#tried to see if the teleport puddle was up

[vespertine-legacy]

got another Revanchist under my belt

[icypantherwrites]

Icy Fic Recs

I was recently asked for some Langst fanfic recs and as noted in that I don't really read fanfiction anymore outside of my own stories, but here are a few I've read in the last ~few months if anyone was looking for a Langsty fic :) Sorted alphabetically!

Caged Nightmare

Summary: The cage is far, far too small to fit Lance, but the Galrans still force him into it. He’s then loaded like a piece of cargo on a ship bound for a cruel, painful destination and the journey to get there is just as harsh. As Lance floats in and out of consciousness over the days he comes to the conclusion that he’s dreaming when Keith of all people appears in the cargo hold (on a ship in the middle of space) to rescue him. But maybe that’s because it’s no dream at all. It has to be a nightmare because there is nothing crueler than false hope like this. But it seems so real and maybe… maybe he’s not dreaming after all.

Crimson Puddle

Summary:  Lance tried to stop it. He did. But the blood just keeps coming; gushing, oozing. It’s everywhere now; his leg, his hands, all over the floor. The crimson puddle keeps growing while he only grows weaker, the world going dark and cold and numb. And he never… he never thought he’d die like this.

Feel Me, See Me (Or Please, Please Don’t) (I always read for Halloween!)

Summary: When an attack goes wrong Lance ends up trapped in a dimensional plane separated from his team. But he’s not alone. The Druid they’d been fighting is there too. Lance’s bond with his fellow Paladins is the key to getting home, but the Druid isn’t going to let Lance so easily escape and leave him behind. He needs to subdue Lance, to use him as his own ticket back. And when you pit a Druid capable of teleporting and summoning magic against an injured, near defenseless human? Let the hunt begin.

Feel My Pain

Summary: “Your friends are going to watch you hang here,” the alien kicked the stool Lance was precariously balanced on, “until you can’t anymore. And then,” his grin was sharp and cruel, “they’ll watch you die. Helpless to do anything. Helpless to save you. And they’ll get to experience a sliver of the pain I’m in knowing that my brother is gone,” his voice cracked, “and I’ll never see him again. This is all I want and all you can offer, Paladin. No apologies. No reparations. Just your pain and theirs.”

Holding On To Hope (Chaptered)

Summary: There’s a traitor in the Coalition.

Lance is the only one who manages to escape the subsequent trap but the rest of his team is captured and they're counting on him to save them, but Lance knows he can't do it alone (he can't seem to do anything right). The Coalition cannot be trusted to help, but there are some people above reproach amongst the Rebels and Blades and now it's up to Lance, Coran, Matt and Keith to save everyone.

Only, that is, if there's anyone left to save.

Koala Hugs

Summary: They’d been told that the guest houses were supposed to keep them safe from the deadly low temperatures of the planet. And while for Pidge that is indeed the case, she learns it’s not so for Lance as she’s awoken by a projection of pure terror from the Blue Lion, who can sense her Paladin dying. And now as Pidge hurries to Lance’s guest house and finds him so so cold and still, she can only hope she’s not too late.

In the Name of Love (chaptered; also always read this every year for Halloween!)

Summary: Lance just wanted to buy a flower. Instead he's now the newest victim of a serial killer who has no plans to release him until he has served his purpose. Lance may be a Paladin but he's got a higher calling in life now. And it starts with his death. / "Do not try and resist again," his captor warned, "You will not like the consequences." Lance's voice cracked. "Like being eaten?"

Only a Crack in this Castle of Glass

Summary: Something strange is going on with Lance. The wincing and shivering and worried, scared glances in Allura’s direction mean something and Hunk is going to get to the bottom of it. But nothing could have prepared him for what he found. / “Allura was in trouble. And I… I shielded her. Me and Red. And… and we got hit. And…” Lance audibly swallowed again, voice even quieter and Hunk felt faint. “And I… I died.”

Or; the missing scene fic where Hunk (and the rest of Team Voltron) discover Lance died at Omega Shield and what this now means for them all.

Twitch 

Summary: The explosion came out of nowhere. One second Lance was rounding a corner in the Galra Empire base, bayard drawn and steps quick and light. And the next the ground was rippling beneath him, the walls were buckling, the ceiling caving and…

And now…

Now there's a slab of wall lying completely across his entire upper body, a pipe sticking out of his lower left arm, the ceiling groaning and ready to finish coming down and Lance has no idea how he's getting out of here. He's... he's not certain he actually can.

[scenicphoenix]

I've seen people make art and aus for the concept so I thought I would ramble a bit about it myself as well....Gloom Link

Instead of Raru's arm saving him, he falls into the depths and gets further covered and surrounded by Gloom. However Link is stubborn, very stubborn, he adapts. Like many of the monsters in the depths he instead gets stronger, however he refuses to listen to Ganon's attempts to control him. It makes him angry, he sees Ganon and the Yigas attempts to pretend to be Zelda to trick him and it only pisses him off. Due to having the spirit of the hero within him, he isn't just able to adapt to the Gloom, he's learning how to wrestle control of it out of Ganons hands.

Blood Moons make him stronger now, and he's able to use gloom based weaponry without consequence. However he needs to cover up heavily if he plans on going up to the surface, the sun now hurts. And using the Master sword is painful. His eyes glow sometimes. Getting the Master sword from the dragon of light (zelda) nearly killed him. The dragons tears weakened him whenever he found them, but he needed to know what happened to her. He makes deals with the Bargainer statues in the depths and the Horned God statue in the hidden castle passage ways. He fears approaching Hylia statues right now, especially after what happened with the dragon of light.

It took him some time to get the broken master sword to the temple of time. He gained the Pruha pad later than intended. He is unable to enter Zonai shrines at all, and if he could activate them entering them would likely harm him. I doubt the shrines programming could tell the difference between him and Ganon at this point.

Link spends most of his time in the depths, not wanting to hurt those on the Surface with him being a walking source of gloom. He can basically see in the dark at this point.

I like the trope of someone creating the being who seeks out to destroy them, and in Ganons case the longer he exists and spreads more gloom the stronger Link gets

Link can fucking teleport through gloom puddles like a splatoon character. He can, in late game, take control of gloom covered enemies or gloom created enemies like the hands. Why not ride a Lynle?

He becomes a sort of camp fire horror story for those on the Surface who weren't made aware of his situation. The Yiga however always seem to know about his status at all times, oh he's covered in gloom now you would think that would make him easier to find in a crowd.

He tends to wear the depths set when on the Surface. While it was originally designed to resist gloom it works well for resisting the sun as well. And that's because it covers him up completely. Keeps others from being affected by his gloom immediately as well. He tries and avoids entering settlements, because of the gloom. When finally getting into contact with Pruha he was mortified at the concept of entering larger busy towns and villages. But if he can help people he will. Like many chosen heroes before him, he's willing to destroy himself if it means the safety of those around him.

He only tells/shows his close friends what happened to him. Like Pruha, Robbie, Impa, and the sages. And of course after everything is said and done with, Zelda. If he remains gloom covered after defeating Ganon he will probably retire to the depths. He has a feeling that will be what happens.

He becomes a bit bitter from his situation. He becomes extremely stubborn and spiteful. Extremely angry towards a certain person. Feelings isolation and questioning reality. He's not angry or bitter at Hylia, only Ganon and what fate decided. He's not angry at how people on the Surface see him, maybe sad perhaps.

I think it would be interesting if Link managed to befriend some of the Yiga. I also think it would be funny if he accidentally got a small following because of this. Not what he wanted at all when he helped by giving people bright bloom seeds and stopping them getting attacked by gloom covered monsters by just making them freeze in place. He kinda see why that happened now actually, the freezing gloom covered monsters in place probably did that. They've seen him ride a gloom covered Lynle he's not convincing them to stop following him around like lost puppies is he?

He can still fuse things, it's just a different process and he has to be near gloom. He can descend, ascend, and go just about anywhere as long as there is gloom nearby. The lifting things and creating objects is something he invented himself with the use of gloom, using gloom hands to lift things and using gloom like glue to create things, gloom needs to be nearby for this to work effectively.

Even if he's covered in gloom, and his mind is cloudy and his emotions and mood changing because of it, he would still be Link. And he is inherently a self sacrificing guy, who would destroy himself to save hyrule and Zelda. He would be able to tell a fake Zelda from the real one, and he would be more easily upset at them trying to trick him and those he cares about. He probably zones out easier, takes him a bit to come back down to reality. He can easily go into auto pilot while traveling and just wander. His usual strategy of bottling up his emotions isn't quite working as well as it used to. He battles stronger monsters like Lynles just to calm himself down at this point.

[sketchiefoxie]

Follow quietly, and don't get caught.

(Optional Soundtrack/Ambience)

April had only a few seconds to decide what she wanted to do.

She could run, but that might get her shot. She could just hide, but then she'd lose track of where the stranger went off to, thus losing her only guide. She could technically follow him, which could be a good idea in a sense... Oh who was she kidding, everything about this was a horrible idea!

In a panic, April realized that the stranger was getting further and further away. He probably knew of a way out, as he had to have gotten in here somehow! But there was no way in heck she was going to ask him, he was freaking creepy!!

The light from the stranger had almost grown too dim to see, and with her options laid out upon the table, she decided upon stalking.

Keeping her phone pressed to her chest so the light from her flashlight wouldn't shine and give her away, April began to creep forwards, using the surrounding rubble as cover.

The stranger had gained quite the distance in the few moments she had hesitated, and April briefly wondered jokingly if he had levitated over all the rubble strewn on the ground. He probably just knew his way around these tunnels really well, which wasn't a comforting thought, but it was more logical at least.

April kept glancing up towards the dim light of the stranger, then back down towards the traitorous rocky ground, determined to not trip and fall. With every glance down then up, April felt as if the stranger had practically teleported, moving only when she blinked. Damn he was fast!!

Each footstep was precarious as there was debris everywhere, along with these strange and sticky puddles of putrid mystery liquid that appeared every few feet. April felt like bad things had happened in here. It wasn't the dark stains on the grounds, or the fact that the walls were destroyed, with deep slash marks carved into them. No no no, it was honestly just the sense of wrongness she felt. An overwhelming sense of Deja Vu. Like she had been here before. Eugh, she wanted out of here. The sooner she could leave the better.

Though the humming was creepy as heck, April was somewhat glad to hear it, as the stranger was otherwise virtually silent. He moved onwards, unbeknownst and leading her deeper into the tunnels, the sound of his footsteps silent, like as if he were a ghost or something.

April paused for a moment, as her imagination got the better of her. Was... Was he a ghost? The floating, the humming, the uncanny valley impression... After all, she had heard that this part of the sewers was supposedly haunted. Maybe those stupid rumors hadn't just been rumors...

April swallowed thickly, frozen where she stood, fear making her stop in her tracks. Carefully, she placed her hand over her phone, blocking the flashlight so she wouldn't be discovered, and turned it off. With her only source of personal light gone, it felt darker, despite the fact that she hadn't been using the flashlight anyways. Maybe it had been the comfort of knowing she had her own personal flashlight, and her unease came from the fact that she no longer had control over that factor.

Now her only light source was the stranger up ahead, twenty feet beyond the rubble. April brought her phone up, and pulled up the camera app. Man it was dark. Oh well, a good quality picture wasn't what she was looking for. She focused her camera screen upon the stranger, and zoomed in on him. The camera screen hazed a few times as it tried to focus in the dark, and she snapped the picture. It was blurry so she couldn't see any distinctive features, instead just seeing a body covered in splotches of light. Ok, so not a ghost, as he was showing on her camera, and still holding the gun.

But he didn't look human either.

Slipping her phone away into her pocket, April resumed their dangerous stalking game, quietly following the stranger as he traversed deeper and deeper into the sewers. Wherever he was going, he seemed to be heading there in a hurry, practically flying over the many piles of wreckage.

Eventually they made it somewhere new. April watched as the stranger rounded a corner, disappearing from her sight. She gave it a good five minutes before she crept forwards and peered around the corner.

What she saw, was completely different than what she had assumed she might see, yet exactly what she had been expecting. The passage way she was in opened up into another area, that appeared to be rather large, even somewhat spacious, though it was incredibly hard to see without a flashlight. It appeared that she was in an abandoned subway station of sorts.

There was wreckage everywhere (though it all seemed to be sorted into piles, which was pretty creepy in April's opinion), crumbled walls, smashed in areas, carved out tunnels, crushed in subway cars and more.

April's breath caught in her throat at the sight of it all. The first word that came to her mind when she saw the ruins of the once glorious subway station was... Familiar...

This whole entire place was so incredibly familiar. The stranger was familiar, the subway was familiar, the whole place was familiar! Like she had been here before in a fever dream of sorts. Overlapping images flashed in her mind, one that looked like the scene before her, dark and ominous. While the other image was bright, homey, and welcoming. A place to be lived in...

April hesitated for a few moments, confused by the images her mind was conjuring up, and swallowed once. Her mouth felt dry and sticky. At least she had a new source of light, no matter how dim it was.

There were actually two sources of light. One further into the subways, and around a corner, yellowish and somewhat warm in hue, while the other light was a rich purple, shining from all the way in the opposite direction, obscured by a pair of thick metal doors, cracked open just a smidge.

Two lights, one yellow, one purple, in opposite directions, in this strange place that April felt like she had been in before.

Most likely, the stranger she had been following was in the place with the golden light, as that was the hue of the light he had on him. The purple light however, was unfamiliar. April had no clue what she'd find behind those doors. It certainly wasn't a color she'd associate with being outside, that was for sure.

She didn't really want to just be standing around, as that left her feeling exposed, and vulnerable. Especially since she still didn't have her gun...

Next ->

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Masterpost

[thatonecherrypie]

So, I finally got to writing out some probably shitty HCs for that hero AU. I hope these are enjoyable!

- Vinnie has gecko-based powers; sticky fingers and feet, nocturnal vision, lower body temperature, etc. He got these abilities when he was a child and got a parasite by drinking out of a puddle. Even after years of tests, there's no sure answer as to why his body reacted this way, or as to why none of the symptoms went away after said parasite was removed. 

- Sunil's powers are mostly just his magic tricks like disappearing and reappearing, short distance teleportation, cool shit like that. He originally wanted to use his skills for entertainment but used them for heroics when he finally realized that he had the potential. He also has small premonitions that appear at random and leave him drained, paranoid and confused, because they rarely give him any solid warnings. These cause him to have major migraines and nausea. 

- They first met while both chasing the same villain(Pepper lmao), who ended up escaping due to Vinnie's impulsiveness. Sunil originally rejected the idea of partnering with Vinnie until Russell convinced him that their strengths and weaknesses would likely balance out and be beneficial

- Related to the last HC, Russell and Sunil work together. Russell is kind of like a manager for him who keeps tabs on stuff. 

- Vinnie is more of an impulsive, physical fighter, where Sunil is more careful and uses more mental tactics. Depending on the situation, this combination is either amazing or horrible 

- Vinnie wanted a super cool alias, but no matter how hard he tried to introduce new names, people just kept calling him “that one lizard dude.” That was until some kid online referred to him as Repto-Guy, and it stuck. Not as cool as Vinnie hoped for, but better than “oh, that guy”. 

- Sunil's hero name is Blue Phantom, even though it sounds a bit… evil to him. Russell was the one to actually come up with it, because “it works with your powers and it's cool and easy to remember! Trust me on this!” and like always, Russell was right

- It doesn't take very long for Sunil, Vinnie and Russell to all become a mini hero squad with Russell forming plans and Vinnie and Sunil actually acting them out. It works for them, but it's absolute chaos. 

- Because of his abilities, Vinnie's eyes are very reptile like, and seeing the way that they dilate and constrict for night vision can be very unsettling if you aren't ready for it. Sunil was, of course, not prepared for it and thought that he had confronted a demon 

- Sunil eventually starts having a ton of visions of Vinnie being injured or killed, so he starts being on high alert at all times and even starts snapping at Vinnie for being reckless at times. He feels incredibly guilty about being so harsh on him, but he's not about to let his partner die because of a thoughtless move

- Vinnie definitely tries to hit on Sunil but it's always at the worst times. Like they'll be fighting off guys that 100% intend to kill them, and in the middle of nowhere Vinnie's just like “y'know, you're kinda hot when you're fighting-” and Sunil never registers it because he's, you know, trying not to die 😭

- Bonus from the previous HC: they definitely all have communication devices, so Russell can hear all of what Vinnie says. And he'll just sit there, dropping his head into his hands and sighing as he hears these awful attempts at completely unsubtle flirting. 

[lady-lostmind]

Steddie Week

Familiar / Hurt/Comfort 

Eddie wishes the smell wafting around him wasn’t so familiar, teleporting him right back to laying in a puddle of his blood, chunks torn from his side. Robin steps in front of him, her mouth is moving but he can’t hear her over the ringing in his own ears. He stares past her to where Steve is desperately trying to wrap the cut on his arm, even as it soaks through the cloth, coloring it a deep red. And then he’s in front of Eddie, hand on his cheek as he tries to bring him back to the present.

“Hey! Hey–I’m okay.” Steve’s eyes are wide and scared but he strokes the side of Eddie’s face gently. “Eds I promise, everything is going to be fine but– We gotta get out of here, okay babe?”

Eddie nods numbly as Steve grabs hold of his hand and yanks him forward, careening them toward the last remaining gate as the opening shrinks before them. 

Eddie snaps out of it at the sight because that means it worked. “Holy shit.” he murmurs under his breath before taking off at a full run, gripping onto Steve’s hand as tight as possible, refusing to let him go for anything, ever again. 

Eddie watches as Robin and Nancy reach the gate, hovering to wait for them as they scramble to catch up. 

Eddie flails his free arm in front of him and yells. “GET THE FUCK OUT OF HERE! GO” And then promptly trips over a dead, shriveling vine and falls hard to his hands and knees, bringing Steve down with him momentarily until he pops back up and jerks Eddie to his feet. 

The girls are gone. Both through the rapidly closing gate as Eddie and Steve approach it. It’s not big enough to both squeeze through at once and they both hesitate for a moment before each gesturing for the other to go. 

Eddie shakes his head “Not a fucking chance, Stevie. GO!” 

But Steve has other plans, of course, and he pushes Eddie harshly into the gate so he’s falling through, landing hard on the other side. He looks back just as the gate seals itself shut with Steve still inside. 

