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robininthelabyrinth · 4 years ago

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Strange Creatures Brothers Be (aka WWX & NMJ sworn brothers) - Chapter 5

AO3 or part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4

If Wei Wuxian had been asked to guess, he would have said that the visit to the Lotus Pier would be difficult and the Unclean Realm easy, and instead it turned out to be the exact opposite, which he supposed demonstrated exactly how poor of a fortune-teller he would make.

The Jiang sect forces, led by Jiang Cheng and Wei Wuxian, had taken over the Lotus Pier some time before the final battle, so it wasn’t as if he hadn’t already had the emotionally devastating moment of returning to see it covered in Wen suns – to see the devastation that had been wrought upon it, all the old beloved places violated and irrevocably tainted with the blood of his friends, his shidi and shimei, Uncle Jiang and Madame Yu…

It looked much better now, in truth. Jiang Cheng had stationed lots of disciples there to protect their home while they continued to fight on the front line, ordering them to begin repairs at once, and while the entire place smelled of renovations it at least did not stink of blood and viscera. They had torn up and replaced most of the flooring as the first priority, so that they wouldn’t have to look for strange stains on the floor as they stepped, and if they still didn’t have a dining room, an entrance hall, or a private laundry, then at least they had a kitchen, and the memorial hall had been fully restored.

Jiang Cheng must have asked them to prioritize that, Wei Wuxian thought, and felt a stab of guilt from the fact that he didn’t know for sure.

He’d always known that he would need to figure out a way to stay distant from Jiang Cheng after the war – there was no way to explain why he wasn’t helping to train their new disciples, why he wasn’t standing by his side with Suibian the way he had promised time and time again to, not without touching on subjects that must forever remain taboo – but he hadn’t quite realized just how much responsibility he’d abdicated before now.

He hadn’t even been helping out with the paperwork, and that was something anyone could do.

The Nie sect techniques he’d been practicing the past few days focused on mindfulness and consideration of consequences, on habituating oneself to force in a bit of contemplation before any action was taken – not exactly natural to him, but then again the Nie sect techniques were all designed with the assumption that the practitioner was a reckless hothead – and it threw everything into stark relief for him. Wei Wuxian had only pulled away from Jiang Cheng because he didn’t want to hurt him, didn’t want to stain him with his demonic cultivation or reveal to him what had been done for him, but wasn’t this hurting him, too? Having to do all of this alone, without Wei Wuxian at his side - wouldn’t Jiang Cheng feel disappointed in him, maybe even betrayed?

It’s like having a mountain at your back, keeping you steady, he’d said to Jiang Cheng, about Nie Mingjue.

Don’t you know you’re just the same to me? Jiang Cheng had told him.

He wasn’t acting like very much of that right now.

Wei Wuxian had to keep distant, he knew that; he couldn’t tell Jiang Cheng the truth, he knew that. And yet – something had to be done about this unpleasant and untenable state of affairs, where Jiang Cheng tried to respect him but also hint to him how much he needed him and Wei Wuxian ignored him and pretended not to care while also tearing himself apart inside…

He’d tell Nie Mingjue about the whole thing soon, Wei Wuxian promised himself. His big brother would know what to do, somehow, or at least he’d have something to say on the matter.

Nie Mingjue was a foundation of rock, steady and unwavering, and after the terrible uncertainty of the war it was utter bliss to find something upon which one could rely. And not just for Wei Wuxian himself, who would very reluctantly admit that he clearly actually did need a bit of a steadying hand the way everyone had so irritatingly always insisted he did, but also for Jiang Cheng and Jiang Yanli as well.

Wei Wuxian could tell from the way they looked at Nie Mingjue, and he didn’t blame them one bit.

Not when Nie Mingjue walked through the Lotus Pier and praised them for the work they’d been doing, sparing but sincere in his compliments; when he offered not only suggestions for improvements and food for thought but also concrete promises of trade deals that would benefit them both – Qinghe timber and metal in exchange for Yunmeng cloth and dye, meat and dairy for fish and poultry, upholsterers to go help the Unclean Realm return from its status as a fortress and masons to come to reinforce the walls of the Lotus Pier so that they were never attacked again.

Not when he patiently sat with Jiang Cheng as they went through the endless paperwork and decisions he had to make as the leader not only of a sect but of a Great Sect, pointing out subtleties in the requests from their affiliated sects and reminding him of considerations that didn’t immediately spring to mind, helping lay out risk and reward alike while leaving the decision entirely in his hands.

Not when he talked, with some restraint, about their parents, which he had known well through his role as sect leader. He had a completely different perspective on them, from his additional age and his more distant position; for all that his stories were usually short and to the point, he could nevertheless drive them all to tears of laughter over hearing about how their parents were with their peers, strange as it was to think of Nie Mingjue as such – he really had come on his role far too young.

After one night when they’d lit incense and done all the rituals they could and wept all the tears that they had left in them, they’d shared several jars of wine with him, and by the end of the night they had learned to start anticipating how his stories would generally end with “and then I wanted to punch them in the face”. Though they couldn’t quite figure out whether that was because of their parents’ flaws – Nie Mingjue was not subtle enough a diplomat to leave those details out, and they wouldn’t have wanted him to – or because of his own disposition, it still, as Jiang Cheng said while giggling terribly on at least two jars of wine too many, make for a very good punch line.

Wei Wuxian had expected to have to spend his entire visit to the Lotus Pier avoiding Jiang Cheng and trying not to think of all he’d lost.

He hadn’t expected to be swept up in the minutiae of rebuilding, arguing loudly over what type of wood they should use for the entrance hall and whether they really need to restore the sect leader’s chair exactly as it had been (Jiang Cheng was of the view that it was tradition, Wei Wuxian and Jiang Yanli were of the view that it looked really dumb, and Nie Mingjue removed himself from the conversation on the grounds of laughing too hard to answer) or teaming up to bully their vendors into revising their delivery estimates into something a little more reasonable.

“A-Xian, maybe your reputation would improve if you stopped threatening to throw a fierce corpse at people who disagreed with you,” Jiang Yanli said, hiding her smile with her sleeve.

“Maybe his reputation would improve if he started offering other people the opportunity to pelt a fierce corpse at disreputable merchants,” Jiang Cheng sniffed. “Hey, Chifeng-zun, you interested?”

“More than words can say,” Nie Mingjue said solemnly. “Tell me, do you also sell a mechanism for the throwing part, or are the corpses sold by the weight? Not everyone can hurl a corpse as far as I can.”

“I wasn’t going to actually throw a corpse at him!” Wei Wuxian protested, grinning widely. “Do I look like I just carry corpses in my sleeves?”

“Possibly if the corpse was the size of a pheasant?” Jiang Cheng said. “Hey, Wei Wuxian, can you resurrect pheasants?”

“He’d better not,” Jiang Yanli said, giggling helplessly by this point. “That’s our lunch!”

Here in the Lotus Pier, Wei Wuxian could help out with important matters, could be trusted and not held at arms’ length unless he wanted to be. Here in the Lotus Pier, he could hug all the people he’d known from before, the survivors who had escaped or who had been away, he could shout out encouragement to the new disciples to balance out Jiang Cheng’s scolding, he could make himself useful by drawing talismans or correcting the postures of would-be archers. Here in the Lotus Pier, he could tie Suibian to his belt the way Jiang Cheng wanted if he wished, without being afraid that someone would try to make him draw it, or else he could leave his sword behind in his room and it would be seen as natural – who carried their sword when they were at home?

Here in the Lotus Pier, he was at home.

He’d missed home, Wei Wuxian discovered. He’d missed having a safe place to call home – and the Lotus Pier was finally safe again.

At least for the moment.

At least for the moment, now, when he had a good reason to avoid spars or training or anything that required the use of a golden core – injured, he sang out any time someone raised it, still injured, sorry, can’t help you – and even if that made his visit here bittersweet, knowing that he still hadn’t resolved the underlying issues that would eventually tear them all apart, it was still sweeter than anything he had any right to. He wouldn’t have exchanged one second of his time there for all the world.

And then they went to Qinghe.

They rode there, taking the scenic route in order to sweep up whatever demonic creatures had popped up as a result of the war, and when at last they arrived at the Unclean Realm the Nie sect was out in force to greet their sect leader.

At the head of them all was, of course, Nie Huaisang, who immediately ruined the whole grandiose effect by throwing himself forward into his brother’s arms, wailing, “Da-ge, you’re back, you’re back! You evil creature, you left me here with all the paperwork and all the decisions and everything, how could you? You have to come deal with it at once, I don’t know what I’m doing at all – oh, Wei-xiong! It’s good to see you, too!”

As unstoppable as a hurricane, he’d promptly plucked the qiankun bag in which Nie Mingjue had stored the presents he had purchased for him at the Lotus Pier out of Nie Mingjue’s sleeve and then disappeared back inside, fanning himself furiously and complaining of the heat of the sun, the chill of the wind, the unseasonable temperature…

Nie Mingjue sighed, a great big heaving breath. “Don’t worry,” he said to Wei Wuxian, “I’ll talk to him,” and then he strode inside after him.

Wei Wuxian blinked. “Did I miss something?” he asked one of the Nie sect disciples that remained by his side, an older man who had clearly been assigned to assist him if the way he remained while the others immediately began to disperse was any sign.

“Nie-er-gongzi isn’t a very formal person,” the disciple, who introduced himself as Nie Zonghui, said, sounding somewhat apologetic. “The way he referred to you…”

“…what about it?” Wei Wuxian asked, now even more confused. “He called me Wei-xiong, just the way he always does – I don’t mind it at all.”

Nie Zonghui looked even more apologetic. “That was when you were friends,” he said, and – what? Weren’t they still friends? What was Nie Huaisang supposed to call him, exactly? A-Xian? Or…

Wait.

For us in the big clans, we can’t even distinguish our relationships with our own relatives, much less any others, he remembered Nie Huaisang ranting, all the way back in the Cloud Recesses. Wouldn’t it be better to just call everyone more than two tiers away aunts and uncles, or even brother and sister -

“Knowing what I know about Nie-xiong,” Wei Wuxian said slowly, thinking it through, “if he were really happy to see me, he’d have started calling me er-ge at once, wouldn’t he? Since I’m his brother’s sworn brother and all, and older than he is.”

Nie Zonghui nodded.

“He probably would’ve asked for a first-meeting gift, too.” Even back at the Cloud Recesses, he’d always observed how shameless Nie Huaisang was about gifts. “Possibly several.”

Nie Zonghui nodded again.

“He’s pissed off at me,” Wei Wuxian concluded.

Nie Zonghui nodded a third time.

“But why?”

“Perhaps you should ask your sworn brother,” Nie Huaisang said, appearing as if out of thin air right behind him and making Wei Wuxian jump. Nie Huaisang was not an especially scary-looking individual – he was short, and his face still gave off a feeling of roundness, suggestive of either baby fat or indolence or both – but there was an expression on his face that reminded Wei Wuxian of Nie Mingjue about to enter a battlefield. He hadn’t previously known that Nie Huaisang was capable of making a face like that. “Especially since he swore brotherhood with you without even asking me first.”

Nie Zonghui smiled very fleetingly at Wei Wuxian before disappearing down a nearby hall, and oh, apparently he hadn’t been here to show Wei Wuxian around at all, he’d just stayed to watch the show.

“Nie-xiong, about that -” Wei Wuxian said, meaning to be placating, but then Nie Huaisang took a step forward with his eyes narrowed into slips and he actually found himself taking a step backwards.

“I told you how good my da-ge was, didn’t I?” he asked, and no, actually most of his words were about how awful a tyrant his da-ge was, making him study and train and do all sorts of things like that, only maybe perhaps by implication one could argue that he’d said anything good about him at all, but given the way that Nie Huaisang jabbed his finger into Wei Wuxian’s breastbone like a saber Wei Wuxian thought it might not be good to mention any of that now. “And then the first chance you get, you go off and try to steal him?”

“I didn’t mean to steal –”

“We,” Nie Huaisang hissed like an angry mongoose, “will be having words about this, Wei-xiong.”

And then he stormed off.

Wei Wuxian stood there, abandoned and blinking after him in utter confusion and not a little bit of admiration – it would have taken some gall to scold him when he was just Wei Wuxian, head disciple of Yunmeng Jiang, and now that he was a fearsome demonic cultivator, the leader of the destruction of the Nightless City, no one dared to speak to him like that.

Except, apparently, Nie Huaisang.

