside his brain, and Druig knew it.

"I've been in love with you since we first met, but I guess I was fooling myself. So, I'm going to go and let you live your life. I wish you the best." He walk towards Ikaris and placed his hands on his face, bringing him close as he kissed him goodbye.

If only he realized that this kiss was one of true love as Druig's mental prison started to break around Ikaris' trapped subconscious and he fought to the surface of his mind as he gained control for the first time in weeks as he kissed him back, tears rolling down his face as he pulled. "I love you too, Y/N. I always have and I'm sorry if I hurt you, but it wasn't my fault. Druig was controlling me as punishment for what I did, but you saved me."

Y/N looks at him in shock. "You were being controlled?"

"I was. And I'm sorry for anything I did. I meant what I said. I love you, and your love set me free."

Y/N hugged him tight as Ikaris sighed happily. Druig may have won the battle, but Ikaris just won the war.

[scotianostra]

On June 6th 1944 Allied forces stormed the beaches of Northern France on what became known as D-Day.

There were no doubt many acts of bravery on that day when the tide started to turn against the Nazi regime that ultimately ended World War Two. I shall concentrate on one, but will also tell you about a German sniper that day and a wee tenuous brave Canadian.

‘Piper’ Bill Milllin landed on Sword Beach on the Coast of Normandy as part of the 1st Special Service Brigade in the second wave of the operation.

Pipers were banned from being on the frontline during the Second World War because of the number of casualties seen during the First World War. The enemy figured out that the piper helped boost morale to the Allied troops, and they were slaughtered because of this. This led the War Office to restrict their presence in camps as well as on the frontline.

Millin pointed this out to his Commanding Officer  Brigadier Lord "Shimi" Lovat  Fraser, hereditary chief of the Clan Fraser, who was a law unto himself. “Ah, but that’s the English War Office, Millin,” Lovat told him. “You and I are both Scottish so that doesn’t apply.”

As Bill Millin embarked from the landing craft and waded through chest high water making his way toward dry land, high above his head he carried his pipes, the only weapon he would need that day. Around him bullets flew, mortar shells exploded Bill_Millin1and his friends, comrades and countrymen died, but Bill carried onward.

It was what came next that made Bill Millin a legend! Lord Lovat, the Chief of Clan Fraser and Brigadier of the 2,500 commandos, instructed the 21 year old Bill Millin to fire up his pipes and play a tune to inspire the men. And with the five words ‘Give us “Highland Laddie” man!’, the Legend of ‘Piper’ Bill was born.

Amid the carnage and destruction Bill Millin played as he had never played before. While marching up and down the beach of Normandy, Millin played the tunes ‘Hielan’ Laddie’, ‘The Road to the Isles’ and ‘Blue Bonnets over the Border’, and at one point added ‘The Nut Brown Maiden’ for a redheaded French girl who had strayed out of her home.

The day would see Millin and his unit march four miles inland to a point known as Pegasus Bridge, which was a strategically vital point for the German 21st Panzer Division. D-Day was the turning point in the Allies’ battle against Hitler and ‘Piper’ Bill Millin stands a reminder of the bravery and sacrifice made by ordinary people in extraordinary times.

Facing the soldiers coming ashore that day was Horst Hrubesh, German machine gunner, he too can be seen as a hero of sorts, if you read the poem he penned, I will let you decide;

Scottish soldier play your pipes

Even though your in my sights

Just like me you have a wife

I aim above your head

For full five minutes i fire up high

Keep my bullets up in the sky

No mad piper, you will not die

I will not lay you dead.

Now at my Nazi captains call

He wonders why you do not fall

They drag me from my post in haste

Another gunner i am replaced

In a cell now i await

Whats sure to be a bloody fate

Jack boots stamp across the yard

By my cell with windows barred

Soldier friends i stood beside

Now gather in a long straight line

Blindfold no i did decline

To see their faces full of guilt

As they take my life for i shalt not kill.

Horst Hrubesh was German , but not a nazi, he paid the price for his act on D Day.

The third person to get a mention today is James M. Doohan who landed ashore at Juno beach. Later that day se would be shot 6 times, survive and go on to become Scotty on Star Trek.

Doohan was a commissioned lieutenant with the 14th Field Artillery Regiment of the 3rd Canadian Infantry Division, and was tasked with invading an area of Normandy code-named Juno Beach. As the meme states, Doohan successfully led his men across the beach littered with anti-tank mines, and also managed to take out two German snipers:

Lieutenant Doohan was however not shot by a German sniper. He had been shot by a nervous, trigger-happy Canadian sentry.

Doohan said. "We landed safely, thank God, through those Y-shaped steel barriers you see in the film, tracer bullets, all that, none of our men hurt, and dashed 75 yards to the 7-foot tall dunes," Doohan said. 

"Crossed a minefield, found out about it later: It was meant to blow up tanks, and we weren't heavy enough. Moved up through a down - hardly a town just a village - called Graye Sur Mer, saw a church tower that was a machine-gun post, firing off to our left. 

Doohan took out the machine-gun post with a couple of shots. "I don't know if they were killed or wounded, but it shut them up," he said.  The Canadian soldier later said he didn't notice the gunshot wounds in his legs until he got to the medic who told him;

'You also have four bullets in your left knee.' I said: 'Well, I walked here.'"

[tyanis]

Out of Context Quotes FanFic Game!

Rules:

Post funny/weird out of context quotes and/or thoughts from your fic(s) with the only context given is what character the quote is from.

Post as many or as few as you want. But maybe keep it under 50.

Tag other fic writers. You don't need to be tagged to join, however.

Optional: Add a link at the bottom to the fic(s) the qoutes and thoughts came from.

Sound good? Ok, I'll start.

Quotes under the cut. And all these are from a currently incomplete Resident Evil 2 Remake fic.

"Don't know. But I walked through there earlier and now I feel a little offended that a mythical beast was mooning me." - Leon

"Thanks, I dressed myself." - Claire

...what do I say? I was sure you were dead? I hated being here without you? Did it hurt when you fell from the fence? - Leon

"Yes, yes... if my tiny woman muscles give out over something that's less than ten pounds, I'll let ya know." - Claire

Good job, brain. Proud of you. - Claire

"Yeah but... with beer?!" - Leon

I mean, the only way I can top all that awkwardness is by blowing up. - Claire

"Ah, prom night... I can already tell this is gonna be bad." - Leon

"Look, how about this. You believe in me enough for both of us and maybe I'll succeed and not horribly maim you. Deal?" - Claire

"Now take that owl over there. Unlike you, he actually had a brain. Removed it myself..." - Irons

"Yes sweety. He blew up the car." - Claire

"Well, I'm starting to suspect I'm not gonna have a future here in Raccoon City considering everything is on fire and the populace is eating itself..." - Leon

"I was scooting around screaming like a chimp with his dick stuck in a mousetrap." - Claire

"Hey! You like my heels?! 'Cause I sure as fuck do!" - Ada

"Hey, here's a little secret, Leon. I'm kinda stupid." - Claire

A vending machine... A fucking vending machine! - Leon

"I have eyes and a memory that spans more than ten minutes." - Claire

"It made acid." - Sherry

"Ahh... just enough room, I'll probably only bump my head a few times. But that's ok, I got a pretty thick skull. Had to sacrifice a lot of brain space for that, but nobody's noticed so far." - Claire

Hey legs? I know we almost died again but maybe start working?! - Claire

"You want me to throw some toothbrushes at it?" - Leon

"Oh no, not dust! The horror! How will we ever survive?" - Claire

"You fell out the same window twice." - Leon

Whoa, hey there buddy! Where's that hand goin'?! I know you're excited to get that shotgun, but goddamn. - Claire

"I don't take orders from you. I will land on that pavement like a man!" - Leon

No, don't stop yet! I spent most of "nice comfort time" all pissed off. - Claire

"This thing is jiggling and I don't know what that means!" - Claire

"I'm not supposed to hit people with flashlights!" - Sherry

"Speaking of balls to the face... I got beaned in the head with a baseball once." - Leon

"My ass hurts." - Claire

---

And done! Sure were a lot from Claire lol. But yeah, all of these quotes came from this incomplete Cleon fic. Now, to tag people...

Let's go with @brokenangelwings22 @leonisdumbasallhell @nspired1fanfiction but anyone can join!

[eternal-dragon-of-time]

Hero Fest Day 1

Backstory

Feel your heart pounding in your ears. Keep moving even as your ankle feels fit to crumble. Behind you the door to the old man’s room hangs ajar, you left it open because there was no point to subtlety when the whole mansion was going to be upon you soon.

Sneaking into the nobles house was easy. Climbing the walls was just will, the skin on your hands a simple sacrifice to get to his window. It had been left slightly open, the old man likes the smell of pine after a rainfall. It was well oiled and made no noise when pushed open, eerily silent as you widened the gap enough so that you can slip your slight body through, knife held in your mouth.

The guards on the grounds never looked up, you don’t know why currently but you’ll learn that its because a killer doesn’t sit on the throne anymore. You’ll think to yourself that they should probably get a new one to keep the fear in place. No fear means no motivation, which means no alarm called out as your padded shoes hit the well polished floor.

The room had been well furnished, plush rugs covering the floor. A massive dresser that reminded you of Suel’s stood in front of you next to the door leading out to the hallway. Various beast heads were hanging on the walls salon styled, it made for a grotesque sight. You wondered how anyone could sleep with all their eyes watching them.

Poorly, was your answer as the old man crashed into you. The old warmaster grasping your throat tightly and lifting you off the floor. He liked the smell of wet pine, he had stayed up to enjoy it. You’d have felt annoyed at your mistake if you weren’t more concerned with the darkening corners of your vision. He had demanded you to tell him who sent you, a cruel joke meant to push more of your limited air out of your lungs when you garbled out an unintelligible response, hopefully he had understood that you meant it as an insult. The knife in your mouth fell out as you snarled and spit in his grip, it’s a lucky break that it landed on his foot and pierced him.

Regaining control of yourself you had managed to grab your stiletto blade from your belt and put it through his wrist. He dropped you and you land poorly in your panic, the side of your ankle crunching into the floor before you got your footing back. The old man attempted to lunge at you again, growling about snuffing you out like in the good days, and you stumbled to the side in time to slip out the wrist blade and plunge it into his hip as he falls past you. Small and lean was an undeniable fact about you, but Meridian had told you that that could be an advantage against ‘old gramps’. When the grizzled face out of time howled and turned to slam his fist into you you were just quick enough to put the blade into his throat before the impact sent you flying across the room into the bed.

You were lost for a few seconds amidst the soft blankets and furs, fighting to detangle yourself from the creature comforts. You could hear the gargling of the man approaching and you push yourself up and out, the weight of the blankets heavy and trapping.

You looked behind you and saw him stumbling onto the floor, blood spilling out of his throat and splattering against his chest. His face was twisted in ghoulish wrath as he pointed at you. Then you were out the door. There was no time to confirm that he was dead, it was sloppy work and you were going to have to tell a good story about finishing him off if you got home.

Your left ankle aches every time your foot pounds into the floor of the hallway. You can still see the nobleman’s face when you blink. A maid comes rushing around the corner and you twist around her, shoving her as hard as you can while you pass. This section of the house has narrow walls and labyrinthian turns, you can smell oils and grease and you hope that you’re in the servants passage. The exit will be quicker and more discrete this way then the front door. You hope you pass by a window, that would be even quicker.

When you turn another corner you’re confronted with a sudden staircase that veers down. No time to carefully make your way down the uneven steps, so you leap and pray you don’t break your neck. From behind you comes shouting and clanging, the guards catching up to you. But they are stalled by the stairs while you tumble down, slamming against the walls and stone, your arms bruising when you hit the bottom.

Tearing through the room at the bottom of the stairs, a kitchen with a wall covered in bells and a table set out covered in rotten food, you zero in on the door with wet stains on the floor before it. Slamming into it with full force it stands tall and you have to fumble with the door, wasting precious seconds as clamorous curses echo in the stairway facing your back. Finally the thing swings open and you dart out into open air, dashing for the tree line and thanking Celeritas that the old man never built walls around his home.

A twang sounds out behind you as you cross into the woods. A bolt strikes you in the back soon after and you’re taken off your feet, falling forward into the underbrush from the force of it.

You attempt to crawl for a moment before giving up, the pain settling in quickly.

“We should confirm its dead.” You can hear someone shout. You don’t sob into the moss, which you’re proud of, but you can’t stop your body from shaking. It doesn’t take long to reload a crossbow, and you’re a still target on the ground.

“You got the thing in the back.” Came the reply, “they weren’t that big. They’re dead or dying.”

“Procedure is that we check.” His voice doesn’t sound very firm compared to his comrade.

“You want to go out there in the mud? In this weather? The bastard’s not gonna pay you extra for avenging 'em.”

You don’t get to hear the end of the argument. Fading out now that the adrenaline is failing. You wonder if Suel is right about the afterlife, the Light Plane wouldn’t be so bad.

...

Your eyes snap open and you cough, unable to breathe. Celica is hovering over you, holding a potion bottle, smiling. Its the same expression as usual, tinged with anxiety and hope. Sitting up you swallow the concoction that remains in your mouth and look around at your surroundings. You’re sitting on a cot in a room painted white, its contents spartan, the only other furnishing is the chair Celica is sitting in.

“Did we die?”

Celica’s sigh is exasperated.

“Why would I be dead? You went alone silly.” She pushes you in the shoulder playfully but its hard enough to send you back, hitting the wall of the room. You hiss as your wound in your back ignites with fresh pain. “You are so lucky I found you, you know? The others didn’t want to get that close to the mansion with the guards on such high alert.” She takes your hands, rubbing your knuckles with her thumbs as she stares into your eyes with steel seriousness. “We thought you were dead.”

You lick your lips and wonder what kind of discussion you were going to have about your performance. Celica was speaking so softly, but you knew what she meant when she told you that you almost weren’t found. Getting hit like that was a failure, Suel and Meridian were disappointed. “It would take more than that to kill me- and I almost got out clean too! The guards just got a lucky shot in. Next time I’ll be faster to duck and they won’t have a chance to try.” You say, wishing you could make it sound more true.

“Well, I’m glad to hear that you’re already working on your shortcomings.” The new voice is sharp, the familiar mature tone sending a shiver down your spine as you turn to Suel. She was ducking down as she entered the doorway. Her face is stoic and firm, it always reminds you of the porcelain plates she displayed in her room, pristine and unreadable.

“Master!” Celica practically falls out of her seat to kneel, a near perfect replica of the chivalric novels she read. You sit up straight and smile, as disappointed in you she may be, you were excited to tell her about your success in the request.

Suel’s pure white dress swishes pleasantly as she lowers down to grab Celica by the chin and force her to stand back up. Turning to you she smiles, it was all teeth, you had gotten better at predicting her responses. Her voice showed no sign of her strain, smooth and melodious. “Celica, I would like to speak with Snake Eyes alone to review their slip up.”

She doesn’t argue against the implied order, slipping out of the room while shooting you a sympathetic glance. When Celica is gone the room feels heavier, like her presence was a shield against Suel’s crushing disappointment. It doesn’t feel fair that you could get the job done and still feel like a failure.

“Snake Eyes,” Suel starts, looking down at you with the same interest she had in stains on the floor. “When I took you in I told you there were standards we had to uphold.”

You nodded in silence.

“And Meridian and I worked hard to give you all the tools and support necessary for you to meet those standards. Did we fail?”

Now you shook your head, your heart sinking deep into your stomach.

“So why,” She took her time to examine her gold prosthetic hand that she used, the clockwork art piece flicking away a piece of dust with all the grace of flesh. She lets you sit in the silence of the pause before continuing, “did you have to be dragged back home soaked in blood and mud?”

You struggle to find something to say, caught between honestly assessing your shortcomings and wanting to get out of this conversation as fast as possible. “My mistake was in my timing,” you say, trying to keep your voice steady to match her’s, “he was still awake when I made my approach and I had to fight him, I was sure everyone was alerted so I ran out after I got him. Maybe I could have snuck out instead of breaking immediately.”

