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starks-hero · 1 year ago

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Oh, Little Horned One of the Old Oak Tree

Pairing: Steven Grant x Reader

Summary: Becoming the avatar of an ancient Celtic god came with some unforeseen side affects; side affects which you are yet to tell Steven about.

Word Count: 3.5k

Warnings: language, slight body horror if you squint, Steven is a ridiculously supportive boyfriend in the face of fuckery and we love him for it

a/n: giving the reader a supportive god/avatar relationship because it's what they deserve

It's not that you hadn't tried to clean the blood, you'd done your best. But it stained the tips of your fingers and left the porcelain tiles of the bathroom a dark red.

You weren't entirely sure where it had all come from, but the damp, matted hair surrounding where the antlers had sprouted from your head served as a good indicator.

It shouldn't be happening, not yet. You had at least another fortnight till the next eclipse, (if your notes were anything to go by.) But you knew the moment your muscles began to ache and your bones began to creak that it was indeed happening, and it wasn't going to stop regardless of how upset it made you.

You'd tried to call Jake. Then Marc. But you didn't want to risk Steven answering the phone.

The bathroom was the closest refuge you could find and as it would seem it was far from the most ideal of places. You'd torn down the shower curtain in your haste to hide and all but shattered the delicate tiles beneath your feet.

The mirror had also fallen victim to your havoc, an almost artistically applaudable webbed crack spreading out from the centre of the glass where your elbow had made contact. A handful of rouge shards littered the floor and made quick work of slicing open your palm.

You glared at the offending piece of glass before picking it out of your hand and throwing it across the room with enough force that it was embedded in the opposite wall like a well-aimed dart.

You could still make out your reflection through the broken glass pane. Antlers sprouting from the crown of your head, winding off in all different directions. There was a pale glow to your eyes and ruins and ancient symbols wrapped around your arms and the expanse of your chest. And if your abundance of new features hadn't already qualified you for your own Magic: The Gathering card, you'd also doubled in height.

This would be a fucking delight to explain.

You took a moment to thank the gods for Stevens's late shift at the museum before steadying yourself with a deep breath.

You'd felt every bit of it; the stretching, twisting and growing of entirely new bones. And if the persistent pain in your chest and spine was anything to go by you figured it was far from over.

You could hear the deep, resonant voice of your deity, distant and far off, like rushing water over rock. His words were gruff and shaped by his accent as he apologized profusely; and as ego-boosting as it was having an eldritch being admit defeat and practically beg for your forgiveness, you found yourself in too much pain to truly enjoy the moment.

“Cernunnos,” you cursed the god's name.

Your legs were still crammed uncomfortably against your chest and the bathroom door whilst your antlers continued to do a glorious job of scrapping the paint job off the ceiling.

Another wave of pain hit, burning through your veins and seizing hold of your lungs. You coughed and spluttered, each attempt at a breath snagging in your throat like leaves catching on dead branches. The horrid sensation of shifting bones hit your chest and you doubled over with a hiss.

“Please make it stop.”

“I'm sorry, fia beag,” (little deer) the god said, his reflection appearing in the mirror shards. His antlers filled out the frame, putting your own to shame and his eyes, (despite, like the rest of his body, being those of a stag, which as far as species go aren't the most emotionally expressive–) were almost apologetic. “I've tried my best, I asked Manannan to reverse the tides to change the lunar phase and buy us time but it's too late.”

It was heartwarming really; how Cernnunos cared so much, enough to ask a fellow god to inconvenience the entire ocean all in the name of saving your love life. You were glad to have him, even if he was the reason you were going through pain worse than fucking childbirth.

“I'm sorry.” The god's ears flattened against his head and you wondered if you'd said the last part aloud.

“What's the point of all this again?” You'd shifted before but it was never irregular and never this bad.

“A thousand years ago my worshipers adored when my avatar arrived at Imbolc in this form!” Cernnunos sounded excited.

“So it was to show off?”

“To make the people feel seen and protected,” he countered.

“And it's something I have to go through because–?”

The god was quiet for a moment. “Old habits die hard?”

Cernnunos had off-handedly mentioned (downright bragged) about the pact he'd made with the moon sometime before the construction of Newgrange. That his avatar would be gifted with a godly form the night of each lunar eclipse. You weren't well versed in ancient deals between eldritch beings but apparently, it's not the kind of agreement you can back out of a millennia down the line.

And apparently, another moon-related god had initiated an eclipse two weeks ahead of schedule. (your money was on Khonshu over Artemis.)

“It will be alright, little one,” Cernnunos promised. It was soothing having him near, but he tended to have that effect. With him, you were like a fawn, comforted by the knowledge that it was protected by its elder. “Besides, it's not as though this night could get much worse for us.”

Almost comedically, the struggle of key in lock sounded and then the front door opened.

You and the god stared at each other, quite literally, like deers in headlights.

“Love? I'm home–”

Steven's voice sent your flight, fight, freeze response to full throttle and you beckoned for Cernnunos to leave as quietly and frantically as you could. The god seemed reluctant, but another chorus of a British accent from the other side of the door and he relented.

The glass rippled like water on a lake and then he was gone.

You could hear Steven moving around the flat, carrying out his usual routine of removing his name tag, unbuttoning his over shirt and tossing his bag on the couch.

You held your breath when the floorboards of the bedroom creaked and silently prayed he'd just call it a night in favour of finding you hiding in the bathroom looking like something straight from Pans Labyrinth. When he called out for you again you sent your head back against the wall with enough force to crack the tiles.

“Love, you alright?” There was three gentle raps on the door. “Darling?”

“I'm fine,” the words were unsteady. And had your voice gotten deeper?

There was a beat of silence outside the door then, “You don't sound fine.”

“I'm just not feeling great,” you managed. Just go, Steven. Please just go.

“Oh, darling, are you sick? Here let me–” The terrifying sight of the door handle turning caused your heart to almost hammer out of your chest. You rushed to press your foot against it and watched in horror as the timber split right down the middle. The door was barely clinging to the hinges.

You could hear Steven's shock on the other side of the door, a string of curses followed suit. “Y/N–”

“Just leave it, Steven!” you bit out. You hadn't meant for the words to sound so animalistic, so angry. But the only thing currently preventing your life from crumbling was a splintering door and your refusal to move your foot. You were allowed to be rash, you thought.

“Alright, you're scaring me now–”

The universe really wasn't letting up with its ironies today.

The wooden door panels creaked and splintered as Steven tried to open it from the outside. You kept your foot firmly pressed to the middle, but as the hinges began to groan you felt the sturdiness give way. It felt like you had your foot against a wet piece of tissue paper; you were going to tear right through it.

With one more shove from Steven's side, you were forced to surrender.

The door swung open with truly theatrical measure and Steven stumbled in behind it. Instinctually, you pushed yourself against the back wall, forgetting your new height and putting your head through the ceiling as you did.

Chaos is too kind of a word for what followed.

The sound that left Steven fell somewhere between a startled shout and a scream of genuine terror. You reached out and Steven fired back, his feet tying themselves in knots and sending him to the floor.

You struggled to pull your head out of the crater you'd left in the roof. A fine layer of debris and dust covered you and somewhat important-looking wires were strung across your antlers like poorly hung Christmas lights.

Almost on cue, the bathroom light flickered twice and came away from the ceiling, ending up in several pieces on the floor.

The dark apparently did nothing in making you look less menacing as Steven continued to voice his fears. And loudly at that. He hadn't moved, still frozen to the spot just outside the door.

“Steven, please–” you crawled forward at a snail's pace, each movement purposely slow.

He watched you with frantic eyes, his heart hammering like a rabbit against his chest. You'd never seen him so scared.

As he clambered to his feet, you dared to inch closer, but it was the opinion of the shattered tiles beneath your feet that you weren't moving nearly fast enough. You slipped on the porcelain shards and were all but thrown in Steven's direction.

Your rack broke your fall by all but embedding the tips of each spike in the wall surrounding the door frame. You'd put your head through so much wood and plaster in the past few minutes you were beginning to sympathize with mounted deer heads.

Steven was staring now, expression boarding on mild fear and absolute confusion. Then, his eyes flicked to the broken mirror behind you, and then his reflection in the window to his right.

Marc and Jake had taken their sweet time.

Steven looked between you, the mirror and the window and then back at you. Then it visibly clicked.

“Oh, oh my gods, Y/N you, you're-” he swallowed. “-what's happening?”

“It's my time of the month.” The joke went down like a led balloon. Steven swayed on his feet.

“Steven, are you alright?”

“Yeah, sort of. No, not really.”

You craned your neck as far as your current predicament would allow for. “Are you going to pass out?”

“Maybe.”

“Okay,” you said the word beneath your breath. He hadn't run which, all things considered, meant this was going fairly well. Even from the awkward angle you were stuck in you could feel his eyes on you, shifting from one monstrous feature to the next, lingering on the markings and the fucking antlers and the–

“Love, you have blood– you're bleeding.” And just like that, a flip switched in Steven's mind at the sight of you wounded. This man was a true enigma and a wonderful one at that. “Here–”

He approached and then almost immediately hesitated, bouncing back on his heel the moment you shifted.

You weren't exactly a threatening sight, shoulders wedged in the door frame, covered in dust and splintered wood and head practically pinned to the wall. You looked like a drunk stag that had lost a fight to a tree.

Steven shook himself and stepped close enough that your laboured breaths ruffled his curls. He was doing an admirable job of hiding the fact that he was shaking.

“Alright, bloody hell um–” He regarded the situation and then nodded. “I'll push, you pull.”

Steven braced his hands against your shoulders and you grabbed hold of the door frame. It's not that you needed the extra help; out of all the things you'd conquered whilst serving as an avatar freeing yourself from a plaster wall ranked fairly low on that list.

But Steven was touching you in this form, his palms pressed to your broadened shoulders and you weren't about to jinx it.

The wall cracked and fissured as you freed yourself, several deep punctures left where your antlers had been. You twisted and manoeuvred your way out of the bathroom until you could straighten up to your full height.

Thank god Steven lived on the top floor. Higher ceilings.

“Okay, woah–” Steven took several steps back as you stood. You towered over him, antlers bleeding into darkened shadows against the ceiling. Okay, now 'intimidating' might be a more fitting word.

You lowered yourself to your knees in an attempt to seem less frightening. Now that you were eye to eye, Steven could see the worry in your expression as you regarded him softly.

“It's alright. I'm adjusting,” he said, voice still trembling. “Just need a quick adjustment period...”

You gave him time and let him lead.

And that's how you ended up in the kitchen, legs crossed as you sat on the floor whilst Steven sat on the counter in front of you. He held a wet flannel in his hand, droplets of water creeping down his arm.

A dry cloth sat folded on the counter beside him, as well as a box of plasters with 'good job!' written across each one.

It was as if his rationality was being overridden by his need to care for you as well as his overall steveness.

Steven dabbed the crown of your head gently, his hands shaking as he did. There was still a dull ache where the antlers had sprouted. Steven rung out the flannel over the sink and the sight of the blood running through his fingers and over his knuckles made you feel ill. His hands were always so soft, they weren't meant to be stained with blood.

You blinked as a small trail of blood seeped from your head and trailed down between your brows. Steven diligently stopped the flow with the cloth and cleaned you up. Your nose twitched at the dampness of the cloth and Steven smiled.

The first smile you'd seen all night.

His actions slowed, hand stilling as he watched you. Beneath the pale glow of your eyes there was something so familiar. He smiled again.

“Hiya love,” the words were so soft they made you feel warm.

“Hi.”

You raised your arms, the markings and symbols on your skin catching in the dim light. Your hands circled Steven's wrists gently. He pulled back and for a terrifying moment you thought he'd gone completely; deciding that he'd had enough, that you were too much like this and he was drawing the boundary line here.

Instead, he dropped the blood-stained flannel in the sink basin and held his hand back against yours, palms pressed together. It was an adorable comparison. The tips of his fingers barely brushed the top of your palm, in fact, you were certain you could close your hand over the entirety of his own. There was a moment shared in comfortable silence then Steven asked, “Y/N, what is going on?”

The question was gentle and filled with wonder. There was still a trace of a smile on his lips. It made you feel like you could finally tell him.

“Avatar stuff. I suppose my god is a little more... flamboyant than yours.”

Steven laughed and the sound comes as a relief. “Khonshu didn't want to give me the time of day, let alone a– a bloody godly alter ego.”

A beat of silence.

“Did it hurt?”

It was heartwarming that that was his next question.

“A little,” you answered somewhat honestly. “But I'm alright now.”

He finished cleaning you up in a peaceful silence. He took the time to wash the blood from your hair as best he could and plaster your injured hand, (for the emotional boost more than anything.) It took several plasters to cover the expanse of the wound, each overlapping so the supportive catchphrase now read 'good good job good.'

He sat in front of you now, having spent the last few minutes tracing the spirals and patterns on your arm. His earlier fear had completely given way to wonder; it wasn't easy to forget that the man was a mythology nerd through and through.

A boyish laugh crept past his lips. “I wonder how Marc and Jake will react.” He looked up at you to gouge a reaction and his smile fell slightly. “Oh.”

“Steven–” you scratched the back of your neck. This was going to be a bitch to explain. “-Jake only knows because... well–” you made a vague motion with your hands that the four of you had come to recognize meant 'Jake.'

Steven nodded in understanding.

“And Marc just sort of found out by accident.”

Steven nodded again and you could visibly see the process going on behind his eyes.

“And um– why didn't any of you tell me?” His voice adopted a higher pitch at the end of the question, likely in an attempt to take the edge off.

You took a sudden interest in the floorboards. “I didn't want to– you know.”

It was quiet for a moment. Then Steven gasped.

“Oh, oh love, you didn't think... you didn't think I'd be scared did you?”

A quick exhale of amusement from you. “You seemed fairly scared.”

“I- well yeah, yeah.” He conceded. “But not of you. Never of you.” His hands found yours again, the staggering difference in size almost humorous. “I just wish you could have felt like you could have told me, that's all.”

A warmth settled in the centre of your chest and you felt the corner of your eyes dampen. Any attempt of yours to not cry was immediately foiled as he inched closer and put his arms around your neck. His knees buckled against your crossed legs and he sank against your chest.

“For what it's worth,” you smiled against the crown of his head. “I think your reaction probably ranks highest out of the three.”

“Yeah?” He asked lightly. His curls tickled the end of your nose.

“Yeah. Jake used some pretty colourful language, most of it was in Spanish. And Marc pulled a gun on me–”

“He pulled a gun on you–?!” With the exclamation, Steven shot back to look at you.

“Like I said, you take first place.”

“Well, the bar wasn't set awfully bloody high was it?” He glared at his reflection in the kettle and you smirked, closing your arms around him and caging him to your chest. There was something so soothing, so primally comforting about being able to hold him, hold all of him, like this.

You nuzzled against his chocolate curls and to anyone on the outside looking in the action would have looked downright primal. Animalistic. But it couldn't have felt more intimate.

“I could get used to this, I think.” Steven's words were barely above a breath. “You're just a big teddy bear, really. More of you to love.”

His hands slowly and deliberately retraced your shoulder, then your neck, down the expanse of your chest... “What do the patterns mean?”

“Some of the symbols stand for attributes or characteristics; strength, courage, loyalty,” you regarded your arm, from your bicep down to your wrist. “Some of them are his symbols, some he added when I agreed to be his avatar and others, I've never really taken the time to find out–”

Steven hummed, not in a dismissive sense, rather in a way that showed he'd listened to each word like the gospel.

“I've got a book on ruins and ancient symbols, only bought the thing for the hieroglyphics really but maybe we could have a look? Do some homework?” A playful nudge accompanied the last question and you caved. As if you stood much of a chance to begin with.

