#understand why i called you majesty /lmk if i CAN call you that

[ratzhatz14]

My majesty..... I beg your pardon but what

new year....heh.....new me....

[rxzennia]

echoes from afar

– tales of the voracity pathstrider

✎𓂃 your friends… they call for you. this was from a few version updates ago, but i've been mad busy and unmotivated these days… :( lore with a sprinkle of aventurine. a very, very tiny sprinkle. so i thought i could get this up last week. i am a clown. also, samsung's one ui 6 is so ugly (edit: i got used to the ugly ui. still doesn't quite like it, though. but i got used to it enough to tolerate it). 

→ part ii (wip? deciding. lmk if a sequel sounds cool.)

you didn't think you'd hear your own species ever again. oroboros is somewhere in the universe, qlipoth was probably keeping them out of where civilizations are, and the rest are all either dead or scattered. but here you are, hearing distant screeches from a star system lightyears away from yours, the sound slowly getting closer, closer, closer.

the war between aeons seems inevitable now that you've walked the land amongst mortals, seen their strife, and tasted the ever-so-familiar touch of entwining paths heralding the conflict. the longer you spend living, masquerading as someone who will someday die, you see the violent undercurrents under every calm ocean, as if everything is running on a countdown.

of course, you will never truly understand any of that; time has never been a limited resource for you.

you can almost hear the screeches of your own kin right by your ear

but you know, clear as day, that there's only you on the balcony right now

you're alone on the balcony of aventurine's bedroom, your boss snoring away comfortably cuddled up to his cats

you haven't been able to sleep for a while

not since you've heard the first cry of a leviathan in literally ages

leviathans seldom communicate with one another, so why would they suddenly reach out now?

and you were fairly certain that oroboros is the only other one left

well, the only one that's still actively doing who-knows-what somewhere, anyways

either what you're hearing is the lingering cries of those who are already gone

or you're delusional and you're hallucinating

aventurine doesn't seem to notice your absence, probably because of his abundance of things to cuddle with apart from your person. a good thing, you suppose, because your chronically stressed boss needs his beauty sleep.

you don't intend to drag anyone into your worries. it's nothing you can't handle alone – or, rather, it's not something mortals can handle, even with an organization as robust as the ipc. your existence, your true descent of a dusk leviathan, your connection to the aeon of voracity, none of which are burdens your companions should bear. 

it's these quiet moments when your kin raises their voices and sing in your ears

no, scrap that poetic shit, more like screech in your ears

they recognize prey, they recognize a hunting ground, a free-for-all

it's only natural, you suppose, lest predators start to devour each other in hunger

they're trying to locate you, the sound echoing, bouncing back, as they seek out food

"i'd strongly advise against doing that," you mumble, patting your scarf idly, as if you can't be bothered to care

they're not too far from where your true form slumbers, it seems, and it's easier than a cakewalk to force them into submission

and yet, you cannot locate them

you have their general location, but you can't pinpoint their exact coordinates

you try again, and again, until you come to a realization

they're dead a long time ago; there is nothing for you to find

their wails echo into nothingness, a void that is even more empty than oroboros's stomach

by the time you realize the purpose of these ancient cries, your true form is already stirring from its slumber. in all its majesty, its maw parting to split heaven and hell, until it swallows the carcasses of your kin, until it slithers through the stars, seeking out its next meal.

for the first time in the entire two thousand amber eras of your "existence", you feel hungry. famished, even, and it is a strange feeling.

have you gotten too accustomed to the mundane?

have you been domesticated?

quite some good questions, actually

how long has it been since you've actually allowed yourself the pleasure of devouring planets?

far too long

but it's wrong to eat civilizations

it's wrong to put an end to so many histories and futures because you were feeling peckish

it doesn't even actually "fill" you, so that's just triple the wrong

well, by the textbook definition of wrong, anyways

you don't really understand, but you know the general consensus of "eating people bad"

but your stomach yearns for the familiar feeling of life in its void

you turn around to take a peek at the peacefully sleeping man in the bed, safely tucked away in the blankets

a perfect prey right there, defenseless and unsuspecting

it would be so easy to just gobble him up without anyone noticing

and you could slip away just as easily

your entire profile is fabricated – you can always just make another "you" elsewhere 

but you find yourself extremely reluctant to even wake your extension coiled around the oddly-shaped cats

you find the trust that mortals impart upon you a gift of most intrigue

it is such a fragile, precious thing, and yet they offer it to you freely

especially this man who you serve as an assistant…

aventurine. 

it isn't even his real name, but you find yourself mouthing the syllables again and again. this man who is bestowed the title of a gemstone, wielding the power of the amber lord who strives to protect mortals from your kind like you're some sort of eldritch horror, yet also the one who has you wrapped around his finger.