“Would Wei-gongzi like to be shown to his rooms?” Nie Zonghui – making a belated reappearance – asked politely. The apologetic look was gone, replaced by a look of deep amusement. “We’ve made sure that they’re in the family quarters.”

“You’re trying to get me killed, aren’t you?” Wei Wuxian asked indignantly. “You’re trying to get me murdered! What did I ever do to you?”

“Nothing,” Nie Zonghui said. “But it’s about time our second young master took an interest in dismemberment.”

“An interest in – I refuse to be anyone’s training dummy for murder! Do you hear me? I refuse!”

Nie Mingjue would probably make sure that nothing like that happened.

…right?

#mdzs #wei wuxian #nie mingjue #jiang cheng #jiang yanli #nie huaisang #my fic #my fics #strange creatures brothers be

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a-corndog-named-schibbs · 3 years ago

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Villain Mingle

Art by @ragtimebanshee

Villain Mingle

There are single villains in your area waiting to meet you right now! Connect with them on Villain Mingle!

***

Sauron

About: Former Maiar, Dark Lord of Mordor. Looking for someone smart, fun, and evil to put a ring on it.

Elves need not apply.

Jadis

About: Former queen of Charn, White Queen of Narnia. Seeking good dependable villain to settle down and establish a malevolent dynasty with.

Ask me if I want to build a snowman one more time. Do it, see what happens.

***

Sauron: Hey.

Jadis: Hi.

Sauron: So I was looking at your profile. Very impressive. White Queen of Narnia, huh? Ambitious, I like that.

Jadis: It was no big deal really. I just went through a portal to another world and staged a hostile takeover using my weather-manipulation powers.

Sauron: Sounds awesome! I’ve staged my fair share of hostile takeovers back in my day and let me tell you, your work is some next-level stuff!

Jadis: Thanks :)

Jadis: So what are some of your interests? Besides hostile takeovers, I mean.

Sauron: Oh you know, torture, manipulation, a little goldsmithing on the side. You?

Jadis: I’m a fan of manipulation too, I find it relaxes me. That and turning rebels into stone. What are the torture facilities like in Mordor?

Sauron: Top of the line. Plus the atmosphere is just right for it. Roaring volcano, ominous clouds of smoke. Of course, I hear Narnia’s got some great evil atmosphere too ;)

Jadis: Yeah it’s lovely this time of year. Very cold, very bleak, I love it. Or, well, it was until I got dethroned. Good triumphing over evil, what are you gonna do?

Sauron: Yeah, I get that. My evil realm went through some…extensive remodeling recently too.

Jadis: How’d that happen?

Sauron: I got taken down by a couple of hobbits.

Jadis: What’s a hobbit? Is that like a type of bird or…

Sauron: They’re this kind of short humanoid. Like dwarves, but no beards.

Sauron: What about you, how’d you get vanquished?

Jadis: I was defeated by four English school-children.

Sauron: ?

Jadis: And a talking lion.

Sauron: Wow I suddenly feel better about myself.

Jadis: The stupid cat was a FRICKING JESUS METAPHOR what was I supposed to do?!

Sauron: Right, my bad.

Jadis: So what kind of minions do you have?

Sauron: Orcs. Millions of them.

Jadis: Just orcs?

Sauron: They were on sale. Buy 500,000, get 500,000 free.

Sauron: I also have this cool giant spider-abomination. What about you?

Jadis: Oh you know, a wide variety. Hags, minotaurs, werewolves. A dwarf lieutenant.

Sauron: Really? I tried recruiting dwarves way back when but it backfired. Also, minotaurs? That’s pretty sweet! I wonder if they can be cross-bred with orcs.

Jadis: I’ve got to warn you, they stink horribly. Only get them if you’re willing to have your dark fortress smell like cow manure.

Sauron: I’ve lived with orcs for the past three ages. A little smell doesn’t bother me.

Sauron: Hey so you seem pretty cool (no pun intended). Do you want to maybe meet up sometime? Grab a cup of coffee?

Jadis: There’s this great Turkish Delight place near my house. I’m down for it if you are.

Sauron: How does 2:00 this Saturday sound?

Jadis: Works for me!

#tolkien and lewis are either rolling in their graves or high-fiving right now #chronicles of narnia #lord of the rings #my posts #my fanfictions #my friend

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masterserris · 5 years ago

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Necromancer: Krzyzstof “Chris” Szyzcepanski (kshsh-toff shte-paen-ski) he/him. Ethnically Polish.

[Fun fact! The anglo version of Krzyzstof is Christopher!]

Patron god: Khystophylus (kiz-stoff-ill-us) or “Khys” for short.

Eldrich god of space and dimensions, guardian of wayward spirits and eternity.

KOFI

info under cut:

As a young lad he heard Khystophylus helping him out and talking into his ear. Khys helps a lot of mortals and is rather fond of them, having to care for their souls when wandering into the after life a lot of times. It’s just that this guy is one of the few and only to properly recognize the voice as khys, who does exist in the pantheon of eldrich gods but is often overlooked and misinterpreted as a different god entirely, and misses out on any sacrifices. In this world, all gods are eldrich abominations, it’s chill and normal, relax. Khys just has a very difficult voice lol. Khys helped him compile that tome of his full of really potent spells he has all memorized, he doesnt need the book but it helps and can make casting go faster sometimes. It latches on to the small of his back where the bone pelvis is. Those bones are real btw.

i mean, khys is perceived as a guardian of space and dimensions, why tf would they be a teacher? so everyone thinks it’s the god of wisdom or some shit instead and khys just facepalms and moves onto the next mortal, slightly annoyed they wasted their time again lol

the knife isnt all that special, just helps with blood rituals and the like and defense. he can imbue the blade with say poison magic and physically defend himself with it but usually doesnt need that. he’s. okay at hand to hand combat. he knows your pressure points and how best to break ur bones lol. an anatomy guru for many species lol

Khystophylus is his patron god ofc. A deity of eternity/a guardian between worlds. good to ask favor from when summoning the dead and monsters/spirits. like he’s mainly a necromancer but can summon other shit too

also makes teleportation/portal magic easier

Khystophylus is p chill but hardly anyone knows about them or makes proper sacrifices to them so they are more than happy to lend their infinite power to this guy. krzyzstof is very clean. he doesn’t leave blood and entrails laying around. wosh ur self looking ass

khystophylus is like. very much a guardian god and is like armored and wields a mace. ofc they are eldrich and no one knows what they really look or sound like and lives far off between dimensions but yeah. if this guy asked he could probs make him immortal if he wanted they are bros

tbh khstophylus probs already has made them eldrich deep down, he already has been physically altered w the pointy ears and sorta monster spine added on.

Oh! idk if this guy has eyes or not I think he does but he covers them bc he can see auras/souls/essence/energy. living or dead or spirits or machines he can see/sense them with p good clarity. god vision or smth like that. thanks Khys

i don’t think he is evil really. more like. necessary darkness in the world to balance things out. really, I think it’s more like you can hire him to perform burial rites for safe soul passage into paradise from khys. maybe sometimes he can fully resurrect a dead person but he’ll charge a higher fee and can only do it so many time a day/week just bc it takes effort. that and im p sure khys would get annoyed dragging a dozen souls outta the afterlife every day

that and the longer they have been dead, the harder it is to bring them back, but its always possible. nercomancy is just really advanced healing. you need to completely restore a body before shoving the soul back inside, right? just making zombies/skeletons is easy tho and he can make a small army in a day or two if he has enough bodies to work with

lol he would cast an air purifying spell every time too. he’s used to the stink ofc but he still doesn’t /enjoy/ it

ofc he has skeleton and lich dragons guarding his small abandoned fortress with lich sorcerers around as well. basically anything he summons is completely loyal ofc but some are lowkey sentient, at least enough to be competent fighters or warlocks

basically Overlord anime but really lowkey

if his life was in true peril, khys would save him by sending an eldrich minion to whisk him away or like. block the attack by shoving their arm through a portal, i doubt they would ever fully enter the mortal world tho bc they would break reality by doing that being a truly immortal and all powerful being but yeah

Khystophylus would be a big lad. skyscraper or bigger, though size is just an illusion so it can be manipulated.

has Krzyzstof made human sacrifices before? i wanna say yes. def sacrificed already dead bodies up for khys and animals but maybe recently deceased criminals who were executed or were going to be executed. he probs gets a legal pardon for taking sacrifices from the death row jail. it’s a public service. some people are scared af of him others are like: “oh yeah that guy? he’s nice, he helped my nephew pass his wizardry exam and resurrected my daughter’s cat to live another 10 years, real nice guy. good at baking too”

i’d say he’s lawful neutral then. he never breaks the rules of summoning/practicing magic. he owns his land legally and pays his taxes lol. if he gets drafted he helps in the army in the medical side of things while also bolstering their forces with undead troops

neutral bc like i said he can and will kill others for his gain but not out of any malice, only if they deserve to die for being an enemy or already committed heinous crimes

he’s decently skilled with a variety of topics on poisons, potions, healing, elemental magic basics, ect. to bring people back from the dead, you need to know all they ways they could have died and how to heal all of that mess or put them back into said grave if they turn out to be an asshole upon being brought back to life.

so he’d be on the short list for the world best magic users but not like. world conquering most likely. at least he would never have the gumption/motivation to do such a thing, sounds like a hassle tbh.

#msocs #bestofms #necromancer #sfw

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versatilepoetry · 5 years ago

