#you safe if you do the same for us. we'll kick your demons in the ass and we'll kick YOUR ass if you try to fall to them

[wizardnuke]

thinks about the mighty nein. throws up blood

[fandomworld9728]

The Life of the Morningstars - Chapter 20:

"No! No, no, nonono! Fuck!" Even in his full demon form and using all his strength, Lucifer couldn't break a door, a wall, nothing. They were trapped. "I can't believe they warded the Embassy!"

"Lulu, it's okay. We'll find a way out of here." Beelzebub tried to reassure her baby brother. "Would it make you feel any better to see how they're doing in the battle? I know our precious little niece and her friends are probably kicking ass right now."

It honestly would help calm his nerves to see that his daughter and her ragtag group he had come to love and care for were faring well against Adam and his army. But he couldn't extend his reach past the wards on the building. Unless... "Someone pull up a live fed of the Exterminations on your phone and use your magic to project! Someone is always covering it!" 

Walking over to one of the tables, Lucifer sat down with the other three sins as Asmodeus had done as he requested. Carefully watching, he pulled out his own phone to make a call. He hated asking them to come out in the middle of the Extermination, especially now that the treaty was broken, but they needed out of this building.

So far so good. Seems like Alastor had put up a barrier, keeping any more of the angels to get near them so they could take down the ones already caught inside of it. That creepy bastard was coming through better than the king could have hoped. Wait. Were those...?

"Uh... Luci? Why are there tentacles coming out of that barrier?"

"Yeah. That's something I'd expect to see from Ozzie, mate."

"That's really cool though. They're wielding weapons. I bet that guy is fun to party with."

Well, it was effective at the very least. And very on brand for the radio demon. "I doubt a guy from the 1930's is gonna wanna party the same way you do, Bee." 

"Come and get some!"

"Eat shrapnel fuckers!"

"....Those two on the other hand might be more up your alley."

"Is that Angel Dust?!"

"Of course, all three of you know who he is!" Who knew Angel Dust was so popular in the other rings? Maybe he could get the spider demon a new job with Ozzie after the battle.

"I'm fucking over this." One good punch broke the shield and had angels swarming them. 

"No! Fuck- please, please, please be okay! Fucking pick up your phone already!"

~

"Blitzo... Blitzo! Blitzo!"

"What?!"

"Your fucking phone has been ringing nonstop! Pick it up already!"

"Alright, alright already." He had been distracted while watching the coverage of the Extermination at M&M's house. Their place seemed to be the safest and they invited him and Loona to crash there for the night. Getting bored, Blitzo had turned on the live coverage and saw his new best friend's daughter fighting them. It had thrown him for one hell of a loop. Especially when he caught sight of the crown she wore and the shield she was carrying.

"Is that the Princess of Hell fighting back against the Extermination?!"

Oh. Fuck. His new best friend was the King of Hell. Ha! He was so cool! He couldn't wait to rub this in Fizz's face. Oh shit! That's probably who was calling him. 

"Finally, you pick up!"

"Don't you finally me! You have some explaining to do!"

"Yeah, yeah, later. I need your help."

~

Okay. They had a plan. They were going to get out of here and go help Charlie. He was going to keep her safe. He wasn't going to lose her. He wasn't going to lose anyone of them.

"Holy shit! Look at him go!"

At Bee's yell, Lucifer refocused on the screen to see Alastor holding his own against Adam. That was no easy feat. It was honestly... doing things to him.

"You really think you can take me on? A mortal soul is no match me, edge lord."

"You should know better than anyone what a soul can accomplish when they take charge of their own fate."

"You think you're tough shit, huh?"

"Tougher than you."

"Hold on- is that Lucifer's fucking scent on you?!"

All eyes turned to the king as he stared in horror at the image. "That's my fucking handkerchief! Did he seriously steal my- oh he is so getting an earful later."

Lucifer wasn't sure just why the sinner had decided to take his stuff and wear it during the battle, but it made him equal parts mad and flattered. And caused that feeling that started up earlier to grow in intensity. Part of him wondered if he did it just to piss off the first man.

"Is there something you wanna tell us, Luci?"

"No! Even if there was, now isn't the time! We should be focusing on the battle, so we know where to hit when we get free." And also, so they can stop looking at his blushing face.

"Oh, is it?~ I hadn't noticed."

"I totally love this guy, Lulu." 

"Beelzebub."

"Why would he let you be covered in his scent?! I'm so much better than you!"

"Ha! How laughable! I can already see your many faults and we've only been fighting for a short time. You lack discipline, control, and worst... you're sloppy!"

"Fuck, Lulu. If you aren't gonna fuck this guy, I will."

"Beelzebub!"

"Bee, calm down. Don't make Luci wound up any tighter than he already is. Besides, with how strong of a smell he's giving off, we know what he's going to be doing after the battle is won."

Groaning, Lucifer let his head drop into his hands. "Not you too, Asmodeus."

"Eyes on the screen, mate. Things aren't starting to look too good."

"I'm going to wipe that shit eating grin off your face. Cause radio is fucking dead!" With the added power stored into that attack, Adam had broken through Alastor's defenses and broke his cane.

"What just happened? Fuck." That moment of shock left him open and vulnerable, allowing Adam to land a powerful strike.

Jumping to his feet, Lucifer had panic and rage bubbling up and mixing inside of him. "Alastor! Fuck! Fucking hell!

Finally, it seemed like luck was on his side as the doors to the Embassy flew open.

"Did someone call for a rescue?!"

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[kipskiptrip]

It's kind of insane how a rich, white woman would gain this much of a following to veil blatant racism in the name of feminism.

The amount of people who would mask bigotry (ex., this shitshow, TERF bullshit, etc.) as a wave of giving women power fail to understand women's existence beyond the Eurocentric, normative comprehension.

This type of argument of attacking other groups in sake of "feminism" is so often used against minorities, particularly BIPOC, queer, and disabled women. I have never seen something so vile as to demonizing a Hispanic creator for expressing his life, particularly his sex life and worth (which, might I add, he has a right to sing about whatever he wants, but we'll get more onto that later), becoming more popular than an ethnically white multi-centimillionaire. (Continued under cut)

It doesn't matter what parasocial safe spaces she may have provided for you, Taylor Swift is a white, cishet woman. By cutting off a group of people for simply being hispanic, doesn't matter what this person could have done, you are 100% the asshole, and shame on you.

Would you have cut off disabled people if the artist was disabled? Trans? How about if this artist was a gay man, and only sang about how rich and gay he is? Would you have prevented your friends from talking to anyone who is Black, Indigenous, Arab, Jewish, if the artist was any of those? The amount of demonization ethnic minorities get for simply not "meeting the norm" and restricting themselves to the appropriate Christian Eurocentric topic is immense, and quite frankly one of the reasons we have bigotry rampant here in the first place. (Tying BIPOC to being dangerous and evil, Queer people to being sex offenders, disabled people to freakshows who can't take care of themselves, etc.)

You are restricting your friends from speaking to their Hispanic friends in the name of a music artist coming into power is the most disgusting thing I have heard in a while, and a prime example of how a group can be easily ostracized in favor of another. Favoring white women over Hispanic men, what about Hispanic women? What about your friends' friends who are Hispanic women who listen to TS as well? Are they supposed to be kicked out of a community for their culture? Their ethnicity? Again, prime example of Eurocentrism and how easily groups can be ostracized in the name of another. White feminism veils racism over female rights, while failing to accept women of other backgrounds other than the typical WASP one.

What is the root of your disgust for the other artist in the first place anyway? You can dislike him, sure, but by throwing away and spoiling his following for only singing about sex, meanwhile TS also sings about sex, claiming it in a name of feminism? Sexual expression and freedom has always been a matter of feminism! Flappers are a prime example of this (won't be explaining why, go search it up! It's interesting and one of my favorite parts of AP U.S. History)

You want to know where else a group of people were put down for being overly-sexual? The queer community we are both in!!! The same queer community your favorite artist claims to help you find.

The reason why transphobia and homophobia is so rampant today is because people tied being queer automatically to being dangerous and over-sexual, meanwhile sexual expression is a huge part of our history, and still holds up a great amount of our community. By admitting sexual expression as vile and unorthodox, you can target a singular group of people known for such. This happened to us, and it happens to Hispanics as well.

I have a feeling I know exactly which artist you're talking about (even if I don't, I'm still going to use him as an example), and while I also don't favor him, I can tell you how he mixes and sings also ties into his culture. He sings in Spanish because he isn't ashamed of doing so. He incorporates bachata into his work because that's part of his history and culture. And while I'm not a fan, I appreciate how he is taking his culture (and mine too) and putting it out there without shame!

Putting him down and other Hispanics too (which also, depending where you're from, you have different cultures and beliefs, so you're generalizing an entire, extremely diverse population to one culture) for singing about such is stripping Hispanics of their culture and their right to be in the music industry and express themselves. And btw, Taylor Swift is still #1 Artist on Spotify! While he and Miley Cyrus are #1 Album and #1 Song respectively, Taylor is still Top Artist! (Source at the bottom)

All-in-all, you are targeting a group of people for something they have no responsibility for, and letting racism slide as a means to expand (white) women's rights. I hope you can change your view on how you see how your actions ultimately reflect that, and build a safer world for people to exist and express themselves in.

https://www.wecb.fm/taylor-swift-bad-bunny-and-miley-cyrus-at-the-top-on-spotify/#:~:text=As%20of%202023%2C%20Taylor%20Swift,1%20album%20and%20song%2C%20respectively.

was I the asshole for telling my followers to sabotage a hispanic artist?

(13 <– to find this)

this happened awhile back but I'm remorseful and I want to know if I was the asshole or if I'm just overthinking.

I (24NB) had a pretty big TS fan account on twitter (I said "had" bc I'm no longer active). her music saved me from suicidal ideation, helped me get rid of my anxiety, and overall it was always very comforting to me. her music accepted me for being non-binary when most of my irl friends didn't. I felt like I belonged.

in recent years a certain hispanic artist started to get famous and well known and tbh I don't know how or why, all he sings about is his dating life, his sex life, how much money he has... unlike TS who crafts feminist masterpieces. this guys music wasn't my cup of tea and I realized he already had more views than her on youtube and he was the number one artist on spotify for a few years so um. I was honestly VERY angry that taylor's hard work was gonna go to waste again because of a man. so long story short I told my followers to sabotage this hispanic artist and also encouraged them to stay away from/talk less to their hispanic friends for awhile. as far as I know most of them agreed with me.

my wake up call was being accused of being a set up account (a set up is an account made by someone who is not from a fandom pretending to be in order to make said fandom look bad) after that post of mine was shared on reddit even though they censored the @. since that day I stopped being active on that account, tbh because I was ashamed of myself. I feel like an asshole but my closest friends from within the fandom constantly tell me a real fan is not ashamed to show love and support and that what I did was genius. so the worst part is despite being remorseful I still somehow feel like I'm failing her and the fandom.

was I the asshole?

