#yeah I mean it when I say it’s magic he uses a spell to summon a fake tail whenever he feels like it

[magolandandfriends]

Hey Magolor and Crew, question for y’all. Is Magolor an Egg or/and an Cat?

⋆｡ ﾟ☁︎｡ ⋆｡ ﾟ☾ ﾟ｡ ⋆ ⋆｡ ﾟ☁︎｡ ⋆｡ ﾟ☾ ﾟ｡ ⋆ ⋆｡ ﾟ☁︎｡ ⋆｡ ﾟ☾ ﾟ｡ ⋆

Magolor: they’re still going are they?

Marx, Taranza and Susie: egg

(You see I had no idea what to put- I was gonna put Kit but that’s more for baby animals so I scratched that- cat alien? Cat-like? Creature?? No clue he’s just a silly little guy)

(BUT THANK YOY FOR THE ASK!!!!! this was more on the silly side but I do love me some silly asks so don’t be afraid to give me silly asks!! Serious/backstory asks are still very much appreciated they might just take longer to complete BUT PLEASE FEED ME YOUR ASKS THEY MAKE ME SO HAPPY NOM NOM NOM)

[unionizedwizard]

hey i havent read this, whats irma's azem like?

her ancient name was Mesotes! yeah like the pvp sage spell BUT i chose it before i unlocked sage so i was just there like 🫵 eyyyyy

(funnier considering irma is a sage/whm main these days. sage especially. symbolic storytelling is a game and i'm winning)

so, mesotes is the name of the aristotelian concept of "just middle"—harmony, balance, all that; mostly used in moral philosophy, especially when it comes to judgement and justice as a whole. i picked this one because irma as a character has always been centered around the idea of balance and justice (red magic 4ever), but also because emet-selch is extremely #plato coded and that endwalker as a whole (the elpis section in particular) is very much built like a tragedy (in aristotles' terms) and i found it very funny to go with the flow here (pun somewhat intended)

[considering what we know of the ancient world, aka: family ties are clearly not emphasized, while professional relationships and the concept of mentorship are really important; closest equivalent in the sundered world being sharlayan, of course] mesotes-the-ancient was emet-selch's apprentice in her youth. i have this headcanon that it was required by law and/or custom for anyone to take on an apprentice, especially if they occupied an important role in the community, and that this was a truly important bond (the likes of which do not really have an equivalent in our world) akin to a family one, and with responsibility and respect on both sides. mesotes was a really gifted mage and learned [black] magic under his guidance. knowing emet-selch, he was a stern and rather demanding teacher, but actually got attached to her despite his complaints that he had better things to do with his time <- she knew that and they both had a lot of respect for one another. possibly he was thinking of her as his successor for the 3rd seat.

which made it all the more surprising when she announced that she would start serving under venat (who was then acting as azem). he took it, shall we say, pretty badly. she didnt mean to hurt him, and the ancients' society valued learning and discovery before anything else, so his grief wasnt socially justified either, which i think was the root of his outward exasperation and bitterness mixed with genuine fondness for azem (as we see it in-game).

venat and emet-selch also were often, politically, on opposite sides within the convocation, i feel, which added a layer of betrayal to the whole thing. anyway things went really well with venat (who also taught her white magic among, most likely, other disciplines) and mesotes eventually took her place among the convocation, as azem. emet-selch felt a mix of pride and annoyance about the whole thing (pretty predictably)

personality-wise, she was a really stable and well-balanced person (what it says on the tin....), with qualities that both emet-selch and venat valued. she was really deeply attached to the social customs of the world she lived in, and respectful of her elders and the rules established before her time—but didn't hesitate to question the validity of certain rules and certainly didn't value order more than human life. she also had an independent and daring streak which tended to manifest in surprising ways, and was a generally grounding and warm presence despite being rather quiet; she was not at all outwardly eccentic. as i mentioned before, she held emet-selch in deep regard, and always considered his point of view, even though she was closer to venat towards the end. she often acted as the bridge between them, and for that reason (on top of being very young by ancient standards and having similar personalities and priorities) was really intimate with elidibus (though not on romantic terms). all of this led to her leaving amaurot never to return during the final days: she fervently opposed the summoning of zodiark and the sacrifice of all the future life on the star to bring back those who gave their lives to summon Him, but also refused to cast her lot with venat's followers. she was trying to find an alternate path, outside of this dichotomy, when she died, and was sundered [not quite sure about the details of her death here]. she especially opposed the idea of elidibus becoming zodiark's heart

even after the sundering, emet-selch (whose tempering made him all the more bitter towards hydaelyn) tried to "save" her by recruiting her for the ascian's cause, over and over again—his grief making him a lot more narrow-minded and gradually more authoritative than he was as an ancient, as he saw her allegiance as his rightful property and felt that he was the only one who could save her and return the both of them to their righteous place. the original feelings he had for her (much more generous and fair) progressively soured and festered over time. this is eventually what led him to irma as a child in occupied ala mhigo, but that's a story for another time (:

anyway to summarize:

[twstmagica]

Fetch Quest part 1

From the way Crowley had hyped it up, Yuu had expected acquiring a new magic gem to be an epic quest. She envisioned delving deep into the earth, scaling treacherous caverns, and narrowly dodging ferocious beasts. What they got instead was a relatively peaceful stroll.

Yuu says relatively because her company was totally dragging down the vibes.

“Myah! Are you crazy! It’s pitch black in there!” 

Fire Catcoon, don't you have literal flames coming out your ears?

“I can't believe I’m stuck with a literal scaredy cat! This is pathetic.” 

Stop egging him on Ace. That attitude is literally how you got here in the first place. 

“You – !”

“Shut up! Both of you!” Fed up, Yuu seized them by an ear each.

“Yeouch!”

“What the fuc – !”

The brats struggle but there's no escape. “We’re here because the two of you couldn't handle one day without starting a fight that destroyed seven hallways!” Also Deuce’s shit aim but he wasn't being a problem right now.

 The duo tries to protest but Yuu digs her nails into their ears.

Deuce watches in discomfort but doesn't actually try to stop her. Good.

“From now until we get back, I’m in charge, and I won't tolerate any more arguing. Are. We. Clear.” Yuu practically hisses the last part.

“Like I'm gonna –” Yuu pinches harder and twists. “Okay!”

Satisfied that order had been restored, Yuu surveyed the trio. Grim was still nursing his sore ear, Ace had retreated a few steps, shooting daggers with his glare, and Deuce was standing ramrod straight.

“So what's the plan then O’ mighty leader.” 

Ace's sarcasm was thick, but Yuu ignored it. She had a job to do.

If she was being honest, Yuu didn't actually have much experience with leadership. Still, she could improvise. Channeling her experience teaming up against fiends, Yuu tries to imitate some of the squad leaders she's worked with. 

“We go in staggered column formation. Myself at point, Grim and Ace take left and right respectively, and Deuce at the rear.” Yuu glares at them, daring anyone to interrupt.

“In the event of a hostile encounter, I’ll engage because I’m the only one with actual combat experience,” – Fire Catcoon starts to speak up but a pointed look silences him – “while Grim acts as my backup,” thanks to that night in Ramshackle she at least has an idea how he fights. “Ace and Deuce will provide cover fire when needed. Any questions?”

Deuce nervously raises a hand. “What's a staggered column formation?” Shifting in place he follows up, “and, uh, cover fire?”

Yuu blinks. Oh, right. Despite this world's freaky magic these people are still basically civilians. Glancing at the other two Yuu suspects they didn't understand much more than Deuce, but were too proud to admit it.

Motioning them over, she kneels down and starts drawing in the dirt.

 “So we are going in with a four point zig-zag pattern,” Yuu starts, drawing four circles connected by a line.

“I’m this dot at the front, then Grim is a little behind to my left, Ace will be further back at Grims right, and we end with you at the back on Ace’s left.”

Deuce is looking avidly at her crude sketch and nods. Despite his aggression from today's earlier fiasco the blunett was being surprisingly cooperative. 

“Cover fire means that if we get in a fight, while Grim and I move forward, you and Ace will use long range spells when we knock an enemy back.” I stand up and dust off my pants.

Fists clenching in determination Deuce looks in my eyes, “Got it!” 

That's the spirit!

Too bad Ace has to speak up. “You're putting the weasel before us? What the hell?”

“Grim is my backup because we’ve fought together before and know how to avoid getting in each other's way.”

At this Grim puffs up with pride. “Yeah!”

“And I've been in combat situations since I was ten. So I’d say I'm qualified to decide this stuff.”

“Wait what?”

Ignoring Ace I summon my scepter, “Alright, nothing else? No? Great.”

“What's that about you fighting since you were ten?”

“I’ll tell you later. Now squad, get in formation.”

“Yeah!” Deuce and Grim cheer. Ace is still looking at me dubiously but he gets in position. 

“Hold still, I'm going to cast a support spell. Grim, we did this before with the dorm ghosts.”

Grim’s tail wiggles as eyes light up with recognition. “The butterfly thing that made me stronger!”

“That's the one. Now, [Dreamer’s Blessing]!”

Shimmering butterflies spiral gently from my scepter and envelop the trio in a gentle glow.

“Alright, let's go!”

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

I've got this and the end sorted but the fight scene in the middle is giving me trouble so I'm just splitting the mine into three parts. Part three is the start of where this au really diverge but it doesn't feel right to just 'yada yada' away the things that lead up to that.

[agirlattea]

Mahoyaku Children’s Day Voice Lines: 

Central Wizards: 

Oz: When I was young, I lost to the twins countless times. I was once sealed in an iceberg and abandoned there. The next morning, they came for me, saying “Poor thing, it must have been cold”. At the time, I questioned the point of locking me away but… … Even now, I still question it. 

Arthur: When I was younger, I admired the way Sir Oz’s hair would flutter in the wind, and I wanted to grow out my own. At the time, I was told to refrain from doing so until I was powerful enough to protect myself, as parts of Wizard’s bodies can be used as mediums in spells, but… I wonder if it’s about time for me to match Sir Oz? 

Cain: Was becoming a knight my childhood wish? Yeah, of course! … Is what I wish I could say, but it was pretty different when I was little. According to my Mom, my dream was to become bacon until I was about three years old. Why? ‘Cuz it’s delicious… Hey, don’t laugh!

Riquet: My childhood memories… I enjoyed the time I spent talking with the Head Priest. He taught me what I needed to know and what I should do. I wonder what he is thinking, now that we have been separated… … I hope he feels lonely when he thinks of me. 

Northern Wizards: 

Snow: The other day, I witnessed a child fall down and cry on the street. When I summoned sweets with my magic, her tears ceased and she smiled. The expressions young children wear are always innocent. They do not yet harbor hidden intentions. It is touching* to see.

*Due to the roots of the word 愛しい (Itoshii), it can have a double meaning of both beloved/dear and pitiful. 

White: A strange child approached me on the street and offered a small flower as a token of gratitude. I thought her foolish for approaching a stranger but… it appears she was grateful for something Snow did for her to bring her back to her senses. This happens quite often. I think I will decorate our room with this flower for a while. 

Mithra: I don’t have any particular childhood memories. All I had to do was transport the corpses on my boat… now that I’ve remembered, I want to pick it up again. Please play the role of a corpse. I’m going to take you to the other side of the shore and throw you there, so please roll over docilely. 

Owen: I don’t have any childhood memories: I don’t remember anything… <Cur Memini>. Look, I’ve reverted the weak wizard’s hearts back to their childhood state, so go watch them. Most of the things children do are the same.  

Bradley: When I was a kid, my human siblings were still kicking. Every time I did something, people complained. They were weak and annoying, but when I look at the manor’s kiddos… I remember them.  

Eastern Wizards: 

Faust: I don’t have any grand childhood stories. I simply did my best to play the role as the head of my household, with the support of the adults in my village. I’ve been told I was polite and hard-working, I don’t think I was very cute. …That can’t possibly be true? Haha, you’re quite kind. 

Shino: My childhood memories aren’t great… No. Actually, there was a dream I had once ina. While that I liked. I was a rich man’s son. I went to nice restaurants with pocket money, had a nagging tutor, and fought with someone who was like my younger brother. That’s pretty nostalgic; I forgot about it until just now. 

Heathcliff: When I was a kid… ah, no. I was remembering a friend: an irreplaceable friend whom I met in the Orangery of the courtyard of my parent’s home. Someday, I will definitely take Shino with me to visit that friend once more. When I do, you should come as well, Master Sage. Please, allow me to introduce you once more.  

Nero: When I was a kid, huh… Well, I was born in a pretty bad place*. If I didn’t want to be abused and used by others, I had no choice but to be stringer than them. That’s probably why the first time someone praised me with “good job”… honestly, I barely understood what was happening. 

*Literally: A place with bad manners

Western Wizards: 

Shylock: Myself as a child? I loved the view from the top of the hill, and on sunny days I would stroll through the vineyards. At times, I would sneak grapes off the vines before the harvest… Even now I have not forgotten that fresh, sweet taste. 

Murr: What I was like as a child… hmm, I wonder? That’s right, lets ask this Red Beryl*! After all, this is something I cut myself as a kid. I’m sure it will still remember me though, I was young. <Eanul Lambru>!

*A type of gem 

Chloe: I cried pretty often when Rustica first found me, I’m sure it scared him. I mean, even when I ate delicious food, or wore beautiful clothes I cried. That’d surprise anyone, right? But each time, Rustica wiped my tears. That’s why, from now on, I’ll wipe his… 

Rustica: I tend to be quite forgetful, so I can’t tell you much about my childhood… instead, why don’t I change to the age you wanted to know about? Whether it’s the age Chloe and I met as or younger… fufu, very well then: <Amor Est Viesse>.

Southern Wizards: 

Figaro: I wasn’t very childish as a kid. Both adults and children relied on me, and I wanted to guide them in turn. I didn’t have a particularly childish childhood, but in that regard I’d say Oz and Mithra are quite similar to me. Don’t most Northern Wizards have stories like that?  

Rutile: Aaah! Glasses! …Ah, I’m sorry, Mr. Leno. Earlier, Mr. Owen cast a spell on me that turned me back into a child. The spell was already broken, but for some reason I’ve become really scared of glasses… Oh, Mr. Faust. Aaah! More glasses!

Lennox: A story from my childhood… I started working in the coal mines when I was young, so I don’t have many interesting stories. …That’s right, I remember being told I had long legs and looking forward to growing as big as my father. I was so proud when I outgrew him. I’m sure my father felt the same. 

Mitile: A portrait of me as a baby? …Ah, there is one, but I don’t want to show it to you. Because my head was so big as a baby… Mr. Figaro used to say it was “Rounder than the full moon” … Hey , Master Sage, please don’t laugh!

Back to Voice Lines

[fixated-on-something]

I think about the magicians too much so here are some of my favourite quotes

Silly ones

Julia and Quentin: DO WE NOT AMUUUUUSE?

Julia: We made up that dance and it was TERRIBLE!

Quentin: oh god

Julia: It was so.. white.. and BAD.

Penny: I like your sweater

Quentin: Are you saying that to be cruel?

Penny: No. I like your sweater, I saw no reason not to share

Quentin: Well then, shall we go fuck some shit up?

Penny: Yes.

Margo: Yes.

Eliot: Yes definitely. Definitely yes.

Penny: Agreed. Feelings are bullshit.

Alice: Is that a traveller thing?

Penny: It’s a hearing voices thing

Alice: Well at least it beats whatever you were snorting

Penny: Marginally.

Kady: Ok, Mindslut?

Quentin: I don’t know you EITHER, except that we just summoned a killer MOTHMAN from another WORLD!

Marina: Did you figure you wanted to learn magic at your blow dry last week?

Penny: You’re welcome. (Blows kiss)

Quentin: What does that mean????

Quentin: you really don’t have to try to make me feel better we basically just met

Eliot: Well, I bond fast. Time is an illusion…

Eliot: How about I find you, and I don’t say magic is real, but I do seduce you and so lift your spirits that life retains its sparkle for decades…

Quentin: …yeah that sounds nice thank you

Dream Alice: If you would shut up for 2 seconds this sex dream could pass the Bechtel test, Quentin

Eliot: Once one of them offered to blow me for a spell. It was barely worth it.

Quentin: Is someone being creepy on purpose?

Margo: that is…. Not super consistent with the books

Quentin (genuinely very distressed): no!!! It’s not!!!! And I find that devastating!!! ☹️

Quentin: You can’t possibly want to be a dick more than you want to live!

Eliot: Oh yes very pristine, it’s been taken over by a kiddy diddling mutant.

Penny: The hell are you drinking?

Alice: I don’t know- triple sec?

Penny: What did Quentin do.

Margo: So we are fucked without grease

Quentin: Sounds like us

Eliot: Must be a Monday. Onward to glory.

Penny: Whoa WHOA WE ARE NOT. NOT. Killing a U.S. senator. But we will commit a felony… almost as stupid.