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A To Z Immortal Love

Alluring; wholesomely luring even the most remotely alien; in its captivatingly spell binding swirl for centuries immemorial, Auguring; magnificently evolving the most supremely royal destiny; that you would ever encounter on the trajectory of this mesmerizing planet, Attractive; drifting even the most incorrigibly ruthless heads in its direction; as it magnetically trespassed across voluptuous soil, Acclimatizing; blossoming beyond the zenith of wonderfully bestowing eternity; even in the most tumultuously ferocious rain; and ungainly storm, Was the cradle of immortal love; not only bonding two bodies for countless births; but perpetually ensuring that their breaths diffused passionately together; for boundless decades yet to come. Beautiful; charming even the most languidly dreariest of leaf in the morbid atmosphere; with its stupendous vivacity, Blooming; sprouting and proliferating incomprehensible more of its kind; as every instant unveiled into a complete minute, Bountiful; bequeathing upon every impoverished entity; whether rich or indigent; the magic of symbiotic existence; alike, Blessed; engendering you to feel the richest organism on this Universe; once you made its compassionate beats an indispensable ingredient of your wandering soul, Was the sky of immortal love; not only showering the rain of passionate goodness upon treacherously trembling soil; but perpetually ensuring that it spawned into a civilization of exuberant enthrallment; as every morning freshly overtook the previous sinister night. Captivating; inevitably drawing even the most diabolical of demons to replenish their shattered lives; with its perennial juice, Camaraderie; affably bonding disgruntled souls in threads of friendship; enshrouding their bodies with divine benevolence, Compassionate; triggering fireballs of untamed desire even in the heart of the murderously frigid night, Calisthenics; astoundingly demonstrating that Herculean power can articulately evolve into a tornado of incredulous eloquence, Was the fortress of immortal love; not only invincibly defending the most sacred manifestations of eternal romance; but perpetually ensuring that they blissfully gallivanted in corridors of unfettered yearning. Delectable; as nimble as the fleet footed and innocuous rabbit; although it towered above everything else on this fathomless Universe, Dreamy; rhapsodically fantasizing in the island of gregarious fascination; even as the lecherous indiscriminately sucked blood outside, Doughty; marvelously facing every acrimonious obstacle that came its way; triumphantly marching past the limits of unparalleled success, Dimpled; charismatically blushing into a valley of profound ecstasy; as you relentlessly stared at its tantalizingly seductive contours, Was the ocean of immortal love; not only pacifying the overwhelmingly scorched ground of betrayal; but perpetually ensuring that it spawned into a paradise or irrefutable truth; and unfathomable belonging. Eloquent; disseminating its magnanimous melody to every barbarically estranged cranny of this unsurpassably gargantuan Universe, Everlasting; spiraling into a cloud of handsome fragrance beyond infinite infinity; leaving its essence of celestial peace and harmony wherever it went, Endowed; inundating each iota of lackluster countenances with unbelievable talent and Oligarchic charm, Emollient; disbursing its heavenly scent to all those arenas of the gargantuan continent; besieged with inexplicable despair and euphemistic pain, Was the ring of immortal love; not only binding all irrespective of caste; creed; color or race; but perpetually ensuring that they embraced each other in whirlpools of passionate desire; till the time they relinquished their final breath. Fabulous; stupendously casting its spell of unconquerable enigma; upon every lecherously monotonous soul staggering towards hopeless extinction, Flowering; redolently springing into petals of optimistic light; to enlighten the lives of those deprived; and defunct of vibrantly melodious life, Fragrant; ubiquitously disseminating the divinely aroma of brotherhood; in every speck of soil coalesced with; horrendously stinking manipulation and malice, Fructifying; yielding the most priceless gifts of egalitarian humanity; without the most tiniest of investment or prejudice, Was the rainbow of immortal love; not only perpetuating dungeons of obnoxious gloom with thunderbolts of perennial hope; but ensuring that every organism black or white; knocked the doors of glittering success; alike. Grandiloquent; basking in the glorious splendor of resplendent beauty and exotically unfurling newness, Gyrating; pulsating to the most stupefying tunes of ecstatic excitement; as the crimson fireball of Sun transcended beyond the golden horizons, Giving; philanthropically donating all elements and celestial virtues; that surged forward to construct the most formidably resilient human kind, Glittering; shimmering in the aisles of unmatched splendor and grace; to metamorphose all devastating disease; into a profusely Omnipotent garland of happiness, Was the island of immortal love; not only instilling back euphoric cheer in the eyes of all those miserably shivering and divested; but perpetually ensuring that they intrepidly arose to the occasion called life; granting them a countless bountiful breaths; more to survive. Highest; superceding everything else that was tangible and intangible; on the bedspread of this overwhelmingly mystifying Universe, Handsome; majestically portraying each element of gorgeously endowing life; in the most dynamically supreme of its forms, Heavenly; making every benign entity philandering passionately on this planet; manifest in entirety towards the pinnacle of its ultimate dreams, Hallmark; the epitome of all achievements and fulfillment in destined life; distributing its sacrosanct virtue to every despicably devastated entity exhausted of life, Was the immortal blanket of love; not only sequestering all those maimed and deplorably shivering in the winds of its congenial warmth; but ensuring that they resided as the ultimate kings of prosperity; for infinite more births; yet to come. Ingratiating; spectacularly unveiling into a myriad of insurmountable brilliance; for all those deluged with disgusting solitude, Incarcerating; imprisoning everyone all mortal and immortals; in its immaculately divine carpet of rhapsodic joy, Innocuous; metamorphosing every commercially rotting entity; into realms of holistically sacrosanct childhood; once again, Invincible; unflinchingly withstanding the most acridly mighty onslaught of the treacherous devil, Was the fruit of immortal love; not only placating the hunger of all those despairingly decimated; but perpetually ensuring that nobody with a benign heart; never ever slept a famished night. Jaunty; forever smiling in a world of magical contentment; away and completely oblivious to the pathetically ludicrous vagaries; of this cold-blooded world, Jingling; merrily cajoling even the most invidiously frazzled senses; with the profoundly oriental enchantment; in its glorious voice, Juvenile; exploring and discovering a whole new world of fabulous excitement as each instant unleashed; romancing in the tantalizing clouds of unsurpassable eternity, Jolly; forever blooming in the unprecedented ardor of existence; dissipating the true exhilaration of priceless life, Was the pearl of immortal love; not only filtering divinely bliss through a hideously distorted web of mangled lies; but perpetually ensuring that the rudiments of survival; always stayed united above the rest. Kingly; overshadowing all debris and abhorrent violence on the periphery of this boundless earth; to emerge irrevocably triumphant in every sphere of inscrutably seductive life, Kind; hugging all those baselessly orphaned trembling on the dusty streets; granting them holistic shelter in its majestic arms, Karmic; philanthropically spreading the message of brotherhood and sharing; without expecting the slightest of emolument or salute, Kaleidoscopic; encompassing multitudinal colors of a purifying existence; swaying nostalgically in waves of titillating longing; incessantly adding new dimensions to fatigued life, Was the immortal Sun of love; not only fumigating the earth to be bereft of treachery and crime; but perpetually ensuring that the clouds showered globules of peace; upon every molecule created by the Almighty Lord; alike. Lascivious; igniting thunderbolts of intimidating desire; even in the heart of the savagely frozen and sulking pond, Luminating; radiating the sacred effulgence of humanity to far and wide; caressing all those severely afflicted with its mesmerizing humanitarian touch, Loquacious; indefatigably bubbling in the fullest spirit of life; impregnating countless in the whirlpool of its never-ending enthusiasm, Lovely; enveloping each grotesquely stumbling organism in the realms of gregariously convivial fantasy, Was the immortal mountain of love; not only defending the unequivocally righteous cause of humanity from even the most infinitesimal trace of evil; but perpetually ensuring that each contaminated bit of lies; transformed into a cloud above paradise. Marvelous; ruling the earth with the reigns of equality; ever since the time it was created, Majestic; governing the entire impoverished planet with supreme tranquility and charm; representing a civilization uninhibitedly encapsulated with gloriously pulsating life, Mollifying; mellowing cataclysmically unruly storms; with the enamoring sweetness in its sound, Mystical; weaving a trail of compassionate fascination; for every living being to wholeheartedly trespass upon, Was the immortal ship of love; not only wading like a resplendent fairy through the most bizarre of maelstroms; but perpetually ensuring that life on the planet; never came to a ghastly standstill. Nutritious; instilling scintillatingly sparkling radiance; in every being tottering uncouthly in the dormitories of saddened darkness, Nostalgic; transiting even the most monotonously ungainly; into realms of playfully Godly childhood, Nomadic; tirelessly surging from place to place; to shower upon one and all; the blessings of divinely sharing; alike, Noble; congenially bonding with even the most penurious of organisms slithering on cold soil; quenching the thirst of every bleary eyed traveler; with the nectar in its alluring senses, Was the immortal tree of love; not only rejuvenating the spirit of despondently dying mankind; but perpetually ensuring that diligent lovers; always remained bonded in bows of solidarity; for immemorial times. Oligarchic; seated on the most profusely embellished throne of unfathomable prosperity, Omnipotent; the most powerful spirit domineering one and all; on the crust of this handsomely blessed planet, Omnipresent; a cloud of unflinching brotherhood that embraced the entire globe in waves of ecstatic rhapsody; to reign supreme even after the sky had blended with threadbare soil, Omniscient; a poignantly clairvoyant breeze; which mapped your emollient destiny to unfurl; even centuries before you were born, Was the seed of immortal love; not only sprouting into countless new as each day transcended the sinister night; but perpetually ensuring that the branches of peace; brotherhood; always bloomed till the highest point of the sky. Princely; casting its royal spell upon diminishing souls; to grant them the most incredulous expedition of their starved lives, Poignant; passionately philandering through the lanes of sizzling desire; tingling every bit of soil that it tread on; with its spell binding stride, Piquant; astoundingly bewildering the irascibly pertinent tycoon with the versatility in its footsteps; stinging the devilish with an arrow of candid righteousness, Pristine; immaculately shimmering in its amazingly virgin glory; not being adulterated even the slightest by the most lethal venom swinging freely around, Was the fireball of immortal love; not only blazing streaks of flamboyant brilliance in every continent it chose to gallivant in; but perpetually ensured that the beams of an enlightening tomorrow; swept past the haplessly staggering; for centuries unprecedented. Queenly; ubiquitously propagating the essence of harmony and humanity; to every organism strangulated with hideous malice, Quintessential; inhabiting the most cardinal positions in an individuals existence; instilling in him the unsurpassably miraculous wonders of this dexterous world, Qualitative; bestowing upon every disparagingly struggling entity; the most royal dream of his choice, Quantitative; indefatigably multiplying its wonderfully cascading essence; to envelop ruthlessly disgruntled souls in the waves of; vibrantly everlasting imagery, Was the disc of immortal love; not only drifting even the most devastated towards the fortress of utmost solidarity; but perpetually ensuring that the walls of unfettered freedom; grew more formidable in strength as each day; unfurled into the perilous night. Ravishing; perennially alluring even the morbid of corpses; with its marvelously silken grace and fascinating form, Realistic; incorrigibly propelling every organism to adhere to its roots; irrespective of all notorious poisoning of the manipulative society, Resplendent; glistening in a festoon of surreally titillating fantasy; benevolently cajoling and harboring all those without a roof, Rejuvenating; rekindling and superbly replenishing each derogatorily exhausted iota of the fragile visage, Was the fountain of immortal love; which not only triggered you to gush forward in every aspect of impoverished life; but perpetually ensured that you never abnegated your innocuously integral smile. Soothing; pacifying the traumatic agony in your breath; with its seductively gregarious whispers, Satisfying; placating your every brutally tyrannized nerve; with the magic of its; overwhelmingly heavenly touch, Stimulating; arousing even the most murkiest of corpses in the graveyard; with the lusciousness in its eternal demeanor, Sacrosanct; a holy spirit to which even the greatest of God's in the cosmos; bent down in appreciative obeisance, Was the immortal dwelling of love; not only impregnating in you the fortitude to bond in the religion of humanity; but perpetually ensuring that even the most diminutive of disaster stayed fathomless miles away from your; blooming countenance. Truthful; intransigently marching upon the path of benign goodness; massacring every trace of salacious evil that confronted it; in its impeccable way, Tantalizing; evoking you to inevitably continue God's sacred chapter of existence; with infernos of longing dancing ebulliently through your bloodstream, Tangy; embodying each moment of your morbidly clockwork existence; with the vivaciously euphoric spice of life, Tinkling; relentlessly fulminating with inexorable energy to relish life; entrenching all those aimlessly loitering in its; magnanimous swirl of compassionate brotherhood, Was the immortal fabric of love; not only safeguarding you against the freezing winds of winter as well as the acrimonious midday Sun; but perpetually ensuring that man shrug all cannibalism; to exist as a blessed human; once again. Ubiquitous; perennially showering its elements of peace and unflinching brethren; to mockingly belligerent parts of this colossal planet, Utopia; the ultimate paradise; pride and prosperity of all those alive; and the irrefutable crown of glory; of those about to yet inhale their very first breath, Uninhibited; possessing the astronomical freedom to follow the most innermost realms of the pulsating heart; even though the barbarically ruthless society tried to poke it; left; right and center, Unlimited; endlessly spreading its unconquerable reach to all those; deliberately tottering towards their ominous graves, Was the flower of immortal love; not only diffusing its stupendously charming fragrance to the farthest point of the globe; but perpetually ensuring that the wings of freedom always soared the highest in the clouds; in tandem and alike. Voluptuous; a garden of enamoringly seductive rose; that superbly blended with the color of the splendidly rubicund cheeks, Vast; encompassing every religion; caste and creed; in the titillating wisps of its blazingly everlasting romance, Vivacious; bubbling with untamed enthusiasm and a spirit that never died; even as death inevitably overtook all shades of life, Vibrant; astonishingly bedazzling even the most murderous plexus of the sordid night; with the aura of its unbelievably Omnipotent light, Was the chapter of immortal love; not only flooding the scorched banks of nothingness with pearls of reinvigorating wisdom; but perpetually ensuring that love stayed as the ultimate master; forever and ever and ever. Wacky; not following any dictatorially rigid direction or form; as it erupted in rampant spurts from the inner most recesses of the violently palpitating heart, Wealthy; the most opulent treasurehouse on this fantastically fecund Universe; pricelessly filtering the light of unity in every miserably cloistered house, Withstanding; undeterred by even the most turbulently ferocious onslaught upon its spotless grace; even as astronomically formidable civilizations crumbled like a pack of soggy cards, Witty; harboring the most uncanny sense of humor on this sprawling earth; tickling the coward hidden deep within you; with the gutsy elixir of animated life, Was the idol of immortal love; not only granting all philanthropically benign wishes of its followers; but perpetually ensuring that they evolved into a supremely compassionate; humankind. . X-mas; incessantly celebrating the festival of the happiness; exultating in a world of happiness; far away from the preposterously diabolical world, X-rayed; candidly expelling all the share of celestial good and horrific bad; even in the most remotely minuscule organism, Xanthic; dynamically dazzling in the most altruistically vibrant colors of life; alleviating suffering to reach the summit of unfathomable bliss, Xeroxed; replicating a carbon copy of its immutably sacrosanct ideals in every birth; which it had romantically coined at the commencement of the very first life, Was the sword of immortal love; not only granting wholesome reprieve from the diabolically slashing demon; but perpetually ensuring that every religion melanged into the stream of mesmerizing humanity. Yearning; gyrating in a whirlwind of exotic desire; being the ultimate cry of the ecstatically crying heart, Yielding; bequeathing the blissful wave of harmony upon man and animal alike; to give birth to a vibrantly blessed living kind, Yardstick; an ultimate milestone of astronomical success for every aspiring entrepreneur out there; making sure that those who tried their best; did ardently metamorphose the definitions of stale success, Youthful; perennially shrugging the leaves of withering and ailing disease; to escalate into a heaven of glittering newness, Was the summit of immortal love; not only breaking barriers of spurious caste; creed and color; but perpetually ensuring that the color of unequivocal sharing profusely deepened its shades; as each instant galloped into a monumental minute. Zealous; fervently pursuing the most sacred things in life; to unfurl into a whole new world of bountifully unending aspiration, Zapping; tumultuously stunning the entire world alike; with its unparalleled honesty and iridescent charm, Zooming; reaching all those who passionately wanted it; with a velocity more than what; white lightening could ever perceive, Zillion; lingering countless millions in eternal space; as it preached the religion of oneness; for decades unsurpassable, Was the candle of immortal love; not only flaming a path of everlasting brightness in drudgedly devastated lives; but perpetually ensuring that man and earth existed in harmonious unison; everytime God gave them an opportunity to do so; for fathomless times.