Suel blinked “Hold the self assessment for a moment. You fought him directly?”

“Yes.”

Something changes in the air of the room, the interest in Suel’s eyes shifting to an energy you have never seen from her before. “And you won?” She asks, remaining measured in tone even as her eyes practically begin to glow.

You think for a second about victory and the definition Meridian gave you. “I killed him.” It was not exactly your greater skill that put him down, more just luck and trading a blow he couldn’t afford to take.

Suel doesn’t seem to care that you hadn’t answered directly, or even hear what you had said, taking your head in her hands and making you look up to meet her gaze. You don’t know why she had flipped so suddenly in her opinion, it wasn’t as if the circumstances of their failure had changed. Still, the fear from her changing demeanour was fading as her fingers carded through your hair. “How vicious of you, to be so capable at your size.” You lean your head into her hands, her praise sinking into your bones. “So good at battle at such a young age, it is like you were made for this.”

Your heart stutters, so far everyone had seemed content to tell you that something was wrong with you. You were a bad omen, a flawed being, you were never going to be anymore then serviceable. But if Suel was right, as she was always, then maybe you had found something to be proud of. She moves to cradle your head in her hands and a proud smile breaks through her porcelain stoicism.

“Remember this mistake and never let it happen again. If you promise me, swear to me, that you will hone this skill until it shines, then you could be the greatest weapon I ever make.”

Something about this feels important, like taking steps down stairs worn by someone whose shoes are exactly like yours.

“And I’ll be beside you forever?”

Suel’s smile widens, brilliant like the glare of dawn rising, washing all colour away.

“Forever.”

[coconutnutmilk]

Sacrifice

Pt2/??

Birds chirping and the wind rustle were the things Theo hoped he would hear in the moment he woke, but Hope was the last thing someone could ever find in him, reality was way different, it was dark outside, not even the stars were looking at the ceremony as they hide behind the clouds.

The rattle of the chains on his wrists gave him a flashback about everything, about yesterday, and tears felt of the floor, the cold floor were he slept for only few hours, he was still exhausted, and it was completely quiet, he looked at the chains, ceremony chains adorned with gems and golden ornaments, they were cold.

There were neither birds singing or the calm wind on the leaves, but just a chill rain with grey clouds, as if it was a funeral...it was a funeral, his funeral, and his wedding...and his birthday, he turned eighteen that night, he was the perfect age for a sacrifice.

His thoughts were erased as he noticed the lotus flower had felt from his braid, he looked at it, the lotus as a symbol that he will be remembered, but for him it simply stood for "youre about to die but dont take it personally"...he sat on the floor, the candles were melted down completely, as they burnt all night long, and the golden ring on his hand was shining...even tho it wasnt any kind of comforting shine...

He let a tired sigh and looked out of the window, the only, huge, window with represented the ceremony, the god in its mighty temple, an underground temple, noone ever went there, beside the sacrifices, but its told to be full if crystals, rare gems and creatures, as the god only keeps the most precious things, many books say that the god has dragons as guards and phoenix as pets, they live in the luxury, as he is, noneless than Arastha-ha the God of Property.

The thought gave him another shiver, a chill down his spine, he looked at the window, and behind him, the landscape, the grey, dead landscape...he almost had the thought to run away as soon as they left him at the mountain, but the act of running away from a god would only make things much worse, again, he was crushed by the anxiety, he leaned down and grabbed his face, as he started sobbing, not wanting to die, and feeling too selfish to say it, as his death would save so many lives...

A knock on the door interrupted him, the heavy door was unlocked and opened as it revealed four heavy armoured guards, three of them holding the other gifts for the god and what seemed velvet gloves, and a velvet veil for him.

The guard walked in towards Theo and gave him the veil and the gloves -we've come to escort you, sir- a manly, calm and distant voice came from behind the helmet, he helped Theo getting up, ti then connect the chains of this wrist with a longer chain, Theo didnt pay much attention to the action, and put the veil and gloves on.

A guard stood closer to him and kneeled down, grabbing the lotus flower from the ground -sir, i suggest you make sure the flowers stays in place to prevent any turnmoil- he said coldly and carefully placed the flower on Theo's braid, that simply stood quietly with bags under his eyes, and tears still falling little by little.

Soon the guards started walking, ignoring the rain, Theo followed the guards, in the long march to his death, a march that took place in the main road of the city.

Few lights floating in the air enlightening the road, as the tired looks, worried looks of the citzines where on him, of course, nobody knew if he would have been accepted by the god, every ten years, in the fatal day of the ceremony, the air fills with tension, fear and anger, as no one wants to experience the curse of this city, the sound of the steps on the muddy road, the murmurs of the crowd, ths rattle of the armors...everything seemed so slow.

The rain wasnt about to cease any sooner, the sacrifice's clothes were soaked, Theo almost thanked the rain, as it made sure no one could notice the waterfall of tears running down his cheeks, and he thanked the veil...

Half an hour of walking came to the end of the road, the citizens looking at him, as he and the guards stopped, waiting for the Viscount to make his speech, waiting for his father to come.

Few seconds passed by until the so-called-father came, everyone looked at him as he stood on the stand with a dark umbrella and a deep look on his face, as he didnt even dare to look at his son, in shame and sadness...

-today...-he started -it is the forty-third ceremony day, it has been four hundred and thirty years since this valley had been cursed.

Theo Danneville, son of the Viscount and Viscountess...my son, will be sacrificed to the fiery God Arastha-ha, god of Possession, of Will and protector of these lands, in order to maintain chaos away from our families, as he will now walk to the Gods chamber, to protect us, we may now refer to him as...a hero- he concluded, with a hurt voice, as if in pain, and walked off of the pedastal.

The guards gave him the two shiny gifts to bring with him to the God, and backed away, to then bow to him, waiting for him to walk alone in the woods, towards the greatest mountain of all, the Great peak...

He looked back at everyone, his sisters, crying at me, his brothers, holding eachother and looking down, tears hiding between the rain, his friends looking at him, sobbing, he wanted to run to them and hug them, but he knew he couldnt, so instead, he looked away, and started walking, as fast as possible.

The steps were loud, he was alone, wet from the rain, sobbing, wanting to run, it was cold, the trees seemed to get in his way as he walked, old trees that were now the last thing he wanted to see, the same trees were he'd climb on as a kid, the leaves were dead, and falling on him because the cold, sharp wind.

He had to follow an old path, slipping few times, having to rest under trees, trembling as the cold was giving him a hard time, he sat on a rock under a tree, as the rain became a bit more violent, he took many deep breaths and covered his shoulders with his hands, trying to warm himself up, of course he had to go alone, on a road that took hours to finish, the end didnt seemed to come any closer, and it actually was a reassuring thought, but staying in the storm to then die of hypothermia wasnt much better than dying eaten by a Giant God...

Once more, he wanted to run away, but the God was waiting for him, and if he didnt arrive in a day, the God would surely get mad, just to then crush his entire city, along with the valley, killing innocents and destroying hundreds of years of temples, culture and important things...

Theo stood up and gave a huge sigh, he looked at the moutain that seemed only few hours of walk away, and kept walking, ignoring his hunger, the cold, and the mixed feeling of fear, terror, anxiety, anger and other.

.

The sun was in the middle of the sky, the moment Theo found himself at the base of the mountain and a huge arch was to be seen, the arch was big enough to let an ogre inside, and it had writes, ancient writes on it, on the side of the arch, two columns stood taller than any column he had seen, he took some deep breathes, and shaking, he crossed the arch.

In the darkness, he could barely notice the levigated steps, and felt...Theo placed a hand on the wall as he walked down the steps, noticing how the air was still fresh, while trying not to loose balance, he kept walking for few minutes until the steps ended, and a light was visible from far away.

He walked towards the light, careful, breathing heavily and slightly trembling, until he got to the very edge, he stopped and trembled...-so this is it...- he whined...to then sit on the ground, and held his head -oh fuck...what do i do...- he cried slightly.

Theo looked at the void and let out a trembling wheeze, he then opened his eyes -if i go...i save my peaple, and get eaten...by...some giant God- he talked to himself.

He continued -if i go away now... I doom all my peaple...so its a one for all...- he gave up, his voice tired, his muscles hurt from the walk in the cold rain, feeling too many emotions, in despair...

He finally got up from the ground and peeked to the other side.

Golden was the main colour that dominated the giant hall, it seemed like the inside of a temple, columns holding the roof that had one, enourmous fresco, that showed landscapes of war, peace, epidemic and natural disasters, he looked then towards the end of the hall as it had a giant golden throne, as Theo watched the whole room, he noticed the many decorations, pillars holding statues, a long, marevellous rug making its own path in the hall, paintings on the walls.

As he looked he also saw the doors at the sides of the walls, meaning there were many other rooms, he took few steps in, looking up and down, following the scenes and the stories the fresco was telling, he looked to his right, where a statue of a dragon stood, as it was in its real size, and then the looked at his left, where he suddenly froze.

Tears felt from him as he started to back away from the giant figure.

Thoughts of death and pain came to his mind as a snickering giant was looking down with all four eyes pointig at him, it had horns, giant horns, and it was sitting in place on the ground, smiling, their eyes were completely white, as if made out of light, and they where wearing a white garment with golden ornaments at the borders.

Theo felt all his energies run away, he was still holding the gifts for the God, but he had lost any courage to speak, and the God noticed, as they got on their knees, leaning towards Theo, he gasped and whined, wanting to become invisible somehow.

As the giant looked at him, half smiling, a giant hand reached for Theo, as he lost any colour he had, becoming as pale as a dead -oh no...- he whispered closing his eyes and lifting the gifts, two giant fingers reached him as he shivered from the contact -make it quick, please...- he gave a quick beg, hoping as tears felt.

Two fingers, one behind him, the other under his neck, lifting his gaze into meeting with the God's white eyes, as their look pierced into him -hm...too shy to even look at me properly?- a low rumble came out of the giant's mouth, making his body tremble as he gasped for air and sobbed - i...im s-sorry s-sir...- he cried, forcing himself to open his eyes and to look at the giant's.

He stayed frozen in place, the moment his eyes saw the giant's eyes, the grey skin, the giant horns decorated with golden chains and rings, their voice was loud, but a rumble that almost sounded like an earth-quake, Theo shook, and accidentally left the gifts fall into the ground, as the golden pot and the silver rope fell, the loud metal sound echoed throught the hall, and the giant's grin widened.

-ah? What is it?- they asked with a loud, guttural and rough voice, as they grinned, the giant hand starting to curl around Theo's body as he prayed for any kind of mercy.

End pt2/??

[at-thezenith]

7 snippets, 7 people

@jay-avian thank you for tagging me!

1. Winter

Away from the summit, the woods darkened steadily, trees becoming arching black shadows, the snow swirling around until the way ahead was reduced to grey mist. Winters on the Tolenea Isles, though short, were bitter. Summer, its long stretch of lazy heat, couldn’t come quickly enough. Nature always seemed taken aback by the snow’s sudden arrival; leaves promptly dropped dead from trees and flowers shrivelled into themselves, hiding from the wind’s bite. Even the fae were seen less, though their presence on the populated part of the island was rare. Only Saa’ih remained a fairly oft-seen face, and they had retreated since the Kissing Moon.

2. Magic

She felt the same rage build up in her again, and the ground hummed, ready for her command. With a brief flex of her fingers, branches grew out of the ground, wrapping around themselves into a short sword. Thorns sprouted into mean curves, and she gripped the sword at its hilt. As she approached, she heard a crunch to her left. Her head snapped around, just in time to spot another black-clad figure darting away. She hefted the sword up and whispered to it. It stretched, wood warping itself into a spear that sailed through the air and sank into the back of the murderer’s neck. They fell face-down in the snow and did not get up.

3. Horror

The bag itself was made of brown leather, fastened with a shining black buckle. Well-made. She turned her attention to the contents: papers, a few daggers with wicked blades that she avoided touching, a brass compass, and a lumpy thing that she couldn’t quite make out. She grabbed for it, only to pull her hand back sharply as a white-hot pain shot up her arm. Her fingers blistered, and she hissed, shoving them in her mouth and sucking to ease the stinging. The small blackened thing sat on the floor and she leant down to look closer.

When she realised what it was she flinched back, bile rising in her throat. Her fingers felt too big in her mouth and she removed them to clap them over her face. She couldn’t tear her eyes away though her brain was screaming at her to bury it, to burn it, to hide it away from the world.

4. Home

The window faced the same way her childhood bedroom had, and she remembered far simpler times, staring out at the stars with Cosmos, hoping to catch the daybreak but falling asleep curled against each other before they could. The only things she worried about in those days were how dirty her favourite skirt was, or Cosmos’ latest skinned knee. There was no talk of cults, or sacrifices, or oaths to her coven. She thought of her last letter home, months ago; she hadn’t wanted to worry her mother or brother, and had not written since.

5. Lightning

Her arms were carved up by white-hot lightning bolts, crackling and sparking with barely-restrained energy, glaringly bright against her dark skin. They seemed almost alive, and as she turned her arms this way and that, the sparks were eager to chase each other over her skin like deadly wolf cubs tripping over to impress their mother. Around them the wind was lashing her face, rain now falling in earnest and soaking her to the bone. It all felt connected to her, the storm. Every drop of blood and miniscule muscle in her body expanded out, out into the bolts and thunder and beyond into the sky. The air smelled headily like salt and sour burning and she breathed in deeply, the air filling her lungs with gentle pricks. The pain dulled until it felt like the thrumming of her heart, beating in time with the waves and the thunder. Above her, the dark clouds seemed to wait for her command.

6. Strange lands

Ola stormed through the docks, slipping through the crowds like an eel. Afsara had to elbow more than one person out of the way in order to keep sight of her. The ground was uneven and slippery—she would have slipped if she had been carrying the bags, but Ola, burdened by both, strode on. The smell of fish grew fainter as they moved into the residential areas, washing hung out on lines above their heads. Afsara winced as she saw the remnants of her journey over in the form of dripping wet linens. A woman appeared at an upstairs window and shook the line, sending droplets splattering over Afsara’s head. She shook them free and kept moving. People sleepily exited their houses, eyes sliding over Afsara’s soggy form.

7. Pain

The tinder exploded. White and blue fire bloomed, spreading rapidly across the grass. She frantically stamped out her surroundings, hissing in pain as the fire sputtered wildly, more lightning bolt than flame. They licked her forearms, wrapping around them like chains and stinging like a brand. She whined, dropping to her knees and cradling herself, her grasp on her power gone. She looked down and gasped.

The rivers carved into her skin were blasted apart, into nasty patches of bright silver pooling with her blood. The silver blood poured down her arms, dripping from her fingertips. The more the fire raged, the more the silver burned, spreading to her shoulders, her chest, her torso. She screamed as the fire hit her stomach, stabbing into her organs.

tagging: @writingamongther0ses @phynewrites @jaydewritesfiction @lyutenw @moonshinemagpie @moldstars @phantomnations

the faery children taglist: @mel-writes-with-her-dragons @hydrancheas  @charlesjosephwrites  @kosmic-kore

[the-trash-eating-llama]

It's visceral, and yet, nostalgic.

Ðe rage in ðe air, ðe fire in ðe streets, ðe dead on ðe ground, and ðe lies in discarded cartridges.

I can taste it, so can you, it's ðe call we all hear and know is for us, ðe need for liberation.

Peace is a white man's word, I once heard a black man say, and I þink it's mostly true.

I þink peace is an oppressors word, one of ðe many implements ðat lines ðeir armoury, ðeir arsenal. Ðey use it to quash ðe sparks of freedom and survival, because ðat is what governments were built to do.

Ðe reason our ancestors created governments was to trade freedom and rights for protection, and if you were to talk to any philosophy major, you'd know how shit an idea "Picking up ðe gun so your neighbor can't shoot you" mentality is.

And ðe worst part? We didn't get ðe choice.

We didn't choose to sacrifice our freedom, much like how intersex children don't get to decide if ðe doctor can mutilate ðeir pelvis, nor how any poor person gets to decide what ðey eat tomorrow.