Eliot: IHEREBYDECREE! Rulers… done gonna rumble.

Margo: Ps we still hate you, but it’s the 21st century it shouldn’t be this hard for a girl to get an evil demigod abortion.

Niffin Alice: what’s this bitch doing in my room?

Margo: By agreeing to marry a stranger on the spot?

Eliot: I did it!

Margo: That was different.

Eliot: You’re right. This would only really be equivalent if Ess was a girl, and you found pussy you know, interesting in a ‘sometimes you like Thai food’ kinda way and now it’s all Thai food forever TILL YOU DIE.

Eliot: Hooolyyy shit the walking plot twist returns

Penny: Hi I need something

Eliot: Shocker. Hey Fen look it’s Uncy Penny! That’s right, I knocked her up. No big deal.

Penny: Uh- congratulations?

Eliot: like I needed more people calling me daddy but yes, thanks, we’re… thrilled.

Eliot: I am in way over my head. I’m not even in control of which of my bodies is awake and my sexually aggressive wife- she could wake me up at any moment in Fillory and-

Fogg: There are certain student teacher boundaries which I prefer not to cross.

Penny: “Let’s go hunt the white lady?” People like me get SHOT for saying shit like that.

NOW THE HEART SHATTERING ONES

Eliot: Do you think it’s real?

Quentin: Some of the good parts have to be. At least I hope so.

Eliot: Things aren’t usually worth caring about

Margo: Eliot he’s gone. why are your torturing yourself?

Eliot: Because he’s gone. And it’s my fault. And of all the people in the world who don’t understand, somehow you top the list.

Quentin: Every book every movie… is about one special guy. The chosen. You know in real life, for every one guy there are a billion people who aren’t.

Margo: I'm a king. Not a goddamn princess. A king.

Julia: I think it’s because it happened. And there’s nothing… magic about it anymore.

Emily: I don’t blame myself. Except for when I first wake up… and when I go to bed, and all the time in between.

Then obviously any quite related to 3x05 and pretty much the entirety of The Mountain Of Ghosts

I missed a bunch and these are mostly season 1-2 because that’s when I was taking notes during my rewatch

[skeletinmoss]

The curse of the dark Phoenix

Chapter 4: A legend’s childhood

First | Previous | Next

Roman was alerted to the hour having passed by Virgil’s shadow blocking the shine of one of his lights while the Great Mage was trying to read a scroll Logan had deemed interesting.

He jumped up in surprise.

“Hm, a tracking spell huh? That could be useful if it hadn’t been fifty years,” Virgil mused.

Roman looked down and back up. He’d been trying to make sense of these scribbles for the past ten minutes and Virgil saw it upside down in bad light… Upside…

Roman turned the scroll around. Oh. Now it made more sense, though a tracking spell still wouldn’t be his first guess.

“Thanks,” he muttered a bit frustrated.

“You are growing tired,” Virgil observed. “Put the papers away. It’s time to have a proper talk,” Virgil suggested stepping towards the desk and settling down on the floor in front of it with one fluid motion.

“That goes for you two to,” he called to Logan and Patton.

After exchanging a look among the three of them, Patton and Roman went to sit down in front of Virgil, Logan joining them reluctantly. Patton took up the middle, Roman the right and Logan the left.

“Right. Guess I should say sorry about waltzing in and just kind of… not explaining anything really. So… I guess each of you ask a question and then I ask one. Flowerboy can tell you if I’m speaking the truth,” Virgil assured them.

“What do you mean?” Roman asked surprised.

“Roman, don’t let him make you waste a question,” Logan chided.

“It is a good question though. Considering he clearly didn’t cast the bond on purpose,” Virgil mused. That got everyone’s attention, making the mage smirk amused.

“When you freed me, did you use magic on my ashes, any kind?” Virgil asked.

“I um… Got some on my hand and tried to get it off,” Roman recalled. “Sorry about that by the way. I kind of feel weird about it now that you turn out to um… reassemble yourself,” he offered.

Virgil waved him off and nodded as if that explained everything. “That would do it. No worries though. The bond isn’t strong as far as I can tell. So no summoning one another in times of crises, or feeling each other’s pain. That’d be annoying. But I’m sure you noticed you could more or less understand me while I was in my other form,” Virgil explained.

“Yeah, I guess? Still not sure what a magic bond is though. And summon each other… That is something that could happen?” Roman asked, only realizing after that that was another question. Virgil didn’t correct him though. He looked at him surprised and then at the others to see if Roman was the only one confused. He was not.

“You don’t know what a magic bond is?” he asked astonished.

They all shook their heads.

“That’s… We used to cast minor ones on friendship bracelets back in the academy. You guys never made magic friendship bracelets?”

Patton let out a gasp. “I want magic friendship bracelets…” he whispered as if he’d just learned about the greatest thing ever. And to Patton magic friendship bracelets were probably just that.

Virgil let out a long sigh. “Magic bonds tie our magic together. They can be undone of course, but that requires either a ruinous breach of trust or a ritual that’s more trouble than it would be to keep the bond you cast in place.

Like I said, you’ll just be in tune with my emotions and I with yours. It’s an equal exchange and will last for the rest of our lives. So I’ll know if you try to poison me. But I also knew that you were genuinely concerned for my wellbeing when you kept me away from the herbs,” Virgil explained.

“That sounds kind of romantic,” Patton awed.

Virgil shrugged. “There have been mages who entered relationships who bound themselves to their life partner,” he agreed making Roman blush. Now he really felt like he’d done something inappropriate. But he couldn’t really apologize for that in front of the others.

“Now, sunshine, your turn,” Virgil offered.

Patton shifted nervously. “Um, first… Sorry about the… ahm… I just love animals and ah…”

Virgil made a dismissive gesture. “You didn’t know. Though even if I was a real Phoenix, that wasn’t a smart move. They are proud creatures,” he advised.

Patton nodded. “Yes… Thanks… And ahm… How do you make magic friendship bracelets?” he asked much to Logan’s annoyance. “We don’t have time to get sidetracked like this,” he chided.

“It’s alright,” Virgil said soothingly before turning to Patton.

“Basically you weave a bracelet together, letting a little bit of your magic flow into it. The natural oil on your fingers will function as the binding agent for your magics and depending on how much you put into it the spell is stronger. When it’s in bracelet form you can choose to take it off and it doesn’t last as long as when you form the bond with someone directly which is why our teachers allowed us to do it in the first place. The magic can last from anywhere form a week to a few months depending on your focus while making them,” Virgil explained before turning to Logan. “So. Let’s see what the smart guy wants to know?” Virgil wondered intrigued.

Well, Roman was curious too. Considering Logan had made a big deal about their questions being irrelevant.

Logan frowned and seemed to think it through for a moment. “Why did you prioritize… Educating us, over finding your friends or figuring out who stabbed you?” Logan asked.

Virgil nodded. “Good point. Well, I’d had some time to observe you, I couldn’t do much in my guidance form and I haven’t managed to switch at will all day. I was starting to worry I was stuck that way. You can’t imagine the feeling when I realized the lock on my form seemed to weaken with the setting sun. Though I can’t turn back right now either…” Virgil seemed frustrated by that.

“In any case. I observed you three working today and using magic and well…

Imagine you are a painter, you’ve seen your fair share of artists and then you see some guys who you can just tell are bursting with talent. But they settle down to work on something and they blindfold themselves and pick up a pencil with their bad hand and struggle to draw a circle. They are good circles. But…” Virgil made a face.

“So I’ve been mentally cringing while seeing you three stumble through today while handicapping yourselves. This little course correction was the very least I could do. Hopefully you guys figure the rest out going forward,” Virgil shrugged.

“And this does not count towards the favor you said you owe us?” Logan pointed out, probably trying to test out how Virgil would handle follow up questions when he was not taken by surprise by an apparently common spell going out of fashion the past… however long it had been since Virgil attended the academy.

“No. If I owe you a favor it would be rude of me to pick what it is I do for you. Giving you three some pointers was more for my piece of mind. You still have the favor,” Virgil assured them.

“I suppose it is your turn,” Logan allowed apprehensively.

They all were rather curious what this mage would want to know first.

“Okay… Well how old are you three exactly?” Virgil asked.

That… Would not have been the first thing Roman asked in his position. He didn’t think.

“I am the oldest. I am 28,” Logan said weightily.

“You are only a few months older than us Logan,” Roman pointed out.

“Aw, you guys are babies,” Virgil coed.

“We are adults!” Roman protested.

Virgil cocked his head. “Actual adults or adults by technicality?” he wondered. “Not being mean I’m just not sure anymore… It’s been a while since I was 28, if you couldn’t tell,” he offered.

That was a good point.

“Um… You are a minor until you are 18,” Patton offered.

“Hm… I guess maturing for a decade after that would be enough to count as an adult,” Virgil allowed before turning to Roman expectantly. Right. More questions. This time he perhaps should ask something about Virgil.

Otherwise Logan might actually hit him with one of his books.

“We told you our specializations. What is yours?”

Virgil quirked a brow. “To be perfectly clear, I’ve practiced every magic ten times over by now. But I started out as an herbalist, like you,” Virgil explained, then he made a face like a memory struck him.

“It was kind of annoying. Didn’t matter how many healing spells I improved on or the fact that I came up with the revitalization meditation. It didn’t count towards my Great Wizard exam. Remus and Janus had done their thing already and I was just sat there with ten new spells that didn’t count. Coming up with self cleaning fabric was such a relief,” Virgil sighed.

The three Great Mages exchanged looks. “Did I say something?” Virgil wondered as he caught it.

Roman bit his lip, not sure how the older mage would react. “What’s a Great Wizard?” he asked.

Virgil’s eyes widened in surprise, again. “That… Explains so much actually…” he said before explaining himself. “When I was on the road to being a mage, you could earn the title of Great Wizard by creating your own spell. It was not mandatory but it came recommended and me and my friends decided to go big or go home.

It was a good way to learn to understand magic and the properties of ingredients in practice. I suppose they scrapped it for some reason and now I get why you guys are so by the book. You were never encouraged to step out of what was written were you?” he realized. It was phrased as a question, but it seemed like more of the rhetorical kind.

“Ahm… Mister Virgil,” Patton said carefully. “What did you mean with ‘guidance form’? I mean I know you meant the phoenix but…”

Virgil sighed. “Wasting this round on what used to be common knowledge I see. Not your fault, by the way.

When you guys connected with your magic to become Great Mages, you saw it take the shape of a magical creature right?” Virgil verified. The trio nodded.

“Well, to become High Mages. You get a lot better at magic under the guidance of that creature and then after some more meditating and stuff, you will become one with it. Allowing you to take on some of it’s traits and even take its form. In my case, the dark phoenix,” he explained.

Roman felt his eyes widen. That… But that was so dangerous… it was forbidden… But there was something in Roman’s heart that was set ablaze at the thought. If Virgil felt any remaining horror at his reveal, he didn’t mention it.

“Whoever put me in the box, also went through the trouble to mess with my transformation abilities. If I can find my friends I’m pretty sure I can make a remedy. With some trial and error… Bringing it back to you smart guy. Make it a good one,” Virgil said.

Logan thought for a long moment.

“You cleared the skies earlier without any aid from ritual or herbs. How did you do that?” he asked.

“You mean you are a diviner and didn’t even learn that? That’s the first thing diviners are supposed to learn so they can have an unobstructed view of the stars when they need it. These weren’t even rainclouds. Why would I need any sort of boost or guidance to shoo them along?” Virgil scoffed.

Logan just nodded. Roman got a feeling that Virgil had just told him more than just that he didn’t think it was that impressive.

“My turn. What are your guidance animals? Considering you now know mine that seems fair,” Virgil smirked.

Roman frowned. He hadn’t asked anything about the past fifty years or what they were doing in this tower. Which was what they’d expected him to be the most curious about.

Instead his questions were so… Like getting to know new friends… Was that it? Were they being vetted to see if they could help him on his quest to save his friends from their prisons?

Was he going to offer his aid in finding The Arch Mage in exchange?

Roman didn’t think he was lying when he said he just couldn’t watch them do spells incorrectly without helping, but maybe he also wanted them to be ready to help him on his journey.

Aside from Virgil was a High Mage. Those haven’t been seen since the dark magic plague. And if his friends were High Mages too… Surely Logan and Patton would agree it was important to save them.

Chances of finding the Arch mage alive (though Roman no longer thought they were entirely zero given who was sat in front of them) were slim. But if they could find not one, but three mages who had long forgotten knowledge and the power to step up and fill the void he left behind…

At the very least they should be convinced about the dangers of black magic.

The stories of the Night Flame Mage always depicted him as a good guy. He had helped found Sanlow by turning away a grave beast and putting a protective spell in place that lasted to this day. And he never came to collect a reward. Other than showing up for a jubilee party it seemed. Those weren’t the actions of a bad person… Virgil didn’t even seem to expect any sort of praise or gratitude from Roman considering he probably wouldn’t have been born if Virgil hadn’t given his ancestors a safe haven to raise his grandfather.

Roman was pulled from his thoughts by Logan clearing his throat nervously.

“Mine is the white unicorn,” he admitted a bit embarrassed. Logan had been teased about it by other mages, to which Roman and Patton happily reminded them that they didn’t even know theirs because they hadn’t been able to finish the ritual.

Virgil though, simply nodded in approval. “The guide of those with a curious heart,” he surmised. Logan scoffed. “Do not mock my intelligence!” he insisted.

The High Mage cocked his head. “I did not. I said you were curious,” he pointed out.

Logan rolled his eyes. “It’s childish and unprofessional,” he bit.

That upset Virgil. “If you truly believe that then maybe you deserve to have your intelligence mocked. You just rejected your kin! Curiosity is the birth of knowledge. You should know that Unicorns are the second smartest guide out of all of them. Second only to dragons who, as you should definitely know, tend to only appear to those of royal lineage,” he stated in a way that reminded Roman of their instructors whenever they’d made a grave mistake. Logan had never been on the receiving end of one of those rants before though.

Roman and Patton looked at Logan, wondering how he’d respond.

He seemed taken aback, but thoughtful...

“I see… I’ll take that in consideration,” he agreed.

Virgil seemed to calm down at that and turned to Patton. “Your turn,” he said, trying to go back to non-threateningly, but there was still an edge to his voice.

“Um, mine’s a jackalope,” Patton said a little bashful.

Virgil immediately softened. “The playful spirit. Your friends will appreciate your love for joy when things get though,” he assured their fighter.

Then Virgil turned to Roman expectantly. Roman couldn’t quite meet his eyes though.

“Ahm… I’m… I’m a phoenix too. Though mine didn’t look like yours. It was, white and gold and red,” he recalled.

Virgil nodded. “A light phoenix. Like all phoenixes they are enduring, inclined to those who chose to heal and mend and to many a symbol of hope. But more than the other variants, the light phoenix is known for unmatched bravery. The dark phoenix is more associated with loyalty,” he cited.

Roman blushed. He remembered meeting his guide. It wasn’t that long ago after all.

Meditating for so long had been maddening, but he’d been determined to make it. To be there for his friends on the journey to solve the mystery.

And then he’d seen a light in the darkness he’d created by closing his eyes.

He'd moved towards it, finding himself not physically moving, but still making progress.

And then there’d been a flame in front of him. It was hot and bright and he could feel pure power emanating from it. And there’d been something inside it. He knew the fire might burn him. But he also known that if he didn’t retrieve what was at the flame’s source, this journey was for nothing.

And so he’d taken a breath and reached inside. It had burned, but not as painful as he thought it would. His fingers closed around the something at the heart of the flame and pulled back. It was an egg…

Then the egg hatched and a blazing inferno burst from it, Roman had fallen back -much like he had earlier that day- and looked up at the gorgeous creature forming from the blaze.

It had landed in front of him and inspected him. Roman had stood up and faced judgment. Pass or fail, he’d face this. He’d come too far to turn back…

The bird had let out a cry and for a moment, Roman had felt as though every secret magic had to offer was presented to him if he wished it.

Part of him had wanted to accept, consequences be damned. But he’d shown restraint. Not yet, he’d insisted. Not ready.

For a moment he’d worried that this was a final test and he had failed. But instead of rejecting him, his guide had approached him and nuzzled him in comfort. He’d felt… He had felt like they were filled with sorrow for him.

When he opened his eyes, back in the meditation room where he’d been undergoing the ritual that hadn’t been performed in five decades, he found his face wet with tears, but a gentle burning in his heart. And he knew that his guide was ready to aid him when he was ready.

Roman wondered if Virgil felt that same burning. Or if it was different since he and his guide were one… That sounded like something truly amazing to Roman. Though he knew it was a dangerous want, he wanted it all the same.

“Thanks,” Roman smiled.