What are these acronyms?

[mondayrobot]

120-Day Fanfiction List (G)

A collection of my recommended Eren/Mikasa fanfictions for the first one-hundred and twenty days of the year.

Rating: General Audiences

a gilded world by infinitesimalll

The world was cruel. It was cold. Nearly everyday those words flowed through her mind, often accompanied by traumatic experiences.

All The Things Between You and Me by iRememberTheDark @irememberthedark

In most situations, Mikasa takes what she can get, especially where Eren, her...her...whatever he was to her, was concerned, and she was more than willing to let that pattern continue. Too bad life was so adept at kicking her out of her comfort zone.

"What am I to you?"

Mikasa asks a simple question and the world tilts.

Bad Idea by fevversinherhair

Like all bad ideas that passed between them, pretending to be dating at his brother's wedding was 100% Eren's.

Call out my name by Gcf_khaleesi

Ever since he brought her back into paths he knew that this would be the last time, he knew that he wasn't getting out of this what he was doing out there alive and she knew it as well.

canvas by orphan_account

there’s a familiarity in that question, the same one that comes along with the unspeakable way she smiles.

Cruel Decisions by solsun

The public now knows the truth of the outside world and who they are. The impending threat. No matter what, they must survive. Eren struggles with the colossal responsibility he believes he bears, the weight of an entire nation in his hands. He searches for a way to ground himself while keeping his principles intact.

demands by infinitesimalll

In all honesty, Eren hadn't expected Mikasa to take his offer after they had faced the titan who killed his mother and Hannes. It was something he said in the heat of the moment, when he was determined to survive.

for you, 2000 years later by aenar_thedragonlady

life seemed normal, as it always was but she wasn't aware of something, or rather, someone, who's been waiting for 2000 years.

fuel to my fire by aenar_thedragonlady

Being the princess of a powerful kingdom and with a legendary bloodline, Mikasa came to terms with how she was born and raised a conqueror in her father, family and kingdom's name. But when her conquest led her to Eren, a solitary king hidden in his domain far north in the mountains, she knew things could never go back to how they were.

Will she extinguish all the fires she never knew she had?

Or will she add more fuel to the flames?

ghost out of his grave by simplyhumann

At first glance, one might even think this is his glimpse of heaven. To come home to her in death, like how he always wanted to when he was alive.

It was anything but that. This was his punishment, Eren knew. To have a front row seat to the way he ruined the woman he once loved— no— still loves— and all the consequences that came after it.

hallucinating by enchantingoats

Mikasa knew it was undoubtedly her drug-addled subconscious longing for a second reunion with better odds.

Still, she wanted to touch him.

home by infinitesimalll

"in this world, i've got a place to go home to."

I’ll Take Care of You by Queenzie

When Mikasa falls sick, Eren decides that for once he needs to look after her.

Long Dream by wallmaria

“What am I to you?” Eren had suddenly said. Mikasa was again taken aback by his question. She looked at Eren’s face, there were no hints of shame when he said it, when he’s practically asking her to bare herself before him… She felt her heart pound loudly in her chest… She felt embarrassed to say the truth, but Eren also seemed to look distraught and expectant as Mikasa stammered.

not so strong after all by infinitesimalll

After a patrol in the freezing cold rain, humanity's second strongest has come down with the common cold.

Now and Forever by connectedfeelings @connectedfeelings

Waking up from a strange dream, Mikasa experiences odd visions throughout the day, all of a man and of a red scarf. Everyone leaves her with a strong sense of melancholy. Who is he? And why has he been in her mind all day? Perhaps she could ask him. Because his scarf just landed on her face, and she can't help but feel like the universe is telling her something.

New Year by Ilucida

The New Year celebration in Hizuru style was different.

remember a day we dreamt by Violea

Let's live the rest of our lives peacefully. Just the two of us.

return to me, the you of 2000 years ago by rilakkuma5 @uhhstar

Eternal return is a concept that the universe and all existence and energy has been recurring, and will continue to recur, in a self-similar form an infinite number of times across infinite time or space.

Simpler Times by wamomo

Three moments in which Eren doesn't regret leaving and one in which he does.

some place to be at peace by bacondestiny

He remembers the feeling of his head exploding off his body and the earth quaking before him under the weight of millions of titans on the march, remembers the awful ruin and the craters and the puddles and the charred remains as he crawled after them on hundreds of ribs--but all of that is so far away. It’s so far away that he’ll never see it again. All he can see is Mikasa, smiling up at him.

It doesn’t matter what’s flowing through his veins or lurking in his bones or rattling around in his head. What matters is what he has in his arms.

sparkling green by maketea @rosekasa

mikasa wakes up to find eren has done all the work for her.

The hellfire called love by septembersnotes

I hold us together, our lives, our pitiful youth, our days under the sun- shard by shard.

The Red String of Fate by hunnyB

Alone and defeated, Eren sighs and sinks back on the bench, eyes flickering up on Mikasa's seemingly frail frame as she sleeps soundlessly beneath the white bedsheets. He stares at the peacefulness transpiring through her face, glossed lips parted gently, raven hair splayed across the pillow, and thin long eyelashes casting shadows over her cheeks, giving off an extremely pleasant sight to lie eyes upon.

A sight that Eren has always had nearby but never sought, never once stopped to admire.

they are the prey by bacondestiny @inbothourhandsgloria

Eren does not want to be here.

It is sunny and warm and the birds are singing, today is the kind of day that should be spent running through the streets and splashing in the creek. He could be helping Mama with errands or Daddy with mixing medicines or Zeke with the goats. But no. Now he has to stand in this stupid line with Zeke so he can go to school. It’s terrible.

Through the Night by Diphy_D

It’s through the night when Eren’s mind doesn’t stop thinking while his hands don’t stop tracing the profile of the sleeping woman who rests at his side. The boy loses his faith and sinks alone.

And it’s through the night too when Mikasa's sweet touch calms his demons.

“We'll be free. The two of us, just wait”.

To You, 2000 Years From Now. by fetching

“You were dreaming again. What was it about?” He asks, smiling at her.

It takes a great effort not to cry.

This is it. This is home.

“Home,” She breathes. “I was dreaming about coming home.”

to you, at world’s end, a promise by AdelineVW7

She has never been one to sleep deeply, so Eren moves with deliberate gentleness. With only the tips of his fingers he caresses the dark hair splayed upon the pillow, all the while watching the rhythm of her breathing, the flitting movement of a dream beneath her eyelids.

viva la vida by zeninclan

"Mikasa, what am I to you?"

She looked down at him as the crowd watched them, standing face to face.

A soft blush spread across her skin as she stared back at him for a moment, wind pushing through their hair as they stood in silence. They had been friends since childhood. He knew everything about her, and she did the same for him.

"Family," was the answer she landed on. She cursed herself that night for not answering him honestly.

Since then, something had changed in Eren.

Warmth by ApplePapelProductions

His body, against yours. So close, so safe, the bite of the cold, the closeness of death, did not matter. Even in this fleeting moment, only to last a second, it meant more than the entire world. More than the remainders of humanity. More than the world beyond the walls. More than you could have ever imagined, no matter how many times you prayed for it to happen.

It would end soon. Maybe one day, he could tell you that he loved you, too. But until then, this was enough.

when you move I move with you by SapphireOcean

An unrequited crush comes back into Eren's life in an unusual way.

would have married you by enchantingoats

But truly it was beyond that. She was precious to him above all else, and though it was hard to put his finger on the feeling, this attachment, it had to be what they called love.

You can also check out: 2020 Eremika Fanfiction Masterlist

[eryiss]

Summary: Freed and Gajeel were total opposites in every way, only connected by the guild. When they were forced to train together under Makarov's orders, they expected antagonism and mistrust. Instead, they were given a lesson in how quickly opposition can turn to attraction. The issue: let the budding relationship simmer away, or let it explode. [Freed x Gajeel Multi-chapter]

Notes: Hey everyone. Hope you enjoyed the first chapter. Get ready for some conflict, and two stubborn men refusing to admit their faults. Hope you enjoy it.

Links: FFN, Ao3, Chapter List

Chapter Two - Teething Trouble

Day One: Monday

The further they trudged into the forest, the more Freed understood what Gajeel was going to put him through. In a word: Survival.

He should have guessed by the way Gajeel had treated him before they'd left magnolia that the antagonism shared between them would be a factor in the week. Gajeel had immediately told him to leave his bags at home - "You're only gonna need the clothes on yer back, city boy." - and had taken every opportunity to call Freed 'fragile' and 'spoiled'. Clearly, he thought that Freed was a man unused to roughing it, and who had spent his life in luxury.

To put it simply, Gajeel hadn't planned a training exercise. He had planned three days of pushing Freed to his limits, trying to break him and expose his supposed weakness. No doubt the following three days would be filled with pointless physical labour and an excess of exaggerated survivalist exercises,

Freed found it oddly exciting; he would enjoy proving the idiot wrong.

"Heads up," Gajeel grunted, letting go of a branch he'd pushed aside, clearly intending to let it hit Freed. Freed, being a trained mage with refined reflexes, caught the branch before it struck him. Gajeel saw, his lips twitched down slightly. "Hm."

"Are you intending to be obnoxious," Freed asked, boot squelching in the mud. "Or is that just your personality?"

"Not enjoying yourself, city-boy?"

"You've hardly proven yourself to be a conversationalist, have you?" Freed mused, climbing the small verge of grass that Gajeel was guiding him to. "And so far, rather than training of any kind, you've decided to take me on a walk around the forest and not much else."

"We're nearly there," Gajeel grunted. "And maybe if ya shut yer trap I'd be better company."

"You're quite defensive, I do hope I didn't strike a nerve," Freed hummed, wanting to annoy the man. "If simply insulting your plans has gotten your hackles raisen so quickly, then you've got thinner skin than I had expected."

"I've got thin skin?" Gajeel scoffed. "Sure."

That was the entirety of the conversation shared between the two men for the morning. The forest Gajeel had chosen for them to walk through was one unfamiliar to Freed, and as such he couldn't be sure if he was being taken a direct route to wherever Gajeel was taking him, or if he had been walking in circles for Gajeel to test his stamina and ability to cross a wooded area. They'd seen the same stream a few times, at different places, so Freed was fairly sure that they weren't going the most direct route.