We did not step in a bear trap, and we do not deserve our fate to be decide by some suit in an office made by stolen labour on stolen land.

We live in a system built on keeping ðe smart people silent and ðe loud people dumb, ðe strong misguided and ðe wise numb. We cannot let our shackles tie us to ðe ground from which our parents died to aquire.

Ðe only way to kill an impenetrable beast is to starve it.

I am not suggesting we spend our last years playing into ðe hands of anarchy, nor do I suggest we repeat ðe actions of our parents.

No, I suggest we take a lesson from ðe poison ðat has eaten away our life force.

We drink ðe antidote.

Evil is a bully, one who plays a school yard game by taking our friends and separating us. It takes our abilities and shames us. It points out our inherent traits, and mocks us for ðem.

So we show ðem how warped ðeir perception is.

Open your windows.

Knock on your neighbor's door.

Hand ðem some food and ask ðem for ðeir name.

Take some time and look þrough your local events, like town fairs and museums tours.

Enjoy your company.

Enjoy your skills and ðe þings you learn.

Enjoy life.

Ðe world is crumbling and nature is taking its dues. Ðe rich have cashed ðeir last check and now face ðe debts ðey know ðey cannot pay. Ðe government knows we will not stay silent.

We are a people, and we will not be made bullet bags.

Llama out.

25 years ago an unknown Chinese protester stood in front of a tank in defiance of the government. No one knows the identity of the man but he was given the nick name “Tank Man”. This is one of the most iconic photographs of the century.

[linuxgamenews]

Unleash Your Tactical Prowess in Endless Tactics: Free Demo Now Available

Endless Tactics intergalactic turn-based strategy RPG roguelite game unleashes a Demo for Linux, Mac, and Windows PC. Thanks to the brilliant work of Dead Battery Games. Available for all to try now on Steam. Get ready for an intergalactic adventure! Dead Battery Games is eager to introduce Endless Tactics, a 2D turn-based strategy RPG roguelite, and the best part? You can jump into the action with a free demo as part of the Steam Turn-Based RPG Festival. In this title, you take on the role of a commander leading a daring planetary mining mission. Your goal? Extract valuable resources and fend off all kinds of dangerous alien creatures while navigating a range of hostile environments. From lush jungles to toxic wastelands, each planet you land on also brings unique hazards like meteor showers and earthquakes. The deeper you go, the harder it gets, but the rewards get bigger too!

The Endless Tactics Challenge Is Real

This is not just about surviving — it’s about making tough calls. Whether you’re battling endless waves of alien fauna or trying to keep your base running long enough to extract your loot, you’ll need to make some hard choices. Will you sacrifice a mech to save your team, or do you push through and hope for the best? Every decision counts while you fight to stay alive and secure the profits.

Endless Tactics - 0.9.43

Upgrade, Adapt, and Keep Going

Once you’ve gathered enough resources, retreat to your orbiting spaceship to upgrade your base and gear. The choices you make here are crucial. Do you go for better weapons or focus on boosting your mining efficiency? There’s always a balance between staying alive and making bigger bucks. Since some upgrades might just tip the scales.

Explore and Profit

Endless Tactics lets you approach missions in whatever order you want. Each planet also has its own set of challenges, from deadly sandstorms to surprise airstrikes. With so much at stake, every new operation brings a mix of risk and reward that’ll keep you on your toes. Want to check it out for yourself? Head over to Steam, download the Endless Tactics demo. See if you’ve got what it takes to lead your crew to interplanetary riches in this turn-based strategy RPG roguelite. Since it is available to try now on Linux, Mac, and Windows PC

[lonita]

I believe

I can't remember when I first compiled this, at least 20 years ago. But you do find the oddest things when you go digging around your hard drive. This was a list of things I believe in. I probably still believe in (most) of them.

that you should avoid the necessity for deathbed regrets

in perfect moments

in vodka cocktails

in throwing your windows wide, and leaving them that way, the first day the weather's pleasant enough to allow it

in the power of the written word

in being easy like a Sunday morning

in foggy afternoons

in large salads with lots of different things in them

in sampling it, looping it, fucking it, eating it, and spitting it out

in old movies

in not being tiresome

that no part of a human, body or soul, can be ignored in the belief that it will ultimately aid the other

in scratching itches

in keeping a journal

that you shouldn't let the limitations of others become your own

in used bookstores

in the sound of rain

in the lushness of autumn leaves

that you can't ignore your past in order to reinvent your future

in Key Lime Pie

in only enough spice to augment food, not obscure it

in savouring the moment

that sometimes you need to do the things you're most afraid of

in knowing how to live and let live

in Andy Partridge

in the ridge of lime just to the south of me, full of trees and fossils and paths to explore

in being mad as a hatter

in wearing hats

that we should treat those in the service industry with better respect

in squishing your toes in the sand

that sugar in tea is a violation of all that is holy and good

that everyone should swing on a swing now and then

in puns

in random acts of silliness

that rock and roll ain't noise pollution

that monopolies should be illegal

that learning doesn't need to be had at the expense of fun and enjoyment

that knowledge means very little if you cannot apply it

that you can eat cheese and pickles without them being on a sandwich first

that you should learn how to take a hint

in making snow angels

in being left alone

in being sociable

in knowing when to speak, and what not to say, and how to speak in general

in gettin' up offa that thing and dancin' til you feel better

that lemon pie should be made without meringue

in baseball

in more cocoa than sugar in chocolate

in real sugar

in the rustling of leaves

in pea soup as a comfort food

in Gary Numan's "Replicas"

that banks should be slapped silly for the fees they charge for everyday services

in strong tea

in leaping outside of your habits

in cream cheese and crackers

in the smell of salt sea air

in making the most of it

in the desolate nature of deserts

in navel oranges and ruby grapefruit

in jazz

that sometimes you need to do things simply for the fact that they're there to be done

in good friends

in poetry

that no one should go hungry

you should know how to hear people and listen to them

in questioning things and challenging yourself

in not wasting land on the burial of the dead

in lounging and relaxation

in valuing yourself

that you should work to live, not live to work

that bread should be lightly toasted and heavily buttered

that "river" is a luscious word

in being charitable

that science and art are not mutually exclusive

in the ability of science fiction to relate lessons that other genres are too afraid to touch

that in many ways, far more than we realise, that while there's life there's hope

that postsecondary education should be at no charge

in lime rind green anything

that everyone should know how to make a good cup of tea

that compromise doesn't have to mean unfair sacrifice

that sometimes the best and only way to resist, is the path of least resistance

in comfortable clothing

in keeping your brother without controlling him

in late-night TV watching

that every single person on this planet should get at least one hug every day

in warm blankets on a cold night

in singing along, even if you can't sing

in comfortable shoes

in singing the blues

that once you take your own share of blame, you need less and less to embrace the concept of blame at all

in learning to live with a sadness without wallowing in it

in grace under pressure

that you should put milk in your tea, and cream in your coffee

that doctors should be paid as well as athletes

that we should appreciate the spirit of honest giving, even if we don't appreciate the gift

in junk shops

in occasionally staying up all night "just because"

in abstract photography

that growing up doesn't mean giving up

in colourful decor

that each of us is a far better and far worse person than anyone else believes us to be

everyone should learn to play at least one musical instrument

that hypocrisy is one of the greatest sins we commit

in beer served by the Imperial pint

sharing what you know with others

in blank notebooks

that heroes are fallible

in randomness

in not treating people like commodities

in weekend afternoons with comfortable films

in lemony anything

that you should accept what you deserve, even if you don't like it

in making lists

in appreciation of culture

in colouring books and crayons

in speaking up for yourself

a good night's (or day's) sleep

in summiting something

that blood relations don't automatically equate to kinship

that cursing is an art

in bright lighting

in cut and paste

in cheese

in loud music

in ketchup as a condiment

that fanaticism is a form of insanity

in warm spring days

in shared laughter

in the concept that "The foolish and the dead alone, fail to change their opinions."

in a decent haircut

in knowing how to make a silk purse out of a sow's ear

in colourful bras

in toys built for fun

in the learning of foreign tongues

in fresh breezes on a warm day

that all people are bizarre in their own way

in banana ice cream

in stop-motion filming

in fresh ideas

in Timothy Dalton's Welsh accent

in mushy peas

in bar bands

in rubber duckies

in hand-written letters

in collage

in postcards

in DIY

in finding secret places that you keep to yourself, and the ones that you share

in the delight of new gadgets

in LEGO

in Lite-Brite

in being tenacious

in hobbies that delight you

in accepting flaws

that you should know, if not where to find something, at least how to go about finding it (research of any kind is very important)

in homemade mayonnaise

in surrounding yourself with books

in dancing like a mad bastard

in pi

in old James Bond films

that if life hands you lemons, you should make pie (everything is better with pie)

in the alliteration of Poe's "The Raven"

in Robert Frost's "The Road Not Taken"

in going low budget

in Word Association Football

in chocolate-covered almonds

in peppermint

in keeping a very long list of things to be happy about in a notebook that is falling apart at the seams

in the perfect pair of blue jeans

in tattoos

in the art of (non-sexual) seduction

in medium-rare steak with nowt to drown it

in pudding

in being shy

in being bold

in dreams

in putting the funk in functional

in cleanliness

in twinkle-lights all year 'round

in not playing weak simply to gain an advantage

in flights of fancy

that dates should be written year/month/day or day/month/year

that "there is nothing good or bad, but thinking makes it so." (William Shakespeare, Hamlet)

[strange-wanderings]

My Spotify Wrapped 2023 top 100 under the cut

1 - Blinding by Florence + The Machine

2 - Lily by Alan Walker

3 - Different World by Alan Walker

4 - Monochrome by Babymetal

5 - Devil By The Window by TxT

6 - Natural by Imagine Dragons

7 - Ribs by The Crane Wives

8 - Paranoia by Kang Daniel

9 - The King Must Die by Purple Rain

10 - Sing Me To Sleep by Alan Walker

11 - Mr. Capgras Encounters A Secondhand Vanity by Will Wood and The Tapeworms

12 - Believer by Imagine Dragons

13 - Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up) by Florence + The Machine

14 - Bite Me by Enhypen

15 - Lost Control by Alan Walker

16 - The Hand That Feeds by The Crane Wives

17 - Hand Me My Shovel, I'm Going In by Will Wood and The Tapeworms

18 - Farewell Neverland by TxT

19 - Ghost by Xdinary Heroes

20 - Arsonist's Lullaby by Hozier

21 - Sacrifice (Eat Me Up) by Enhypen

22 - Land Of Confusion by Genesis

23 - The Moon Will Sing by The Crane Wives

24 - Loveable by Jo Yuri

25 - ... Well, Better Than The Alternative by Will Wood

26 - Demons by Imagine Dragons

27 - Metaphor by The Crane Wives

28 - Favorite Part by Jo Yuri

29 - Pride And Joy by Brandi Carlile

30 - Kingslayer by Bring Me The Horizon and Babymetal

31 - Curses by The Crane Wives

32 - Blank by Jo Yuri

33 - Swear by E'Last

34 - Sugar Rush Ride by TxT

35 - Never Love An Anchor by The Crane Wives

36 - Shinigami by Kenshi Yonezu

37 - Breaking Down by Florence + The Machine

38 - Get Away by Verivery

39 - Keep You Safe by The Crane Wives

40 - Flower Dance by DJ Okawari

41 - Black Eye by Vernon

42 - Chaconne by Enhypen

43 - Hard Sell by The Crane Wives

44 - Darkside by Alan Walker

45 - Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God) by Kate Bush

46 - Karma by Enhypen

47 - Allies Or Enemies by The Crane Wives

48 - Heart's Content by Brandi Carlile

49 - BingBing by Oneus

50 - Bills by Enhypen

51 - Unraveling by The Crane Wives

52 - No Light, No Light by Florence + The Machine

53 - Nap Of A Star by TxT

54 - Fate by Enhypen

55 - New Discovery by The Crane Wives

56 - Cry For Me by Twice

57 - On My Way by Alan Walker

58 - Magic Island by TxT

59 - Sleeping Giants by The Crane Wives

60 - Alone Together by Fallout Boy

61 - Zombie by Purple Kiss

62 - Sharks by Imagine Dragons

63 - Little Soldiers by The Crane Wives

64 - Express Moon by Jo Yuri

65 - Given-Taken by Enhypen

66 - Seven Devils by Florence + The Machine

67 - Rockslide by The Crane Wives

68 - I Can't Decide by Scissor Sisters

69 - Cotard's Solution by Will Wood and The Tapeworms

70 - Dog Days Are Over by Florence + The Machine

71 - Of Everlong by The Crane Wives

72 - Laplace's Angel (Hurt People? Hurt People!) By Will Wood

73 - Dark Dream by E'Last

74 - My Face by Verivery

75 - The Garden by The Crane Wives

76 - What Did I Ever Come Here For by Brandi Carlile

77 - Voodoo Doll by VIXX

78 - Faded by Alan Walker

79 - Frost by TxT

80 - I Will Follow You into the Dark by Death Cab for Cutie

81 - Love Is Dead by Purple Kiss

82 - Acoustic #3 by The Goo Goo Dolls

83 - Raise Hell by Brandi Carlile

84 - Broken Home by 5 Seconds of Summer

85 - Howl by Florence + The Machine

86 - 기기괴괴 by Pink Fantasy

87 - Yes, To Err Is Human, So Don't Be One by Will Wood

88 - Pretty Little Things by The Crane Wives

89 - Tears Of Chaos by E'Last

90 - 100 by Brandi Carlile

91 - O by Verivery

92 - Iris by The Goo Goo Dolls

93 - Can't Go Back by The Crane Wives

94 - Turpentine by Brandi Carlile

95 - The Phoenix by Fallout Boy

96 - Photo by Verivery

97 - Not The Ghost by The Crane Wives

98 - My Song by Brandi Carlile

99 - Right Through Me by Day6 (Even of Day)

100 - Anti-Hero by M.O.N.T

[euphoricfilter]

Devil That I Know (Part 1)

~ Dear My Angel

Pairing: Demon! Jungkook x Human! Reader

Genre: (Inaccurate) Historical AU || Strangers to lovers AU || Supernatural AU || Smut || Fluff || Angst

Summary: Being sent up the mountain as a human sacrifice is the last place you saw yourself in this lifetime, as your relationship progresses with the four-armed demon so does his obsession with keeping you by his side for the rest of his eternal life.

Word count: 16.7k

Tags/ warnings: Fluff, Angst, swearing, minor/ major character deaths, descriptions of death/ murder, the start of mild yandere JK, soft JK, asshole jimin for like part of the first chapter, Taehyung just being a sweetheart, slow burn fic, use of magic, mentions of childhood trauma, descriptions of violence and injury, descriptions of sickness, more tags will be added for each chapter.

Notes: It's out 5 days early!! I got impatient so it's out!! It took less time to edit than I had thought, but after completely finishing the series I think I will go back and re-edit it again. I'm still not completely happy with the end scene, but i've written it so many times that I don't think i'll ever be really happy with it.

Masterlist

+++ +++ +++

Year 1859

When you were travelling to the coastline this time last year the last place you thought you would end up was a cell in a run-down village on the outskirts of what is to be modern-day Seoul, accused of being a foreign spy on the run. You’d laugh if anyone told you that you would be the virgin sacrifice to be sent up the mountain to the four-armed demon that resided there with his human friend. And you probably would have laughed even harder, if you were told how long you’d be staying with that demon, all the memories you’d make together.

The first leaves had begun to fall of the trees, and harvest season was a couple of months away; ready to be stocked up for the winter months. However, the towns people were in panic. That morning, one of the farmers had awoken to half of his crops rotting, thick black mould scattered over his land. The oldest woman of the village had explained that it must be an evil spirit and that no one should panic, she would bless charms to hang on the doors of all homes to warn off any other evil spirits that would attempt to enter the village.

After that, no more crops were rotting. A week later, another one of the farmers had woken before sunrise to feed the livestock and found three of his horses dead. Something had chewed through their skin throughout the night, organs a pale pink in the candle lit stable, blood pooling around the animals’ bodies, soaking into the hay. He let out a shout, alerting the farmer next-door.