“Just citing the book of guidance,” Virgil pointed out. “But that brings the question back to you. What do you want to know birdie?” he asked teasingly. Roman didn’t take it as an insult considering he wasn’t the one who’d spent most of their acquaintanceship so far as an actual avian.

Roman thought about it. They’d danced around it. Assuming Virgil would bring it up. But this was their quest. So it should be them who took this first step.

“Do you remember a man called Gustav Noctora?” he asked. Patton and Logan both turned their heads towards Virgil expectantly.

Virgil blinked a few times… And then snorted.

“Don’t tell me… He’s the one who has you all call him ‘arch mage’? That’s so him…” Virgil laughed. Roman wasn’t sure if this was good news.

Virgil stopped laughing and observed Roman, feeling how his reaction affected him. “Sorry, I shouldn’t judge,” he acknowledged. I hadn’t seen him in a decade before I went under so he might’ve done some impressive stuff. It’s just… Hard to unsee the kid he was when we first met at school,” he explained.

“You taught him?” Logan wondered, interested in the line of conversation.

“I mean… In a sense? But I wasn’t a teacher. He and I were in the same class,” Virgil specified.

That… They needed a moment.

“So he was unkillable too?” Patton gushed excitedly.

Virgil nodded. “Yeah, he did the ritual,” he confirmed. Though Roman got the strange sense that he was holding something back.

“What do you know about him?” Roman pressed.

Virgil pursed his lips. “He started out as an alchemist. He got frustrated whenever he didn’t get something right away. He got it eventually. But he had… High expectations of himself,” he recalled.

“He wasn’t very socially skilled. Not when we were at school at least. He got better at it later in life. So like I said. Don’t let my memory of him at his worst be any indicator,” Virgil insisted.

“You are holding back,” Roman pointed out.

The Dark Phoenix Mage sighed. “I guess, I am. Listen. I get you guys are super excited about finding him. But at least when it came to me… Especially at school, but also later on… I didn’t like him. He had a bad habit of trying to put my friends down and expect me to laugh at his ‘joke’. It irked me. Like I said, he wasn’t good at peopling. But he could’ve changed for the better after graduation for all I know.

In short. I knew Gustav Noctora, he was a jerk I wanted as little to do with as possible. But the guy I knew is pre Arch Mage shenanigans,” he explained. Roman nodded in understanding. Virgil had tried not to upset them by dunking on their hero despite his personal dislike for him.

He wasn’t going to pretend he wasn’t a little disappointed to hear about this side to his hero. But no one was perfect. And like Virgil said, the Arch Mage might’ve grown out of whatever he was struggling with as a child.

“Do you maybe, know if he might’ve had another home? Somewhere not known by everyone?” Patton asked.

Virgil thought on that for a bit. “I mean… It’s not unusual. Janus has a fancy tower and a cottage that’s a bit more low key… I think Guss mentioned something secluded during our last conversation… Hidden among ruins. I wasn’t paying super close attention at the time…” Virgil admitted.

Logan frowned. “Ruins… This would be sixty years ago then, yes? You mentioned you two hadn’t seen each other in a decade,” he recalled.

Virgil nodded. “Come to think of it, that was the longest I’d gone without at least getting some kind of message from him… directly at least. He did come up in a few conversations. He’d apparently been traveling a lot and gathering a ton of rare and hard to achieve materials last I heard,” he recalled.

That was honestly a relief to hear. That sounded a bit more in line with what they’d known of The Arch Mage.

Logan hummed, deep in thought.

“Not sure if it would help, but Gustav was a bit neurotic about taking notes. He always carried some kind of notebook with him. So there’s probably a few journals around here that will tell you exactly what he was up to before disappearing,” Virgil offered.

“Yes, that would help. Thank you. One more thing. You didn’t know what we were here for or who this tower belonged to when you reformed, yet you saved us a lot of work. How and why?” Logan asked.

“Honestly, that was for my benefit. I was looking for anything useful. As for how. I let my guide lead me. And before you give me a heart attack by asking how I’m just going to assume you don’t know. It’s an instinct. The way migratory birds know when to fly south and such,” Virgil surmised before getting up and summoning the scrolls he’d picked out earlier, which Logan had put to the side during their own search, towards him.

“Hm…” he mused as he unrolled them. “There’s layers of protection on this… I could probably whip something up or divine it… Don’t have the time though…” Virgil decided, putting the scroll back and rummaging to the box of herbs Roman really wished he would leave alone.

“Okay… Final question for me,” Virgil stated as he turned back to Roman with his selection of illegal herbs. “Why do you get a heart attack every time I come near these?” he asked, waving the bundle of slow and painful death.

“Because. They are forbidden. Using them risks damaging yourself. It’s dark magic!” Roman insisted.

Virgil just rolled his eyes and turned to the desk to prepare the dried herbs.

“Dark magic is all in the way you use it. Curses are dark magic. Remus learned that the hard way when he picked a fight with Gustav at graduation,” Virgil mused. Okay… What? Roman needed more context please.

“Magic is a two way street, always,” he continued as he turned around, rubbing the herbs between his fingers. “If you use it to hurt others it hurts you. If you use it to protect, to help or just to do some cool shit cuz it’s fun, it will embrace you,” he stated, tracing a pattern in the air that left Roman breathless. He had always thought that spellcasting looked pretty. But never before had it looked breath taking.

Virgil’s eyes started to glow and he released his spell, and a phantom of a phoenix swept through the room and then down the stairs.

Virgil looked around before heading downstairs without a word.

Roman looked at his friends a bit bewildered. Logan frowned and got up, prompting Roman and Patton to follow suit. They headed down and found Virgil had gone to the Arch Mage’s sleeping quarters and had moved the bed.

Roman would have protested, but he saw Virgil had found another hidden compartment and had retrieved stacks of journals and was feeling around for any remaining items.

“Found you you little bastard,” Virgil stated triumphantly as he got back up and held a stone in his hand.

The High Mage looked back at them and gestured to the journals.

“These are also protected, but I’m sure Logan can work his way past it. Might be a good exercise in relying on your guide a bit more,” Virgil offered as he got up and took of one of his earrings.

“Like I said, you guys are owed a favor. Don’t waste it on something dumb okay? One favor. When you are in agreement on what you need from me you just say: Virgil Night Flame. I am ready to return what’s yours. And I’ll be there in a second,” he explained as he offered the earring to Roman who just stared at it as everything that just transpired hit him.

“You are leaving?” he asked disappointedly.

Virgil sighed. “Look, you guys are talented. I know I made it clear that I’m not impressed with your education so far, but that has nothing to do with your capabilities. Your guides would not have even appeared before you if you were not ready to be Great Mages.

You don’t need me to decipher the scrolls or the journals or follow whatever clue. I’m sure you’ll make it to the ruins, whichever he meant, and find any clues left behind in there as well.

But I need to see if my friends are okay. Like yesterday. Good luck,” Virgil bid holding out the earring again. Roman’s jaw set stubbornly. “Let us help then,” he insisted.

Virgil blinked a few times in surprise. “Excuse me?”

Roman righted himself stubbornly. “As far as we know you are the only High Mage alive. If the arch mage is dead, the council will look to you for guidance to restore whatever was lost in the plague. I’m still not entirely sure about the herbs and I know you aren’t sold on the plague… So if you start to show symptoms I want to be there to help. We wouldn’t be able to face the council if we found a living High Mage and lost him right away,” Roman insisted.

Virgil looked at him for a long moment. “Fine. But my friends come first. I don’t want to hear any of you complaining about needing to get to the ruins while I’m looking for them,” he warned.

Roman scoffed. “Like finding two more high mages would be considered a waste of time,” he countered. He looked to Logan for confirmation though. Just to be safe.

To his relief, Logan nodded. “Deciphering the scrolls and the journals will take time anyway right? I can do it on the road,” he stated.

“He really can,” Patton giggled. “He’s mastered walking and reading.”

Virgil let out a sigh. “Fine. Guess I’d feel a bit better knowing you guys finished your quest thing safely,” he allowed.

“Good,” Roman nodded. “Where do we start?”

[ablupen]

I Completed Lessons 1-10. Here's what happened, and the ending I got.

Alright! After about 15 hr 23 min total of F2P playing, I've completed all 10 lessons with all main stories/episodes watched. Granted, anything past lesson 4 isn't full S completed anymore, and I am very broke, but eh.

Anyways, here's some pictures of how it's going:

And now some more thoughts and summaries, including stuff I didn't say in my last post.

The boss levels are basically beating up the boys... Well, uh, if you're mad at one of the seven, go play their boss level, ig?

Solomon's cooking is so bad it caused Henry 1.0 to rapidly polymorph temporarily into random things

Henry 1.0 was originally huge. Levi befriended the snake when both of them were hiding from Satan

Henry 1.0 became regular snake sized bc Sol shrank him 😐 This means the shrink spell wore off, apparently.

The building that you and Sol share is called Cocytus Hall. I wonder where this building would be present day..? Did it get recycled?

Newly-demon brothers are being discriminated

Cerberus was obtained bc of a rumor that anyone who tames it becomes Ruler of the Underworld.

Mammon rallies everyone behind Luci's back to find and tame Cerberus

On the way there, we discover that we can still summon the brothers (We summon Beel to eat a magically growing pile of apples)

Apprehension attempt on Cerberus did not succeed. Luci saves everyone and tames Cerberus. Someone leaks these news and this is how the seven brothers become the seven rulers.

We become one of the three core founding members of RAD lmao

Somehow we get caught in a dream(?) with Levi in the TSL world. Levi does not know TSL at this point in time. Anyways, he summons Lotan at the end of it, who apparently actually appeared in real life, flooded the room, and then left.

Fuck i forgot when this happened so I'll just leave it here, but: Satan turned everyone except you and Lucifer into Chihuahuas. Including himself. Thankfully, the spell had a limit so it didn't last long

Angels enter the scene! For RAD consultation.

Apparently at some point the bottom of Asmo's bathtub becomes a portal.

Solomon is a fucking bastard and pushes everyone into the bathtub. You choose if you go in by your own will or if he also pushes you.

It leads to the Celestial Realm??? No lol jk, it's actually inside a very familiar looking labyrinth and y'all are being chased by a giant spider, fuck.

Solomon remakes pact with Asmo to distract spider.

Solomon then summons Barbatos

Unfortunately at some point he pissed Barbs off so he's ticked off by this summon. Barbs teleports the spider away and Sol uses his pact to force him to make a portal back home, but Barbs gets mad and later TELEPORTS HIM TO A DRAGON'S DEN LMAO

dw he's alright! He returns next lesson with a dragon egg.

Bad news! Diavolo and Barbatos realize you're human and not a demon after... What/when is this? 6-7 lessons? Yeah. Anyways, Dia tells you that you should pack up bc he's sending you back to the human world. You're another distraction, so to eliminate some stress, you're being deported, sorry. This is not a good thing.

Mammon and crew - except Luci obviously take on a ghost hunting job at the tome place idk I forgot the spelling

Mammon gets fucking possessed by a human ghost named Adam after you read his name off of a tomestone bc it was written in a human language.

Adam says that a demon killed him with consent many years ago bc Adam was trying to look for his lover but their dead

In case it wasn't obvious, that you.

Also, the demon knew you'd have the Ring of Light on you still. Anyways, Adam tells you that the demon's name/alias was Nightbringer. Guys, it's a fucking name drop!!!

You manage to open the gates for Adam by slurping up some of the brothers' powers and by the powers of the ring

Next day, you get a letter telling you to meet Dia concerning your expulsion, which Sol comes with you to try and change Dia's mind.

Suddenly, Belphegor basically kicks open the doors to demand that Beel be released. Apparently, he's been jailed. Shit, isn't that a parallel or what, huh?

Apparently, he suddenly got out of control and rampaged. Dia manages to pin him down and get him into a cell with sheer strength alone, but later escapes in the next lesson after you confront Luci and Belphegor who had a spat.

You, Luci, and Belphie get blamed for causing all of this 🥴 Especially by Barbs. Anyways, using your magic siphoning ability from your future pacts and the Ring of Light, you knock Beel out. Lesson 10 ends with you revealing that you're human and Dia and everyone wondering who tf you are to have this kind of power.

That was a lie. The very last scene was actually Satan and Simeon watching a cat that you introduced to Satan before you left with Luci and Belphie and discover the rampaging Beel. "Do you think MC will come back before the cat wakes up?" "I hope so."

Context for the quotes on the Nightbringer site:

Lucifer; "My pride hurt my brothers": I actually don't remember this one. I don't even know if my choices led up to this one. Will maybe revisit everything tomorrow or sum

Mammon; "We chose to follow Lucifer here. We all had reasons for doin' what we did.": This is from when Mammon is trying to convince the other brothers to join him in his search for Cerberus. He's tired of being discriminated, and doesn't regret his choice.

Leviathan; "I never wanted to come to this awful place, to begin with!": When Diavolo meets with the brothers concerning plans for RAD and about possibly making an announcement to show the brothers'presence, Levi is against this. He doesn't want the attention.

Satan; "I can barely stand being around them. It's torture.": Obviously, "them" are his "brothers". I can assume when he says this, but I think I can guess when it is. It was probably after he stormed off once the others discuss what the Celestial Realm was like. He's never seen that place, and he can't relate to the other brothers.

Asmodeus; "I want to return to the Celestial Realm...! I want to be an angel again! The way I used to be... White wings and all!": This is during the weird portal in the bathtub scene. He had tried to move on from the fall, but Simeon's appearance reminds him of what he lost again. He's scared of the fact that he's getting used to his demon self and that he's forgetting what it was like to be an angel.

Beelzebub; "I have a big secret that I've never been able to tell... Not even to Belphie.": I've actually never encountered this one bc I didn't get close to Beel. Has anyone seen this one?

Belphegor; "Who deserves to be punished the most?": After Lucifer temporarily admits defeat and doesn't stand up to Diavolo to let Beel go, Belphegor gets angry. He's scared that he'll lose another sibling. After telling you about Lilith and how stubborn she was, he admits that he doesn't know who to blame: Lilith for breaking the rules, the angels for directly killing her (or was this second one the other brothers for not doing more? I forgot damn), or himself for not protecting Lilith.

Anyways, that's all I can think of rn. Do note though that in Nightbringer, choices apparently actually matter so you may have gotten different results!

[journey-to-the-attic]

I would love to hear more thoughts on the AU 🙏

i'm VERY GLAD you asked, okay so:

i've been calling it the 'infernal friends' au based on the idea that, when ik first gets the ritual book, one is marked 'summoning infernal companions', but she doesn't know what infernal means so she just thinks "oh this spell summons friends!!"

so in this au the demons are a bit more.... demonic isn't the best word to use but it's the only one i can think of

basically they adhere a little bit more to common tropes in, like, horror movies and stuff, where they can be summoned by ritual (as ik does), and they also initially do act all monstrous and stuff

they're still themselves while at home, being summoned is like a job to them and they've gotta be Evil while they're on the clock

rather than just sort of existing entirely separate from humans, in this au demons as a whole are more used to the idea of being called upon to do nefarious favours or whatever

(although none of the main cast has been summoned before this on account of their sheer power level)

it's also sort of a nb situation, where their default is their demon forms - they'd actively choose to disguise their horns and wings/tail if they were to go regular form

so it all starts when ik performs the ritual and somehow manages to summon the most powerful (awake) demon in the devildom. this was actually because she pronounced the incantation wrong and ended up changing its meaning entirely

by all accounts it still shouldn't have worked, and she doesn't show any signs of magic otherwise, so everyone's stumped as to how she managed that

when asked, diavolo just says "i was summoned by the heartfelt wish of a very nice child who needed me"

and i know diavolo takes pacts VERY seriously in-game, but it would be very funny (and quite sweet) if he immediately made a pact with ik so that she could summon him to hang out whenever she wanted

failing that, he might just enchant an object in her house to act as a magical link to him

after a few weeks he also gives her that contact list to use if he's ever too busy to come - that contact list being for the seven brothers + barbatos

he doesn't actually tell the brothers about this until afterwards (from their pov, diavolo's just been disappearing in mysterious circumstances a lot recently)

and it's also too late to take it back (plus diavolo won't let them) so uh this is their life i guess

(diavolo's already made barbatos come to meet ik before this, so she's already familiar with him, she just didn't know how to summon him on his own before)

i don't have an idea for everyone, but they do each have a unique ritual

asmo's involved chanting into a mirror, levi's would involve filling the bathtub and then he'd like pop his head out of the water, mammon's would probably use a piggy bank or something

lucifer's would be marked as needing 'music', so ik plays twinkle twinkle on one of those little plastic toy pianos

she picks asmo to summon first because diavolo's mentioned he likes dressing up and that's what she wants to do

for a certain time after that, she disregards the contact list, since she's got three options for friends already and that's the most she's ever had

but asmo convinces her to try some of his brothers too because he's been telling them over and over that this little kid is SO sweet, you'll LOVE her, and none of them believe him

so ik takes a look at the list and picks belphie next because she likes his name

she says it a little wrong at first (she has trouble with the 'lph' sound, so she says it like 'bepphie') but luckily saying 'bephhgor' during the ritual didn't mess it up

and then belphie gets back afterwards like "guys. asmo was right"

and none of them believe him AGAIN

so one by one each brother gets summoned and immediately is like "oh hell yeah i love this kid", while the remaining unsummoned demons are unconvinced right up until they meet her

basically it goes like this:

demon before being summoned: "that's nice and all but it isn't for me. i've got better things to do than babysit some random human"

demon after being summoned: "if my new best friend (child) doesn't ask to play with me again within a week i'll cry"

beel gets summoned last out of everyone because ik didn't know how to say 'beelzebub' and was embarrassed to ask

she had trouble with just about everyone's names except mammon's (often dropping syllables - e.g. "lucsssfer" - or just misreading the word - e.g. "santa")

this is because she grew up speaking chinese at home, and while english became her primary language after starting school, she's mostly non-verbal with anyone who isn't her dad at this point, so she doesn't have a great grasp of unfamiliar phonetics

she's chattiest with diavolo and mammon (the former she met him first, the latter because he's very energetic and she's trying to keep up with him)

and she's quietest with lucifer and belphie (the former because he's got a stern and intimidating demeanour, the latter because he's also quiet and is good at communicating with her without words)

everyone else she's varying levels of loud with

also while lucifer doesn't SEEM to do the 180 after getting summoned, he also let ik take a nap in his lap during that first summoning so he totally still did

this way ik gets a whole catalogue of demons to hang out with while her dad's away!!

zhao's just glad she's getting taken care of

conducting the rituals is the fastest way to summon (and also the demons can't really choose not to), but it's a hassle to do, so everyone else would also either make a pact or enchant an object that calls them

everyone's objects would be:

a rock pet (diavolo), the toy piano (lucifer), a novelty coin (mammon), a rubber duck (levi), one of hyde's cat toys (satan), a plastic tiara (asmo), an broken saucepan (beel), an old blankie (belphie), and the teapot from a play tea set (barbatos)

that's all i got for now but i can guarantee i'll have more soon so stick around!!!