Only when the sun was high in the sky did Gajeel decide to stop walking. Though he wouldn't say it, Freed's as thankful for the rest, as his legs were starting to complain. He looked around where they had paused to see what Gajeel considered a good stopping point,

Gajeel was obnoxious, but he clearly knew what he was doing.

He'd found a small clearing in the trees, with a break in the canopy that gave them direct sunlight and dryer grass. They were a close walk from the stream, so had both a water and food source, if the fish were safe to eat. They weren't so far from the trees that it would be a trial to find shelter if the rain began. Freed was impressed, and looked to Gajeel for further instructions; if he wanted to beat him at his own game, he needed to know what this game was.

"You might have figured out what this is," Gajeel began, looking towards Freed. He was clearly proud of himself. "For the next three days, we're camping out here, living off the land. No help, no magic, no luxury."

He had emphasised the word luxury, as if the lack of it might make Freed cry. Gods, it would be sweet to wipe that smile off his face.

"You act like I've never camped before," Freed commented.

"Not like this you ain't," Gajeel stated. Technically it was true, Freed usually had a flimsy tent at least, but it was hardly a worrying prospect. "We need food, shelter, heat. Since we have to work together, we split duties. I'll get some fish, you make a fire and get us some shelter made," He crossed his arms and smirked, "if you can handle it, of course."

"I'm sure I can cope," Freed drawled. "Though I might fall to pieces if I chip one of my nails."

Gajeel grunted and turned around. Apparently he wasn't happy that his clear assumptions about Freed had been thrown back at him. That only made Freed more enthusiastic about showing just how capable a man he was, and how wrong Gajeel was in his ideas.

With his teammate walking towards the shallow stream, Freed looked around to see what he had to use. Clearly Gajeel didn't want him using his magic for his time in the forest, so the shelter wouldn't be so easy as making a rune barrier to keep them warm and protected, but that wasn't too difficult to contend with. As they'd walked, Freed had been taking note of the wildlife, and suspected that wolves, bears and other hostile creatures would not cause a problem. The main cause for shelter would be the weather, both protection from the sun and the rain if the clouds rolled in. Perfectly easy.

Using his sword, which had been considered as part of the clothes on his back, Freed began ripping large sheets of bark from nearby trees. He then began hacking away at the lower branches, those wide enough to support some weight but thin enough to be cut away fairly easily.

With enough supplies, he walked back to the clearing. Gajeel was still in the stream, with the water up to his ankles. On the rocks by the shore, four fish were sat dead, wirh Gajeel seemingly attempting to catch them some more. It was an impressive sight to see, he was picking them out from the water without a second thought, and Freed was reluctantly grateful. Catching fish on his own was not something he would be proficient in.

Not without his magic, anyway.

He refocused his attention on the task at hand. He was intending to make a small hut for them both to shelter under. It wouldn't be complicated: four of the branches would hold up the sheets of bark. It wouldn't be particularly large, and the protection of the wind would be non-existent, but it would do what was needed to protect them from either sunstroke, or a cold, depending on the weather.

Freed quickly put his plans into action. The four strongest branches were dug into the dirt, propped up in place by the weaker branches. He tied the pieces of bark together using weeds and some of the longer leaves, making it into a single sheets that would protect them from the elements. It didn't take long for him to affix the bark to the branches, and he made sure to test the structural integrity of the hut by kicking each of the branches. With each kick, the hut held, and Freed considered it to be a success.

"Ain't too bad," Gajeel said, suddenly behind Freed. Freed only allowed a small twitch of surprise. "Don't see a fire, though."

"I expect that's because I haven't made one yet," Freed retorted, shaking the hut again to be sure the bark would hold. "I'm afraid there's not much space under it, so we'll have to sleep close to one another. I might have made it larger, but you seem averse to luxury and I didn't wish to scare you."

"You ain't funny," Gajeel grunted. "Make a fire, city-boy."

Ah, so 'city-boy' was going to stay? That was unfortunate.

Still, as much as Freed would have liked to explain how incorrect the nickname was, Gajeel would prefer actions over words. If he wanted a fire, Freed was happy to make a fire.

This was child's play for him, he was a mage after all. He made a bed of rocks to protect the grass from burning, then began laying thicker logs into a pile. Next, the thin and dried out twigs that would quickly set alight without much complaint. Finally, dry leaves that would take a spark and turn into fire.

It took a few moments for Freed to find a piece of flint, but he did. Once he had, he rested his sword in the middle of the unlit fire. He struck the blade with the flint, sparks flying from it.

Gajeel didn't once stop watching him, waiting for him to make a mistake. He didn't, and the fire was soon burning.

"Is that satisfactory," Freed asked, placing the sword in the scabbard as the fire grew beside him. "Or do you wish for me to trek into the forest and tame a wolf so that it can protect us?"

"I said you ain't funny," Gajeel muttered. He handed Freed one of the many fish he had caught. "Gut this. Hope you ain't squeamish."

Freed openly laughed, having him gut a fish was Gajeel's trump card?

This would be easier than he thought.

——

Everything about the day had worked out in Freed's favour, and it was delightful to watch Gajeel get more and more angry about it. He clearly wanted Freed to blanch at the idea of working to survive, and Freed had proven himself a capable man under every task he had been given. This was a competition, and so far Freed was dominating it.

"Stand up," Gajeel demanded suddenly, and Freed raised an eyebrow. "You wanted to train right? Let's train."

"Very well," Freed said, standing up. "What did you have in mind?"

It was late in the evening now, and the fire was the only source of light. Clouds were obstructing the moon, thankfully, meaning Freed didn't have to worry about the demon burning away inside of him. Whatever Gajeel had in store, Freed wanted complete focus so he could finally end this ridiculous test he'd been put through.

Following his teammate, he was taken a short ways away from the hut he'd created. They were close to the stream, but not so far that they couldn't see one another in the darkness. Gajeel stopped, turned towards Freed, and spread his arms.

"You rely on yer magic too much," Gajeel stated, despite the fact Freed has spent the day disproving that fact. "And I'm willing to bet you hang back in a fight and let Sparky and the Acrobat do most of the physical shit. If you go against someone who cancels your magic then you're shit out of luck, and I ain't gonna fight with a guy who can only toss spells at a guy and hope it works."

"I can't decide if you're wilfully ignoring everything I've done today, or if you're too stupid to have a short term memory," Freed commented with a patronising grin.

"Keep talking shit, it'll only make this worse," Gajeel grinned, his fangs poking through his lips.

Freed went to retort, but Gajeel did the most peculiar thing, and removed his shirt. The suddenness of the action stopped Freed's words before they came.

"We're gonna wrestle. No magic, no weapons, no holds barred. Just gotta rely on our own strength. We keep going until one of us gives us or loses consciousness."

"Very well," Freed shrugged, reaching up to remove his cravat. "Once you've given up, you can perhaps lose this idea that I'm incapable."

"Doubt it," Gajeel grunted.

Freed, to keep in step with Gajeel, removed his own shirt and threw it to the side. As he did, he assessed his opponent. Gajeel was objectively a broader and more muscular man, and despite how intentionally toned he was - nobody got a six pack accidentally - Gajeel's muscles weren't just a result of vanity. The man was physically stronger than him, and had the advantage. But Freed had succeeded in situations worse than this, and Gajeel's cockiness would be his downfall.

With both men stripped to the waist, they assumed a battle ready stance. Gajeel counted down from three, and they lurched towards one another the moment the fight began. The bartering of a muscular form against his own took the wind out of Freed, but he grappled the man around the waist without hesitation.

They struggled like that for a moment, both pushing to wrong foot the other man, neither succeeding.

Freed felt his feet stumbling slightly, and knew that Gajeel's strength was greater than his own. He needed to be smart about this: he would exhaust his target, and take what opportunities presented to throw Gajeel off. One such opportunity had just shown up - if Gajeel wanted to push him back, he would give him what he wanted.

With fast movements, he removed his arms from around Gajeel's waist and shunted back. Too late to adjust his momentum, Gajeel stumbled forward, landing face first in the ground where Freed had just been.

"I'm embarrassed for you that that worked," Freed commented before he could stop himself.

Just as Gajeel pushed himself up off the ground, Freed tackled him again. He was successful this time, flipping him so his back was flush against the grass. When Gajeel's right hand came to push Freed off, he quickly took hold and pinned it above his head. He pressed a foot into Gajeel's stomach to hold him down, smirking as he went to further taunt the man. Just before the words could leave his mouth, a splitting pain filled Freed.

The bastard had kicked him in the stomach.

Gajeel had meant it when he'd said no holds barred. Freed could work with that.

Pushing himself up before Freed could recover, Gajeel crashed into Freed with his full body weight, and the press of the man's strong form was pinning Freed to the ground immediately. One hand was pressing Freed's hands to the ground, his foot was pinning Freed's right leg in place, and his other hand was pressing against Freed's throat with strength behind it. He also meant it when he'd said until one of them was unconscious.

But Freed was not a man to go down without a fight. With only his left leg unpinned, he did something he wasn't particularly proud of, but worked in the situation. He slammed his knee into Gajeel's groin, and the pressure went away as Gajeel staggered to the side.

"Fucking bastard," Gajeel roared, voice a little higher than normal. "What the hell?"

Freed didn't waste the opportunity, and pushed his foot to Gajeel's spine and pressed him face first into the ground. He'd cupped his balls on instinct, meaning his hands were essentially pinned below him when Freed asserted more pressure.

"No holds barred," Freed taunted. "A word of advice. If you set a rule around me, I tend to remember-"

He was cut off when Gajeel suddenly lurched back, throwing Freed's leg off him and making him scramble for balance. He grabbed Freed by the calve and pulled down with strength, taking Freed to the ground beside him. Freed found his arms yanked behind him, and grunted a little at the pain as they were pinned against his lower back. He didn't struggle, it would only exhaust him.

"Givin' up so quickly, huh?" Gajeel purred. "Ain't surprised. Knew you couldn't handle it."

Gajeel had meant to taunt him, but all he had done was show where he was. The words had been right beside Freed's ear, and so Gajeel's face was right behind his ear too. With a jerk, Freed rammed his head back, feeling the crack of the other man's jaw against his skull. The grip on his hands loosened, and he managed to push the man off him.

The following few moments followed a pattern. Freed would get the better of Gajeel, Gajeel would push him off and pin Freed down. Freed in turn would get Gajeel off him, and push him down. The pattern would repeat itself, with neither man gaining the upper hand for too long.

"Ah," Freed panted at the sudden cold on his back as he was pushed to the ground again. Water, they were at the stream now.

