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seodami · 3 years

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Neon green | LYY

Genre: soulmate au, fluff, friends to lovers, some frustrated feelings,...

Warning: none (besides cursing like 2 times)

Word count: 4071 (oopsie hehe)

Pairing: Trainee!Liu Yangyang x reader

Note: I am so excited for participating in the ✨NCT secret Santa event✨ I want to thank the organizers @neoculturechristmas for preparing such a cool collaboration! It is such a nice idea and I am really excited to read all the other stories. I really tried making it a bit winter themed in the beginning but oh well I think i failed haha. But if you squint ITS THERE I SWEAR :)) So this one is for you @theleemark :) I really hope you like it! Merry Christmas ✨

“Yangyang stop it!” You laughed while running away from the boy, who currently was chasing you like a maniac through the park. His arms were loaded with dozens of big white snowballs just ready to be thrown at you.

Your feet felt like they were sinking even further into the deep snow layer on the ground with each step you took. It was impossible to avoid your best friend any longer. And before you could complain further, the ice cold snow ball hit you right on your already pink cheek.

You let out a loud scream, not being able to move. The prickling pain of the cold snow overwhelming your senses.

Yangyang however couldn’t stop laughing looking at your face. Running the last few meters to you to catch up, he tackled you down into a hug, which unfortunately ended with both of you laying in the deep snow. Your jeans were soaking wet at this point. An icy feeling shuttered down your spine.

“Yangyaanggg...god I hate you.” You fumed frustratedly, hitting your best friends chest. “Get off me! You are heavy...” your weak arms tried to lift the boy above you up but bitterly failed.

Yangyang giggled into your neck, standing up by himself while helping you up as well. “Hey I’m not heavy. More like heavenly, don’t you think?” He wiggled his eyebrows teasingly with his usual smile as he posed like a supermodel.

As hard as you tried to keep pouting and stay angry at him, you couldn’t stop the laugh from bubbling up behind your hands. A grin immediately made its way onto his face. “Isn’t snow so dope? Like you can literally do anything you want. It’s like a movie.” He babbled excitedly.

You couldn’t help but secretly admire his beauty once again. Lately you’ve been catching yourself a lot staring mindlessly at him when he was busy. Even when it was just him pouring boiling water into a ramen cup. Maybe it was all the mushy lovey dovey Christmas romance content on Netflix you’ve been simping over the last month or just Yangyang himself but you were certainly sure, he definitely got more attractive in your eyes.

Still it was something you would never ever in your dreams confess to him or talk about. Especially since there wasn’t really any sign that you two were connected as soulmates. He was just...well...just your best friend. And you had to live with that.

You still remember the way you two became friends. It was a very fond memory of yours and little do you know, also for Yangyang. You both were in 5th grade back then, being the little Chinese kid who showed off his tiny German skills and the clumsy half Caucasian girl with braces. It was hilarious how well you two got along besides the differences.

You two were in the age were kids began to talk about soulmates and their soulmate connections. From writing on the arm to body switches or color blindness, everything was there. In school you briefly have learned about all the indicators and the bond itself, but you seemed to always be the odd one out. There had been no sign whatsoever. Nowhere on your body. Nothing. Niente.

It was frustrating at first. You found yourself way too often admiring older girls who already found their soulmate or had unique indicators. You were quite jealous of them back then.

But then you found out you weren’t the only person without a soulmate connection. There was Yangyang, who went through the exact same emotions as you did. Even if he didn’t want to admit it, he didn’t want to be lonely.

And that is how you two bonded immediately. After this, you were always together. You acted as if you were glued together, never leaving ones side. You felt safe around each other.

Adults always told you to wait and see. That yours would come sooner or later. But nothing. 9 years later and you and Yangyang still haven’t found your soulmate or anything related to soulmates. It still frustrated you at times but being the positive person you were, you just accepted it with the time.

From time to time a lot of people happened to mistaken you two for soulmates. It always made you think ‘what if’...

Your poor heart already had been through so much because of this boy. It wasn’t easy to ignore your small crush on him starting back in 7th grade. You were both growing and having loads of hormonal crises, so it was understandable at some point. But seeing that this crush hasn’t gotten any less since then, you were just totally lost.

‘Stop it y/n! He is not your soulmate! He is not...’