[strangesthirdeye]

Chapter 9; Unfortunate reunion

Unspoken Love Masterlist /Chapter: 10

✩ KAMAR-TAJ - ROOFTOP DEFENSE COMPOUND - DAWN ✩

An overhead view above Kathmandu. The sun is just cresting the mountains, painting the rooftops with golden light. The view is glorious. A gentle breeze is the complement of the day. Great for taking pictures actually.

Atop the roof, dozens of sorcerers, including Mordo, practiced a martial arts kata, all chanting and moving in unison while making identical runes of light in the air. It’s beautiful.

The way they all moved was very smooth and firm and simultaneously. The way they move their hands and moved their muscles so gracefully. John walked between them with the careful stern eyes of an instructor, examining their stances and runes, bellowing out the count as he goes.

Two week has passed, as well as Stephen's beard and hair are getting longer making his face hard to be recognized, who is right now is in the group of sorcerers who are practicing and moved at the instruction of the instructor. He seemed to be struggling to keep up with those moves. Until the instructor gave instructions for summoning magic, Stephen's hands seemed to shake more aggressively and he seemed to be in a hurry to catch up with them. The pain in his hands was getting worse as he tried to hold back the pain by ignoring it.

He struggles to make light of shape with his crippled fingers. The look on his face was like despair. And the magic he did, did not form any kind of shapes and only left a spark of light.

Frustrated, he tried again more diligently. As the saying goes, practice makes perfect.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

✩ COURTYARD - UNDER THE TREE - SAME TIME ✩

"Let's say if suddenly there was a threat from another dimension in the middle of the city, what would be the first thing you would do?"

"Create a mirror dimension? Where what happens in the mirror dimension will not have an effect outside the mirror dimension" you replied simply.

"Three thousand points for Ravenclaw. Great.. right.. next question" Dhani leaned forward and palmed both her hands and brought them to her mouth.

"What are the 4 marks of a mystic?" Dhani questioned with fake serious voices.

"1) Ineffability; 2) Noetic Quality; 3) Transiency; 4) Passivity." You listed while showing four fingers towards her.

"good girl, are you sure you didn't eat the books spells you borrowed from the library? I mean, all the questions are correct" Dhani blew her lips. "not to be pretentious, I passed all the 'exams' that The Ancient One gave me which she claims I blended all the spells books using a blender and drank the juice from the spells book in order to pass all the tests. I still remember that one time I once took it seriously with her plan" Dhani said while looking at the students practicing there.

"at least you don't have to be kicked out like the 'mystery' man that day" You joked while gently nudging Dhani's shoulder who was sitting next to you.

Dhani giggled. "I did try to bribe Ancient One to borrow one book from her collection tho. It worked but best not to follow that" Dhani said mimicking serious voices.

You chuckled. "what happened to that 'mystery' man? I never even saw him yet these past two weeks"

Dhani glanced at you several times. "seriously, haven't you seen him yet? Sheshh, I've had many sessions with him actually. He never shares his name, you know. He just keeps quiet and focuses. Sometimes I saw him near the library in a hidden corner. Lots of books are with him. I'll tell you what, he has beautiful eyes"

"really?" you said in disbelief.

"yeah, you probably don't recognize him because he has a lot of beard and long hair right now. I wonder when he will shave all that hair." Dhani blew her lips.

Out of nowhere, Moon, Dhani's cat suddenly climbs up and sits on Dhani's lap which makes Dhani jerked in shock. Dhani scolded Moon. Moon meowed and nuzzled into her abdomen. Dhani unconsciously brushed her fingers into Moon's furs.

"I think now he might be in the group that is training on the rooftop there" Dhani nodded towards the rooftop that has several students training.

You looked at the place where Dhani pointed out. Obviously, there was only one student wearing gray clothes in the group. Which makes you recognize that mysterious person. He is tall and well built. Pale skin glistening with sweat. And he seems to struggle to keep up with the instructor's instructions. This reminds you of the day you came here.

While you are busy observing the mysterious man, Dhani who is looking at the same spot is also looking at John who is right now walking towards the 'mystery' man. Both of his hands were placed behind him as he stopped in front of the man in the gray tunic who was struggling. John seemed to be demonstrating to the man as the man seemed to focus on the movements of John's hands before he tried to make the same movements as John. But only a spark of light is visible.

As John demonstrated again, his well built hands flexed trying to get rid of the pain in his hands showing his veins that appeared in his arms before making the same movement again. With that, Dhani was stunned and her face turned red. Moon nuzzled against her stomach trying to find comfort.

"That's him right?" you muttered.

Dhani returned to reality and turned her gaze to you. Her red face is fading. Dhani cleared her throat. "aye, That's him.. The only one wearing a gray tunic. Don't worry, you'll run into him later" Dhani patted your arm encouragingly.

"Yeah.. Later" you mumbled.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

✩ KAMAR-TAJ - ROOFTOP DEFENSE COMPOUND - AFTERNOON  ✩

It was the same day only it was afternoon. The sun peaked in the sky getting hotter as well as the rising temperature making Stephen's body glistening with sweat. He and Mordo have been there for several hours of Martial training. Both of them drenched with sweat.

Stephen runs through a sequence of fighting stances with Mordo, blocking and sweeping with his arms. His form looks good, but still no runes of light - unlike the mostly-younger Novices around him.

Stephen stopped and let out a tired breath. "How is learning Karate going to help heal my hands?"

Mordo stopped but his fighting stand didn't budge. He looked at Stephen oddly. "Karate? We're not ninjas." Mordo beat Stephen again which makes Stephen kneel to the floor.

"Again" Mordo gave the order and returned to make his fighting stand followed by Stephen after panting several times with his breath.

They repeat the sequence of fighting stances again until they think it is enough for today. But still, Stephen still ended up kneeling on the ground after being beaten several times by Mordo. Stephen was panting.

He groaned with tiredness and defeated. He then looked up at Mordo's face.

"up. We're not done yet" Mordo held out his hand to Stephen which Stephen reached for Mordo's hand and got up.

After that, Stephen cracked his head and his arm trying to ease the pain. Both of his crippled hands are throbbing with pain only for him to ignore it. Stephen took a breath and exhaled before returning to his fighting stance. But before he started to strike Mordo, the corner of Stephen's eyes seemed to see your figure walking in the courtyard. Stephen froze and looked away from Mordo to see what he thought was a glimpse of you but what he thought was already gone.

Stephen narrowed his eyes at that spot but was cut short when he felt his leg being tackled by Mordo causing him to fall to his side hard. Stephen groaned in pain.

"like I said, we're not done yet"

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

It was a young night where all the students were on their way to their respective dorms, some went to the kitchen for dinner and some were still training in the courtyard for some practices. Stephen who is still wearing gray tunic walked towards the library with his hand holding some of the books he borrowed two weeks ago. The one that John recommended him to read. Stephen took a thousand steps into the dim library. He saw Wong at the counter who seemed to be settling some books there solemnly with a powerful physique under his simple robe. His eyes are proud. In this place he is king.

"hey" Stephen greeted him as he approached the counter.

Wong glanced at him with an unreadable look. "Mr Strange" he greeted back with a flat tone.

Stephen clumsily put the book on the counter. "Uh, Stephen please.. and you are?"

"Wong" Wong simply replied.

"Just Wong? Like Adele" Stephen guessed.

Wong just stared at him blankly. This made Stephen awkward.

"Or... Aristotle...? Drake...? Bono....? Eminem...? " Stephen guessed with shame he lowered his head and refused to make eye contact with Wong.

Wong ignored Stephen's joke instead he reached the stack of books in front of him and began to note the titles.

"The Book of the Invisible Sun. Astronomia Nova. The Codex Imperium. Key of Solomon"Wong noted the titles of all the books one by one and then looked at Stephen with narrowed eyes. Silently in disbelief.

"You finished all of these?" Wong asked.

Stephen silently fidgeted his fingers while avoiding eye contact with Wong. "yep" he sheepishly replied while popping 'p'.

Wong just ignored it and reached for the book borrowing form that was in the file on the counter and took out the exact same form that John signed.

"It's said here that you borrow for 4 weeks. And you return it after 2 weeks" Wong glanced at Stephen blankly.

"Perhaps I'm too excited to read it" Stephen said while stroking his arm anxiously.

Wong just kept silent. "follow me" Wong ushering Stephen to follow him to the massive bookshelf.

"alright" Stephen tailing Wong from behind.

Wong leads Stephen to the lower part of the library where the eye of Agomotto resides plus where the Ancient One collections are located. Wong then walked to one of the massive bookshelves full of ancient books.

"This section is for Disciples and Masters only, but at my discretion, others may use it."Wong said then walked to a bookshelf without glancing at Stephen.

Stephen, who seemed to be in awe of the well-arranged and large bookshelf, could only remain silent. Observing everything that is there. Without any sarcastic comments.

Wong then came towards Stephen and handed him a massive textbook. Stephen grabbed and almost dropped it because he didn't expect Wong to give him a book this heavy.

"You should start with Maxim's Primary. " Wong suggested as he walked towards another bookshelf without sparing any look at Stephen. "How's your Sanskrit?" Wong added.

"I'm fluent in Google Translate." Stephen blurted out his crack jokes.

Like before, Wong ignored that and handed him another books. "Vedic and Classical Sanskrit."

Stephen studied the book in his hand. All three books have a hard cover that has an odd pattern for those who are new to this mystic art. He doesn't make any comments about that as long as he has something to learn just like he did when he was young. Trying to get Phd and MHD in order to achieve his career. Although for him it's quite easy considering he has a photographic memory but sometimes there are times when the things he learns make him stressed. But the stress will disappear when he spends time with you.

You chill and relax in that matter because for you it needs to be done in a relaxed manner and take the time you need. You don't need to stress yourself to achieve your career. Until the time, you need to slow yourself down and do it calmly and orderly. That's all.

But well, sometimes because of Stephen you can also stress with how chaotic and rushing he is to do or understand something important. Sometimes or always you need to remind him to calm down and slow himself down because he may have a big brain and can handle information but his body also needs enough rest.

Stephen sighed heavily. He indeed needed to slow down and calm down to learn new things. It would be great if you were with him. study with him like in school. He observed the books for the last time then looked up from the books in his hand and looked at several rows of distinctive-looking chains ancient volumes in front of him.

Stephen looked at it strangely and walked towards the volumes slowly.

"What are those?" Stephen pointed out towards the volumes.

Wong gave a quick glanced at the volumes. "The Ancient One's private collection." Wong replied.

"so they are forbidden?" Stephen turned his gaze to Wong.

"No knowledge in Kamar-Taj is forbidden. Only certain practices." Wong replied without looking at him.

Stephen nodded in understanding and reached for an ornate volume on the chain. The Book Of Cagliastro.

Wong looked at some shelves. His eyes briefly glanced at Stephen.

"But those books are far too advanced for anyone other than the Sorcerer Supreme." he added.

Stephen flipped through the volume and stopped when he saw a pages that had been torn.

"This one has pages missing." he pointed out.

Wong glanced at Stephen. "The Book of Cagliostro. Two rituals stolen by a former disciple, The Zealot Kaecilius, just after him strung up the former librarian and relieved him of his head." he leaned his head on Stephen with a firm face. His eyes looked directly into Stephen's eyes sharply.

"I am now the guardian of these books. So if a volume from this collection should be stolen again, I'd know it, and you would be dead

before you ever leave the compound. " he warned with his gruff voice.

Stephen swallowed his saliva hard after hearing the warning from Wong knowing who he meant. He is invisibly intimidating with Wong's presence as he always talks about things seriously and is never serious. He shook himself from his reverie and tried to lighten up the tense mood there.

"What if it's just...overdue? Any

late fees I should know about?

Maiming perhaps? An amputation?" Stephen chuckled to himself. Wong just kept his blank reaction.

'damn it, Y/n usually laughs at my jokes' Stephen thought. He awkwardly stared at Wong again.

"You know, people used to think I

was funny. Stephen said.

"Did they work for you?" People questioned.

Stephen could not answer that. 'Y/n always finds me funny' he thought.

Wong stared at him with a consistency that made Stephen become uneasy under his gaze. He awkwardly tried to leave with a last farewell.

"Well. Thank you for the books. And the horrifying story. And the threat upon my life." Stephen began to retreat.

"Wong?" a feminine voice was heard from behind them both.

Wong turned his head to look at the source of the sound. There you stand with a book in both hands. You who wear a dark red tunic mixed with white along with matching dark red looked at Wong expectantly.

"Dhani said this book has volume 2, do you know where it is?" you asked as you showed the book to Wong.

Wong just hummed but Stephen who was behind Wong was stunned after seeing a glimpse of you. You still don't see Stephen yet as your eyes are only on Wong.

After so long you disappeared and left without telling him where you were going. There you are in the Kamar Taj where he decided to treat his hands. After a long time he was there, he didn't know that you were also there. He lost all words, his eyes were focused on you without realizing Wong walked towards you and took the book from your hand and inspected the book longingly then without any word he left from there to find the materials.

"Y/n" he breathed out your name unconsciously.

You cocked your head when you hear your name called and looked at the person standing between the chained books. Your eyes automatically widen when you recognize that person.

"Stephen?" you gawked at him. Your heart is overjoyed seeing him in person but your emotions are confused with what the hell is he doing here.

You walked towards him slowly. Until you are in front of him, you look up at his face. Still tall like a giraffe and still handsome as you left him except for his beard and long hair. His eyes, oh his eyes, it's been a long time since you looked at his multicolored eyes. Beautiful as ever, shining like a stars in the sky. As if you were looking at the whole universe in his eyes.

Stephen? well, Stephen is flabbergasted just like you but somehow his shame comes from nowhere. Shame because he looks like he has been defeated. Shame because you know that he indeed needs help and is lost. Although for Stephen you know why he is here but in reality you don't know why he is here.

"wha- what. Oh, god" you reached for his hand and hurriedly walked towards the exit of the library. Stephen is still in the disbelief and dumbfounded phase with this reunion so he is now on autopilot and willing to be dragged by you.

Now, both of you are now outside the library door still in the phase of confused, happy, awkward and all kinds of mixed emotions. You didn't expect that the mysterious man that Dhani said before was Stephen himself. He's been here for like two weeks and you don't know about it. Now it's a bit of a mess up and confusing. So was Stephen.

"Y/n"

"Stephen"

you both called each other names in unison but then shut up. The both of you look at each other's faces trying to observe what changes. You disappeared for a few months and finally Stephen bumped into you here. Now Stephen understand what you said before.

"you can walk" Stephen blurted.

You stared at Stephen with guilt. "yes.. I can walk normally"

"so, this is the place you said you wanted space" Stephen approached you.