"Cold ain't a bother, right?" Gajeel smirked, kicking Freed in the chest when he tried to sit up.

"You're determined to think me weak, aren't you?" Freed rasped slightly, winded from the kick. "Which is a brave thing to say, given you were rolling around the floor cupping your balls just moments ago."

An exaggeration, but the snarl of anger he got was worth it.

Suddenly, one of Gajeel's large hands was wrapped up in Freed's hair, and a kick to the gut had Freed turning. A foot was pressed against this back, forcing him to lie face down in the cold water. Gajeel made sure to hold his face towards the flow of the stream, and the feeling of it rushing into his partially split lips and nose was a horrid burning. A nasty trick.

Freed tried to push himself up, but the fight was lasting longer than he hoped and after a day of labour, Freed's muscles were starting to protest. He tried to raise his head, but Gajeel wouldn't allow it.

Above all, Freed was a strategist. Sometimes, a retreat was the logical choice.

He knew he could get out of this hold. With the right angle, he could take hold of Gajeel's leg and pull it in the same way Gajeel had done to him to knock him off balance. But what then? They would fall back into the spiral of pinning one another, hitting one another, and achieving nothing.

This entire exercise was an act of futility. Gajeel was trying to prove Freed was weak willed and impractical, despite the fact it was clearly untrue. Freed was trying to prove Gajeel wrong, but the man was too pigheaded to accept it.

"I give," Freed grunted, voice warped by the water.

"What was that?" Gajeel taunted.

"I said I give," Freed spat.

The hand keeping his head partially underwater was gone, and the foot holding him down soon followed. Freed spat out the water as he turned, body aching as he sat in the stream. Gajeel was looking down at him as if he were dirt, and it took a lot of self restraint not to attack the man where he stood.

"You think yer hot shit, but you ain't," Gajeel grunted, "You're a spineless ass with some spells you rely on too much."

"You know damn well I only stopped that because it was pointless," Freed snarled, standing up, water dripping from him. "And you didn't ban magic because you want to see me fight without it. You were just scared of me showing my power because you know it dwarves yours."

"The hell did you say?" Gajeel growled, and magic energy filled the space as Gajeel's hands turned to a blade.

"You heard me," Freed's voice was distorted - demonic - and he didn't care. "You are in the presence of a powerful wizard and terrified."

For a moment, neither man spoke. Tense magical energy flowed form them both, ready to lurche should they need it. Gajeel relented, walking towards the fire, murmuring that he couldn't wait for the week to be over.

That, at least, was something they could agree upon.

[amynatural]

I know I said I'll write as soon as I get out of here, but one thing led to another and I kind of forgot. Anyways, I survived!

I was planning to get out of there before Sam and Dean gets here but it seemed nearly impossible for me. The place was literally surrounded. There were at least four of them, according to what I could see from the windows. Four, being the ones I actually saw. There were probably others as well. So my plan changed from "get out before they arrive and run" to "get out while they were distracting the demons". That made me sound like a selfish person, but that's actually what Sam told me to do, when we were talking about these situations before. So that's on him, not me.

After a few hours of captivity and trying to form a plan, Sam called me. I answered the phone with a whisper, as a precaution.

"Sam? Did you find the place yet?"

"Yeah, we are almost there. I called to see if you were still okay."

"I'm okay. I'll be better once you arrive." Then I added, with a voice as worried as I was. "Sam, I checked from the windows, there are at least four of them. How will we get out of this?"

"We'll deal with it. Don't worry. You try and get out if you find any chance. But don't put your life on the line. We'll be there in fifteen."

"Okay. Stay safe." With that, he hung up.

After more than a fifteen minutes, I started hearing some stuff from downstairs. Glass breaking, objects falling or being thrown, people falling or being thrown... So I did a smart thing before I do the stupid. I checked the windows. Three men I saw was gone, which meant this was my chance. I checked my door in case it wasn't, but I knew it was locked. So I decided on the windows.

It took me a while but I managed to break one of the windows. I was cautious about the noise it made, but nobody seemed to notice. From what I could guess, a loud fight was going on downstairs.

I was at the second floor so it wasn't hard to get out after that point. I jumped without any issue and found myself completely alone at the back of the abandoned hotel.

It wasn't what Sam said, but I walked around the hotel and checked out what was happening. Seeing Dean pinned to a wall by a demon and Sam fighting another demon with a knife sent shivers down my spine. The demon I talked with upstairs was nowhere to be seen. What I did next, was probably the stupidest thing I've ever done but I don't regret it. I looked around and I quickly found a chair close to me. I grabbed it and threw it to the demon holding Dean. It didn't have much affect on him but he was surprised, which was in Dean's favor. He managed to escape from his place and turn the situation upside down. On the other hand, Sam and the demon he was dealing with saw me.

"Amy!" As the demon changed his target from him to me, Sam tried to warn me but it was a bit too late. Demon came forward and grabbed me by my sweatshirt.

"Now now... Calm down, boys, or she'll be dead in a second." Other demon walked up to the one who's holding me tight. I could see worry in Sam's eyes, while Dean looked pissed.

"You're gonna let us leave. With the girl." Said the demon.

"Not gonna happen." Dean said firmly, bowing his head in the slightest.

"Or she'll die." The demon sounded confident.

I looked at both of them. I was sure that we were thinking the same thing. I gave Dean a slight nod, as if to say 'Give me the sign and I'll deal with this one'. His eyes wandered to the other demon who was pacing the room and then looked at Sam. As Sam's eyes found Dean, I realized they were communicating non-verbally once again. Dean looked back at me and gave me a slight nod back. The sign. I turned around in a flash and kicked the guy on the nuts, and while he bowed, I elbowed his head. This made his grip softened. As I ran away from him, my eyes searched for the boys.

As soon as I was out of the demon's reach, Dean attacked him and they both fell to the floor. On the other side of the room I could see Sam killing the other demon with the knife he has.

Right when Dean killed the demon and turned to me, a hand reached from my back and wrapped around my neck. It was the one I talked with upstairs. The last demon I saw from the windows was with him as well.

"Dean and Sam Winchester. What a nice surprise."

They didn't respond but I could see them tensing up, once again.

"It's an honor to meet you, really." The demon continued. "Something is bugging me though. Why do you care if we kill her or not? Is she important or something?" His voice was mocking, although he sounded genuinely confused.

"Why do you wanna kill her?" Sam asked, sternly.

"Because she was a mistake! I told this to her too, it's nothing personal. One of us went to kill a hunter, it was a matter of revenge I suppose, and this one was so happened to be there. To be honest, I blame Jeff. He had to gather more info, I mean, how could he not know she had a daughter?!"

"You're gonna let her go." Dean's eyes were focused on the demon.

"See, I can't do that. I kinda made a promise."

"You'll tell them she escaped."

"Yeah? And how do you expect me to live after I said that?"

"Then you tell them she is a Winchester." Dean said, a daring smile forming on his face.

The demon's arm around my neck was softened. I quickly got away and found my way behind the boys.

"That bastard sent us to hunt down a Winchester!?" He took a step back, horror was forming through his eyes.

I didn't expect his next move to turn around and run with the other demon, but that's just what happened.

We got out safely after that.

As I walked to the Impala, I thanked them. They shared a look before Dean stopped walking and turned to me. I looked at him, questioning what was in his mind.

"Look, I'll keep it short. Come with us."

"...What?" That was sudden.

"You'll be safer with us. Plus, we can teach you."

I knew I would be safer and I knew I could learn a lot of things from them, but I didn't think they would be the ones offering. Especially Dean. I kind of thought I would be the one asking -begging- to join them.

"You mean it?" I asked, unsure of what's really happening. I looked at Sam, who was standing next to the Impala. He wasn't near us but I was sure he knew what we were talking about, as he reassuringly nodded.

"Decide before I change my mind."

"Yes! Yes, of course I'll come with you!" I said, quickly.

"Good choice." He smiled, his eyes are focused on his Baby. He threw an arm over my shoulders as we walked to Sam, who had an adorable little smile on his face.

I found my way to the back seat, my mind was surprisingly calm. I felt safe. Safer than I expected to feel. I suppose that's how it feels like to have someone to rely on, even when you're kidnapped by a bunch of demons.

[daiseukiis]

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀𝐖𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐅𝐋𝐎𝐖𝐄𝐑 ┊ 02 ┊ 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐬 ┊ 04

⠀

⠀⠀

⠀⠀⠀⠀"HERE, IT'S FROM YOUR SISTER." mizuki reaches out to gojo who passes by the hallway of the dorms. she was in her normal clothing, her off day. a dark blue sweater engulfs her body along with the black jeans and hair that was tied in a mess with a single clip. she took a few steps to catch up the male that walked pass her room.

"huh? what is it." gojo turns to face her, taking in her homey look before inspecting the white paper bag in her hands. mizuki brings it out for the sorcerer to grab as she straightens up her posture.

"she's doing well, she talked a lot about you when i visited." she explains and exhales softly, catching her breath after having a hectic schedule.

"my giri no ani and nephew?" gojo takes the bag and looks through the contents which his sister had brought him from overseas.

"he's still capable of protecting them and safe delivery to onee-san." she puts her hand on her hip, a defeated smile to see how after all these years there was still that small distrust he felt towards his in-law. 'what an overgrown protective goof.'

"snacks, photos and... a letter?" he grabs out the small white envelope for both of them to see.

"letter?" mizuki repeats after him and watches as he opens up the envelope to read what was written inside. seeing that her job to deliver the presents that his sister had bought for him, her presence there was no longer needed. it's not as if he also would share what was the contents in the letter either, so mizuki went to take her leave.

"alright, your turn." gojo hums.

"what?" mizuki snaps back, turning her head to face him after her hand just reached her doorknob. gojo walks towards the short figure, "where's my souvenir?"

"what?" she asks once again, she had to know that he was messing around because, well, this is gojo we're talking about. her face scrunched up her nose, filling her expression with confusion and mild taste of shock when he didn't respond in the next seconds that he was joking.

"you heard me, mizuki fuyusame." gojo stands tall in front of her figure, to the point mizuki had to stretch her neck more than usual to see his blindfolded face. he let's out a small chuckle as he watches her expression transition into a scowl.

'ugh, i hate being called by my full name.' it wasn't something gojo would do often, but he did have a knack for annoying the other sensei of their school. "what makes you think i bought anything for you?"

"our precious yukihana told me so." he takes a step back, smirking mischievously as he watches mizuki's face start to slowly pale as dust of pink appear on her cheeks. "then again, you never give them to me and just keep them stuffed in your closet."