and you're one of the select few he holds close to his heart. against all odds, he had let you into his heart, see his wounds and scars, and trusts you with all of them. he might act the way he does, but you know how delicate he is underneath all that bravado.

out of curiosity, you try to move the leviathan amongst the pile of limbs, sheets, and felines

as you expected, it doesn't want to answer

it seems that your body doesn't want to act on any malicious intents

you really did get domesticated… 

oh, aeons, it'll come back and bite you in the ass someday, won't it?

even if you have no qualms about eating anything that's not intelligent 

like monsters and stuff

but still

you shouldn't have developed aversion to devouring entire persons

…

it is what it is, you suppose

but holy fuck, those screeches from galaxies away just would not stop

"fucking oroboros, shut the hell up already," you groan, pulling up your scarf to muffle your complaints, "i'm not eating anyone here."

if there was someone behind all this pestering, you definitely would've gone and beaten them up. but. but. there's no one behind this. none that you can think of.

unless it really is oroboros themselves, which you'll have an even bigger problem on your hands. you really hope it isn't.

the noises clear up into words, whispering into your ears

consume. devour. feed. destroy. 

cast them into the void. let them be your sustenance. take their power as your own.

you are a predator. why are you among prey?

they are many but fragile. why do you still hesitate?

no.

no, they are not fragile.

they are not prey.

they are not sustenance.

do not speak of them as if they are nothing but food.

what do you know of the people inhabiting the countless planets in the cosmos?

what do you know of the storms they have weathered?

humanity is stronger than you would ever know.

tonight will be a long night, it seems. you can only hope that this doesn't manifest as some sort of personality disorder. come morning, these thoughts will go away as your mind becomes occupied with work.

there are four system hours until then. 

a leviathan like you, a monster of the cosmos… 

shut up. shut up. shut up. shut up. shut up.

be quiet already.

wish as you may, they will continue to torment you.

why? because they seek answers.

how long will you keep wearing the skin of sheep?

[sunlightwoo]

Run To You

☀︎ pairing: king!sangyeon x court noble!fem. reader

☀︎ genre: royal au, themes of wrong timing right person in a way, first love au, arranged marriage themes. there will definitely be angst and fluff in this, but i shall add some humor to enlighten everyone :)) 

☀︎ wc: 2.8k

☀︎ plot: sangyeon thinks that he’s imagining things when he sees you standing in the middle of his royal office with an offer in your hand from when you used to date 10 years ago. however, when you tell him the truth about why you came back, he thinks that maybe it was fate that brought you back to him. 

☀︎ a/n: happy birthday to one of my biggest inspirations in the writing community @solarwonux​​ !!! i love you like you are my big sister and i tell you this every time because i don’t know what i’d do without you. thank you for always showing me how to be the best of myself and for always looking out for me. i hope your birthday today is spent well <33 also there’s a little easter egg for a spoiler of an upcoming wip hehehe lmk if you guys find it

Sangyeon looks at himself in the mirror that was across from him and glances at his entire attire from head to toe, finding that the attire he was put into feeling stuffy and he lets out a breath before looking out at the sun beaming down past the window. It was only another afternoon that he was stuck indoors doing kingly duties that he knew would take a while to sink in, and the last thing he needed was another public event to attend to when there were piles of bills and laws to look over and review for his own kingdom.

“It’s okay, Kevin, you can drop the formalities. Besides, I don’t have a choice in this, do I?” He breathes out, turning towards where the latter had stood by the doorframe, and Kevin gives him a look of empathy, knowing that he was right.

“I guess not… Just call for me if you need anything, okay?” He whispers and frowns a bit while leaving the royal bedroom, just as Sangyeon turns back towards the mirror to look at himself to tend to his thoughts once again.

There was some sort of emotion in his heart that was yelling at him to leave the kingdom for a bit, to run away from the expectations that he was supposed to live up to and find a way out. The burden of being a king was much more than he had anticipated for as a child, and now that he had been the king for over a year after the death of his father, he had been kicked into the role of the leader that everyone looked up to for guidance.

Safety.

A sigh escapes his lips as he knows that his thoughts were foolish anyways, the mere thought of running away to a place unknown already being risky enough knowing that he would be killed out there in the barriers past his kingdom. He had enemies for sure, but he also knew that there were strong alliances that he had, such as with another king, Kim Sunwoo, that he had yet to meet another day.

But for today, there was an important event that he had to make an appearance for and be the king that everybody needed and came to know of.  

Sangyeon decides to finally head out of his bedroom to find Kevin, who he had assumed to be in his office waiting for him and goes to where it was when he notices that it was open. It wasn’t until he walked into his office to see someone else in there that it made him confused as to how someone could waltz into his own privacy and possibly commit treason.