"yes" you replied.

"and you learn magic" Stephen looked down at you.

"so was you, Stephen. What the hell happened to you?" You stared at his face.

Suddenly his face changed from disbelief to a defeated face. He turned his gaze from your face.

"You surely know what happened to me" Stephen muttered.

"what? What happened? what are you talking about? Stephen, I've been here for a few months and I haven't opened my phone because I want to take time away from any technologies. All news or what's going on out there I don't know. Only Dhani who shared what happened out there. I don't know what the hell happened to you and now suddenly you here?" you explained.

Stephen was stunned then he returned his gaze to you. "so that's why I called, emailed and messaged you, you didn't reply at all. You know I was worried about you after you made your last message that suddenly went unanswered. You know I feel like is this my fault? even though I'm not do anything wrong that makes you disappear for a few months. You know I've contacted all of your friends to track your whereabouts but it turns out you're not there at all. It's like you don't exist on this earth at all." Stephen poked his index finger on your shoulder.

"I can't tell you where I go because this place shouldn't be exposed and I don't want to bother you to find me." you argued

"oh but it's bothering me, Y/n. All night I've been thinking about your whereabouts, whether you're ok or not? Are you safe and stuff like that." Stephen replied.

"You-.. oh, suddenly you want to care about me?" you poked his chest.

"I care about you" Stephen argued.

"And what about Christine?" you fight back

Stephen flinched when Christine's name was mentioned. Now he felt stabbed with a knife to the heart. The fight between him and Christine is still fresh in his memory. He looked away from you.

You who were still fuming started to calm down and turned your gaze to another place.

Suddenly you feel regret. This is not the reunion situation you want. You don't know why you suddenly feel like yelling at him even though he didn't do anything wrong. He's just worried about you. That's because all mixed emotions are released in the form of sentences and expressed to each person's face. Guilty, regret and mad are all mixed up.

Stephen let out a heavy breath. "She and I are not on the same page anymore"

You glanced at him with a disbelieving face. "Stephen.. What happened?

"I was involved in an accident a few months ago after you disappeared. Well, I took your advice to go alone. And because of me I also ended up here. I drove fast and was on call leading me to the accident and damaged both my hands" Stephen looked at his crippled hands. Scars decorate his smooth skin.

"I wasted my money to get my hands back and my job but everything is useless. I tried to follow your advice which is to accept the destiny but I can't. I got frustrated, i got impatient that leads to quarreled with Christine even though she only wanted to help me" Stephen's gaze did not move from both his hands as regret etched on his face.

You look at him with sympathy. It's true what you said before, accept fate and get on with your life but all that is just trash talk. look at you, seeking help desperately to advance in life.

You softened your look at Stephen and then without any doubt you walked slowly towards him and approached him cautiously. Stephen still not moving his gaze from his crippled hands. His eyes held emotions that were very heavy to support. You reached for his scars hands and held them gently in between yours.

"Steph, everything that happens must have its own reason. We don't know what will happen if we choose a path other than what we want and yet what we choose has its advantages. You accident and losing the use of both your hands doesn't mean you lost everything in life. you chose to go here to heal your hands and now you learn magic isn't that the advantage? I know you, Steph. You don't believe in magic hence you always say that magic doesn't exist even event 2012 happened in front of your eyes, you still don't believe in the existence of magic. But, you changed your mind, Steph." you spoke, eyes looking at him precisely and determined.

Stephen raised his gaze and glanced at your face with frowning eyebrows. You both held eye contact trying to find any emotion in each other's eyes. Although the two of you have known each other for a long time, you can still detect any lies or truth in each other. Hell, even Stephen knows your body language. While you understand his behavior. His ego, his show off and cheeky. Anything about him you understand.

Time flew like a bird in the sky, you both didn't realize how long you held eye contact which was actually only a few seconds before Dhani suddenly appeared from behind you. Panting tried to catch her breathing which was getting low after running all over the Kamar Taj looking for you. Her face looked as if at some point she would collapse to the floor with how labored her breath was.

Both you and Stephen jerked away from each other and broke your eye contact by looking elsewhere. Stephen is slightly upset because he lost the warmth in your hands. He curses under his breath.

"Y/n.." she breathed and puffed out her big sigh.

You turned around and looked at Dhani with concern and walked towards Dhani who was leaning against the walls of the Library tiredly. You put your right hand on Dhani's shoulder worriedly.

"Dhani, hey.. What happened?" you asked her with a worried tone.

Dhani calmed down a bit and tried to put herself together by slowing her breathing. She then closed her eyes and sighed slowly before looking at your face with a guilty expression.

"I'm sorry, babe" Dhani apologized with a guilty face.

Stephen perked up his head to see Dhani with a confused expression and slightly jealousy in his heart.

You cocked your head slightly to the side in confusion. "what- why are you apologizing?"

Dhani held your right hand that held her shoulder gently and brought your right hand into both of her hands. Dhani palmed your right hand tightly.

"The book I told you.. The book that I told you has volume 2 actually... It doesn't have volume 2! " Dhani said loudly and shook your right hand strongly.

Just after Dhani claimed her 'confession', Wong came out of the library with the book you gave him before, in his hand. He then noticed the unfortunate events in front of him with a surprised expression before his eyes focused on you.

"Miss L/n.. This book..There is no volume 2 " Wong said in a raspy tone while his face held no reaction.

You are stunned and speechless with all this situation that fell in front of you. Where Dhani accidentally set up your and Stephen's reunion without any intention. Which you find it grateful but at the same time a bit stunned.

Stephen looked down trying to hold back his laughter when he pieced the puzzle together.

'Oh, what a wonderful day.' He thought.

[dotster001]

Do you think you could make a twisted earth fic where we get transported to twisted wonderland with the octrio and whoever else you think would be interesting?

Im.not going anonymous bc I love my user too much

Summoned From Twisted Earth

A/N: this came out really long, oh my gosh but I hope you like it. I decided to focus on the octotrio, because I felt like daily life with them would be chaotic enough. (You're username is very funny btw) Later, I reference a shirt. I'm imagining this, but put your face in place of the emoji. I'm sorry 😂

Weeks of research, bribery, and thievery had led up to this moment. 

Azul’s phone, opened to the Twisted Earth homescreen, sitting in the middle of a summoning circle, him and the twins standing around it, pens drawn.

“Floyd, you remember the words, right?” Azul asked him.

“Duh! I’m not gonna mess up a chance to squeeze Shrimpy for real,” Floyd said with an eye roll.

“Remember, Shrimpy is for ALL of us. And we must make sure not to interrupt them when they are doing work for the lounge,” Jade said with a smile, although Azul was certain that should the moment arise, Jade would allow Floyd to run off with you for entertainment reasons.

“Yeah, yeah, whatever. Let’s just do this before I lose my energy,” Floyd said.

The three began chanting the spell, moving their pens in synch, and the phone in the circle began to hiss and smoke. Suddenly, it exploded and filled the room with smoke.  The three began coughing and spluttering, trying to clear the smoke out.

When it faded, there you were. Laying down in the circle, eyes closed as though you were sleeping. 

Though the plan had been to let you wake up naturally, then explain the situation, Floyd was never one to follow plans. He dived into the circle with an excited laugh, and wrapped his arms tightly around you.

You woke up with a start, and immediately began to breathe heavily.

“Floyd,” Azul groaned, as Jade knelt down and illustrated deep breathing to get you to calm down.

“Wha?” Floyd said, seemingly unaware of the position you were in, and nuzzling his cheek against yours.

“There we are,” Jade said, satisfied that you’d calmed down enough. “Welcome to Twisted Wonderland. I am Jade, this is my brother Floyd, and that is Azul. How much do you know about yourself?”

This was the important part. If they had performed the spell to perfection, you would be aware that you were a video game, and aware of at least Azul, as it was his phone you were summoned from. If the spell was at its worst, you would have zero memories, and wouldn’t even know your own name. Azul was hoping for the former. The twins were hoping for something in between.

“I…uh…” you said hoarsely. “I’m Y/N. I know plenty about myself, what do you mean?”

“Fu fu, we were wondering if you knew you were a video game character, who lived in a non magical world,” Jade said, already fascinated by you. He’d rather just set you loose on the world and see what happened. But that wasn’t likely to happen anytime soon considering how tight his twin was holding you.

“I’m a what? No , no, I’m not a video game character,” You said hastily, attempting, rather unsuccessfully, to extricate yourself from Floyd’s grip.

Jade pulled out his phone, and showed you one of the cards in his game, and you froze.

“Understand?” Azul said, pushing his glasses up his nose. “Here’s how things stand.”

                                              ….

Life with those three was…unique to say the least. Their story was that they were businessmen who brought you to life so that people could pay them to interact with you. It seemed reasonable enough, you guessed, but the way Floyd hung off you, Jade stared at you dreamily, and Azul turned red if you even looked at him, you had to guess there was more to it.

Not that you would ask them about it right now. You were having enough trouble adapting to a world full of magic, and fighting off the ever present existential crisis of finding out that everything you knew about yourself before this point was programmed into you.

You would start your day with Jade waking you up, and helping you free yourself from Floyd’s cuddle grip. This was easier on days when Floyd was in a good mood. If he was in a bad mood, not even a forklift could free you. After you were free, If you were free, Jade would give you a soothing mushroom based tea that somehow managed to taste good. It had a different flavor everyday, and Jade would quietly have a conversation with you while you drank it, eying you curiously. You felt safer never asking about it.

After this, you would join Azul in the VIP lounge, where you would film video messages, and do meet and greets with well off customers. Azul would busy himself with his paperwork, before offering you his arm to escort you to wherever you wanted to go, after you finished your work. He was always a blushy mess when you parted, but he still managed to ask if you needed anything from him, before going off to work the lounge, or go to class for the rest of the day.

Originally, you had had all three men’s phone numbers so that if anything happened while you were exploring this new world, they could be there in a flash. However, Floyd had taken to asking where you were, and skipping class. It had happened too many times, and now you had a new phone number, and Floyd was blocked on your phone.

All four of you would hang out at lunch time, where you would talk about what you had discovered that day. Jade would happily smile at you, while Floyd would nibble on your finger, arm, or anything you allowed him access to, and Azul would try to hold a conversation with you without becoming a disaster. (You had been assured by that twins that this behavior was weird, but you’d yet to see him act any other way).

Afterwards, you would explore some more, then rejoin them in the dorm. On Fridays, you helped out with the lounge at the special “Twisted Earth Theme Night”. Every other day, you would hang out with Jade at the bar, as he told you secrets about the customers. 

You would help them out when they needed to restock their merch store. It was definitely weird seeing merch of yourself, your friends, your enemies…. Pretty much everyone you knew. But if it kept Floyd from making more of that shirt….you’d do what you had to. You were able to help approve, or disapprove merch ideas, which not only meant you could prevent cursed crap from happening, but they could also put your official seal of approval on their products.

At the end of the day, you all would have dinner together, before separating for the night. This was usually the time when they would ask you questions.

Top Questions have included: 

“Do you think octopi are hot?” (from Floyd)

“Do you think eels are hot?” (from Floyd)

“How would you feel about being wrapped around, like you’re a bean pole, by a mermaid?” (From Floyd)

(You never know how to answer Floyd’s questions)

Once you got tired, you would go to your room, and go to sleep. You would wake up the next morning to Floyd cuddling you, and Jade waking you up, and the cycle would repeat.

It was definitely an odd life, but you were growing used to seeing those three everyday. The more you learned about them, the softer your heart went for them. You got excited to start your day cuddling Floyd, and drinking tea with Jade. You enjoyed working with Azul and watching him slowly grow bolder with you. You loved spending time with them at the end of the night, despite the weird questions you sometimes got. You were getting used to FLoyd jumping you, Jade’s secretly possessive behavior, and Azul’s charms.

You were grateful for your time with them. You couldn’t wait for your next adventure, or what the future would bring.

...

Tag list- @leonia0 @shytastemakerthing

[new-tella-us]

Oh yeah. I keep forgetting to post this draft. So I made sketches of Mika’s parents. I kept David mainly the same but Laura got a lot of changes including becoming a lot more relevant and intimidating to specifically the boys. I should probably finally go over David and Laura’s story but I’ll be brief…ish. It’s mainly about Laura btw as David lives a generally average life.

David is the son of CEO and Warlock Harold Anderson. He too, once, was a warlock practicing demonic magic as his father did. It was basically a family tradition. He would stop the practice all together when Laura was pregnant with Mika for reasons more relevant to Laura’s entire overhaul. He is aware of demons, angels, devils and the like but his distance from his father’s magic makes him susceptible to magical influence.

Now…Laura. For the longest time I’ve been saying that Laura isn’t completely human. But I never specified what she was. She is a nephalim. Same as Saero. Only she’s half angel-half human. Her father is long gone but she does have two living family members, her mother and half brother. These two are only relevant in James’ route where if you were to get the bad end, it would be revealed that the brother managed to convince the angel of destiny to return Mika to her mother.

But what happened to her? How did she end up marrying a human? Long story short, she got curious about the human world and the origins of her father. She attempted to go to the human world only to accidentally end up in the Abyssal Plains. This takes place six years before Mika’s birth. Demons don’t take kindly to angels and especially not the Demon Lord. Next thing she knew, she was in a cell for a year. Over that year, she did attempt a few escapes that didn’t work. She would lose a wing and an eye (hence the hair covering said eye) as “consequence”. It was only when she started talking to one of the prisoners, a woman draped in a red cloak, that she found her way out. The prisoner offered her a means to escape that she was going to take herself, Laura graciously took it and ran off.

One of those “means” was a spell to summon a portal to the human world for real and so, she ended up on earth. She was battered, bruised and injured but escaped. And then she met David. And the rest is history. She didn’t tell David the full story until she felt like she had to so her unborn child wouldn’t be exposed to demonic magic or magic at all and make the same mistakes she made. David, out of both respect for his wife and a new hatred for the cruel demons that would hurt her, stopped using magic and demanded his father do the same or never speak to his child. It was one of the many wedges in their relationship.

So Mika is 25% angel and I’m not just using that as a “fun fact”. I added a piece of lore that says that angels can’t be enthralled. Laura is completely immune to enthrallment and Mika is resistant. This closes the plot hole I notice where those who were enthralled would not be aware that they were being enthralled but Mika was aware even if she couldn’t resist. This is the reason behind that. As for how this would change the housewarming party, from Mika’s perspective (aka Seduce Me 1) it wouldn’t change. In front of her daughter, Laura would pretend to be enthralled and not question the boys.

However, there could be a cutscene or episode that reveals a moment where Laura walks away from her family and towards one of the boys, the one she suspects is trying to control her. And who would that be other than Sam and Erik, the two that opened the door in the first place.

Oh yeah! Another lore thing. Angels and sense demon magic and link it to said demon. Demon magic has a sort of aura that can linger on people that demons have used their magic against. Aka, Laura can see that Sam and Erik did…something to her daughter and she’s not happy.

[jiabeewrites]

He'll Never Be Prince Charming (2/?)

(aesthetic by @aesthetics-and-fuckery, yeah, that's me. do NOT steal this!)

Harry Potter/Wizarding World x DC

Pairing: Klarion Bleak x Fem!Reader, Lilith Bleak (OC) x Fem!Reader

CW: romance, past breakups, use of she/her, language, shitty attempt at angst, author attempted to not use y/n and i think i succeeded but who knows, klarion & lilith are being lil bitches who doesn't know how to romance, playing with feelings, wizarding relations are really weird, toxic relationships probably, pining, i think that's it but if there's more tell me!

Summary: Reader is an exchange student. She's a witch, but not the kind that hogwarts is used to. She uses pentagrams and incantations instead of wands and spells. She uses poisons and candles rather than potions and charms. She practices moonlit summonings instead of defense against the dark arts. So what happens when not one, but two lords of chaos appear in the middle of the great hall, both claiming to be her lover? (this is part two of a multi-part series, so look out for a pt 3!)

SONG: Devil Doesn't Bargain by Alec Benjamin

A/N: I'm sorry if I offended anyone! I just tried to portray traditional-ish(?) witchcraft in the way that I've kinda seen it portrayed in fiction. Please don't take this seriously, this is a work of fiction and isn't meant to portray witchcraft seriously.

HOW TO READ: Each set of lyrics is kinda like a divider! each section of words/blurb between the lyrics are their own moment, and this particular piece has multiple little moments. Definitely timeskips. You can find more stories like this one by looking under the tag #ryn writes songfics

<Prev ~ Next >

Previously...

"Klarion and Lilith Bleak get your asses down here right now!"

The two stopped arguing and grinned. With a pop they appeared in front of her, smiling like kids in a candy shop. One had a lovesick expression, the other had a flirtatious smirk.

"Hello, love."

I'm not one to lecture Talk down to a friend I don't mean to pressure Mean to condescend

She rolled her eyes.