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theevilfoodeaterconchita · 6 years ago

Text

Sorbet-Plateau Sherbet; Scene 3

Evil Food Eater Conchita, page 144-152

The "Association" secretly existed in nearly every land in Evillious, and each of the branch heads in it were all called by the name "Bruno".

Their job was to assist people in underside professions, like Platonic. They would refer talented people to their jobs, and provide information about their target--naturally, they required a considerable fee for it all.

Platonic had great pride in her skills as a burglar. That was why, excepting times when she had to make a getaway, she didn't use the "Association" much. That was because asking them for assistance meant decreasing her compensation for her work.

Only, the amount that AB-CIR had paid her this time was higher than the fee for any job that Platonic had done before. Perhaps his financial standing had improved because he had started working in Castle Hedgehog in Lioness lately. However, the fact that her pay was so much also meant that this job was going to be a difficult one.

Platonic slipping up in the Demilamb mansion was because she'd been careless in her information gathering. He wouldn't forgive another mistake. The "Association" took a high price, but she couldn't deny they provided a good service in exchange.

"Is this your first time in the Conchita territory?"

Bruno sat with his legs apart in a wooden chair opposite Platonic.

"Yeah."

"Well then first I'll explain the situation here. Did you have any trouble getting this far?"

"I did. Feels like they're paying extra attention to people getting entry into this territory."

Even though it was a land quite close to the capital, the Conchita territory did not adjoin any other countries, and was not politically very important at all.

If she had to come up with something, there was the walled city to the northwest, but that was a relic of the days long since passed when Beelzenia was still warring with the great Tasan Empire of the west. Nowadays it was little more than an ordinary town, with no demand for it as a fortress.

Platonic didn't really get why they had such stringent restrictions on entry.

"It's by decree of Empress Juno. She's afraid of it getting out that there's something bizarre going on here," Bruno explained.

"Something bizarre?"

"It's Banica Conchita. She's the female lord here, and lately she's begun to take some very strange actions."

The only thing Platonic knew about Conchita was that she'd contributed to Beelzenia's food culture, and become lord by her achievements.

According to Bruno, two years after she became the lord here, she had suddenly fallen ill.

"At first people were saying that her life was in jeopardy, but then somehow she bounced back. It was after that that it happened--that Conchita started to go funny."

The first time Conchita showed herself in public since her recovery was at a banquet being held in the estate of Duke Oruhari, the lord of the Grabia territory.

"Up until that point she'd been known as an extremely fat woman, but they say that when she arrived at the banquet she was thin--a strong change from how she'd been before."

"Maybe she wasted away from her illness?"

In response to Platonic's guess Bruno continued speaking, seeming not to fully agree despite giving an inclination of his head. "Maybe. But that's not the important thing. After the meal at the banquet, Conchita began to eat something else that she'd brought along with her. Everyone who saw it went into an uproar."

"What in the world was this Conchita eating?"

Bruno paused for a moment, clamming up, before he replied with a grim expression, "…Bugs. Live ones."

"Eugh, gross."

The only people she could imagine eating bugs were poor people on the brink of starvation and witches who lived out in the middle of nowhere.

Though come to think of it, the Conchita mansion is set on a mountain far from town…nah.

Platonic pushed away the fantasy that had started to come up in her head.

"Isn't it absurd for a noble to be eating something like that in public?"

"Exactly. Banica's not been invited to any more parties since that banquet."

"That's only natural."

"After that, Banica hired a man into her mansion. He was an oriental chef who knew how to make unorthodox meals. So he created dishes using bizarre creatures the likes of which no one had ever seen, and then every day Banica would eat them.

"What kind of dishes in parti--" Immediately after Platonic started to broach the question, she hurriedly took it back. "No, nevermind. You probably shouldn't tell me."

"That's wise. The day I heard what the menu was, I lost my appetite for the entire day. Eventually Conchita was no longer able to be satisfied with it, and proceeded to start eating even more impossible things."

"…A summary. Just tell me a summary."

"Let's say, there exist varieties of mushrooms that you should never eat. Platonic, have you ever eaten mellalga mushrooms?"

"Of course not."

The mellalga mushroom was something said to be representative of all poisonous mushrooms, which once you ate it would make your whole body grow swollen and red as though you were being burned.

"But Conchita did. And it's not just plants. There are animals that are poisonous too, and she's been regularly eating them without excising the poison. But she hasn't died or even become bedridden."

Platonic's impression of the state of affairs was gradually getting more horrific.

Eating bugs, devouring poison--maybe Conchita really was a witch.

"Even the oriental chef known for being a weirdo was rightly disgusted by his employer's abnormal dietary needs and fled the mansion, apparently. After that Conchita's hired on other chefs in succession, but there's no one who stays there long. Her gruesome tastes are escalating, to the point where now she'll apparently even use tachinid flies, vomit, and excre--"

"That's enough. I'm gonna puke."

"If you do you should wrap it up and take it to the Conchita mansion. She'll probably buy it from you."

Bruno spoke with a joking tone, but Platonic didn't laugh.

"Cut it out--At any rate, I get now that Conchita's a freak. It'd be pretty inconvenient for the empress if word got out that one of her 'Five Dukes' was like that."

"The Conchita family was pushed out of their position as lords for another incident in the past as well."

"Then she should make Conchita quit immediately."

"Only three years have passed since she became lord, and furthermore it was Empress Juno herself who appointed her as such. If she keeps repeatedly replacing her lords people will start to question her judgment…Well, that's probably the gist of it, I'd think."

Even the association couldn't claim to clearly understand the thinking of a country's central figure, it seemed.

"Right now Conchita's repulsive eating habits are well known amongst her people. They've come to avoid ever going near her mansion. Because you can always smell the stink of something rotting in its vicinity. When you break into the mansion I would advise wearing a mask."

"--Well, even if the owner is a creep that doesn't have any relation to my job. All I'm doing is stealing that wineglass from her, you know."

"I wouldn't be so sure about that. Conchita is a woman who can eat poison and still remain healthy. She might actually be a monster."

It was possible Bruno was still joking when he said that, but perhaps he was also half-serious. Despite the relaxed nature of his expression he wasn't smiling in the least.

"Oh gosh, I'm shaking." Platonic clutched at her shoulders as though she was frightened, but she wasn't really all that scared at all. On the contrary, she figured that even if this Conchita wasn't a normal person, it wouldn't have any impact on her work. "But let's just talk about what I need to find. I'm not some hero out to go vanquish a monster."

"If only. All of the burglars hired by AB-CIR to slip into the mansion until now have gone missing. Hopefully they weren't eaten by the lady of the land in there."

Platonic's frowned at Bruno's words.

"--What? This is the first I'm hearing of it."

"Hm? Hearing of what?"

"That AB-CIR's tasked other burglars with this before me."

For Platonic, the sorcerer AB-CIR who was her current client was an old friend. He had originally been a patron of Platonic's mentor, but when that mentor died Platonic had started getting contracted to do his requests.

After several jobs had gone by Platonic had thought that they had built up a mutually trusting relationship, but it seemed that was a miscalculation on her part.

"That jerk didn't say one word to me--if he wasn't so handsome I'd clock him one."

"Ha ha ha. What a disaster for you."

Platonic sternly glared at Bruno as he laughed loudly. He held up his hands before his chest as though to pacify her.

"Now now--Although, if you really are the best thief in Evillious, you'll manage somehow won't you? It is because AB-CIR values your skills that he entrusted you with this."

"…Fine, I'll give it a shot. Tell me the layout of the mansion and how many people are in it!"

Platonic put her hand on the table and brought her face so close to Bruno's that she could feel his breath.

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dfroza · 4 years ago

Text

Today’s reading from the ancient book of Psalms

for Saturday, October 31 of 2020 with Psalm 31 accompanied by Psalm 40 for the 40th day of Autumn and Psalm 5 for day 305 of the year (now with the consummate book of 150 Psalms in its 3rd revolution this year)

[Psalm 31]

For the worship leader. A song of David.

You are my shelter, O Eternal One—my soul’s sanctuary!

Shield me from shame;

rescue me by Your righteousness.

Hear me, Lord! Turn Your ear in my direction.

Come quick! Save me!

Be my rock, my shelter,

my fortress of salvation!

You are my rock and my fortress—my soul’s sanctuary!

Therefore, for the sake of Your reputation, be my leader, my guide, my navigator, my commander.

Save me from the snare that has been secretly set out for me,

for You are my protection.

I entrust my spirit into Your hands.

You have redeemed me, O Eternal, God of faithfulness and truth.

I despise the people who pay respect to breathless idols,

and I trust only in You, Eternal One.

I will gladly rejoice because of Your gracious love

because You recognized the sadness of my affliction.

You felt deep compassion when You saw the pains of my soul.

You did not hand me over to the enemy,

but instead, You liberated me

and made me secure in a good and spacious land.

Show me Your grace, Eternal One, for I am in a tight spot.

My eyes are aching with grief;

my body and soul are withering with miseries.

My life is devoured by sorrow,

and my years are haunted with mourning.

My sin has sapped me of all my strength;

my body withers under the weight of this suffering.

To all my enemies I am an object of scorn.

My neighbors especially are ashamed of me.

My friends are afraid to be seen with me.

When I walk down the street, people go out of their way to avoid me.

I am as good as dead to them. Forgotten!

Like a shattered clay pot, I am easily discarded and gladly replaced.

For I hear their whispered plans;

terror is everywhere!

They conspire together,

planning, plotting, scheming to take my life.

But I pour my trust into You, Eternal One.

I’m glad to say, “You are my God!”

I give the moments of my life over to You, Eternal One.

Rescue me from those who hate me and who hound me with their threats.

Look toward me, and let Your face shine down upon Your servant.

Because of Your gracious love, save me!

Spare me shame, O Eternal One,

for I turn and call to You.

Instead, let those who hate me be shamed;

let death’s silence claim them.

Seal their lying lips forever,

for with pride and contempt boiling in their hearts,

they speak boldly against the righteous and persecute those who poured their trust into You.

Your overflowing goodness

You have kept for those who live in awe of You,

And You share Your goodness with those who make You their sanctuary.

You hide them, You shelter them in Your presence,

safe from the conspiracies of sinful men.

You keep them in Your tent,

safe from the slander of accusing tongues.

Bless the Eternal!

For He has revealed His gracious love to me

when I was trapped like a city under siege.

I began to panic so I yelled out,

“I’m cut off. You no longer see me!”

But You heard my cry for help that day

when I called out to You.

Love the Eternal, all of you, His faithful people!

He protects those who are true to Him,

but He pays back the proud in kind.

Be strong, and live courageously,

all of you who set your hope in the Eternal!

The Book of Psalms, Poem 31 (The Voice)

[Psalm 40]

For the worship leader. A song of David.

I waited a long time for the Eternal;

He finally knelt down to hear me.

He listened to my weak and whispered cry.

He reached down and drew me

from the deep, dark hole where I was stranded, mired in the muck and clay.

With a gentle hand, He pulled me out

To set me down safely on a warm rock;

He held me until I was steady enough to continue the journey again.

As if that were not enough,

because of Him my mind is clearing up.

Now I have a new song to sing—

a song of praise to the One who saved me.

Because of what He’s done, many people will see

and come to trust in the Eternal.

Surely those who trust the Eternal—

who don’t trust in proud, powerful people

Or in people who care little for reality, chasing false gods—

surely they are happy, as I have become.