Eddie launches himself at the strip of scorched earth with a pained scream. “NO! STEVE–FUCK! NO-NO-NO!” 

Robin and Nancy pull him back with tears streaming down their faces. 

Nancy’s face sets in determination. “We’ll get him back, Eddie.” 

El is out of commission when they finally meet back up with the rest of the group. There’s blood caked around her nose and mouth and she’s passed out on the little couch. Hopper steps in Eddie’s way as he tries to approach her.

“No way, Munson. She needs to rest.” 

Eddie sets his jaw, refusing to back down. “We need her to open the gate. Steve is fucking stuck over there.” 

There are gasps from the rest of the room, and then they’re being bombarded with a million questions, but all Eddie can focus on is getting Steve the hell out of there. “Move, Hop.” 

Hopper tilts his head and holds a hand out to the rest of the kids, effectively silencing them for a moment. 

“Let her rest. She won’t be able to help Steve like this.” 

Eddie scoffs and goes to shoulder past Hopper anyway when Will pushes through the huddle of people. “I think I can do it.” 

Everyone turns to stare at him and his face flushes before he continues on. “El has–” He looks nervously around at everyone. “We’ve been training. I uh– I think I can do it.” 

Everyone stands in a loose arch behind Will where he stands with a hand pressed to the closed gate. Everyone shifts uncomfortably on their feet as they wait. Eddie feels like his heart might burst out of his chest at any moment, desperate for this to work. To save Steve. Because he has to come back. He can’t be–

Will lets out a pained groan and the road beneath him starts to splinter. A small crack forming as he struggles to pull at the seam of the world and the next. The crack grows and Eddie flies forward, kneeling on his knees next to Will.

“STEVE! CAN YOU HEAR ME?” He tries desperately to peer through to the other side but all he can see is red. 

The ground shifts again as Will pushes himself further and as soon as the gate is wide enough to wedge himself through, Eddie moves. Doesn’t even think about it. Just throws himself back into hell. He lands with grunt as his back slams to the ground and he immediately pulls himself up, looking around frantically for Steve. They haven’t been gone very long. Hopefully he didn’t go very far. 

The world is crumbling around him. Quite literally. There are chunks of buildings floating by him, and dead vines in clumps all around his feet. The air is thick with particles and he ties his bandana around his face as he moves forward, calling out for Steve and hoping he’s heading in the right direction. 

He finds Steve sitting against a tree, eyes closed, the makeshift bandage around his arm completely soaked through. 

"Fuck." Eddie mumbles under his breath as he drops down next to Steve, hand hovering over him, unsure of what to do and trying not to let the blood get to him again. 

Steve's eyes flutter open and a soft smile pulls at the corner of his mouth. "Eds?" 

Eddie’s hands find their place on either side of Steve’s face. “I’m here. I’m gonna get you out of here.” 

He can hear Hopper yelling for them now. Will must have gotten the gate open further. Eddie slides his arm under Steve’s and pulls him to his feet, supporting as much of his weight as possible and tries to move them back in the direction of the gate. Steve’s knees buckle and Eddie stoops down enough to get his other arm under them and lifts Steve up against his chest. He moves as quickly as he can back to the gate, refusing Hopper’s offer to take Steve from him as they force their way back through the gate. 

Two Days Later

Eddie is asleep next to Steve’s bed in the hospital. He’s had stitches and transfusions and has spent most of his time sleeping. Eddie hasn’t left. Won’t leave him. Ever again. Steve shifts on the bed and Eddie immediately shoots up, wide awake, making sure that Steve is alright. That he doesn’t need anything. 

Steve gives him a smile and takes his hand. “I’m okay, Eds.” 

Eddie sends him a cocky grin of his own. “Yeah, you know. I heard that one before.”

@steddie-week

[isshua]

Messianic Aureation

Chapter 7: The Deception of Freedom

Summary: Separated from her friends and in a completely new environment, Cara must rely on a cast of new characters in order to survive the harsh conditions of Dragonspine. While the hunt continues, she gains a moment to read the mysterious book stolen from the library's restricted section so the secrets of the Creator can be revealed to her.

CONTENT WARNING: This chapter does contain mentions of vomit and the taking of blood using a needle. If these are things that are a TW for you, please read at your own risk! Enjoy the chapter! :)

Chapter 8 is here

She was not in Monstadt.

That was the first thing Cara realized when she regained consciousness. As her eyes fluttered open and she was met with the sight of gentle snowfall drifting down from an overcast sky, she incoherently registered that she was not where she had previously been. The ice-kissed air stung her cheeks and left them numb and raw. A frigid winter wind was howling like a wolf; it was the only noise she could hear through the eerie quiet that was produced with the presence of snow. It didn’t take her long to realize that she was freezing. Her body was shivering profusely, and she could barely feel her limbs. A drowsy tiredness was tugging demandingly at her mind as it tried to pull her back into the jaws of sleep.

No. She couldn’t lose consciousness again, not in a place like this. Though her thoughts were jumbled and she could barely think straight, some part of her confused brain knew that if she fell asleep in this harsh environment, she would not wake up again. Cara forced her arms and legs to move, and she pushed herself to her feet.

She immediately regretted doing this. A sudden wave of nausea hit her like a truck with so much intensity, she staggered and nearly fell back over into the snow. Her stomach twisted and lurched. A burning sensation seized her throat, and before she knew it, she was bending over and vomiting. The vile stench of sickness filled the previously crisp air.

Cara gasped for breath when her stomach calmed and the horrible involuntary action was over. She wiped her mouth and turned away from the puddle of bile on the ground, disgusted. With clumsy, uncoordinated steps, she collapsed against the trunk of a nearby birch tree that was growing against the ruined remnants of an old stone wall. A teleport waypoint floated in front of her, giving off an inviting warmth that she could feel faintly and wanted oh-so-badly to press up against so she could combat the cold. She didn’t dare go near it, though, for fear that it might send her back into the vortex in which it had spit her out. This nausea from moving and the fact that she had just thrown up were surely products of using the waypoint as a means of travel.

She couldn’t think straight, and could no longer effectively move. All of her strength had been put into taking those few dizzying steps and then vomiting, and now it was all gone. Cara’s shivering was getting worse, and her eyes kept trying to droop shut on their own accord. She was tired, so very, very tired…it wasn’t a good idea, but maybe if she slept for a little while, she would manage to conserve her warmth… 

A new sound joined the wailing wind: the crunching of boots flattening snow. Cara looked to her left and saw a path hugging the side of a mountain that towered over her like a great stone giant. Walking along it was the figure of a human being-at least, she thought it was a human being. She wasn’t sure what was real or a hallucination at this point, being that she knew staying out in the snow for a long time might cause her to begin to see things that weren’t really there. The stranger didn’t look like they were dressed for the harsh conditions in which they were traveling through. The only thing they were wearing that looked relatively warming was a long white coat decorated with black-and-gold lining.

They seemed so familiar, yet Cara couldn’t remember where she had exactly seen them before. She shrank against the birch tree’s trunk and kept as quiet as possible. She still vaguely recalled the reason as to why she was stuck in this frozen wasteland in the first place: Eula and her entourage of knights. This person could be an enemy and might kill her if they caught sight of her face. Somehow, between the time the teleport waypoint had brought her here to when she had woken up, her mask and wig had been thrown off of her head. She could see them now, lying in a snowbank, too far away for her to reach without giving herself away. If she was spotted, nothing would be able to protect her true identity.

Just keep quiet, she thought. Not that hard. The person won’t find you.

Indeed, it seemed like she was in the clear: the mysterious stranger walked obliviously by her, heading for a broken bridge that was supposed to connect the path to its other side beyond the yawning mouth of a wide cliff. She wondered how they expected to get across.

And then, to her absolute horror, her nose started to twitch. The cold was biting at it, and before she could stop herself, Cara sneezed. Loudly.

The person halted in their tracks. They slowly turned in her direction.

Fuck, Cara thought.

They saw her. It was impossible for them not to have. The stranger walked towards her briskly with a sense of urgency in their step. No doubt they thought she was a lost traveler dying in the snow. What would they think when they got closer and recognized the face of Monstadt’s most wanted?

The person stopped about three feet away from her, and Cara found herself making contact with the teal blue eyes of Albedo.

  Both of them were completely still. Cara stared stupidly at him. Albedo stared back.

  “Hello,” he said. 

  Cara couldn’t stop her teeth from chattering. “Hi.”

  His head inclined slightly towards the teleport waypoint, eyes glancing briefly at the mechanism before returning to her. “I didn’t notice any footprints on the path while I was walking. Did you use that teleport waypoint to get here?”

  She couldn’t think of a good enough lie and submitted to telling him the truth. She nodded.

  “I see,” Albedo said. His breath puffed out in front of his face like clouds of white smoke. Dragon’s Breath. “How fascinating. These devices predate the founding of Monstadt by 1,000 years, maybe even longer. The legends say they were created by one of the Nine Choirs, specifically Pahaliah, the Throne.”

  Cara, not knowing in the least bit what he was talking about, made a noise of acknowledgment. Albedo studied her trembling form and seemed to notice her condition for the first time. “Ah, but this is no time for stories, though. You're obviously freezing, and Dragonspine is no place to be taking a nap. Here, let me take you back to my camp. We can get you warmed up there.”

  He moved forward, and a sudden sense of momentary clarity overtook Cara. Albedo was Monstadt’s chief alchemist, and thus a direct contact to the Knights of Favonius. He could be an active member of the hunt; he could be one of the characters who wanted to kill her. There was no way she could trust him, and yet here she was, chilled to the bone and completely at his mercy. This might be the moment when he took out his sword and ended her life.

  Mustering up a tiny amount of strength, she desperately scooted away from him, her breathing frantic and shallow as she stared at him in fear. Albedo paused, his eyes widening in surprise at her reaction, then softened. He slowly knelt down and held his hands up in a harmless gesture so as to not spook her again. “I’m not here to hurt you,” he murmured. “I just want to help. If we don’t stabilize your condition, you will surely suffer from an extreme case of frostbite. You are already experiencing symptoms of hypothermia. Uncontrolled shivering, shallow breaths, limited verbal and motor functions…if we allow this to continue, I have no doubt that you will die.”

  She sniffed pathetically. Albedo extended his hand further towards her, and she was so cold, she couldn’t even flinch. “Will you let me help you?” he asked.

  She knew the alchemist was telling the truth about her state of being. She could feel herself dying as they spoke, and knew that he was her only chance of survival right now. Yet, she wasn’t totally convinced that he didn’t mean her any harm. What was stopping him from taking her back to his camp and torturing her? What if this was all just a ruse so he could bring her to Monstadt City and hand her over to the knights?

  “I can see your doubt,” Albedo said. “Let me put it this way. If I truly wanted you dead, I would have simply ignored you and kept walking after I noticed you. Me talking to you right now should be enough to convince you that I mean you no harm. So, please…trust me.”

  He brought up valid points. Cara certainly didn’t want to die, and at this point, she really had no other option than to trust the man in front of her if she wanted to survive. After a fleeting beat of reluctance, she managed to dip her head in a small nod. Albedo noticed and smiled. “Thank you,” he said. “I promise I will carry you as carefully as possible.”

  He gathered her into his arms, one of his hands supporting the small of her back while the other slipped beneath her knees. He picked her up with a surprising amount of strength: he wasn’t someone she had expected to be physically capable of carrying a grown adult. “You're so cold,” Albedo whispered.

  He was so warm. Cara buried her face into his chest and sighed when she felt his body heat chase away the numbness in her cheeks. Her eyes closed on their own accord when he started to walk, and this time, she didn’t stop them.

  “You can sleep,” Albedo mumbled. “Unconsciousness shouldn’t prove to be fatal anymore.”

  She found herself believing him. Cara wasn’t about to object.

 “Is she going to wake up soon?”

  “I’m not sure. It would be wise to let her sleep, though. She’s been through a lot.”

  “Who is she?”

  “She’s…someone special. Remember the stories your mother told you? The one about the golden god?”

  “Oh, yeah! Mommy talked a lot about the golden god. What did she call her again? Her Grace?”

  “Yes, that’s correct. Her Grace is the mother of Teyvat, and this girl here may be her.”

  “Wow! Is she really Teyvat’s mommy? That’s so cool! But why was Teyvat’s mommy lost in the snow? Wouldn’t Teyvat try to keep its mommy safe from the cold?”

  “Teyvat abides by its own rules. Perhaps its strength is limited, and it couldn’t come to the rescue of its mother all on its own. Maybe it was by Teyvat’s hand that I came across her in the first place.”

  Cara groaned, and the voices went silent. She sat up slowly and rubbed her head, having trouble registering where exactly she was.

  “You're awake!” the higher-pitched of the two voices cried. Cara blinked open her eyes. She was sitting on a wooden cot with fluffy blankets wrapped tightly around her. Sitting by her side was an eager-eyed young girl with elf-like ears, wearing a cap and red coat. Her eyes sparkled with fascinated excitement.

  “Klee?” Cara croaked.

  Klee gasped. “You know my name! Albedo, did you hear that? Her Grace knows my name!”

  “Indeed she does.” Albedo was tending to a cooking pot not too far away. “Welcome back to the land of the living, Your Grace. How are you feeling?”

  Cara tested her arms and legs. Everything was moving accordingly, and she hadn’t seemed to lose any body parts to frostbite. “Still a little cold,” she mumbled weakly. “My head hurts. Where…where are we?”

  “We’re at my camp in Dragonspine. The place where I found you wasn’t far, so it was no trouble bringing you here. I recovered these two items that were lying near you, as well.” Albedo gestured to a nearby table where the wig and mask Fischl gave her were laid out. “I’m afraid to say that both of them are in quite bad shape, though. Apparently, traveling between teleport waypoints isn’t good for clothing.”

  Cara looked down at her clothes and noticed how damp and tattered they were. She felt guilty when she thought about Uncle Elias, Razor, and Fischl; they had given her these items out of the goodwill of their hearts, and she had ruined them. I really am bad at keeping up with disguises, aren’t I?

  Albedo walked over to her and held out a plate with neatly cut fruits and vegetables laid out upon it, as well as a wooden fork. “Here,” he said. “Eat. It’s infused with flaming essential oil, so it will warm you up.”

  Cara accepted the fork and plate and tentatively took a bite from the food. A sweet, tender taste burst forth like a blooming flower on her taste buds, and she automatically hummed in approval. A welcoming warmth immediately filled her when she swallowed.

  “How do you like it?” Albedo asked.

  “It’s delicious,” she replied. “This has to be one of the tastiest dishes I’ve ever eaten.”

  Albedo smiled. “I’m glad you like it. This dish happens to be my specialty. I wouldn’t say cooking is my strong suit, but when it comes to satisfying you, I seem to be better at it than usual.”

  “Oh, oh, Your Grace!” Klee said eagerly. “You have to try my special dish sometime! I call it Fish-Flavored Toast! We can go fish blasting together to collect the ingredients, and I can show you how to throw a Jumpty Dumpty!”

  Albedo cleared his throat. “Why won’t we let her rest for a little while, Klee? Her Grace has been through quite a lot in order to get here, and we don’t want to overwhelm her. How about you go and fetch Sucrose? She should be just outside the camp. I’m sure she would like to properly meet Her Grace, too.”

  “Okay!” Klee hopped to her feet and adjusted her cap. “I’ll be back! It was so nice to finally meet you, Your Grace! I hope we can become even better friends than we are now!”

  Cara watched her skip away. She took another bite from her food. “I wouldn’t mind going fish blasting with her.”

  Albedo chuckled. “I’d recommend not indulging in those sorts of activities, unless you want to be put into solitary confinement with her by Jean.”

  “I think Jean would rather kill me than simply put me into solitary confinement,” Cara grumbled.

  “Indeed.” Albedo’s smile turned into a troubled frown. “You have no need to fear being discovered by the knights here. Rest assured that I meant what I said when I found you. You don’t have to fear me. I’m on your side.”

  “So, you don’t think I’m the imposter of Teyvat’s creator god?”

  “Well, yes and no. While I don’t believe you are an imposter with ill intentions, I am also not entirely sure you are the original Caratrice, either. The Acting Grand Master and a majority of the knights and their captains have been ordered by the Caratrice sitting on the Crossroads throne to have you captured and killed, and they are all too glad to follow those orders. Monstadt thinks you should be executed simply because of your face. I don’t, because I feel a sense of wholeness when I’m around you. It’s a wholeness I only feel when my status as a Vessel is being put into action, and I have never felt it anywhere else before. You carry the aura of the stars…so, I would like to study you, if you do not mind, to acquire the necessary information that will prove my thesis true.”

  Cara was silent for a moment as she processed his words. “You…want to study me.”

  “Correct.”

  “And I guess that also means you want to experiment on me, too?”

  “Also correct.”

  “Okay.” She laughed deliriously and ran a shaking hand through her tousled hair. Being studied and experimented on by Albedo. I’m living every Genshin player’s dream right now. “Okay, just-just let me ask you a few questions. What about me do you want to study, exactly? Because I’m not so sure I want to be one of your subjects for experimentation.”

  “That is a valid question, and I would be happy to answer,” Albedo replied. “The experiments I wish to conduct won’t harm you in any way. I only wish to see for myself if you are the real Caratrice or not.”

  “Well, my name is Cara,” she told him. “Not Caratrice, just Cara.”

  “Your name and the warmth you radiate are hardly enough evidence to confirm your divinity,” Albedo said. “Though they certainly are evidence, and I will regard them as such. I need further proof, and only then will I know for sure how deeply-rooted the corruption in Teyvat runs, if it exists at all.”

  “Corruption?” Cara echoed. “What do you mean by that?”

  Albedo glanced at the camp’s entrance, then leaned in closer. “Please, don’t repeat this to anyone,” he whispered. “But…I have a theory that not all in Teyvat is as it seems. There is something dark toiling beneath the surface, something that extends far beyond the work of the Abyss Order or any antagonistic mortal force. If you truly are Caratrice, then it will mean that this darkness is real. If you are an imposter…well, it would be bad news for you, but at least I would know I’m stressing over nothing.”

  “I am not a god,” Cara insisted. “I’m just a regular human being stuck in a world that isn’t my own, and I want out. I’m sorry that you think I’m Caratrice, but I don’t know what else to say at this point.”