You snapped yourself out of your daydreams and staring as you found Yangyang smiling brightly at you. “Oh damn y/n, lately you’ve beeen really drifting off with your thoughts.” He noted as he slung one arm around your shoulder, walking with you towards your apartment, making sure to not forget your groceries at the side of the tree.

“I noticed...maybe I should just get some more sleep.” You mumbled in your sweater paws in order to warm up your freezing hands. The boy besides you let out an airy laugh while squeezing your shoulder affectionately. One habit he unconsciously took over, over time.

“Oh yes you should. Weren’t you like playing games up until 4 am last night? You sure you aren’t a zombie by now?” He joked looking over to you, you both nearly choking from air as your eyes met, making your hearts race a bit faster.

You nodded quickly focusing on the snow on the ground again. “I kinda suck. How do you sleep at 12 am already? You’re a wonder kid.”

He shrugged his shoulders, still watching you. “It’s in my genes to be a wonder kid.” His joke made you giggle slightly. Yangyang was as always Yangyang. And you found it incredibly charming. You could never deny that.

After the short walk from the snow covered park to your apartment with all of your hands filled with full grocery bags, you decided to bake some Christmas cookies before Yangyang had to head back to his shared apartment. Ever since he began training in SM entertainment as a trainee, he hadn’t that much time like he did before. But either way, you were incredibly proud of him and always happy to spend some quality time with him.

You were lucky that none of your roommates were home, visiting family over the holidays or hanging out with their partners.

It was probably the best that you were alone because you both made a whole mess in the kitchen. It was so much fun hanging out after a long time but it was a hell of a ride to clean it all up.

When the moon was already at its highest point and the night air got even fresher and chillier, Yangyang hugged you goodbye with butterflies dancing in his stomache. He would always treasure these moments with you and think about them again when he was so hardly trying to fall asleep. It was like his mind was full of you 24/7. Even if he tried staying focused on his tasks, it would most of the times end up with him thinking about your laugh and smile as you sat on the couch next to each other while making fun of the twilight characters.

He wanted to scream in his pillow how devestatingly in love he was with you at this point. You made him just so overly happy. He wanted to be near you so bad.

And people noticed. They noticed how Yangyang showed his deepest hidden personalities only to you. His playful and quirky side but also his soft and vulnerable. He simply could be himself around yourself. And you felt exactly the same. You would tell him even your deepest secrets. You knew he would keep them safe.

Yangyang was surprised to see his fellow roommates and friends still awake in the living room as he arrived home. Ten, Hendery and Lucas were all sprawled out on the couch, seemingly waiting for sleep to take over them. The flat was confusingly quiet despite the slight background noice of the TV.

“Hey guys I’m back! Why are you still awake?” It was silent for a short while before Hendery suddenly stood in front of him, making him jump by surprise.

The older boy watched him with a growing smirk and exciting twinkling eyes. “And? Did you tell her? Please say yes, we all stayed awake just to hear the news.”

Yangyang let out a sigh, he didn’t know he was holding and stripped out of his jacket. He knew this question would come but not this soon. “Just let me breathe for a second alright? I’m gonna tell you everything.”

Ten in the background let out an excited scream. “Yangyang! You did it? Ohh finally manning up and confessing...I see.” The teasing but excited tone in his voice was as clear as daylight.

“What? No... it’s not like that...” Yangyang tried to explain the situations to his friends as he walked inside heading towards the living room with Hendery behind him.

Groans came from all sides. “You didn’t?! Oh man I really thought you finally would. What are you afraid of?” The older boys words stung inside of the youngest. He shrugged his shoulders sitting besides Lucas on the couch, grabbing the nearest pillow.

“I don’t know. Like I really don’t know. She’s absolutely amazing and so stunning but...” he placed his head on the pillow with a deep sigh. “But...I feel like I’m just a coward. Just thinking about that we probably are not soulmates or never be an actual couple. It all sucks. I wish I could just tell her...”

All the boys were deep in their thoughts as they listened carefully to Yangyang sorrows and worries. They knew they needed to help the kid in some kind of way. This had been the fifth day he decided to confess but all the prior nights turned out to be a failure. He just wanted his heart to be opened by the one person he loves the most. But it felt like there was a thick layer of securing foam around it, just waiting to be ripped away. If it was just that easy...