You have done so many wonderful things,

had so many tender thoughts toward us, Eternal my God,

that go on and on, ever increasing.

Who can compare with You?

Sacrifices and offerings are not what You want,

but You’ve opened my ears, and now I understand.

Burnt offerings and sin offerings

are not what please You.

So I said, “See, I have come to do Your will,

as it is inscribed of me in the scroll.

I am pleased to live how You want, my God.

Your law is etched into my heart and my soul.”

I have encouraged Your people with the message of righteousness,

in Your great assembly (look and see),

I haven’t kept quiet about these things;

You know this, Eternal One.

I have not kept Your righteousness to myself, sealed up in the secret places of my heart;

instead, I boldly tell others how You save and how loyal You are.

I haven’t been shy to talk about Your love, nor have I been afraid to tell Your truth

before the great assembly of Your people.

Please, Eternal One, don’t hold back

Your kind ways from me.

I need Your strong love and truth

to stand watch over me and keep me from harm.

Right now I can’t see because I am surrounded by troubles;

my sins and shortcomings have caught up to me,

so I am swimming in darkness.

Like the hairs on my head, there are too many to count,

so my heart deserts me.

O Eternal One, please rescue me.

O Eternal One, hurry; I need Your help.

May those who are trying to destroy me

be humiliated and ashamed instead;

May those who want to ruin my reputation

be cut off and embarrassed.

May those who try to catch me off guard,

those who look at me and say, “Aha, we’ve trapped you,”

be caught in their own shame instead.

But may all who look for You

discover true joy and happiness in You;

May those who cherish how You save them

always say, “O Eternal One, You are great and are first in our hearts.”

Meanwhile, I am empty and need so much,

but I know the Lord is thinking of me.

You are my help; only You can save me, my True God.

Please hurry.

The Book of Psalms, Poem 40 (The Voice)

[Psalm 5]

For the worship leader. A song of David accompanied by flutes.

Bend Your ear to me and listen to my words, O Eternal One;

hear the deep cry of my heart.

Listen to my call for help,

my King, my True God;

to You alone I pray.

In the morning, O Eternal One, listen for my voice;

in the day’s first light, I will offer my prayer to You and watch expectantly for Your answer.

You’re not a God who smiles at sin;

You cannot abide with evil.

The proud wither in Your presence;

You hate all who pervert and destroy what is good.

You destroy those with lying lips;

the Eternal detests those who murder and deceive.

Yet I, by Your loving grace,

am welcomed into Your house;

I will turn my face toward Your holy place

and fall on my knees in reverence before You.

O Eternal One, lead me in the path of Your righteousness

amidst those who wish me harm;

make Your way clear to me.

Their words cannot be trusted;

they are destructive to their cores.

What comes out of their mouths is as foul as a rotting corpse;

their words stink of flattery.

Find them guilty, O True God;

let their own devices bring them ruin.

Throw them out, and let them drown in the deluge of their sin,

for in revolt they brazenly spit in Your face.

But let those who run to You for safety be glad they did;

let them break out in joyful song.

May You keep them safe—

their love for You resounding in their hearts.

You, O Eternal, are the One who lays all good things in the laps of the right-hearted.

Your blessings surround them like a shield.

The Book of Psalms, Poem 5 (The Voice)

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nayrusfountain · 7 years ago

Text

Have Faith

Beyond the pristine, welcoming shores of Great Bay Coast lies a dark foreboding secret that none ever live to tell, for it is a place of wickedness. To the north of the cape, the ominous stronghold that is the Gerudo Pirates's Fortress loom over the crashing waves, its intimidating size armed with an arsenal of canons and snipers. All who dares goes in never lives to make it out, and the bloody skulls of various Zoras victims were lurched onto spears as decorations across the citadel. Pirates invested the Fortress at every corner and the security is top notch, making it impossible to sneak in undetected. Behind the seaside structure is a lush vibrate jungle that stretch for miles, the steamy humidity rising from the moisten earth as the calls of tropical birds filled the treetops. In between the savage wilds and the unforgiving citadel rest an old coastal city hidden in the shadows of the Fortress. Once ruled by Hylians, the impressive stony settlement had been overrun by men of wicked hearts. The streets bustle with activity, humans of various species going about their business as they commit atrocities as if there were nothing wrong with them. Certain tattooed individuals inconspicuously roam the dirty streets selling illegal weapons and drugs, their breath reeking of cigar and alcohol. A couple people from the Wind Tribe drag a struggling Watarara carelessly across the glass ridden sidewalk, the poor bird squawking frantically in pain as he try to free himself of the net that held him. A Darknut dropped an emaciated Keaton into a small cage, the sick fox revealing to be bipedal as he strain himself to stand on two. A few Shiekah lash out at a terrified Hylian with vicious kicks, laughing as the person scream for them to cease. A scarred Lokomo hauled a thrashing Zora onto the city dock, struggling to keep the angry piscus under his control as she lash out and snap her teeth. She sneered, her eyes growing crazy, and she suddenly lunge at him with an evil bloodcurdling screech. The man dropped her as he jump back, narrowly missing her fangs as her teeth gaze his ankle. He curse profanities as he yank the offending Zora's tail roughly, yelling at her before hauling her into a metal crate. He slam her in with little care, and the Zora howl wildly as a few Shiekah and Cobble shut the crate and screw the lid shut. The metal box rattle and jerk violently as the Zora slam herself angerly from within, risking inflicted injury on herself. Feeling relieve that his job is done, the Lokomo wipe the sweat from his brow as he let them load the crate away onto a mini truck. He trudge through the sinful city, ignoring the criminal activities as nothing more then daily life on this city. Many Gerudo guards patrol the Fortress with an iron fist, having captured the city several centuries back. They dominated the entire town, operating it as a secret underground black market for their own benefits. Slaves, experiments, torture victims, live and stuffed trophies, sport fighters, whatever they deem fits that poor victim unlucky enough to be brought here will be bestow by them. The Lokomo man assemble into the old temple in the heart of the city, where he will await his next assignment. The Gerudo herd the several sea going people like him into the church like hoards of sheep, the room stinking of sweat and blood from attacks committed by sea life. Many were Lokomo like him. Some were Hylian. And a handful were a rare selection of Merpeople on wheelchairs. Few Gerudo stood at the stage as a projectile display images of Zoras in the white board behind them. The imagery flip through the various species of Zoras until it stop on a particular set of shark breeds. Sharks were present next to each type to represent the genetic relations between the Zoras and their animals of origin. The Gerudo at front pace to the back of the stage as she directed her attention to the board. "This month we are shifting our demands for something a little more dangerous." She said, using a ruler to point at the five distinct species of sharks and Zoras. "The lamnidae group, more commonly known as Mackerel Sharks, are a family of beasts consisting the most iconic killers known to mankind. Each of you will be assign a particular species of these Zoras to target. Your task is to capture a few individuals of these savages and bring them back here. Our leader will take care of the rest from their on." The Lokomo study the images with interest, excited at the prospects of hunting these terrible beast. Lamnidae are the dominate apex predators among the Zora people. There are four different species whom evolved from four different sharks; Koreoip Zoras (Carcharodon Carcharias Zorillis) for examples are humanoid Great White Sharks. They are 15 ft or taller with dames being larger then bulls, built like a tank and their muscular frames are packed with raw power. They are black to bluish grey or silvery chrome colored, though snow white had been reported, brightly colored chest and belly ranging from lavender to sapphire, emerald, ruby or gold, sometimes black or dark grays. The Zoras have glowing blood red markings that looks like skulls, warning others of their poisonous blood. Two long antennae, which in reality are modified dorsal fins, grew from behind the head and half way down their tails respectively. These appendages are sensitive to the changes in water and can detect shifting weather forecast. These hulking beasts are feared by sailors for their destructive and territorial nature and are sometimes killed by pirates to avoid competition or for sport like him. They also favor bleak dystopian societies and will chase off or kill outsiders. Koreoips are often nicknamed "Black Death" because of their violent and tyrannical nature. Makiiekdo Zora (Isurus Oxyrinchus Zorillis) are 9 ft and torpedo shaped, shorter, solid colored Mako Shark people with poisonous spines on their pectoral fins to protect against their Koreoip cousins. Their markings only glow on Zoran bulls, and their scales have a metallic sheen to it compare to the mythical Zoran Heroes's bejeweled silkiness. But Makiiekdo evolved to resemble the fable Zoras from the stories, their erect fins giving the illusion of them being bigger then they actually are. This lend to misidentification for years, sailors confusing them for the more attractive Sylovaakien Zora, the true name of Zoran Heroes, and cause many hazardous confrontation with these hyperactive Zoras. There were two other Zoras he recognized, but the creatures evolving from Porbeagle Sharks and Salmon Sharks live in temperate and icy waters respectively, and thus are seldom seen in these tropical climates. Especially the Koreoip's sister species. These imposing Zoras had been known to put up bloody fights that sends his adrenaline skyrocketing. They are fun to poach, and he was glad that interest had once again resurfaced in regards to these creatures. However, as he absorb the information before him, something about the chart threw him off, and he clear his throat as he raise his hand. "Yes?" "I'm sorry to interrupt, but I think there was a mistake with the diagram," He said, his voice gruff with an edge of confusion. "Oh? And what makes you come to that conclusion?" The woman said with a sly smirk. She saw with satisfaction the baffle and quizzical expression that befell nearly all the participants throughout the room. The Mers, however, were the only ones who seem uncomfortable or weary of the imagery before them. "The creature in between the Koreoip Zora and the Makiiekdo Zora," He referred, pointing at a regal anthropomorphic mako. Up till now, the chart always display the four main Makerel Shark Zoras available for high bounties. This year however, a new, fifth species had been included into the diagram. This shark creature look like it could be an overgrown Makiiekdo Zora, reaching 12 ft tall and sharing the exact same appearance. However, it is much more athletic and sleeker in build, and the fins are the longest of any Zora in the entire family. The eyes are also larger and the brilliant markings glitter with captivating bioluminescence. And its scales shine like polished pearls. "Ah, I'm glad you've noticed, Nyko," the woman nodded smugly as she turn to point to the Zora in question. "This, believe it or not, is the legendary Zoran Hero and your new objective, the Sylovaakien Zora." Gasps filled the room as everyone exploded into hush mumbling. The guard next to her rang a shrill bell to recapture their attention. "For years these Zoras were consider nothing more then fairy tales to motivate children with important life lessons. For years many had rule them out as something only viewed by drunken sailors. But not anymore. Our scouts had discovered that the Isariaic Mountains, the home of the Makiiekdo, is deeper then science had previously estimated, and an ancient city was found in these twilight depths. This city is carved out of beautiful glassy stones and packed with treasure waiting to be taken. For the first, the Longfinned Mako Sharks been record swimming in the wild via camera. If that isn't already exciting enough, we discovered pictures and engravings of Sylovaakien Zoras in Temples and buildings, and bladed fins lay scatter across the seafloor in the surrounding area. Ancient magical technology is also present throughout the city, describe accurately like the old stories where they are deem to be an advance underwater civilization. You now have a new assignment. You must bring back a live Sylovaakien. Our captain is more then eager to pay a fortune in return to owning one of the rarest and most treasured Zoras on the planet." "Wait, where are we suppose to find one?" Nyko questioned, skeptical over his new mission. This too much. He has no experience hunting for such a Zora. The aspects of going after one could take years given how elusive they are often describe to be. "As far as we're concern, these things are a pain to find if after so many years they are only discovered now." "We Gerudo had become quite suspicious of the Indigo-Go's for quite some time since discovering the hidden city, mainly of their lead guitarist. He fits the description of a typical Zoran Hero perfectly, and after months of keeping watch our spies confirm that he is indeed a Sylovaakien Zora." The Lokomo stop to register what he just heard. After a moment, he facepalmed, cursing himself. He knew there was something off with that guitarist the moment he first saw him during a concert. Sure he looks like a Makiiekdo Zora (like the rest of his kind) but his size, coloring, and fins are all wrong. He could never put his finger on why, but suddenly it all makes sense now. "You mean to tell me that this entire time there was this extremely rare and valuable Zora right in front of us and we never once question it?" The woman smirked, enjoying the drama that broke through the normally patient bounty hunters as a chorus of bickering filled the room. "Precisely. And at the moment he currently hangs around the city of his origin with the lead singer. You shall snare this sneaky bastard and bring him to the fortress to collect your prize. Do you accept your new mission?" Nyko grin at the great fortune that may spring forth from the guitarist's capture. He look at the woman in the eye, feeling a spark igniting from within. "I'll get my gear ready."