  “Hm. You’ve convinced yourself that you are nothing special. Judging by the look in your eyes, you’ve said this sort of thing before. Now I am all the more curious to see if you are truly a god.” Albedo sat down beside her. “I can help you find the answers you seek regarding your identity. So, I’ll ask again. May I study you? I promise I won’t do anything that will endanger your life.”

  Cara sighed. “If I say yes, what do you plan on doing to me?”

  “I would like to take a sample of your blood, for starters,” Albedo answered. “Plenty of legends about Caratrice say her blood is made of gold, and I want to see if your blood fits those legends. I would also like to study your fighting skills and see if there are any signs of elemental manipulation that you can manifest without the assistance of a Vision. Since Caratrice is the mother of Teyvat, it would only be logical for her to have full control over the seven elements, no?”

  “I can tell you the answer to that without an experiment,” Cara said. “I can’t control the elements. But…I think I do have a connection to the wind.”

  “The wind?” Albedo inquired with a tilt of his head. “May I ask you to elaborate?”

  “The first time the Knights of Favonius tried to kill me, I only managed to escape because I got a boost of speed. I could feel the wind pressing against my back and legs to make me run faster. It was to the point where the people chasing me thought I was using an Anemo Vision to fly.”

  “I heard about that,” Albedo said. “A few weeks ago, a couple of members of the 4th Company paid me a visit. They questioned me about if I had seen you in Dragonspine, and one of the knights mentioned that he did indeed see you flying. Have there been any other occurrences of this sort of phenomenon?”

  “Yeah, actually. A friend and I sneaked into the restricted section of the Monstadt library to steal a book. While I was looking around, the air seemed to come to life and directed me to a specific one. I never would have found it if it hadn’t guided me.”

  “I see. This is definitely valuable evidence. I would say that the wind is indeed alive, being that it is an extension of Teyvat, which is said to have a free will to act upon in necessary moments. We should find a way to test this connection so we can see just how strong it is. You haven’t been in our world for very long, so it would be natural for your connection to Teyvat to be relatively weak. However, the fact that the wind has been speaking to you and helping you in times of crisis is compelling, and we may find a way to strengthen that connection…hold on. Did you say you sneaked into the library’s restricted section to steal a book? What could you have possibly done that for? I’m surprised Lisa didn’t try to stop you.”

  “Oh, trust me, Lisa didn’t have to. Eula already had that covered.” Cara brought out her backpack and took out the stolen book. “This book will apparently tell me how to get back to my own world.”

  Albedo held out his hand. “May I?” he asked.

  Cara shrugged and gave the book to him. Albedo studied the cover with intense scrutiny and occasionally glanced at Cara’s face. “Your eyes match the color of the dragon’s,” he mumbled. “And your connection to the stars and the sky is so strong…your draconic attributes are already beginning to manifest. Tell me, have you felt any considerable aching near your shoulder blades? Have your teeth grown any sharper? I don’t see any feathers anywhere, but those could appear with due time���”

  “What the hell are you going on about?” Cara asked. “What are you saying?”

  Albedo tapped the book’s cover. “I’m saying that you are-or could be-this dragon. Caratrice is a six-winged wyvern who wields the power to command every single element in Teyvat. From the depictions I have seen of her in a human form, you are an uncanny resemblance.”

  Cara stared at him.

  “Huh?” she said disbelievingly.

  Before Albedo could continue, there was a commotion outside of the camp. Klee came bounding back in with a mousy green-haired girl in tow. “Big brother, Your Grace, I’m back with Sucrose!” she sang. “She’s so excited to meet you! Go on, Sucrose, say hi to the Creator!”

  Sucrose shrank back behind Klee and ducked her head. Her voice was barely audible when she spoke. “U-Um, Klee, I really don’t know how to act around new people.”

  “It’s okay, Sucrose, don’t be scared. Her Grace is super nice! Big brother saved her from freezing in the snow, and she complimented his cooking!” Klee hauled her forward. The bio-alchemist desperately dug her heels into the ground and mumbled excuse after excuse in an attempt to get away, but it was all in vain. For a young child, Klee was incredibly strong, and she easily propped Sucrose in front of Cara’s cot. “Your Grace, you know Sucrose, right? She’s a Vessel too! I’ve seen you travel with her sometimes, so I know you two are friends!”

  Sucrose stuttered and covered her face. “Y-Your Grace, p-please forgive me for intruding upon your holy presence so suddenly. I-I didn’t want to, I-I-”

  “Sucrose,” Cara interrupted. She reached out and grasped the other girl’s wrists to gently pull her hands down. “My name is Cara. Please don’t call me Her Grace. I’m just a regular person, and I’m really happy to meet you.” 

  Sucrose stared at her, her terror morphing into shock. “You're happy to meet… me?”

  “Of course I am. Why wouldn’t I?” Cara answered. “I’m even happier to see that you don’t want to kill me. I was afraid that if we ever crossed paths, you would try to wipe me off the face of the earth the moment you saw me.”

  “Oh, no, never!” Sucrose shook her head. “I don’t agree at all with what the Acting Grand Master is doing! I-I mean, I really don’t know much about what is happening within the Knights of Favonius exactly…Archons know I would never have the courage to ask Master Jean personally…b-but still, it’s just wrong to hurt someone because of their face! And-and you are the real Creator, so if anything, the knights are the real heretics for hunting you!” She covered her mouth and let out a horrified gasp. Um…p-please don’t tell Master Jean I said that.”

  “Don’t worry, I won’t. I don’t think I’ll be talking to Jean any time soon.”

  “Right. Neither will I.” Sucrose smiled softly, now much more relaxed, then looked at Albedo. “Mr. Albedo, Klee told me that you wanted to see me? Is it, um, is it about Her Grace-I mean, C-Cara here?”

  “Yes.” Albedo nodded. “If Cara is willing, I would like to have a sample of her blood taken.”

  Cara paled. “Do we have to have that done?”

  “No, not if it makes you uncomfortable,” he replied. “But if you are okay with it, I would be very appreciative. It wouldn’t be a large amount, just enough to run it through some tests.”

   Cara hesitated. She knew her blood was golden now, but she had no idea as to exactly why it had become that way. Could her blood possibly have some magical properties? Was there a way she could use it to get back home? Or was it just a dramatic change of color as an attribute of her supposed newfound divinity?

  Albedo seemed to sense her hesitation. “You are allowed to say no. Do not feel pressured to do something you aren’t okay with.”

  “No, no, it’s fine.” She forced the words out of her mouth. “It’ll, um, it’ll be quick, right? You’ll just take one vial?”

  “One vial is all we need,” Albedo answered.

  “Okay. Okay, fine.”

  Sucrose hurried over to a work table, and when she returned to Cara’s side, she was holding a needle attached to a thin tube on one end and a vial on the other, as well as a piece of cloth and another vial filled with a light blue liquid. Her heart started to hammer when the bio-alchemist settled down next to her and held the needle up. “The needle has been prepared for use,” Sucrose explained. “I was planning on using it to extract some blood from a hilichurl, but this is a much more important matter. May I see your arm?”

  Cara didn’t move. Albedo noticed that something wasn’t quite right. “Do you not like the sight of blood?” he asked.

  “No, it’s not that,” she answered. “I just really don’t like needles.”

  “You can hold my hand, if you want,” he offered. He held it out to her; she gladly took it. Albedo’s hand was warm, and it was a welcoming source of comfort as she stared at the needle Sucrose held.

  Sucrose showed her the vial of blue liquid. “This is extract from a Cryo Slime,” she said. “It will numb the area of skin where I will take the blood to limit the pain you will feel, so don’t be alarmed when I apply it to you.”

  Cara couldn’t take her gaze off of the needle. “Right. Got it.”

  “Mommy always tells me that talking is a good way to distract you from things that hurt,” Klee said. “So while Sucrose takes your blood, I’ll tell you about some things I know! Let’s see…oh! Have you ever met Dodoco, Cara?”

  “No, I haven’t,” Cara replied. Sucrose took her left arm and uncapped the filled vial. She poured a small amount of the extract over the inside of her elbow and rubbed it in. A chill settled over the area, and soon, Cara lost all feeling in that specific part of skin.

  “Well, Dodoco is my oldest and bestest friend! Now that I’ve introduced you, don’t forget her name, alright? A lot of people call Dodoco “that silly doll Klee always hangs on her rucksack.” That’s not even true! Dodoco isn’t a doll at all!”

  “I’ll be sure to remember her name, I promise.” Cara’s breath hitched when Sucrose tied the white cloth tightly around her bicep. Albedo soothingly traced the knuckles of her hand with his thumb. She took one glance at the needle approaching the blue of her cephalic vein and turned away, closing her eyes and holding her breath.

  A sharp pain pricked through her skin, but was quickly conquered by the numbing effect of the Cryo slime extract. Cara squeezed Albedo’s hand and focused on her own breathing. She felt Klee place a tiny hand on her knee, another source of reassurance.

  “Just a little more…and, done.” Sucrose removed the needle and quickly untied the cloth from her bicep to retie it around the puncture spot. Cara heard a gasp leave her lips. “Oh my Archons!”

  When Cara opened her eyes and looked at the vial, she saw it was filled with shimmering blood that shone with the brilliance of a block of gold. When Sucrose held it up, it caught in the light of the fire beneath Albedo’s cooking pot and glowed even brighter. It was a perfect match to the color of her scars.

  “So, it is true,” Albedo said. “You do have golden blood. Fascinating. Sucrose, please, could I ask you to test its contents?”

  “Yes, of course. I’ll have the results shortly.” Sucrose stood up and headed back over to the work table, where she started to clean the bloodwork needle and tinker with various pieces of alchemy equipment that Cara didn’t understand.

  “Are you feeling alright?” Albedo asked her. “No dizziness or nausea?”

  “No,” Cara replied. “I feel fine.” She studied the cloth covering her vein. “I’m never going to get used to my blood being that color, though. It’s still shocking.”

  “Dodoco thinks you were very brave!” Klee said. “She says that you were very still and didn’t even squeak when Sucrose took your blood! Both of us say good job!”

  “Yes, you did very well. I would say that this discovery helps prove you are indeed the golden god.” Albedo picked up the book from the library’s restricted section. “While we are waiting for the blood test results, why won’t we read the contents of this book? Since you went through so much trouble to get it, it would be a good idea to look it over. Would you like to do the honors?”

  Cara nodded. Albedo handed her the book, and she had to take a moment to stare at the cover and comprehend what was about to happen next. After all of this time, she was finally going to get some answers. Would this book tell her how to get home? Would it explain how she even got here in the first place? Nerves wracked her, but there was an excitement, too, an excitement at the prospect of finally gaining some ground and making progress as to where she went from here.

  Albedo and Klee were watching with interest, and she knew she couldn’t stall any longer now. Cara shakily flipped open the book’s cover and began to read from the first page.

  “In the beginning, there was the Light, and there was the Abyss. Both existed, but neither mingled, for they were opposites, and enemies eternal. And then the Light roiled and came together, and out of it emerged the Divine Dragon Caratrice in a glory of gold. With a flap of Her six wings and a puff of Her breath, She brought all of Teyvat into being with a single mighty roar. She became the Almother of all living things. The Original One, the Primordial One.” Her throat went dry when she saw the last word of the paragraph. “The…the Genshin.”

  “Very few people call Caratrice the Genshin, anymore,” Albedo said. “It’s an old world term, mostly forgotten.” He peered closely at her features. “You’ve heard the name before?”

  Cara’s eyes remained glued to that single word that seemed so insignificant, yet so incredibly impactful at the same time. “It was a pretty popular word to say back in my own world.”

  “Keep reading, keep reading!” Klee squirmed ardently. “I wanna hear more!”

  Cara forced herself to move on to the next page. “The Genshin lived among Her creations and helped them grow. The first civilizations were formed under Her watchful eye, and all of Teyvat flourished. Caratrice loved Her creations with the adoration of a mother, and gave every form of life Her equal time. However, Her favorites among the many creations were the humans, and all of those close to them. She loved them so much, She bestowed upon a select few of them pieces of her power which would give them the ability to be masters of Teyvat’s seven elements. These chosen ones became the leaders of their people, the envoys of the Genshin. They were called Vessels.”

  “Oh, oh!” Klee raised her hand. “Mommy’s told me this story before, so I know who those people were! They had little marbles like we do, and some of them could control fire like me!”

  “They are called Visions, Klee,” Albedo said. “And yes, they could control the elements, just like us. They were the first Vision bearers.” He nodded to Cara. “Continue.”

  Cara flipped to the third page. “For years, Teyvat was at peace. But peace does not last forever. Light and darkness are pieces of the same whole. While the light throughout Teyvat touched every corner and filled the land with prosperity and good things, the darkness festered. Out of the Abyss came Armageddon, the Destroyer, god of the apocalypse, Caratrice’s twin brother and corrupted counterpart. Armageddon saw all that the Creator had made, saw how the world loved Her, and grew jealous with longing. With a plan to usurp his sister and steal Her power, he spread the tendrils of the Abyss and infiltrated Teyvat’s civilizations. Slowly, he gained a mass of followers, and they joined him within the shadows of his darkness and became twisted monsters. This was the founding of the Abyss Order.” She paused. “Wait, so the Abyss Order is that old?”

  “They’ve been around for quite some time, but didn’t gain true traction in the sabotage of Teyvat’s nations until about 500 years ago,” Albedo said. “To this day, many people refuse to believe that they exist at all.”

   500 years ago. The destruction of Khaenri'ah. This opened a whole new source of questions for Cara. She had already put two-and-two together to realize that this world of Teyvat was not an exact copy of the Teyvat that existed within her computer. Her Traveler, Lumine, didn’t exist here, and therefore neither did Aether, the Abyss Twin. So how did the Abyss Order and the destruction of Khaenri'ah fit into the history of this Teyvat?

   There’s no time to figure it out now. She could ponder over these mysteries later-and maybe gain a few answers from an Abyss Mage if she happened to encounter one throughout her travels. She started to read again.

  “With every new follower Armageddon gained, he grew stronger and stronger. He used his minions as pawns, possessing them with the dark art of the Madness to see through their eyes and speak with their tongues. The red mist of the Madness infected their minds and turned those who were filled with it against the Creator who adored them. When Caratrice discovered this, She was heartbroken and angry, for Armageddon was filling Her children with a hatred that wasn’t their own. With a mission to free those infected with the Madness and to vanquish Her brother once and for all, She chose nine human beings to rise to godhood and fight as Her warriors. They were named the Nine Choirs. And thus, the First War began.

  “The First War lasted for 30 years. Teyvat was in ruins, and life was on the brink of extinction. The Nine Choirs were tired. Humanity was tired, and the world was close to being consumed by the Destroyer’s darkness. So, the Creator, in all of Her compassionate glory, sacrificed Herself to save Teyvat. She gave up Her light to chase back the Madness and died with the promise to return someday to finish off Armageddon once and for all. For this solution was only temporary: Caratrice’s light did not kill Her brother, only wounded him. Beneath the earth in which the Crossroads was built is where Armageddon slumbers. Someday he will awaken, and the god of the apocalypse will rise once again.”

  Klee whimpered. “So sad,” she murmured. “This part of the story is so sad.” But then her eyes filled with a glimmer of hope. “But if you're here, it means you kept your promise, right? You came back, and now you're going to get rid of your bad guy brother once and for all!”

  Cara didn’t know what to say. This was so much to unpack. Not only were the Knights of Favonius hellbent on killing her, but now she had to worry about some great apocalyptic god of destruction coming after her, too? I’d honestly rather fight Eula, Jean, and Lisa all at once than do that. “Klee, I-I don’t think I’m strong enough to take on a bad guy with this much power.”

  “Oh. Well, that’s okay! You aren’t strong now, but you will be! Big brother Albedo can teach you how to use a sword, and then when that evil Destroyer wakes up and sees you, all you’ll have to do is go swoosh, and whoosh, and wa-pow!” Klee swung an imaginary sword wildly through the air. “That big meanie Armigeedon won’t know what hit him!”

  “Oh my stars!” Sucrose suddenly exclaimed. She ran over to Albedo and shoved a piece of marked-up paper into his hands. “Mr. Albedo, look! These-these readings! I’ve never seen something so extraordinary! Her blood!”

  “What about my blood?” Cara asked, both worried and intrigued.

  Sucrose was so excited, she looked like she was about to faint. “Your blood has the regular four main components that are seen in a normal human’s blood: plasma, red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets. But existing beside those four components are the components of auric chloride and chloroauric acid! These two components are the most common compounds found in gold. How your body can survive with such components flowing through your bloodstream is a mystery…but-but the important thing is that your blood is not just golden in its color! It’s quite literally liquid gold!”

  “Woah! I don’t understand most of what Sucrose just said, but I do know what gold is!” Klee exclaimed. “Liquid gold! That’s so cool!”

  “Sucrose is correct,” Albedo said after reading over the paper. “Your blood indeed does have components that exist within the element of gold. This goes beyond my initial expectations.” He handed the paper back to Sucrose. “Starting tomorrow, please continue studying the sample. See if it holds any other attributes seen with normal samples of gold. Try exposing it to heat or electricity.”

  Sucrose nodded enthusiastically. “Yes, Mr. Albedo! I’ll get to it first thing in the morning!”

  Cara’s mind was reeling. “Liquid gold,” she whispered. “It’s impossible.” There was no way her blood should have such components within it. And yet, Sucrose was the bio-alchemist, not her. One would be foolish not to trust in her conclusions. Still, how could she go from having regular human blood in her own world to suddenly developing golden blood here?

  The book might have answers. She started browsing through the pages, searching for any mention of golden blood among its words. While Albedo, Klee, and Sucrose continued to freak out over their discovery, she got lost in the legends of the Creator, learning more about Caratrice than she ever knew before. She saw more drawings of the six-winged wyvern, as well as depictions of nine god-like deities, each represented by a title. Jehoel, the Seraph. Pahaliah, the Throne. Seraphina, the Power. Michael, the Archangel…these must be the names of the Nine Choirs that the creation myth mentioned.

  And then, a sentence on a different page caught her eye. One belonging to another legend. And Cara’s heart stopped.

  There is a false god in Teyvat.

  “Albedo.” She shook his shoulder to gain his attention. “Listen to this. This legend talks about a false god. Could it be about me?”