That's how you ended up laying on the bed, (well, mostly on the bed. Your back was against the headboard and your legs still hung over the edge. Steven straddled your middle, an open book and notepad to his right, a highlighter between his teeth and a marker in his hand. His glasses sat on the bridge of his nose and his brows furrowed as he traced his thumb over a symbol just beneath your collarbone.

You shivered despite yourself.

He'd mapped everything out, using the marker to gently draw on your skin, making connections and jotting down notes. It was like watching a scholar at work and you were honoured to be his study.

“Sorry about the bathroom,” you said rather out of the blue.

Steven glanced up at you, rebellious curls falling against his brow. His confusion melted into gentle amusement. “Don't worry about it, love. Needed redoing anyways, I reckon.”

Then, as if it were the most mundane thing in the world, he went back to his translations.

In a form that most could only phantom in the darkest corners of their imagination and with a god willing to bend the seas and skies at your will, Steven Grant somehow remained among both the most curious and most cherished things you had.

Key ➳

Cernnunos - Celtic god of wild things, fertility and animals

Manannan - (Manannan Mac Lir) Celtic god of the sea

Imbolc - the Celtic festival that marks the halfway point between the winter solstice and the spring equinox. It celebrates the return of life and light as it is the time when the ewes come into milk, when the first flowers appear and when the day noticeably lengthens.

Newgrange - famous 5,200 year old passage tomb in Co Meath, Ireland

‘fia beag’ - gaeilge for ‘little deer’

thank you for reading!

tag list: @bakerstreethound @yoditopascal @moonlighy @linkpk88 @spideysimpossiblegirl @noahspector @malaanii @ineedmorejakelockley @drmeowingfangirl @loonymagizoologist @othersideoftheparadise @doozywoozy @mywellspringoflife

#mary on a cross “you're beauty never ever scared me” vibes >>>#steven grant x reader #moon knight x reader #marc spector x reader #jake lockley x reader #moon knight imagine #steven grant imagine #steven grant x y/n #steven grant #moon knight #☘️#one day I'll stop making all my stories have irish themes #but not today

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batmanisagatewaydrug · 9 months ago

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reading roundup: February 2024

I literally completely forgot I needed to do this oopsie poopsie

WHAT DID I READ IN FEBRUARY!!! LET'S TALK ABOUT IT!!!!

Rouge (Mona Awad, 2023) - listen. there are some very cool ideas in this book, and it's definitely big creepy in places. some of the childhood flashbacks, in particular, had me shrieking with pure dread. but ultimately my issue with this book is the same as my issue with Awad's most well-known novel, Bunny: I would just... kind of like to understand what's going on? like even a little bit? at literally any time? you don't need to explain everything, but man, give me something. vibes alone do not make a meal, and I left this book not really feeling fed.

Our Share of Night (Mariana Enríquez, trans. Megan McDowell 2023) - god, this book makes you WORK FOR IT, but I'm glad I stuck it out. Enríquez has written a fucking doorstopper of intergenerational drama, about an Argentinian family deeply embroiled in a cult that worships something otherworldly and... hungry. perpetually sickly Juan is the Order's prized prophet, but after his wife's death is orchestrated by her own mother he becomes determined to get their young son, Gaspar, away from the Order's control by any means necessary. a wrenching read that swings through every kind of horror, swinging from the supernatural to Argentina's military dictatorship in the 70s to the AIDS epidemic in the 80s and 90s to an absolutely brutal ending.

Red String Theory (Lauren Kung Jessen, 2024) - some of you may recall that Lauren Kung Jessen wrote Lunar Love, one of my favorite romance novels of last year thanks to a zodiac-obsessed protagonist who's (unintentionally) giving major Rebecca Bunch pre-diagnosis in Crazy Ex-Girlfriend vibes. Red String Theory also has a female lead obsessed with mythological matchmaking, so I was really hoping for another unhinged queen, but please don't make my mistake: everyone in this book is devastatingly hinged, and the only real conflict is two characters who like each other from the jump repeatedly coming up with unsatisfying excuses for why they can't date each other. my least favorite was "we'll only in the same city for A YEAR," which is absolutely hogshit wild. "only a year." get out of here. I hate you guys.

Drinking from Graveyard Wells (Yvette Lisa Ndlovu, 2023) - a tiny short story debut by Ndlovu, a Zimbabwean sarungano. one of my very favorite genre of short story collections is "women having a bad time taken up to 11," and god does this deliver. Ndlovu writes about the many indignities heaped upon Zimbabwean women at home and abroad, weaving together tight stories about misogyny, war, poverty, and immigration with restless spirits, bored gods, ignored wise women, and unsatisfactory afterlives. there's a story about a near future in which diamond miners are purposefully set up and sacrificed to an angry underground god to create more diamonds that was so fucking clever, and the final story - the titular Drinking from Graveyard Wells - was just... an absolutely perfect short story. suspenseful and eerie and just enough of a hint of explanation to really chill you. chef's kiss.

It Happened One Summer (Tessa Bailey, 2021) - shout out to all of my patreon supporters who voted to make me read another Tessa Bailey book; you truly wish darkness and despair upon me. here's the insane thing about this book: if you just completely ignore the actual central romance, it's just a sweet book about an infinitely likeable young woman unplugging from her shallow socialite life and finding a new niche reviving her deceased father's bar in a tiny fishing town in Washington. it's like, you know, the plot of a pretty okay disney channel original movie? it's no Minute Men or High School Musical, but it's cute. it's a solid Dairy Girls or Princess Protection Program. but then there's the love interest, who's just a fucking tool all the way down. reader, I kept wishing he would get swept over the rigging of his own crab boat and die ingloriously at sea. this guy sucks so bad. also the sex scenes were identical to the ones in Unfortunately Yours and they did not taste any better reheated. fascinating treatise on cishetero gender norms, rancid romance. I wrote a whole thing about it on my patreon if you're into that kind of nastiness.

#bookblr #reading updates

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gadandzooksooc · 7 months ago

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The @asktwilighteclipse story, Chapter 4

“Hello, Grandpa.” Draco was momentarily rooted to the ground where he stood. The same paralysis extended to the soldiers under his command, who were waiting for orders from their frozen commander. Gad and Zooks, in the back, could only just about make out what was happening, but they were in a similar state. And so it was that Draco took a magical blast straight to the face. He was instantly enveloped in a blast of green flames that knocked the closest knights a few feet back into the air. “Draco!” Light shouted, immediately shaking herself free from the paralysis. The spot Draco had been standing was wreathed in thick smoke for a few seconds before Everyone heard a short cough. Draco was still standing, despite taking the brunt of a blast that would have reduced a lesser pony to dust. “Stand Down.” Draco said to his opponents through his bared teeth.

“No.” Midnight said, a grin on her face. “Your time as Prince is done. We will take your place.” Another shot of magic came from Midnight’s horn, this time a deep purple. Draco’s sword was seemingly conjured from nowhere and deflected the blow. The beam hit a wall, leaving a worrying crater. “Don’t make me fight you,” Draco said, “I’m here to save you!” “We don’t need saving! We’re more powerful than we’ve ever been!” Midnight said as Lunar broke a stalactite from the ceiling and propelled it forward with ballistic force. Draco’s blade came down on the incoming spike, shattering it into a thousand tiny pieces of shrapnel. A few Knights near the front of the group covered their faces with their armored hooves to avoid getting hit. “That power is a curse! Let it go!” Draco said staunchly. “Oh, you would say that, wouldn’t you?” Midnight replied. “After all, you’re the one who kept us from it in the first place!” With a flash of Midnight’s horn, the walls of the cave broke and slammed inward towards Draco. “Get Back!” Draco shouted to the Knights behind him, instants before the incoming rocks slammed into a sparkling force field that surrounded him. Two massive magical forces struggled against eachother, causing the air around them to fill with sparks. A moment later Draco Slammed a hoof into the ground, and the rocks flew outward in an explosion of sharp gravel. The cave walls and ceiling gave a groan and a crack before settling down again. Draco Gritted his teeth. “Knights… retreat.” “Sir… we’re trained to-” Ice began. “Retreat! Now!” Draco repeated. And this time none of the knights hesitated. Gad and Zooks hesitantly followed. Draco kept his eys trained on his grandchildren as he backed away, and only turned when he broke line of sight. “Sir, we’re trained to take down rouge alicorns!” Phoenix said as soon as they were out of earshot. “I know.” Draco said. “I also know that Twilight and Solar are no match for you; maybe too much so.” The knights looked at eachother with confusion until Zooks spoke up. “They weren’t using any wards; no protection magic.” Pheonix cursed. Gad was confused. “Uh… isn’t that a good thing?” Gad asked. “Not if we want to take them alive.” Ice replied. Granted, We might still be able to do it-” “But that would take too long, potentially giving the cultists time to escape.” Draco said. “We don’t have time to take Twilight and Solar down and catch the cultists before they escape.” “Are we absolutely sure the cultists can escape? We might have them backed into a corner.” Light Peice offered.

Night shook his head. “No; If they knew we’d come after them, they would have fled, not retreated back into the caves. Not unless they had another escape route down there.”

The whole group was quiet for a moment. “So… we have to let them go.” Nature finally said. “We can’t save the Prince and Princess and get the cultists.” “Well… Maybe…” Said a certain blue hippogriffin. Everyone looked at Zooks.He wilted a bit under their attention. “Uh… um…” “Look out, everypony! My brother is going to come up with the best plan ever!” Gad said as he put his arm on Zooks’ back reassuringly. Zooks gave a not-quite-sure smile.

“Right… well, uh… We could get past Midnight-Eclipse with a teleport spell, right?” Ice shook his head. “Not gonna work; Twilight would detect that, and then we’d be caught between them and the cultists.” “Right!” Zooks said, with no sign of discouragement. “So we’ll need to keep her distracted while we’re doing it.” “I’m not sure giving her a good book to read would work, Hippogriffin,” Phoenix said. “In this state, They’re dead-set on killing Draco and taking the throne.”

“Exactly,” Zooks said, “Draco could be our distraction.”

All eyes stared incredulously at Zooks, Except for Draco, who was looking thoughtful.

“Sorry, are you suggesting we abandon our prince to fight a corrupted, two-headed alicorn alone?” Light piece demanded.

Zooks wilted again. “Uh, well… when you put it like that…”

“It’s a good plan.”

Everyone looked to Draco, who was nodding appreciatively.

“You can’t possibly be considering…” Light said.

“I’m doing more than that, Light.” Draco replied.

“At least let us leave you with some backup, Your highness!” Phoenix said.

Draco shook his head. “You’ll need all the forces you have to take on the cultists. Don’t forget, they were organized enough to take you by surprise once already. You can’t risk being outnumbered once you get there, especially without Alicorn backup. Besides, this battle won’t be pretty, and any force you could spare would be at risk of becoming collateral damage.”

Phoenix sputtered wordlessly, clearly not liking where this plan was going, but not having anything more to say. Light simply had her muzzle agape at Draco, and Ice and Night seemed to be having a conversation between each other composed entirely of worried stares. Nature was the only pony who seemed to be nodding in agreement.

“Let me make this clear,” Draco said, “This is no longer a discussion. I will face my grandchildren, alone, to give you all enough time to capture the cultists. Is that clear?”

“Sir, yes sir!” Came the unified replies of the knights, even if some of their faces still held concern for their general.

#ask gadzooks #gad #zooks #story #Twilight-Eclipse #prince Draco

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impossiblesuitcase · 2 years ago

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How the Kingdom Lights Shine

Artemisia Palace has the grandest, most opulent dining hall Kai has ever seen, and that’s saying a lot. He’s an emperor; he has been to state dinners in every country and nearly every city on the blue Earth. He’s seen crystalline cutlery and wax candle chandeliers and food so impossible one daren’t eat it.

But Luna takes the cake. Literally, they have taken cake and transformed it into a fifty-tier, ten-metre-tall sculpture, each layer separated by gold lace that should be physically incapable of holding such weight. A fountain flows in the centre, spurting out creamy gravity-defiant chocolate which falls in ribbon-like swirls into a golden basin.

And that’s just the cake. The decorations are excessive, the entertainment is sheer magic and the servers bow to all. No doubt a portion of the spectacle is accomplished through glamour, and that fact makes Kai uncomfortable.

Cinder, sitting at the head of the table, looks frazzled by it all. When she’d asked the chefs to prepare a meal for her and her closest friends, it was unlikely she’d anticipated this.

Her eyes are screaming at him. Feeling playful, he smiles as if clueless, shrugs and turns back to his diamond-studded parfait.

“She’s not quite in her element,” comes the voice seated at his right.

Kai switches his attention from the bowl—contemplating how the diamonds are edible—to the rouge beauty next to him. Her bright hair is pulled back into a simple ponytail with a braid crowning her head. Her dress is emerald, a similar cut to what she wore at Cinder’s coronation last week. The only ornamentation is stunning dangling crystals adorning her ears and her natural charm.

He laughs. “Not even slightly.”

“Sorry,” she says with that distinct French accent, although more rural than the Parisian diplomats he’s familiar with. “I meant to say hello, but someone”—she juts out a thumb at her neighbour; Winter, enrapturing the attention of all nearby—“won’t let me breathe.”

Kai smiles. “Not an issue.”

“So…” She cups her chin with her hand, resting a sacrilegious elbow on the table. “You’re the famous Emperor Kaito.”

“And you’re the famous Scarlet Benoit.” He recites the title with a deserved reverence. “I have to say, you’re very well-renowned with this crowd.”

“I’d better be.”

A retinue of servants approach the table in perfect unison, like synchronised swimmers of the culinary pool. They kneel beside the guests with a tray of merlot in gold and silver chalices perched on their heads. From across the table, Cress is flapping her hands with a spluttered, “I’m not eighteen!” while Thorne, despite not being of legal drinking age in his native country, is already a third of the way through a glass.

Kai and Scarlet simultaneously decline, more so that the server can be freed from this cramped position.

“I suppose you’re used to all this,” says Scarlet, shaking her head in disbelief.

“Not really.” He takes a bite from his parfait. The diamonds crunch under his teeth, melting into a syrupy honey on his tongue. “Even the Earthen elites don’t go all out like this.”

They share a look, and together: “Lunars.”

It sparks muffled laughter, knowing that most of their peers on this table are Lunar. It’s nice, still, to have some solidarity with a fellow Earthen, to both recognise how foreign this mingling of cultures would have been to their untrained minds just months ago.

Scarlet takes a bite of the pistachio sponge in her bowl, which is surrounded by dark chocolate trees and a matcha crumble moss. It’s the perfect scene of a fairy-tale forest, and yet Scarlet still mutters, “too many eggs.”

Based on the lemon cake she made for Cinder’s coronation, he’ll take her word for it.

She discards her spoon in her bowl and turns to him. “So, I assume you and Cinder are…together.”

“Absolutely.”

A grin. “Hm. She had the most obvious crush on you. I’m glad to know it was reciprocated.”

He wipes his brow with his sleeve, a touch embarrassed. “I was likely worse. Torin probably thought I’d returned to early puberty for how much I gushed about her.” Scarlet is still, essentially, a stranger, yet there’s something about her so honest and comforting, like a cup of hot chocolate from a kind old woman on a blustery day, that he has no qualms in baring these secrets. “Still,” he adds, contemplative, “not as much as Wolf to you.”

She rolls her eyes, but it’s a tender gesture. “He’s the worst.”

Wolf is across from them, gazing longingly at Scarlet. Iko arranged the seating plan so guests could interact with those more unfamiliar, and Wolf is evidently not impressed.

Scarlet notices his superglued gaze and blows him a kiss. He turns red.

Kai snorts. “You’re evil.”

“I know. That’s love.” Something flickers in her eyes as she leans back in her chair. “Speaking of which, may I ask when you realised you loved Cinder? After all, you were actively trying to track her down with your military. It makes for an, euh, unlikely romance.”

No one—asides from Levana—has asked him yet if he loves Cinder. But Scarlet is keenly observant. It’s not a matter of if he has fallen in love, but when.