***

The twilight mist roll into the night as the curtains of blackness chased away the gold embers of dusk. Nayru is accompany by Fierce Deity tonight it seems, their respective moons glowing warmly in the celestial heavens. Normally, the Hylian War God's lunar body would often reside over dry land to keep watch over his subjects as they sleep. Tonight however it seems his massive silvery moon hovers over the lapping ocean next to Nayru's small azure white body. Behind them was an even smaller moon from another dimension, sitting quietly and far away in space. It has a tendency of appearing randomly all over Termina with little to no explanation, and a distinct mark of the Triforce was engraved in the middle of its golden form. Many rumors concerning the celestial body speculate that the lonely rock is in fact the moon from the mythical realm of Hyrule, rumored by many to be the afterlife. The Zoras themselves knows this to be partially true, and they are the only ones aware that the realm is a real land, for lost travelling Zoras had proven their Hyrulian citizenship to their government. It fact some Zoran species in Termina only exists in Hyrule. But for the sake of keeping the land safe, they lock the information away from the rest of the Terminian public. Mikau and Lulu relax on the grassy seafloor of a natural park near the Isariaic Mountains, watching the stars twinkly through the magical waves above. The whole undersea world is forested with large, tree sized corals with explosive colors and a luminescence glow, their branches reaching out for the twisting waters ahead accompanied with towering kelp. Star dust sprinkle from the heavens and snowed into the Ocean Realm, being whisk around by the soft currents. Some of the particles floated in place across the seas, blinking gently like they would in the sky. The watery world was filled with these lovely lights every night, providing a magical wonder as they loom around the Coral trees like fireflies in the purple tinted waters. "It is amazing how crystal clear the stars look under water; it was as if their were no surface at all," Lulu smiled as she nuzzle into Mikau's chest. The larger Zora couldn't be more happier with her by his side. Mikau nodded as he tight his grip on her, rubbing their noses together as he responded to her. "That's why I always prefer the night. The ocean has this mystical whim to it that you can't get during the day. Its relaxing, and the purple hue of the waters get is pleasing to the eyes, though to humans the nightly purples is almost pitch black in their perspective." "Humans are daytime creatures. With the exception of Mers, they have poor night visions unless they wear special goggles or something," Lulu commented, and she saw the larger Zora nodding at the information. Mikau would often have minimal contact with humans for his own safety, knowing that his species is at risk of poaching. Thus, he doesn't know as much about the species as he like to admit. The stars fade in and out of existence as they continue stargazing, occasionally spotting a shooting star whizzing through the galaxies. They remain on the seafloor for another hour, cuddling each other as the sounds of the waves lull them into a sleepless bliss. Far beyond, the silhouettes of Longfinned Mako Sharks, Mikau's ancestral brethren, crept along the shadows of the coral forest, vanishing swiftly. They as well as their Zoran equivalent, Sylovaakien Zoras, are often nicknamed "phantoms of the deep" by many Zoras for their elusive nature. They would occasionally brush Mikau affectionately, with the Zora tenderly petting their fins and gills. Some of the sharks nuzzle into them, engaging in small talk through telepathy as shark naturally lack vocal cords to speak like other animals. However, this is more of blessing, for it allows the animals to easily communicate with humans as well as not being restricted to speak to their related Zora species like so many vocal fish are forced to across Termina. Lulu giggle at the shark, letting one snuggle between her and Mikau. The Mako smile, getting comfortable as she allow the Zoras to stroke her. After what felt like hours of slacking off, Mikau sat up with a stretch, the muscles rippling as he crack his neck. He stood and held his hand out for Lulu, who took it gratefully and was help to her flippers. The sharks yawn lazily as Lulu giggled. "For a rebel you're quiet the gentlemen," she mused, playfully poking his gills. "I wouldn't say gentlemen. More in line of charismatic is more like it." 'Well, I'd say you're the charismatic rebel, Mikau,' a shark piped in, shaking the fine powdery sands from his silvery blue scales. 'I mean, you do have a tendency of breaking the rules and doing crazy stunts. I'm sure if Nicoda and Ruuna were here they would be so proud to know their son had gotten in trouble with the law enforcement for a bit after one of your failed schemes.' "Oh! They're proud of me all right," Mikau cooed as he gaze towards to skies beyond the surface. "My brothers and sisters were all chilled and simply adventurous; they never really done anything risky as far as I know, especially since our dad was a military leader with an obvious authority over our city. Don't want to make him look bad ya know? The worst anyone ever did was when my older brother Shoal accidentally impregnated a Makiiekdo Zora after she lied to him about being a full grown Sylovaakien. My parents' reactions were quite hilarious looking back at it. Honestly I'd think they wouldn't mind me spicing things for 'em. In fact, I think I'll pay them a visit." Mikau's fins lengthen to maximum size, sharpening into scimitar blades. They held the Mark of Nayru neatly engrave onto it by the Goddess Herself. With a flap of his mighty and flexible swords, Mikau blasted off towards the echoing moans of the waves. He twirl elegantly as his lean body twist with ease, his fins cutting the water to increase his speed. With explosive power, he breach through the waves, sending sprays of waters and crystallized stardust in every direction like a firework display. He soar 20 ft into the air, his swirling shades of purple markings, artistically gracing his entire snow white body, erupting into a shower of dancing rave lights as he back flips fluidly. Certain stars seem to brighten in response, and one of them shot through the cosmos in joy. Lulu poked her head out of the water, watching her friend preforming tricks in the air as he plummet back into the sea. He landed with a great SPLASH! and water once again flew everywhere. Mikau blasted through the surface again a moment later, spinning like a spinner shark with the same light display. The colors became a aurora of rainbows, blurring with his twirling motion as he released a joyous dolphin like squeak. She smile as she watch him playfully leap for the stars, clearly happy as he trill and chime all the while. However, Lulu spotted an ominous sight looming behind the jagged rocks protruding off the shore of a nearby island. The shine reflecting of metal hauls gave away the ship's position, and Lulu's eyes widen in horror as a sinister harpoon aim dangerously in Mikau's fleeting direction. "Mik-!" BOOM! "AH-!!!" The silver tip pierce right through scales and flesh as the Zoran Hero was struck back by the force of the impact. An electric jolt blast through his entire body, silencing the Zora as he briefly lost his senses and drop towards the buffeting waves. Blood spiral sloppily behind him as the Zora tumble clumsily towards the water, his whooshing fins slicing the air as he fell. He landed heavily, the force of the crash echoing across the vast oceans. The harpoon crackle again, and another discharge blazed across the water and both Zoras yelp in startle pain. The sharks bolted into hiding, spooked by the sudden disturbance as they flee for cover. Mikau seem to grow alarm instantly as he try to make sense of the situation. The distinct calls of excited men hooted into the night, and before he could speak to a frantic Lulu, he felt himself being yank back in the boat's direction. "What in the-?!" Lulu scream and rush over to his side, trying to pry the metal arrow from her friend as he jerk and thrash angrily. A chaos of turbulence stir from their erratic movements as a cloud of bubbles shored the struggling Zoras. The spear had cut clean through his shoulder, and blood pooled around them in a mystifying scarlet. Mikau and Lulu try to bite through the elastic neon cord that connected the harpoon to the boat, but each time they did so they were greeted with a painful shock that left their tongues feeling numb. Feeling desperation building up, she held onto Mikau for dear life, trying to think of any way to get the wretched spear out of her friend as she continue to try and churn the metal aggressively between her sharp teeth. Mikau bump his head against the side of the ship, earning an angry shout in protest from the offend Zora. Lulu felt a metal bucket striking at her skull as a Lokomo toss it as her while yelling something. The female Zora unintentionally release her grip on Mikau, holding her head as pain rang in her ears. Mikau was haul up via cord, a rain of blood trickling down his chest to sprinkle the water below. The Lokomo on board stare at the large Zora in astonishment as an eruption of red exploded across his brimming, luminescence markings in retaliation, sending rays of angry scarlet in every which way. The crew were surprise at how easy the outcome of the hunt turn out and were proud that their first day on the job had ended successfully. They reach for the livid Zora and reel him aboard. Instantly, Mikau exploded into a hissing ball of scales and fury, thrashing everywhere while he hook his claws into their flesh and gnash his shark-like fangs threateningly. The men grew startle and yell in a language he couldn't understand and they scurry about like pitiful insects as they quickly pinned him down by the throat and held his wrists above his head. He snarl as he squirm, and the pectoral fins grew and sharpen steadily in response to his distress. "Wow! He really is a Sylovaakien Zora! Look at those beautiful, bladed fins!" One shouted in Lokomo.

Oh no. Language barrier. "That's amazing," another man agree as he prod the edge of one of Mikau's swords, much to the Zora's annoyance. He yelp as he pull his hand back and blew at it, a stream of blood cascading from the cut on his finger. "Woah, just by gently touching it it draws blood. I bet no one messes with this badass; he's basically a walking switch knife!" Nyko watch from a few feet as he marvel at the frustrated shark man before him. Beforehand, he never once bother meddling with the Indigo-Go’s to avoid having his name pandered all over the news. Zoras are already murderous enough if one tries to mess with one; the scars he has gain over years of hunting them is proof of their animalistic savagery. And harassing an important and well respected individual of their race is basically a death sentence. Some risks were simply not worth it, he would tell himself. But tonight, as he study the pissed off guitar yelling curses at his captors in Zoran, a sense of pride overwhelmed him. He order his crew to fetch some handcuffs and magically enhanced chains to restrain the Zora, removing his cigar to release a puff of smoke as he gaze smugly at his biggest catch. The Gerudo will be so pleased with him, he'll be living large for the rest of his life! Mikau glare at the humans gawking at him, hissing not unlike a snake as he try to yank his wrists free. He gaze up at the starlit sky; the biggest of them, a white hot ball of spikes who knew was his father, seem to blaze intensely in response to his predicament, but Nayru's Moon bathe him with warm silvery light while Fierce Deity cast him a rare, calming glow, also mellow and at ease. The Gods were completely calm, not at all concern at their caress him with their ghostly hues. It was at that moment that Mikau understood their silent message, and a sly smirk grew on his snow white face. He completely relax, watching the excited men closely as he sung a shrill, whistling tone akin to a whale's song. Down in the water, Lulu perk at the chime emitted from the boat. Shaking her sore head, she glance up at the ship and spotted Nayru silently looking down at her. A chill shot up her spine as a haunting feminine voice echo in the back of her subconscious. "Jump." Lulu huff knowingly, understanding what she must do to save the Zora she loves from the iron clutches of men. She duck under the water and dove deep into the inky abyss, a spark of neon bubbles gurgling towards the surface behind her. She turn to face the now distant waves, and with a burst of speed, Lulu blazed through the water, passing the worried Longfinned Mako Sharks as she climb higher and higher. In a blast of liquid crystals, she flew out of the water and became airborne, shimmering dewdrops trending from her fins. The men turn at the sight of her and gasp in shock, but she didn't care as her gaze landed on Mikau. He smile at her, knowing that he had set his faith in her, and seeing that silence boost of encouragement and trust was the strength she needed. Her heart nearly melted at the sight of him, but she had to stay focus. With gravity claiming her the Zora rush towards the vessel, dive bombing into the fray.