  “No,” Albedo answered. “I am quite certain now that you are the reincarnation of Caratrice. But it could be about the Caratrice that is currently sitting on your throne. Go ahead, read it.”

  Sucrose and Klee went silent when the words began to flow off of her tongue. “There is a false god in Teyvat, and they have tricked the people of this world. Gods and mortals alike bow before them and swear their undying devotion to a puppet. They cannot see through the trickery of the heretic’s words…and there is a prophecy. One written in the stars and banished from all forms of text by the hand of the false god. It speaks of the Divine Creator rising up and defeating the false god to reclaim her rightful throne and free the people from the Madness with the aid of her nine champions… Lupus, Rota, Ocellus, Fila, Peregrinus, Alatus, Monoceros, Iracundus, and lastly, Palmatum …those are constellation names. Albedo, do you recognize any of them?”

  Albedo rubbed his chin. “No, I don’t. Constellations are the speciality of astrologists, not alchemists. These names must be the constellations of the new Nine Choirs.”

  “But I thought there already was a group of pre-existing Nine Choirs?”

  “Yes, but those gods existed a long time ago. There is no telling whether any of them are even still alive.” Albedo’s eyes sparkled with interest. “So, the Caratrice sitting on the Crossroads throne right now is indeed an imposter…it seems I need no further proof. The Creator has returned. And this Madness, this dark art the book alludes to, has to be what is causing so many Vessels to turn against you. The fake Caratrice is using magic to control minds.”

   The red mist of the Madness…infected minds…the thing that spoke through Jean, the way every single character who wants to kill me has some sort blood red color in their irises… it had never occurred to Cara before that the hunt being enforced throughout Monstadt might be an order enacted against the wills of those leading the charge, but now, it all did truly make sense in a strange way.

  She turned the page, and an elaborate drawing of Caratrice’s true form with her six wings completely flared out was revealed to her. Encircling the mighty dragon were seven small lights, each one a single specific color: red, green, teal, purple, dark blue, light blue, and yellowish-orange. Curious, she peered more closely at the description underneath the drawing.

   A dragon reborn has no control over its fire. The same is said for the Creator. When She returns to Teyvat to vanquish the Madness of the heavens and the Abyss, reincarnated flesh will close around renewed muscle and bone, and Her power will be limited. But if the hearts of the Seven are absorbed, true power will be gained.

   Wait, Cara thought. Those aren’t lights. Those…those are the gnoses. This picture depicted Caratrice regaining full control over Teyvat’s seven elements by absorbing the gnoses of the Archons! Could this be a way for me to get home? If I get all of the gnoses, will I gain the power to return to my own world?

  “Did you find something?” Albedo asked.

  “Yeah,” Cara replied. “I think I finally found the answers I’m looking for. Here, read this page.”

  Albedo took the book and looked it over. Cara watched his face, searching for any sign of shock, or disbelief, or even amusement as he came to the conclusion of the plan that was starting to form in her head. But he didn’t; he just slowly lowered the book down after he was done reading and stared at her.

  “Well?” Cara questioned.

  “What you are thinking of doing is impossible,” he stated. “To gain an audience with an Archon, let alone all seven of them, and then proceed to challenge them for their gnosis is practically a death wish.”

  “You want to do what?” Sucrose squeaked.

  “But it’s the only lead I have,” Cara argued. “If I get the gnoses, maybe I’ll finally be able to go home. Whether I’m an imposter or not, this book says that something will happen if someone is in possession of all seven.”

  “Do you know what you're saying?” Sucrose cried. “Cara, as much as I want to believe that this legend is true, there is no proof of whether such a plan will give you the abilities you seek! The Seven are-are gods at their full power! Some of them have been alive since the Archon War! Do you really want to risk your life and challenge them when you aren’t even sure that having all of the gnoses will be the way to regain your full power?”

  “Yes,” Cara said, with so much conviction and determination, she rendered Sucrose silent. “I will do whatever it takes to get back to my own world. I have people there waiting for me, people who I know will miss me if I stay here forever. If fighting the Archons is the only way I’ll see them again, then so be it.”

  “But Cara,” Klee said. “Aren’t you afraid?”

  Cara looked at her. “Yes,” she answered after a moment. “Yes, I’m afraid. No, I’m terrified. I don’t want to die. And despite all my big talk, I-I really don’t want to face the Archons, either. But I have to do whatever it takes. I haven’t had any leads until now. The wind pointed me towards this book for a reason. I have to believe that it was because it wanted me to know that getting the gnoses is how I get back to my world.”

  Sucrose looked down her hands with confliction. Albedo didn’t say a word. But Klee’s entire face lit up with admiration. “Wow, you really are one of the bravest, coolest gods ever, Your Grace! You may be even braver than Barbatos! I wanna help you find the Anemo Archon so you can get his gnosis thingy! Albedo, can we please help Cara?”

  Albedo sighed. “What kind of Vessels would we be if we were to refuse? We’ve been by Her Grace’s side since before she got here, and we will continue to be by her side from now on. Cara, we will help you get the Anemo gnosis, and after that, we’ll find a way to get you out of Monstadt so you can continue your journey through Teyvat. You have my word.”

  “Mine, too!” Klee cheered.

  “No doubt this will be dangerous,” Sucrose said. “But I want to help, too. Whatever you need me to do, I’ll try my best for you, Your Grace.”

  A wave of emotion swept over Cara, and she wanted to burst into tears. “Thank you, guys,” she said, voice warm with gratitude. “I-I don’t know what to say. If you really do want to help me, then I’ll accept it. But, um, before we start putting together Operation: Let’s Fight God, can I ask you guys if there’s any way to get in contact with people in Monstadt City? I have friends who were helping me back there, too, and I didn’t mean to get separated from them. I want to let them know I’m okay.”

  “Of course,” Albedo said. “Who are they?”

  “Kaeya, Bennett, and Razor.”

  “Oh! Oh!” Klee cried. “Kaeya, Bennett, and Razor are the best! Kaeya wrote the Favonius Survival Rulebook for me and he always helps me cover it up when I make a big disaster, Razor always knows the best way to fix bad things when disasters happen to keep me safe, and I always find way more treasure if I go adventuring with Bennett..even though he never finds any. I’m so glad they’re your friends, too!”

  “It’s good to know you have them on your side,” Albedo said. “Though I don’t know Razor and Bennett very well, they are good influences for Klee. Kaeya, however, sometimes isn’t, but regardless, he’s a trustworthy ally. Sucrose, Klee, can you go down to Monstadt City and find the three of them? Let them know that Cara is safe, and they can come see her whenever they wish to. But do so discreetly, please. We can’t have the knights finding out.”

  “Of course,” Sucrose said. “We’ll head off. Come along, Klee.”

  “Okay!” Klee took Sucrose’s hand. “We’ll be back soon!”

  They left the camp, and then it was just Cara and Albedo. Reassured that Razor, Bennett, and Kaeya would know she was okay, and hopeful that they in return were safe as well, she allowed herself to relax. I hope they’re alright. I hope Bennett escaped the knights. I hope they weren’t captured.

  “I would suggest you get some rest,” Albedo told her. He stood up. “We have a full day tomorrow. I will be on the lookout for Sucrose and Klee when they return.”

  “Wait, what? What do you mean, we have a full day tomorrow? What are we doing?”

  Albedo smiled knowingly at her. “If you are planning on fighting gods, then you need to be prepared for the battles to come. Without the seven gnoses, you will never regain your full power, so we need to assure that you have the physical fighting skills to take on an Archon.”

  “What are you saying?” Cara asked.

  “I’m saying this,” Albedo answered. “Starting tomorrow, I am going to teach you how to wield a sword.”

  “Oh,” Cara said. “Oh. Makes sense, I guess.” To fight, one needed a weapon, and she had always favored the idea of learning how to use a sword even before she arrived in Teyvat.

  Albedo nodded. “Your training begins in the morning. If you need me, I’ll be right outside. Get some sleep.” And then he left the camp as well to disappear into the Dragonspine wilderness. Cara was left alone with her thoughts.

  She looked at the book, stared into the eyes of Caratrice, and sighed, before placing the book on the floor and laying down to nestle deeper into her blankets. She closed her eyes.

Steal the seven gnoses. Or die trying.

God, I am so doomed.

Noelle wished she weren’t so nervous.

  She understood that she was here to gather information. In order for things to go smoothly, being here was necessary. Standing at the side of the Acting Grand Master’s desk, the maid listened intently to the conversation between Lisa, Amber, and Eula. Jean was sitting down, her hands folded over her mouth with her eyes closed, lost in thought. Leaning against the handrail of the office’s elevated portion was Mona Megistus, an astrologist that Noelle did not know well. Hovering before the Hydro user was a conjured scryglass depicting a muddled circle of hazy stars. Her brow was furrowed in frustrated concentration, and every now and then, she muttered something under her breath.

  “We have no idea if she’s even in Monstadt, anymore,” Amber was saying. “Those teleport waypoints are connected all over Teyvat. She could be halfway across the world right now, and we wouldn’t even know!”

  “I don’t think she’s left Monstadt,” Lisa said. “If she did, Her Grace would have told us by now. She must have been transported to another region nearby the city.”

  “But how did she even activate it in the first place?” Amber started pacing back and forth. “It makes no sense. They only respond to us Vessels when we’re being envoyed by the Creator. You…you don’t think she’s a Vessel going rogue, do you?”

  “Impossible,” Eula said. She wore dueling emotions on her face: one was shame, most likely due to the fact that the “imposter” escaped on her watch. The other was pure rage. “I refuse to believe such a heretical creature could ever be in the good graces of the Almother. Her Grace told us that we are dealing with an agent of chaos sent by the Destroyer himself to upheave the peace in Teyvat. She must have some sort of power born from the Abyss that allows her to use the waypoints.”

  “Well, then where do we go from here?” Amber asked. “How are we going to find her?”

  They both looked at Lisa. The librarian shrugged. “Don’t look at me. I may be a librarian, but I’m not all knowing. Jean, do you perhaps have anything to add to this?”

  Jean opened her eyes. “Mona,” she said. “Have you found any information on the imposter’s future?”

  “Well, you see, that’s the problem.” Mona waved her scryglass away and sighed. “In order to truly obtain a reading that will accurately tell me a person’s fate, I must know their constellation. All I have to do is look at the stars, and this piece of information is easily revealed to me. And it was. The heretic’s constellation is Veritas Primalis. However, that is all I know. Every time I try to look into her future or attempt to figure out where she landed after using the teleport waypoint, my scryglass becomes virtually impossible to read. It’s like there’s some elemental blockage preventing me from learning anything about her beyond what her constellation is.”

  Noelle relaxed when she heard this news. Good, she thought, but she didn’t let this be known. Amber and Eula looked troubled. Lisa didn’t look surprised, just slightly annoyed. Jean nodded calmly, but the protruding jugular vein on her neck showed her silent anger. “I see.”

  “I’m sorry for the inconvenience, Acting Grand Master,” Mona said apologetically. “My only guess as to why my scryglass is acting up like this is that the heretic is using the power of Armageddon to keep her fate obscured. Hydromancy can tell us mortals many things, but in the face of a god’s power, it can be rendered useless.”

  “There’s no need to apologize, Mona,” Jean assured. “You’ve done all you can here, and I will forever be thankful for it.”

   Maybe they will give up the hunt, Noelle hoped. Maybe this will finally be when they stop this madness. There are no leads, no ways of even knowing whether she’s in Monstadt, anymore. This is good. Perhaps I won’t have to fight my friends, at all.

  “However,” Jean continued. “There is more you can do later on, if you would accept the position I am offering to you.”

  Noelle stiffened. What?

  “Hm?” Mona said. “Well, I’ll listen to your offer. What is it?”

  Jean pulled a piece of paper lying on her desk closer to her. Noelle could see a list of names written on it. “I took counsel with Her Grace before this meeting. She told me to put together a hunting party. The four people on this team were handpicked by her. Mona, you are one of those people. If I asked you to join three others to travel Monstadt’s regions to find and kill the imposter once and for all, would you accept?”

  Mona looked absolutely flabbergasted. “Me? Her Grace handpicked me? I-I cannot believe this! It’s a great honor-ah, I mean, yes! Of course I accept! Who are the other three people, if I may ask?”

  Jean read off of the paper. “These are Her Grace’s own words. “Find Sister Rosaria of the Church of Favonius, Amber the Outrider, the astrologer Mona Megistus, and Diluc Ragnvindr of Dawn Winery. The imposter is still somewhere in your nation. Where exactly, I don’t know. But I want these four to find her and bring me her head. They will be the hounds. The rest of you will be the hunters. Stay in Monstadt and be on guard. I have a feeling that the heretic will be back in the city soon.”

  “I was chosen by Her Grace, too?” Amber cried with astonished glee.

  “Ooo, so we are to be the hunters and the hounds, are we?” Lisa said. She was grinning like a cat. “How fun. I’m looking forward to seeing the little fox caught.”

  “It will be a glorious day when that happens,” Eula growled. “It will be the day when vengeance is officially served!”

  “This is certainly news I wasn’t expecting to hear,” Mona said, still obviously shocked. “But if this came directly from Her Grace, then I will accept her orders gladly. I…do not want to know what would happen if I were to refuse.”

  “Good.” Jean nodded. “I’ll gather the other hounds here later today. You four will set off tomorrow.” She smiled. “This is the highest honor I can ever think of receiving. I know you and the others won’t disappoint. None of us will. We will kill that imposter if it is the last thing we do.”

  “M-Master Jean,” Noelle blurted out. Everyone stared at her. She gulped and tried to steady her voice. “Um, if I may ask, why wasn’t I, or Master Kaeya, chosen?”

  Jean blinked. “I…do not know. But don’t think this means that Her Grace doesn’t care for you, Noelle. Everyone here knows that you put enormous effort into everything you do, including the Creator. You are Monstadt’s strongest Geo user, so you were probably chosen to remain in the city to act as an impenetrable defense.”

  “Yeah, Noelle!” Amber agreed. “You're super resilient, and super strong! You swing that claymore like it’s a child’s toy, and that shield of yours can take on any attack!”

  “Amber speaks the truth,” Eula said. “You are an incredible asset to Monstadt’s safety. I cannot think of anyone who would be better equipped to keep our citizens safe from harm.”

  “As for why Kaeya wasn’t chosen as well…” Jean hesitated before continuing. “It may have to do with the fact that Diluc was chosen to be on the hunting party. But, let’s not get into that. Noelle, I’ll make sure that both you and him are well-informed on the hunt for the imposter, so please, don’t feel rejected or left out.”

  “Oh, no, I never thought that at all!” Noelle said. She withheld her true thoughts. I hope Kaeya and I aren’t suspected by the false god. “It is my honor to serve as Monstadt’s defense. I will do everything I can to keep all of us safe from the imposter.”

  “That’s what I like to hear,” Jean praised. “Don’t worry. Everything will be fine. We will catch her.” She pushed her chair back and stood up. “Meeting dismissed. Mona and Amber, please come with me. We’re going to go find the rest of your team members. Everyone else, begin preparing surveillance throughout the city. We need to make sure that if the heretic returns, we will know, and we will be ready.”

  Everyone shuffled out of the office and went on their way. Noelle pretended to adjust her priestess hat as the others left. When she saw they were gone, she quickly darted up to the headquarter’s second floor. Her destination was the first room to the right.

  This is bad, she thought. Four of Monstadt’s strongest Vessels, all on the same team…oh, Barbatos, how could this happen? I have to warn Kaeya. I have to do something. If we don’t act first, Her Grace is as good as dead.

Kaeya was afraid.

  He wasn’t one who enjoyed admitting to himself when such an emotion held him hostage. He tried to remain cool-headed in any situation, showing nothing but confidence and a leveled outlook as he endured whatever obstacle he was faced with. But now though, as he sat as his desk in his office and scanned a map of Monstadt’s various regions with a frantic eye, he knew he had to acknowledge that this was a time of his life where he would not be able to combat his terror.

  Last night, he had made a dire mistake. While standing guard for Cara during her errand in the library’s restricted section, he had been shocked to see Lisa walk out of said library with Razor by her side. At first, he had feared the worst: Razor had sold them out, and now Kaeya, Bennett, and Cara would be executed together. But for a split second, when the two of them shared a brief interval of silent conversation through eye contact, he understood the truth. The wolf boy was acting as a distraction. And Lisa was not supposed to be here. She should have been investigating the false tip he had sent in about a sighting of the imposter in the area around Dawn Winery with the rest of the knights. It was a completely unanticipated move, and it frustrated him to see that his carefully laid out plan of leading their adversaries astray had gone wrong.

  He had met Lisa with practiced manipulation, explaining to her that he had taken the night to complete some last-minute paperwork and was just heading out to the Angel’s Share for a drink. She didn’t question him about why he wasn’t at Dawn Winery with the other captains; no one had even asked him to go, most likely due to his strained relationship with Diluc. In an attempt to save Razor from being pulled away, therefore potentially inhibiting Cara’s success, Kaeya followed the two of them outside, though he knew this wasn’t a very intelligent move on his part. What would Cara think when she saw he was gone? What if the knights returned early? Would she deem him a traitor? Would she refuse to trust him again?

  The knights won’t return early, he had reminded himself. You specifically planned for them to remain at Dawn Winery well into the night. Cara will get out of the headquarters without any hindrance. She knows I wouldn’t betray her. Young Bennett will bring her somewhere safe, and once I get Razor away from Lisa, the four of us will reconvene. It will be fine. I have this under control.

  As it turned out, Kaeya, for all of his meticulous planning and smooth talking, did not have everything under control. Because as cunning as he was, he could not anticipate that the false Creator would somehow discover that Cara was in the library. He did not expect “Her Grace” to use Eula and a group of knights as surprise attack dogs with the command to wait outside of the library entrance for Cara to walk right into their clutches. By the time he had made it back to the headquarters, Cara was gone. Bennett was now suddenly a wanted criminal, and to keep him safe, Razor had whisked him away to Wolvendom. Kaeya was left completely alone-and thus, he was officially afraid for his god.