"What are you doing here?" She asked, frowing.

"We're here to settle a little...disagreement of sorts between us." The female, Lilith, stretched her mouth into a cheshire cat smile.

"Oh really? And what is this disagreement?"

"Your heart, my love," the male, Klarion, replied.

She facepalmed. Noodle hissed at them both. The cat, Teekl, and the Raven, Deirdre, hissed right back. That was when the teachers *cough*umbitch*cough* decided to butt in.

"What is the meaning of this?!" Umbridge shrieked.

"This? Well, 'this' is used to identify a specific person or thing close at hand or being indicated or experienced. It can also be used to refer to a specific thing or situation just mentioned," Lilith said, cackling.

Klarion just rolled his eyes.

"Nobody likes a smart assault, Lily."

She sighed.

"It's smart-ass, Witch Boy."

"Whatever you say, my love." Lilith glared at her twin.

"Who said she's yours?"

"ENOUGH!" Umbridge screeched. "Who are you and why have you tresspassed onto these grounds?!"

The duo glared at Umbridge.

"You don't know us? How rude," Klarion said.

"Yeah, you'd think a magic user would know us," Lilith added. "Even if it's baby magic."

She pinched the bridge of her nose.

"Professor, this is Klarion the Witch Boy and Lilith the Witch Girl."

"Lords of Chaos, at your disservice!" The two said in unison. Umbridge's nostrils flared.

"I demand you get off this property at once!"

"Uh uh uh! We still need to settle our agreement!" Klarion exclaimed.

"Yeah!" Lilith turned her attention towards her. "So? Which of us do you love? Klari or me?"

"It's obviously me," Klarion said, scoffing at his twin's attempts.

"Puh-LEASE, you have zero game."

"Excuse you?!" He glared at his sister.

"Klarion, Lilith-" She pursed her lips at the chaotic twins. Umbridge decided she had had enough.

"So you're the cause of this!" Umbridge exclaimed triumphantly.

"Wha-You think I can control two people who are literally the embodiments of chaos?" She turned her attention to Lilith and Klarion. "Look, the two of you better get out of here."

"Wha-" Klarion cut his twin off.

"Do you want her to get into more trouble, Lily?" The female huffed and the two (along with their familiars) disappeared in a burst of red dust.

And the whole school was staring at the red-faced witch.

But I just want what's best for You in the end I know you don't want to let go

"So who are they?"

The whole school seemed to want to know the answer to that question.

Klarion and Lilith Bleak were twins. A chaotic duo, spreading destruction and mischief wherever they went. At times, they seemed like complete opposites. Lilith was the more mature one out of the two, sarcastic and flirtatous. Klarion was childish and disruptive, constantly bothering everybody he met. But when the two decided to cause trouble together, they showed the world exactly why they were twins.

Klarion "worked" for the Light, an organization that constantly plagued the JLA and the covert team. Since she dabbled in almost every corner of witchcraft, she met with the junior league on a normal basis to fix their magical maladies. Lilith, however, preferred to stay untethered to anything, wreaking havoc on either side depending on who she felt like helping.

"They're lords of chaos. Both have been around since the beginning of time and both are eternally confusing. But I can't exactly get rid of them, since they're immortal and a lot more powerful than I am," she finished.

"Was that cat and that raven their familiars?" Hermione asked.

"Yeah."

Harry grinned at her.

"So two of the most chaotic, powerful magic beings in the universe have a crush on you."

She groaned.

"Shut up, Potter."

A group of girls passed them, and shot her terrified looks.

"The whole school thinks you summon demons on a normal basis," Ron said.

"I mean, I've done it before but I'd never summon those two. I see enough of them as it is." The trio laughed, and they pushed open the door to potions.

And just like before I can see that you're sure You can change him but I know you won't

"Hey! Demon-girl!"

She groaned at the nickname and turned around in her seat.

"The hell do you want?" She grumbled.

"What was that in the Great Hall? Did you summon them?" He asked. She just scoffed in response.

"Trust me, I would never summon those two."

A malevolent purple mist appeared next to her. It cleared to reveal the same girl from the Hall.

"Never? I think never's a bit too long, sweetheart."

Lilith Bleak had infiltrated Hogwarts. Again.

She sighed.

"What do you want, demon?" Lilith frowned.

"Demon? You and I know full well I'm way more powerful than just a pitiful demon," she scoffed.

She sighed.

"Whatever, but Lilith, you need to leave." The lord of chaos pouted at this.

"Leave? But I just got here!"

"Do you want me to get into trouble?" Lilith huffed.

"Fine, I'll leave. But I'm leaving Deirdre with you."

Her eyes widened.

"Lilith...what if you get attacked and she's not with you?"

She regretted saying that as soon as a smirk appeared on the other woman's face.

"Aww, looks like somebody does care!"

She rolled her eyes, then shooed her away.

"Go perish."

"Anything for you, sweetheart!"

And she vanished in a puff of purple smoke.

She faced forward, only for Professor Snape to glare at her.

"Detention."

"What? But it's not even my fault! They just appear and I can't do anything about it!"

He frowned, but turned back to the board.

"If they disrupt the class again I will have to give you detention and take away house points. No matter whose fault it is."

She groaned. Deirdre cawed out a laugh.

"Oh shut up you stupid bird."

The devil doesn't bargain He'll only break your heart again It isn't worth it, darling He's never gonna change

The same blond boy sat next to her during Transfiguration.

"You never answered my question"

She raised an eyebrow.

"Why do you want to know?" He shrugged.

"I'm just curious."

"They're lords of chaos. Uncontrollable, destructive chaos. Over a trillion years old and freakishly annoying."

He scoffed.

"I've never heard of such a thing."

"That's 'cause you people practice baby magic."

"Baby magic?" He asked incredulously. She nodded.

"Real witches don't need wands or spells. Incantations work better and summoning demons or fae are superior to wandwork."

"So you do summon demons," he sneered.

"They're not all evil, if that's what you think." He just sent her a dark look and moved to another seat. Harry took his place.

"Malfoy bothering you?" She shook her head.

"Nah. Just being a nosy prick."

Deirdre cawed loudly, and she rolled her eyes.

"Go away, you lousy bird." The raven looked at her with utter contempt, and vanished with a poof of lavender smoke.

He'll never be Prince Charming He'll only do you harm again I don't mean to meddle But the devil doesn't settle

Elsewhere...

"Wha-Deirdre!" Lilith glared at her familiar. "You were supposed to look after her!"

The raven just cawed in response.

What am I, your servant?

"No, but you should be looking out for her anyway."

Creepy laughter echoed throughout the room.

"Ugh! Go away, Klair!"

The male witch laughed.

"She liked you, y'know." Lilith whirled around.

"What?!"

"Yeah. A couple years ago. When you hated the Justice Babies because they killed Amaranth." Lilith smiled.

"Ha! I told you she-"

"Liked, Lily. Past tense. Her feelings are gone now." Klarion grinned while his twin looked enraged. "She won't love you again."

No, the devil doesn't bargain

[artzychic27]

Now we need the DC science kids creating their own resistance (behind the inferior resistance’s back) and making a plan to defeat Hawk moth. And I am 99% sure that Zoe becoming Vesperia was all a plan for Jean to get his hands in a miraculous and learn how to track the butterfly.

(Season 1)

Aurore: Alright! For two months, Hawkmoth has been plaguing Paris, and the so-called heroes haven't gotten anything done!

Cosette: Is it because they're a bunch of kids who don't know shit about magic jewelry?

Aurore: Yes.

Simon: And because some old guy with some shady origins entrusted two random teenagers with the world's most powerful Miraculous?

Aurore: Yes.

Reshma: And because those two teenagers happen to be our schoolmates? Both of whom have no experience with magic or superpowers?

Aurore: Yes.

Lacey: That was very irresponsible.

Denise: Exactly. We've had years to perfect our powers, they've had the Miraculous for, like Aurore said, two months. Dios, I sound old.

Jean: Look, we can easily take down Hawkmoth before they do. There are hundreds of Miraculous in the world, each tied to their own Miracle Box, and I'm certain there's one here, which is how Ladybug, Chat Noir, and Hawkmoth got their Miraculous. We just need to get close to Ladybug and Chat Noir and earn their trust so they'll loan us any spare Miraculous when they come across an Akuma in need of backup.

Aurore: Okay, you're making some sense, but how will this get us closer to finding the Butterfly Miraculous?

Jean: Oh, just a little augmentation spell. There are certain rules that come with like, overpowered Miraculous, preventing them from copying other powers and shit, blah blah blah, so, that's where I come in. A bit of magic on those, and we'll stop Hawkmoth once and for all.

Aurore: Perfect. And in order to get those Miraculous, we'll need to show Ladybug and Chat Noir that we are the right fits for them! It may take weeks, months, but once we gain their trust, then-

(Season 2)

Ismael: You have to be kidding me! She brought out the Fox, Bee, and the fucking Turtle, and gave them to Alya, Nino, and Chloé of all people?! What did they even do?! I threw myself in front of a bus!

Reshma: Easy, Ismael, relax... But, yeah, what did they do? But, Chloé revealed her identity. Marinette won't be choosing her again... Right?

Mireille: Of course not.

Marc: Unlikely.

Lacey: Never.

Ismael: Yeah, um... Quick question. What's the Lord of Darkness and Famine doing here? *Points to Nathaniel brooding in the dark corner of the classroom*

Nathaniel: I have a name.

Marc: Oh, it turns out Nathaniel also has powers... So, I let him in on our plan.

Nathaniel: Wait, did you say Marinette is Ladybug?... That actually makes sense.

Denise: Wait, go back. What powers do you have?

Nathaniel: A wide variety- Levitation, teleportation, summoning, I'm messing with possession, and entering a person's mindscape... I can't teleport unless I know where that place is, though.

Lacey: Fuck!

Aurore: Alright, he's in. The more hero kids, the better.

Nathaniel: Actually, my father is a demon who has enslaved hundreds of universes and devoured millions of souls, and only created me so that I may act as his portal, allowing him to enter this world and destroy all life on it.

DC Kids: ...

Simon: N-nice to have you on the team.

(Season 3)

Cosette: Okay... We are past five months, and that chick has handed out the Snake, Horse, Dragon, Rabbit, Mouse, and fucking Monkey Miraculous! All to her classmates and two possible crushes! Oh! And there's a Peacock lady!

Denise: It's like we're invisible! Did they not see me beat down Bakerix?!

Jean: Oh, and what about the power-ups?! I mean, come on!

Reshma: I swear, this is getting more annoying as the months go by. Nathaniel, I need to ask... What is up with your classmates? Wh-what are they doing to get the Miraculous?

Nathaniel: Mostly just standing around in the right place at the right time, I guess.

Ismael: Then, we will do just that...

(Season 4)

DC Kids: *Intensely staring at Zoé*

Zoé: ... Hi?

Aurore: ... You're here for a few weeks, and she immediately entrusts you with the Bee Miraculous... How?

Zoé: Wh-what are you-

Marc: We know you are Bruce Wayne's daughter and one of his Robins, we all have superpowers, now EXPLAIN HOW! *Zaps a hole through the wall with his laser eyes*

Zoé: Hey, cool it! Okay, she approached me. She plucked me up off the streets and was like, 'Here's a Miraculous, go beat up your sister.'

Lacey: Okay, that was a good Marinette impression. Maybe you can help us. We've been trying for months to get the Miraculous so Jean can do his magic and help us track down Shadow Moth. Think you can be of some assistance and, and I don't know- Get it through that girl's head that all of us have the makings of superheroes?!

Zoé: ... Yeah, sure. Whatever.

Ismael: Alright! We have got this in the bag!

(Season 5)

Ismael: WE ARE SO BONED!

Reshma: *Shuts the windows to avoid being spotted by Miraculized Parisians* I agree.

Simon: *Packing his belongings* I believe in these times, the protagonists must ask themselves, 'Is this worth it?'

Denise: Amor, no.

Simon: Exactly, it's not worth it.

Nathaniel: I think they mean, fuck the Miraculous, we have superpowers, let's just fuck this guy up.

Ismael: Big talk coming from you, CapriKid.

Nathaniel: Sorry I couldn't get to you guys in time. I didn't know she was gonna immediately flag me down. What'd you want me to do? Run?

Aurore: I mean...

Nathaniel: Oh, come on.

Jean: Hey, Nath's right, we have powers that don't have time limits, and Zoé has training from the world's greatest detective!

Mireille: You know, I think you're onto something, Jean.

Nathaniel: Yeah, it's definitely better than the God-awful Resistance plan my classmates have been doing.

DC Kids: ...

Zoé: We'll circle back to that. DC Kids, GO!

*During Lady Noire's battle with Monarch*

Monarch: Surrender now, Ladybug, for I-

Cosette: TASER PUNCH! *Punches Monarch with their electrified fist* YEAH! We finally found you, bitch!

*The DC Kids appear in Monarch's lair wearing outfits inspired by their parents and pose dramatically*

Simon: And we only had to break into like seven homes, but who's gonna care? Everyone in the world is a mindless drone!

Lady Noire: What- How did you-

Aurore: Shut up! J-just shut up! We've had it up to here with you fuckers! WAY UP!

Nathaniel: Azarath Metrion Zinthos! *Create a black force field around the Agreste Manor* No one's getting in or out, even with the Horse Miraculous.

Lady Noire: Nathaniel?!

Denise: Ah, quit acting surprised. *Knocks Monarch out with another punch before tying him up with the lasso of truth* Now tell us your damn name, you dick!

Mireille: Tell us before I make your eardrums explode, you dumb fuck.

Monarch: M-my name is Gabriel Agreste!

DC Kids: ...

Marc: Wow, who expected that?

Denise: Who else is working with you?!

Monarch: Nathalie Sanceour was for a brief moment, but she is no longer in the picture. Tomoe Tsurigi and I collaborated on the Alliance Rings to ensure total world domination, and Félix was the one who gave me all of the Miraculous in exchange for his Amok.

Denise: And how the hell did Félix get the Miraculous? *Lady Noire backs away*

Ismael: *Zaps the floor next to Lady Noire with his laser eyes* Don't even think about it.

Monarch: Ladybug gave him the Dog Miraculous, which he used to bring them to me!

*The DC Kids all eerily and simultaneously turn their heads toward Lady Noire*

Marc: You... CLORBAG VARBLERNEK!

Jean: Yeah! What he said!

Reshma: I cannot believe what I am hearing!

Lady Noire: I-I thought he was Adrien!

Zoé: Not a valid excuse! What happened to Miss Hound?! Huh?!

Monarch: Lila Rossi is also working for me!

Cosette: Bitch, we know that.

[ganggangscenarios]

Bound by desire

Pairing: Jimin x Reader

Genre: Romance, comedy, dark, angst

Warnings: Dark Magic, mentions of sex

Writer's note: I've been sitting on this one for a while, I hope you enjoy it!

The sharp scent of candle wax lingered in the air as a puff of smoke erupted in your living room, curling like storm clouds in a hurricane. When it finally parted, you were met with the sight of a man—a stunningly handsome man. His hair mirrored the hue of the dissipating smoke, a soft, smoky purple-grey that matched his piercing eyes. Pale skin stood in stark contrast to his obsidian outfit, tailored to perfection, and glittering silver adorned him—a ring for every finger, charms dangling from each ear, catching the faint light.

You did what any rational person would do. You screamed.

“Okay, dramatic.” He raised a dark brow, unimpressed by your outburst.

“Who—what—how did you get here?!” you stammered, pressing yourself against the wall.

“You summoned me.” His voice was smooth, with a touch of exasperation, like this was the most obvious thing in the world.

Your heart dropped. “Summoned? I didn’t summon anyone!”

“Oh, you didn’t?” He folded his arms, tilting his head. “Let me guess. You read some ‘random’ words aloud while lighting a black candle?”

“I was practicing Latin!” you protested, voice trembling. “And the candle wasn’t black; it was called Midnight Mist. I bought it on sale!”

He pinched the bridge of his nose. “Midnight Mist, black, same difference. And those weren’t just random words; that was an incantation.”

It clicked, and dread flooded you. “Oh, no. The book.” You gestured wildly toward a worn leather-bound volume sitting innocently on your coffee table. “I got it from this tiny shop. I just wanted to practice my Latin, and the salesperson said this book would be perfect!”

“Well, congratulations,” he said, throwing himself onto your couch as though he owned it. “You managed to summon me. An incubus.”

You blinked. “A what?”

He grinned, sharp and wicked. “An incubus. You know, the demon who, according to lore, shows up to fulfill certain... desires.”

You froze, your brain scrambling to keep up. “Wait. Wait, wait, wait. You’re here to—what? No. That can’t be right.”

“Don’t take my word for it.” He kicked his boots up onto your coffee table like he hadn’t a care in the world. “Check the book.”