'that's why all the souvenirs i buy disappear. it was mari's doing.' mizuki's palm lands on her forehead, causing strands of her hair to fall on to her face. she really needed to fix her appearance right now, but dismissed that fact. groaning, she looks straight at gojo with full confidence.

"i didn't buy you anything, now leave me alone." clasping her hand onto her hair clip, she releases her silky brown locks so it would fall down her waist, stuffing the clamp into her hoodie's pocket. mizuki's wrist turns to open her door and leave, that was until gojo catches her attention.

"are you sure about that? what's this then." he holds up a light beige button up shirt in front of her, making her turn to look back at him. eyes went wide the moment it fell on the article, reaching out for the shirt only for him to bring it higher to a point which she couldn't reach.

"that's for me!" mizuki tries to jump up for the shirt, it was still too high for her to reach. 'stupid tall bastard!'

"mens size?" he hums out. mizuki who had given up trying to take back the shirt took a step back, crossing her arms and staring at the blindfolded man, "clothes have no gender. what does it being in the mens section have anything to do with what i wear?"

"how about wearing my shirts next then?" he took a step closer to mizuki as he plants a hand beside her head, trapping her between the suddenly closed door and his body. the smirk on his face was once more teasing the female, one which she quickly mirrored back.

"the same one you're wearing that's going to have a hole in it?" mizuki's hand gently laid atop gojo's chest, above his heart as she inches her face closer to his. her lips even centimeters away from touching his, tension built up.

"my pleasure, but let me kill you first."

"you never cease to give me chills."

⠀⠀⠀⠀"as much as i would love to stay and watch your teamwork flourish, i got some business to attend to." gojo grins and waves his hand to his four students who stare at him.

their mission was around the outskirts of shizuoka prefecture, many said that there were paranoia activity happening in the abandoned school building just right behind them. this was the mission mizuki had mentioned that day before.

"fuck off, you just didn't wanna be here for this mission." kiyara quickly swears at her sensei, eyes and lips flat as she knew this was just some sort of facade for the said man so he could go sugar hunting. if anything, she was confused exactly how he didn't develope diabetes yet with his sweet tooth.

"bingo! but you're all more than capable of clearing a grade two mission." gojo gives them a thumbs up along with his grin to brighten up their gloomy atmosphere.

to say the least the weather was completely terrible. rain clouds were approaching to the point it looked like even a storm was brewing, despite the fact it was morning. they were going to kill off curses in a shady abandoned school, to top it off, their sensei was irresponsible and decided he would leave his students up to the task as he goes to buy souvenirs while they could possibly die.

all was so dandy for him.

"i'm going to seriously punch you." fushiguro declares.

"anyways, i'll be back to pick you four up." turning on his heels he waves out to them.

"we got this. just go do whatever the hell you want and by the time you get back here, we'll already be out eating ramen." kiyara mirrors his actions, walking past her colleagues and towards the building.

"oh? is that some sort of encouragement for your classmates?" gojo glances behind him, looking to see any sort of reaction from her or even the rest of his students.

"no," stopping a few steps from her three classmates, she turns her head back to lock eye contact with her sensei ( or so she hoped she did ) and sends a smile. "just a fact."

'wow, she's either really confident or really stupid.' kugisaki furrows her brows at kiyara, she knew her opinion on her was a questionable one. but then again, maybe this was how all tokyo girls acted. she never really could put a certain thought on her.

"let's go." fushiguro was the first to follow her lead, the two catching up to them as they entered the building.

"this is one creepy school." kiyara states as she inspects the dark halls. her eyes look around to see if there were any curses that were lingering, while fushiguro's divine dogs continue to sniff them out.

"it's abandoned for a reason." fushiguro comments back at kiyara who lets a nervous giggle out.

"so, what was up with this place again?" itadori watches as shivers run down his spine, witnessing kiyara throw a dagger straight into fourth grade curse head without blinking an eye. both him and kugisaki give each other glances, this was different than the kiyara they first met.

"missing teens that would dare each other to come, appearently screams at night and moving shadows. the basics." picking up the cursed dagger on the wall after disposing of the curse, she slid it back by her right thigh.

"there's not a lot of curses here." kugisaki looks throughout the place, she too, threw a nail and slammed it with her hammer to exorcise a low grade curse.

"isn't this is a grade two mission?" itadori ponders and stares through ruined classroom windows, desks were broken and was completely dusted. 'probably been over fifteen years since someone last used this place...'

"it's in the gym." their advances came to a stop, fushiguro's divine dogs growling and barking at the door sealed with chains in front of them. itadori was the first to react, walking forwards and effortlessly kicking the metal door with ease. both doors fly across the gym auditorium causing dust to fly around the dimly lit room.

"what the hell does he eat?!" kiyara's mouth drops, kugisaki standing behind her also adds on, "right?! that isn't normal! it's freakishly weird! to top it off he chomped down sukuna fingers!"

"it was only backed up with aluminum metal and it's just old." itadori turns around and gives them a blank look, blinking as he scratches the nape of his neck.

"like hell that changes anything!" they scream.

"help me! please!" their eyes dart to a high school girl, one that seemed to be older than them. even in the dark, they can see the tint of blue that coloured her hair. a curse was holding her by the neck while their nail was stabbing through her waist.

"it has a hostage!" fushiguro screams out as all four of them run in only to be greeted with multiple lower grade curses.

"the gym's infested!" kugisaki brings out more of her nails, itadori grabbing hold of his slaughter demon as kiyara takes out her daggers.

"yuji, you're with me!" kiyara grabs hold of the pinkett's foresleeve and makes him dash with her towards the hostage.

"wait!ー huh? why are they suddenly fighting each other?" itadori stares at the scenes where a few curses had start to fight and destroy each other, confusing him. "is this your jujutsushiki?"

"faded." kiyara and itadori quickly split when a curse separates them, but suddenly it got confused when they 'disappeared' from it's sight. in complete sync the teenagers cut each arm off from both sides and sliced it in half before continuing.

"it let's me to make illusions and change my presence." she threw her daggers at the head of curse causing it to fly back, as itadori did the finishing touches by slicing it by the fingers and thrusting his weapon right through.

"that's pretty cool!" he grins and catches the hostage that fell into his arms, she instinctively wrapped her limbs around his body as itadori carried her bridal style.

"thank you so much... i was so scared." the girl hugs on to itadori, tears seeping through her deep forest hues as he crouches down on the floor, setting her to the ground. "you'll be fine now, onee-san."

'wait, this seems too easy...' kiyara picks up her daggers which were indented on the floor of the gym, throwing it once more for a curse to fade away. she felt something wrong with the scenery, like something was missing from the big picture.

'something's off.' she wasn't the only one that felt different about this mission, kugisaki and fushiguro were unsettled about the amount of low grade curses which grouped together.

'my shikigamo are still picking up curses, but where?' fushiguro watches as his one dog chewed the remaining corpse of a curse, the other growling in attack mode. he raises his brow, looking towards the direction it was barking at.

his eyes fell on itadori, kiyara and the girl they saved. he saw the tears which fell to the floor which glistened through the gloomy room. but from closer inspection, something moved around them, chains started to move.

"shit! she's a cursed spirit!" fushiguro screams to their direction as his heart starts to pound, no, no. eyes widen when his connected with kiyara's amethyst hues that were only filled with late realization. he tries to run to them, hand out to try and grasp her body.

"smart cookie, aren't ya?"

tags ; @to-move-on-means-to-grow @dearsukuna @sukun4s @inumakiful

notes ; these are probs gonna be all qued bc im lazy

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DO NOT REPOST 、 MODIFY 、 CLAIM WORK OR LAYOUT AS YOURS.

© MGUQIIS 、 2021

[cela-astral-projection]

You saw my pain, washed out in the rain Broken glass, saw the blood run from my veins But you saw no fault no cracks in my heart And you knelt beside my hope torn apart But the ghosts that we knew will flicker from you And we'll live a long life

Celeste woke in the early morning. The sky was starting to lighten. She felt sore all over. Hungry. Her back was cold, but her chest was slick with sweat, from being gathered into Muriel's arms all through the night. Sleep out here in the wild was never entirely restful. It never seemed like enough. Even laying in the comfort of each other's embrace was no substantial relief at this point.

Muriel was still entirely unconscious. Celeste moved in his arms, and he tightened his grasp around her. She smiled against his chest and tickled her fingers up his side. He flinched under the touch and blinked his eyes open, getting his bearings, clearing his throat.

As soon as he realized how close they were, and that he was, again, erect in his sleep, he immediately released her and rolled away. His cheeks burning scarlet, gathering his cloak around him. That was routine at this point. They would pass out, huddled together for warmth, and he'd wake up, have a moment of panic, and let her go.

Celeste fought to stifle an eye roll at his blush. At this point, there was little of him that she hadn't seen, just out of sheer proximity and the number of hours they had spent in the elements. There was no privacy here. It wasn't the first morning Celeste had woken up with his cock, half-hard, pressed against her belly. And, though it never ceased to be a thrill, she knew it was merely physiology. And, even if it weren't, neither of them were in a position to do one goddamn thing about it. Physically. Mentally. They were spent.

She sat up beside Muriel and winced. She missed home. She missed Asra. She missed Julian. But, she missed her bed most of all. She put her hands at her back and twisted at the waist, listening to the vertebrae pop and crackle.

Muriel made a noise of sympathy, pained by the sounds emitting from her spine and reached a hand out, smoothing it along her back.

His hands were large and warm. And it was some small comfort. It wasn't a massage, by any means, but Celeste appreciated the gesture, leaning into the touch.

It never ceased to amaze her, how gentle he could be, and then how he would vacillate back into himself and withdraw entirely. But, when he was affectionate (well, as "affectionate" as he could bring himself to be), Muriel always seemed to know exactly where to touch. How she fit against him.

After a while, Muriel lapsed back into sleep, his hand falling away.

Celeste sat, eyes closed, listening to the sound of his breathing. Then, she was startled by a sharp rap at her hip. She flinched and swore, then looked up.

Morga. Of course.

The older woman crooked her finger at her, silent, beckoning her to follow. Celeste made a noise of exasperation, but pushed up off the ground, knees cracking. Muscles stiff. Muriel stirred, opening one eye. Celeste looked down at him and made a dismissive gesture with her hand, letting him know it was okay to rest. Morga made a snorting noise, opening her mouth, presumably to give commands. Celeste shot her a hard look. "Leave him be," she said, low.

Morga cocked an eyebrow, but relented, turning and striding away. Celeste was shocked that had worked, and felt a little surge of self-satisfaction. She followed after Morga, dragging a hand through her sleep-mussed hair and drawing a cloak around her shoulders.