   How did this happen? he thought. His gaze continued to rove over the map, its weathered parchment filled with scribbled notes and thumbtacks that identified possible locations as to where Cara could be hiding. How did the fake Creator find out? Was she using Lisa as a set of eyes? Does she have spies within the city? No, that can’t be it. If that were the case, I would be arrested right now. It has to be something else. Damnit, why was Lisa even in the library in the first place? Jean must have told her to stay behind as backup. That’s the only logical explanation.

   His knee was bouncing, and his hand unconsciously went to pull at his hair. Frustration and desperation were building up inside of him as he stared at the map. He had to find Cara before the knights did. He couldn’t let her die. Not only was she his god, but she was his friend, too. She was most likely the only friend he had. He would not abandon her in her time of need.

  Something on the map caught his attention. Stormterror’s Lair was circled-not by his hand, but most likely from a knight who had previously used this same map for tracking. High numbers of Abyss Mages here, an old note was written at the top of the circling. Do not engage unless you have a Vision.

  “The Abyss Order,” he mumbled. “It was your people, wasn’t it? You were the spies.” An Abyss Mage sneaking into Monstadt City’s walls to cause havoc was not unheard of. He knew of the Abyss Order’s founding, how they were sworn enemies of the Creator and would do anything to soil her name. Could the false Creator be striking a deal with the Abyss Order in order to stop Cara from regaining her true power? It was not an unlikely theory, and it made sense. An Abyss Mage would use its magic to locate Cara and then proceed to send that information to the real imposter. It would explain why neither him, nor Razor, were arrested too, since only Cara was the known target. He would keep this prospect in mind for the future; if Cara really was being stalked by the Abyss Order, then he would have to put a stop to it. His loyalty to his god came before his past.

  A series of knocks on his office door made his head shoot up. Kaeya quickly rolled up the map and tucked it carefully into his desk. “Come in,” he called.

  The door opened, and in stepped Noelle. Kaeya did not relax; if anything, her presence gave him even more anxiety, for he knew she had essential information for him that would confirm Cara as either alive or dead.

  Noelle did not salute to him, or run through any of the typical Knights of Favonius formalities she took so much care in enacting. Instead, she only clasped her hands together and immediately informed him of what he needed to hear. “They’re putting together a hunting party. An official one, made up of four Vessels chosen by the false Creator herself. They’re going to scour every region of Monstadt until they find Her Grace and kill her.”

  Just as he feared. “Who did the false Creator choose?”

  “Sister Rosaria of the Church of Favonius, Mona Megistus the astrologer, Outrider Amber, and…and your brother.”

  Kaeya stiffened, his hands clenching. Of course, he thought. Because why wouldn’t he end up being involved? But it does make sense. Mona combats Bennett, Rosaria cancels out both him and Razor, Amber is a natural tracker and can use her bow to take out Cara from a far distance, and Diluc…Diluc cancels out me. The false Creator really did think of everything.

  “Master Kaeya, what are we going to do?” Noelle asked. “If the hunting party finds Her Grace, she won’t stand a chance against their combined strength. How are we going to find her first?”

  Kaeya shook his head. “I don’t know.”

  “You don’t know?” Noelle sounded shocked. “B-But Master Kaeya, you always have a plan. We just can’t sit here and do nothing! We must act first!”

  Kaeya pressed a hand to his temples and closed his eye. “I know,” he said. “I know we have to act first. But without any leads, we’re as lost as the hunting party. Our only option is to track their movements and hope we can snatch Cara out of danger before they attack.”

  “Master Jean did say she was going to keep us informed on what is happening with the hunting party,” Noelle said. “So, I guess that could work…Oh, Barbatos will have to send us a miracle though if we are to outsmart the entirety of the knights.”

  Kaeya thought of Venti and wanted to laugh. “Don’t bother praying to him. Barbatos will sooner join the hunting party than go against it.” He stood up and made for the door. “Come along, Noelle. I have an idea. We may be able to gain some information by wrenching it out of an Abyss Mage or two-”

  As he was walking out, someone crashed into him. Kaeya went flailing backwards, but was quickly caught by Noelle to stop his fall.

  “Ohmygosh, Mr. Kaeya, I’m so sorry!” The young figure of Klee came rushing over to him. “I didn’t mean to run into you. Please don’t tell Master Jean, I can’t be put into solitary confinement today!”

  “Oh, Klee.” Kaeya felt relieved. “It’s only you.” At first, he had been afraid that he had stumbled upon an eavesdropper, but he was sure that Klee was far too young for Jean or even the fake imposter to involve in the hunt. “What are you doing running around in the halls? Didn’t Jean tell you not to do that? You could trip and hurt yourself.”

  “I know, I know, and I’m sorry. But you don’t understand! We came all the way from Dragonspine to talk to you about something very, very important!”

  “We?” Kaeya questioned.

  “I’m with her.” A new person joined them; it was Sucrose, the young bio-alchemist who worked as Albedo’s assistant. She gave him a polite nod. “H-Hello, Master Kaeya. Um, Mr. Albedo, he-he sent Klee and I to give you an important message.”

  “Oh? And what could that be?”

  Sucrose looked over her shoulder nervously. “Can we talk about it inside your office? It’s, um, a very private matter.”

  “Certainly.” Kaeya allowed the two newcomers to shuffle inside, then dutifully closed the door. Sucrose opened her mouth to begin, but when she saw Noelle, she froze. “Oh, Noelle! I, um, didn’t notice you were here at first. I apologize for not saying hello. Klee and I, we practically ran here, so I’m a little winded.”

  “Oh, that’s alright, Sucrose. It’s wonderful to see you.” Noelle side-eyed Kaeya, silently asking him if he wanted her to leave. Kaeya shook his head. Stay. If this important message Albedo had for him involved Cara, then he wanted her to hear it. Noelle could lead a rescue mission if he was unable to, so it was essential that she was aware of every detail.

  Sucrose still seemed hesitant to talk. Klee was watching Noelle carefully, then tugged at Sucrose’s hand. “I think it’s okay to tell her, Sucrose. Noelle is a nice lady. She would never do anything bad!”

  “Sucrose,” Kaeya said. “If I may ask…does this message Albedo has for me happen to be about the conflict about the imposter?”

  “Yes!” Klee answered before Sucrose could. “Only she is not an imposter, and I know you don’t think she is too, because she told me so!”

  “Klee!” Sucrose cried. “You're revealing too much information!”

  “It’s alright,” Kaeya said. “You can tell us everything. I take it Her Grace is with Albedo, then?”

  Sucrose sighed. “I suppose since Her Grace did say you were a friend of hers, it’s okay to tell you everything. Yes, she is currently with Mr. Albedo right now. We found her by a teleport waypoint near his camp. She’s safe, so you don’t have to worry. She wanted Klee and I to tell you, Bennett, and Razor that.”

  “Oh, that is certainly a relief,” Noelle sighed.

  “Yes, it definitely is.” Kaeya felt like slumping to the floor; after being worried for an entire night and morning about whether Cara was dead or alive, it was welcoming news to hear that she was alright.

  “Where are Bennett and Razor?” Klee asked, slightly disappointed. “I wanted to see them.”

  “They’re in Wolvendom,” Kaeya replied. “Bennett was seen helping Her Grace escape the city last night, so he’s currently not welcome here anymore, and he’s in hiding. We should find the two of them right away. I know they’re eager to hear about Cara’s safety.”

  “Sucrose, have you heard about what Master Jean is planning?” Noelle asked the other girl. “There’s going to be a hunting party! If they show up in Dragonspine, it is essential that you keep Her Grace hidden from view!”

  “A hunting party?” Sucrose repeated, paling. “Oh, no, that’s-that’s not good at all!”

  “No, it isn’t,” Kaeya said. As he did, however, a lightbulb suddenly went off in his mind. The hunting party was made up of only four people…but here he was with Noelle, Sucrose, and Klee, three Vision users who were on Cara’s side. Add in himself, Bennett, Razor, and Albedo, and that was six Vessels who believed in the true Creator. If they were forced to face the hunting party in combat, they would have a high chance of winning. And of course, there were others as well…“But while it is something we should worry about, I think I may have a plan to stop them from killing Cara.”

  “You have a plan now?” Noelle said. She sounded delighted.

  “Yes, and it may just work. To make sure the hunting party doesn’t endanger Her Grace…perhaps we should form a party of our own.”

[theghostoficarus]

Enemies to Lovers They Say Pt.2

Part 1   Part 2   Part 3  Part 4  Part 5  Part 6

It was another misty day in the city. Fog and steam covered the windows with thousands of tiny droplets. The air was moist, and plants were full of growing life. As flower buds spread and crept around every corner color brimming from the hidden petals through the beautiful green of the buds. Neon lights shined brightly through the mist like twinkling fairies.

Red Son escaped in the dark blinded by the blanket of hanging droplets. As he ran a clear path grew in front of him the heat from his body evaporating the water quickly so the puddles he left behind boiled on the floor. His glasses were fogged and he couldn't see as he sprinted he tried to remember where he was, and where he was going. He simply went, and with no particular goal, he fled. A dark figure jumped and followed behind him, swift and graceful with each step taken.

Red ducked into a close by alleyway and held his breath as he flattened himself to the wall. Covering his mouth he watched the figure dash past him and disappear into the haze. Carefully the demon poked his head around the corner and saw the neon sign. He didn't know why he ran here, why it was his instinct too but there he was. At the home of the monkey king, the home of his love. He knew he couldn't go back out and try to go home. He knew if he teleported they would see the flames and try to follow him. He knew how embarrassing this was going to be. All the less, he stepped out and entered the growing shop.

When he walked in he was greeted by a tremendous round of aromas. Steak, ramen, chicken, green onions, spices, salty, sweet, and everything in between. He was enticed by the glorious smells and it made him remember that he hadn't eaten yet. He sat down on one of the bar stools and waited to be served. It was an oddly peaceful feeling after being chased, to sit down and enjoy a meal; But Red Son didn't truly mind it at all. As he took out his wallet a familiar face walked up to him.

"What would you like to order?" It was that of Mei. She smiled her hair the same as all those years ago. She wore a yellow apron and a black name tag on her chest with pride pins opposite to it.

"The spiciest noodles you have please," He replied hiding his face behind a menu. Ashamed that he was here, Mei shrugged at the order and went back to the kitchen. The redhead sighed, glad that the dragoness hadn't noticed him. He looked around the shop, it was bigger than before that was for certain. He noticed that a far wall to his right was well decorated with plants but also a staircase. A small white wooden sign hung next to it. 'residents and guests only' read in a bold black font.

Red wondered what would happen if he tried to see if MK was in his room, he didn't feel like testing it, but it was a thought. Red son relaxed and rested his head in his palm yawning. The shop was such an odd contrast to the world outside. Peaceful and slow it was a pocket from the outside world of the city's never-ending work.

Mei had returned shortly with Reds food in hand. She placed the bowl down and took a good look at her customer.

"No way! Red Boy?! Long time no see!" She exclaimed cheerfully smiling at him. Mei was taller than before her bangs parting because of her small horns that protrude from her skin like Red Son. Red gave her a small smile before taking his bowl of warm handcrafted noodles and passing her his card.  

"What brings you here?" the dragoness persists in her futile attempt to start a conversation. He ignores her and eats his noodles. The burning hot of the spices danced on his tongue the flavors bursting with a salty passion. She noted his unwantedness to talk but determined through curiosity she continues.

"You seem tired," She says. Red Son looked up at her, not quite in the mood for a conversation.

"I was chased here." He explained in a monotone voice. His head was looking down at the noodles in his bowl. Red had his hair down, it was shorter than it used to be ending near the shoulders rather than the back swirls of orange and yellow patterned it and today he wore a long-sleeved plaid red blazer. His sleeves were folded up and his arm up to his wrist was open to the air. Reds wrists were covered in scattered small band-aids ranging from purple to red.

Mei was shocked for a moment but soon understood that he wanted to be left alone, She went to tend to another customer. Red left out a sigh of relief and went back to enjoying his meal. As he finished and was getting up to move to a back table MK climbed down the steps. The two boys looked at each other for a moment. MK was wearing his hair up in his signature style, he had a simple white button-up and red pants on. Reds' heart paced in his chest at the sight of the monkey boy.

MK and Red locked eyes for a long while, MK just standing at the staircase entryway watching Red from his seat. MK Was quite happy that Red was there having not seen the demon in a while and wanted to catch up. They smiled breaking the staring and walked over to Red son as the demon looked away.

"Hey Red, haven't seen you in a few weeks, how are you?" MK asks taking a seat next to him and examining Reds' face adoringly. Red son blushed the red dusting his soft cheeks.

"I'm fine," The demon responded looking away from MK. The monkey boy not at all planning to leave anytime soon hums and calls Mei to get him his usual bowl.

"You've been up to anything?"MK asks. Red doesn't really know why the simian was bothering to talk to him. He and Red hadn't seen each other in years and now he's trying to act like they've been friends for years. Not that Red Son minded he just found it, odd.

"Just gardening with mother for the most part," Red replied trying to open up even if it was just the slightest. MK's face brightened at the opportunity of a conversation.

"What kind of stuff do you grow?" the monkey boy questioned.

"Fruits vegetables and a few species, but mainly flowers," Red explained counting them off in his head. MK was so handsome he couldn't focus. One of the biggest changes over the years was his face and the fact that now, the noodle boy had a tail. It waved from one side to the other as MK talked.

"That's cool! Do you like helping out? It sounds like a lot of work but it must be super rewarding once you get to eat it." The noodle boy ranted, his tail tip flicking from side to side.

Red Son nodded, "Yeah, it's sort of me and my mother's thing when my father is busy but we all do it together ever so often." the bull explained starting to perk up from the fears of the outside.

"That's so cool! I bet your garden looks beautiful!" MK exclaimed happily, smiling and tilting his head to the side.

Red son huffed a sigh, tensing back up at the compliment. He turned away from MK's smile which shined like the sun. He was going to reply when the door burst open with a slam that shook the room and cracked the wall. Mei rushed over to see what happened with Pigsy trailing behind her. And there he was, a man in all black a mask covering the bottom half of his face. But there was no need to see it, for Red knew exactly who he was.

It was his killer, the one who would lead to his death.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I hope you guys like it! This took me a while to edit and get done but I'm super proud of it! Hope you like it! A copy of the fanfic is on Ao3 and Watapad a link will be out soon!

1367 words

[rantceratops]

(also fashionably late) Aroace Hunter Week 2023, Day Two: Griffin (Gryphon)

Title: Birds of a Feather, G-Rated

Word Count: 2,263

Summary: Hunter learns something about gryphons, Puddles, and himself while waiting for a gryphon Beast Track lesson to start with Viney.

Characters: Hunter, Viney, Puddles the gryphon, Willow

No Pairings

(This is the first thing I’ve written in ages, so please bear with me. I’m just happy for the inspiration and that I managed to finish a story without losing steam or interest, even if the flow might not be perfect. Enjoy!)

@sergeantsporks​

~~

Hunter felt like he was navigating a field full of traps. Long, wiggling traps that shifted dangerously around his feet as he tried to make his way over to a familiar face amongst all the feathers and shrieking. Viney waved him down as soon as she saw him, and Hunter offered a meek wave in return, nervously pointing down at the veritable sea of gryphon tails between the two of them.

Viney seemed to take a moment to realize his dilemma, then chuckled and patted Puddles’ shoulder, pointing over at the nervous boy. Puddles caught sight of Hunter and shrieked, bounding over like a predator for prey. Hunter yelled in alarm and tried to turn to run; how foolish had he been to think Puddles had finally forgiven him for stepping on her tail!

Fully prepared to teleport away to save himself, Hunter was surprised when Puddles rammed her head under his legs so that he slid down onto her back, nestled right between her large, fluffy wings. Puddles hissed and swiped the air threateningly at the other gryphons, whose tails she had trampled and disturbed as she went to rescue Hunter and whom were cawing and roaring in protest. Hunter grinned apologetically at the Beast Track students who were now having to calm their beasts down as Puddles took slightly to the air and glided them both over to Viney.

“Hi, Hunter. Thought you could use a little rescuing!” Viney chirped, patting Puddles’ flank. The large avian made a sound like a hacking cough and sat down, causing Hunter to spill onto the grass unceremoniously. He picked himself up and dusted off his pants.

“Uh, yeah. Thanks. I didn’t want to make “friends” the same way I did with Puddles,” Hunter said ruefully with air quotes, glancing back over at the still slightly chaotic corral of gryphons, some of whom were eyeing Puddles and Hunter with murder in their striking eyes. The grimwalker flinched, wondering if he still might be in for it, but just then Puddles stood and hissed back, fluffing her feathers out and stepping slightly in front of Hunter. The other gryphons growled but seemed to slowly quell. Puddles turned her head sideways to look at Hunter, her large eye blinking. “Uh... thanks?” he asked, then laughed lightly when she used her beak to preen his hair.

The gesture reminded him of Flapjack, sending both a pang of affection and sadness blooming in his chest as he stroked her with one scarred hand.

“Aww, look at that, I think Puddles really is coming around to you. It’s all over once she starts preening you. A friend for life,” Viney gravely informed him as she grabbed a small bag of dead dire rats and held it open to him, her expression dark. “You better feed her a snack to seal the deal or she might change her mind.”

Hunter looked into the sack of contents and contorted his face, blanching at the thought of touching something dead. Feeling Puddles still meticulously picking through his recently shortened hair, Hunter took the time to dig one of his gloves out of his bag and pulled it on, reasoning that he could wash it later. Or burn it altogether. He had a spare pair.

Sticking his tongue out, he grabbed one of the dire rats, glad that the material on his hands kept him from feeling how soft and squishy and dead it was, and turned to hold it up so that the gryphon could see it. He heard the sound of her sniffing, then suddenly she cawed and snatched it out of his hand fast as lightning, not so much as nipping any of his fingers in the process. She snapped her beak down on it once, twice, then swallowed it whole and began nudging Hunter’s hand roughly.

Viney laughed. “Whelp, you’re in it now! Better feed her the rest of this bag.”

Hunter smiled, despite how disgusting it was, and continued pulling out rats to feed to Puddles while his friend held the bag open.

“Wow. This is... kind of nice. I thought she would hate me forever,” Hunter confessed, averting his eyes each time Puddles devoured a rodent.

Viney tutted. “Nah, Puddles always liked you!”

Hunter shot her a look of disbelief. He very much begged to differ.