“Here, on Luna, while I was trapped inside this prison for a pal—” he clamps his jaw shut, wishing to retract his words. Yes, his confinement to his suite in the palace had been tortuous, but Scarlet had actually been imprisoned. And actually tortured. “Um, while the others were in the outer sectors,” he amends, “I had a lot of time on my hands to think. I worried about her constantly, and I guess at some point it just ticked over in my brain. It wasn’t a sharp realisation. It was just fact. I was in love with her.”

He finds his eyes latching onto Cinder unbidden. She’s in a beautiful gown and a glimmering tiara, courtesy of one Carswell Thorne, and scoffing at one of Jacin’s snide comments. “I am in love with her.”

“I hope she knows that.”

A flush covers his ears. This is revenge for mocking Wolf, he knows, because the florid is far more obvious on Kai’s pale skin than Wolf’s tanned.

To be frank, he hasn’t told Cinder. Not because he doubts his feelings, rather, because he doesn’t know how deep hers are. It’s all new, and he doesn’t want to scare her off with premature confessions.

Scarlet blessedly doesn’t mock him. She folds her hands over the table. “You know, Cinder has been treated horribly these past months. Actually, her whole life, I think,” she includes, scowling. “I’m sure you know it well: the terrible, salacious claims they made about her in the newsfeeds. And people do believe it. In my own town, Rieux, when the footage from the ball was released, they said—ugh—disgusting, perverted things.”

He sighs, knowing all too well what was levelled against his girl. “Right. Being cyborg and Lunar. How appalling.”

“Cyborg and Lunar, yes, and also”—she looks at him very seriously—“how much they wanted to take her home and use her.”

His face contorts. “...Use her?”

A grim nod.

Kai has to bite his tongue to stop himself from thumping the underside of the table. He knew this, minutely, logically, yes he knew. But he didn’t…he couldn’t…

“Unfortunately, people haven’t changed their opinions yet. Particularly when it comes to your relationship. You are ‘the victim,’” she air quotes, “and her ‘the predator.’”

“They’re vile. The whole lot of them.”

“Of course.” A platter of fruits is presented before them, and Scarlet lets out an awed, “real food.” She nabs a strawberry, sucking out its sweetness. After a bite, she says, “I know I don’t know you very well, but I do feel I know you to some extent.”

“Most people feel that way,” he assures, “my being a public figure since birth and all.”

Her lips purse into a smile. “I actually had a poster of you on my wall when I was fifteen. My grand-mère cut it off—”

“—a cereal box?" he half chuckles, half grimaces. “That was never a licenced product, by the way.”

Iko, four seats to his left, leans her chair onto its hind legs and calls, “I had that cereal box too! And a fan club membership—number one fan!”

“Stop eavesdropping!” Scarlet yells back.

“Can’t help that I have super high-radius hearing.” She swings back to all four legs with a clomp as Cinder corrects, “Peony had the membership.” “She said I could share!”

Kai snickers.

When he returns to Scarlet, she is shaking her head, carrying on as though uninterrupted. “I put that poster on my wall because I thought you were cute, but also respectful and good-hearted,” she recalls plainly.

Although this praise is not uncommon, Scarlet strikes him as someone not easily impressed, and a flutter of bashfulness thrums in his chest.

“Meeting you now, I still hold that opinion. That’s why I believe you will be good to Cinder.” She plucks another strawberry from the tray, carefully tearing off the leaves. “Still, if I was unsure of your relationship status, how much more so will the public be? How much more so will the rumours persist.”

Sure, they haven’t announced anything. But they aren’t the only ones: Scarlet and Wolf’s relationship was confirmed through loving glances. Jacin’s arm around Winter apparently made it official last week, and the only surprise is that Kai learnt that they weren’t already dating. Cinder bumped into Thorne kissing Cress in the hallway and warned him not to mess with her feelings, which received a grave: “I’m not. I love her.”

(When Cinder relayed the tale to the others, Kai mentally patted himself on the back. His pep talk in the Rampion podship had penetrated deeper past Thorne’s defences than Kai had ever hoped.)

Still, Scarlet is right. The difference is clear: Cinder and Kai are the ones the public cares about.

She extends the fruit to him. “Cinder doesn’t deserve those comments, does she?”

Kai digs his nails into his hips. Isn’t it obvious to everyone in a ten-kilometre range that he loves Cinder? Even embarrassingly so, as Levana and Torin and Dr. Erland had made quite plain?

But people are people, and people persecute.

He kissed Cinder in front of Scarlet before the coronation, he recalls. They kissed on the Rampion in front of their friends, even when they hadn’t defined their relationship because commitment was too optimistic, the environment too fickle.

They have something now they hadn’t had back then—permanence, however strange and new and infeasible. He doesn’t even know how it can last when they will be rulers of different lands, doesn’t know if Cinder will even want to become empress. Doesn’t know if Cinder wants children when that is an essential requirement of being his wife. He doesn’t know her favourite colour or song or netdrama or much of anything about her.

And yet, in spite of every spite, it still feels permanent. There is no doubt.

He accepts the strawberry from Scarlet and bites down hard on its seeded sweetness.

———

“Long live the queen! Long live the queen!”

Cinder is considering throwing up. At least that would expel the butterflies from her stomach.

No, butterflies are how she feels with Kai—happy and fluttery and safe. Right now in her gut, squawking, belligerent crows are playing frisbee.

“They’re waiting for you, Your Majesty,” says Kinney, as he and another guard open the large double doors to the balcony.

Damned audio interface. The chanting is deafening, yet she’s forced to hear his whisper. If she pretends she didn’t hear it, maybe she won’t have to go out at all.

“Your Majesty?”

Cinder nods, or maybe shakes her head, before a force starts to push her forward. It could be Iko fed up with her nervousness, or even someone glamouring her, or just her own legs taking master of her body. Nevertheless, one moment she’s safely concealed inside, and the next she’s towering above thousands of her subjects.

Cheers erupt. Flags and banners are waved and the chant starts up again. “Long live the queen!”

The queen! She hasn’t even mustered up the courage to tell Kai she loves him, much less know how to lead these people! And she is responsible for every single face down there, not to mention the million others not gathered in this courtyard. There are those congregating in the streets of Artemisia; huddled together in public squares in the outer sectors.

How it can be so invigorating to stand in front of a crowd and galvanise them into rioting, yet paralysing to address them afterwards? Is it the massive drop? A UFO of doubt sucking her up in its beam?

Warning —Erratic heart rate. Recommended course of action is: Slow breaths.

Commencing in 3, 2,

Deep breath in. Deep breath out.

She is their queen, so she will stand unbalanced on this balcony in a ridiculously costly gown and diadem instead of her cargo pants and gloves and be their queen.

Cinder smiles awkwardly, and waves, (awkwardly), and either they are particularly forgiving or cannot see her strain from this high up, because they cheer even louder.

In. Out.

Something soft grazes her elbow, coaxing it to slow down, to take a more natural glide. It travels up her arm to firmly grasp her hand.

The crowd reaches an impassioned frenzy for Emperor Kaito of the Eastern Commonwealth. The last she knew, he is supposed to be with their friends in the ballroom.

“What are you doing here?” she whispers.

All the beauty of New Beijing Palace has travelled here, in this moment, over the landscapes of his face. “Hi.”

The crowd adjust easily, shouting, “Long live the emperor! Long live the queen!”

Her eyes magnify on their joint hands like a zoom lens. He’s never done this before in public public, even at her coronation where his polite kiss on the hand was taken as etiquette more than intimacy.

“Long live us, hey?” he murmurs, lips a ventriloquist for the cameras.

She emits a shaky laugh. “Let’s hope.”

Kai comes closer. Cinder lifts her cheek in wait of another whisper, only for him to settle a dizzying kiss on her temple.

Internally, she’s toppling over the balcony rail. But outwardly she’s frozen, deafened by the nuclear explosion of sound below.

“I think they approve,” he muses into her hair, gloating.

There is no doubt.

Cinder attempts to pull away—check his face for traces of smugness, surely knowing this would bewilder her. Kai slides an arm around her waist so she can’t go too far.

“You just want your face on the cover of every newsfeed,” she berates with a grin.

“I want us on the cover of every newsfeed.”

The people beneath them blur into nothing, the sounds become wind. When he winks at her, it’s a far more picture-worthy moment than the kiss. One she will bottle up and unscrew and drink before she goes to bed that night.

Long live the emperor! Long live the queen!

Cinder buries their joint hands into the folds of her skirt, suddenly a lot less nervous. Suddenly she isn’t ruling alone, and neither is he.

Long may they live.

Notes

This is purely so I can write Kai Scarlet friendship.

I realised I have never advertised this, but I'm on ao3 at au_moins_jessaie

@cindersassasin @hayleblackburn @spherical-empirical @salt-warrior @just2bubbly @gingerale2017 @zephyr-thedragon @holdmysparks @oceanspray5 @icarusignite @kaider-is-my-otp @slmkaider @luna-maximoff-22 @cosmicnovaflare @kaixiety @snozkat @imamirrorball4

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obsessivevoidkitten · 2 years ago

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*cracks knuckles* I literally did crack my knuckles right before I started to type this. I can literally ramble about my garden and gardening in general, you have just opened up a giant post. The thing I am most excited about this year is strawberries, very excited they are a new addition this year and I pre-ordered some red and some white ones. They spread via runners so within a year or so I will have a nice huge patch of them. Strawberries are both the cheapest and easiest berry to grow, though not technically a berry. Another new addition is peanuts! I wanted something with a long storage capability as well as something high in protein, while also not being too difficult to grow, peanuts fit the bill. I am also going to try sweet potatoes in a larger quantity this year, last year I just had one to plant that had been donated by the food pantry and I just could not produce much with it and it was also crowded with normal potatoes. I am still growing potatoes this year, I saved some potatoes from my fall harvest and they are going to be good to plant towards the later half of March. I am excited to replant my purple viking variety but I also got my hands on the all mighty kennebec. Perfect ratio of starch to make a good soup potato or a good fryer, also high yields!! I also plant to grow carrots, cosmic purple and lunar white. Radishes are going to make a return but I am adding a yellow variety instead of just de 18 jours radish. Everyone who knows me knows I will be attempting corn again, we had such a good result last year and it gave us a lot of food, I would like to triple production to donate excess to the senior center. I am growing moonshine, glass gem, and of course the ever amazing and personally endorsed damaun ks super sweet corn. I had so much success with tomatoes that I am branching into new varieties. Yellow, purple, orange, everything but red really. Going to go with some micro dwarf varieties like orange hat and patio choice yellow, the regular sized plant cherries I will be growing include yellow pear and bosque blue bumblebee, regular size slicers will be sart roloise, and kentucky beefsteak. Last year I grew many many many extra tomatoes and donated them by the bucketful to the senior center, family, and neighbors. And I was only growing a couple varieties last year. Pumpkins will be planted again, moranga, Rouge Vif D' Etampes, and of course the flat white boer pumpkin. I grew a crap ton of the white boers last year and they were a wonderful food source and the extras I gifted to people for decorations. I would like to try burdock root if possible. I have plans to grow a bibb lettuce mix, little gem lettuce, and merlot. For cabbage I am just trying one variety, a faster growing one good for early in the year so I can start gardening sooner, red acre cabbage. I failed with beets last year but now armed with more experience I hope to tackle the mammoth red mangel beet, it can literally grow to sizes larger than a toddler. If I can grow these I will be able to feed many many people beyond just me and the elderly lady I care for. Seriously though, google them, they are H U G E. I also want to grow some much smaller albino beets. For squash, other than pumpkins, I am growing yellow crookneck, candy roaster, honeynut, lemon squash, and golden zucchini. Hopefully I can fend off SQUASH VINE BORER. I would have had a lot more success with squash last year had it not been for SQUASH VINE BORER. In my gardening, I have many powerful enemies. The squash bugs that resemble stink bugs, and have the same stink power, the swarming Japanese Beetle, cucumber beetles, tomato.... horn... worms... the ceaseless devourer, but only one is my arch-nemesis and that one is SQUASH. VINE. BORER. And, my absolute favorite veggie, the sturdy and vigorous veggie that never lets me down, the cucumber. Varieties this year include poona kheera, dragon's egg, and pick-a-bushel. With this wonderful variety I shall grow many pounds of cucumbers, especially the high yielding pick-a-bushel. I hope to donate many of these. Now, for flowers, we don't have too many, but we do have a few. They are essential in attracting and supporting local pollinator populations but also in feeding birds. I am growing a few different types of sunflowers, the birds and pollinators go nuts for them. Chocolate cherry, russian mammoth, short stuff, and double sunking. If you are a novice gardener I cannot recommend sunflowers enough they can take some serious neglect and bad weather, droughts, storms, heat. They are so great, the senior center took some cut blooms for decoration and I still had enough for the birds and enough to save many seeds. I am also growing marigolds again and nasturtiums, which are also edible. I also was gifted some celosia seeds to try. For green beans I am growing two bush varieties, cantare and jade II green beans, they have excellent rust resistance which was a big issue for me last year. For onions I am only really going to try one variety and that is borettana, it grows fast and somewhat small, good for a beginner. Sadly I cannot actually grow any root vegetables in my clay soil, so all the potatoes/tubers/peanuts/carrots/radishes/beets cannot actually be cultivated here. The clay soil is hard and compacted and I dont have compost and soil to soften it up. I wanted to grow them in tubs, and I have a friend helping me get some to grow in, but I still have to raise over 100 dollars to get enough soil and mulch to fill them all. I also still have to get the cabbage, onion, some of the corn, some of the sunflower, and some of the tomato seeds. I do have two tubs filled so I can at least plant several potatoes. I am going to grow as much as possible and exhaust myself in the garden because I have a lot of people that get food from me and I cannot let them down. Anyway I hope that answers your question, may have over answered, lol. I hope you have a nice day too.

#anon ask #my garden

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julianrchandlerx · 1 year ago

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setting: jasmine’s apartment

who: julian chandler & jasmine st. claire @cantfightmoonlight

“Now I know this is much delayed,” Julian started with a lopsided grin on his face, “But I did not come empty handed. After all — late or not, it’s only right to bring a house warming gift!” At that, the vampire held out a medium sized bag, one with the words “Happy Birthday” in glittery cursive on the front and brown paper sticking out of the top instead of tissue paper. It was his first time swinging by her new apartment, so he made sure to come prepared. “Ignore what it says on the bag… It’s the only one I had. And, ah,” his cheeks rouged at the contents, a fake snake plant he found while running some errands the day before, “I had a real plant originally, but it didn’t last the ridiculous amount of time I’d been hoarding it before coming by, so… I think fake is a good way to go, right? I mean it looks just as nice. And hey, neither you or your roommate will have to worry about watering it — win, win.” He shrugged, keeping his dopey smile on.

Julian had not spent as much time with Jasmine as he would have liked, and now that he was getting more and more used to his new life he wanted to fix that. He did come to Lunar Cove to recuperate their friendship, after all, he felt determined to keep to his original goal. It helped him feel more like himself again. Well… and there was another topic of conversation to be had. He tried to keep Briar-Rose Reed from flashing across his mind, not allowing Jasmine to get a sneak peek to what he was anxious to discuss with her. Swaying on his feet at the entrance to her new place, he quirked a brow at Jasmine. “You gonna welcome me in? Unless you wanna go grab a coffee or something. It’s been a while since I think we’ve been able to chat without a big ol’ elephant in the room, so to speak.” The man had long since let go of any weirdness over his demise and her curse. “And look, we got through a holiday in town without any scary shenanigans, so… What do you say to a little friendly catch up? There’s actually something I’d like to, er, I guess share with you.” He tried not to let his nervousness show, but then again who could blame him? How’d you tell your childhood best friend you were dating their little sister? He had no clue, but he tried not to just blurt it out. Contain, Chandler, contain it.