When they were a reasonable distance away from their makeshift camp, Morga stopped, looking out across the fields that stretched on and on before them. Celeste fell in beside her, looking at her from the corner of her eye.

"You're going to have to stop coddling him." Morga started, her jaw set. "You need to take care of yourself, Girl. And he needs to learn how to stand on his own, too."

Celeste sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. "We're doing everything you ask. I know you want him to push his humanity down and be a juggernaut..but he isn't.  I'm not. We aren't warriors. If you wanted fighters, there were plenty of better options." she bit out.

Morga scoffed. She was more like Verner than she had hoped. Morga had prayed, somewhere, deep down, she had their tribe's warrior spirit. But, Linnea had no such compulsion. She could manage well enough with her magical arrows, and she was fair to middling at sparring. But her heart wasn't in it. It was all just preformative, following along, trying to get to the end. She didn't seem to grasp what that end could look like. She was running headlong into death, and it wasn't sinking in.

Morga had asked Verner if they would return to the fold. She wanted the children. She had first seen them when they were teenagers, nearly adults. Little Linnea, an accomplished healer by any stretch, and with magic. She could have been formidable. Aric, a hunter, and trapper who could withstand harsh terrains and had the hearts of his people. A born leader. They would have been trainable. They would have come to heel. They would have been obedient. 

But Verner had refused her. And, perhaps out of spite, but certainly from desperation, she had made him promise to send them to the city to monitor Montag. And they had. For years, they were around the palace, waiting, listening, trying to stay undetected. And all of it had come to naught. Aric had died. Linnea had died. Montag had died.

But now, Little Linnea was here. Back from death. A walking miracle.  Sometimes it startled Morga. Especially on days like this, under an overcast sky, when her green eyes reflected silver. When the pale blonde strands framed her face. When she set her jaw and pressed her lips into a line, Morga saw herself. The young, soft version of herself.

If Morga allowed herself to steal a thought, it would often drift to what might have been. More than just blood. A daughter. Someone to bring up in her own image.  Of course, Linnea had a mother. Morga had only met the woman once, and that had ended about as poorly as one could imagine. And, when she had collected Aric and Linnea, she had hoped to step in as a surrogate mother figure.

Linnea had always been resistant to Morga. Aric, though he had been saddened at first, had been up to the challenge. Excited, even. He reminded her of Montag. But he was more helpful. More engaging. Responsive. Enthusiastic about learning. He called her "Auntie" and would not be dissuaded from doing so.  When she left them, on the outskirts of the city, he had completely caught her off guard by sweeping her into a bear hug, telling her that he wouldn't let her down.

Linnea, by contrast, said that if she never saw her again, it would be too soon.

And now Celeste remembered none of that. She didn't remember the long journey to Vesuvia. Nearly the same route they were taking now, just in the opposite direction. And for the same reason. To keep people safe from Montag. To keep Montag safe from himself.

And Morga wanted to tell her. To tell her the whole sorry story. Make her understand why this time, they could not fail. That they had to be united. The same fervor. The same hardness. They had to be a unit, fighting together against Lucio.

Morga had come into the city, once, after the plague had abated. Having heard tales that there had been a resurrection. A palace healer brought back from death. When Morga found her, barely able to speak, fiddling with herbs in the magician's shop, she had wanted to take her then. To heal her. Teach her their ways. Reclaim her. But she had been so frail, so addled. She would not have survived, then.

She might, now. If she would just put forth a little bit of effort. If they worked together.

"You have to be harder. You have to do better. You don't understand what you're up against." Morga said, shaking her head.

"I'm sorry, I'm not sure anyone could possibly fathom what it is that we're up against. I don't know that anyone is quite prepared for this. You have very high expectations for me. I mean..." Celeste sighed. "I know how you could project certain things on Muriel. Clearly, you have a rudimentary knowledge of his history. But, you also have to understand that it wasn't passion and bloodlust that lead him to do what he did. He was a slave. A slave to your son. Who is a demonic ghost now. Lest you've forgotten." Celeste ran her tongue along her teeth, trying to find the words. "If there is anyone in the world who should want to put Lucio down, it's Muriel. But, this isn't Lucio. This is some demented half-formed thing that's working at the behest of or in conjunction with the Devil."

Celeste drew a deep breath. "We are resilient. We'll figure it out. We'll keep training. But we're not you. We aren't going to be you. You have to manage your expectations. We're going to follow you, but...I'm not going to let you break him. He deserves to not spend his life waiting for the next battle. He deserves peace. So, for now, if I can take a quiet moment and keep him centered, I'm going to. And if it has to be him or me...I volunteer myself. I can take it. You can beat me down. But, you have to build him up."

Morga turned to her, eyes narrowed. "There's no time to hold his hand and wait for him to come around, Girl. He needs to be prepared to do what must be done. If I can't, it will fall to you. It will fall to him. I need you ready."

Celeste whirled back on her. "I need you to understand that if I didn't get that, our asses would be back in Vesuvia weeks ago. I don't think a single one of us is having a good time. If I didn't know how dire this situation is, I would be gone. But I'm here, dragging myself over all of creation for this stupid son-of-a-bitch. Emphasis on bitch. Because you are no fuckin' treat, lady."

"You'd do well to hold your tongue, girl," Morga warned, snarling.

"Or what, you're gonna kick my ass? Have me draining my magic for eight hours, making practice arrows while you drag us along towards what sounds to be certain doom? Listen to you berate and belittle both of us because there's some unreachable goal we're never going to come close to?" Celeste slapped the back of her hand against the opposite palm with each point for emphasis. "I run a shop, lady!  I am so far outside the realm of shit I ever expected to have to give a fuck about that I don't even know where to begin most days. But I'm out here doing the fuckin' thing. Give me a goddamn break."

Morga was equally pissed and impressed. It was a rare day that someone decided to take her to task. For the first time in years, she wanted to crack. Since Montag. Since Verner.  "There's no time to give you a goddamn break, Celeste. We have to keep moving. You must be ready to fight. There is no time for sentimentality. Do you want to go home to your shop? To your magician? Do you want any chance with that man back there? Because this is what everything hinges on. Everything."

"Yeah, everything. Everything hinges on finding the Fugitive Doctor. Everything hinges on finding out what happened to Lucio. Everything hinges on stopping Lucio. If you think this is my first tangle with what 'everything' hinges on, you are sadly mistaken." Celeste said, somber. "But, this time, I don't know that even with all the planning, preparation, and resolve in the world...that any of it is going to matter. This is the first time I really believe it. That everything hinges on this. And I don't know that any of us, even you, are going to be able to pull it off. I've never questioned myself like this. I always knew that if I just made the right choice. Said the right thing...that it would all be okay in the end. I don't think this will be okay, Morga. I don't."

"So, you will give up? Let him win?" Morga challenged, incredulous. "You're just as defeated as that boy is. He's making you soft."

Celeste threw her hands up, spluttering for a moment. "Okay? Yeah, he makes me soft. Despite all of this bullshit, he makes me soft. He gives me peace. And I hope I can give him peace, too. I hope that for once in his life, he feels like someone really loves him. Because I do. I love him."

"And it will kill you." Morga bit back. Lutz. Verner. Montag. Aric. Everyone she had ever loved. Dead. Even Linnea, standing in front of her, eyes flashing gold to grey in the dim morning light. Every hope she ever had for her, lost. Given away. They had another chance, now. And Celeste was squandering it.

"Based on what? Your experience with your fucking son? Yeah, very goddamn likely that your kid is going to put us all in the ground. If we're lucky." Celeste spat. "So, before we take the fucking of a lifetime, I'd like to just not have to deal with this bullshit for one goddamn day. Please." Celeste made to walk away, but Morga caught her arm, wrenching her back.

"He was my son. And I loved him." Morga said, low. But there was no venom in it. Pain. Remorse. 

Celeste scoffed and roughly extracted her arm from Morga's grasp. "What does your love look like, Morga? If it's the compassion and care I've been privy to, it's no goddamn wonder we're in this mess," she said, finally, and strode away, back towards camp.

She was halfway back to Muriel when she started realizing that it had been a mistake. They still had to follow Morga, and Gods only knew how long. She drew a sharp intake of breath, pulling a face, but she didn't break stride. Almost anticipating a rap over the head with Morga's staff.

Muriel had been watching the whole scene from a distance. And he had the good fortune of being downwind from them, and their voices had carried.

As soon as Celeste was close enough to see the expression on his face, she winced. "So, all of it, then?"

He nodded. "A few things got lost on the breeze, but I got the gist."

"More of the same, really. We're just rehashing the same argument we have every day." Celeste said, moving to grab the satchel that had their food supplies.

Except, Muriel thought, the part where you told her that you were in love with me.

Celeste was thinking along the same lines, and it was her turn to blush, busying her hands by making breakfast. Running the conversation over her head over and over again.

Then, once the adrenaline wore off, she was crouched by the fire, sniffling, swiping her hand across her eyes, fighting off tears.

Celeste sat back onto the cold ground, head in her hands. She didn't consider herself to be a cruel person. It was just that she was so very, very done. She wanted to go home.

Muriel had been straightening up, packing, putting away their bedroll, when he heard her lapse into sobs. He turned and saw her, knees drawn up to her chest, her body shaking.

He approached her slowly and crouched behind her. He wasn't quite sure how to proceed. He knew how he might have once. Before. But that was years ago. Before he had locked himself away. With only memories of what it felt like to touch her. To love her. Fading with each passing year. He wasn't the same man.

But seeing her like this. Hearing her declaration of love. He wanted to be that man for her again. The one that held her and kept her and loved her.

He just wasn't sure how.

She had once stood before him, her hand at her temple, and spoke a simple word. "Broken." He thought he had grasped the concept at the time. But, now, he knew that he didn't understand at all. What it meant to have your mind warped and destroyed, things you can't access just below the surface. He hadn’t the faintest idea what she was describing before. Now that he lived it, he couldn’t imagine how she managed to bring herself out of it.

At nights, when she would lay in his arms, he could almost reach it. The smell of her. The noises she would make in her sleep. The way she would roll into his body. Soft, warm, round comfort in the cold dark night. When he knew she was well asleep, he would press his lips against her scalp. Whisper words of love, when he knew she was too far away in dreams to hear him. 

She still loved him. She always loved him. Just as impossible as it had been every time it was revealed to him. 

He tentatively reached a hand out and placed it on her shoulder. Celeste, in the throes of her grief, actually gave a laugh, bringing one hand to rest over his.