“Really! I mean, sure, you probably shouldn’t have stepped on her tail, but she enjoyed playing air chase with you! Those feinting moves of yours? Really something, it kept her on her toes. I’ve been trying to work on them myself to make things more interesting for her, but there’s a reason you’re one of our star players!” Viney praised him, looking sincere.

Hunter felt his cheeks and ears heat up at the commendation, a soft smile forming on his mouth. He hadn’t yet rejoined the Flyer Derby team, but it wasn’t for not wanting to. The Palistrom tree Willow had helped plant still had a lot of growing to do, but Eda had managed to procure another chunk of the precious material--from where, she wouldn’t share, though Luz had confessed the owl lady had looked even more scuffed up than when she’d brought her piece of Palistrom wood. Under the gentle tutelage of Dell Clawthorne, Hunter had been practicing his whittling skills, and thought he might soon be brave enough to bring a new friend into his life.

Not a replacement, he thought, placing a hand on his chest absently. Never a replacement. But a new friend he could bond with and cherish. Being back in the air again without Flap would be hard but... he just had to remind himself that his little buddy was still with him, always, and probably missed the Flyer Derby field just as much as he did.

“And you know,” Viney continued, interrupting his thoughts. “When you sat in on practice last week, I saw you lying against Puddles and reading. I don’t think I’ve seen her lie down for a nap so easy, she must really love your company! Or your voice. It looked like you were having a pretty good time reading out loud to her, or discussing plot details, whatever you were doing.” Viney waved a hand dismissively.

Hunter felt his face heat up again in embarrassment, not knowing anyone had noticed that, but she didn’t appear to be making fun of him. He was still getting used to the fact that his friends wanted to listen to him and encourage his interests.

“Oh, uh, it’s, it’s a habit,” Hunter said, grinning a little and touching the back of his neck (with the non-dire rat feeding hand). “Gus and Willow and Camila and I, we all like the same series of really awesome books, and we talk a lot about them, and I get kind of... passionate about this one character, you see. Chief O’Bai--”

A loud rumbling sound interrupted his explanation, his ears pricking up.

“Oh boy,” Viney mumbled, sighing and closing the bag of treats. “Here we go again.”

Before Hunter could ask, Viney stomped around him on the red grass, holding her hands up and wagging a finger at a new gryphon that had just trotted over behind him. It was eyeing Puddles, but not in a hostile way.

“Oh no, not this again! Puddles isn’t interested, do you want another scratch on your other eye?” Viney scolded, drawing attention to the two faint slashes running down and over the new gryphons left eye.

It seemed to ignore her and stepped toward Puddles, making a high trilling sound and puffing out it’s feathers in a show-off-y way. It spread its wings out above its head, seeming to make itself taller, and fanned them out. It made little steps in the dirt with its front legs, lightly clawing up dirt and looking like a strange little dance.

As soon as Puddles caught sight of it, she shrieked and raked her talons in the dirt, fluffing her own feathers out but in the same threatening display Hunter had seen her use at the angry gryphons earlier. She slashed at the air in front of it, but it seemed to not take heed, shuffling closer.

Viney put a hand on Hunter’s upper arm and moved him aside just as Puddles lunged forward and grabbed a beak full of feathers from the gryphons neck and yanked them all out in a savage tug. It let out a noise of pain and staggered back, a bald, angry red patch flaring up on its chest. Before it could recover Puddles struck again, pulling out more feathers before spitting them out with a loud hiss, wings puffed out the whole time as she advanced forward.

The new gryphon hesitated before backing down, lowering its body and then turning to run back to the other group of gryphons and their witches.

Hunter stared in confusion at the place where it had disappeared, then back to Puddles, who seemed to be instantly calmed down as if nothing had happened. She startled Hunter out of his dumbstruck state by nudging his hand for more rats.

“What... what was that?” Hunter asked, simply petting Puddles’ beak.

Viney brought her fingers to her forehead, the other hand on her hip, and sighed. “Gryphon romantic drama. Or lack thereof.” She added, eyeing Puddles.

Hunter felt his brows furrow. “That was... romance?”

Viney nodded. She picked the bag of rats back up and pulled one out bare-handed, much to Hunter’s disgust, and tossed it for Puddles to catch.

“Supposed to be. You see, the thing about gryphons is that they mate for life. Usually, anyway. Sometimes they form multiple mate bonds, it’s not always just two, but that’s not the point. The point is, they usually wind up in a pair of some sort. But, Puddles... well.” Viney patted her side. “Let’s just say she’s way past the age for it, and she reacts the same way every time.” She gestured to the spot the gryphon had just attempted to woo Puddles in.

“Oh.” Hunter said thoughtfully, looking down at the red grass. He felt suddenly reminded of the fact that he was seventeen, getting ever closer to eighteen, and had never once felt... anything like that toward anyone. One of the first things he’d learned about Hexside had been that everyone was romance obsessed, and that according to Luz and Amity, he’d already been quite the “hit” with several giggling students in the halls. He had a vague idea of what that meant, and it made him feel uncomfortable.

“Yeah. I’m pretty sure Puddles just isn’t interested. That’s probably the hundredth gryphon I’ve seen her reject, and I’ve never once seen her try to impress one herself.” Viney said, feeding Puddles the last two dire rats at once. Puddles trilled happily and actually seemed to chew them a little this time to relish the flavor. (Hunter’s face turned a bit green).

Hunter fidgeted, feeling self-conscious. “Is it... okay that Puddles doesn’t...feel like that? About other gryphons?” He asked offhandedly, gesturing at the gryphon that had finished with her rats and now came back over to nibble Hunter’s hair once more. He tried not to think about her still having rat bits in her beak.

Viney seemed to study him for a second, then smiled and nodded. “Absolutely! It’s not the first time I’ve heard of it. It’s actually fairly common in the beast world. And,” she added, smile widening. “Among witches and demons, too.”

Hunter perked up, ears lifting as he gazed at Viney. “It-it is?”

Viney nodded. “Absolutely. There’s no shame in it! Isn’t that right, girl?”

Puddles cawed loudly near Hunter’s ear and then started purring, nuzzling up against him. Hunter looked down at her as she gazed up at him with one big yellow eye, and felt like there was a strange level of understanding shining through it. Hunter smiled at her softly, petting the feathers near her beak.

“That’s... good to know.”

Viney tapped her chin. “If you’re interested in the subject, I think there might be a book or two on the subject somewhere in the library. Willow’s told me you like your research. You want to go look for it after class?”

Hunter nodded gratefully, soothed by Puddles soft feathers.

~~

Later, when Hunter was tucked away in his room at the Clawthorne’s, he cracked the book open on lack of attraction and felt his chest tighten with each chapter, understanding washing over him.

Thank you, Puddles, Hunter thought, sniffing.

He felt even more understood when he hesitantly told the Flyer Derby team chat that he was sure he’d never felt sexual or romantic attraction for anyone and never could, and that he was happy he’d learned it was normal. Amongst the replies of “That’s great!” and “I’m so glad, dude!”, he noticed Willow typing.

Hello_Willow said: Oh! Hunter, that’s so amazing! I think you checked out the same book I did!

Hunter’s breath hitched.

RulerzReachF4n said: YoU... DID ReSearcH f0R SomeTHng?

Hello_Willow said: Yes! For myself. Luz told me the human realm term for it. Asexual, I think? I don’t feel sexual attraction, I never have. It sounds like you have that part in common with me! Wow, this is great, I wish I had known sooner!

The other Flyer Derby team members chimed in more while Hunter silently laid on his bed and took that information in. Eventually, when Willow grew concerned by his silence and asked if he was still there, Hunter grinned through water-y tears and told her he was just fine.

[fictitious-fluff]

This was written in 2021 for Tickletober2021. (also posted on @ticklishshenanigansau using their prompts) Posting this here to log my progress as a writer.

(yes i am p ry lc, have to seperate the name as I want this to be a seperate account that people that know me irl wont be able to find it by searching up my name)

-

Brush the Stubbornness Away

Prompt: Brushes / Paint

Fandom: Undertale

No pairings

Masterpost

What time was it. 6am? 7am? Either way it was early. Papyrus and Frisk were doing something in the living room, but what? Sans had never been woken up by noise before but I guess this was his unlucky day. He sluggishly sat up from his mattress, not being able to go back to sleep. Tiredly, Sans decided he should get some coffee or ketchup to help him start the day. He threw on his jacket and started walking out of his room. Teleporting when he was tired was never a good idea anyways. Walking down the stairs, he closed and rubbed his eyes, trying to get accustomed to the light.

"Frisk, can you hand me more yellow paint on your left?" 

One step

"Okay!"

Two ste- CRASH

Both Papyrus and Frisk's head snapped to the staircase. There was Sans, lying face flat on a puddle of blue paint with one of his foot in a paint can. "ngh... ow." Sans winced. Papyrus rushed over to Sans with a concerned look on his face. "Are you alright Sans?" he asked.

"yeah m'fine." Sans replied, pushing himself upright. "what are ya doing anyways? and why are ya doing it so early in the morning... "

"Oh! Frisk and I are just making a masterpiece painting. As for the timing... We thought you wouldn't be woken up even if we did it this early. Guess we were wrong." Papyrus stated. "You should get yourself cleaned up brother."

"m'lazy.. i'll just stay here and watch for the next 1 hour while ya do your thing. anyways, it's not that bad, see?" Sans pointed at his jacket. "it's just like my jacket, almost indistinguishable heh" he snickered. Papyrus squinted his eyes at Sans, giving him a 'seriously?' look which just made Sans's grin widen.

Papyrus thought about something for a brief moment and then smirked. "Well brother... Since you insist on not cleaning yourself on your own, let me help you." With that, Papyrus turned Sans's soul blue. Frisk peeked over, curious to see what Papyrus had in store. "Frisk, could you help me get the dry scrub brushes from the drawer in our toilet upstairs? Oh and a small pail of water if you are able to handle it. Thanks!" Frisk nodded and sprinted upstairs.

"!? uh... is it bad that i'm nervous and have no idea what you are planning? heh..." Sans stammered, while trying to kick the bucket off.

"Come on brother, I'm sure you can figure it out. You're good with crosswords aren't you? Just fill in the gaps using the 'clues'." Papyrus stated.

After the paint bucket finally came off, Sans thought about it for a moment. "paps i really have no idea what you're trying to hint at. unless it's trying to just scrub the paint of me or somthing. judging by your smirk though, thats probably not the whole stor- wait..." a thought seemed to occur is Sans's mind. "you're n-not thinking what i think you're thinking of right? please say i'm wrong this time."

"If you're thinking what I'm thinking of right now, then yes brother."

Gulp. "h-hey paps, let's not be too harsh. we can just talk about this o-okay?"

Just as Sans spoke, Frisk came running down. Trying to balance 3 scrub brushes in one hand while holding a pail on the other. She was trying to be as fast as possible yet not drop any of the brushes.

"Sorry dear brother but you've brought this upon yourself. I tried to be nice."

Sans considered teleporting away but soon realised that with Papyrus's soul magic active on him, it would probably be really dangerous to try. Persuading didn't seem like it was doing anything and using his attacks or soul magic on Papyrus to push him away was out of the window too, since he didn't want to risk hurting Pap. He was really in for it this time... doomed. Geez why had he not just listened?

"Thanks!" Papyrus exclaimed as Frisk handed him the brushes. "Feel free to join in whenever you feel like it Frisk."

Papyrus playfully grinned, holding up a soaked brush. "Ready?"

"please, no. we can calmy talk about this please!" Sans chuckled nervously. Eyes locked on the dreaded cleaning tool.

"Too late brother!" with that, Papyrus darted for Sans's ribs.

"gh! waiiiahaiitttahha pahaahaaaapppp- stahahhaap naahahhaa!!!" Sans cackled. His ribs had always been really sensitive, whether it be pain, or touch, and that was with fingers. Now, it wasn't just that, it was full blown brushes! Together with the cold water, the both made terrible combinations.

Damn he wished he had just complied.

Frisk looked in awe. Skeletons can be ticklish? How? She had so many questions swirling in her mind. However, she put her questions aside and dipped a brush in the pail, eager to help 'clean' Sans up.

"You can clean his feet if you want to Frisk."

"Okay!" Frisk chirped

"nohooooo waiiiiiieeeheett aha! oh gahaad staaaahaap! frihisk nahaa-" Sans cackled. "pleeheease! I cahaaan't ahaa!"

"Are you going to clean yourself now brother? Or do Frisk and I have to continue helping you?"

"yeheaahass!! pleheehease staahap oh gaahaad!"

"Hm.." Papyrus contemplated for awhile. "If I stopped now, who's to say you won't do it again? I think you should be punished a little longer juuusst to make sure."

"nahahaa! Iheem saharaahaeee" He regretted everything. Maybe he pushed pap's buttons too far this time, especially this early in the morning. However, something about this was... slightly fun? Maybe the bonding? Though, it was still maddening. "pleeheease nohoo ahah!"

Papyrus soon started to slowly work his way down to Sans's lower ribs. This made Sans shriek and squirm more than ever. He really tried his best to pull away but it was all futile. It was amazing how he hadn't kicked Frisk yet.

"plehe-pleeeheese merheeceehee!!!" sans wailed. "sstaahaaaa--!"

"Okay, okay I think the poor guy has had enough." Papyrus snickered, removing his gravity spell from Sans. "Frisk, you can stop now."

As both Frisk and Papyrus stopped, Sans gasped for air. "th..hff... thank... god...hf.."

"Do you need water?" Papyrus questioned.

"ys.. please... hff, thanks pap."

"No problem brother!"

"You all right Sans?" Frisk asked.

"ye.. hf.. i'm fine. thanks for asking kiddo." Sans replied.

"thnks pap" Sans said, gulping down the cup of water.

"After drinking your water remember to go shower." Papyrus reminded.

"i don't know- i'm still a little tired... and a couple more minutes of lieing here wo-" Papyrus glared at sans. "okay, okay! i'll go now! hehe geez." Sans then teleported upstairs to get himself cleaned up.

Needless to say, that morning sure had been an eventful, and messy one too.

[msm-tsotmw]

6/3/20XX

So I’m still in the Dream Bubble Dimension, and the Dream Council was right. These Monsters’ dreams really ARE fucking weird. I saw someone have a dream about being attacked by… I don’t know what they were being attacked by, but they were DEFINITELY worse than Crumplings. I did what I could to help fix those dreams though, and I am tired as fuck…

…But there’s one last bubble here.

(Sprigg walks over to the last Dream Bubble. They try to get a closer look at it, but all they see is a stage with red splotches on it.)

Oh. That— that looks fucked. REALLY fucked…

…But that Monster needs my help.

…

(Sprigg looks into the Dream Bubbke again, then hesitates before popping it. They are suddenly teleported to what looks like a backstage area, and they can hear a crowd jeering… except the jeering consists of what sounds like gibberish.)

What are they saying…?

(They take a peek at the stage and see a white Bowgart with dark green horns trying to dodge tomatoes and rocks thrown at him. The tomatoes and rocks are coming from what looks like a bunch of dark splotches with white grins for faces… that must be the “audience”.)

…Is that Ross?

I don’t stand in puddles that often, I swear!

I can’t help it! I don’t know why I’m—

…No wait, nonono!

Don’t leave! I have one more song to play!

Uh…

(Rossiter pulls out a bow, not seeming to notice their childhood friend standing behind the stage. The bow then proceeds to snap in half, then the “audience” stops.)

…I have more of these, I sw-

(The “audience” bursts into a raging fit of distorted laughter. Rossiter runs backstage, then—)

OOF!

OW! What was that for?!

(Ross rubs the back of his head, then looks down at the Furcorn.)

…Sprigg? How— how did you get here??

Uh, it’s complicated. Anyways, what’s going on?

Well… the crowd doesn’t like me. At all.

Doesn’t seem like they’re fond of you.

They keep spewing these personal insults and throwing actual rocks, and…

…

I don’t really wanna say anything else. It’s just like when I started out—but worse. MUCH worse…

Have you tried pleasing them?

Yeah, but they still didn’t take it!

It’s like they hate my every move, even when I’m not moving at all…

Huh.

(Sprigg thinks for a moment.)

…Then maybe try not to give a fuck about what any of them are saying.

Pardon?

I mean, they’re gonna keep hating you anyway, but there’s still a bunch of Monsters out there who LOVE your work.

Uh-huh…

Focus on THOSE Monsters instead, not those rock-throwing, shit-spewing morons.

Yeah… maybe I should! Thanks, Sprigg! You’re the one of best friends a Bowgart could ever ask for.

You’re welcome.

(Rossiter runs out to the stage, wielding two bows and a gigantic cello.)

(The crowd is still laughing hysterically, but then they stop when Rossiter begins playing the Plant Island melody. It doesn’t sound the best, but then the so-called “audience” begins to fade away, being replaced with more realistic Monsters. Those Monsters aren’t jeering at all— instead they cheer for the Bowgart on stage, with roses being thrown instead of rocks and tomatoes.)

(Sprigg looks up at the stage. Rossiter notices and gives a thumbs-up, seeming to say “thank you”. As he continues to play, Sprigg begins to leave the “auditorium”.)