#&& convos.#int ft. jasmine #Im sorry this is so uninspired #it’s what I get for writing at 2am

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eclipsethedarklingiscanon · 7 months ago

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I think I'm starting to get a little more detailed about shadow's "mlc" Lore

GUN is a kind of Moon Knights Branch

They were in Luna's service, but we all know the story (I think)

I want mlc to be hypothetically located a little before the first season, anyway it would change mlp's story a little but I don't want to get too involved in it

Here I don't have exactly detailed what triggers GUN to want to create an artificial alicorn, Shadow was in development long after Luna left so I guess... Create a new leader? Just investigate the alicorns? A weapon of protection/war because they saw what they are capable of? Replacement to control the moon? All at the same time? Idk

But that's why Rouge works in the government and is a batpony, she can technically stay up late and they are the moon knights.

But alchemists and things like that couldn't achieve it, I don't know what exactly the biolizard would be, perhaps a mix between an unfortunate unicorn fused with a dragon and turned into a giant, unstable mutant.

But after another attempt, a hive of changelings attacks their base, I don't think the ARK can go to space, maybe it's just floating in the sky and invisible and has a lunar theme, It's not Chrysalis, Shadow would be in charge of killing Doom here too, leaving Chrysalis as the only one., I know that there is a non-canonical origin for them in the comics that although I like it, it is not here. But everyone knows Doom and Gerald know each other and have a son (xd) who would be Shadow.

The Doom hive is not necessarily fed by love, but by chaos, but not discord chaos I suppose (or is it?) That or Doom is even more bloodthirsty and kills ponies and that's it.

Now the massacre, I don't know what would trigger that either, I guess GUN knew about Gerald and Doom's relationship and being GUN they tried not to leave a trace of the event, they don't want to look even worse with The princess

That's all I have for now, maybe I'll change it later because I haven't watched all of mlp in a while, in fact, I didn't even watch the last season. (I feel very bad watching last seasons of whatever for some reason) so one day my lazy ass will watch the entire series and notice that it doesn't make much sense (or you can correct me of course :b)

And most of this is improvised while writing so disclaimer, I'm not that stupid I'm just improvising

#shadow the hedgehog #sonic the hedgehog #the year of shadow and maria #mlc?? au #rouge the bat

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starheirxero · 8 months ago

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Firstly, I am glad you enjoy my silly little words! :D And you are really, really fucking cool!! I love seeing everything you post, from thoughts and rambles to even just the things you reblog, and what you say about them in the tags!! I am eating it all up-

As for the Laes episode…I AM GOING SO FUCKING INSANE- IF I COULD, I WOULD RUN UP MY WALLS AND TOSS MY PHONE AROUND LIKE A CHEW TOY-

THEIR RELATIONSHIP IS SUCH A FUCKED UP MESS- IT IS SO TOXIC, IT IS SO TRAGIC, IT IS MY FAVORITE THING- EVERYTHING INVOLVING THESE TWO TOGETHER MAKES ME SCREECH IN EXCITEMENT-

WHERE THE HELL DO I EVEN BEGIN??! WHERE CAN I BEGIN??? THERE'S SO MUCH GROUND TO COVER!!!

For one, Lunar sought out the conversation!!! They didn't have to, they could've simply walked away, yet they saw him and called out his name, asking him what he's doing with nothing but curiosity! Insisting on talking to him even! There was no fear, no hesitation even! WHAT IF A PART OF THEM KNOWS, THAT ECLIPSE COULD'VE BEEN SOLAR- WHAT IF THAT REALIZATION WAS WHAT MADE THEM REACH OUT, WHAT TOOK AWAY THEIR FEAR-

They did not fall for his taunts either- They did not get angry, only showing exasperation- They are so used to this, so familiar with this sharade, now that the terror is gone- DO YOU UNDERSTAND HOW PHYSICALLY ILL THIS MAKES ME/POS

LUNAR TRYING TO UNDERSTAND WHAT HE'S DOING, ECLIPSE TELLING THEM, THEIR "SMALL MIND" WOULD NOT UNDERSTAND, LUNAR ASKING HIM HOW MANY VOLTS ARE IN A LIGHTING BOLT- Jesus christ, there's something so tragically desperate in there, even though I might just read too much into it- Eclipse always called them an idiot, always called them stupid and small minded- It was his go-to insult- And here Lunar is, trying to prove that they are smart enough to understand, trying to get him to see it, to see them- Please, I can't-

The way Eclipse keeps calling himself a copy- Everytime he comes back, he feels like less- He sees himself as less everytime, to the point of refusing to see himself as the "real Eclipse" - Lunar told him, that he is a real person, yet he refuses to hear it- THEY CAN'T JUST DO THAT, OW-

THE FACT, THAT LUNAR TOLD ECLIPSE FACE TO FACE THAT THEY ARE TERRIFIED OF HIM, THAT HE TAKES THEM BACK TO THE TIME, IN WHICH LUNAR WAS A TOOL- I cannot tell you, how emotional this makes me! Lunar was created as a brother, with the knowledge of being a tool. with the knowledge, that they are disposable, if they mess up, something they told old Moon-

They lived with the knowledge, that their brother, who they were made to love, didn't love them back, didn't care- Monty told Eclipse he'd get the star, if he killed Lunar, Eclipse not even hesitating, and then they tried to tell them, Eclipse didn't care- Except they knew. They knew he didn't, they've always known, but what else did they have?

They tried to do the show in hopes of making them happy, of fixing things. Sun and Moon, who used to be so far apart, grew closer through their show, even making Moon see his faults. So why should this be different? They thought, Eclipse would finally be their brother, just like they had been his. They thought, they could finally be happy, finally have everything they wanted.

Except they didn't. The thing that was meant to bring them closer broke them apart completely. Eclipse became more irritated, which made him drop his mask faster, which made him snap. And of course Lunar snapped back, until eventually, things spiraled out of control, until Eclipse went too far, and pushed Lunar over the edge, causing them to leave.

Eclipse called them a "science experiment gone rouge", and Lunar accepted that, because they know. It's all they've ever been to him, they are well aware of that fact. Their quiet acceptance of it is honestly heartbreaking.

And of course their acceptance causes Eclipse to snap, causes him to get defensive! He doesn't understand. He thinks, everyone is out to get him. He is so used to that, to being hated and despised, partially just for existing. The idea, of someone just sitting down and talking to him, trying to understand his perspective and telling him theirs is such an abstract concept to him!

And the there's Lunar's apology. They don't forgive him, because he hasn't earned it yet, but neither do they blame him. They actively acknowledge their own mistakes, apologizing for breaking his trust, and not doing what they were told, because there must've been a reason for it. Even trying to explain to him why they went against it, telling him their thought process!

Yet all this only causes more confusion for Eclipse, so he puts the blame on them, actively trying to make them snap, to lash out! Yet they don't fall for it, not anymore. They can see his actions for what they are now, because they have done the same thing! They've shouted at him before too, trying to get a reaction out of him!

AND THE THERE'S A FUCKING LINE THAT BROKE MY HEART- Lunar telling Eclipse, that he will probably hate them till the day they both die. And they accept it. They simply accept it, because there's nothing they can do, and they know that. If he didn't love them before, he probably never will. And the fact that he hasn't harmed them, hasn't lashed out yet, proves that he either wants something, or doesn't care anymore.

In their eyes, Eclipse will only ever bring harm upon them. In their eyes, the only reasons he wouldn't is, so he can either use them, or because he doesn't care even the tiniest bit about them, not even enough to hate them.

But there's also this line: " I would love to do nothing more than condemn you" He would love to, but he doesn't. Because I think he can't. And it is breaking me-

"I didn't act in self-defense. I acted the way, you did to me" Lunar realized, what happened- They realized, that they fell into the cycle of abuse, and now they are determined to break it- They won't be like him, they refuse- CAN YOU HEAR MY HEART BREAKING YET-

Then there's Eclipse's pride- And you already said it, but BY GOD- He is only proud of them, when they act like him. He is only proud of them, when they do exactly what he wants them to do. He was only proud of them, because they continued this dance of anger and hatred the two have found themselves in…

But the one thing that really got me was Lunar's question. They wonder, why they were ever scared of him, even seeming amused by it- It's so symbolic! It feels as though they grew from a child who saw a monster, to an adult seeing only a man in disguise! Even boldy asking him, if will hit them again.

And he doesn't. He acts like he "doesn't have time for that", but I think he doesn't want to.

And so Lunar watches him from afar, for just a moment, thinking he might have changed this time.

I AM GOING SO FUCKING INSANE, I CANNOT- I LOVE THIS SO MUCH- I WILL NEVER RECOVER FROM THIS-

I do want to point something out though!

Something I realized, while reminiscing about the Lunar and Eclipse show.

The thing is, that things would've always turned out that way. Eclipse's heart has already hardened, he was pushed over the edge, before Lunar was even created. He learned long ago, that love will bring him nowhere, that it will only break him apart. So instead he learned to bite, to tear his teeth through the people around him, before they could hurt him. Things never could've ended differently. Sure, Lunar could've stayed, but besides how unhealthy this would've been, theres the high chance, they might've ended up like Lunara. Eclipse was lonely, so instead of actually getting rid of Lunar, he likely just would've reset them, creating a cycle of it happening again, and again, and again, likely turning Eclipse more irritated and violent in the process, until Lunar would've snapped. Just a bit of angst, to end it off-

-Stardust

YESYYEYSYEYSYYESS YOU GET IT YOU GET ITTTT!!!!!!!

THE WHOLE EPISODE WAS SO MANY LAYERS AND THE GROWTH AND THE TRAGEDGY DOWN TO ITS VERY CORE AND ITS SO AAOAUAGGGGHHHH

YOU SUMMED IT ALL UP PERFECTLY IT MAKES ME UNWELL!!!! Lunar has grown so much and admitted so many things I truly didn't know if they'd ever admit out loud AND THEY EVEN SAID THE HEAVIER STUFF TO ECLIPSE'S FACE TOO!!!!!

THAT THEY WERE SCARED AND THEY DID BETRAY HIS TRUST AND THEY THOUGHT THE SHOW WOULD HELP AND THEY'LL LIKELY HATE HIM FOREVER AND THEY SAID IT ALL WITHOUT ANY SHAME DESPITE HOW MANY TIMES ECLIPSE TRIED TO TEAR THEM DOWN AAUAAHAGGGGGHHHHHH

AND ECLIPSE GHOD YEA ECLIPSE. I CAN'T EVENNN HIS WHOLE VIBE WAS SO TERRIBLY FASCINATING TO WATCH WHY IS HE LIKE THIS /POS

GRABS YOU BY THE SHOULDERS AND SHAKES YOU AROUND!!!!!!! THEY MAKE ME WANT TO SCREAAAAMMMMM AAUAGAGARRRERAAAAAA

#asks #anon #stardust anon #GHOOODDDD UR POINT ABT LUNAR STAYING AND THATS JUST WHAT LEADS TO LUNARA. AAUGGHHHH YOURE LITERALLY RIGHT FUCK EVERYTHINGGGGG #IM IN SHAMBLES. IM EATING THE FLOOR. YOU GET ME ON THIS ENTIRELY IM DYING EVERYWHERE #lunar and earth show #the lunar and earth show #tlaes #tsams #long post #caps

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heavenlyhoundoom · 8 months ago

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Here's a sneak peek for each of the alternate univereses I shared yesterday.

Bat hybrid au: (Freddy is walking through the Pizza Plex, looking for his bat hybridized friends.)

Freddy: Where are they?

(Freddy feels something landing on his shoulder, he grabs it and sees that is was a mosquito.)

Freddy: Glad I caught it before-

(Before Freddy could finish his sentence, Chica comes flying in and eats these mosquito from Freddy's hand.)

Freddy: Oh, there you are, Chica.

BloodLunar au: (The sun has risen and Lunar wakes up to an upset stomach full of blood.)

Lunar: Ow...Bloodmoon, how much blood did you consume last night?

Bloodmoon as Lunar's shadow: Enough to keep me satisfied.(Bloodmoon puts his hand on his stomach and licks his teeth.)

Security RPG au: (The rpg is set up and everyone sits down.)

Moon: Alright, there are six classes, knight, barbarian, rouge, fairy, wizard and bard, who wants to be which class?

Sun: I want to be the fairy because they're cute and magical.

Moon: I'll be the wizard because they tend to be the most powerful class, and I like the aesthetic.

Monty: I'll be the barbarian, because we're both very strong.

Freddy: I guess I'll be the knight because it's both a classic and the best class at the start of the game.

Moon: So that leaves the bard and the rouge.

Chica: Rock paper scissors to determine who gets to be the rouge?

Roxanne: Sure.

(The play rock paper scissors, Roxanne picks paper while Chica picks rock.)

Roxanne:(smug) Paper covers rock.

Chica: Oh man...

(Roxanne chooses rouge and Chica chooses bard.)

Monster au: (it's Halloween and the gang are going to a costume party.(Roxanne turns into her wolf form every night instead just during the full moon and Monty's a dragon now))

Sun: I love Halloween, it's the one time of the year where we can go out in public without disguises.

Moon: It is nice not having to put on a disguise to go out in public.

Freddy: Now remember, don't do anything that would reveal that our "costumes" aren't really costumes.

Roxanne: Yeah, we know.

Monty:(exited) Now, let's party!

(The gang enter the house where the party is being held.)

Wereanimals vs Vampires au: Moon:(angry) You cannot deny that you four trespass on our castle almost every night!

Monty(weregator): You cannot deny deez nuts!

Roxanne(werewolf): Ha, good one, Monty!

(Roxanne and Monty high five while Chica(werechicken) and Freddy(werebear) start giggling.)

Moon:(infuriated) That's it!

(Sun, Baby, and Ballora restrain Moon before he could attack any of the wereanimals.)

Sun: Moon, calm down!

Moon: Let me at em!

Ballora: No!

Character wasting disease au: (Bonnie enters Freddy's room where Freddy is laying in his bed with a thermometer in his mouth and an ice pack on his head.)

Bonnie:(soft voice) Hi, Freddy.

Freddy: (sniff) Hi, (sniff) Bonnie...

Bonnie:(soft voice) I have some lemon water and vegetable soup for you.

Freddy: (sniff) thank (sniff) you...

(Bonnie puts the lemon water and vegetable soup on Freddy's nightstand, Freddy unknowingly drips some snot onto Bonnie when he picked up the lemon water to drink it.)

Bonnie:(soft voice) By Freddy, get well soon.

Freddy: Bye, Bonnie...

(Freddy blows his nose into a tissue, and throws it into the trashcan next to his bed, while Bonnie leaves the room and will unknowingly spread the disease to the daycare attendants and the rest of the Glamrocks.)

#Fnaf #fnaf security breach #glamrock freddy #glamrock chica #montgomery gator #roxanne wolf #sundrop #moondrop #tsams lunar #sams bloodmoon #alternate universe

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llamaisllama777 · 7 days ago

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I wonder what's going on in The Security Breach shows today?

I'm sure everything will be fine, like what's the worst that could happen?

Oh. That.

Oh.. oh no.

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh.. oh, this is fine 🙂

BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Also good thing Eclipse wasn't here cause he probably would have gotten a kick out of watching Puppet die a bunch and also Lunar would have enjoyed watching Eclipse shoot himself in the head....

Probably best Lunar and Eclipse don't talk for a while.

Also.... UGGGHHHH!!!!!!!! Everything is going wrong for everybody! No one is safe!