Before he could say anything, the person turned around to face him with a shocked but amused look, their familiar facial features surprising him as well as his heart had churned at the sight of them- or you, he should say.

“Surprised to see me, Sangyeon?” You teased while crossing your arms over your chest with your fan tucked underneath them and he closed his mouth for a moment before giving you a smile back in surprise.

“You didn’t tell me that you were visiting.” He breathes out and you let out a quiet chuckle before walking over to get a better look at his face, the same one that you remember loving in the past, but this time it was more structured; in a way he had matured more than you last saw him.  

“It’s been ten years since we last met, hasn’t it? I wanted to still keep onto my end of the promise that we agreed on.” You reply and there was something in his eyes that you noticed change at the mention of the said promise that you both had foolishly made when you were still dating back then.

Both you and Sangyeon had only been sixteen years old at the time that you made your promise before it had been your breakup. At that time you both had promised to one another that if fate had allowed for it to happen, that you both would marry one another regardless of given circumstances because you knew that you were each other’s soulmates. You had sealed the promise with a kiss that you as an inexperienced teenager would know before having to leave the kingdom because of a family issue that you had on your end.

Now that you had finally found your way back to Sangyeon’s kingdom after hearing that he became the king only a year ago, you made it your mission to find him again and you were successful until this very moment as you looked into his eyes. There was something in them that spoke of an unspoken thought that was yet to be said past his lips, but you weren’t sure what to expect as well.

“Y/N… I have to tell you something, before you can hear it from someone else-” He says softly and reaches out to hold your hands, when suddenly there was a knock on the door, making both you and Sangyeon to face where Kevin had stood with another woman that was by his side, and based on the look that they both exchanged, you knew what that unspoken thought was.

“King Sangyeon, I’m sorry to interrupt, but Lady Kyungsoo is here for the wedding announcement.” Kevin announces quietly and bows before quickly leaving the three of you in the tension filled room, making you raise an eyebrow at him and take a sharp breath in as you turn to face the new individual that you had yet to meet with a large smile on your face.

One that you were all too familiar doing in times like this.

“I’ll leave you two alone instead, your majesty,” You say and start to head out of his office with your arms still crossed underneath your chest, until you paused for a moment to turn back to the two individuals that were watching you leave.

“Congratulations on the wedding, by the way.”

“I don’t understand, Jacob, I thought that he would’ve remembered about the promise,” You huffed out as you were walking around the village center with your best friend after finding him once again at his old family shop, “Was it foolish of me to even feel upset that he didn’t remember, when I have waited this long to find him?”

Jacob thinks to himself and shakes his head in response as you let out another sigh and glanced around your surroundings, seeing as though everybody was in a festive mood because of the recent announcement of an hour ago about the king finally being wed. There was a dulling ache in your chest at the sudden news of it, but you felt as though you couldn’t do anything because you felt as though it were wrong on your end to wait ten years.

“I don’t think he would’ve forgotten it on purpose, Y/N.” He replies and you pause for a moment to turn to him with a deadpan look on your face.

“I literally met his future wife before finding you and the announcement had occurred. I don’t think there’s any way I could add myself into the equation here, Cob.” You say just as the sounds of fanfare goes off in the distance, meaning that the king was coming through the village and you could feel your stomach churn just at the thought of it.  

You feel Jacob pull your hand over towards where he was standing as you nearly collided with his chest, just as the royal carriage had just breezed by where you had previously stood. Taking a sharp breath in, you turned back around after separating yourself from Jacob’s grip only to face Sangyeon, who had taken the chance to get out of the carriage that had almost hit you earlier as there was a concerned look on his face.

“Y/N, are you okay? I apologize, my men weren’t looking and-”

“It’s fine, Sangyeon. Are you and everybody in the carriage, okay?” You interrupt him while giving him a soft smile, reassuring him that you were fine but you should’ve known better than to assume, considering he was still worried about you regardless.

“Yes, however-”

“Your majesty, we have to keep going. You still have to meet up with King Sunwoo for that business meeting.” His royal assistant, Kevin, you had learned from earlier today, says from where his head had peaked out of the carriage and there was a sigh that slips from Sangyeon’s lips as he looked between both you and his assistant that he was close to wringing for all of his bad timed actions.

“Meet me at the river in three days' night, okay? I’ll be back after meeting with a friend, and I can explain everything.” He whispers quietly only for the two of you to hear and you could’ve sworn from how close that he was standing in comparison to where you were, his breath could’ve easily hovered over yours had he had not pulled away first.

You watch as he heads back to the carriage as his eyes meet yours once more for a moment before he leaves you with Jacob, the carriage becoming smaller to your eye as you turn around to look at the latter with amusement crossed on his face.

Oh no.

“First name basis with the majesty?” Jacob teases and you could feel your cheeks heat up in embarrassment when you turn your eyes away from him to walk back to the path that you were headed on earlier to your original destination.