“It must be a demon” the same old woman exclaimed, hand to her heart as she peered at the corpses. “We must sacrifice a virgin girl to the demon”.

That’s where you come in.

Having been captured by the village men months ago (you’d lost count a few days in) hadn’t been the most ideal, but they fed you a meal a day and you got to watch the sunset reflect off of the building opposite every evening through the small hole in the wall. Sometimes you felt forlorn, apparently the villagers didn’t make a hobby of taking random people prisoner leaving you lonely, listening to whoever was stupid enough to talk beside your window as your only company. And sure, the backache was killer and nights chilly, and you got to wash only once a week, but beggars can’t be choosers.

There were no other virgin sacrifices in the village. They apparently all had plans to be married come spring and couldn’t be sold off to a demon. Lucky for the villagers they had a virgin, a woman and a prisoner. Ready for sacrifice.

With the virgin sacrifice issue cleared, talk of where exactly the demon lived was now the main topic of the town. You’d overheard two girls (very much unmarried with no plans to wed until next winter) talking to the old woman about the hanok on the large mountain that overlooked the village.

“I had to make a delivery to the town on the other side of the mountain” she paused, “and someone definitely lives there”

“I saw it too” the second girl agreed. Clearly having not seen the hanok, the desperation in her voice giving her away. But hey, if you were in her situation, you probably would have done anything to not be sent up a mountain to some higher being where you didn’t have control over your own fate.

You turned over to face the opposite wall of your cell, blocking out the noise of their voices. You didn’t really want to know about your demise, it was slightly morbid. What if the demon didn’t live on the mountain? You doubt the villagers would hesitate to have your head. You’ve been lucky they’ve kept you alive for this long.

The next morning you’d been woken with a cold bucket of water being thrown over you. Your body shot up, shock running through your system as you tried to comprehend what, or who had rudely awoken you. Spluttering, you looked over at the entrance of the cell.

“Hey, get up” a boy a little older than you grunted. His plump lips turned down in a scowl. He would have been so pretty if didn’t look like he wanted you to drop dead.

You didn’t move, a secret you kept throughout your time in the village was that you understood their language. Acting oblivious. It was easier to get information that way. The boy tutted, roughly grabbing your arm and pulling you to stand. You yanked your arm out of his harsh grip, lips turned down in a frown as you made eye contact with him. Challenging him to grab you like that again, because you already had plans to elbow him in the nose hoping it breaks.

“Change into these” he shoved a pile of clothes into your chest before turning around. Rude.

Assuming he wasn’t leaving the cell anytime soon to give you privacy you pull you grime riddled shirt over your head. Using the inside of the shirt you attempted to dry your hair a little, so it wasn’t dripping down your back. Slipping on the clothes easily that you were given, it wasn’t the most flattering outfit. It seemed the clothes belonged to the lanky farmer’s son that rudely woke you up. Pulling the drawstrings tight so the trousers didn’t constantly fall, you tapped the boy’s shoulder.

“Jimin, are you almost done?” a much deeper voice called. Presumably one of the useless guards that stood outside the cell. More interested in his card games than your wellbeing.

“Almost” he calls back, quickly taking a step out of the cell to grab some rope. Jimin seemed just as, maybe even more disgusted that he was in such close proximity to you. He harshly grabbed both your wrists, no consideration for your comfort as he tied intricate knots around your limbs.

Personally, you thought it was unnecessary that both your arms and legs had been bound. Sure, Jimin had a lithe frame, but he was clearly a lot stronger than you. You’d seen the heavy equipment they used to farm. The baggy clothes probably doing no justice to the muscle that may lay beneath it, so you had no plans to run.

Plus, he wasn’t the tallest boy you’d seen in the village, but he was a lot taller than you, giving him longer strides, clearly not caring that not only were your legs shorter, but he’d also bound them together with limited leeway to walk properly. Definitely on purpose just to make this harder for you. You saw the smirk he had when he pulled the rope so you would stumble forward. Asshole.

Sweat rolled down your back by the time you reached the hanbok on the mountain, the midday sun beating down with no mercy on your tired body. Your legs felt like they were on fire, muscles screaming for you to take a break. Every time you’d try to subtly slow down Jimin would pull the rope so far forward you almost landed on your face more times than you could count.

Just as your restraint was about to snap you stopped outside of a wooden gate. ‘Jeon’ engraved on a slab of wood, messily hanging by moulding rope on one of the pickets of the fence.

Jimin grabbed the thick rope of the bell, alerting whoever, whatever lived here that they had guests. A tall boy, who looked to be around the same age as Jimin rushed out of the centre building, almost tripping over his sandals as he did so. He caught himself before he could fall, coming to an abrupt stop on the other side of the gate.

The taller boy with fluffy black hair placed a hand over his heart, taking a moment to catch his breath. “Hello” his voice extremely deep, a contrast to his soft features. “How may I help you?” he asked, as you noticed a small mole on the tip of his nose. It was cute. If he was the demon you’d be sacrificed to, he didn’t seem that bad?

He opens the gate a little to slip through it and stand in-front of you and Jimin.

“Good afternoon. Are you the demon that resides here?” Jimin asked, tone a lot nicer than when he had spoken to you that morning. You wanted to scoff. Kiss ass.

“Um, no I’m not. He’s inside” he pointed behind him with his thumb, his eyes trailing to you who was stood awkwardly behind Jimin. A wide smile spread across said male’s face as he yanked the rope around your wrists bringing you forward, almost tipping over because of your bound ankles.

“Here, delivery from the village” Jimin didn’t hesitate to shove the end of the rope into the other boy’s hand before grabbing the back of your neck tightly causing you to wince as his nails dug into your skin. “Untamed dogs like you don’t deserve to live. Hopefully you die” he whispered, a sadistic chuckle leaving his lips as he shoved your head forward.

Your teeth clenched, the idea of headbutting him in the nose and calling him multiple profanities extremely tempting but alas, he stepped away before your restraint could slip. And he started his descent down the mountain, whistling a tune now that you were gone.

The boy looked down at the rope in his hands, following it until he looked over your wrists. Rubbed red raw from Jimin being an asshole and tugging at the ropes when you wouldn’t walk fast enough. “Do you speak Korean? Are you okay?” he asked you once Jimin was out of earshot. You nodded, eyes meeting his own. Pity. You could see the pity in his eyes, and you weren’t sure how to feel about that.

“I’m Taehyung” he broke the silence, a boxy smile gracing his face as he hesitantly went to untie your wrists. “May I?” he asked, hands motioning to the rope, you looked down at your hands, then back at Taehyung and nodded.

“What’s your name?” he asked to make this process a little less awkward.

“Y/N” your voice came out hoarse, and he hummed to let you know he was listening as he knelt down to untie your ankles.

“Jungkook is really nice, I’m sure he’ll let you stay for a while” Taehyung brushed off his knees, head tilting up to give you a smile. You nod, a little awkward to say the least but Taehyung found it cute.

Opening the gate, Taehyung motioned for you to step inside, your eyes wandered over the courtyard. Freshly fallen leaves the colour of a sunset scattered across the grass. Stood through a small archway of trees, out of sight from the front gate, stood a smaller square building, steps leading up to the doors, which were slightly open to let the cool autumn air waft through the room. Without knocking Taehyung pulled open the sliding doors to reveal a small table sat in the centre of the room, a man (presumably Jungkook), looked younger than Taehyung, sat with a book in his first pair of hands. He had four arms.

His eyes raised to meet your own, and then looked over at Taehyung with a brow raised. He elegantly shut his book before diverging all his attention at the two of you stood in the doorway. You stood frigidly beside Taehyung, not sure if he was going to send you back to the village or let you stay.

He was good looking, you noted. Pretty doe eyes, thick dark eyebrows, a button nose, uneven lips, four arms. Dressed in the most expensive looking silk hanbok. You could see dark ink peaking from under the sleeve of his first pair of hands, the ones below seeming clean of art.

“And who is this?” He finally spoke after taking in your appearance. It was embarrassing, how well dressed he was compared to you in the clothes of the snobby farmer’s son that barely fit, pant legs pooling around your ankles and shirt slipping off your shoulder, cheeks pink from walking in the scorching sun for hours.

“Kook, this is Y/N” Taehyung answers when you don’t say anything, eyes trained on your bare feet that were probably dirtying this man’s floor.

“Does she understand Korean?” he asks, and Taehyung looked over at you, nudging your shoulder to get you to speak up.

“I do” your voice comes out as nothing more than a whisper, Jungkook hums.

“And why are you here, Y/N?” he asks, no malice in his voice just slight confusion.

Taehyung grabbed a pillow from under the table and motioned for you to sit down opposite Jungkook, “I’ll go and get some tea” he explained leaving you and the four-armed creature alone. You willed yourself to not stare at his extra set of arms, he was kind enough to not throw you off his land and it would be rude to stare for too long. So, your eyes stayed on your lap, fingers fiddling with the loose threads of Jimin’s shirt.

“I asked a question” Jungkook caught your attention, your eyes quickly flicking to meet his own before you averted them to the cover of the novel he was reading, “Why are you here?” he repeated. You swallowed.

“The village people, they think that they’ve angered you and that’s why you’ve been killing their crops and livestock” you explain and a laugh escapes Jungkook. Why would he care about the business of mere humans?

“And you were the unfortunate one to come and appease me?” he asks, and you shrug your shoulders.

“I was a prisoner; I was the easy way out”

“Prisoner?”

“Yes. They thought I was spy that’s why they kept me for information” you vaguely explain.

“I see” he replies, and your eyes meet his own, “most village people haven’t seen people outside of this country, so it’s understandable you could be accused of being a foreign spy” he looks over you one more time.

Before you can ask him if he’s seen any foreigners like yourself, Taehyung walks back into the room, teapot and delicate china cups sat on a tray. “I wasn’t sure what tea you liked” he sighs as he places the wooden tray on the table.

“Thank you, Taehyung” your head bows down a little and Taehyung’s boxy smile makes a reappearance. “So, are you staying with us? I could use the extra help” He looks over at Jungkook who looks over at you.

Taehyung and Jungkook looked at each other, eyes doing all the talking. You looked between them. You wouldn’t admit it out loud but staying here seemed like the safer option. If they kicked you out not only would you have no home, no food, who knows how long it will be before you’re accused of being a spy again and you’re sure the next village will kill you without hesitation. The last village kept you for their own selfish desires. In passing you’d heard them talk about the king sending out a notice that whichever town could catch the group of foreign spies, would be transferred to the palace for work, more luxurious food, better clothing. You being alone was just the beginning for the village people, if they caught 2 or 3 more ‘spies’ then they’d have their ticket into a life of luxury.

“You guys do whatever you want” Jungkook waved you both off after seeing the worry in your eyes, “Just don’t make too much noise or make a mess”.

Without warning, Taehyung threw himself on top of you, a small ‘oof’ leaving your lips, winded by Taehyung.

“You’re probably really tired from walking, right? I’ll show you the bath house and then you can wear some of my clothes until I make you some, and then I can put something on your wrists and ankles, they still look pretty red, that guy that you came with wasn’t that nice was he- “

“Tae” Jungkook interrupted his friend “you’ll overwhelm her, slow down”

Taehyung looked down at you, a sheepish smile gracing his face before he helped you stand. You bowed to Jungkook as Taehyung led you out of the building, behind it was a stone walkway, a little further under the trees was a wooden bridge that took you over the stream, to another wooden building. “You can bathe in here, some of my clothes are already inside so you can use those, there should also be slippers, so you don’t hurt your feet” he slides the door open, and you hesitantly walk inside, the door being shut behind you by Taehyung.

“A spy?” Jungkook asks Taehyung when he comes back from showing you the bathing room. The latter shaking his head.

“I don’t think so, the farmer that brought her here didn’t seem fond of her” Taehyung sat in-front of his friend and Jungkook nodded, picking up his book.

“Keep an eye on her, if she does anything suspicious then you know what to do”

Taehyung nods, lips pursed as he picked up his teacup taking a big gulp.

Before you knew it, a week had passed, and you’d fallen into a routine with Jungkook and Taehyung. Early mornings were spent in the kitchen with Taehyung cooking breakfast, late mornings spent alone exploring all the nooks and crannies of Jungkook’s land. You three ate together at lunch, and while Taehyung tended to whatever duties he set himself for the day, you would help clean the clothes and hang them to dry while Jungkook sat on the porch, book in hand, eyes occasionally flitting up to watch what you were doing. Other afternoons were spent raking the fallen leaves that covered the courtyard with Taehyung.

On more than one occasion Jungkook had seen your eyes wander to the books he held. “You can read any of the books on the shelf” he told you one evening once Taehyung left the room to get some more rice.

Your cheeks flushed crimson, how were you meant to tell him you couldn’t read hangul? “Thank you” you replied meekly, ashamed he had caught you staring. How embarrassing.

A satisfied smile gracing Jungkook’s lips before he turned and picked up his spoon once again. Your eyes gazed at the large bookshelf behind him before focusing back on the stew you and Tae had cooked for dinner.

Taehyung came back with another bowl of rice, chatting both of your ears off about a cat he saw while cleaning that afternoon.

Jungkook found you sat on the wooden deck outside your room that night, he was on his way back from the bath house, well past midnight. He just stood there for a moment, watching you watch the stars, he thought he could see the galaxies reflecting in your eyes, a gust of wind broke his train of thought as he watched goosebumps raise on the skin of your bare arms. He would have to ask Taehyung to make you some warmer clothes now that the colder weather was around the corner. Although he could see you were clearly cold, your eyes never left the sky. No plans of going back inside anytime soon.

He quietly made his way to the end room of the building where he kept all the spare supplies and grabbed a thick, woollen blanket.

“You’ll get sick if you stay out here in the cold” his voice startled you, heartrate picking up, and as you turned to him a heavy weight was placed on your shoulders. Your fingers brushed over the soft blanket, grabbing the hem to pull it tighter around yourself.

“Thank you” your voice came out a little breathless, the crisp night wind making your throat dry.

Jungkook sat down next to you, his eyes watching your side profile as you stared up at the stars again, clearly in awe. “Do you like the stars?” he asked.

Your eyes quickly flitted to meet his own before returning to look at the sky above you both, your neck aching but you didn’t want to miss a moment of the wonders that happen up in the sky. Maybe if you looked long enough, you’d see a shooting star. “Yes” you softly replied after a moment of silence, although it still felt too loud for the silence of the night. “I always wonder what it would be like to live among the stars”

“Did you look at the stars while in the village?” he asked, and your head turned to watch him as he looked up.

Another gust of wind broke the silence, “You must be cold, we should go inside” you went to stand up but one of Jungkook’s left hands held your shoulder. A silent suggestion for you to sit back down, his hand was light. Giving you the option to leave if you really wanted to. But you suppose an explanation was due.

“Don’t avoid the question” he muttered, and your shoulders slumped a little as you got into a more comfortable position.

You knew that Jungkook or Taehyung would eventually bring up where you came from, they’d gone a week leaving you to settle in with no questions asked about where you really came from or how you even ended up as a prisoner in the first place.

“I couldn’t” you reply, “they kept me in a cell, and the only hole in the wall was in a place that the sky was covered by the building beside it” you explain and Jungkook hums.

“How did you get to the village; you must have been travelling somewhere?”

“I was travelling to the coast but got caught” you briefly explain, as you turn your head to look at Jungkook who was already looking at you. Your cheek resting on your knees.

“The coast?” he raised an eyebrow and you nodded.

“I was going to leave Korea, my friend was going to help me, but we got caught by the village people”

“Because they thought you were a spy?” he asked and you nodded, “And your friend?”

You looked forward into the courtyard, swallowing thickly, fingers fiddling with the blanket still around your shoulders; “They killed him. Thought he was a traitor” a shiver running through your body at the memory.

You never knew how savage human beings could be, ripping his limbs off before feeding his organs to the dogs and burning the rest of his body. A warning. That if you didn’t comply with the village chiefs’ commands, that could be your skinned head on a stick next the one person you could trust in this cruel world.