Fumbling, you flipped through the pages until you found the bookmarked spell. Your eyes skimmed over the description, your voice trailing off as you read aloud: “‘An incubus is a demon in male form who lies upon sleeping women to—’ Oh my God.” You snapped the book shut, glaring at him. “Death by sex?!”

He held up his hands, palms out. “Relax. That’s old-school. We’ve updated the playbook.”

“What does that even mean?!”

He leaned forward, resting his chin on his hand. “Consent. It’s mandatory now. No more lurking in shadows or creeping into bedrooms uninvited. Honestly, most of us found the old ways pretty gross.”

Your jaw dropped. “You’re telling me demons have... ethics now?”

“Yeah. HR’s been cracking down. Very progressive workplace these days.” He flashed a smug grin. “But don’t worry. I’m not here to kill you. I’m here to fulfill the terms of your little summoning spell. My job is to... help you, shall we say, get lucky.”

The blood drained from your face. “I don’t need help getting... that! And if I did, I wouldn’t want it from a demon!”

“Well,” he said with a casual shrug, “you should’ve thought about that before you summoned me. I can’t leave until I’ve completed my task.”

“What? No! There’s got to be a way to undo this!” You frantically flipped through the book again, looking for a reversal spell.

“Knock yourself out,” he said, lounging comfortably. “But trust me, the only way I’m going anywhere is if I’ve done my job.”

You glared at him, the panic bubbling in your chest. “This is insane.”

“Welcome to demonology, sweetheart.” He smirked, eyes glinting with amusement. “Lesson one: always read the fine print.”

You were pacing the room, still clutching the cursed book like a lifeline, when the demon—no, the incubus—lounging on your couch cleared his throat. “You know, if you keep storming around like that, you’ll wear a hole in your carpet. Or summon something worse. Your choice.”

You whipped around to glare at him. “Worse than you?”

He grinned, pearly white teeth glinting. “Oh, I don’t know. You might find me pretty hard to top.”

You groaned, your hand flying to your forehead. “I can’t believe this is happening.”

“Believe it, sweetheart.” He gestured to himself lazily, reclining further into your couch cushions. “And while we’re at it, you can call me Jimin.”

“Jimin?” you repeated skeptically, narrowing your eyes. “That’s your name?”

“Surprised?” He leaned forward, elbows resting on his knees as he tilted his head at you. The faintest smirk played on his lips. “What were you expecting? Something dark and scary? Wratharion? Nycthor?” He made exaggerated gestures, wiggling his fingers like a cartoon villain.

You blinked. “Well, yeah. You’re a demon.”

He laughed, the sound soft yet somehow electric, like it hummed against your skin. “Oh, darling, demons don’t all have names like they crawled out of a horror movie. Some of us have a little... flair.”

“Flair?” you echoed, raising an eyebrow.

He stood then, crossing the room with a feline grace that sent a shiver down your spine. “Of course.” He stopped just close enough to make your breath hitch. “Jimin suits me, don’t you think?” His voice dipped, low and smooth, his smoky eyes locking onto yours.

You swallowed hard, trying not to notice the way his smirk deepened when he saw your reaction. “I think... you’re trying too hard.”

He gasped, clutching his chest dramatically like you’d struck him. “Trying too hard? Me? Darling, I don’t even have to try.”

Rolling your eyes, you took a step back, muttering, “Yeah, sure, whatever, Jimin.”

His grin widened as he followed you, playful but unrelenting. “Oh, come on, admit it. It’s a nice name, isn’t it? Rolls off the tongue.” He leaned in closer, his voice dropping to a whisper. “Jiiimiiin.”

“Stop that!” you snapped, your face burning as you shoved him back, though he barely budged.

Laughing, he straightened up, hands raised in surrender. “Fine, fine. But if you’re going to shout my name later—”

“I am not shouting your name!” you interrupted, voice climbing an octave.

He only winked at you, completely unbothered. “We’ll see.”

You groaned again, louder this time, and stalked back toward the book. “Is there a spell to make demons less insufferable?”

“If there was, I’d still be exactly the same.” His playful tone followed you like a shadow, filling the room with an infuriating warmth.

You glared at him over your shoulder, ignoring the way his smirk made your pulse race. “I think I liked it better when you didn’t have a name.”

“And I think you like me more than you’re willing to admit.”

“Shut up, Jimin.”

“As you wish.” But the sparkle in his eye told you he had no intention of letting you off that easily.

The next morning, you hurried to work, coffee in one hand and your bag slung over your shoulder. The crisp air did little to calm your nerves. The events of the night before replayed in your head on an endless loop, made worse by the constant chatter of the very unwelcome demon striding casually beside you.

“I’m just saying,” Jimin began, gesturing toward a pigeon on the sidewalk, “summoning me might be the most exciting thing you’ve ever done. Admit it.”

“Exciting isn’t the word I’d use,” you muttered, keeping your voice low, though that didn’t stop the passing woman with a small dog from shooting you a strange look.

“Embarrassing, then?” Jimin smirked. “Endearing? Or maybe—”

“A mistake,” you hissed under your breath, quickening your pace.

He laughed, effortlessly keeping up. “A mistake that you haven’t exactly tried to undo yet. Curious, isn’t it?”

“Undoing it is the first thing on my list when I get home tonight,” you snapped. “I can’t exactly work on banishing you while I’m on my way to work, now can I?”

“Sure you can. You’ve got ten fingers, two hands. What’s stopping you from multitasking?”

“Jimin,” you warned, glancing around. A man walking his bike on the other side of the street frowned in your direction, clearly wondering who you were talking to.

Jimin tilted his head, feigning innocence. “Oh, don’t worry, sweetheart. No one can see me unless I want them to.” He leaned closer, his voice taking on a conspiratorial edge. “You’re just the weirdo talking to herself right now.”

“Wonderful,” you muttered, cheeks burning as another passerby gave you a wary glance.

By the time you reached the office, you were on edge. You darted into the break room, trying to collect yourself before your best friend, Maddie, inevitably cornered you. Jimin, however, didn’t seem interested in giving you a moment of peace.

“This is where you work?” he asked, looking around with mild interest. He wrinkled his nose. “Fluorescent lighting? Beige walls? How... uninspired.”

“Not everyone lives in some shadowy demon dimension, okay?” you shot back, grabbing a mug from the cabinet.

“Touché,” he said, leaning casually against the counter.

“Hey!” Maddie’s voice cut through your morning panic. She popped into the break room, her auburn curls bouncing. “Good morning—” She froze mid-step, her eyes locking on Jimin. “Uh. Hi?”

Your stomach dropped.

“Wait... you can see him?” you asked, voice pitching higher than you’d intended.

“Uh, yeah,” Maddie said, blinking at you. “Why wouldn’t I? He’s standing right there.”

Jimin straightened, looking genuinely surprised for the first time since he’d appeared in your life. “Oh,” he murmured, a grin creeping onto his face. “This is interesting.”

“What’s interesting?” Maddie asked, crossing her arms. “And who exactly is this ridiculously attractive man following you around? Don’t tell me you picked him up at that hole-in-the-wall bar you love. You usually have better taste.”

“He’s not—! I didn’t—!” You sputtered, unsure how to explain without sounding insane.

“Relax,” Jimin interrupted smoothly, flashing Maddie a disarming smile. “I’m Jimin. A... friend of hers.”

“A friend,” Maddie repeated, one eyebrow raised. “Right. And why is your ‘friend’ lurking in the break room at 8 a.m.?”

Jimin ignored her question, stepping closer to study her intently. “You’re Wiccan, aren’t you?”

Maddie blinked, startled. “Uh, yeah. How did you—?”

“That explains it.” Jimin turned to you, his grin positively wicked now. “She’s got a little magic of her own. That’s why she can see me.”

You stared at Maddie like she’d just sprouted a second head. “Wait. Hold on. You’re Wiccan?”

Maddie blinked at you, a little taken aback. “Uh... yeah?”

“Since when?!” you demanded, gesturing wildly between her and Jimin.

“Since... forever?” Maddie said, her tone tinged with confusion. “I mean, it’s not like I’ve been hiding it. You’ve seen my herb jars and crystals. And the moon water? You thought I just liked collecting mason jars for fun?”

“I thought you were into cottagecore!” you exclaimed, still reeling.

Maddie let out a loud laugh, throwing her head back. “Oh my God, no! I mean, okay, yes, it is a vibe, but—seriously? You thought I was just aesthetic?”

“Well, yeah!” you said, your voice rising in disbelief. “You bake pies and make those little flower arrangements all the time! I didn’t think they were spells!”

“They’re not all spells,” Maddie said, still grinning. “Some of them are just, you know, pies. But come on, how did you not pick up on this?”

Jimin was watching the exchange with rapt interest, his lips twitching like he was barely holding back a laugh. “You two are adorable,” he interjected, earning glares from both of you.

You ignored him, your focus still locked on Maddie. “So, you’re telling me that all this time, you’ve been practicing actual magic? Like, real magic? And you never thought to mention it?”

“To be fair,” Maddie said, raising a finger, “you never seemed particularly interested in that stuff. Plus, I didn’t want to overwhelm you. You’re... not exactly the most open-minded when it comes to the supernatural.”

“I summoned a demon last night!” you yelled, waving a hand in Jimin’s direction.

“And you’re handling it about as well as I expected,” Maddie shot back, smirking.

Jimin snorted, finally losing the battle against his amusement. “She’s got you there.”

You threw up your hands. “This is unbelievable. My best friend is secretly a witch, and apparently, I’ve been living in some kind of magical sitcom this whole time!”

“It’s not a secret if you’re just oblivious,” Maddie teased, leaning against the counter. “But I’ve got to admit, summoning a demon is a pretty dramatic way to join the club.”

“I didn’t mean to join the club!” you groaned, burying your face in your hands. “This is a nightmare.”

“Relax,” Jimin said, stepping closer with an easy smile. “If you think this is shocking, wait until you hear about the vampires.”

You shot him a glare so sharp it could cut steel. “Not. Helping.”

“Just saying,” he said, throwing his hands up in mock surrender. “Welcome to the magical world, sweetheart. It’s gonna be a fun ride.”

Maddie grinned, clearly enjoying your meltdown. “Oh, I am so getting popcorn for this.”

You groaned again, wishing desperately that you could wake up from whatever surreal dream your life had become.

You stared at Maddie like she’d just sprouted a second head. “Wait. Hold on. You’re Wiccan?”

Maddie blinked at you, a little taken aback. “Uh... yeah?”

“Since when?!” you demanded, gesturing wildly between her and Jimin.

“Since... forever?” Maddie said, her tone tinged with confusion. “I mean, it’s not like I’ve been hiding it. You’ve seen my herb jars and crystals. And the moon water? You thought I just liked collecting mason jars for fun?”

“I thought you were into cottagecore!” you exclaimed, still reeling.

Maddie let out a loud laugh, throwing her head back. “Oh my God, no! I mean, okay, yes, it is a vibe, but—seriously? You thought I was just aesthetic?”

“Well, yeah!” you said, your voice rising in disbelief. “You bake pies and make those little flower arrangements all the time! I didn’t think they were spells!”

“They’re not all spells,” Maddie said, still grinning. “Some of them are just, you know, pies. But come on, how did you not pick up on this?”

Jimin was watching the exchange with rapt interest, his lips twitching like he was barely holding back a laugh. “You two are adorable,” he interjected, earning glares from both of you.

You ignored him, your focus still locked on Maddie. “So, you’re telling me that all this time, you’ve been practicing actual magic? Like, real magic? And you never thought to mention it?”

“To be fair,” Maddie said, raising a finger, “you never seemed particularly interested in that stuff. Plus, I didn’t want to overwhelm you. You’re... not exactly the most open-minded when it comes to the supernatural.”

“I summoned a demon last night!” you yelled, waving a hand in Jimin’s direction.

“And you’re handling it about as well as I expected,” Maddie shot back, smirking.

Jimin snorted, finally losing the battle against his amusement. “She’s got you there.”

You threw up your hands. “This is unbelievable. My best friend is secretly a witch, and apparently, I’ve been living in some kind of magical sitcom this whole time!”

“It’s not a secret if you’re just oblivious,” Maddie teased, leaning against the counter. “But I’ve got to admit, summoning a demon is a pretty dramatic way to join the club.”

“I didn’t mean to join the club!” you groaned, burying your face in your hands. “This is a nightmare.”

“Relax,” Jimin said, stepping closer with an easy smile. “If you think this is shocking, wait until you hear about the vampires.”

You shot him a glare so sharp it could cut steel. “Not. Helping.”

“Just saying,” he said, throwing his hands up in mock surrender. “Welcome to the magical world, sweetheart. It’s gonna be a fun ride.”

Maddie grinned, clearly enjoying your meltdown. “Oh, I am so getting popcorn for this.”

You groaned again, wishing desperately that you could wake up from whatever surreal dream your life had become.

The club was alive with pounding bass, strobing lights, and a crush of bodies moving in time with the music. You barely remembered how Maddie had talked you into coming here—something about celebrating your “first step into the magical world” and needing to loosen up after a “stressful week.” It was all a blur of insistence and teasing until you’d finally caved.

Now, you were several drinks deep, your head swimming with a pleasant buzz, and Maddie was nowhere in sight. Probably on the dance floor with some guy she’d charmed into buying her a drink.

As for you, you were parked at the bar, swaying slightly to the music and trying to ignore the growing number of men approaching you.

“You’re too gorgeous to be sitting alone,” one of them said, leaning against the bar with what you assumed was meant to be a winning smile.

You blinked at him, unimpressed. “I’m not alone,” you said flatly, waving vaguely behind you to where Jimin had been lurking most of the evening.

The man glanced over your shoulder, saw nothing, and frowned. “Uh, there’s no one there.”

“Exactly,” you muttered, turning back to your drink.

After the third or fourth guy tried his luck and failed, Jimin finally slid onto the barstool next to you, his presence as palpable as the beat vibrating through the club.

“You know,” he said, voice low and velvety in your ear, “for someone so good at rejecting men, you’ve got a real talent for attracting them.”

You rolled your eyes, not bothering to look at him. “And for someone so supposedly powerful, you’ve got a real talent for being annoying.”

He laughed, the sound rich and warm, cutting through the chaos around you. “Careful, sweetheart. You’re going to make me think you’re into me.”

You snorted, sipping your drink. “You wish.”

“Oh, I don’t need to wish.”

Before you could retort, he was on his feet, holding out a hand. “Come dance with me.”

You stared at him, half-laughing. “Why would I do that?”

“Because you’re drunk, and I’m irresistible,” he said with a wicked grin. “Also, it’ll keep the other guys off your back. Consider it a public service.”

You hesitated, your head swimming from the alcohol, the music, and the way his smoky eyes seemed to pull you in. Finally, you let out a sigh and took his hand. “Fine. One dance.”

He led you to the dance floor, weaving effortlessly through the crowd until you were surrounded by swaying bodies and flashing lights. The second the music enveloped you, Jimin closed the space between you.

At first, you kept your distance, maintaining a polite gap as you moved to the rhythm. But Jimin was relentless. His hands hovered at your waist, his body drawing closer with every beat, until the space between you was almost nonexistent.

The air grew thick, the alcohol dulling your inhibitions as you swayed together. His presence was magnetic, impossible to ignore. His breath ghosted against your ear as he leaned in, his voice a low murmur that sent a shiver down your spine.

“You’re not bad at this,” he teased, his hands brushing your sides ever so lightly.

“Shut up,” you muttered, but your voice lacked the bite you’d intended.

He smirked, his lips dangerously close to yours. “You’re making it awfully hard for me to behave, you know that?”

Your heart raced, your pulse pounding louder than the music. His smoky purple eyes locked onto yours, and for a moment, the world seemed to shrink to just the two of you.

“Behaving is optional,” you found yourself saying, your voice barely audible over the music.

His grin widened, his fingers grazing your arm, sending sparks up your skin. “Careful, sweetheart. I might take that as an invitation.”

You didn’t reply, too lost in the way his touch set your senses alight. You didn’t even notice Maddie watching from across the room, a knowing smirk on her face as she sipped her drink.

Days melted into each other like ink bleeding through parchment. Jimin lingered around you like a shadow, ever-present but growing heavier with each passing moment. The easy flirtation that defined his arrival softened, replaced by something quieter, more contemplative.

It wasn’t lost on you, the way his gaze lingered when you laughed or how his voice softened when he said your name. The comfort between you both had grown—sometimes so tangible it felt like you could reach out and hold it. You’d kissed once, on a night when the stars were bold and the air hummed with something neither of you dared name.

But now, there was a distance. A hesitation.

Jimin had pulled away the last time you leaned in, the warmth in his eyes replaced by a flicker of something sharper. Guilt.

“What’s wrong?” you had asked, voice low, almost afraid of the answer.

“Nothing,” he’d said, too quickly, stepping back like touching you would burn.