Maybe I should take my own advice…

…Okay, I’ve got that last Dream Bubble tackled down. Guess I should go back now. I’ll just stop typing…

~~~~~~~~~~~

anyways uhhhh sorry if this feels rushed!! I had to go to sleep before I continued to write hdbfhdbrgrlhrkrk

anyways, Sprigg has literally been up all night solving the nightmares of literally every Plant Island resident to ever exist, so they’re probably going to need some rest when they get back to Mythical lol

-Mod Jimmy 🗣️

[butterflies-and-blades]

Session 16: Home

The memories were sharp. An abrupt and deep rush of unknowable pain, strong enough to turn the edges of my vision into a blurry smear. It hung in the air around her like the ghost of a halo. More pain--each new placement coming with a different nuance to the agony. The blurry halo quickly was consumed by darkness that devoured the rest of the world. However sightless, everything else continued unabated as if nothing had changed.

Talo and Verca were talking, but their words were far away, locked in the background as if there was a wall of water between us--or perhaps a wall of dirt.

Wet dirt was the first thing I had seen when the world came back.

"Is there anything else going on?" Talo's voice came through the soil.

I blinked, and I was back in the present, looking at Da. I turned my head. Talo and Verca were both close; I hadn't seen them come over. It took a few tries of opening my mouth for a sound to come out. "Memories? I guess...?" It was so much to unpack.

I pulled back from Da and rolled to the side. Next to him, my back gracelessly hit the stone wall. My thighs slid through still-warm blood. I closed my eyes. Tried to focus on my breathing. I couldn't look down at the puddle I had sat myself in. Couldn't think about how it was just starting to turn tacky or how it would only get colder from here without a body to keep it warm.

I thought about how I was cold. A body isn't the primary requirement for warmth, is it?

Talo handed me something to drink. They said it should help with headaches. A single gulp was all it took to empty. It tasted like tea. Dad made tea a lot. And plenty of juices. I balled my blood-covered hands in the fabric of my skirt.

Talo got to work identifying the scroll Da had given us. The basement was quiet while they worked. Verca sat beside me. I appreciated the lack of pressure to talk.

After ten minutes, there was a necessary break in that silence, though. Talo looked up from the scroll, something else in their other hand now, too: a wooden icon with the symbol of Melora--we had seen it the other day in one of the library books--carved into it. The scroll itself was for a teleport spell.

My focus kept coming and going. At some point I shared that Sala had manipulated more memories than just those from our first meeting. Verca's frown deepened. "I'd been worried about that," he said.

Talo stood up. "I should tell Faunsel about Sala."

My throat hurt. "Yeah, guess he should know his boss has been going around practically assaulting people." The comment had slipped out. They didn't know any of that yet. I had spent so much time doing my best to make sure they didn't know the messier details about Sala, but emotional exhaustion makes you careless. It was ridiculous that those pieces of the story had left such an impact when she had done plenty worse.

But no one said anything about it. I suppose it was easy enough to assume I meant the biting. There is plenty of different kinds of assault.

They handed the scroll and icon to Verca and went up the stairs. We stayed because I didn't want to leave Da's side.

After Talo's footsteps faded, we were silent for a while longer. Everything felt unstable. Like the building would fall apart above us if a wrong word was said.

But silence can't last forever. Verca got that look on his face like he was trying to find the right way to say something.

"You can always talk to me," he said. The words came out slowly, as if he hadn't quite decided which ones were going to come next. "Especially as someone who knows what it's like to lose a parent."

A new quiet settled around us as I fought inside myself to find a response. "Family is so important. I was supposed to protect my family. If I had stayed home, he'd probably be fine right now." There was that tickle at the tip of my nose and the wobble in my lips, but I don't think I had any water left in my body to lend to tears. "I had thought leaving home--seeing the world--would be full of wonder. Intrigue. Fun. But instead, things have only been taken."

"Leaving hasn't been all bad. You met Talo and me."

Friends were new. And nice.

He added that he had learned things since joining us, too. He'd learned to trust. That not everyone was a danger, and he could put his guard down. Guilt rose to the surface of my skin, adding to how filthy I felt. I apologized again for what had happened in the library. I could only imagine how much of a worse betrayal that must have been for someone just starting to open himself up to other.

"It was fine," Verca said. "I meant it when I said I would have offered anyways."

I called the urge that had propelled me on top of him vile. "I don't want to be like her." Sala's smile was etched into the back of my memory. The imprints of her hands invisibly seared into my skin.

He said I could help people, but it wasn't quite "people" he was talking about; he said I could be the guide that I didn't have, implying a prolonged connection with the world of vampires. But I don't want any more contact with vampiric circles than I've already been forced to have.

Talo came back. Faunsel was already prepared to leave town, and their information had been enough for the final push, they reported.

They knelt in front of me and reached for a hand. I flinched so often that I should have grown to expect it, but the instinctual jump continued to take me by surprise. I wanted to be better than that. "Give yourself time to process. We're here for you," they said.

I looked down at myself. The scars on my arms, my legs, my torso. There were even more I couldn't see without the aid of a mirror. I traced a finger over the semi-circle on the left side of my stomach, right above my hip.

Without looking up, I whispered, "I think I was murdered."

Heat erupted from my right. White fire flared around Verca. The scattered candlelight that normally lit the basement fell dim in comparison to the intensity of the flames that threatened to consume him. When they dimmed like a campfire that had run its course, he was fine, though.

"Not now," Talo said, "but eventually, let us know what you need for closure."

"I...I don't know..."

"You don't have to right now. But when you do, we'll do whatever we can."

My finger was still following the path of the disconnected circle imprinted in my side. "I just want to know what I did wrong. Why she did that."

"How old were you?" Verca asked, a stiff chill infused in the question.

I shrugged, only able to sift through so many implications of such fresh wounds so soon. "I don't know. I was young." A pause. "I don't think the wagon accident actually happened."

I raised my head and looked to him. The flames a few moments prior had been concerning, but unexplained fiery events were a semi-regular occurrence with Verca. Less common was his usually pink eye flaring bright green.

"No one hurts children." The voice was his, but the shape of his words and the rhythm with which they fell into place were foreign. His eye returned to its usual pink after that, and--all too reminiscent of the shield--he did not seem phased, despite confirming that that was not a regular occurrence. Talo and I were both concerned. I originally thought he had said it had never happened before, but looking back, I'm less sure if I actually heard that or assumed it.

Verca, who still had the teleportation scroll and wooden figure, asked if we were ready to go. Nothing was going to change to make going home easier, so there wasn't much point waiting. We all held hands; I kept one on Da. About to start reading, Verca paused. He surveyed our group. "Who here has teleported before?" Talo raised a hand before returning it to the small circle we'd made.

Verca grimaced. "Sorry, Maeve."

And we were gone, encapsulated in a vortex of shifting colors--which was a solid dose of motion sickness on its own, but the reorganization of my organs as they were jerked to and fro was a different level of nauseating.

Dew-laden petals and soft earth touched the bottoms of my feet.

And I fell to my hands and knees, immediately throwing up the nearly empty contents of my stomach. It was mostly bile, burning on its way out as every muscle in my abdomen fought against me.

Talo started pulling together something for my stomach, and Verca held out his canteen. I took the water, sitting back, and tried to wash away the acidic aftertaste.

We were in front of the cabin. It looked the same as when I last saw it. Flowers of every color covered the forest floor, except for the small path of stones leading to the door. Barely any grass was visible. More flowers grew up the walls. Warm yellow lights shone out from the windows.

"It's all very pretty," Talo said.

"I wasn't joking when I said we gardened a lot." I remembered coming home whenever I went into the woods by following the flowers.

Talo said we should get inside, and I said that we should probably knock; it had been too long since I was home to just walk in.

A massive shadow rose over us, blocking out the green cast of the canopy above. A flash of electricity, like a storm come alive, rushed forward, and we were unconscious.

It is difficult to measure time when you're not awake, but it did not feel like much had passed before my eyes were open again. I somehow felt less sore than I did after our encounter with Sala.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I should have looked. I'm so sorry..."A familiar voice continued repeating itself above me.

I blinked, waiting for my vision to come back into focus.

Dad was above me. Laying on my back, I was half pulled onto his legs--his arms holding me close. His long, wavy hair was less kempt than when I last saw him. His eyes were red and puffy.

Instinctually, I almost clamped my mouth shut to hide the fangs. But he already knew about those, so instead, I rested a hand on his upper arm. "It's okay, Dad. I'm okay." Most of the blood on my hands had dried, but I still left a dark stain on him.

The exchanges that followed coming home were a chaotic flurry. There was so much on everyone's mind; it was difficult to keep ourselves on track with a single discussion for very long. In the disorganization, Verca, Talo, and Dad were not properly introduced to each other until much later in the initial conversations.

Apparently, Dad had turned into a dragon? I had no idea he could do anything like that. Aside from Da saying that Dad had seen everything, I barely knew he had any control over magic.

Early on, vague references to Sala came up. Dad told me not to blame myself, but it was hard. What was the purpose of Da's years of teaching me how to fight if I couldn't even defend myself?

"You're a victim," Dad said. I had no idea how much he had seen. The teleportation nausea threatened to return as I imagined everything he could have witnessed. He was surprised to know that I hadn't remembered anything until very recently, which did not feel like it boded well for what he was magically present for.

When I mentioned that Da had done something to return those memories and that something else had come through, Dad's face fell--knowing what I was referencing before I had to say the words. He looked borderline fearful as he began another series of apologies. I had never seen him like this and tried to tell him it was okay--that it was a long time ago and I was here.

"I didn't want you to have to know," he said.

The first time I tried to formally introduce Talo and Verca to Dad, we never got past Talo because, for some reason, I commented that they had been dreaming of Dad's staff. Like always, he had it with him, and seeing it reminded me of their interest in figuring out why they had seen it. In hindsight, it probably would have been a better conversation for later.

Dad looked at Talo curiously after that. They tried to explain what had been happening with their dreams, which brought the conversation briefly to the matter of Morpheus. Talo called him a god, and I added that I still doubted his stance as a deity because I had been able to hear his name.

Dad was even more confused after that. "Were you not able to hear the gods' names?"

I awkwardly shifted the weight between my feet. "Not really. Not until Toma's partner threw a sort of statuette at me, and..." I trailed off, unsure how to describe the image that encounter had evoked in my mind or how the figure had burned my hands through my gloves. "I really don't like the Raven Queen and still don't understand how Da could be involved in any of that."

A new wave of visible panic washed over Dad. In a frantic hurry, he asked if we'd been to a temple, where we were, if anyone had recognized me or my scars, and if anyone had asked about him.

"We were in Greston," I answered. "No one recognized me. They just insisted I had to have a meeting and were very unpleasant about it all. And someone asked about Da but not you." Dad was worrying me.

"You cannot go back there."

"They were very unpleasant. I have no intention of going back."

Talo commented that Da had told us to go to a temple while here, though.

Dad sighed. "If I could possible trust that any temple was free from infection, it would be his in Dandruin."

"Infection?" I asked, imagining some kind of magical growth pulsing in the temple basement, ready to release toxic spores across the entirety of Greston.

"I don't know what else to call zealotry," he said, a grim expression on his face.

Talo, Verca, and Dad had their actual introductions after that. It wasn't anything in-depth--just an exchange of names--but it was something. After that, Dad said we could go inside while he took care of things regarding Da's body. "He's not ours to keep," he said.

A weight that I hadn't considered fell down on me, crashing through ribs and pinning vital organs to the forest floor. I looked at Da, gently cradled by the flowers around the house. I hadn't considered the chance that we wouldn't be involved in whatever kind of ceremony was held. He had another family--one who had greater right to those matters than the people he visited when he could. For the first time, I felt like we were an afterthought--a secondary part of his life.

I imagined someone coming to take him away while we were inside, unable to say goodbye. The thought made me feel like we were outsiders.

"I promise he saw us as real family," Dad tried to reassure. "You understand now why I had to keep you hidden; she couldn't be allowed to know you were still alive."

The larger plants on the side of the cabin moved, shaking and rustling--pulling everyone's attention. A massive creature stepped through the leaves: a griffon covered in shiny, dark feathers. I recognized her from all of Da's visits.

Coriander mostly ignored us. She walked straight to Da and eased herself to the ground beside him.

"I'm sorry," I said, seeing the pain in her expressive black eyes. She didn't acknowledge me, and I couldn't blame her.

She began to shrink. Her limbs seemingly rearranged themselves as she became smaller and smaller until the griffon I had known since childhood was instead a raven. I didn't know she could do that.

Talo stepped towards Coriander and Da. They pulled something small out that I couldn't quite see and tried to set it on Da's chest. Coriander snapped at them, though, keeping the offering away. Talo stood there for a while. I assumed they were trying to talk to her telepathically. I don't know what was said between them, but Coriander--her body language still incredibly tense--pulled back, allowing the item to be placed.

"We'll take his body over tomorrow," Dad said.

For the first time that day, it felt like the ice that had been inching into my bones thawed a little. "We're taking him?" I asked, hopeful. Dad confirmed, and I explained what I had previously thought was going to happen; that was why it had hurt so much. Relief hit me like an early spring breeze.

Dad had said it before, but it meant more now with that context when he again said he was confident I'd be allowed to attend whatever service was held. The first time, it had felt like something nice you say when you're trying to comfort someone beyond being comforted; it felt more real the second.

"His family knows about you," Dad added. "Particularly his wife and one of his sons whom you met when you were younger." I didn't remember either of them. Da so rarely talked about his family with us that I had assumed he was the same with them when it came to Dad and me. I wondered what they knew--what they'd been told.

Talo and Verca went inside. Dad stopped me before I could follow. For the first time since I'd been back home, we hugged. Again, I flinched.

"One day, we should go over what spots are okay," he said.

I looked at the flowers beneath us. "There's not much of those anymore."

He said I should clean up at the nearby stream before heading in and offered to send Verca and Talo along for company if I'd like. I remembered the last time Sala had brought me to her house before today. The confidence I had always had in my body felt naive and immature after that. Verca must have thought I was so odd when we were at the spa.

I told Dad that I'd had a recent change in perspective after everything and I should probably go on my own.

Dad said that I hadn't been immature; "rather," he said, "you had an openness and maturity that few people do. It's something to be proud of, not embarrassed."

I thought it over, but in the end still went to the stream by myself. They had just gone inside; I didn't want to pull them back out when they were hopefully getting comfortable in the small but cozy living room just beyond the front door.

[viaetor]

ㅤㅤfrom the explosion of five suns, he was forged, brought into the world to act as a weapon, a tool for a greater god to wield and purge the universe’s blood of filth—yet he stood in this planet’s prison, abandoned, enclosed, captured. his wings were not made to be contained by these vessels; his claws should cut through mountains, and his sheer wrath should be able to pave his way like a quasar. yet that damned glass denied him. that. damned. glass. each time the caeling tried to hit it, a deafening sound made his body jump back. void. if he slammed enough times, he knew what happened—another starborn like himself, a fatespinner, had also been captured a few months ago. they met briefly—if one can call crossing looks as that—when aether woke up in his cell. their acquaintanceship did not last very long. 

ㅤㅤmuch time had passed, and yet the arachnid-like body remained dead on the cage’s floor, busted into a black puddle with limbs scattered on the walls for all other monsters to see. all who tried to escape using their strength would have the same fate. here, they were predators no longer—they would be used as training dummies or harvested for their best parts. all of them, supposedly, or so he gathered from how a few salamanders growled. every time a buzz rang, a squad of mortals would come over, take one of the prisoners from their cells with their weapons and fancy chains, and force them to walk to the next room. screams generally echoed after a few minutes, blinding lights and a horrible smell caused the smaller creatures to cower on the edges of their confinement, trying to make themselves invisible. aether craved his moment to come. often, he tried taunting them, following their steps, banging against the glass just a couple of times to get their attention. all he wanted was a chance. to paint that steel floor with viscera, his fangs were begging his entire body to act on that impulse. one moment; someone to lower that glass. that was all he needed. and he would eat.

ㅤㅤif the mortals that had captured them knew of his importance, he couldn’t figure it out—their language was somewhat foreign to him. this part of the universe was… new. he never read anything about it in the crystal palace. yet he knew they were interested in his pair of wings by the way that researchers would come and try drawing him from behind. for that reason or something else, aether had gotten the most considerable cell, spacious and tall, with no ‘roommates’ for him to quench his anger and thirst. pity. but served as proof that those beings were half-smart.

ㅤㅤso he waited, sometimes sitting and sometimes walking or flying. and he waited. and he waited. until one day, there was a small explosion, followed by shouts, shootings and hurried steps. at first, he thought nothing of it. mortals killed each other often over the most stupid reasons, did they not? perhaps it was just that. but he saw creatures that looked nothing like the usual men in black running, teleporting and flying away through the corridors, how they trotted in the opposite direction of where they were usually taken—they were free. he looked around, watching as cell after cell was emptied. a man with hair of silver, a device in hand, released them.

ㅤㅤhe banged, almost with all of his force, against the glass. bang. bang. BANG! his body seemed to grow, the black matter in his veins burning hot, his eyes shining down on the little light that dared walk too close to the abyss. he itched. hunger. hunger. hunger.

ㅤㅤlet me out.

ㅤㅤlet me out.

ㅤㅤLET. ME. OUT.

ㅤㅤhe seemed to understand, which was good. but not exactly how the caeling wanted him to, which wasn’t as great. fear painted those pale green eyes for a second, he saw—and how he turned to his other companions to check on their activities. humanoid, were they? fine. he would play the poor humanoid that needed rescuing before he could feast on his throat. his wings, claws and fangs tucked, blackened sclera turned white, and a starry-sculpted face pleaded for mercy. click. the glass door began to slide down at long last, and aether would smile if his eyes weren’t so focused on imagining how he could slit that pretty throat open. the man even stepped back—good little prey.

ㅤㅤhe launched over his body, one single hand pinning the man down on the floor by the neck, three pairs of wings sprawled out like a biblical beast as sun-devouring eyes focused on his face. a swing with his claw would mean the man would have no more head, so let’s go ahead and get rid of—and as soon as blackened nails touched pale cheek, aether halted. from the pulses against his palm, he felt it. this man was no regular mortal. a deathchild. golden eyes tightened in momentary disapproval��killing him would be troublesome and another heavenly crime to his ever-growing criminal record. to be sure, he pressured the man’s neck more, using the long nail of his thumb to prickle blood so he could smell and taste a single drop. yes, that was the son of a death goddess, all right. tsk. 

ㅤㅤand just like that, he let go, leisurely sitting on his lap without ceremony, letting golden locks tickle against his face and chest in the meantime. “kill? for you?” was all he asked in a heavy accent.

@viaetor. || semi-plotted starter owo

the plan was playing out smoothly, all things considered — so far, any guards that needed to be dealt with had been so quietly, cleanly, and the maps they’d drawn up hadn’t failed them. vesper led a team, just a handful of people who’d rallied under his goals, through the seemingly endless white halls of this bunker, and though he was usually a man dead-set on working alone, he had recognized the benefit in having a team for a facility this size. their goal, though a massive undertaking, was to release the entities stored here from their captivity and to shut down the communications systems between bases, in order to buy them and the trapped creatures enough time to escape. through winding halls, and crossing rooms far too spacious for comfort, vesper dragged his fingertips along the chair rails, bricks and long expanses of stone feeling nothing less than suffocating. as his gaze settled on a security camera nearby, he exhaled calmly, confident in the rigging he’d done to disrupt their feeds.