“Force of habit, don’t judge me, Jacob.”

After that small encounter, three days’ nights had arrived fast as you were now at the river that started it all. You remember the first time that you had found it when you were roughly thirteen years old, finding purchase in the serenity and peacefulness of the area with the moonlight shining down on you quietly.

It was the place that you happened to have found the hiding soon to be king, who was curious about what it was like to be outside of the castle walls and never would you have imagined yourself falling in love with him in the span of three to four rough years. Now you were back here with nostalgia in your eyes and fingertips as you sat along the shore of the river, staring into the illuminated water when you hear footsteps approach you softly as a familiar reflection appears beside you.

“I didn’t keep you here too long, did I?” Sangyeon asks you quietly, and you shake your head in response as he takes a spot in the grass beside you.

The two of you were now silent as neither of you wanted to speak up, afraid of what was yet to be said in between the lines of tension that was beginning to build between you both. However, you weren’t even sure what could be said from your end, since it was evident that he was getting married in order to save his reputation as the king so that he wasn’t seen as weak. You understood that, but you couldn’t help but want to be selfish on your end and think that maybe you could find a way to stop the wedding that was yet to happen.

“You know that I never forgot about the promise right? I still have loved you, after all these years, and want to be with you, Y/N.” Sangyeon finally speaks up and there was a shaky breath that leaves your lips from either relief or heartbreak, because either way you could still feel the twist that was still evident in your heart.

“But you can’t do that because of your people, Sangyeon. I don’t want them to think that you’re marrying me because of a promise we made when we were still young-”

“And if I prove them otherwise?” He retorts in almost an inaudible whisper, and you pause for a moment as you look into his eyes, feeling your very own gloss a bit from the tears that were pricking at the corner of your eyes from your own selfishness, but you knew that it couldn’t happen.

“You know that fate can be twisted sometimes… Maybe this was fate telling us that we took too long to find each other.”

Maybe you should’ve stayed back in Jacob’s place when it was the day of the wedding, which happened to take place a couple weeks after that night you had met up with Sangyeon at the river. It was hard to see the extravagant colors and decorations that were coating the walls of the royal castle and could feel the pang of pain hit your chest the longer that you had looked at them.

“Y/N?”

The sound of someone calling out to you made you confused as you turned to look and see that it was both Kevin and Lady KKyungsoo, who had been holding hands until you had eyed it as you raised an eyebrow at them. Were they planning to…

“We all had a plan these last few weeks, and I was going to back to my kingdom to talk it out with my royal advisor to tell him that we didn’t need a marriage to keep the alliance,” She says and you felt as though you were taken back at her sudden words when she speaks up once again with a smile on her face as she glances over to Kevin, “Besides, I have the person that I’ve dreamt of to help me out and guide me through being my own queen back at home.”

“Wow.. that’s-”

“You should go see Sangyeon, if that’s what you’re still standing here debating about.” Kevin imposes, and you give him a confused look when they suddenly run past you with giggles escaping their lips, making you take note that you should ask Sangyeon about them later on if you get the chance to.

Taking this as your chance to go, you made your way over towards the corridors that you were sure held the familiar chambers that Sangyeon had resided in after the countless times of visiting when you were younger. The memory seemed to be as fresh as new in your mind, considering it had been years since then and it wasn’t until you found yourself standing in front of the large regal doors of what you had assumed to be Sangyeon’s room that you were now hesitant on knocking on them.

What were you even going to tell him?

You finally get the courage to after thinking for a while to knock, when the door suddenly opens in front of you where Sangyeon was standing in front of you with regal clothing on, making you forget that he was a king until now as you take your raised hand back down to your side. There was a silence that overtook you both as you stared at one another where you had stood, but it wasn’t until he took one step forward closer to you that you blink back to reality and remember what you were here for.

“I just bumped into Kevin and Kyungsoo… Is it true?” You ask him quietly, looking at him with your arms reaching to cross in front of you when suddenly Sangyeon takes them into his own hands gently and gives you a warm smile, the same one that you could easily melt into if it were your own personal sun.

“We can still get married, if you still want to keep our promise? The people are still looking forward to one today, and I’m pretty sure that my tailors can help you get fit into a dress in less than an hour, only if you’re okay with it.” He replies to your thoughts, making you think that this might be the one opening that fate may be giving you while you still had your chance.

And maybe it was the sudden kick of confidence that you gained knowing that might’ve been from the fact that you finally had a chance to be with him that led to you pulling him close so that you finally kissed him as if it were your last given chance to. You feel him kissing you back with a smile on both your faces as you knew from the kiss that your answer was right there, that the both of you were in it for the long game and past the stupid promise that you both made when you were still teenagers in love.

“Let’s go get married then, shall we?”