Muriel sighed. If he were whole, he could give more to her than this. She deserved to be held and kissed and told that it would be okay. He just...couldn't. This would have to be enough. And it wasn't enough. It wasn't enough for her. It wasn't enough for him.

After a while, her breathing slowed. Though the breaths were shaky, she was coming down.

Muriel released her shoulder and came to sit at her side. They sat in companionable silence for a while. Muriel served their breakfast. It was simple. Brothy soup and hardtack. They ate, cleaned up, packed up, and started off in the direction Morga had left in. The same route they had been traveling for weeks.

When dusk fell, they made camp again. A small fire. Bedroll. Lackluster meal. Morga rejoined them and was silent. She took her meal and retreated to her post. When darkness fell, Muriel lay down for bed.

"I'll be there in a minute," Celeste told him.

Morga was on alert, as per usual, looking out for any threats. She heard Celeste coming, but not turn to see to her. Still hurt.

Celeste hung back for a moment, gathering her courage. She drew a breath and sighed. "I am sorry, Morga. I spoke harshly and from a place of frustration." she offered. "We are with you to...whatever end we're going to meet. None of this is on you."

Morga cast her eyes down for a moment, but she did not turn.

Celeste stood quiet for a moment longer, watching the older woman. When it was clear that Morga did not intend to acknowledge her, she made to go, but she couldn't quite bring herself to move away. She felt something in her mind shift, and her eyes rolled back, then fluttered shut.

Morga flinched and nearly moved to strike when she felt arms encircling her waist, squeezing her tight. She stiffened, trying to turn in the embrace. "What in the hell are you doing?" she barked, thoroughly caught off guard.

When she looked back, she saw Celeste, but with soft grey eyes. Not a trick of the light. Not her eyes.

"We won't let you down, Auntie! Promise." a deep, male voice came from her throat. They gave a playful wink. "I love that dumb son of a bitch, but it's just about time someone kicked Monty's ass, doncha think?"

Aric.

And as quickly as he had come, he was gone.

Celeste blinked, eyes going back to green. She realized that she was hugging Morga and recoiled quickly.

"I...Sorry?" Celeste stammered, confused. 

Morga's eyes were wide, looking her over. Petrified. 

"I got nothing," Celeste said, backing away. "Sorry. Won't happen again."

[stoopsbookstore]

Highway to Heaven Hell (Part 4)

Chapter Synopsis - Johnny, in a frenzied state, confesses to Y/N, but was it real or just the powder? Mark and Jaehyun get trapped when the security around the Light side strengthens. Y/N begins to learn more about the truth of what happened to Jeonghan.

Warnings - Two uses of the C word

"I'm sorry. You'll have to wait longer," Y/N pushed herself off of him, yanking the shower knob to start pouring out ice cold water. She grabbed a scarf from the hamper, tying the shower door so Johnny couldn't escape.

Johnny started convulsing as the water hit him, his eyes going back to normal. Johnny tries to stand up in the shower as he is quickly brought back down to his knees, hurling up a blue sludge. Y/N hated seeing him in pain. When Johnny started crying out for help, Y/N untied the scarf, jumping in and turned the shower off.

"Johnny! What the hell just happened?!" Y/N hugged him, his body was freezing from the water, yet hot from the nausea, "please tell me you're okay."

Johnny nodded his head, "I'm fine now, I promise. Y/N I'm sorry, I have no idea what that was about. Please forg-"

Y/N hugged Johnny, "of course I'm going to forgive you. That wasn't you, Johnny. Can you stand up?"

"Yeah," Johnny got up off the tile floor of the shower, Y/N getting up to grab him a towel, "It's totally fine if you don't want me to, but Mr. Siwon actually wanted me to stay the night up here, for extra security he said."

"About th-"

"Ok. I understand, I'll be downstairs if you nee-"

"Please stay. I really can't be alone right now and I know you're back to normal, so please stay."

Johnny let out a soft laugh as he made his way to the couch, turning up the volume on the TV, Y/N throwing him a pillow and blanket.

When Y/N went to lay down, Johnny got comfortable on the couch, noticing a notebook on the table. Reaching for it, Johnny opened it up and started to read the beginning of a note.

It's okay, Jaehyun. I'm sorry for what happened today.

A frantic knock on the door made the two turn their heads, a voice known to only Y/N began to speak, Johnny placing the notebook back on the table.

"Y/N, it's me, Jaehyun!" The voice yelled in hushed tones, "Please let me in!"

Johnny was confused as Y/N ran to the door, opening it to reveal a tall male he knew as the one Y/N danced with at the lesson. Their eyes met and the same thing came out of their mouth in disbelief.

"Who's he?"

"I asked first," Johnny became defensive at the presence of Jaehyun, flashing back to earlier in the day when Mr. Siwon complimented their natural chemistry, "who the hell are you?"

"I'm Jaehyun, I'm one of Y/N's friends," he took a spot towards the taller male.

"I am too. I've never seen you around here before, how do you know her?" The space between them got smaller as they tried to intimidate each other.

Y/N got in the middle of them, "Guys, listen, I promise I'll explain, but Jaehyun, why are you over here?"

"Over here?! You mean to tell me he's one of those fuc-" Johnny remembered seeing Jaehyun on the roof, Ms. Hyoyeon's suspicions correct, "you fucking demon cunt, I should kill you."

Johnny tried to punch Jaehyun, missing when the younger male ducked down. Johnny got up, charging after Jaehyun, knocking him down to the floor, landing blows to his face as Y/N tried to pull him off. Jaehyun pleaded to get a word in, only having the ability to do so when Y/N managed to push Johnny after the younger boy.

"Dude! I'm here because Mark is fucking stuck on the dark side, I'm stuck over here and I overheard that Hyoyeon bitch talking about some guy named Jeonghan. And I know about the attacks and I can tell you those weren't dark siders!"

Johnny's temper cooled down when he saw a glint of sincerity in Jaehyun's eye, "what the hell do you mean those weren't dark siders, those weren't demons? What the hell was that powder they threw at us?!"

"They're rangers, guys from each kingdom hellbent on destroying every kingdom, they want the kingdoms destoryed, that way they can rebuild and take over. I have some friends who turned against us, I think some of the higher-ups here are a part of them too," Jaehyun spurted out, "they may be demons, but they are not dark siders, we actually have morals."

"A demon talking about morals, that's rich," Johnny scoffed, "but if what you're saying is tru-"

"It is. What do you think happened to Jeonghan? Mark was right, you angels don't really know anything."

Before Johnny could get out another quip, Y/N interjected.

"What happened to Jeonghan? We were told he was corrupted by the dark side, some demons called Minghao and Yut-"

"Yuta wouldn't corrupt someone, he may be a slut, but he has too good of a soul, even for a dark sider. He's actually been working on a way to get rid of the Rangers without harming them. Minghao, on the other hand, he is one of the underlings."

"How can we trust him, Y/N?" Johnny flickered his eyes between Y/N, Jaehyun and the notebook on the table, "didn't you called him Jaehyun earlier? And you were at the dance less-"

It clicked in his brain.

"You've been talking to a demon from the dark side?! For how fucking long?!" Johnny pushed Jaehyun, knocking the male on the footrest in front of Y/N's bed, Y/N stunned as Johnny grabbed her shoulders.

"For a few weeks or so," Y/N was about to start crying, "Johnny, I promise he's not like the other. He knows Mark and Mark can vouch for him."

"And where's Mark, huh? Stuck with those disgusting, worthless demon fuckhe-"

"Those are my family, you cunt," Jaehyun rushed Johnny, the pair falling to the ground, landing punches to the older male's face.

Y/N panicked, almost screaming at the violence between the two boys, "Guys! Stop, please! You'll wake up everyone!"

But they didn't let up, the two kept wrestling on the floor. Y/N looked around for something, anything to get them to stop. She ran out the balcony door, slamming it against the wall and gaining the boys' attention.

"I'll do it. I'll jump over the fence, I'll land right in the middle and I'll run," Y/N readied herself as Jaehyun and Johnny got up from the floor, both bloodied.

"Y/N, please. If Ms. Hyoyeon finds out I let you run aw-"

Jaehyun interrupted the older boy, who started walking over to Y/N, "Wait. Ms. Hyoyeon? That blonde teacher at the dance lesson?"

"Yeah. What about her?" Y/N walked back inside, Johnny shutting the door and trying to calm down his heartbeat.

"If Professor Oak tree right here promises not to kick my ass again, I'll continue with the Jeonghan story."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Y/N poured some peppermint tea into three cups, Johnny icing his forehead as Jaehyun wrapped up his wrist.

"So, let me get this straight. The lady we've known as Ms. Hyoyeon for the past 2 decades is actually a part of the Rangers, her real name is Kyungri and the night her gang and she kidnapped Jeonghan, the actual Ms. Hyoyeon discovered them and she hasn't been seen since with no way to be found?" Johnny sat up in disbelief, Y/N sitting in shock as she took a small sip of her tea.

"Yeah, Kyungri's been using a perfected masking spell. She's been working with some guy, but Haechan has yet to find out who he is. Jaemin was looking into it when the alarm started going over. Mark didn't want to get caught, so I pushed him past the cloaking spell, made sure he was safe," Jaehyun pulled out his phone, "speak of the devil, he texted me from Yuta's phone. He's fine and he's safe, they're working on a masking spell for him to make sure he's not caught by the light siders."

"Why kidnap Jeonghan though?" Johnny questioned as Y/N stayed in a silent state, "what does he have to do with any of this? How do you know all of this?"

"Jeonghan was the next heir, she wanted to speed up the ritual. The coronation isn't a crowning, it's a codename, those who are considered the next heir get their blood drained from them, just enough to keep them alive, but with no will. The Rangers are like vampires, Kyungri has brainwashed them for the last 20 years to make them believe if they follow her, she'll give them eternal life, they just have to help her ruin the kingdoms and kidnap the heirs. That's why they have the whole bullshit ceremony, the wheel is rigged to choose who Kyungri, or Ms. Hyoyeon, feels would be the next great heir."

"The whole coronation is essentially a ritual sacrifice? What about those who have been heirs before?"

"They're 'sent to another kingdom.' They're fucking kept in cages, kept alive only for their blo-"

"How the hell do you know this?" Johnny broke the tea cup that was in his hand, crushing it in his grasp.

"My parents were Rangers, left me alone all the time. They wanted me to be one, so I became some sort of a double agent, attending Ranger meetings, but feeding the information back to Doyoung and Yuta," Jaehyun begun to help pick up the broken teacup shards as Johnny grabbed a towel from Y/N's bathroom, "I stopped going and they disowned me. Which is why I went after you for calling my friends worthless, sorry about that by the way. They're my family, more than my actual parents."