Jungkook nods, “were you trying to leave the country because you did something wrong?” he asked, and you shook your head.

“This is the only place I’ve known. My mother, she was pregnant with me when they brought her on the boat. Apparently, she gave birth at sea, and they didn’t have the correct equipment, so she died. Threw her overboard and left me with one of the other women on the boat” you explained, no clear emotion in your voice.

“I’m sorry” Jungkook looked over at you and you met his eyes, smiling.

“It’s fine. I’m not really upset over it I mean I’ve never met my mother and it feels stupid to be angry over the death of someone I don’t know. I’ve lived a somewhat decent life” you shrug. “My friend, the one that died, his father didn’t like me too much, I’m pretty sure I heard him more than once planning my death. I brought a bad reputation to his business. Then the king’s orders came out.”

“King’s orders? He kicked you out?” Jungkook asked and you shook your head.

“Nope. The king sent out a notice to all villages last year, whoever catches the group of foreign spies will be sent to work in the palace. It’s easier to lay low in smaller villages further away from the capital. The old man didn’t kick me out, I left before he could know. The lady that looked after me on the boat, the wife of my friend’s father, she died last year. His father was becoming more hostile each day so I told my friend I wanted to find where I really came from so, he wouldn’t convince me to stay” You look back up at the sky, “He told me he had a friend that owned a boat who could help me to the country over, but we never made it to the coastline”

“Do you still want to leave?” Jungkook voiced after a moment of processing what you’d told him, you shrugged.

“Not sure. Maybe I’m not meant to leave and that’s why I’m somehow still alive and my friend isn’t”

“It’s not your fault” Jungkook tries to console you and a sad puff of air leaves your mouth.

“I still feel guilty. But I think he lives with the stars now. Hopefully with his mother” you look over at Jungkook, a solemn smile on your face.

“Did you love him?” Jungkook asks, your mind takes a minute to process his question. A little out there but you reply, nonetheless.

“Romantically? Not really. His mother was like my own, and although his father was a mean son of a bitch to me, he didn’t seem to like his son all that much either. He felt like my brother, I guess. We did have a fake wedding when we were young though. He was 4 years older than me; he was the best thing that happened to me” you smile, after a moment of silence you ask “You have a sob story behind being a demon?” a playful lilt in your voice, hoping to steer the topic away from your past.

The pretty bunny smile stretches across his face, his eyes locking with your own. Jungkook turns his body towards your own, and you follow. Both sat criss-cross legged in-front of each-other.

“Something like that” he chuckles, he seemed to have come to terms with his past. “I was exiled out of my village because I had four arms, my parents refused to even acknowledge me as their son. I found this other demon who told me what I was and then I found myself here” he motions to the courtyard, “More people found out about me, and they donate their money so they have healthy land, that’s how Taehyung and I pay for all of our food and clothes”

“Is that why the villagers thought you were messing with their land” you giggle and Jungkook shrugs, trying his hardest to supress a grin.

“Probably. I’m not the demon of the land though. Not sure where that rumour came from” he comically places a finger on his chin in thought.

“What are you the demon of then?” you inquire, curiosity peaked.

“This mountain” he puffs out his chest, proud.

“So, this mountain belongs to you?” you ask, and he nods. “That’s pretty cool” you hum, “do you have any special powers?”

Jungkook takes a moment, ears turning a little red “Kind of” he mummers and you nod, urging him to continue.

“It’s not that special” he tells you, “I can control the spirits of this mountain, and I know basic spells”

“Spirits?” your head tilts in question, Jungkook suppresses as smile at the cute gesture you make when curious about something.

“Yeah, I wasn’t the first one to inhabit the mountain, it was home to some tigers back in the day and once they died, I made a contract with a few. Plus, some other spirits that could come in handy one day.” He explains and you nod in understanding. You wondered what a real-life tiger would look like, your friend had told you they were magical creatures. Although he had never seen one before he died, he told you of the myths that surrounded the creatures that lived high in the mountainous areas of the country.

It was quiet for a while, just the wind and rustling of leaves echoing off the walls of the Hanok. Both of you looking up at the stars.

You let out a yawn, Jungkook taking notice of how your head almost tipped forward into his lap. A small smile gracing his lips, “Seems like it’s time for bed” he tells you, and you slowly nod. Mind working a little slower, clouded with sleep.

“Thank you, Jungkook. It’s nice having someone believe your story” you smile, going to hand the blanket back to Jungkook but he just shakes his head. “It’s going to stay this cold all night, keep it” his head motions towards your room and you nod, smiling. One that reaches your eyes, a genuine smile Jungkook notes.

“Goodnight” he calls out as you step into your room.

“Good night Jungkook”

+++

After that evening, it seemed there was less hostility between the three of you. And as you became more comfortable with both boys, you couldn’t have been any happier. You weren’t sure how much time had passed, the days merging into weeks and weeks turning into months.

You three continued your routine, you helping Taehyung cook, sweeping leaves and washing clothes, time alone to explore, however your embarrassing secret was let out after Jungkook had given you a book he had ‘finished reading’ and said you might enjoy it, the cover had a picture of a full moon, stars scattered around it with a boy looking up at the sky. He had noticed you hadn’t taken of the books off his shelf, thinking maybe you weren’t exactly comfortable enough yet in his home to take a book as you please. He soon found out; you didn’t know how to read.

“Jungkookie taught me how to read so I can teach you” Taehyung had said, while your cheeks turned a bright red. Your eyes were downcast, refusing to look at either of them.

“No, really it’s okay” you whispered. Jungkook let out a loud laugh, your eyes shooting up to look at him, eyebrows furrowed asking him what was so funny.

“Stop being silly and come here” he pulled a cushion beside him, patting it. You timidly walked over and plopped yourself down next to him.

“Tae-ah can you get some paper and ink?” he asked the ebony haired boy, who quickly nodded. Scuttering to go and get the supplies for Jungkook.

Within no time, Taehyung was running back into the room, stack of paper help against his chest and a jar of ink and a thin quill to write with.

“First I’ll teach you the alphabet, then you can learn to write as well” he explained, grabbing a sheet of paper.

Your eyes followed the fluid movements of his wrist as he scribbled down 24 letters.

While eating dinner, your mind would try to remember how Jungkook had written each of the characters so you could get them perfect when he asked you to write something down. That night, even once Taehyung had gone to bed, the two of you sat in the candle lit room, knees touching as Jungkook taught you, from all basic characters, to vowels, to how to form words and basic sentences. He supposed because you knew how to speak the language you were learning quickly, already able to form basic words without his help. Your handwriting was a little sloppy, but he thought it was endearing, cute in its own way, and so very much you.

He felt bad, having remembered you’d grown up in the village where there was limited access to books, or the correct facilities to even teach you things like how to read, or write or about the world.

At some point in the night, you’d asked Jungkook if he could read part of the book he had given you that afternoon. Agreeing, he began to read. When he looked up after the first chapter to see if you liked it, he couldn’t help but smile as he watches you. Head leaning on your arms, eyes closed, deep in sleep. He often wondered what you dream about, your past? Your new home? With him (and Taehyung but he’s usually pushed out of the picture), the stars? He caught you more times than he had fingers (which was a lot) sitting looking up at the stars at night before he’d grab you a blanket and just sit there and watch with you.

One night, he’s asked if you were waiting for something to happen. You’d told him you didn’t know, you just liked looking at what was beyond you. Were there people living on the stars? Did they whisper to each other when everyone else was asleep? You didn’t know and probably never will, but it was nice sitting and watching them, wondering how many other people around the globe or other planets, even galaxies were looking at the same stars you were looking at in that same moment in time.

The night after when you’d been looking up at the large full moon, Jungkook had cleared his throat to get your attention. With rose-dusted cheeks he shoved a glass jar into your hands, a muslin cloth covering the top, a thick piece of ribbon holding it in place.

Inside the jar was more fireflies than you could count. “Since I can’t exactly get you any stars, these were the closest thing I could think of” he rubbed the back of his neck. Your eyes stung, tears threatening to spill over and cascade down your soft cheeks. Jungkook noticed this “I’m sorry” he blurted, “please don’t cry” he frantically waved his hands around, not sure if he could hold you, or if that would make you uncomfortable and hate him. His mind raced a mile a minute, until he heard your happy laugh filling the space of the courtyard.

Before he could comprehend that you weren’t upset, you ran and wrapped your arms around his mid-section, arms holding him between the small gap between his first and second pair of arms. Slowly he wrapped his top pair of arms around your shoulder, the bottom ones snaking around your waist. It was weird, having so many arms around you at one time but it was nice, safe even.

“Thank you” you squeezed him tighter, words kind of muffled because of your face buried in his chest. “I’ll keep them for the rest of my life” you looked up at him, the biggest smile he has ever seen on you gracing your face.

He decided he liked this. ‘this’ could be your wide smile. ‘this’ could be you in his arms. ‘this’ moment in time. Maybe a mix of all three, but his heart swelled, he couldn’t help but give you an equally as wide smile, his eyes crinkling as he looked down at you.

You’d placed the jar beside your bed, eyes watching the insects buzz around each other in the jar, a warm glow filling the expanse of your bedroom. And for the first night since you’d arrived here months ago, it felt a little more like home.

+++

You and Taehyung were laying under a tree to get out of the autumn afternoon sun. Taehyung was laying in a ‘T’ shape, your head resting on his upper arm, eyes closed. You’d both finished washing up the pots you’d used to cook lunch and you’d swept up all the fallen leaves.

“Are you planning to stay?” Taehyung broke the silence, and you opened your eyes. Turning your head to look at him, and he turned his head to look at you. Your noses were almost touching at the close proximity, and you giggled, he looked funny this close up. You could get a better look at the cute mole at the end of his nose.

“Stay?” you asked, and he hummed, staring into your eyes. “I haven’t thought about it yet. I don’t want to intrude; you’ve already been too kind to me” you tell him, and Taehyung turns his body to the side so you follow.

“I’d be happy if you stayed. Jungkook won’t mind, he took me in and I’m still here” he smiles at you, bright boxy smile showing, and you can’t help but mirror his actions.

“I guess I can stay for a while longer” you tease and Taehyung giggles, poking at your cheek with his index finger.

He can’t help but admire your face, the sun peeking through the gaps of the branches shining like slices of orange across your face.

“How did you and Jungkook meet?” your eyes never left his.

“I was a painter in the village I grew up in, I didn’t have any family, so it was hard for me to live there especially with my only income being from my art.” He looks up, reminiscing the past, “Jungkook was wandering through the village when he stopped outside of my small home and told me, he really liked my paintings. I think he could see I was struggling to survive and asked if I wanted to come and work for him. He’d feed me, pay for my art supplies and then we just fell into this routine” he turned his head to look back at you, your eyes were wide with wonder and he couldn’t help but scrunch his nose up at how cute you were, “I got to travel a lot as well, now that you’re here we could do so much together, have you ever seen the sea?” he asked you and you shook your head.

“What’s the sea like?” you asked him, and he took a moment to think about it, eyes looking into your own. He explains to you how far the sea stretches, how when there are no clouds in the sky it looks like the sea and the sky become one. All the little sea creatures he’d seen last time he went, the fish, an eel he even saw a bright red crab that snapped at his fingers when he tried to touch it, that story made you laugh.

“When the sun hits the water it looks like diamonds that the ladies in the capital wear, and I really like the feeling of the water between my toes”

“Let’s go together one day” you tell him softly, and he smiles, nodding, “where else can we go?” you were looking at him like he had all the answers in the world, and he makes a noise in the back of his throat in thought.

“Wherever you want to go, I’ll take you” he says, and you scrunch your nose in reply at his cheesy answer, but grin up at him nonetheless.

“I think I’ll like it as long as you and Jungkook are there”

He smiles at that, happy to know that you really will fit into the small family they were forming. And so, as you both lay there, under the tree in a comfortable silence, he daydreams about all the trips he wants to take with you. Maybe he could visit the capital with you, you both could sit and watch people walk by, judging what they did by the clothes that they wore. He could take you to the mountainous area where all the tiger’s live, he’d make sure you wouldn’t get hurt but he’s sure you’d love the majestic creatures. Maybe he could take you to the village that he grew up in and show you the lake that he would play in as a child, he thinks you’d like that too.

Daydreams of places turned to daydreams scenarios, waking up each morning and brushing your hair as you slowly became more conscious, your back leaning against his chest, riding on a horse down to the village to get food for the three of you and he could even surprise you with one of the stray dogs that hung out at the bottom of the mountain as a companion for when you explored the forest area. He’s make your clothes as you both grew old, wake you up with that tea he’s come to know you like, and then you could both live the rest of your days together with Jungkook in the hanok on the mountain where no one could ruin the perfect bubble you had formed.

+

As the seasons changed, so did the weather. It was early evening, you’d gone to bed early, the day having been busy preparing for the winter months that were just around the corner. The echo of the wind rattled the door as you calmly lay there, mind void of any thoughts. Just as you were drifting off to sleep the loud crack of thunder made you shoot up in bed. Your eyes frantically looked around the room, you flinched when you heard another bang. Body shuddering when the patter of rain began to hit the wooden roof of the hanok.

You’d never been fond of the rain; it had never brought you and good memories. When you were 5, your friend’s father had locked you in a box because you accidently broke one of his wooden ornaments for a customer. He told you “bad children stay in the wooden box for 2 days”; your friend had never suffered the same punishment but who were you to argue with the scary old man? On the first night it had started to rain, the thick mud clogging all holes from the bottom half of the box as it begun to sink further into the ground, the pelting rain starting to gather inside the box. Before you knew it you were screaming, crying for anyone to come and save you before you drowned in the wooden box, the sound of rain pattering against the wooden box was causing your heart rate to pick up. Then you were submerged in the icy rainwater. You couldn’t breathe, lungs becoming tighter the longer you held your breath, head getting heavy and dizzy. Small hands pushing at the top of the box to try and get it to open. Soon your body felt numb, fingers paling, joints locking together. Maybe the gods took pity on you, your friend had saved you. He was only 9 at the time, it must have been just as hard on him to know his friend had almost drowned because of his father.

The second bad experience with bad rain came when you were 15. The nice woman that had taken you in was arguing with her husband, so you decided you’d go on a stroll. You knew you were the reason behind their constant arguments; She wanted to keep you, he didn’t. You’d been dragging a stick across the damp soil of the forest, crickets’ chirps echoing across the plain expanse of the land. You could smell it before the rain started, how the wind had picked up, a chill running down your body, clad in thin cloth. The smell of fresh, damp earth was somewhat calming, being in an open space where you weren’t suffocated by the stares of the village people or the constant yelling about how you didn’t belong. The rain began to pour. The leaves could only intercept so much before they became too heavy and large raindrops began to thump down onto the soil. You kept walking, hair soaked and clothes trying their best to absorb the water. You stopped in a clearing, a yelp of an animal causing your ears to perk up. You followed the yowling, spotting a small fox-like creature stuck in a dip next to a stream.

You looked behind you, biting your lip in thought before letting out a sigh as the animal began to cry out once more. Dropping your stick and kneeling you took off your shoes before peering back over the ledge to look down at the animal. Your eyes scanned the area, trying to find the best way to get down without slipping, the earth too loose to climb down as you would have liked.

“It’s okay” you said lowly to not startle the animal, carefully trying to step down the ledge.

Your foot slipped, a gasp falling from your lips, and you tried to grab onto something. A sharp rock caught the skin on your arm. When you reached the bottom of the ledge, sat next to the animal you looked down at your arm. There was a large gash, it hurt a lot. But you had a job to do. The animal was hostile at first, a hissing noise coming from the back of its throat.

“It’s okay, it’s okay” you hushed, “I’m going to get us out of here”

After a minute of standing there, just looking at each other, the animals on guard stance loosened. The rain continued to belt down on the both of you, you pushed your hair out of your face, slowly and carefully taking a step towards the animal, your hands began to reach for it. It hissed at you again, your hands retreated quickly, eyes widening.

“Um, what do I do?” you asked no one, bare feet sinking into the soil.