She struck a man with outstretched claws, cutting deep into his adornment as she drag them through his skin. The deck exploded into chaos, men and women rushing to seize the intruder. The people still holding Mikau lessen their grip accidentally from the confusion, and the Zoran Hero rip his arms free and swung his sword at the man holding him by the throat. The Lokomo wheezed as he fell to the deck withering in agony, blood pooling out from the wound on his neck. Mikau twirl swiftly to his flippers swinging a kick at an oncoming bounty hunter, sending them flying overboard. With all his might, he grip at the harpoon still holding him and yanked it hard from his chest, holding back a yell as he flung it straight at a approaching renegade. The spear struck into his heart and he drop like a rock dead upon impact. Lulu duck a metal pole as it swoosh over where her head had been seconds ago, and ram her attacker with teeth clashing, shaking her head as she bite down hard. She quickly darted about the deck, the pointed eared humans chasing after her from every which direction. Her claws rake at a assaulting thug's face, earning a scream as she succeeded in gashing into his eye. She rolled from an oncoming sword dropping onto her from a swordswoman, and bit into her ankle. She toss the rebel towards an charging maniac, watching as they crash into a heap on the floor. Mikau dance his way over to her side, winking charmingly at her. Lulu beamed, happy that to see that characteristic charm still radiating from her best friend... More then a best friend. "I knew you'll come, Angel Shark" Mikau said as his tail wrap around her protectively. They stood back to back as anger Lokomo advance menacingly towards them. "You never failed me before. And with our combined courage, we can overcome anything as long as we stick together." "Oh, Mikki," Lulu cooed, mirroring his steps as they slowly back themselves to the edge. "I'll fight with you to the bitter end, no matter what happens. As long as I am by your side, I am more then happy to be by your side." Mikau smile warmly at her before turning his fiery blue gaze back at the mob of Lokomo. The crew grew hesitant, unsure of how to approach the Sylovaakien Zora without getting decapitated. Nyko watch the display with blazing golden eyes, anger boiling his heated blood as he rush into his quarters and for grab his pistol. Loading the projectiles, he rush out and aim it for Lulu's head, his finger pulling the trigger. Mikau spotted the man's action, and with quick reflexes he shoved Lulu into the floor as a bullet roar over the Zoras. The wound in his shoulder protested with fury, but the Zoran Hero knew he had little time to meddle in his misery. Mikau charge head first into Nyko, the Lokomo panicking as he fire another round. Lulu yell at him with her hand outstretched, begging for her beloved "friend" to cease his assault in fear of being shot. Mikau felt the projectile grazing his arm, but that did not stop his rampage. Determine to eliminate the source of the problem, he press on, his sword fins catching the glow of the moons. Nyko slam the gun away and swipe the Zoran Hero across the chest with his scimitar, hoping it would slow him down. Mikau seem unfazed by the pain however, and with an animalistic roar that rattle the ship, the Sylovaakien Zora spun his blades in his socket, turning the point forwards, and thrust the fin into the Lokomo's stomach. Nyko gasp a silent scream, shakily reaching his hands to remove the sword. Mikau gave him a stern kick and he slid out of his blade, crumbling to the floor. Nyko squirm a bit before going still, his eyes glazing over. Mikau pants, licking his fangs as he turn to glare back at the rest of the crew. The Lokomo squeak in sudden terror at his murderous stare, and scatter to hurry into hiding as they bolt to safety. Lulu shakily stood, watching the dead Lokomo with a startle wide eyed expression. Mikau sigh as he trudge to her side, putting his hand on her shoulder. He gave a weak smile as he spoke in a soothing whisper. "Sorry. It had to be done. He would kill us both if I didn't stop him, and possibly more innocent Zoras would be in danger if he lives." Lulu calm down, nodding silently as she held his hand. She knew he was right; scums like him will often go around hurting innocent people for petty reasons, and it is his job as a Sylovaakien Zora to eliminate these sinful men before they spread more destruction. Without another word, they leap over the edge and into the ocean below, barely making a sound as they put as much distant from them and the ship as possible. They swam for many miles, and soon the colorful blinking lights of their home capital, Zothora, came into view. It nestle comfortably in the undersea valley, surrounded by lush, beautiful coral forests breathing life into the marine ecosystem. Millions of nightly fish flock everywhere, filling the water in positive activity as the first sighs of nocturnal Zoras darted in and out the "trees", catching prey as they swim along. Mikau slowed down considerably until he can to a stop, not escaping Lulu's attention. He grin, chuckling warmly with his thoughts as she watch him quizzically. "Oh Mikau. What is it? Are you hurting from your injuries?" "No," the Zoran Hero smile, trapping the female Zora in a light hug. Lulu tremble as the male rest his weary head atop her crown. "I just want to say thank you. You always stuck by my side no matter how bad things get. You are not afraid to put your life on the line, and your courage to face life’s hazards had been my source of many songs I write with Japas. You are strong willed and loyal, always putting others first. You're the best...friend I could ever have, and I couldn't be happier with anyone else. So thank you for being the greatest person in all of Termina, Lulu."

Lulu sense the shift in his voice as he user out the word "friend" and her heart flutter in her chest. Deep down, she knew all too well he shared feelings with her, and being by his side is the motivational boost of strength she needs to remind herself to right the wrong. Nayru glowed proudly high above, and the three moons lined in a neat formation to shower the Zoras in their heavenly light over their triumph .

"Well done, my children," whispered Nayru, a turret of water carrying sea shells whisking around them in celebration.

Lulu smile, nuzzling into the nape of Mikau’s neck as she recall her moments of heroism. The lights of the underwater city bloom in the background, turning their forms into silhouettes. As long as she and Mikau trust in Nayru, nothing can tear them down, and her spirit burns strong in her heart.

“You’re welcome, Mikau. And thank you too, for always believing in me.”

AUTHOR’S NOTE: Thanks for reading! I had to rush the ending to meet the deadline, but I’ll edit it so it’ll have a better conclusion later on, probably over at Fanfiction.net. I hope you enjoyed my short story. More to come in celebration to Lukau Week! Also, there might be mistakes here and there since I was force to rush this. I’ll keep an eye out to edit them when I get the chance. I hope you enjoy this.

Happy Lukau Week!

#LukauWeek Mikau Lulu TheLegendofZelda Majora'sMask

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geek-patient-zero · 5 years ago

Text

Part 1, Chapter 8

Or: Spaghetti and Corpses, Boss

Blood War: Masquerade of the Red Death Trilogy Volume 1

Venice—March 12, 1994

A black shape slipped from shadow to shadow in the late-night darkness. Weaving through the narrow streets and winding lanes of the ancient city, it moved without a sound, heading ever inward, toward Saint Mark’s Square at the center of the sleeping Metropolis.

The form, vaguely human in shape, traveled quickly, never hesitating to stop and stare at the stunning examples of Renaissance and Byzantine architecture that earned the city a reputation as one of the most beautiful locations in the world.

Whatever this shape is, clearly it’s a local.

Nor did it slow down on the numerous bridges it was forced to cross. Venice, situated on 120 islands and formed by 177 canals, was laced with over 400 such spans.

The shape won’t stop and enjoy the scenery, but Robert Weinberg did the research and damn it, he’s going to make sure you all know it.

The shape reaches Saint Mark’s Square, or Piazza San Marco if you want to impress the locals (you won’t), and we get some brief tour guide info on Saint Mark’s Cathedral and the Doge’s Palace as the shape glides past them. By the way, that’s Doge as in the historical supreme authority of Venice, not the meme dog.

I’ve been to Venice. It was one of our stops when my family went to Italy in ‘07. Let me give you some advice. Unless you’re way into history and architecture, you should spend, at most, two days there and not a day more. At the risk of sounding uncultured, Venice is boring. You take a gondola ride on the canals, you visit a glass art shop, you visit the above sites, and that’s all there is to do.

Venice smells, too. If you google it, you’ll see some travel agency and tourist board crap about how oh, it’s just low tide and salt water, Venice doesn’t stink. Yep, I’m sure it has nothing to do with the city’s romantic canals doubling as an open-air sewer.

Our tour of old Venice ends at the Bridge of Sighs, behind the palace, and we transition back to the World of Darkness and one of its greatest evils: urban land development.

Once the famous arch led to the public prisons. Now the prisoners were gone, and in their place stood a vast, black skyscraper of glass and steel.

We get some background on the building. As you can imagine, the locals were pissed when it was announced that the old buildings were going to be torn down and this random modern corporate penis built in its place.

Opponents objected bitterly to the massive rebuilding project, declaring that the ancient jail was one of the city’s most prized landmarks. As usual, money spoke louder. The city-zoning commission had ignored the complaints and approved the design.

Soon after, a number of the most strident critics had disappeared from Venice. Reports by the police claimed that the citizens had angrily departed the city after being scorned by the city fathers. The more cynical inhabitants of the island said nothing and made their peace with the new skyscraper.

The building is forty stories high, which, phhhhht. That’s a baby skyscraper. All that trouble for a weenie building. I understand the cruelty was on purpose, but whoever owns this monument to hubris could’ve flexed better. Anyway, the building’s surrounded by a twelve-foot-high brick wall with only one gate and guardpost leading inside.

Whispered tales describe huge, red-eyed hounds that roamed the grounds at night. No one was sure what secrets the building contained. Other than a street address, the skyscraper had no name. None was needed. Among the residents of Venice the rectangular black giant was known simply as The Mausoleum.

We don’t learn who owns the Mausoleum for another few pages, but since we’re in Italy and there’s a vampire clan with an Italian as hell name, it ain’t hard to figure out.

The shape gets to the perimeter, but stops. There’s more than a brick wall. And it’s not just a brick wall.

Embedded throughout the barrier were small heat detectors that would record the slightest variation in temperature—warm or cold. The top of the wall was covered by thousands of inch-high, steel needles. Each was barbed with a curve designed to rip protective garments or skin to shreds. Powerful searchlights swept the inside perimeter of the compound every few minutes. Monstrous beasts roamed the grounds, things of nightmare that recognized no friend, only prey. Entrance to the Mausoleum other than through the main gate was impossible.

Understandably, the infiltrator decides to take the front door.

The gate, two six-inch steel doors, is guarded by four ghouls in black uniforms. Two were in a booth with a “complex video and computer network” which gave them live video of the company grounds, and the other two stood by the gate, armed with AK-47′s with high powered explosive ammo. The shape’s plan on getting past? Wait for them to blink.

Even ghouls blinked. Human senses could not trace such rapid eye motions with precision. But the blot was not human.

Twenty-two minutes later, all four of them blink at the same time. The shape, the presence, the blot, whatever the narration wants to call the infiltrator, slips past them at that moment. As for the door, even though the crack between it and the ground is described as “microscopic,” the infiltrator is “molecules in width” and slips under easily. “The patch of darkness” heads for the Mausoleum’s entrance, a pair of giant glass doors, undetected by the “Hellhounds” wandering around.

Many vampires could meld their forms into the earth, becoming part of the ground. The moving shadow was one of the few that, having done so, could actually shift its location.

Sounds like Earth Meld, third tier power of Protean, the signature discipline of Clan Gangrel. The infiltrator isn’t a Gangrel, but there are other ways the infiltrator could’ve learned it.

Oh, right, and the moving shadow infiltrator is a vampire.

Beyond the glass door is an entrance hall, well-lit and painted completely white, guarded by a single ghoul in a glass booth.

His gaze, like those outside, never wavered, Getting past him would be more difficult.

They could just wait for the guard to blink like with the ones outside, but this way they get to show off more vampire powers.

Gathering its Mighty Will willpower, the shadow projected a single thought at the watchman. Sneeze, it commanded, sneeze. The guard sniffed, scowling. Sneeze, projected the shadow again.

Eventually the guard does sneeze. The infiltrator turns from a shadow on the ground into a white mist. That’s Body of Spirit, fifth tier of Proteus. The change between the two is described as taking “milliseconds.” They slip through another “microscopic” crack, this time between the top of the door and it’s steel frame, and flattened against the ceiling. All during the second the sneezing guard had his eyes closed.

All these descriptions like seconds and milliseconds and microscopic. And that brick perimeter outside with its heat sensors and barbed hooks. It’s like two kids trying to one-up each other while play-fighting during recess.

“My fortress is so secure it’s surrounded by evil dogs and the only way in is through cracks! And they’re smal- they’re my-cros-scos-pic!”

“Oh yeah, well I can turn into a shadow who can get past evil dogs and fit through the smallest cracks ever!

“Oh yeah, well I also have guards who watch every opening at all times all day every day!”

“Oh yeah, well I’m so fast I can get past them when they blink!”

“Oh yeah, well my bodyguards can sense your thoughts and teleport in front of you in a milly-second! And they’re Super Saiyan 5!”

“Oh yeah, well I’m Super Saiyan 6!”

Then one of them hits the other kid with a rock.

There’re more guardposts throughout the building, security cameras, and office workers running around even at this time of night, but the mist avoids them by moving against the ceiling, white-on-white, and finding the door leading to the basement. There, it messes around with the complex’s switch boxes.

The building was controlled by a computer monitoring system. Bypassing the built-in safeguards was child’s play, and the shadow was no child. Mentally, it attached invisible trip wires to the proper circuits. The emergency generator proved no more of a challenge. Plans set, it went looking for a way up.

Those invisible trip wires must be some kind of vampire magic, or else this thing was sneaking past guards and fitting through microscopic cracks while dragging around computer parts.

The infiltrator finds an elevator shaft, enters it, and rises to the fortieth floor. Despite there being security cameras pointed at the elevators, it does this with no problems. There aren’t any cameras in the shaft itself, which the narration notes is a “dangerous mistake.” Sensing that there’s no one running around on the fortieth floor, the infiltrator exists the shaft.