Johnny patted Jaehyun's back, "dude, it's okay. I'd do the same if someone called Mark, Taeil, Taeyong or Y/N names like that. It was a heated moment. We have to think of a plan to stop them, but how?"

"First things first, we need to get Mark and my friends over on this side. Make Kyungri paranoid. Once we have all of us on this side, we can take them down from within."

Y/N stood up, walking over to her computer, "give me your phone, Jae."

Jaehyun handed Y/N his phone, yanking it out of his hands and texting Mark.

Mark, tell the others we have a plan. We'll be talking through notes like me and Jaehyun were.

I assume they told you too?

Yes and I'm fucking pissed.

"Damn, this is a side of Y/N I never thought I'd ever see," Jaehyun smirked as Johnny felt his heart drop a bit.

Where are we going to pick up the notes?

Every night after the light side has gone to sleep, I will throw a paper plane over, aiming for the plants on the little widow's peak on the roof, right across from my balcony, where me and Jaehyun originally started with the notes. Amazing, I'll let the others know.

Stay safe, Y/N, Johnny and Jaehyun.

You too, little dude.

Y/N erased the messages, the evidence that proved they knew anything.

Johnny placed his hand on Y/N's shoulder, "we have to make it seem as if we're oblivious, but how?"

"Act as if everything is normal. I can make some clothes for Jaehyun, so he's not stuck in dark side garb."

"Where would I sleep?"

"I keep an extra sleeping bag in my room for Mark, in case he doesn't want to sleep in his room. Speaking of which, it's late, we should probably go to bed. Will you be okay, Y/N?"

Y/N nodded, standing up from the desk chair, "Yea, I should be fine."

"We should probably go," Johnny and Jaehyun hugged Y/N, Johnny's lingering a second longer, while Jaehyun slipped something into Y/N's hand when she handed him his phone back, "We'll be right downstairs, ok?"

Johnny started to head to the door, thinking Jaehyun was right behind him. Jaehyun gave a gentle peck on Y/N's cheek as he ran towards Johnny, who had a sad smile on his face. The two boys left the room, leaving Y/N alone on her couch as she cuddled up to her pillow, watching TV, attempting to distract her mind.

She looked at the note Jaehyun handed her. The writing was messy and all she got make out was Don't Trust S, the remaining letters mashing together in an mostly unintelligible mess, most likely due to Jaehyun rushing.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Johnny laid the sleeping bag out for Jaehyun, the younger male taking a look at the angel's room. Jaehyun saw a photo of a young Y/N, a ponytail in a bow and Johnny with a matching bowtie.

"Cute."

"Yea, she is."

"I meant you both. Kids are adorable, regardless if they're demon or angel. Just because we're supposed to hate each other, doesn't mean I can't give you a compliment. You can throw some damn good-ass punches too."

"Thanks, Mr Siwon taught me when I was younger. He's like a father figure to me."

"I noticed that. A lot of kids over here don't have parents," Jaehyun sat down on the sleeping bag, laying back as he tried to find a comfortable position.

"The story is they keep parents and children separate so the kids have a chance to be free and form their own opnions. Twice a month, they allow us to meet up with our parents and talk about what's been going on. This past few hours have been a total culture shock to me, thinking more and more about the system here seems insane."

Jaehyun sat up, "it is insane. The higher-ups want you guys to believe there is only one way of life and that the dark side is actually a horrible, terrible place, but I can assure you it's not."

Johnny laid on his bed, Jaehyun resting his chin on the side of the king-sized mattress, "this plan is going to work, right?"

"I hope so, bro. I really hope so."

[kaiyeti]

Idea for my own story.

Detective: Hello. I'm detective Origace. I understand you had a rough night so I'll try to make this quick. Your name Sally Galiran, correct? *The Detective said as he entered the room, taking a seat at the table cross from the the young woman staring down it the cup of coffee she held in her hand.*

Sally: ... Yes.

Detective: And how is your head and leg? *Origace asked, eyeing the bandages wrapped her forehead while her other hand subconsciously rubs her leg.* From the report it seems you suffered from a gash from a piece of glass on your head with no major head trauma and chemical burns around your leg. And supposedly after the medics cleaned and bandaged your wounds you refused to go to the hospital and asked to come straight to the station.

Sally: ... Yes. But is wasn't a piece of glass. *Sally said, her voice almost a whisper.*

Detective: *The detective raises his eyebrow.* Yes. You mentioned that to the officer who took your statement after they arrived. Though, considering in the reports, when the officers found you, you were laying in breaking glass from a broken window this you yourself claimed to be thrown through. Are you sure you didn't receive the gash from the glass?

Sally: It wasn't glass. *Sally said firmly while setting her cup of coffee on the table rather roughly.* The cut I got was from the same thing that burned my leg.

Detective: Right, the burns your leg. *The detective mutter turning a page of the report to photos of the crime scene.* According to this, there were no chemical what so ever within the building that caused the burn on your leg. However, initial lab reports state that other burns on cloths and wood showing that its a chemical that only reacts to organic material.

Sally: *At the mention of this Sally's face changed slightly for a fraction of a second before returning to the tired blank expression with the exception of her eyes. Her eyes held a sense of fear as flashes of her memory of a beastly figure, people she knew running and screaming, blood, a blue-ish black devil, and lastly blue-ish silver eye staring into her soul.* You don't have to tell me. I know first hand.

Detective: Which bring me to ask. How exactly did you receive those burn in the way you did? The burn on you leg goes all the way around, as if something was wrapped around you to grab you. Plus, from what I saw myself at the scene and what is in the report, the place looked like a battlefield. The damages to stone pillars, the walls, ceiling, and floors look as though there was a combination of explosions or high impact along with clear cuts through concrete and metal that look like claw marks by something big.

Sally: I told the police what caused the burns. And the damage to that burning. And to... *Sally said before going silent.*

Detective: Your friend that you claimed a monster with a large mouth fill with acid covered tentacles, massive claws, and glowing eye soaks that you claim killed and ate them. *The detective read from the report in his hand, slapping the file onto the table.* I think you can see why we are having a hard time taking what you said because of this statement. Since, our city is powered and guarded by the Gaiaus prevents any of those types of demons. Not to mention there is no evidence of anyone else being there with you.

Sally: But I know what I saw and I wasn't alone. *Sally said as she looked up from her feet for the first time since entering the room.* It was one of them. That monster was-

Detective: Why didn't you go to the hospital? *Origace interrupted, folding his hands together while leaning against the table.* You clearly need medical attention and if what you think you saw was really their than you know you are poisoned.

Sally: Ah... *Sally blinked and averted her gaze.* I didn't feel very safe going to the hospital.

Detective: Safe? Safe from what? *Origace asked when suddenly another officer opens the door.*

Police officer: Excuse me, Detective Origace. You have a nest connection from Detective Platnite. She says it's important.

Detective: Alright. I'll be right there. *He told the officer as he stands up and walks out but not before turning back to Sally.* I'll be right. When I do, I would like the full truth.

Sally: ... *Sally only looks down in response as the door closed. During this time as the detective and the officer moved down the hall, they were unaware of someone coming from the other of the hallway and entered the interrogation room. As the door open, Sally's eyes glanced up towards it only to widen in horror. She immediately shot up from her seat, backing away from the man wearing a dark blue coat and black hunter hat as he closed the door.* I-I-I didn't say word about you. I swear. *The man looked at Sally, his blue ringed silver eye seemingly to look into her soul.* Please... I know who you are. What you are. Please... *Sally pleadedas her wall hit the wall and watched the man's hand turn into claws and blades.* W-W-W-Wait please! I swear I am not like them! I just want to-

???: I'm sorry, Sally. *The man said taking a step forwards, the lights in the room flickering revealing his eye and claws seemingly dimly glowing in the dark.*

~~~

Origace: What? What did you just say? *The detective mutter in shock as look at the holographic screen in front of him.*

Platnite: I'm saying that this skinned mangled body that we found this morning at the wall has been identified with bioreiki as a college student named Sally Galiran. *The woman detective informed her partner showing pictured of the dead body that was partially reconstructed compared to a picture of Sally.* Meaning that woman you're holding isn't Sally Galiran.

Origace: Shit! *he cursed pulling off the collar like communicator from his neck and rushed out the door while shouting to another officer.* Get a combat team down to interrogation room three ten right now! *The detective then ran as fast as he could through the halls, leaping down a flight of stair while drawing his gun and made his when to the interrogation room. Once there, he instantly realized the door slightly open.* Damn it! *He mutter and kicked open the door, which to his surprise fell to the ground. Confused but unfazed He moved int with his gun at the ready only to be meant with a site he did not expect. A site of a room thrown into ruin covered with blood and deep claw marks with a torn apart decaying monster that most of it body leaning against the wall, its head twisted upside down with half of Sally's face draped over it. It was this that caused the detective to lower his gun and cover his mouth.* My god... What... What happened here?

~~~

*Meanwhile outside, the silver blue eyed man walked down a side walk blocks away from the police stations as police cars and ships passed by. He continued to walk for two blocks before stopping at a cross walk.*

???: So I take it you got the other one, Kai? *A short dark purple haired woman with pinkish highlights asked as she stepped next to the man looking up at him.*

Kai: Yeah Zo. I got them. Sorry to keep you waiting. *He said, taking his hat off his bandanna covered head and his coat dissolved upwards like flames and edged water.*

Zozu: Don't worry about it. I have to admit. It was pretty brilliant idea to hide from us in a police station while in the poor girl's skin. Though its a shame we couldn't find her alive and save her. Zo sighed with disappointment.* But at least we'll be able to tell Sally's parents we got her killers.

Kai: Yeah. *He mutter glancing down at Zozu's sad expression before patting his partner's head.* We can't win them all completely Zo. Just be glad you figured out went they were meeting and we manage to stop anyone else from being killed.

Zozu: Yeah I guess.

Kai: Come on. I'll taking you to the restaurant you been wanting to go to since we got here.

Zozu: Huh?... Hehe, Thanks, Kai. For trying to cheer me up. *Zozu smiled at her partner as the light changed and they began to cross the street.*

Kai: My Pleasure... Actually thinking about it, What did you do with those other college kids when I went after what was left of them?

Zozu: Oh I just dumped them at a bar. Which reminds me. *Zozu the kicked Kai in the leg.* That is for making me carry fourteen drugged college student out of an abandon build. One of whom barfed on my new coat.

Kai: Sorry.

Zozu: You should be.

Kai:...

Zozu:...

Kai:... Foot hurting yet?

Zozu: I hate you sometime. *Zozu grumbled with a limp.*