After a minute, you bent forward, patting your back signalling for the animal to jump on your back and up onto the ledge. It felt like forever before you felt a weight on your back, a smile spreading on your face, when the weight was gone you looked up at the animal, it looked back down at you in a silent thanks before it scurried off out of sight. The rain kept pouring, the pitter patter white noise in the background, your thoughts racing. How were you meant to get back up?

You tried to jump up and grab the ledge, because the land was so soggy, you fell back with two handfuls of moist soil. Your foot slipped, falling back into the stream. You hit your head on a large rock, head dizzy, you closed your eyes so the rainwater wouldn’t hit them. The surrounding water turning red with your blood. That was when you thought this was the end for you. All because of the rain. You really hated the rain. It only ever brought you misfortune.

You opened the door to your bedroom, jar of fireflies tucked in your arms, you peaked at the rain hitting the ground of the courtyard. You couldn’t go to Taehyung’s room; his room was over the bridge meaning you’d have to walk in the rain near a large body of water, in pitch black darkness. Your head turned to look at the room at the end of the building, you could see the candlelight seeping at the bottom of the door. Swallowing thickly, your footsteps were light as you tiptoed your way to Jungkook’s room.

You stood outside Jungkook’s room for what felt like an eternity before you lightly tapped on his door. You heard shuffling before he cracked the door open. He looked down at you, then at the jar held tightly in your hands.

“You okay?” he asked, opening the door further motioning for you to come inside.

“I don’t- I was just- well, you see” you pointed at the door, taking a breath. “I get scared when it rains” you say so quietly you hope Jungkook didn’t hear it. You already had plans to scuttle back to your room and shove your head under a pillow.

“So, you want to sleep here?” he asked, and you gulped.

“I didn’t think that far ahead” you admit and Jungkook smiles.

“I’ll tell you a secret” he motions for you to come closer; you slide a little towards him. He bends down to whisper into your ear, “Demon’s don’t need to sleep, you can take my bed”

When he stood at his full height again you nodded a little, eyes looking over at the mattress on the floor before looking back at Jungkook.

“Go on” he told you.

You put the jar of fireflies down beside the pillow, carefully peeling back the blanket before laying down and pulling the blanket over your chin.

“Jungkook?” you voiced, and he hummed, letting you know he was listening. “Can you sit beside me?”

Without saying a word, Jungkook grabbed the pillow he was sitting on and placed it beside the bed. He opened his book back up, “sleep” he told you, “You had a busy day”

In all honesty, he’d been reading the same line repeatedly for the last hour, his eyes trailing up to look at your face, checking if you were sleeping okay. No bad dreams plaguing your mind. The left hand that wasn’t holding his book slowly, hesitantly reaching to push your hair back before this thumb gently ran across your cheek bone. He froze as a small sigh left your lips, before his hand trailed down to rub across your jaw.

The pattering of rain outside was calming, Jungkook felt full, happy. Maybe after over a hundred years on this earth, he had made it. He now had his small family, you and Taehyung. He would never admit it to either of you, but he loved hearing you two giggle in the courtyard as you cleaned, watching you both cook, talk about anything and everything, listening to you ramble about the small things you’d seen on your adventure that day; all in his perfect house on the mountain. He never knew what loving felt like, what being loved back felt like, and as the rain poured outside, with your soft breaths barely noticeable if he didn’t focus on them, a tear slipped down his cheek. A happy tear, because he wanted to stay in this moment forever.

+

“Now that it’s close to winter I think it’s time to stock up on food” Taehyung told you as you sat around the pot, Jungkook somewhere else getting ready for the day.

“You went down to the village the other week though” you murmured, tongue slightly pocking from between your lips as you practiced writing.

Taehyung hummed, “Yeah but when it starts to snow, we can’t get down to the village so it’s better to stock up. I need an extra pair of hands” he told you, smiling a little at your concentration.

“Jungkook has those” you look up at him and Taehyung sniggers.

“What do I have?” Jungkook walks into the kitchen.

Taehyung looks up at him sceptically, in all his years living with Jungkook, he had never seen him enter the kitchen. “I was just saying we need to go and stock up on supplies” he informs the demon who hums. Eyes trailing to see what you were doing kneeled on the floor, elbows holding you up. His eyes crinkling as he smiles watching to concentrate on whatever you were writing. Looked like your name.

“The weather isn’t that bad today, maybe you should go before lunch”

“I was thinking of taking Y/n with me. There’s and extra mouth to feed so we might need to stock up more than usual” Taehyung looks back at the pot, mixing the soup you were working on.

Jungkook was quiet for a while, mind racing for any excuse to keep you in the safe space of his home. He let out a disgruntled sigh, head tipping back, “You finished making her winter clothes, right?”

“Of course,” Taehyung smiled wide, “Hear that angel? We get to go on an adventure” you look over at him with a grin on your face.

That’s how you found yourself stood at the gate you stood outside all those months ago, Jungkook bending down a little to pull your coat tighter around your body. “Do you need a scarf?” he asked you, eyes scanning your body one last time as you shook your head.

“I think I’ll get heat stroke” you tell him as he shakes his head.

“Kook don’t worry. We’ll be back before it starts to get dark and the temperature starts to drop” Taehyung tells his friend as he opens the gate, holding it open for you as you skip out and wait for Taehyung to mauver the wagon through the gate.

“You sure you’re okay with going?” Jungkook asks you one more time, hand holding the gate ready to open it wider to let you back in.

“I can’t stay here forever” you tell him softly, “I’ll be okay”

You could stay forever, will stay forever if he had any control over it.

Jungkook waited and watched until you and Taehyung were out of sight before he shut the gate, shoulders slumping. It felt empty. He couldn’t help the pout forming on his face. Over the last few months, when Taehyung would leave at least you would be milling around, studying, or exploring but now the silence engulfed him as he sat on the porch, watching the gate hoping you would make it home soon.

“Have you ever been to the village behind the mountain?” Taehyung asked you and you hiked down the mountain.

“Nope” you shook your head, “only the one in-front of it, over that way” you pointed over the side of the mountain as Taehyung nodded.

“I usually come to this one, they have nicer vegetables” Taehyung told you, “What was the other village like?”

You shrugged, no longer resenting the memory of your time in the village. You’d never forgive the village people for what they did, but the memory of the cell, and the harsh treatment you got and the fact they brutally killed someone you loved no longer made your blood run cold.

“I didn’t get to really see much of it. I’m sure it was pretty nice, they had everything they needed” you told him, and he nodded.

The rest of the walk was Taehyung telling you stories of when he was younger, you giggling at his memories as you peeked behind bushes and trees looking for any hidden treasures that may be hidden in the shrubs.

“Now that I think about it, I’ve never seen you paint” you tell him when he tells you about his favourite painting.

“I get embarrassed about them sometimes. Since I don’t need to sell my paintings for money anymore, they’re my little secrets” he tells you, you look back at him and stop walking.

“Please show them to me one day” you clasp your hands together and Taehyung laughs.

“One day. I’ll teach you how to draw as well if you like”

Your eyes shine, no one has wanted to teach you to draw before. “That would be amazing” you tell him, skipping ahead when you spot something scurry across the path.

“Be careful, Jungkook would throw me off the mountain if you got hurt” Taehyung warns as you try to reach the rodent.

“I’ll be fine” you shout back at him, standing straight when you can’t find it anymore.

“There it is” Taehyung tells you, pointing to the entrance of the village. It seemed nice enough, people busy, scuttering around buildings, pulling carts of food and other farming equipment.

Maybe this was all in your head, but as soon as you stepped into the village it went eerily quiet. The only sound being some farming equipment hitting the ground, the dull thump not easing your nerves.

You and Taehyung kept strolling slowly, he seemed to notice the change in atmosphere as he tried to ease the villager’s hostility with his award-winning smile. Your eyes stayed trained on the ground, you could feel all the eyes on you. Your anxiety spiked the longer you walked, lungs tightening making it harder to breathe. Taehyung seemed to notice your change in mood, he softly grabbed your wrist (now fully healed from the rope burn when you first met him) and pulled you closer to his body.

“You’re okay” he told you, pulling your arm through his.

You lifted your head to look up at Taehyung, wrong move because you made eye contact with an old man sat at his door a sneer spreading across his face. You quickly looked the other way at some chickens that were roaming freely, at least they didn’t resent your existence.

You almost fell face first when Taehyung stopped outside a small stall that had some fresh meat.

“Taehyung-ah, how have you been?” an elderly lady asked the young boy, a wide smile spread across his face.

“I’ve been good, nana” he tells her, eyes scanning over what she had to offer. “I’m planning to stock up for the winter, so I’ll need a lot of meat today”

A wide smile graces her face as she starts to grab chunks of meat, neatly placing them in a woven bag.

“And who’s this?” she asked, looking up, motioning to you who still had your eyes on the ground trying to cover your face with your hair.

“Ahh” Taehyung smiled, “This is my friend” he nudged you.

“It’s nice to meet you” you looked up mustering the best smile you can.

“She’s a pretty one” she winks at Taehyung who laughs as your cheeks flush pink.

“Thank you, ma’am” you shyly reply, her smile so contagious you can’t stop the grin from stretching across your face.

“Call me nana, little one” she tells you and you nod.

“Yes nana” you reply

“If things don’t work out then send her my way. My son really needs to settle down soon” she jokes with Taehyung when your attention is taken by a stray cat, although there was an underlying truth in her words.

“She’s staying for a while, sorry” Taehyung replies as he drops the coins into her wrinkled hand.

“I added some extra meat in there, you’re all skin and bones” She nudges your arm when you face her again. Meanwhile Taehyung carefully places the multiple bags of meat into the wagon.

“You shouldn’t have done that” Taehyung tells her, and she shakes her head.

“Nonsense”

You and Taehyung wave goodbye to your new friend and slowly make your way further into the centre of the village.

When Taehyung stopped at an old man’s vegetable stall you quietly slipped away from his side. The old man kept side eyeing you, clearly suspicious of you standing so close to his stall.

You wandered around the corner of a building, a small table outside of someone’s house catching your eye. The person behind the table looked to be a boy similar in age to you selling small wooden carved ornaments. A small bunny caught your eyes as you slowly made your way to stand in-front of the table. You squatted down to look at it. It reminded you of a certain four-armed demon.

“Do you like it?” the boy asked, and you nodded, looking up at him. He had a smile in his face, no malice in his gaze whatsoever, “Would you like to buy it?” he asked you after your gaze fell on the small bunny again. It was no bigger than the size of your palm, but the details were beautiful.

“Did you make these?” you asked him, motioning to the rest of the ornaments on the table. He had carved out cats, and dogs, you could even see small people scattered here and there. He hummed in reply.

“Yeah, it’s a hobby of mine but helps my family pay for meals”

Before you could tell him that you’d be leaving, you heard Taehyung call out for your name clearly now realising you weren’t by his side anymore.

“I’ll be back in a minute” you told the boy who nodded. And maybe if you’d gone to look back you would have seen the hatred in his eyes.

“TaeTae I’m here” you called for him and he quickly turned around engulfing you in a firm hug.

“Don’t wander off like that, what if I lost you?” he asked, clear distress in his voice.

“Do you have any spare coins?” you asked him as he looked down at you in his arms.

“Yes, did you see something you want to buy?” he asked you as you nodded.

Taehyung rummaged in his pockets and pulled out two silver coins, “I’m going to be over there where the paint brushes are” he told you, pointing to an open door. You nodded in understanding.

If you weren’t back with him within 3 minutes he would go and look for you. Taehyung watched you turn around the corner, a weird feeling settling in his stomach but he wanted to buy some new paint brushes so he could teach you how to paint when you both got home. Maybe he could even splurge on the nicer paper for the both of you he’s sure Jungkook wouldn’t mind.

You stood in-front of the table again. You held your hand out, palm up with the two coins. “May I have the bunny?” you asked, and the boy smiled.

He roughly grabbed the two coins, picking up the carved bunny and when you put your hand out to take it, he dropped it to the floor. You bent down to pick it up, something hard thumping on the back of your head. You stood up straight with the bunny securely held in your right hand, a dull thumping against the back of your skull. You looked down at the ground behind you and saw a rock laying beside your feet. Your head snapped towards the woodwork boy when he let out a loud whistle and before you could comprehend what was going on you felt multiple rocks being thrown at your back. You whipped around to try and see who was throwing stones at you, which was a bad decision on your part because one of the boys threw a sharp stone at you, gashing your cheek. The cut ran from the top of your cheekbone to your jaw, blood starting to drip down your neck soaking into your shirt. It stung, the pain causing your eyes to brim with tears, arms now lifting up to cover your face.

Someone shoved you from behind causing you to fall forward, sleeves of your coat ripping on impact. You gripped the bunny even tighter, the wood indenting into your skin at how hard you were holding it. A yelp escaped your lips as someone kicked you hard in the ribs repeatedly causing you to fall onto your side. Just as you’d covered your face readying yourself for the punch you could see one of the boy’s was winding up for a loud shout caused all of your heads to look in the direction it came from.

Taehyung looked furious, you’d never seen him anything but smiles and sunshine. His usual chirpy eyes were now clouded with anger, eyes a dark onyx as he stalked his way towards the group of boys that stood over your cowering body. You shuddered, you weren’t sure if it was from the pain, the adrenaline, or the look in Taehyung’s eyes. Your lungs struggled to get enough air, the only sound being you trying to breathe properly.

“What do you think you’re doing” Taehyung barked once he reached the group of boys who had retreated from standing over you. He grabbed the collar of the woodwork boy, “You lay a hand on her again, I swear on your mother’s life you won’t have any hands to make your stupid fucking ornaments with anymore.” He growled, shoving the boy back, kneeling down beside you who was lying in a puddle of your own blood. You curled yourself further into a ball when a shadow of body cast over your back, not knowing it was Taehyung. He watched you for a moment, body trembling and breaths coming out so fast he was sure you weren’t getting enough oxygen.

“Hey angel, it’s me” he lightly brushed his hands up and down your back, watching your body let out another shudder. “Can I pick you up?” He asked you softly, letting out a sigh of relief when you nod.

He steps over you so he’s facing your front, and as carefully as he could he slipped his hands under your knees and behind your back trying his hardest to not hurt you anymore than you already were. A small whimper escaped you when Taehyung stood at full height.

“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry” He whispered against your head as he slowly laid you down in the wagon. He sent one more glare as a warning to the group of boys before he grabbed the handle of the wagon and slowly started making his way back towards the mountain.

Your mind felt fuzzy, body completely numb, chest pulsing dully every time you inhaled. With your adrenaline becoming less prominent, tears cascaded down your cheeks, breaths still coming in short bursts as you looked up at the sky. The sun was starting to set, it would probably be dark by the time you got home. Your grip slowly began to release the wooden bunny, you hoped Jungkook would like the gift. You knew that it would take more than a small wooden bunny to repay him for his kindness, but the bunny could be a start.

At some point Taehyung had ripped part of his shirt and held it against the gash on your cheek to stop it from bleeding. You could hear him talking to you, asking you to stay awake and telling jokes but you could hear the strain in his voice as he forced out a laugh to try and lighten the mood.

You didn’t say anything. You wanted to reply to Taehyung, you really did but it hurt enough to breathe. Taehyung would look back every few minutes, making sure you were still conscious.

+++

Jungkook was seething when Taehyung had walked through the gate. Why were you guys so late? His eyes tried to find your body behind Taehyung, heart dropping when he couldn’t spot you. That was until Taehyung dropped the handle of the wagon to go and close the gate where Jungkook spotted you with part of Taehyung’s ripped shirt pressed against your cheek. Eyes looking over at Taehyung who stood, shoulders hunched with your blood smeared on his shirt. Taehyung didn’t look any better, eyes sunken, skin pale even when the moon was the only source of light in the silent courtyard.

Jungkook shot up from where he was sat, taking quick steps to help Taehyung carry you out of the wagon. He held you in his first pair of arms, the blood from the scratches on your arms smudging onto the expensive silk of his hanbok. He tried to get you to remove Taehyung’s shirt from your face, but you just weakly shook your head. You feel the dull ache of the cut, felt how it ran from your cheek to your jaw, felt the dribbling blood running down your neck.