#sun and moon show #tsams #lunar and earth show #laes #tsams sun #tsams moon #laes lunar #laes rez #Lunar what have you done?#Anti-hero Lunar arc?#Someone save Francine and kill Phantom Freddy!#Earth is not gonna be happy about this #eaps puppet #eaps ballora #ffaffs freddy #ffaffs francine #maagfs glamrock freddy #maagfs michael afton #maagfs phantom freddy #rwags roxanne #rwags gregory #rwags cassie #hey sonic hey shadow 👋#EVERYTHING IS GOING WRONG!#This is gonna sound crazy but... I think this is all still a part of Dark Sun's plan #Lunar has gone rouge Earth feels like her family isn't there for each other Suns are starting to kill Moons This is really bad guys!#And all too convenient 🤔#I don't think Lunar will turn evil but he might get a little antagonistic... AND I CAN'T WAIT FOR!#Lunar confronts Eclipse in vrchat???#Astral civil war in vrchat???

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gotta-go-fast · 6 months ago

Note

5 fun facts about Lunar, go!

Ahhh thank you, love talking about my boy

1. He's stuck in a timeloop (same two months) and he likes it that way

2. Lunar loves to bake!

3. Rouge's long lost lil brother

4. He sucks at fighting but he's really good at distracting enemies

5. The song I listen to the most while drawing him is Words Fail from Dear Evan Hansen (it just fits his situation so well)

#sonic #sonic oc #lunar☆#thanks so much for asking!#asks☆#my art

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the-era-of-shadow · 10 months ago

Text

The Day The Moon Died Act II - The Wave of Black

Case 01: The Eternal Highschool Lovers

Chapter 4: School's Out!

Written by Lunar Eclipse & Ash Rose

Cover Art by Ash Rose

CW/TW:

A Lot (Swearing, heavy fictional religious themes, kidnapping, mentions of child death, mild terrorism, themes of the loss of control over one's self, mentions of blood, depiction of a volatile mental breakdown)

Summary:

The Black Arms' rally had been a complete and total success, and the group began to grow immensely in the weeks following it. To tell the tale of its spread in full, follow these three separate, and yet connected tales - cases of the Black Arms' effect on PetalBloom, and see for yourself the damage that had been done.

Notes:

I hope you're fucking ready for this chapter because this is the longest single piece of writing we've ever made and A Lot Happens in it btw if you're not in the mental state to handle a potentially devastating cliffhanger please prepare yourself before reading, take care of you ❤

[Act 1]

[Moonlight Interlude I]

[Previous Chapter]

[Next Chapter]

-☆☆☆-

“Wait! I’m confused!” Garrick announced suddenly.

“Why so?” Widow inquired, wondering if there had been a detail that she had accidentally left out in her retelling so far.

“Uhm, I dunno if I missed it, but… What’s Mini Mayhem’s plan again?” Garrick clarified.

“Oh yes! Their plan! I did indeed not go in depth about it for now.” Widow admitted, feeling relieved that there had been indeed no accidental forgetfulness on her part - none that had gone unnoticed, at least. “You see, Garrick,” She then began to speak again, gently placing her hand on her dear young son’s head. “Since the members of Mini Mayhem enact their plan later in the story, I figured it’d become boring if I had to describe the plan out twice! So instead, I decided that I’d leave the planning part out for now, so that when I show the plan in action, it’s all brand new information!” She explained.

“Oooooh, okay! Sorry for interrupting you, Mama!” Garrick responded.

“No need to apologize, Gare-Bear. You’re just being curious, as any child your age ought to be.” Widow said to him reassuringly, using the opportunity she had with it already having her hand on his head to give Garrick a loving ruffling of their hair.

“So does that mean we’re gonna see the plan play out now?” Garrick asked.

“Well, actually… Your question had got me wondering if I had forgotten anything important going on around this time of the story, and I just realized that right around now - in the Schoolhouse, in fact, took place a moment that forever impacted the advancement of us Black Arms’ biology-” Widow started to respond, though she was interrupted part-way through.

“DID SOMEONE SAY ADVANCEMENT OF BLACK ARMS BIOLOGY??” A voice that had not been among Widow’s audience before, but still incredibly familiar all the same, hollered excitedly. It seemed that Widow’s words had a sort of summoning effect to them without her realizing.

“Well well well, aren’t you quite late to the party, Eclipse~?” Rouge said teasingly.

“Party? Are we already at Station Square?” Eclipse wondered, very genuinely seeming to be out of the loop.

“No, I think we’re still a ways away. I believe that Rouge has just used another one of those “turn of phrases”!” Widow answered.

“Oh, right. So what are you all up to?” Eclipse asked. “Must be something rather significant - if not because of the crowd accrued here, then certainly by the rush Yuki had to return here after dropping off some supplies to me!” They then added, beginning to speculate.

“Actually, it’s Leanni right now.” Leanni quickly budged in to correct.

“Oh, is it? My mistake!” Eclipse replied.

“Ah well, it all began as a conversation between Rouge, Shadow and I. Then one thing led to another and here we are, passing the time until we reach Station Square by me telling the story of the Black Arms’ founding!” Widow explained, summarizing quite a lot.

“Oh, that’s where that was coming from.” Eclipse remarked.

“Come again?” Rouge asked, once again entering the conversation.

“I had heard someone telling the story through the hivemind, but I had figured that it was just my memories of Master Death telling me such tales playing in my mind to keep away boredom.” Eclipse told without hesitation.

“Sounds reasonable enough!” Widow remarked. “So then you probably know that we’re at the part of the second rally, the one held in the refurbished Schoolhouse?”

“The rally where a recently assimilated member of the Black Arms who had just so happened to have been an animal caretaker in their day to day life was invited on stage alongside Lord Black Doom himself, having with them a baby Petal-Scaled Dragon that was demonstrated on stage to be introduced into the hivemind by Lord Doom that night, thus ushering in the assimilation of more of PetalBloom’s fauna, creating the ancestry that would lead to the modern non-bipedal Black Arms subspecies of the modern day, such as the descendants of Petal-Scaled Dragons themselves, the Black Hawks and Black Volts, while at the same time opening up the collective mind of the hive to the idea of assimilating more lifeforms into the Black Arms beyond the life present on PetalBloom itself, which would be later cemented during the Black Arms leaders’ trial held in the Twilight Cage and would go on to become a massive part of the evolution of the Black Arms into what we are today, up to and including its involvement in the discovery of our new home, the original Black Comet? Yes, I am aware that’s where we are! Why, aren’t I glad I came just in time to hear you talk about it loud and clear then!” Eclipse answered quite… extensively, to say the least.

“I feel like about a quarter of that would have been enough to get the point across, Wikipedia Article.” Harazuki heckled teasingly, as siblings do.

“Well maybe I am a “Wikipedia Article”! So what? Articles on Wikipedia are carefully curated by multiple experts on the topics of the articles - experts that have dedicated their lives to not just learning about their field, but to teaching others what they’ve learned! Just as I have!” Eclipse argued passionately.

“Pretty sure by the way you’ve explained it, that’d make you a Wikipedia article moderator, not an article in of itself, which is what I called you!” Harazuki said smugly, pointing out the error in Eclipse’s argument.

“Getting rather pedantic here, aren’t we? Well two can play at THAT game! I assume what you meant to say by calling me a “Wikipedia Article” is that my response to Madam Widow’s question was worded like an article on the history of Black Hawks and Black Volts. However, that would make it more accurate to say that I sounded like I was reading a Wikipedia article, not that I am one!” Eclipse retorted.

“Well you clearly knew what I meant!” Harazuki claimed.

“What if I didn’t? What then? You need to be exact when calling people nicknames!” Eclipse theorized.

“That’s just a hypothetical!!” Harazuki fumed.

“Is it?” Eclipse asked, grinning smugly.

“YES! OBVIOUSLY IT IS!!” Harazuki answered, becoming frustrated.

By now, the two of them were not just butting heads in the metaphorical sense, but also in the literal, physical sense as well. They had become so engrossed in proving “who’s right” that they seemingly had forgotten that there was anyone else around. That is, until someone decided to step in and break the two’s feud apart.

“ENOUGH!” Shadow commanded, stepping in between the two to hold them off from each other as her voice boomed with annoyance. “Both of you, knock it the fuck off, won’t you?? Can’t you see how long you two are having to make my mother wait to continue telling the story with this petty bickering??” They pointed out.

Harazuki pouted and crossed her arms, while Eclipse covered their face with their hand and looked away from both Harazuki and Shadow. Either way, it was clear that the both of them realized Shadow was right, and felt deeply embarrassed for letting a moment of sibling rivalry get the better of them.

“Hara.” Shadow then began to speak again. “There was no need to tease Eclipse just for being passionate about the biology of the Black Arms.”

Harazuki silently nodded and sat back down.

“And Eclipse, even if it was unneeded, Hara’s comment towards you was something you could have - and should have - just brushed aside and ignored. There was no need to turn it into a whole big argument.” Shadow added.

“Right. With a reputation like mine, I can’t afford to be petty. I understand that now.” Eclipse admitted before also sitting down. “I’m sorry for that, Hara.” They added.

“Yeah, same here…” Harazuki sighed.

“Ah, wonderful. Especially from you, Shadow! You handled that just as a leader should!” Widow remarked.

“O-Oh, uhm… Th-thanks…!” Shadow sheepishly accepted the compliment, the pride and joy from it growing within her being able to be felt all throughout the hivemind.

“You know… I think I’ve finally moved on from the whole thing - but when Eclipse becomes all passionate like that, I think a part of my heart still flutters because of it…” Relic muttered in admittance only to Rouge.

“... Ya know what? I get it.” Rouge whispered back.

The two girls quietly giggled to one another about their remarks, but then, suddenly, Rouge seemed to get the idea to try to catch Eclipse’s attention.

“Hey..! Clip..!” Rouge said as loudly as she possibly could while still maintaining a whispery tone.

“Hmm?” Eclipse hummed.

“How come you’re sticking around? Aren’t you still busy with Relic and I’s assimilation chambers?” Rouge inquired curiously.

“Oh, I’ll just be here for this one little part. Besides, the chambers are almost complete, anyways.” Eclipse explained.

“Are they really?” Relic asked, her excitement almost causing her to break her whisper.

“Well would ya look at that? We’re well on our way to becoming full on Black Arms~.” Rouge remarked.

“I know..! Aren’t you excited?” Relic exclaimed.

“Yeah, I guess I am...” Rouge admitted.

“The hivemind at work~.” Eclipse stated.

“... Yeah.” Rouge nervously agreed. “Say, where are the Dark Arms? Surely they would want to learn about this stuff too, right? Rhygenta at the very least.” She then asked, changing the subject.

“They’re off being busy with their own little project… That’s what they told me, anyway.” Eclipse answered.

“You mean you don’t know what they’re up to?” Relic voiced in concern.

“I'm afraid not. All I know is that they plan for it to be complete by the end of the night.” Eclipse explained.

"The end of the night? Like… during the Firework Show at Station Square?" Rouge questioned.

“That is what they said.” Eclipse simply responded with a shrug.

Suddenly, the three’s conversation was interrupted by the sound of Shadow clearing it’s throat, in an attempt to once again return all attention to Widow.

"Oh, right. Sorry hun, sorry Mrs. Widow." Rouge apologized.

“My bad, Shadow. Let my excitement for tomorrow get ahead of me!” Relic admitted.

"My apologies to the both of you, sincerely." Eclipse said.

“Oh, it’s alright! You gave me enough time to figure out where to continue from.” Widow revealed, which seemed to make Shadow feel a bit embarrassed. “Thank you for caring about me though, Shadow.” She added, which did seem to make them feel better.

-☆☆☆-

The once dense bunch of Black Arms that had filed into the Schoolhouse together about a few hours ago had now settled, being spread throughout the building in bunches by the hivemind's directions, orchestrated by the Black Arms leaders who were somewhere within the building itself. Each bunch had a job to do, an assignment given, for once everything is completed, the leaders promised that a second rally, one even greater than the first, would be able to commence.

And then there was Latté.

Completely alone, she paced one of the many hallways of the schoolhouse, far too haunted by her own thoughts to be able to follow the hivemind's directive. Completely alone, that is, until Latté noticed Vladmira making their way through the same hallway. At first the sight had stunned her. What was Vladmira doing out here? Weren't the Black Arms leaders busy with their own plans elsewhere within the schoolhouse? She had wondered to herself. It was then that anxiety had struck her, swinging at her swiftly with mighty power. The question of why Vladmira would be here was one that Latté envisioned an answer to quite quickly, regardless if it was correct or not. They must be here because they noticed I'm not doing anything, she figured. She felt bad for not being productive, truly, she did. She just was so terribly worried.

"Worried? What do you have to worry about, Latté?" Vladmira asked her through the hivemind, spooking the young lady despite their gentle tone.

"O-oh, well, if I must confess… then it is Uni that I'm worried for." She answered, perhaps a bit more formally than she needed to. Even though she and Vladmira had been friends for a while before the founding of the Black Arms, Latté's formed a sort of habit of seeing them as "above" her, as a leader.

"That doesn't surprise me, nor do I blame you for that. It certainly must be quite troubling for you to have someone you hold so dearly refuse to stand by you at a time like this." Vladmira said to Latté, understanding the girl's woe, even if they themself have not experienced such a thing for themself.

"It definitely is… And it's not like she has abandoned me! I know she very clearly wants us to be reunited!" Latté explained further.

"That too, I have noticed. When we were retrieving Death last night, you saw her pursuing you, yeah?" Vladmira noted.

"How could I not? Even if I didn't see her, I could certainly hear her..!" Latté responded, throwing in a joke to hopefully lighten the mood for herself. Vladmira chuckled at the joke, which certainly did help in that. "If she's determined enough to have me to chase us down in the dead of night, there's no doubt she'll chase us down again. I would be pretty surprised if I didn't see her again today." She then continued.

"Oh, definitely. In fact, I feel like you could use that to your advantage." Vladmira suggested.

"In what way?" Latté asked.

"I… don't know quite yet. I tried to plan something out for you with Death earlier, but he just said that he thinks Uni is a lost cause and that you should focus on other things." Vladmira admitted.

-☆☆☆-

"Oh wow, Death really just… never changed, did he???" Harazuki remarked, interrupting the story.

"Heh, I've certainly heard that one before." Eclipse chimed in.

"And yet, here I am." Shadow quipped, just being unable to help herself from doing so in the moment, despite her frustrations earlier.

"Why am I not surprised to hear that…? Oh, it's because I knew him too well to expect anything else." Widow said, joining in on the criticism of Black Death to make a segue back into the story.

-☆☆☆-

"Oh wow, so helpful of him." Latté remarked sarcastically.

"I know, right? What would we ever do without him?" Vladmira replied just as sarcastically, shaking their head.

"Well, if Death isn't going to help you, then why don't I? I know Uni better than anyone else in all of PetalBloom - even herself. Besides, I bet if she sees that I'm just as determined to be with her as she is to be with me, then maybe she'll realize that us Black Arms aren't just heartless, mindless monsters that want to destroy everything!" Latté then suggested, being serious now.

"Exactly! Sure, we do like destroying things, a lot, it's very cathartic - but we still care about people! That's why we're doing this in the first place! We care about each other and all the people on PetalBloom that have been hurt by Madam Moonshine's puritanical bullshit, so we're gonna burn her order to the ground and build a chaotic utopia on its ashes!" Vladmira blurted out in a passionate ramble. "But anyway, you're on to something there, I think!" They added, getting back on topic.

"You really think so?" Latté asked.

"Definitely." Vladmira confirmed.

"Cool! Guess we can start making a plan after I'm done doing whatever it is you guys wanted me to do originally, right?" Latté then inquired.

"Oh uhm, well, we don't… have anything for you to do, actually." Vladmira answered awkwardly. "As I said, the plan to get you to go get Uni fell through because Death doesn't believe in anyone except for Doom and maybe himself every once a week, and it was pretty last second so uh. Your schedule is blank." They elaborated.

"So that's why I didn't hear anything! I just thought I was so lost in my worrying about Uni that I accidentally drowned the hivemind out! Well I'm glad that wasn't the case." Latté remarked, feeling relieved. "So we should start planning now, right?"