ah, we’re here.

though he trusted this team to follow the plan to an exact degree, the notable variability came into play with the reactions and responses of those they came to free — for reasons unbeknownst to him, vesper was the only one of the four who had, so far, been greeted by the beasts on their journey with calm respect and docility. this meant the other three were always at a higher risk than himself, and he knew he needed to keep a close eye on them as they each took on the job of releasing as many captives as possible. this was his goal, his plan; if he wanted it to happen without major loss, he needed to stay alert.

breaking the key reader was the easier part, by comparison. entering an almost unfathomably massive room, vess took no time in admiring the vastness, only pointing the others in the directions he needed them to go. passing the cells of varying sizes, he took note of the fact that while some were big enough to house what was inside, most were far too small. he passed a bird, feather pattern swirling like the cosmos and big enough to step on him, bashing its head into the door in hopes of escape. next, a series of salamanders — these few looked violent, vess noted, but this cell was under the directions of another to handle. keeping his eyes trained on the unbreakable glass in each door, the last one he stopped at was a figure, pitch black and banging at the window, clawing, beating, demanding.

that’s what it was, a demand, pounding through vess’ skull like a drum. he shouldn’t be hearing this, not through the doors, created and maintained to exert total control over a captive’s power. vess looked perplexed. no matter the reasoning, it was bleeding through effectively. he turned to glance back at the others, and then the massive exit door at the other end of the room, currently opening as intended on the timer he’d set. soon, they’d have fulfilled their goal. as he looked back to the entity in this cell, however, it looked like a human — pounding away at the glass, demanding freedom, but human. vess cocked his head to the side, and took in the sight of him for a moment, the blond man behind the glass.

no matter. now was the only time he had, so he stepped up to the locking mechanism and got to work. his skill in this particular area of tech and engineering was the only reason he’d managed this journey so far, and it proved once again helpful as the lock clicked, and he stepped back to open the door.

[chocolatemilksmoothie]

Any Sport in a Storm

Listen I didn't get the time to do this w the last 2 eps (even though I had a lot of thoughts and feelings believe me) but I'll do it now bc this episode was so cute? And it surprised me too! Let's see

all the coven heads ignoring him is unsurprising, tho Raine hesitating didn't escape me. even under Terra's control they seem a bit concerned

Belos being like a single working parent leaving notes on the fridge or smth

so. the old golden guard sigil is also the Gravesfield sigil? I already had noticed it looks similar to the Emperor's coven symbol but the bird's wings are more closed. thinking...

grown witches let's stop bullying the literal teenager

"Little Prince" is the cutest nickname ever and if Darius is the closest thing Hunter will get to a mentor figure I love the idea of it going from a condescending name to an affectionate one. I love it

seems Darius and Eber are very involved in Belos plans? what are they doing

Darius knew the previous Golden Guard? He was his mentor?? There was a previous Golden Guard???

So I was wondering how or why he would be sent to Hexide, turns out it wasn't Belos idea at all. Makes sense

Willow is an absolute badass and I love her YES GIRL GO

like SHE'S SO POWERFUL god

HER DADS? awww jock nerd family!

Luz dropping all the books really got me for some reason. my child

"spill it hermosa!"

I suspected Luz and Amity would be busy elsewhere, and really enjoyed their B plot! Theorizing just like us about the mysterious person, the answer was the simpler option

I had assumed Eda had brought the books and sold them at some point. It was smth like that but without Eda lol

Tiny Nose has a name now also? good for her

To the surprise of no one, he sucks at interacting with other kids but this is even worse than expected lmao authority! and rules!!

heck yea Jerbo fight the system!

Professor Homunculus is a big jerk. tho we already knew that

Glad our boi Hunter gets to show off a little with the flying skills, he's had a, uh, rough season. He also got attacked by Puddles

I thought Caleb was the name of the museum guy obsessed with witches but it was actually Jacob generic english man names got me confused my bad

"hm, I don't feel sick" oh you clueless child

Gus being suspicious and protective I love my son

the Best and the Brightest I love them

Two "half-a-witch" witches huh? Loved the parallel but also ouch. Guess that's a common insult for kids who struggle with magic which is yikes

Skara tactical genius hell yeah!

"now I'm only scarred emotionally ;)" girl omg

I hope Viney and Jerbo can reconcile after this. He looked terrified lmao we take sports very serious here

I love Hunter's teleporting technique. sneaky boi

TEAM SPORTS. TEAM SPIRIT. Hunter making friends!! and he came up with the team name! Cute and creative

"Icepack for Steve"

seems training for the emperor's coven is brutal. Yet to hunter it's whatever lmao oh boy

also one free day a year.... yikes

Darius pushing Hunter to make choices for himself let's gooo

Boop

and he gave him a phone scroll thingy 😭 which means he can keep in touch. Typing like an old man

I hope he won't get in trouble for it but Belos is ancient af he probably thinks social media is the real dark magic so he'll never see it I guess

sewing is indeed a very helpful skill to have

so third time was the charm, after Luz then Amity tried to reach out it seems Willow and her team might be his first real friends!

what's his username I need to know

I already liked Darius as a fabulous jerk and antagonist but now I'm super interested to see more of him

also his past with Amity's dad SPILL THE TEA! bitter exes? former besties? rivals since forever? is it a one sided aggression thing? please I need it

and he follows him on social media just to scoff and mute him, petty king

obsessed with Amity and Luz showing up at the end like oh did we miss anything imporWHAT

Little Prince!!

So yeah, very cute and fun over all, and revealed more than I expected. S2 has been fantastic non stop. Glad Hunter got to have some fun bc I feel he won't for too long

oh, spoilers for the upcoming episode synopsis:

So next week we'll have Amity and Luz focus, and it seems Amity wants to impress her dad so we might get more Darius too! Show me the handsome witch again!! Not expecting to see Hunter next week but maybe more Willow and Gus. I love them. I do hope we keep seeing the Emeralds hanging out in the future as a club and having practice and playing matches, idk. also show them talking w hunter through the scrolls? it'd be cute

[cosmica-galaxy]

Phobos or auditor (or both) dealing with a child who recently discovered their powers???

I didn’t forget about these asks, I just needed to rest for a bit.

I still absolutely LOVE the papa grunts AU that we have going on! Enjoy some loving parents discovering their mischievous babies abilities~! +Set in Salty’s AU – AUDITOR – The Auditor was at home by the time the young one started to discover their powers. Being a nearly full-blooded god gave them a massive edge over demi-gods, since they had more accessibility to both the Player’s powers and the Auditor’s powers. One thing that hinted that they were starting to develop their powers was the moment when the Auditor walked into their home ‘base’ after a long work day and he took notice of a little white puddle on the floor. He was about to yell for someone to come clean the mess up before his child’s head emerged from it. Stunning him as they giggled at his reaction and melted back into the puddle and slink away from him in a liquidated form. Upon the discovery, the Auditor told you what he saw and both of you decided to keep an eye on the little one. Since now that you both were aware of what they were doing, you both could only wait and see what would turn up later on…and boy…their powers really started to shine. The child quickly learned to teleport around the homestead just like their father. Which involved turning into a liquid before sinking into the floor to appear elsewhere in the base. 

It became rather taxing to deal with, since you could no longer hide things in high places. Such as the cookie jar that your child was very insistent on getting into. You tried to prevent this behavior by putting up little blockades that would hopefully curb their attempts. It worked for a while…but only for a little while. Because your child eventually obtains more powers. The cookie jar situation becomes even more problematic when they actually learn to FLOAT up to the jar hiding place as well, bypassing all of your liquid barricades in the process and making your efforts to keep them out of it nearly futile. You only succeed when you put a lock on the jar.

Despite the annoyances that came with the powers, you and your lover were both happy for your child’s newfound abilities. The Auditor even takes some time off from his work at the AAHW to take notes on what abilities his kid had managed to learn and unlock. 

With the child now floating and melting, you both would soon come to discover that wasn’t even half of their abilities! Despite being 6 years old, the little one was already starting to show similar powers to BOTH parents. The next few months were curveball after curveball as the young one begins to shock, stun, and amazing their parents with what they were learning.

They even had Audi’s item spawning capabilities and the Player’s godmode command among all of their abilities, surprising both parents when they spawned a campfire and sat in it to ‘get warm’, taking no damage in the process. At first you figured it was just their natural nature of being fire-like, but then they started to use the godmode abilities to explore far more dangerous places, which have given you numerous heart attacks in the process.

Still, the list slowly grew and grew with time. Then, the Auditor realized something one day while he was watching his child play on the floor.

The only thing that separated his young from being a full-blooded god was the fact that his precious Player mentioned that they simply don’t have access to mods and to ‘the console’ like they did, which prevented them from achieving true godhood. Whatever that meant. 

If only they could’ve had it all…but regardless, his little one was quickly growing into a VERY powerful being and Audi couldn’t have been happier. That doesn’t mean that the training and the hardships wouldn’t be a hurdle for you both to climb over. Especially when the youngin unlocked the ability to send lightning down from the sky one day, just like their father. The poor agents had a MASSIVE mess to clean up in the aftermath.

There were times even Audi had to step in before things got too dangerous, like the time the child spawned in a large BOMB into the house for fun.

Thankfully, Audi ‘despawned’ it and chastised his little one for endangering their entire home and ‘servants’. To which the kid merely clapped their hands in amusement as their father held them upside down, as he had to chase them down because they were still trying to spawn it back into the home before he managed to catch them. The child didn’t seem to mind the rough treatment though as Audi carried them to time out.

Which…never worked anymore. The child would always just teleport out or turn into a liquid before slinking out. Other times, they would just straight up despawn the barrier that kept them in place. 

It was a major pain to deal with as discipline was a hard thing to teach to your kid now that they had their powers. That is until you got a ‘permission’ system installed, which allowed you to restrain some of your youngin’s powers. You learned to make it from scratch after you had enough of the brattish behavior the little one would borderline give you. So with a little bit of coding and an object vessel, the ‘power limiter’ was made. You even fashioned it into a little stylish bowtie for your child. Much to your pleasure, the limiter worked after the first test!

The child’s surprise when they found out that their powers were limited was priceless and Audi was very thankful for the relief. Giving you a light kiss of gratitude as you placed the child into an effective time out for spawning dangerous acidic liquid in the bathtub.

After that, the limiter became a much more effective version of time-out and the kid actually started to listen after you revoked some of their privileges and powers for a few days. Giving you both back some control and pretty soon, once they are a little older, Audi begins to train them to control what powers they have and when the Auditor is busy, you step in to teach them what you know. Over time, they got less mischievous and more responsible with their abilities and incidents were happening fewer and fewer. The training really helped them develop into a much more controlled being, much to your shared relief. The kid was slowly growing into a much more powerful version of an employer by the day. More powers were unlocked and new abilities were gained… And Audi was more than ready to sic them upon the SQ crew the moment they came of age. – PHOBOS –

Phobos would be the one to discover the powers of the child when he was in his office one day.

At first, everything was seemingly normal and project Nexus was underway. His loving Player was out helping some stragglers in the depths of the buildings, which left him and his youngling up in the science tower primarily by themselves. 

He wasn’t totally alone, however. He still had staff waiting around should he need them.

However…it had become a little too quiet and Phobos could feel a sense of paranoia crawl up his back as his mind began to torment him while he sat in silence in his office. Once he couldn’t take it anymore, he stood up and hurried to go check on his little one.

It was primarily a habit as a new father and him, being the god-emperor of Nevada, having lots of enemies that would love to kill his precious little one. So if they weren’t with him or his Player, he was known to get anxious and irritated. Upon walking out of his office, the two guards were still there, standing at attention as he left the office and began to head towards the new wings of the science tower, where his little one was. Upon entering that side of the tower, he felt something off in the air. Phobos also took notice of the lack of the guards in the sector and his worries merely become amplified as he begins to hurry to his child’s quarters. The strange feeling only grew stronger and upon his approach to the bedroom door, he took notice of the glowing red light that was coming from under the door. He hurried to throw open the door that blocked his way and the sight inside the room made his single eye widen in shock. His child was happily sitting in a chair at one of their makeshift little play areas in the room…and there were the guards. Dangling next to them in the air on bright crimson red strings that originated from their fingertips. Both of the guards looked utterly helpless and busted up as the child bounced them around like puppets.

Phobos was utterly speechless as he took in the sight of his child having their own strings that were capable of attaching themselves to hosts. However, upon the child taking notice of their father standing at the entrance to their room, they let out a lot of happy giggles and a couple of the strings from the guards suddenly launched towards him. Phobos couldn’t react fast enough before he found his limbs ensnared in the strings and his body moved on its own accord. Phobos was startled as the crimson strings guided him to stand right in front of his child, who motions with their grabby little hands that they wanted to be picked up. His body does as it's told to do and he bends down and obediently picks the youngling up and into his arms. 

The child lets out a couple of happy giggles as the guard's pair of strings suddenly let them go and the two fall to the ground in a heap, each groaning in pain. Meanwhile, the free strands each latch onto Phobos as the child gets comfortable in his arms and the strings instruct him to start swaying his arms. The little one lets out a tired yawn as they cuddle into their father’s cape and Phobos looks towards the guards who were just starting to stand up again. “Go get my Player.” The guards looked at him in a confused manner as they finished getting up. “NOW!” He demands to which the two guards are startled and hustle to the door. Making their way out into the building, leaving Phobos there wrapped up in glowing red strings and swinging the tired child in his arms without his own input. By the time you arrive on the scene, Phobo’s arms were getting tired from the repetitive swaying. You used your own strings to override the control from the little one, as they were fast asleep and didn’t really put up a fight. The iridescent strings free Phobos from the tangle of red strands that held him captive and he lets out a relieved sigh. Finally…his arms can rest. You wordlessly took the child from Phobos and turned to the guards that had followed you into the room. A few rapid fire questions came from you both about what happened and the two guards gave you both a briefing of what happened. Apparently, the child was playing in their room when they discovered that they could conjure up strings similar to yours and began to make a commotion by flicking things about the room with them, as a normal 5 year old would typically do. The guards came into the room to investigate the noises and the child decided they wanted to play with them…and their strings lashed out and attached to both the guards. 

Both had been bashed about the room and even humiliated when they were bonked together and the child would make little ‘mwah’ sounds every time they would force their heads to butt together. Simulating the guards kissing one another. Using them in a similar manner as if they were merely playing with dolls. 

The excitement from finding out their powers and ‘playing’ with the guards must’ve tired them out. By the time Phobos arrived to check on them, they were already dozing off in their seat. Both the guards were thankful that Phobos arrived and distracted the child from making them play with the kid, even if Phobos didn’t even get as close to a rough treatment as they did. Phobos merely looks down at the child with a sparkle in his eye as the child nuzzles into your chest, sleeping soundly against you as you ponder the explanation. After that day, you began to accompany the child to help prevent more possession incidents. The child was eager to use their new abilities on everyone they came across. Even you. However, your own strings would come out and guard you from your unwanted possession by blocking the strings from connecting to your limbs. Much to the child’s frustration. You began to step up the discipline when the child would try to make a poor unsuspecting agent a puppet or a vessel, in which your much stronger iridescent strings would cut the connection and you would stand over them, tapping your foot as they would look at the floor. Training had to begin and you even had to fetch some gloves for your kid to wear until they got more of a hold onto their powers. Phobos tries to help, but he just winds up being their puppet for most of the time and you always have to help him out of his entrapment. You understand that Phobos is trying, but strings were possession based and all grunts were targets, including him. He was even more susceptible because he counted as a ‘vessel’ to you.

So this was mostly a problem you had to solve, since you’re the only one that can guard against the crimson strings that longed to possess a host. Especially ones that were strong enough to wield two victims at once. Phobos was pretty much forced to sit the training out most of the time. You always assured him that he was a great ‘god-bearer’, the child just had powers that were too dangerous to involve him. He could only sulk at that response, but you would always give him kisses to make him feel better, which worked every time. You began the disciplinary actions, training, and practices towards more control over the volatile strings. Which was a long and tedious process, since you kid pretty much wanted to do what they wanted (no surprise from Phobos’s constant doting) but you stood your ground and made sure that your child knew who was the greater god in this tower. It was a steady pace from recklessness to much more confidence and control in their strings. Thanks to your much firmer hand and unwillingness to give in, the child slowly began to get their powers under control and over time, Phobos could finally start coming around the young one again. It might have taken a year, but you think you might’ve broken the naughty streak that your child was accumulating with their misbehavior. Or so you thought.

You may have stopped the possessions during the DAYTIME when you both were conscious and awake…but NIGHTTIME was a different story. The child apparently still had their mischievous streak, as their strings made some poor sleeping agent’s body fetch them the cookie jar from atop the fridge in their private kitchen for the 2nd time that night. You may eventually catch them once you start to notice the cookies going missing during the night… But the little troublemaker would enjoy every cookie until that moment. Player Powers: Auditor’s Kid: Nearly all their powers except console control Phobos’s Kid: Controlling strings

[thyandrawrites]

Maybe you can clarify something for me about chapter 344? When shigaraki is leaning down to touch the black liquid on the ground is he realizing dabi is falling apart and bleeding or is he unable to use his decay? I’ve seen both interpretations of the scene and without color I can’t tell from the context of the chapter (both could be from my interpretation). Thank you for your blog and time!

Hi! I think it's the latter. Dabi isn't bleeding in that scene, so the black puddle on the ground is the goo AFO uses to teleport.

The fact that it's at Shigaraki's feet makes sense because the League just emerged from it. If you backtrack to one chapter earlier, you can see the heroes teleporting by copying Kurogiri's quirk, and the villains being summoned there by AFO with the black goo.

Hori also tends to draw puddles of blood differently:

Sorry for dredging this back up but. For reference, blood is typically drawn as pure black, even at different angles. There's no light reflecting off it like the ripples of white that give an almost jelly-like appearance to the texture of the puddle in 344.

So yep, I think Shigaraki might've tried to use his Decay, but couldn't because of Erasure. Iirc, during the joint training arc Monoma was able to store up to 4 copied quirks at once, and he was the first to appear through the portals. I think Monoma used Erasure on Shigaraki right after teleporting everyone, and kept eye contact with him since then to keep Decay under control.

My guess is that Shigaraki probably noticed that something was off, and he tried to warn Dabi, but in the end it didn't make much of a difference because they were separated soon after