“We’ll talk later” Jungkook turned back to look at Taehyung who weakly nodded, hands holding onto the wagon for support.

Jungkook wasted no time in leaning you to sit up against his bedroom wall before sprinting out to the end room where all the supplies were kept. He grabbed the large wooden bucket that you usually washed the clothes in and went to the bath house to fill it with water. He stood there, foot tapping against the floor impatiently as he watched the water slowly start to fill the bucket. He let out a grunt, it wasn’t even halfway full before he snatched it up from the ground. It was at this moment he thanked his lucky stars he had enough arms to carry all the supplies he needed so he only needed to take one trip instead of several.

As he slipped back into the room, he took in your form sat on the floor. You hadn’t moved an inch since he sat you down.

“Y/n, hey. You’re still with me yeah?” he asked kneeling down in-front of you. He dropped the bucket beside him, and the box of medical supplies between the two of you before he took your face into his hands.

“I’m fine” you tell him after a moment of silence, eyes holding no emotion.

“You’re not fine, let me take a look” he pries the shirt away from the side of your face. His eyes flit over to the gash, a frown instantly stretched across his face, eyebrows pinched together as if he was the one in pain. “Oh, my love” he muttered, your mind too hazy to fully comprehend what he just called you, “It’s okay, I’ll fix it” he told you, holding the good side of your face with his hand, he smiled sadly as you tilted your head into his palm. A silent comfort. He leaned forward and pressed a feather light kiss on the apple of your cheek, just above where the cut started before, he leaned back, one hand still holding your face as he used his other hands to open the box of medical supplies.

You wanted to tell him there was nothing to fix, you’d had cuts equally as bad as a child and that it will heal in no time, but you didn’t understand the underlying meaning in his words. He wouldn’t lose this.

“Jungkook, really, I’m fine. I think it was the shock of the situation that made this all worse” you told him as he rummaged through the box of medical supplies. Ribs burning when you took in a large breath.

He looked up at you for a moment, deciding to ignore your comment as he went back on his search for a towel or cloth or anything so he could clean the blood away from the cut. He let out a small ‘aha’ when he found some cloth and soaked it in the bucket of water.

“Tell me if it hurts too much” he told you as he carefully began to dab the cool, wet cloth around the area of your cut.

You closed your eyes, eyebrows pinching every now and then, head pulling away slightly when he would touch a tender part of skin. “I’m sorry” he would murmur every time you’d flinch back.

He tried to soothe you with his thumb gently rubbing at the skin under your ear. “It doesn’t look like it will need stitches” he told you, a look of relief washing over his face once you opened your eyes again.

“Wait here” he told you after dropping the bloodied cloth into the now blood-stained water. Now that he knew you weren’t going to pass out, he was a little less frantic in his steps, although his pace was still quick. He went to your bedroom to get some fresh clothes, and some more towels to clean the smaller scratches on your arms.

When he entered the room again, he saw you lifting your shirt, looking down at your ribs. A big purple bruise had formed from where you had been kicked by one of the boys. Jungkook winced just as hard as you did when you poked the tender skin.

He stepped further into the room, dropping down to kneel in-front of you again as he pulled up your shirt sleeves. The scratches on your arms were nowhere near as bad as your face but that didn’t change the fact you had been beaten, Jungkook’s jaw clenched, eyebrows furrowing in anger as he really took a moment to look over you slumped against his bedroom wall. You poked between his eyebrows, and he looked at you confused.

“I can see the cogs working in your head. I told you I’m okay” you tell him, and he sighs as he lifts up your left arm, so delicately anyone would think you’re made of glass. He gently dapped the wet cloth over your skin, the pain minuscule compared to the pain you felt every time you took in a large breath.

He wrapped a bandage around both of your arms so that the cuts wouldn’t get infected before he placed some pyjamas in your lap. “I’ll leave the room, tell me when you’ve changed” he stands up and you hum in reply.

Once Jungkook left the room, you use the wall as support to help you stand. You hand shoots to cover your mouth as you bend down to take your pants off, the pain shooting through your system. It hurt a little less when you went to lift your shirt over your head. You wiped your eyes, before you looked down at the pyjamas you needed to change into. Gently bending down, you found a way to put your clothes back on with a lot less pain than when you’d taken them off.

You slowly dragged your feet towards the door, body exhausted from the events of the day. You slowly opened it, slipping out of Jungkook’s room. As you turned to walk back to your own room you saw him leaning against the wall.

“Where are you going?” he turned towards you, and you pointed behind him.

“The bedroom” you told him, he noticed how you hadn’t called the room your own, a frown setting on his face. You knew this was your home now, right?

“It’s behind you” he pointed to his own room making you shake your head.

“Jungkook, that’s your room” you tell him as he waves you off.

“Mine, yours, what’s the difference? Is it because my bed doesn’t have enough pillows? Oh! You need your jar of stars to help you sleep right?” he guided you back into his room, sitting you down on his bed. “Stay here” his tone left no room for question.

He made quick strides towards your old bedroom, hands gathering up the large pile of pillows scattered around your bed. He’d thought it was adorable when you’d shyly asked him for extra pillows all those months ago, stuttering to explain that it feels comforting to be surrounded by something while sleeping. He’d teased you about it, watching your cheeks light up an even brighter red before he’s laughed and told you where you could find the extra supplies.

He also bent down to grab the jar of fireflies that you always had beside your bed before he took long strides back to your his bedroom. As he opened the door to the bedroom, he dropped the pillows onto the ground, carefully placing the jar down beside them, looking around the whole room as if you were hiding behind the limited furniture. He couldn’t see you hiding under the table, and you weren’t under the blanket, they were a little ruffled from where you had been sitting moments ago but still tucked in. There were no other hiding places.

“Y/n?” he called out, panic setting in. What if you had left? Or someone had taken you? No, no one would dare enter his home, humans were too cowardice, but another demon? Maybe Taehyung took you, he would snap the boy’s neck if he had. “Y/n this isn’t funny, come here right now” his voice was a mix of desperation and anger.

Jungkook shoved open his bedroom door wide, eyes scanning the courtyard, heartrate picking up as he tried to find any sign that you were there in the pitch black of the night. Ears listening for any rustling or footsteps or your breathing, anything. His fist banged against the wall.

“Jungkook?” you called him, worried as you watched him with his head in his hands, the candlelight from his bedroom causing a shadow to cover half of his face. His head shot up, eyes meeting your own where you sat inside the wagon.

“Love? What are you doing in there?” his bare feet touched the dewy grass.

“I forgot I bought you a gift, but it was too dark to see” you tell him innocently, the compressed feeling in his chest deflated as he smiled you sweetly. He held you under your elbows, and you let out a yelp at the strength he was showing.

“Please put me down” you turn your head to look at him and he just lets out a chuckle.

“Your feet will get dirty” he tells you lightly, happy now that you were in his arms.

He sat you down on his bed, turning around to grab the pillows he had dropped earlier. “Lay down” he told you, “I want to keep an eye on your condition just in case something happens”

You nod, in no mood to argue as you lay down with the bunny still held tight in your palm. “Kook?” you call him, he hums not turning around from grabbing the pillows.

“Can you come here?” you ask, and he instantly stands straight, turning towards you. He lets out a breathless ‘yes’ and he drops the pillows at the end of the mattress before kneeling beside you. “Hand, please”

He does so without hesitation. You place the small bunny into his hand, he looks down at it and then at you. “I wanted to wash it because it got dirty but it’s too dark right now” you tell him.

“You got this for me?” his eyes meet your own before they flit back to the bunny, his finger’s run over the intricate details and you nod.

One of his hands pushed the hair from your forehead as he smiled down at you. It was silent for a moment; the room was lit in the warm orange glow of the candlelight. You thought Jungkook looked more like an angel than a demon even if he did have an extra pair of arms. He looked into your eyes, and he thought maybe you could look into his soul, maybe you were trying to find the secrets that lay beneath is dark irises, he had to look away. He knew that his plan for keeping you here with him for eternity would upset you, but you were meant to be with him, weren’t you? Why would the earth hand him you on a silver platter just for you to leave him so soon?

“Sleep now. I’ll stay beside you tonight” he leans over to the end of the bed to grab the pillows, fluffing them around you, barricading you from all evil in the world. Shame they couldn’t save you from his own selfish desires.

You’d fallen asleep relatively quickly although Jungkook wasn’t surprised. He quietly slipped out of the room, careful not to wake you as he took light steps to a room on the opposite side of the courtyard. He pulled a key out of his pocket, fingers light as he unlocked the door. He let out a curse as the loud click echoed off the walls, praying that you didn’t wake up.

He held up the candle higher as he walked into the room. It was eerily silent, the only sound the creaking of the wood panels below Jungkook’s feet. His fingers skimmed over the spines of each book, the room full, floor to ceiling with large bookshelves. He bit his lip when he got to the fourth shelf, and he still hadn’t found what he was looking for.

“I know it’s here” he told himself, eyes raking over the hundreds of books before he smiled to himself. He found it.

From the outside the book looked ominous, old, like it had been used over and over again until the cover was frail, and pages started slipping out.

Jungkook locked the door to the room before slowly walking back to the bedroom. He opened the first page, eyes catching on the title.

‘Conversion of the mortal’

He flipped the page, biting his lip to suppress a smile as he skimmed through the steps.

Ingredients for spell: sage, rose petals, grain, demon blood, animal bone of choice, Blah blah blah.

Draw magic circle on floor with desired demon’s blood…

Said demonic blood must enter the body of the mortal, enchanted object can and is recommended to be used to do this for optimum effect…

Enchantment must be spoken with mortal within the circle…

Upon removing enchanted object, mortal should have lived if not then procedure failed...

Results include: stopping of ageing, quicker healing time, immunity to illness and other symptoms depending on the mortal used.

It seemed easy enough.

+++

“I know you just went to the village, but I need you to get these for me” Jungkook pushed a piece of paper across the table.

Taehyung looked down at the list, “I don’t think they’ll welcome me back for a while” he tells Jungkook who hums.

“Go to the village in-front of the mountain”

Taehyung’s face went void of emotion. He knew that you weren’t going with him this time (you were still asleep in Jungkook’s room), but he didn’t like the people from that village. They’d kept you captive! How could he not hold a grudge against them?

Taehyung could never say no to Jungkook though. He felt like he owed Jungkook his life for taking him in when he needed him the most and so without question, he grabbed the list. “I’ll leave after breakfast”

He now stood on the outskirts of the town; it was a lot quieter than he had expected it to be. As he slowly walked past what looked like recently deserted houses, he could tell from all the produce and home furniture that were still scattered around and inside each of the houses. He heard footsteps coming from further in the village, so he followed the sound.

The closer to the village centre he got, the more the land looked like it was decaying. Animal carcases were scattered over the path and the lack of people were putting Taehyung on edge. As he turned the corner he saw a familiar face. It was the farmer that had brought you up the mountain to Taehyung and Jungkook.

The farmer boy flinched when Taehyung tapped him on the shoulder, and Taehyung’s eyes widened when the boy dropped to his knees, hands clasped together.

“Please, was the sacrifice not enough?” he cried, and Taehyung stepped back when Jimin tried to grab onto his leg, “What more do you need?”

“What happened here?” Taehyung whispered in a mix of shock and confusion as he took in the surrounding area. The smell of rotting bodied putrid, making his nose burn.

“The devil” Jimin looked up at Taehyung, his eyes sunken and skin turning an ashy grey. It looked like something was gnawing away at his skin as well, “You are his companion, aren’t you? Have you come to take more from us so he will fulfil our wish?”

Taehyung gulps, he didn’t want to lie. But he nods, nonetheless. Jungkook had asked him to get these items on the list so that is what he needs to, no, wants to do.

“I need these” he places the piece of paper in-front of Jimin who snatches it from the ground in a hurry.

“Yes, yes. I can get you these, please wait here” He lifts himself from the ground before hurrying around the side of one of the buildings. His movements uncoordinated, clear pain shown by the pinch in his brows and grunts every time he took a step.

Taehyung takes the time to slowly wander around, hand over his nose at the awful stench that wouldn’t go away. The side of houses were moulding, and the air surrounding the farmland was musty. It couldn’t have been more than 5 minutes before Jimin was scurrying back to where Taehyung was, shoving a wicker basket into his hands.

“Tell the demon to rid of the disease, I beg of you. More than half the village has been eaten by the devil”

Taehyung could see the hysteria in Jimin’s eyes, and now he was worried. What if he had contracted the disease?

“Disease?” Jungkook questioned when Taehyung had told him about what Jimin had said at the village.

“Yes, he told me to tell the demon to rid of the disease that were killing the village people. It was empty Jungkook, barely anyone around. It smelt like rotting flesh” he told his friend who hummed.

“You feel fine right?” Jungkook placed his hands on his friend’s shoulder’s and Taehyung nodded.

“I don’t feel sick” he replied and Jungkook nodded before running a hand over his face. “Maybe stay on your side of the river for a few days and we will see if anything happens. I can’t catch any disease, but Y/n can so for her safety let’s keep distance for a while” he tells Taehyung who nods in understanding.

“I’ll go to my room then, come and get me if you need help cooking. My cookbook is on the side in the kitchen if you need it” he tells the demon who huffs but smiles anyways.

+++

Jungkook was on edge, you were animatedly chatting to him about something that he couldn’t pay attention to. He’d gotten used to your sleep schedule, knowing you would most likely start to get tired within the next few hours and then he could finally execute his plan.

It was easy. Gather his blood and mix it with the crushed-up ingredients, draw the circle, get some blood on the knife he had enchanted the night before while you and Taehyung were asleep, pierce the knife into your heart, say a few words and done. It was easy.

He’s practiced, he could do this.

When you’d eventually settled down to sleep, he waited in silence. The wind was howling outside, the warm glow of the candlelight cast over your soft features as you slept. He tried to push down his guilt, a small part of him knew this was wrong, knew you wouldn’t want this, but his own selfish desires overruled any sane part of his mind as all he could think about was spending the rest of his life with you by his side.

He liked the feeling of love too much to let it go, why feel heartbreak when it can be prevented? You could be happy with him; would be happy with him he knows you would be. It’s not like you had anyone to turn to, no one to save you, no one to love you like he did. And it was in that moment he decided it was time.

He wanted this process to go as smoothly as possible, so once Taehyung had come back yesterday afternoon, he began to crush all the ingredients he needed to mix with his own blood for the magic circle. He grabbed the small knife out of his front pocket, and with no hesitation he slashed at one of his hands, blood starting to pool in his palm. He allowed a few drops to fall into the bowl before mixing it all with the tip of his bloodied knife.

His face was stoic as he watched the rose petal soak up the blood before he dipped one of his fingers into the liquid and began to trace the intricate circle on the floor. He made sure it was big enough to fit your body inside of before he stood up to look at his work.

He stalked over to the table, abruptly stopping when he heard you shift in bed. He bit his lip as he turned around and let out a sigh of relief when he saw you still sleeping.

He opened the book to the page where the magic circle was drawn, he held it up above his head before turning to look at the circle he had drawn. Perfect.

Next step is to get you onto the circle. His feet were light as he made his way over to you. He carefully peeled the blanket back, hands slipping under your knees and behind your back before slowly lifting you up. He ever so slowly made his way over to the circle, holding his breath each time you would wiggle a little in his arms.

“Stay still for me” He whispered as he placed you in the centre of the circle. He grabbed the knife that was still in the bowl before straddling your wait, bottom pair of arms holding your arms above your head. He couldn’t have you thrashing around too much, you’d hurt yourself.

He lifted the knife above his head, taking in a deep breath before forcing through your skin right into your heart. The shock jolted you awake, not fully comprehending what was happening it all seemed like a blur, looking down you saw the handle of the knife protruding out of your chest, Jungkook chanting something you couldn’t understand, and an insatiable pain shooting through your body.