"Better now than late-" Vladmira began to respond, but was interrupted when something took Latté's attention away from them. "Hey, where are you going-?" They asked, but their question was quickly answered as they turned their head to where Latté had gone.

In a hallway connecting to the one Latté and Vladmira had been traveling down, there stood a lone young Bloomian, one that hadn't been in the schoolhouse before this moment according to the Black Arms' knowledge.

"Hey! What are you doing here??" Latté said to the Bloomian in a tone one would use to address a friend who you run into unexpectedly.

"Yeah, I thought you told us you weren't gonna be able to make it!" Vladmira added, sounding delighted to see the young Bloomian.

"I did - I thought that I wouldn't have the chance to sneak out with the Mini Mayhem meeting planned today! But the craziest thing happened!" The Bloomian explained, immensely piquing the interests of Latté and Vladmira.

"Crazy enough to get you here against the odds? Despite all the supposed distancing from us that your buddy Kuel had you all do last year?" Vladmira questioned.

"Most certainly! Latté, you're really gonna like this!" The Bloomian promised.

“... No way.” Latté uttered in disbelief, already having put two together in her mind.

“Yes way!!” The Bloomian exclaimed, feeling the hope and joy sparking within Latté’s ever widening eyes.

“Now how in the hell did Uni “The Word of Madam Moonshine and Priestess Waning Are Never To Be Questioned” Bishop end up teaming up with Mini fuckin’ Mayhem of all groups???” Vladmira questioned the Bloomian curiously, just as taken aback as Latté.

“Honestly, from what I understood - it was entirely happenstance! While we were bunkering down in our HQ, Kuel overheard the sounds of you all heading to the Schoolhouse and decided to go and investigate - curiosity and all that - and he just so happened to notice Uni just about to go chasing in after you guys! They stopped her, and talked her into going in to retrieve you and Mocha as a team!” The Bloomian explained.

“Well doesn’t it suck for him that you’re playing double agent, then? Probably made a whole plan and everything… Only for it to all go so terribly wrong…~” Vladmira assumed, an evil grin appearing on their face as they spoke.

“That’s the thing! I want the plan to go as she had wanted! I want to get the chance to find Latté and Mocha - which I’m already halfway there on, go back to the others one by one telling them I found the two - while bringing them into the hivemind along the way - so that once we all get back to where Kuel and Uni will be, they will be too little to fight our influence, and Latté and Uni will be reunited in the hivemind! With bonus points for the restoration of Mini Mayhem’s affiliation with the Black Arms!” The Bloomian retorted excitedly, renewing Latté and Vladmira’s shock with just how exact and detailed their plan was.

“You… seem to have yourself under control then…” Vladmira remarked. “But there’s… A problem - just a little problem, really should only be a matter of a time constraint really.” They added, almost as if they had completely forgotten about whatever it was that they were referring to until this exact moment.

“What would that be, exactly?” The young Bloomian asked.

“Weeeeell… The other Black Arms leaders and I had planned it to be a surprise, but… At the end of tonight’s rally, we’re planning on taking everyone outside and reenacting the explosion of the original schoolhouse that Widow and Sen pulled off last year… And if you’re still in the process of going through your plan when that happens…” Vladmira revealed, causing Latté and the other Bloomian to look quite nervous.

“That… wouldn’t be very ideal…” Latté muttered. The Bloomian shook their head in agreement.

“But hey, there’s still time for both of us to adjust our plans. We could do ours later, you could make things quicker on your end-” Vladmira began to say, but Latté interrupted them part way through.

“Or… I could use that to my advantage! I mean, if I did, by whatever means, save Uni’s life, that too could make a big effort in showing that I still love her!” She theorized.

“I suppose it would, but don’t make that your main plan, alright? Us Black Arms have made it a bit of a personal rule that we don’t kill kids. To take away the life of a young soul just as Moonshine and her constituents stole ours would be to completely undermine our goal - our message.” Vladmira warned, their tone deeply serious.

“That would be most preferable, yes. But if something unfavorable must occur in pursuit of our mission, then it simply must happen.” Troubling words seeped into the hivemind suddenly, spoken by a very familiar voice.

“I’d prefer it if you’d at least try being an optimist every once in a while, my love.” Vladmira remarked, chastising the young man who had spoken such skeptical words.

“You imply that I’m being a pessimist.” Death surmised.

“Yes.” Vladmira affirmed. "Because you are."

"No, I’m not. I’m just being realistic.” Death argued before taking off further into the hallway, leaving Vladmira behind with Latté and the other Bloomian.

Latté and the Bloomian looked at one another in concern, which Vladmira clearly noticed.

“Don’t worry about him, you two. He doesn’t know Uni and Mini Mayhem the way you two do.” They told the two of them, trying to be as comforting as they possibly could be.

Despite Vladmira’s comforting words however, Latté still couldn’t help but to become haunted by her worries once again. The young Bloomian must have picked up on this, because they spoke just as the feelings started to return.

“I know it’s probably a tall ask, but could I by any chance be in charge of the explosions? Would probably lessen our chances of a tragedy occurring.”

“Hmm. definitely sounds reasonable. I’ll have to…” Vladmira began to respond, but got distracted when they noticed that Death was lingering at the end of the hallway, as if waiting for something, or someone, even. Vladmira called out to him and asked about such things rather than completing their reply to the young Bloomian.

“Indeed I am. I’m waiting for you.” He answered rather vaguely.

“Me?” Vladmira questioned.

“Yep. The reason why I’m here is because Doom told me to go find you, actually.” Death explained only slightly.

“And the reason for that would be…?” Vladmira quiered.

“We��re having a leaders meeting back at the lounge in about five minutes.” Death finally revealed.

“Is that so? Then perhaps I can bring these two along to tell the others about their concerns with our finale for tonight?” Vladmira suggested, gesturing to Latté and the other Bloomian.

“Concerns? What would their concerns be?” Death asked as if he hadn’t just been lingering in the background of the conversation going on.

“Ugh. I’ll tell you while we make our way there since you didn’t care to listen while you lingered around.” Vladmira remarked as they made their way towards the lounge that Death spoke of.

“Hmph, of course you’d do that… Now those two have to come along, it’d seem.” Death groaned in response as he followed from behind. A giggle given by Vladmira basically confirmed his theory. “You’re lucky that you’ve captured my good side…” Death stated, his face nearly completely bright green.

“I could see Uni and I having an exchange like that, I won’t lie.” Latté speculated.

“What an absurd comparison. What Vladdie and I have is a relationship like none other in the entire universe. You certainly don’t understand it.” Death objected, rolling his eyes rather dramatically.

“I dunno… I see it.” Vladmira noted with a cheeky smile.

It didn’t take very long for the four of them to reach the “lounge” that Death had spoken of, which turned out to be the main teacher’s lounge, situated in the dead center of the schoolhouse. When they reached the lounge, they were met with Sendrir and Widow standing at the doorway like a pair of guards.

“You two do know that the whole thing of the lounge’s location being a secret is more so to encourage the usage of the hivemind for communication rather than for explicitly keeping anyone out, right?” Death implored of the two rather snidely.

“Of course we do. Are you aware of the fact that Doomie told us to stand out here to make sure you came back with Vladmira on time?” Widow replied, annoyed by Death’s assumption.

“Whether or not any of us are aware of all that, we are all aware that the meeting’s about to start, yeah?” Sendrir added light heartedly, stepping in to break the tension between Death and Widow. Her tone of voice sounded a lot more cheerful than it did the last time Latté saw her, which made her happy to see.

“Of course I am, since I did my due diligence to force the info outta Death.” Vladmira remarked, causing Widow to chuckle. As Vladmira spoke, Sendrir seemed to notice Latté and the other young Bloomian standing just behind them.

“Hey! Looks like Death and Vald brought guests! Two of ‘em!” She announced to the others as she peeked her head into the room.

“It wasn’t my idea, make no mistake! Those two being here is all Vladmi-” Death insisted, though was cut off before he could finish speaking.

“Is that so? Quite marvelous! Now I will not be the only one who brought an extra!” Doom exclaimed, which clearly caught both Death and Vladmira off guard - though in different ways, it would seem.

“B-But when they told me they wanted to bring these two lovely brethren of ours along, I knew that it would be a great opportunity to hear what our followers want!” Death added to his previous statement, backtracking on his dissociation from the affair.

"What a kiss-ass..." Lattè whispered to the other Bloomian through the hivemind, and gritted teeth, somehow.

“Something like that, I suppose.” Vladmira replied, Latté managing to pick up on the fact that they were rolling their eyes as they spoke despite their irises blending into their sclera due to their coloration. It was an ability she picked up on from being close to Uni for so long, as Uni too had eyes like that.

Another thing Latté picked up on as she entered into the teacher’s lounge was an immense feeling of excitement coming from the Black Arms leaders. Whatever the reason - or reasons - may be, it made Latté happy to see, and even happier to feel for herself. Though she just couldn’t help but wonder where such excitement was coming from, so in search of what the culprit could be, she started to look around the room investigatively. In her search, she found multiple possible causes.

At the side of Ms. Lillian, Latté saw the youngest Black Arms Leader; Tsunami, who she had thought would end up stuck at home and rendered unable to attend, much like the young Bloomian by Latté’s side.

By the icebox, grabbing each other drinks, were Widow and Sendrir. Vague memories of the conversation between the two of them and Doom came back to Latté as she saw them.

At the table in the center of the lounge was Doom, and sitting next to him was who Latté assumed to be the guest that she had overheard him mentioning having brought along; an average height looking Bloomian man she assumed to be in his mid twenties age-wise. He dressed rather typically for an adult Bloomian, aside from a thick pair of gloves that grabbed Latté’s attention - or maybe it wasn’t the gloves themselves, but rather what stood on top of one of the gloves that actually caught her gaze. A rather young yet still majestic looking Petal-scaled Dragon standing politely on the guest’s finger, looking even from afar to most likely stack up pretty closely to Latté herself in height.

-☆☆☆-

“Oh, it would have most likely done so! It was believed that ancient Petal-scaled Dragons could grow to be around fifteen feet as adults! Even baby Petal-scaled Dragons like the one in the care of Lord Doom’s guest were on average eight feet when standing up in such a way, according to my research. With Bloomians themselves being on average eight to nine feet tall themselves, and Latté being a still developing teenager during these events, there’s no doubt that she and the dragon would have been similar heights!” Eclipse suddenly interjected.

“Oh fuck I think I’m falling in love again.” Relic muttered, beginning to rather heavily blush.

“Eclipse, I think you’re gonna kill her if you keep being so filled with information.” Rouge remarked jokingly.

“Oh, sorry. Sometimes I just can’t help myself, you know?” Eclipse said earnestly.

“No no, no need to apologize, dear…!” Relic insisted despite the fact that she was trying to cool herself off in between writing down what Eclipse had said in her journal.

“Oh, I think I know how I can make things better~!” Rouge proclaimed just before giving Relic a kiss on the cheek.

“Well now I don’t feel b-bad for blushing, at least….!” Relic stammered out as she fell back onto the floor, her face completely bright green.

“Would you look at that, her blush is completely green! It’s as if she is already fully a Black Arms!” Eclipse pointed out.

“Well she better not be! The two of us still gotta get our assimilations done by you!” Rouge jested, poking Eclipse’s arm playfully.

“And the lack of need for such would completely throw off my schedule!” Eclipse added light heartedly. “Speaking of schedules, I’m sure that everyone’s would be affected if we continued to mess around here, so Rouge, you make sure Relic gets all she needs into her journal, and let Widow’s tale continue!” They added.

“Oh, uhm, you bringing up schedules and stuff reminded me of something I wanted to tell you, but we can talk about it later.” Shadow said to Eclipse.

“Are you sure…? I think I remember what you’re talking about Shadow… I think Eclipse would be very interested…” Relic managed to say while still being a blushy mess.

“No no, I can hear it later.” Eclipse insisted. Widow nodded in approval.

-☆☆☆-

Once everyone was seated at the table, Ms. Lillian began to pass out plates of cookies to each person seated.

“I hope you weren’t made to come up short with the treats because of our sudden arrival.” The young Bloomian seated next to Latté said to Lillian, sounding guilty.

“Oh no, don’t fret a single bit darling. I anticipated that something like this would occur. That’s why Sen and I made sure to make extra cookies just in case.” Lillian responded kindly.

“Wait, Sen helped make these cookies?” Latté inquired.

“She most certainly did!” Lillian answered.

“Even though it sucked, at least I gleaned some class action cooking and baking skills from being locked up in my old man’s restaurant all day everyday my whole life!” Sendrir added.

“Most certainly! These cookies are delightful - thank you, you two.” Doom said cheerfully.

“You’re very welcome dear.” Lillian replied.

“Consider it a thank you from me for this morning.” Sendrir added, much to Lillian’s confusion. “I’ll explain once the meeting starts.” She promised.

“I’m surprised you were able to make it, Tsunami!” Vladmira remarked. Latté nodded, admitting non-verbally that she had been thinking the same thing.

“Why do you think I told you two to leave her behind last night? Did you assume carelessness on my end? Well I assure you it was not.” Death proclaimed.

“So you did have a plan… Nice going, sweetheart.” Vladmira confirmed.

“Of course I did! I knew that our parents wouldn’t be surprised by me sneaking out in the middle of the night - I do it all the time. But Tsunami is a different story! If she were to have gone with us last night, our parents would have surely been suspicious of that.” Death responded confidently.

“So instead, we relied on them being okay with me going to school! I got ready for the day, they saw me going to the schoolhouse, then I talked with Death over the mind-link thingy so he could tell me where you all were! Yayayaya!” Tsunami added with pride. Latté could tell by how much Tsunami’s signature cheer tugged at the other leaders’ heart strings that they had missed the young girl very very much.

“I’m very proud of both of you.” Lillian said to Death and Tsunami, giving the both of them pats on the back for their masterful planning.

“Thank you grammy!” Tsunami replied. Death nodded.

“I do believe that settles things on pre-meeting matters… Let the meeting commence!” Doom announced. “With what matter shall we begin~?”

“May I begin, Doomie?” Widow immediately proposed. “Well, Sen and I, but I’m sure you know what it would be regardless.”

“Ah! Yes! Of course!!” Doom beamed approvingly.

“Alright, what’re you three keeping from the rest of us?” Vladmira asked playfully.

“Whatever it is, they seem rather excited about it..!” The young Bloomian remarked.

“Well, you see…” Widow began.

“Widow and I are girlfriends now!!!!” Sendrir continued excitedly as she hugged Widow tightly.

“I’m still dating Doomie by the way, just so we’re clear!” Widow added.

“We simply added Sendrir to our wonderful relationship…!” Doom concluded.

“Yay!! Everyone has love!! Yayayaya!” Tsunami cheered.

“Ah! What a wonderful way of breaking through yet another one of this world’s rigid expectations, sir!” Death exclaimed.

“Would it be rude of me to say that I honestly saw this coming…?” Vladmira implored.

“Of course not!” Sendrir replied happily.

The meeting was off to a wonderful start, at least in Latté’s eyes. Everyone was happy for Widow and Sendrir. But despite this, she couldn’t help but feel worried about Uni again. The Bloomian sat next to her gave her an understanding glance, and the two were just about to silently agree to volunteer to speak next. But before they got the chance, Ms. Lillian raised her hand to speak.

“What matters do you wish to bring to the table, Lillian?” Doom asked inquisitively.

“I have two, actually, if that’s alright.” Lillian admitted.

“I shall allow it.” Doom said.

“The first of my concerns is with my dear grandchildren, Death and Tsunami. I know very well that they cannot stay with us permanently, not for now. If they stay with us for too long, their parents are bound to become suspicious again.” Lillian explained.

“I know that feeling.” Sendrir confided.

“I suppose the question would be… How long is too long?” Death suggested. Tsunami nodded in agreement.