“Hey...I know this might sound stupid but since you seem pretty lost...I might have an idea how it will be easier for you to overcome yourself.” Lucas suddenly interrupted his train of thoughts, smiling brightly at his roommates. “Oh lord...please don’t say something stupid.” Ten prayed next to him with his hand holding his forehead.

“Tell me more.”

And that was how the plan was born.

A bulletproof plan in Lucas and Henderys eyes.

And a totally stupid one in Ten’s opinion.

But Yangyang did it anyways.

Cause he was desperate, frustrated and so full of love, it was impossible for him to think 100% straight. And he did it only for you. With the intention of getting your attention in the fullest way.

It was dyeing your hair. In freaking neon green. Cause what’s a better way to show your feelings than dying your hair in your crushes favorite color?

A lot actually. But Hendery and Lucas were absolutely confident that it had something to do with the human psyche and the law of attraction or whatever they called it. Their belief: you will fall for him immediately by the time you see his hair.

The only problem with this was that this plan was obviously not thought through yet and that the only hair coloring product in this house that came the closest to your favorite color, which was green, was a bright neon green. Yuta brought it over once for Ten to dye his Neon green highlights. And Yuta indeed could pull it off.

But Yangyang began to regret ever listening to his older friends again. He looked ridiculous. Looking himself with a frown in the mirror of the bathroom at 3 am was definitely not how he imagined this day to end.

Lucas lightly joked that he at least looked somehow christmasy. But then on the other hand Hendery couldn’t stop laughing about his own joke that he found his list highlighter. It was a mess. Ten wouldn’t even want to look at his hair and when he did, all he could say was “I told you”. It was even more frustrating.

All he could do now was sleep and wish it all just had been a dream. He didn’t really had the urge anymore to show you his hair. All he wanted to do was think about you laughing and running in the snow earlier today. And he really nearly forgot his hair dilemma for the night.

You on the other hand decided to go to sleep earlier that night since you nearly hadn’t gotten any sleep at all because of your assignments for university. It was more than exhausting for you to stay up till morning to finish up all your projects. Yangyang had to force you to go to bed at the end of the day and you didn’t even complain with his soothing voice telling you stories, slowly tugging you to your dream world.

The next morning, you woke up groaning with a heavy headache. One look at your phone and you could see it was 6:30. With a long sigh you fell back into your comfortable pillows, scrolling through your phone. Why did you have to wake up that early again? Right...university.

After what seems definitely too short for your liking, you finally climbed out of your bed, trotting towards the bathroom. There was no sign whatsoever that the headache would just go away by itself.

But as soon as you looked at yourself in the mirror, you let out a deafening scream. Your heart was thrumming as fast as never before and your adrenaline was rushing through your whole body. You couldn’t find a way to properly breathe at that exact moment.

“Oh my god oh my god oh my god... please let this be a dream. Nonononono. Fuck.” You mumbled to yourself while your hands searched for support at the border of the sink.

Your eyes met in the mirror in front of you. Neon green eyes. Neon fucking green. That... that was not good.

There were so many questions in your mind all at once. But one thing was sure. You wouldn’t set a single step outside of this apartment. No one could ever see you like that. You looked like a monster. As you tried rubbing your eyes continuously or trying to find a contact lenses inside of them, you came to the conclusion that you were damned.

There were many possible explanations:

1. You somehow slept too less or have some sort of hallucination due to whatever.

2. Yangyang played a prank on you and is just waiting for you to call him.

3. You suddenly have gotten a really rare disease or disability over night.

Or the most likely one (except for Yangyang and his prank maybe)

4. You just found your soulmate connection.

Your eyes widen with realization and shock, as you came to the conclusion that this could be your possible soulmate indicator. You have learned so much about them in school and by yourself that you could easily tell what it was.

It was a rare connection. But it was possible. Having your soulmates hair color as your eye color. You were 80% sure that was the reason.

The other 20% you just thought about Yangyang. How he couldn’t be your soulmate. He would have told you that he was planning to dye his hair in NEON GREEN. What in the world was this even for a hair color?