You began to squirm, trying to kick Jungkook off of you, crying at him to get off. “Jungkook what is going on” you grunted as he pinned your arms harder against the floor, “Stop it” you thrashed about, but he wouldn’t budge. As his chanting got louder so did the pain that was piercing through your body, you let out a loud cry, begging him to stop. The candles in the room seemed to grow brighter, and the floor beneath your back felt like it was ablaze.

And then it all stopped.

Your breathing came out in large huffs as the room went dark, tears slipping down your face from the pain, mouth wide open. It was silent for a moment before Jungkook grabbed the handle of the knife, pulling it from your chest. He laid a kiss on your forehead, “Sleep now, you won’t know any of this happened”

You don’t hear what he says, chest throbbing as you feel your own blood pour from your chest. Blankly staring up at the ceiling you close your eyes in hopes to escape whatever messed up reality you had woken up in.

Tears ran down Jungkook’s face as his eyes adjusted to the dark room, the moonlight shining onto the two of you. He thought you looked pretty like this, blissed out in sleep, serene with no worries in the world. He could only hope that you would wake up again and that he was successful in his first attempt to keep you by his side.

He laid down next to you, arms over your body as he held you close, closing his eyes.

+++

D-3 Jungkook knocked on Taehyung’s door the moment the sun had started to rise. He still had blood on his sleeves, hands in worse shape from the cut that was still healing. His foot tapped against the floor impatiently as he banged a hand against the door again.

Taehyung sluggishly opened the door, eyes widening at the state Jungkook was in. Tear-stained cheeks, eyes red and puffy and his clothes covered in blood.

“What happened?” Taehyung croaked out, letting out a dry cough. Heaving for breath. Jungkook noticed he didn’t look too well, body shaking a little as he used the door frame to help him stand.

“Tae” Jungkook reached forward, engulfing his friend in a hug, “You-“ he choked out a sob.

“I’m fine Kook. What happened to you?” he wrapped his arm around the demon’s torso, eyes brimming with tears, because he didn’t know if he would be okay. They didn’t have the correct medicine to fight off whatever disease he may have contracted, he could only hope his body wouldn’t give up on him.

“Y/n she- what if she hates me?” Jungkook grabs his hair in frustration.

“What have you done?” Taehyung grabs Jungkook’s cheeks, eyes wide in worry but his friend wouldn’t look into his eyes.

Taehyung shouldered Jungkook out of the way when Jungkook didn’t reply, he quickly made his way over to your room. He knocked on the door, but didn’t get a reply, he started to cough again, limbs burning “She’s not in there” he heard Jungkook’s voice say from behind him and before he could think where you could be, the demon rushed to block the entrance of his own bedroom.

“Jungkook?” His steps were close behind Jungkook who just shook his head.

“You can’t go in” he told Taehyung, finally taking a moment to look at the condition of his friend.

His eyes looked sunken, skin turning an ashy grey as his breaths came out in harsh puffs. “Taehyung you’re ill you should sit down”

“Not before you let me see what happened” his tone was firm, Jungkook gulped shaking his head.

“Open the door Jungkook, what have you done to her?” he grabbed his friend’s forearms, the adrenaline pumping through his system helping him pull Jungkook away from the door before harshly shoving the door open.

His heart sank at the sight, eyes trailing over the room. He first spotted the blood drawn circle on the floor in-front of his feet. His eyes watered at the sight, before his head turned to look at the bed where you were messily placed. Bile rose in his throat at the sight of you, pyjamas soaked in what he assumed to be a mix of yours and Jungkook’s blood. He tripped over his own feet, hands shaking as he knelt down beside you.

“Jungkook what have you done?” he whispers as his tears began to fall. He bent down, head resting on your chest searching for a heartbeat. His hand grabbed your wrist as he kept his head on your chest, trying to find a pulse. His breathing came out shaky, as he listened.

“I can feel a pulse” he lifts his head, eyes staring down at the serene look on you face. His hand brushed some of your hair out of your face, a sad smile on his face. He heard a thump behind him, he turned around to see Jungkook kneeling on the floor, head in his hands.

“Thank you” Jungkook muttered to himself as he rocked back and forth a little, eyes trailing to look over at Taehyung who had your face in his hands.

Taehyung leaned his head against the wall, coughing loudly. He looked down at the hand he used to cover his mouth only to see blood.

D-2 the rest of yesterday was spent with Jungkook, and Taehyung sat on opposite sides of the room, Taehyung with his head in his knees and Jungkook with his legs crossed staring into space.

That morning Taehyung had woken up with his skin moulding like he had seen Jimin’s two day’s prior when he visited the village. His flesh dark and itchy as it clawed its way up his body. His cough only got worse, each time coughing up more blood than the last. The virus had been eating away at his organs, slowly making its way to his heart. It hurt whenever he tried to breathe. His insides starting to feel like liquid fire. He couldn’t stomach any food, and no matter how much he drank the feeling of dehydration wouldn’t go away.

“Taehyung please go and lay down” Jungkook looked up at Taehyung who shook his head.

“Not when she’s like this, don’t make me leave” Taehyung whispered, his body couldn’t really do much more than that, his chest heaving.

Jungkook’s gaze moved between the two of you, worried Taehyung would tip and faint any moment, and you to check if you were still breathing, the shallow rise and fall of your chest reassuring him that you were still alive.

The atmosphere of the room was gloomy, air musty, the only sound being to harsh winter wind rattling to door every now and then. Occasionally Taehyung would cough and wheeze, Jungkook watching him from the other side of the room.

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have made you go to the village. I fucked up” Jungkook spoke up that afternoon breaking the solemn silence of the room.

“Don’t be sorry. I should have left when I noticed something was wrong” he sadly smiles.

“You’ll be okay, I know you will. Right?” Jungkook asked eyes brimming with tears, he wasn’t sure who he was trying to reassure more, himself or Taehyung.

“I’ll be okay” Taehyung whispered, head tipping back to lean against the wall.

D-1

it was this day when Taehyung knew he was dying.

He wasn’t sure how long he had left. It didn’t feel like long, and a lone tear escaped his eye.

“Kook?” he called out, Jungkook’s shallow eyes met his friends, humming to let him know he was listening.

“Can you go and get my paintbrushes and paper? I don’t think I can get up anymore” he looked down at his bare legs, biting his lip at how bad it looked and how painful it felt.

Jungkook looked over at you before he nodded, standing up, dragging his feet out of his room.

Taehyung looked over at you, a hand coming to run over his face at the situation he was in. As selfish as it seemed, he was happy he wouldn’t be dying alone. Even if you were unconscious, you’d still be beside him during his last breath. He wanted to paint once more before he died, get to feel the passion he has for art once more before he was gone. He wanted to leave something special that he can be remembered by even when he wasn’t there.

When Jungkook arrived back to his room, he carefully placed all of Taehyung’s art supplies in-front of him. He willed his body to cooperate as he scooted forward to sit beside you. Taking a moment to think about what he wated to paint. He smiled down at the paper when an idea formed in his head, dipping the brush into the ink.

“What’s that?” he had asked one morning, you were practicing writing again, but it seemed your mind hand wandered. He looked at the small drawing at the corner of the page.

“An angel” you had told him, looking up and smiling.

“An angel?”

“Yeah, do you ever wish you were someone else, Taehyung?” you asked him, and it took a moment before he replied.

“No, I don’t think I have” he sat beside you, watching as you started practicing again, “do you?” he asked after a beat of silence.

“Wish I was someone else?” you tilted your head and he nodded. You pointed at the drawing at the corner of your page, and his eyes met your own briefly before looking back at the drawing. “I want to be free, no more suffering, no sadness, and I could watch over the people I love the most”

And from then, you were his angel.

Taehyung hopes he’s reborn as an angel, that way he can look over you and Jungkook for the rest of your lives. Maybe he could meet you up in the sky when you decide to join him one day.

Jungkook watched Taehyung paint, watched as he occasionally looked over at you, smiling before looking back at the page. He could see the raw emotion in his eyes as his hands worked elegantly.

Taehyung thinks this is his favourite painting he’s ever created. An angel overlooking what looked like the hanok you three lived in. If you looked closely enough, you’d see the silhouette of a girl, looking up at the starry night sky with a certain four-armed demon sat on the porch of the hanok in-front of her. He’d like to think the angel would gift her the stars as she longingly looked at the sky each night.

He fell backwards and looked at the ceiling, a smile on his face as his body began to stop working. Disease finally taking over his organs. His heart began to slow as his eyes began to slowly close. He thinks he heard Jungkook kneels down beside him and shake his body, but everything felt numb, felt like he was submerged in water, so he wasn’t sure. Whatever Jungkook was saying was muffled, he made out a choked ‘I love you’. And he thought that maybe this was okay, as he replayed the memories he had formed with his new small family. It was a shame he couldn’t travel with you anymore, all the dreams he had of growing old together no longer a possibility.

He loved Jungkook, and he loved you more than either of you would ever get to know.

And so, his final message was at the bottom of the page: For my angel, from an angel. My Y/n.

[slimeranch7]

Hello! I found your blog through your post about the Genshin girls as monsters, and I really liked your blog and other posts!

But speaking of that post, it made me think about Eula! A wight Eula to be exact, so I hope I can share it with you! ^^

Being the highest class of undead, Eula had been living in the mansion at the outskirts of your hometown way before the founder of the village had even drawn their first breath. Eula was a monster, an undead creature of the night, but above all that she was a noble, a merciful at that, so she allowed the humans to move in and live on her territory. They thanked her, they praised her, but after a few decades. Nothing. No more gifts, visits or the occasional sacrifice she would turn down, they forgot about her completely.

Every day she would be sat near the window, seeing the young kids growing older and older without being able to leave her home to make herself known to them. She wouldn't lower herself to their level just for companionship. Until one day, someone had the courage- nay, the hubris to enter her home. It enfuriaded her, but she decided to let is passs. Letting the young human do as they desire as a way to show her superiority over her kind. She was generous with the people she allowed to live on her backyard.

To her, a lesson was given so the human would be grateful for being able to live another day without even having to face the lord of the land. But to you, you only got confirmation that the old mansion was indeed empty, and all those spooky tales that passed down from generation to generation were lies after. So you came back again, lounging on the antique couches. And again to keep your sweets hidden so no one could eat them before you could. And again to hide when you had to take care of the kids in the village while their parents went out to hunt. All of those times, nothing happened. Well, each time the air inside grew colder and colder to the point you could see your breath dancing in the air, but that's it.

Until one day, you brought some friends to take a look at your very own secret place. But it's on that day that Eula herself realized that she doesn't sharing all of her belongings. She grew to love the daily visits, everything coming closer and closer to hear her new-found friend exploring her surroundings. But the peace and warmth you brought would not be disturbed by some loudmouth delinquents, she would make sure of it.

She only gave and gave whatever humanity wanted to them, wasn't it about time she took someone in return?

---------------------

I hope you liked reading that. Also I hope it would also be OK to interact with you ^^; Oh! And welcome back to the hellsite :D can't wait to see you active again!

-Pie anon

Pie anon that is a horrifically beautiful concept, ty for this welcome back gift lmao

It's perfectly fine to interact just as long as u read the rules and abide by it. Then again i rly have no way of enforcing them so I'm just relying on my audience's integrity 😉

Content warnings: DEAD DOVE

You'd have no idea she's even there. She's in the walls, in the furniture, always prying, always watching and waiting patiently.

To you, it's free real estate. Everyone else is too afraid to approach, all the omens, the stories of a vengeful spirit residing in the barren estate, and despite the ungodly amount of cleaning you have to subject yourself to, the rooms grow familiar and even nice and quaint over time. It feels like a hard earned vacation home.

On the other hand, unbeknownst to her cute little visitor, Eula has eyes on your every move. That includes your... Unnecessary stowaway.

They're loud. Disruptive. Unkempt. Nothing like what you are, quiet and tidy and graceful, just the way she likes it. It's her house, her rules, and if she doesn't want them, she'll make it happen.

It took some convincing from their part, so it's your first time reluctantly revealing your secret little hideout, but all the years you've been hanging out here, you've never felt this sense of unease and dread.

The air feels colder than usual, the blankets you keep here are no longer keeping the chills at bay. Things are missing, books sometimes slide off the table. You swear you left the front door closed, why is it swinging wide open?

The halls- it's beginning to twist and turn in ways you can't comprehend. The kitchen should've been this way... It's not that you're lost, you cluelessly try to navigate with your friends laughing as they tail behind you.

Everywhere you turn, it leads right back to the front door, which seems to have stayed open no matter how many times you've shut it close. Maybe something's wrong with the hinges?

Maybe they should return another day, when you're in the right mind, when you've finally gotten these faulty doors fixed up.

But when everyone's stepped out, the door slams shut in your face before you can even make a move.

A hauntingly graceful voice of a woman seems to echo all around. She carries her tone with dignity, yet it's laced with a low, boiling anger.

"I've let you off the hook far too many times. But this. This is overstepping."

You're still faced against the door, disbelief and shock still stuck in your system. You can't seem to move, muscles unresponsive, despite doing everything in your power to desperately claw at the door.

A ghostly pale hand reaches around your waist, too close to your lower abdomen. A cold breath tickles you ear. "And for that, i will exact vengeance."

[still-a-morosexual-help]

Well now I’m wondering how Mammon even discovered he could talk to crows after the fall. It could have been an emotional moment where he was venting out his frustrations with his new life, and some crows flew over and lend an ear. It could have been a funny moment where he fell down and a flock started laughing at him. It could have been a bit of both, who knows?

It's hard.

But he doesn't know what's harder.

His aching body, twisted to form something wholly new?

Or the gaping hole that Lilith left behind.

The searing anger of their newest family member.

Or Lucifer's suffocating self-hatred.

The screams of his little brothers as they jolt out of another nightmare.

Or the burning of his eyes as he sacrifices another night of sleep to stay vigilant by their sides.

The old-new-stronger urge for more, more, more.

Or the eternally dark skies and sneers of creatures he'd once mercilessly ploughed through.

It'll get better, he thinks. One day it'll get better. But today. Today it's hard.

So he jumps out a window.

It might be selfish. It definitely is selfish. He needs to get back in there. He needs to keep them all together while they find themselves.

But. But he just wants this time. This five minutes to himself where he can finally grieve. This five minutes to himself where he doesn't have to pretend he's strong. This five minutes to himself where he can break apart before he has to wipe away any lingering tears and pull up a grin and rally the others.

So he jumps out a window.

He fucks up the landing. Put off balance by the slim black leathery wings when he had been expecting large fluffed up white ones.

That's already a silver lining, as off putting as it is. No more preening and much more inconspicuous, probably faster too if he had the chance to test it out.

But he doesn't. Not right now, at least.

Instead he wonders out further into the castle grounds away from his messed up, broken family, away from the too cheerful Prince and his creepy butler.

He eventually plops down under an old dead tree - something you'd never find up there where everything and everyone had to be perfect or else.

He breathes through his nose and stares up at the sky. Another silver lining. The night sky was ethereal.

A shuffling by his side has him jolting, fight or flight kicking in until he makes eye contact with a large black bird, its dark beady little eyes staring up at him.

He's seen them before of course. They seem to litter both the Devildom and the human world.

He sits back down. Watching warily as it hops closer and caws at him - loud and obnoxious.

Asmo would say that he sounded the same and the thought startles him enough that it makes him laugh. It's been the first time he's laughed since even before the Fall and it's because of a stupid fucking bird.

He tells the bird as much and it cocks its little head at him. It's almost cute.

Maybe it's because he hasn't had a chance to talk about it yet. Maybe it's because he's been so focused on holding everyone else together he's forgotten to patch up his own cracks. But he starts talking. He starts talking and he can't stop until his voice his hoarse and his cheeks are wet and the bird has moved closer, head nestled under his palm.

" 'rry," he says once he's calmed down enough, staring down at those little eyes that had never shifted from his face, "ya prob'ly didn't wanta hear all that. But thanks for listenin'."

"Damn, Bro. That really fucking sucks," says the crow.

Mammon shrieks.

Once an Angel, now a Demon, Mammon discovers a new ability.

Come leave a comment or kudos?🥺 I'd commit war crimes for it :)