“That’s what I was wondering too. I have no doubt that this second rally of ours will run a decent ways into the night, and it would be a shame for two of the organizers to have to leave early.” Lillian stressed.

“Maybe you could tell their parents after the rally’s over that they had to stay late at school for an extracurricular event? That’s seemed to work for us Mini Mayhem members quite a few times in the past!” The young Bloomian beside Latté proposed.

“That might work. I’m just a bit concerned on account of their father. My daughter Shelby and I are rather close, as you probably inferred from my speech at the first rally. Her husband and I on the other hand… We tend to butt heads more often than not.” Lillian responded.

“I don’t know if this would help tonight but maybe we can try to get them to be a part of the Black Arms? Maybe then they wouldn’t mind Death and I staying out for rallies like this!” Tsunami suggested, her voice somewhat muffled by the many cookies she had shoved into her mouth.

“If we did manage that, I think the chances of them being lax on you two would be a lot higher than a “maybe”.” Lillian remarked.

“I’m not sure how possible that would be, though.” Death retorted.

“It wouldn’t hurt to try, would it?” Tsunami argued, still having some cookies in her mouth.

“We’ll see. But let’s get back on focus to the here and now.” Lillian said, taking a bite of one of the cookies on her plate. “And pace yourself with the cookies, Tsunami.” She added.

“Okay!” Tsunami replied, immediately shoving another handful of cookies into her mouth.

“Who’s to say our father will even be home when we get back? He has quite the habit of coming home quite late. The extracurricular excuse would most certainly work for our mother, and we would already be home by the time he would typically come home, so he’d be none the wiser.” Death pointed out.

“Well what if he does come home before you two do?” Lillian questioned.

“You get our mother pitted against him if he questions the extracurricular claim. Accuse him of demonizing you. Works for me.” Death answered.

“That settles it then.” Lillian concluded with a nod.

“And what of your other concern?” Doom asked Lillian as a reminder.

“Oh, yes. While I very much appreciate that my home is seen as a safe space by so many of the Black Arms, I fear that I’m running out of room for everyone to sleep! I would like it if we could funnel some funds together to buy some hammocks for the cabin.” Lillian requested.

“We most certainly can do that!” Doom replied. “Though, there is a curiosity I now have.” He added.

“Oh?” Lillian inquired.

“Widow, my dearest. With your prowess for creation, would you perhaps just so happen to know how to make hammocks yourself?” Doom asked his beloved girlfriend.

“Oh, I’m uh… afraid not.” Widow revealed. “But I’m definitely willing to learn!”

“I suppose we will have to settle for buying hammocks for now like Lillian had originally planned, then!” Doom surmised.

“For now.” Widow added. “In the meantime, I’m willing to bring the mask shop back to raise funds for the hammocks!”

“Ooh! Maybe Sen and Ms Lillian can bake more of these cookies and we can sell them around the schoolhouse, too!” Latté suggested.

“Ehhh… I don’t think I’m quite ready yet to be in the kitchen again for business purposes…” Sendrir admitted, clearly looking uncomfortable with the idea.

“Oh, that’s okay!” Latté replied assuringly.

“Thanks, kiddo.” Sen responded back.

“Can we go next?” The Bloomian beside Latté spoke up, not wanting the opportunity to pass them again.

“Please?” Latté added, making sure that the two of them didn’t come off as impolite.

“I do not see why not.” Doom answered approvingly.

“Thank you!” The Bloomian said.

“From what I know, Uni is heading to the schoolhouse as we speak, with the intent to track down Mocha and I. I believe that if I am able to in some way show her that I want to be reunited with her just as much as she wants to be reunited with me, she just might be able to see beyond the viewpoint she’s been made to look through all her life.” Latté testified.

“Is she coming alone?” Widow asked.

“No, she’s chosen to ally herself with Mini Mayhem for the time being.” The other Bloomian explained. “She’ll be arriving with at least Kuel by her side, though if my plan doesn’t have the chance to play out how I want, she could have more by her side by the time she finds Latté and Mocha.” They elaborated.

“And what is your plan, exactly?” Death questioned.

“And what’s Mini Mayhem’s plan? While we're on the topic.” Widow added.

“I’m glad you asked.” The Bloomian replied.

Even though it was now a few hours after the high noon of PetalBloom's central star, to Uni, it somewhat felt like no time had gone by at all. As once again she stood just a little bit aways from the entrance to the Schoolhouse with Kuel at her side.

"It's quite funny how much things can change in a single day." Kuel suddenly spoke. "Just this morning we were rivals, but now… We are allies."

"Don't let it get to your head - this is just so I can find Latté and Mocha. A means to an end, and nothing more." Uni replied bluntly.

"How kind." Kuel remarked sarcastically, to which Uni rolled her eyes.

"We don't have much time, let's go." Uni told him as she started to advance to the entrance.

"Right. The quicker we meet back up with the others, the quicker we rescue Latté and Mocha." Kuel agreed, following Uni.

"The classroom at the end of the first hallway, right?" Uni asked Kuel for clarification as she opened one of the doors to the Schoolhouse.

"Right on." Kuel responded, opening the other door that was on the left of the one Uni was opening.

As the two entered the building, its complete and utter emptiness caught the both of them off guard.

"... Where the hell is everyone?" Kuel blurted in shock.

"They must all be congregated farther into the building." Uni surmised, pushing down her feelings of uneasiness. "Must have figured someone would try to interrupt their little get together."

"They're hiding from us…!" Kuel assumed, slamming their fist into their hand.

"In a sense, probably. My guess is that they figured that the longer the distance any opposing party would have to travel, the more likely they are to either give up or become too tired to fight against them." Uni elaborated.

Despite her reasoning, the sheer lack of people in the hallways still unnerved Uni - and seeing that the same rang true for the classrooms didn't do her worries any good.

Uni decided it'd be better just to not give such details any mind, and instead kept her focus on Latté. Even though Kuel and her were to be meeting up with the other Mini Mayhem members before setting out for her and Mocha, she figured it wouldn't hurt to at least try to keep an eye out for any sign of where Latté may be from just the building itself. Very quickly, it seemed like everything else faded from Uni's view, her eyes glued onto a thin track leading to her girlfriend, as if she were almost able to sense out Latté's location. No, not almost. Definitely. Uni didn't know what it was that she was feeling at that moment, but it was Latté's, whatever it was. The emptiness of the hallways created a sort of vacuum effect, funneling this strange sense straight into Uni without interruption. A part of her questioned what this sense was, what it was that she was feeling, if it was a gift given to her by Madam Moonshine in this moment, chosen to bring Latté and Mocha salvation in that moment, or if it was something else, something perhaps a bit more… unfavorable? But another part of her wanted to completely abandon all reasoning that her mind could conjure up for her as to what was happening, or to try to prove it as a mere illusion, and to just simply follow what her gut feeling was telling her, what her heart was telling her, what this feeling was telling her-

"Uni!" Kuel called out to her, breaking the trance-like state that had taken Uni. "Where are you going, the classroom where we're supposed to be meeting at is right here!" He continued, pointing into the classroom that she was standing next to.

"Oh, uhm, right. Guess I got distracted." Uni sputtered, feeling embarrassed for what had happened. In fact, she'd probably start feeling downright paranoid about it if it weren't for the current mission going on.

Looking into the classroom, Uni was surprised to see only Katrien in there, with no sign of Kæ'Mirah or Rehkloos, and by looking over at Kuel, it was clear that he was surprised too - as well as a bit angered.

"Katrien." They spoke, calm for now, but still a bit harsh sounding.

"Oh, you're here." Katrien noted, turning to face Kuel and Uni as if nothing was amiss.

“Yes. But it seems that Kæ’Mirah and Rehkloos aren’t.” Kuel pointed out. “Where are they?”

“Well, we split up to cover more ground in our search for a pathway to Latté and Mocha. Just as you had told us to.” Katrien explained casually.

“But we were all supposed to meet back up here. You remember that part too, don’t you?” Uni interjected, clearly having said exactly what Kuel was thinking, given by how he looked at her after she spoke.

“Seems that they are running late then.” Katrien answered.

Kuel and Uni looked to one another and silently agreed that this wasn’t going anywhere, and unilaterally decided to drop the subject.

“That teacher’s desk you seem to be eyeing there has scratch marks on it.” Uni said to Katrien, changing the subject with the first thing that came to her mind.

“Indeed. I noticed them all throughout the classrooms. Their presence indicates a… struggle of some kind. Marks left by fingernails dragging for dear life as their owners are taken… Somewhere.” Katrien replied, elaborating on what they correctly assumed to be Uni's train of thought.

“Do you think that…?” Uni began to say, but Katrien cut her off.

“That the teachers that arrived at school today were kidnapped?” He said.

“Yes, exactly that.” Uni confirmed.

“... Why would the Black Arms be doing that?” Kuel questioned.

“To find that out is the reason why we kept ourselves apart…” Katrien stated, which confused Kuel and Uni.

“I thought you said that Kæ’Mirah and Rehkloos weren’t back yet because they were running late?” Kuel pointed out.

“I misspoke earlier. Apologies.” Katrien briefly explained, which seemed to be enough for Kuel to accept, but Uni wasn’t as convinced.

“Well, we might as well go find Kæ’Mirah and Rehkloos.” Kuel suggested as he began to leave the classroom.

“You and Uni go ahead on that matter. I wish to keep looking for where the teachers may have gone…” Katrien told them.

“Alright, I’ll leave it to ya man!” Kuel replied, approving the adjustment to the plan.

Uni followed behind Kuel slowly, eyeing the classroom and Katrien with suspicion for as long as she was able to.

“Something on your mind?” Kuel asked her, seeming to notice Uni’s behavior.

“Don’t you think it’s suspicious how casual Katrien was about diverting from our plan?” Uni questioned.

“Suspicious?” Kuel echoed with concern. “Are you implying that he’s switched sides or something??” She added, almost sounding offended by the unsaid accusation, which ticked Uni off a bit, but she tried to not let it show.

“... Maybe.” Uni admitted. Uni’s attempt at hiding her anger must have come out sounding some variety of hurt, because Kuel immediately went for a softer approach afterwards.

“Look, I know that at a time like this, it’s easy to be paranoid. But I assure you, us Mini Mayhem members are loyal until the very end!” Kuel promised, clearly attempting to comfort Uni.

“Except when it comes to the Children of The River, right?” Uni remarked cheekily.

“R-Right!” Kuel agreed. Though he tried not to show it, Uni could tell that Kuel was at worst taken aback by and at best impressed by Uni’s momentary teasing of them. “We took an oath the day the original schoolhouse was destroyed that we would never align ourselves with them ever again!”

Such a declaration should have been comforting for Uni to hear, but she still felt unnerved, haunted by her suspicions. Without thinking, she asked Kuel if they could go look for Latté on their own instead of trying to track down Kæ’Mirah and Rehkloos.

“Not a chance. We need their scouting information to have better odds at finding Latté and Mocha." Kuel responded. “Or at the very least I do. If you really need your girlfriend that badly, then you can go do your own thing, I guess.” They added sarcastically.

“So much for sticking together, huh?” Uni remarked. “Pretty hypocritical of you to let me go like that when you were stressing earlier today that me going in on my own would be a death sentence.”

“True, true, but I just figured you’d be used to hypocrisy, being a member of Moonshine’s clergy and all.” Kuel replied. “You should know better than to speak of things you don’t know about.” Uni retorted nonchalantly.

“I’d argue I know some things about it…” Kuel scoffed. “By the way, and not to be rude, but are… you acting more like me on purpose?”

“I’m… acting like you?” Uni asked, completely confused, as she hadn’t noticed any significant change in her behavior. Sure, she was cracking a bit more jokes, teasing Kuel a bit too, but that wasn’t out of the ordinary, was it?

“Kinda.” Kuel responded simply.

“... Well it’s not on purpose if I am. Though I’d like to argue that I’m just… letting myself be a bit looser. Since we’re on better terms and all. Allies, right? That’s what you called it.” Uni argued, not at all helping her case. Honestly, she started to notice where Kuel was coming from. Just fifteen minutes ago, Uni insisted that Kuel and her were not allies, that teaming up with him was a means to an end. But now she’s saying the opposite? It was almost like there was an odd disconnect between her words and her mind. Like her words were a shield to hide what was going on in her mind. He noticed how I was diverting from their plans, my heart forever set on my sweet Latté. She’ll grow suspicious of it. They’ll cut me off from the plan, I have to prove it to him that I’ll play along.

… What? Suspicious of what? “Play along”??

“We need to go find Kæ’Mirah.” Uni ordered, needing a distraction from all this. Kuel nodded, seemingly unaware of the turmoil in Uni’s mind as he trusted her judgment - which felt like it was becoming cloudier and cloudier by the minute.

As she and Kuel ventured deeper into the schoolhouse, a sign of life within the building could finally start to be heard. It sounded just like the meeting at the Yasmin Cabin that Uni had run into last night, and also just like the rally at the Riverbed Plaza last week. Either way, it sounded like a huge grouping of people, and it sounded like it had something to do with the Black Arms. At least, that’s the vibe Uni got from it.

Uni slowed her pace slightly to attempt to possibly make any sense of the noise - or even possibly sparse out Latté and/or Mocha among it. Kuel however kept moving at the same pace he always had, it was almost like they couldn’t hear what Uni was hearing. But why would that be the case? To Uni’s knowledge, it wasn’t like Kuel was hard of hearing in any way. So what would be the reason why she can hear the noise but they can’t-?

It’s not hearing, but sensing.

… Right! That sense she’s been feeling! That must be it!

That means Latté must be wherever the noise is coming from! Or Mocha too, maybe even both?

Uni still thought it a bit strange, what with it’s sudden appearance and strength, but she had no doubts about the fact that it would help lead her to Latté and Mocha.

For now, she settled her concerns about it by seeing it as a gift from the gods. An empowerment to her unwavering determination, even. Priestess Waning referred to her determination as a gift that morning, so that must be it!

Without any explanation to Kuel, Uni zoomed on ahead to where she felt the sounds were coming from, fueled by a newly found confidence provided to her by this gift of sense.

“Uni! Wait!” Kuel called out to her, trying his best to keep up.

Only a couple of seconds later, Uni, and then Kuel, reached the entrance of the schoolhouse’s cafeteria. It was there that they also found Kæ’Mirah, standing in front of the doors to the cafeteria, having a bite to eat.

“Uni! Kuel! Fancy running into you two here!” Kæ’Mirah remarked, clearly going for a momentary bit; pretending that she ran into the two of them rather than being a part of the plan. But neither Uni nor Kuel laughed.

“Joking around so you can hope to get away with being late on our plans? An interesting play - I’ll take the bait, only because we’re in a bit of a rush.” Kuel responded in a strict tone of voice. “It’s nice to see you, Kæ. Do you have any info on where Latté and Mocha are, by chance?” She then asked.

“Mocha yes, Latté no. I also have snacks if you want.” Kæ’Mirah answered.

Well, Uni was feeling hungry…

Uni went up to Kæ’Mirah and took one of the foil-wrapped snacks she was holding. Inside the wrapping seemed to be some sort of hand pie.

“Wait, where did you get those?” Kuel questioned Kæ’Mirah as she was handing the hand pie to Uni.

“The Cafeteria.” Kæ’Mirah replied simply, pointing to the cafeteria just past the doors behind her.

“And who in the cafeteria gave you them?” Kuel questioned her further.

“Mocha! She told me that her friend’s grandma made them!” Kæ’Mirah answered nonchalantly. The mention of Mocha in relation to the hand pie made Uni even happier to have it - as if it had been intended for her all along. As she bit into it, she felt a warmth much like when napping with Latté and Mocha during a cold afternoon surge through her body.

“H-Hey! Hold on, Uni!” Kuel exclaimed as they watched Uni eat the hand pie in record speed.

“Hmm?” Uni hummed, already having the final bite in her mouth.