This part of the building was extremely well protected. A dozen deadly spells ringed the inner group of apartments. They were triggered by thought, not physical presence. One wrong move and the invader’s efforts would come to a hideous end.

Effortlessly, the misty form disarmed the traps. Instead of intertwining, so that releasing one set off another, they overlapped. The interloper’s Mighty Will powerful mind surrounded each spell and swiftly neutralized it. Not an alarm was sounded yet in the span of a quarter-hour, the entire top floor of the main headquarters of the Giovanni Clan of vampires was rendered defenseless from outside attack.

“Oh yeah, well my room is surrounded by a hundred magic spells that kills anyone who thinks in it!”

“Oh yeah, well I use my mind powers to destroy them! You should’ve mixed them together instead of making them on top of each other, idiot!”

“Oh yeah, well I turn into a Super Saiyan 20 and-”

That’s when a teacher finds them and makes them cut it out. They don’t want a repeat of yesterday.

No alarm went off, but someone noticed the top floor’s magic defenses were gone anyway, and the infiltrator hears the elevator, full of security personnel, begin to rise. The infiltrator uses whatever psychic BS they have to trigger their magic trip wires from earlier and cut off all power to the elevators. No longer having to worry about outside interference, the infiltrator slips into a room with the name Madeleine Giovanni marked on the door.

Inside the empty room, the mist begins to change, gathering form, turning solid.

In seconds it was gone, leaving standing in its place an attractive young woman with dark eyes and long black hair. Pale white skin and blood-red lips offered a sharp contrast to the black leotard that was her only garment.

Of course she’s hot. This time in a gothic gymnast way!

Walking to a nearby closet filled with women’s clothes, the intruder searched carefully until she found an old-fashioned black velvet gown. Nodding, she slipped out of the leotard and pulled on the dress.

A more low-brow franchise would have the security guards arrive just before she gets the dress on.

It fit perfectly, hugging her slender form as if by design. Reaching into a box on a shelf above the clothes, she extracted a stunning silver necklace and draped it around her neck. It was decorated with the same family crest that marked the front end of the Mausoleum. A pair of short heels completed the outfit.

It’s obvious, but in case you’re glazing over this because you thought the sneaking mission stuff was boring, our infiltrator is Madeleine Giovanni. She broke into her own clan’s main headquarters.

Smiling at herself in a full-length mirror, she strolled across the chamber to a second door. Gently she wrapped on the paneling.

That bit with the mirror. It’s a male novelist cliche to write a woman protagonist examining herself in a mirror and mentally describing every one of her physical features. Y’know, as women do, am I right, herp derp? To Weinberg’s credit, he doesn’t do that with Madeleine. Now if this were Flavia, whose high cheekbones, sensuous lips, and great tits he felt the need to describe twice, who knows.

“Enter,” growled a loud voice from the other side. The speaker did not sound pleased. “You little witch.”

Madeleine enters a huge corner office. It’s lined with dark-tinted windows with a view of Venice one can enjoy without having to smell it. She addresses the man inside as her sire, and informs him that she tested the building's security and found it "...underwhelming."

A tall man with graying hair, he had the face of an aristocrat.

Appropriate, since Clan Giovanni is one big The Aristocrats joke.

He was impeccably dressed in a dark, three-piece suit with a white shirt and an unadorned tie. His only concession to color was a blood-red rose tucked into his buttonhole. When he walked the earth in human form, hundreds of years ago, Pietro Giovanni had had a passion for beautiful flowers. Undeath had left that sentiment unchanged. As manager of the Mausoleum and one of the most powerful Kindred in Europe, he could afford to indulge his vices. Large and small.

The two vampires sit down to have a discussion about the Mausoleums’s security. Pietro acknowledges that even though he thinks Madeleine is “the most accomplished saboteur” of his childer, and that no other Giovanni could get past their defenses, the Mausoleum is still technically vulnerable to potential enemies. He asks her what she recommends.

This conversation goes on for about a page and a half. Madeleine thinks that they rely too much on ghouls and that while loyal, they’re a weak link in their defenses. The four out front need to be better trained and with better security equipment, meant to “compliment their efforts, not duplicate them.”

“The Hellhounds?” asked Pietro.

“A minor force,” answered Madeleine. “Feed them less. They need to be hungrier.”

Hey now. I know these are ghouled monster dogs bred to main and kill, but that ain’t necessary. More practically, the narration said the Hellhounds wouldn’t attack anything they couldn’t see, hear, or smell, so how’s being hungrier going to help them notice moving shadows? More likely they’d turn on each other instead.

She ramps down the dickishness when talking about things like replacing the ground around the building with artificial sod, installing electric currents in the door frames, and repainting the entrance hall with stripes, but then ramps it back up when she gets to the poor sneezing guard.

Her eyes narrowed. “The ghoul at the entrance. His mind is too weak for the task he performs. I bent his will with minimal effort. He never realized I was manipulating his thoughts. He is worthless. Kill him.”

“As you wish.” Pietro pressed a button on his desk. “Summon the ghoul watching the entrance of the Mausoleum to room seventeen. Disarm him when he enters. Give the fool an hour to contemplate his sin against the House Giovanni and beg for forgiveness. Then feed him to our neonates.” Pietro paused, then continued. “Make sure the other ghouls assigned to guard duty are present and watch. It should inspire them to higher standards.”

“And it’s almost time for dinner. Bring us up two babies. Make them Asian. Tibetan, in fact.”

Also, here’s some fun facts about what it means to be a Giovanni ghoul, from the White Wolf Wiki Giovanni page:

“Giovanni make an art out of ghouling, since ghouling is a rite of passage for the Giovanni – ghouling means that the Giovanni is now part of the people who make the family work. Not necessarily a mover and shaker, but something akin to a made man: the Masquerade is pulled back and the truth about vampires is revealed. Giovanni tend to make Proxy Kisses aesthetic efforts, and take a point in pride in producing especially memorable or mind-destroying ones – blood received via fellatio, blasphemous masses and the like are all popular choices.”

If that ghouling process is the same for regular ghoul employees as it is for potential future vampire ghouls, then that guard had a shit life.

Madeleine goes on to suggest security cameras in the basement and elevator shafts, and motion detectors. They’re briefly interrupted by a phone call. Along with the elevators, Madeleine had also turned off all power on the lower levels, which she turns back on when asked with a snap of her fingers. Then they get on the subject of magic spells.

“Now explain what you want done with the spells. Anything involving the black arts has to be approved by the clan elders.”

I’m guessing all these spells are blood magic. I don’t know a whole lot about the metaphysical side of World of Darkness lore. I know that Mage magic is based on “bending reality” and that vampires can’t do that, hence Clan Tremere’s whole thing with having to learn Thaumatergy to compensate for their lost magic. If these spells aren’t blood magic, then I don’t get what the difference between that and Mage magic is.

“They spent the next hour talking.”

Meaning by the time they’re done that guard is already neonate chow.

Finally, Pietro raised his hands in mock surrender. “Enough. You have convinced me. I will raise your points with our esteemed ancestors at the next board meeting. There will be no objections.”

“Right after we have the vote on whether pineapple-on-pizza is grounds for excommunication.”

“Good,” said Madeleine. [...] “You realize, grandfather, I went through this escapade merely to insure you are properly protected.”

“Yes, my precious one,” replied Pietro fondly. “You are my greatest treasure. I thank you for your concern.”

The narration introduces one of the big Giovanni gimmicks: Every member, vampire and mortal, no matter how distantly, is related. Literally one huge family, descended from the first Giovanni, Augustus, and his family at the time he got his... start, sometime in the Dark Ages.

With that much focus on family and this being dark fantasy, you know what that means. It’s inevitable that incest would come up. The White Wolf wiki tries to downplay this, implying that the clan’s “incestuous nature” is more a structural thing, with some Giovanni rarely interacting with anyone but other Giovanni and the problems that can cause with their worldview and social interaction. But no, there’s still plenty of the gross hillbilly literal kind of incest going on. Luckily, nothing in this book suggests that the relationship between Pietro and Madeleine is anything more than granddad sire and granddaughter childe.

Madeleine had been Embraced by Pietro, establishing their relationship in undeath. She was also the daughter of his only son, Daniel, who had met the Final Death at the hands of Don Caravelli, the Kindred master of the mafia. It was a debt both father and daughter had sworn to repay.

Normally, Giovanni aren’t suppose to Embrace members of their immediate family. Some other Giovanni a few branches on the family tree away’s supposed to do it, otherwise it would encourage nepotism. It happens anyway, but it’s frowned upon.

And despite being a powerful and influential Italian criminal organization with ceremonies comparable to becoming a made man, the Giovanni aren’t part of the Sicilian Mafia. In the general lore the Giovanni have connections in the mafia, but they’re both separate organizations. Remember, the mob is Sicilian, the Giovanni are northern Italian. It’s a moot point anyway, since they’re enemies in Blood War thanks to a classic you-killed-my-father feud.

The narration describes two other big things about the Giovanni, what it refers to as their “two ruling passions: money and death.”

Their skill at manipulating finances was matched only by their powers of necromancy. Of all the Kindred, their clan was the most heavily involved with the world beyond. No one was sure what ghastly rituals they pursued in secret vaults beneath family enclaves. Rumors spoke of an incredible plot to control not only all life but the spirits of the dead as well.

That’s all true. Their “take over the worlds of both the living and the dead” plot’s a hell of a thing, but it’s irrelevant to Blood War.

Equally mysterious was the exact extant of the Giovanni fortune. Like a gigantic financial octopus, the family business had spread tentacles throughout the world. Connections with the Catholic Church, firmly established during the Inquisition, had further enabled the clan to penetrate markets unreachable by any other banking institutions. The Giovanni controlled billions in assets. A word from the clan elders could plunge the world into a depression that would leave entire populations destitute.

That’s why they’re able to survive despite being a treacherous, incestuous gang of necromancing wannabe world conquerors who everyone hates.

Clan Giovanni’s financial power is emphasized a lot more than their necromancy in Blood War, to the point where when I first read this as a kid I thought the Giovanni’s thing was being a young nouveau riche clan that gained its power through finance and connections rather than clan prestige or whatever. In a way they’re that, but every other V:TM media seems to focus on their skills in necromancy and their depravity. Getting back into the franchise and learning all that was... It was a “huh” moment.

Giovanni necromancy being out of focus in this story likely has something to do with our main Giovanni POV character Madeleine’s skill set.

Madeleine was unique in the clan in that she possessed skills unrelated to either necromancy or high finance.

“She was so bad at both she lost a 50K bet that she could summon Beetlejuice.”

Fanatic in her devotion to family honor, she had devoted her entire existence to avenging her father. A century of intensive training and rigid discipline had turned her into a master of industrial espionage and corporate surveillance. She was the hidden dagger of the Giovanni empire.

Though she was responsible for many of the clan’s greatest triumphs, engineered through a combination of sabotage, blackmail, and assassination, Madeleine was virtually unknown outside the Mausoleum.

And that’s why none of you have ever heard of her until now.

(The wiki has nothing about her. There’s an entry for a Pietro Giovanni, but he’s a different character from the one here.)

The in-universe reason she’s unknown outside her grandpa’s house is because she kills anyone who sees her during a mission.

Yet despite her successes, Madeleine remained unfulfilled.

“The Beetlejuice incident still burns her to this day.”

Three times she had tried to penetrate the secret fortress of he ultimate quarry, Don Caravelli, and three times she failed.

A third kid on the playground would just say “I fucked your mom” whenever the first two tried to say anything.

The Mafia chief, controlling a criminal empire that equaled the Giovanni clan’s in wealth and power, lived in the most secure hideaway in the world. Caravelli knew Madeleine waited for him the moment he left Sicily and thus refused to travel. The Don was no coward, but he was also no fool.

Equal to the Giovannis in wealth and power, huh? Not bad for a mostly mortal organization that didn’t exist before the 19th century.

Before the chapter ends, Pietro finally introduces his granddaughter to her purpose in the story. It involves a certain detective.

“I have a special mission for you,” declared Pietro. He pushed a manila envelope across the desk to her. “Everything necessary for your trip is here. You are to leave for America immediately. In the city of St. Louis, I want you to locate a human named Dire McCann. Finding him should not be difficult, as the kine has ties to the local Prince.”

“And when I find him?” asked Madeleine. “What do you want me to do?”

In two words, Pietro told her.

So yeah. That’s the Giovanni. Incestuous necromancer mafia-but-not-really Italian vampires. What a weird fucking stereotype.

#vampire the masquerade #vampire: the masquerade #vtm #vtmb #world of darkness #blood war

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