You sat down on the floor to grasp your wilding thoughts and sort out your over rushing emotions. You couldn’t pinpoint why, but your thoughts drifted off to said boy every two seconds. It made no sense at all but your subconscious probably just wanted to tell you how stupid your feelings for the Chinese boy were. He still was your best friend of many many years. You knew this day would come. The day you would finally realize that you were no soulmates. Despite all your deepest wishes.

The whole situation was nearly ironic. Neon green eyes? That could only happen to you.

With wobbly legs you waddled over to your bedroom to pick up your phone. The blood from your hands nearly disappeared all at once and left your fingers cold as ice. You pressed Yangyangs caller ID without even thinking. You knew it was still very early and it was his free day but this was definitely an emergency.

Unconsciously you began biting your finger nails nervously, trying to think straight but failed. Everything was all over the place.

After the nth peeping tone, you could hear some dampened muffles on the other side. “Y/n? Why is- are you calling?” You heard the boys broken morning voice through the speaker, gently tugging on your heartstrings. Your heart wasn’t ready for this that early.

“Uhm...I ...well Yangyang? I kind of have a big problem and I cannot leave the house. Can you...if it isn’t too much trouble... I mean come over? I just- I really don’t know what to do...” you rambled on, not knowing what to say in a situation like that. He had to see it himself to understand. God that was awful.

More ruffling could be heard, followed by damp footsteps. “Oh...yeah sure. You sound really frustrated Y/n, is everything okay? Should I bring you something?” He questioned you with concern mirroring his voice. You shook your head, remembering he couldn’t see it.

“No it’s fine... I just need some really good advices. Its just weird. You will see when you come.” You explained to him, still biting your finger nails. “Alright I will be there in a bit. I’ll still bring you some chocolate tho, that’s always one solution.” Yangyang tried to lift up your seemingly worried mood, succeeding immediately and earning a chuckle from you.

“Thank you. You are the best. See you soon.” The line went dead and left you with a more comforting feeling than before. You were still sure everyone looking at you would scream out loud but at least Yangyang was there for you and could buy you contacts or whatever. You were always thankful to have someone like him in your life.

Not half an hour later, said boy rang the bell to your apartment. You prayed to god that none of your roommates got up because of the noice. You wouldn’t want anyone to see you like this... except for Yangyang.

In a hurry you put on a pair of sunglasses, you found on your dresser before running to the door to let him in. It wasn’t your intention to scare him away in the beginning, even though you know he would never.

The Chinese boy looked tired when you opened the door but you could still see the worry written on his face. He wore a black beanie and his long padded jacket. He looked absolutely adorable for you in that moment. But realization hit you when you couldn’t see any differences from yesterday. The heavy feeling immediately made its way to your heart. You felt horrible. You were right, he couldn’t be your soulmate. How stupid you were...

“Y/n what’s the problem? Why are you wearing sunglasses? Did you hurt your eye? Did someone hit you?!” Yangyang lowkey panicked. You dragged him inside, leaving him no time to remove most of his clothing items besides his dirty shoes.

You pulled him into your room exhaling deeply while pushing him gently on your bed to sit down. You stood in front of him still with your sunglasses on.

“I...I found out my soulmate indicator. I did right this morning.”

There was an indefinable silence in the air for a second. There was a slight drop in the boys facial expression. His heart ripped open like a bag of candy. Spilling all his content. “Wha-what...” was all he could mutter. His gaze drifting off to your feet, trying to get his thoughts straight.

“I don’t know I just...woke up like this...please don’t scream.” You scrambled nervously, taking off your sunglasses slowly and revealing your neon green eyes to him.

His mouth dropped immediately. With hammering heart and shaking hands he subconsciously reached for his beanie. If his emotions would ride the wildest rollercoaster, it would be this moment right now. Everything was all over the place but his heart lead it’s way.

Your big eyes fixated on the neon green mop of hair on top of Yangyangs head. It was hard not to forget how to breathe in that moment. “Yangyang...” you whispered softly, stepping closer and reaching for his hair, which was exact the same color as your eyes. “You...what?! Why didn’t you tell me? I was so... worried.”

He looked into your eyes, not finding fear or shock, no, there was happiness in them. Pure happiness, which surprised you immensely. There was a small smile on his lips. “Worried about what?” He reached for your hand. Emotions spilling over the top.