“Uhm…” Kuel began to respond, seeming to hesitate greatly at first. “Didn’t you… Uh… For no particular reason… Say something about the Black Arms eating flesh? Back when you had that meltdown earlier?”

Uni took a moment to register his words, a feeling of dread spreading from deep within her, but then eventually fading. Not fading away, per say. Just fading.

“Was that just… Something you had said in a moment of panic, or-?” Kuel continued, but Uni cut her off.

“Last night… While I was searching for Latté for the first time… The first place I checked was the home of Lillian Yasmin, as I had heard about quite a few Black Arms taking residence there. I didn’t find Latté there, but what I did find was… A terrible bloodbath, orchestrated by Widow and that mysterious lover of hers… They were torturing one of the guys from the church, and when they were finished with him, they chopped him up into pieces and tossed them into a pile to be… Eaten… It was horrifying and grotesque… And yet…” “I just couldn’t look away…!”

“I just… I couldn’t… I just couldn’t… I..”

Uni’s body began to shake, muttering that last sentence on repeat. Kuel held her, trying to calm her down, but after a few minutes, Kuel seemingly gave up on trying to gently coax Uni back to reality, and went back to their old reliable - smacking Uni upside the head to get her to snap out of her daze. But instead of being upset and confused like she was the last time he had done that, she simply thanked him, wiping her now bleeding nose with her arm.

“Hey now, Uni… Look on the bright side! At least that gives you a good bit of insight into their tactics! You know better than any of us what lengths they’re willing to go to!” Kæ’Mirah said optimistically. Almost… too optimistically. Uni started to feel her senses go off again, but instead of guiding her to Latté, she now started to feel a terrible aura around Kæ’Mirah, one that felt distinctly… Black Arms-like in nature.

But she didn’t want to believe that the members of Mini Mayhem could possibly be falling to the whims of those demonic monsters. Besides, Kuel promised to her that they’d never side with the Black Arms, no matter what.

As she had looked away from Kæ’Mirah, trying to block out her senses, she looked back at the arm she had used to wipe her nose, which was now barely even bloody, despite it having only been at most thirty or so seconds since the bleeding began. The blood on her sleeve was still fresh, and it had the slightest, strangest glow to it, as if bioluminescent.

It reminded her a lot of when Archæsis uncovered the wings that had sprouted from Latté’s back the day before. She remembered how the blood that flowed from where the wings had sprouted glowed just like that, though more brightly. It wasn’t something that Uni took note of originally, but now, it was the only thing she could think of as she stared at her arm.

It was pretty, the way the blood on her arm glowed. It almost seemed to glow brighter the more Uni stared at it, but that only made it more beautiful. It glowed like a full moon, it glowed like Latté’s gorgeous face.

Oh how Uni yearned to see that face again, to be with Latté again. She’d do anything to have Latté back at this point. Absolutely anything.

“Kæ’Mirah, fetch Mocha and find Latté. Uni and I will go on to the rest of the schoolhouse.” Kuel’s voice cut through Uni’s internal monologue, shocking her with the thought of her having to wait even longer to reunite with Latté.

No.

No!

She was sick and tired of people keeping her away from her beloved Latté, Kuel being the most guilty of this themself.

An indescribable anger filled Uni’s head, taking her over like a parasite. She refused to be stopped again. She will reunite with Latté! And she’ll do whatever it takes to make that happen! Even if that means-

… Even if that means…

No…!

She couldn’t…!

And why was her mind even telling her to hurt Kuel in the first place? To kill him, even?? “If she has to”, no! She shouldn’t have to!

What the fuck is wrong with me?? She thought, finally getting up from the floor and facing Kuel.

She immediately noticed how uncomfortable Kuel looked. Apologetic as well. Like she was also considering something unthinkable.

“... But that wasn’t the plan…” Uni croaked out, fighting against the anger trying to eat her from the inside.

“I know.” Kuel responded plainly, sounding like he wanted to elaborate upon his thoughts, but was too choked up on the words to do so. “But… It’s close enough. We split into groups, we reconvened, we’re gonna get Latté and Mocha.” They finally added.

“If… If Kæ’Mirah is going to go find Latté… Where are we going?” Uni asked Kuel.

“We’ve still yet to check in with Rehkloos.” Kuel answered, a sense of calm and even confidence returning to her voice. “I’m sure she’ll have the answers we need.” They continued, almost accusatory towards Rehkloos.

Just the utterance of Rehkloos’ name sent a shiver down Uni’s spine. One that was as powerful as it was unexplainable.

“You… You feel it too now, don’t you?” Uni asked, starting to figure that she and Kuel were finally on the same wavelength.

Kuel didn’t respond, seemingly brushing away Uni’s question as one would to a discomforting thought. He refused to look Uni in the eyes.

“... I’m sorry…” Uni muttered out from somewhere deep within her, not even knowing why she said it.

She was in too deep to understand the sorrow those words carried.

The journey to finding Rehkloos was a painfully long and silent one, the dread both Kuel and Uni felt keeping either of them from being able to speak.

When they finally did reach Rehkloos, she was sitting on the teacher’s desk of the last classroom down the hallway that was furthest from the entrance.

In this hallway, there was a door that led outside.

Before the two of them had entered the classroom, Uni had managed one little thing to say to Kuel. She had noticed that he looked deeply uncomfortable as they had entered the hallway, and had decided to ask them why.

This was the hallway that Kuel’s brother had left from just before the destruction of the first schoolhouse.

That was his answer.

“Hello Kuel, hello Uni!” Rehkloos greeted them. Casually, as if nothing was amiss.

That was the first thing that set Uni off. Immediately, she felt distrustful of Rehkloos. This distrustfulness led Uni to discovering the second thing of suspicion quite quickly. In one of Rehkloos’ pairs of hands, Uni noticed a box of matches. In fact, it was the exact same brand of matches that were given to her last night by the stranger Uni had run into while looking for Latté. Uni decided she wouldn’t bring it up just yet, but she made sure to keep that information in her head for later.

“Have you guys found Latté and Mocha yet?” Rehkloos asked, still playing innocent.

“Nope. I sent Kæ’Mirah out to do that.” Kuel answered her bluntly.

“Oh..? Why so? That wasn’t part of the plan - wasn’t Uni supposed to find them?” Rehkloos wondered. Though she was clearly trying to sound concerned, Uni could still hear the annoyance that laid within.

“Why not? Surely you wouldn’t be against diverting from the plan, since you clearly already have! You, Kæ’Mirah, and Katrien were supposed to meet back up at the time I specified so that we could convene as a whole! And yet, here Uni and I find you three, still separated!” Kuel responded with unfiltered fury in his voice.

“Didn’t Katrien already tell you why we separated again?” Rehkloos questioned, her annoyance towards how the situation was unfolding starting to reveal itself more.

“How’d you know that, Rehkloos?” Kuel inquired.

“I… I… It was just an assumption, okay?! I’ll tell you the reason then!” Rehkloos reacted, losing her cool. “We split back up because we didn’t want to give the Black Arms a chance to ambush us! We figured we could fight more of them off if need be if we were scattered around the schoolhouse, that way they’ll never be able to pin us all down!”

“... What kind of idiot do you take me for, Rehkloos?” Kuel bellowed.

“E.. Excuse me??” Rehkloos hissed.

“Have you ever read a single horror novel before?? Or even a little kids’ scary story?? Because if you have, you’d know that splitting up in a dangerous situation is the worst thing to do!! Do you know how many stories have the characters being picked off one by one until only the main female lead is left because they were all split up???” Kuel challenged her loudly, not hesitating to get up in her face as he did.

“Hey, by the way.” Uni spoke, mimicking the out-of-place calmness that Rehkloos had moments ago. “What’s with the matches?” She asked.

“Wh-what the matches are for? I-isn’t it obvious?? I wanted to be able to light any lanterns in the schoolhouse that weren’t already lit yet!” Rehkloos claimed, sounding almost offended by the question.

“... Is that so?” Kuel uttered, joining in on Uni’s blow to Rehkloos’ facade. “Then tell me why all the lanterns in the schoolhouse are already lit while that box you have there looks unopened?”

“Ho-how’d you know what an unopened matchbox even looks like??” Rehkloos questioned, trying in vain to keep the mirage of innocence going.

“Because I’ve seen that brand before - some guy gave me a box of them last night while I was looking for Latté.” Uni answered. “You know what I also see?”

“What?” Rehkloos replied.

“Your eyes. They look rather… glassy, don’t they?” Uni remarked with a knowing grin.

There’s nowhere for her to hide now.

Rehkloos looked stunned, unsure of how to respond.

“Why… I do agree with that observation, Uni! Good work-!” Kuel added, being cut off by Rehkloos dragging him closer to her, making sure they got a good long look at those glassy eyes of hers. Kuel managed to break free of her grasp, but then instantly fell to the floor once out of her arms.

Uni rushed up to her, asking him profusely if they were okay.

“Head…. Hurt… Can’t… Think…” Kuel muttered weakly.

At that moment, the words that Kuel had said earlier to Uni resonated with her. Mini Mayhem was split up, and now they’re gonna be ambushed if her and Kuel don’t try to do something to fight back.

So Uni did something.

She picked Kuel up and prepared to make Rehkloos have to fight for whatever her plans were to succeed.

“Last one to Latté and Mocha is a sore loser~.” Uni snidely remarked before taking off out into the hallway.

“HEY! GET BACK HERE!!” Rehkloos cried, following her.

By now, Uni had finally begun to truly understand what was happening to her. This sense of hers, though most certainly of divine origin, was not a gift, but a curse, and it was certainly not from Moonshine.

Despite this knowledge, Uni still made use of it, though now on her terms, using the pathway to Latté that was laid in front of her as a path to make Rehkloos give chase along, relying on it to make detours that would catch Rehkloos off guard and create more distance between the two girls without taking Uni too far from where Latté was. At this point, there were only two things that Uni wanted - to be with Latté, and to make sure that Kuel would be safe. Uni figured it was too late for her, that she had no hopes of escaping the schoolhouse with her sanity and wavering loyalty to Moonshine intact, but maybe, just maybe, she could use the last bit of will she had left in her to keep Kuel from suffering the same fate as her.

This was a plan that Rehkloos clearly was not a fan of. All throughout the chase, she whined on and on about how no one ever cares about her and what she wants.

“Not everything is about you and your happy little love life, you know!!” Rehkloos hollered to Uni at one point. “You might get to have your happily ever after with Latté, but have you even considered what’ll happen to me if my plan doesn’t come to fruition?! I’ll be a failure! A failure in the eyes of the Black Arms leaders!! In the eyes of everyone!! They’re all relying on me!! They need me to succeed!! They need me to WIN!!!”

“What happened to no one ever loving you, hmm?” Uni asked her.

“They don’t love me YET! But they will!! They’ll honor my name for all of eternity once my plan is enacted!! Once all of you are under their command!!” Rehkloos manically responded.

“Oh for fucks sake…” Kuel groaned, finally awakening. “Rehkloos, you’re doing it again… You’re… You’re acting just like your mother…”

That remark of Kuel’s seemed to be the final straw for the already furious and emotionally unstable Rekloos.

“How… HOW DARE YOU??!! You know more than anyone all the terrible things that woman has done to me, Kuel!! And you’re comparing me to her??” Rehkloos snapped, stopping her anger-fueled monologue to have a spout of maniacal laughter. “That’s it… That’s fucking it. Neither of you ungrateful assholes deserve to join the magnificent Black Arms! Neither of you deserve to get that closure!! To be able to be with your loved ones again!!” She continued as Uni quickened her pace, admittedly a bit scared of what Rehkloos could do in this state. “The only thing either of you deserve is to BURN!! Burn with the rest of this tortuous building and the ones who run it!!” Rehkloos’ voice echoed into the cafeteria, which is where Uni and Kuel eventually ended up.

Within the cafeteria, Uni saw no sign of the crowd that had once been inside of it. No sign, that is, except for the various staff of the schoolhouse tied up around the massive room.

“You were… You were right…?!” Kuel exclaimed in shock, looking at the scene.

“Suppose so…” Uni replied, not knowing what else to say.

“Come on, we can maybe untie them all if we work together!” Kuel commanded, hopping out of Uni’s arms.

“Wait-!” Uni called after him in a panic. But before Uni could get a hold of Kuel again, Katrien appeared out of seemingly nowhere and pinned Kuel to one of the walls.

“Hm.. Seems that I only got one of you two, what a shame.” Katrien stated.

For a moment, Uni considered leaving the cafeteria to go find Latté. After all, that is what she was truly after in the first place, wasn’t it? She hadn’t even really wanted to team up with Mini Mayhem in the first place, and now that she has, where has that led her? Fighting for her own mind, possibly even about to lose her life?

Admittedly, she felt a bit betrayed.

She remembered the oath that Kuel had told her about earlier, and began to wonder if it was all just a bunch of bullshit.

But then she looked back at where Katrien and Kuel were, and overheard the struggle the two were having at that very moment.

“Kat…! Please, let me go…!” Kuel begged, their voice very noticeably wavering.

“I’m sorry, Kuel, my dearest companion, but I cannot do that until I’m given the command to do so.” Katrien responded, clearly having some sympathy for Kuel, but not enough to let her go free.

“You do have the command!! My command!!” Kuel stressed.

“I’m afraid that your command no longer applies.” Katrien revealed, refusing to budge.

“No… No no no no no-! You have to listen to me!! You can’t let them take over your mind, Katrien!! Please!!” Kuel wailed in desperation.

“Please, do not cry for me… I will keep you from being harmed, even now…” Katrien replied, but his words gave no hope or comfort to Kuel, who began to sob uncontrollably in the absence of any actual words left to speak.

The scene playing out in front of Uni’s eyes reminded her very much of herself and Latté. She sympathized with Kuel's desperation to salvage the person that they once knew, to try to bring them back in some way. In Katrien, Uni saw Latté, and felt just as sorry for him as she did for Latté herself. Uni wanted to save the both of them, even if she now understood such a thing to be impossible. She wanted to make sure that Kuel would be able to live another day, whether it be free from the Black Arms or not.

No, she didn’t want to ensure such things.

She had to, needed to!

And thus, she knew she would run no longer. She prepared to face Rehkloos directly, who she saw was now at the other side of the cafeteria.

That is, until she turned one more time to see Katrien taking off outside with Kuel.

Not knowing what Katrien planned to do with him, and not wanting to see Kuel be harmed, Uni chased after them, almost making it out the door before Kuel themself begged Uni to focus on Rehkloos instead. Reluctantly, Uni listened to her and turned back around to face off with Rehkloos again, but as she advanced towards the girl, she noticed that she had taken one of the matches out of her matchbox, and that beside where she stood was the start of a wick to some sort of explosive.

Adrenaline surged through Uni’s body, forcing her to move at speeds she had not known that she could go, all for the sake of reaching Rehkloos before she could light the match, before she could release the match, before the match could light the wick.

But Uni was just barely too late, the wick already starting to burn as she was face to face with Rehkloos.

“Awww, what a shame! Looks like you won’t get to have your sweet little Latté after all!” Rehkloos taunted her.

“And neither will you.” Uni remarked with a scowl.

“That’s a sacrifice I’m willing to make.” Rehkloos confessed, which did make Uni feel bad, even if only a little bit.

Rehkloos, in the end, deserved just as much to live as Uni or anyone else. She was just a troubled child from a troubled home who got unhealthily attached to the wrong people.

But there they were, Uni and Rehkloos, staring down each other’s eyes, both of which were already without life even as their bodies still stood, about to be blown into bits just like the schoolhouse.

Just as Uni could hear the wick about to run out, she heard an all too familiar voice cry out.

“Rehkloos!! WAIT!!”

#the era of shadow #teos #teos origins #the era of shadow: origins #undescribed #writing tag #black arms #mod eclipse #mod ash

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