It had been happening more and more. You didn’t miss the way he flinched when you pressed closer or how he deflected with humor when things grew too intimate. It wasn’t rejection—it was something deeper, something that weighed heavy in the air between you.

But what you couldn’t see was the storm raging inside him.

Jimin sat on the edge of your couch one evening, watching you flip through an old book Maddie had lent you. His fingers toyed with the silver rings he wore, a habit he’d developed to keep from reaching for you. He hated himself for it. For the first time in his existence, he despised what he was—despised the aura that made you gravitate toward him, the pull that was more compulsion than choice.

What if it wasn’t real? What if you didn’t actually want him?

He’d lived 400 years as an incubus, relishing in the easy connections his power afforded him, taking pride in how mortals fell to his charms. But now, the thought of you succumbing to that same enchantment made his stomach churn.

He wanted you to want him, Jimin, not the intoxicating lure of what he was.

For the first time, he felt the cruel irony of his existence. The tether to hell, his powers, his allure—it was all shackles. And for the first time, he wished he could strip it all away and just... be mortal.

But that wasn’t possible, and his superiors were growing impatient.

One evening, just as you’d fallen asleep, the flames of hell itself flickered into your living room, and a voice like crackling fire filled his mind.

“Jimin.”

He sighed, shoulders tensing as he rose from the chair. “I’ll be back,” he murmured, though he knew you couldn’t hear him.

The summons yanked him downward, into the burning depths of the underworld. The oppressive heat pressed against him as he knelt before his superiors.

“You’ve been stalling,” a voice hissed, serpentine and sharp. “Weeks have passed, and you have yet to fulfill your duty.”

Jimin didn’t look up. “I’m handling it,” he said, though his voice lacked conviction.

“Handling it?” Another voice joined, this one low and menacing. “Do not think your actions—or inaction—have gone unnoticed. We have seen your hesitation. Your... attachment.”

“It’s not attachment,” Jimin snapped, though even he didn’t believe it. “I’m—”

“You’re jeopardizing centuries of tradition,” the first voice interrupted. “Your kind exists to fulfill a purpose. To falter is to betray what you are.”

Jimin clenched his fists, his knuckles whitening. “What if I don’t want to be what I am?”

Silence followed, thick and suffocating.

“And what do you wish to be instead?” the second voice asked, mocking. “A mortal? Pathetic. Fragile. Bound to the inevitable rot of time?”

Jimin looked up, defiance sparking in his smoky eyes. “At least they feel without compulsion. At least their love is real.”

The words echoed in the cavernous space, and for a moment, the air itself seemed to hold its breath. Then, the voices broke into a cacophony of mocking laughter.

“Love?” the first voice sneered. “You are a demon, Jimin. You do not love. You manipulate. You seduce. That is your nature.”

“Then maybe I don’t want it to be,” Jimin shot back, his voice rising, trembling with something dangerously close to despair.

The laughter stopped abruptly.

“Fulfil your duty, or we will ensure the girl suffers for your failure,” the second voice growled. “You are bound by your contract. Do not forget that.”

Jimin’s jaw tightened, but he said nothing.

When he returned to your living room, the weight of his choice was crushing. You were still asleep, curled up on the couch, the faint light of the TV casting soft shadows across your face.

He sank into the chair, watching you.

And for the first time in his long, immortal life, Jimin felt utterly powerless.

[yayforocs]

CD #3

Whirrrrrrrrrr…

A throat clears, and for a minute, the only sound is the soft whirring noise of a crank being turned.

Eventually, though, there’s a breath in, then out, and then a voice.

“So I think I learned what a ‘supernatural thriller’ is today, heh…” There is no smile in the laugh. There’s a noise of uncertainty. “I- So- It’s-” A sigh. “From the beginning, yeah…”

“When we went to the world for today, Zeta- that's Shantil, she prefers to go by her last name- had told us that it was going to be a ‘supernatural thriller’, which now I think means ‘scary magic’, essentially. With ghosts. It was… It was a uh…. I forget what it was called, but it was- we started out in this room covered in posters, an’ then this train showed up, which is like this big machine used to transport a buncha people at once, an’ then suddenly we were on it, like I blinked and then suddenly Voltage was in my face tryna shake me, so I guess I- well, Mask, too, he went to her after I responded, so I guess something happened to us an’ we blacked out? But when we woke up, we were on the train, which I didn’t learn was even called a train ‘til later, but-”

“Anyway, there were a buncha different rooms in the train, an’ each of ‘em were themed to a ghost that had died on it- like one was pink an’ the ghost- Nikola? I think? Was like magically writin’ all over the walls an’ stuff, and there was another one that was a yellow maze, an’ another had this paper sculpture in it, an’ one- well, we went into it once, an’ it was all black an’ had what I guess was the last one in it- but it wasn’t a human ghost anymore. It was this black monster thing with red eyes an’ it kept popping up an’ chasin’ us all over the train as we teleported from room to room. It didn’t start once we got in the room, though, it was goin’ way before we ever found it. Voltage had had a run-in with it before he woke me an’ Mask up, so we were running pretty much from the start of it.”

“We had to figure out a buncha clues and get everyone’s name so we could- right, yeah, yeah, because it um- the monster thing would take memories. It’d completely wiped the other ghosts on the train, they couldn’t even remember their names, we had to like. Give ‘em back to ‘em. An’ then when we figured out the last name- or- really, that the last name left had to be the name of the monster, because it was a human once too- we were able to team up with one of the ghosts- the purple one, I… I don’t remember what her name was, but she knew spells an’ stuff, an’ we were able to team up with her an’ get rid of the monster- and…”

“Um.”

“I- I wasn’t thinking, it was stupid, she’d said she could summon it or whatever so I thought it’d appear in the circle, the- the magic circle thing, an’ didn’t think about it coming through one of the doors, an’-”

“I’d- so- it-”

There’s a long breath in, and a long breath out.

“I put myself on the other side of ‘em, b’cause they were gonna try to hold it off if it didn’t work, and honestly I can’t do magic, I don’t have magic, so I thought I’d put myself where I could do what I’d done last time we ran into it there an’ just be ready to throw my dagger at it an’ run so I could distract it for ‘em, an’-”

“I mean, I- I guess I did- be a distraction, I just- didn’t think it’d come from behind me, is all. Don’t even know what it took, just that it took something, an’ it’s driving me nuts. I feel like I remember everything, but that’s just ‘cause I don’t know what I’m missing, and I know I’m missing something.”

“I think I’m gonna go home tonight. See if I can figure it out. An’… Honestly, I’ve… kinda been avoiding goin’ back, b’cause like- What do I even say to them? Would they believe me? I-I mean, I guess Kale an’ Kid have prob’ly dealt with weirder things, considering – the- god- thing- an’ they both just kinda seem- weirdly knowledgeable about a lotta things, honestly- but Tab would- …Or, well, no, I- I guess she might, since she had like- talked about dimensions and stuff. So. Mm. But they’re gonna be so- I don’t think they’d want me to go back. But I dunno if I even wanna come back after that. If- if there’s stuff like that here, then- am- I’m still gonna remember them after a couple months, right? Years? How long is- I mean, the other party’s been here for twenty an’ they’re still goin’ strong, so- it- it could be a while, right? If stuff like that is here, that could- that could really change a person that drastically- would- would I still be the same?Or- if that was just a- a one-time thing, like… I mean, it- it prob’ly was. It was just in that- world, or- whatever.”

A sigh.

“Or maybe I just- won’t say anything ‘til I know what to say, an’ just… be home. That… sounds kinda nice, actually. I- I think I’ll do that. I’ll just be home. An’ if they ask, I’ll just- figure it out, I guess.”

The whirring slows, and then stops.

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

Aron blinked, and realized she was- she was in her room. Her room- and Tab’s, of course. Sitting at the desk, blueprints laid out- though the wings were still strapped to her back. She stood and took them off, as well as her bag, and put them in their corner where she usually stored them. Didn’t make sense for her to be wearing them while she was just looking over the blueprints, and the longer she could last without questions asked, the better. She just knew they’d not be happy with her running off by herself- though she was with a group so she wasn’t exactly by herself- and not want her to be in the extra danger that she was clearly putting herself in. She’d lost a memory, after all, and the back of her neck still hurt from where the thing grabbed her like that. She didn’t know if it’d left a mark- oh gods, she hoped it didn’t. She’d noticed a bruise around Voltage’s neck… was that from his run-in? Did she have one, too?

She reached up and lightly touched her neck, then less lightly as she realized that yeah, while it still hurt, it didn’t feel bruised. Maybe because she’d been dropped so quickly. Her sigh of relief let her hand and shoulders fall back down.

She looked around the room.

Right-!

She looked around the room.

[My bed] [.91m] [Tab’s bed] [.92m] [Black oak door] [1.22m] [Retractable paraglider wings] [.61m] [Note: A gift from Something Owner, whatever that means]

Good. It did work, it was just- something weird with the universe, she guessed.

But it did seem that she was the only one here currently, and she was antsy about it. Aron needed to see someone- anyone would do, just- after that, and not knowing what she forgot- gods, she hoped she still remembered who all her friends-

There was a knock at the door.

"Aron?"

She whirled to face it, and had to force herself to not rush to the door and to not rip it open- after all, her coming to the door to answer would be an oddity in and of itself, considering who'd called out to her, but she couldn't not, not now.

She opened the door to see Kid.

And she grinned.

[iamvegorott]

Meeting A Magical Man Pt. 39

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Marvin wasn’t too surprised to find himself the first one awake in the house, enjoying the quiet since he knew as soon as the others woke, he’d never get it again for the rest of the day. Six people in one home would be noisy regardless of what everyone was doing. Marvin worked on making some tea and coffee. He knew how half of them enjoyed the stuff and was prepping random items for the others to use, wearing a pair of shorts and Chase’s shirt.

“Marvin?” The voice behind Marvin got him to pause. 

Of course, Jackie would be the next person to wake up. 

Karma was really biting his ass as of late. 

“Hey.” Marvin greeted back casually, not looking at the other man as he focused on making his little drink bar, some of the items floating around with already casted magic. 

“How are you?”

“Just making drinks for all of us.”

“That’s not what I asked.” 

“Jackie-” 

“How are you doing?” Jackie went over and stood next to Marvin, letting him see that he was only wearing a pair of sweatpants. 

“I’m fine.” Marvin waved a hand and had the items settle back down, knowing it was best to stop any spells at the moment. 

“I know what it means when you say that.” Jackie crossed his arms on the counter and leaned down, resting his head on his arms and looking up at Marvin. “You’re still pissed at me.”

“I’m not…I’m not anymore. Yes, I was furious you were back in town and didn’t tell me. But I guess I’ve been too busy trying to figure out the rest of this mess to care anymore.” Marvin groaned and placed a hand on his face, realizing his mask wasn’t on, and he was about to summon it when Jackie took his wrist and lowered his hand. 

“I’m sorry. I should have called or texted or something, but I was worried that seeing me with Phantom would hurt more than not seeing me anymore.” Jackie patted Marvin’s arm before moving his hand back under his head. “I’m sorry.” 

“Can we just move on from that? I’m okay, I promise.” 

“We can move on.” 

“Thank you.” Marvin watched Jackie move, and he softly chuckled at him sitting on the counter. 

“So, tell me about you and Chase~” Jackie sang. 

“Oh God, are we those kinds of exes?” Marvin laughed. 

“What? What kind?” 

“Besties~” Marvin was now the one singing, and he flicked his hand at the wrist. 

“What?” 

“Nevermind. I’ll tell you about me and Chase after you tell me about you and Phantom first.” Marvin picked up his tea and took a sip while handing Jackie his go-to coffee. 

“Like what?”

“How’d you meet?” 

“Heh.” Jackie weakly chuckled and rubbed the back of his neck. 

“Now you’ve caught my full interest.” Marvin giggled. 

“Well…it was a few weeks into the new job, I kind of holed myself up in my new place, and one of my coworkers suggested I go to one of the popular clubs and-uh…”

“Get some ass?” 

“Yeah, those were his exact words.” Jackie’s chuckle was a stronger one this time. “I agreed to go because, getting ass or not, I did need to go out.”

“And you found Phantom’s ass?” 

“Literally.” 

“Literally?” 

“He was dancing on the bar counter in only a pair of assless chaps.” 

“What?” Marvin was very impressed. He liked to show off his body, too, but even he’s kept his ass covered in public. 

“He owns the place. So he can get away with these things.”

“Wait, he owns a club and works with Dark at the same time?” 

“His employees are pretty chill, and most are magic users as well, so they get it. Mare was even a bouncer before he got mixed up with Actor, but now that's my gig since the whole Dark thing messed up the other job.” Jackie paused to finally take a sip of his drink. “Just as good as always.” 

“So, you found his ass and took him home?” Marvin asked, waving away Jackie’s compliment with his hand. 

“More like he took me home. I sat at the bar, and before I even ordered a drink, he sat next to me and started flirting.” Jackie softly laughed at the memory.

“How long did it take for you to catch on?” Marvin teased.

“I have my moments, but even I can catch on to what someone wants when they greet me with a; hey sexy,” 

“Well damn, he’s even more forward than me.” 

“A little.” Jackie held up his hand and had his fingers close together. “But yeah, I took the hint, was happy to go home, and we had some…fun.”

“You fucked.” Marvin corrected.

“We had fun.” Jackie echoed. “And after that night, I kept going to the bar, kept seeing Phantom, we had more fun, and soon we realized we liked each other and started dating.” 

“What? No big love confession or something? Come on, where’s the drama, the excitement? I want lore.” 

“Lore?” Mad repeated as he came into the kitchen. “What’s going on?” He was wearing blue sleep pants with piles of books on them and an oversized shirt. Mad noticed Jackie was shirtless, and he looked away. 

“We’re talking about how we go with our boyfriends,” Marvin answered. 

“Oh, I-uh-I can come back.” Mad offered and started to turn away. 

“I got a big pot of coffee made with a bunch of creamers and syrups to pick from if you’d like some.” Marvin grinned when Mad paused. 

“That sounds nice.” Mad went right to the counter to the other side of Marvin, making a point of not looking at Jackie as he made himself a drink. 

“Okay, so, back to the tea. There has to be something with how you two got together.” Marvin poked Jackie’s leg. 

“Not really tea. I mean, yeah, we were in denial for a while, but then one day, we were cuddling, and Phantom looked at me and asked if we were a couple. I said yes, and there it was.” Jackie shrugged. 

“Boring.” Marvin held out the word. 

“Oh yeah? Then you tell me how you and Chase ended up how you two are. How more exciting is that story?” Jackie playfully huffed. 

“We got a whole story worth of stuff and-”

“Shit!” Phantom’s curse cut Marvin off. “Dumbass at the club broke one of the water lines. This is why I didn’t want to open the dining area for anything besides dinner and late-night munchies.” He was buttoning up his shirt as he walked across the kitchen, a different shirt tucked into one of his arms. “How hard is it to just clean under a sink? Like, damn.” 

“Tea?” Marvin offered one of the brewed cups. 

“Please.” Phantom sighed a thanks and took the cup, sipping it. “Holy shit, that’s good.” He praised as he handed Jackie the shirt. 

“Thank you. And does Dark know you own a club?” Marvin asked. 

“Nope. And he never will.” Phantom saluted with two fingers before sending himself and Jackie away. 

“I don’t think I’m ready to live with so many people,” Mad said, voice showing that it was meant to be voiced inside his head, but it came out of his mouth instead. 

“We’ll get used to it.” Mad handed Mad a spoon so he could stir his coffee concoction. “So, did you and Mare have any fun last night~?” 

“We worked on unpacking and went to bed,” Mad stated and took a sip of his drink. 

“I meant, did you two like cuddle or kiss or have sex or-” Marvin chuckled when Mad started coughing, face going red from both embarrassment and the coughing. 

“No! We-We don’t-no-not-we-” Mad’s words stumbled over each other, and he couldn’t form a proper sentence. 

“Really? Makes you think it’s flavored? I might have to buy that.” Mare said as he and Chase came into the room, both in t-shirts and sleep pants.

“We good?” Chase asked when he noticed Mad’s red face and the almost evil grin on Marvin’s.

“Peachy.” Marvin giggled. 

“Sure.” Chase popped his lips before holding up his phone. “Henrik texted and asked if we could come over soon.” 

“Would you two be okay alone here?” Marvin asked Mad and Mare. 

“Go do what you gotta do. We’ll be fine.” Mare said while Mad nodded in agreement, drinking more of his coffee. 

“Let’s take a quick shower and head off.” Marvin looped his arm through Chase’s and walked off with him. 

“He’s making it sound like they’re taking the shower together.” Mad softly giggled.

“I’m pretty sure they are.” Mare said.

“Oh!” 

----------

Tags: @brokentimewatch @bookwormscififan @d-structive @rainymae523 @ashtonisvibing