You sat down next to him, turning your body towards him. The blood was rushing so loud through your ears, it was hard to focus on your own thoughts. It was now or never y/n!

“About having someone else as a soulmate than... you. God it sounds so cheesy but it’s true.” You chuckled nervously wanting to chew on your nails but being stopped by Yangyang. His smile grew even bigger, letting it impossible for you not to smile.

He suddenly pulled you into a tight hug, giggling like a child. Your hands searching grip on his fluffy jacket. A warm feeling spread through your whole body. You felt wonderful. Like all sorts of sorrows and worries had been taken away from you. Immediately.

“I’m so so so happy Y/n... so happy.” He mumbled joyfully in your shoulder. He squeezed your body tight. “I wanted to confess to you. So many times. God I really fell hard for you and now I know why.”

He looked into your eyes once again, surpressing a laugh but still sending you heart eyes.

“I’m sorry but you really look ridiculous. I’m so sorry about that. I had no idea.” You nodded playfully glaring at him but still leaning closer into his touch, wanting to be even closer to him. It was a weird feeling. But everything just made sense to you now. Every single moment and feeling in the past. It was all because of your soulmate connection. You were soulmates all along and you never had a clue.

“Oh you better dye that hair back right now to black or you wait for neon pink eyes yourself.” You warned him playfully. “Even though you look like a Christmas tree... I mean it’s kinda cute.” You admitted playing with his hair in hope for him not to see your incoming blush.

Yangyang grinned to himself, unable to hold back his emotions as he saw your pinky cheeks from the compliment. He felt so giddy suddenly. “Hendery and Lucas were absolutely convinced that you would fall for me easier when I’d dye my hair in your favorite color. Unfortunately they only had neon green one left at this point in time. Please remind me to never trust them again. That was a horrible idea.”

Your heart swelled up by his words. “You did this because of me? Oh Yangyang...” your hand went to his arm. You would lie if you didn’t feel flattered in this moment. “You’re such an idiot... but a very very cute one.” You smiled at him in awe, “I appreciate it. But by all means please let us dye it back.” You both began to fall into a fit of laughter, unable to stop.

“Deal. This hair and your eyes should be banned from this country.” And with that you could proudly say that you finally found your soulmate. The person you were in love with all along. Your best friend and partner in crime. Liu Yangyang.

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teacupfulofstarshine · 4 years

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the crossroad of our destinies book three: air

cw: mild angst, cartoon violence, manipulation/betrayal, detailed fight scene including minor character death, blood, injury, weapons, sedatives, and manipulation, swearing, nightmare mention, references to past child abuse, mention of potential genocide

to skip the fight scene, skip the section that starts “There’s no need to be difficult, Roman.”

wordcount: 6926

book one: earth // book two: fire // read it on ao3!

“I’m hardly a master of air bending,” Patton says nervously, fidgeting with his hands.

“You’re the only air bender that we know,” Thomas says, pressing his hands together and bowing his head. “Please, Pat, you have to teach me! Who else will do it?”

“There are plenty of air benders in the temples where we live, Thomas, much more skilled than myself. I still think you’d be better off going there and seeking out one of the monks to train you.” Patton fidgets nervously with his hands. “I’m . . . not exactly a master airbender. I’m just a kid.”

“We’re all just kids,” Thomas argues. “None of us chose to be thrown into this war, but we’re here now. Please, Patton. The sooner I learn air bending, the closer I’ll be to ending this war.”

“And what happens when you do end the war?” Virgil asks.

“What do you mean?”

“We’re all from different nations, different histories, different cultures. We never would have met without this war. What will happen when it ends? Don’t get me wrong, I’m more than ready for peace, but are we just . . . never going to see each other again?”

“That’s stupid,” Roman says. “I’m not going to just stop being friends with you all once the war’s over. If anything, with my bitchass dad dead -”

“Language.”

“- I won’t have to worry about getting murdered for having friends. You’re all my friends, and I fully expect all of you to be at my wedding ceremony when I marry Dolos.”

“Really?” Logan asks softly. “You would want us to come to your wedding?”

“Of course I would,” Roman says. He reaches out and gently touches Logan’s shoulder. Logan smiles, and Virgil feels something tight in his chest begin to uncoil. “Somebody has to walk me down the aisle, after all.”

“I volunteer as tribute!” Patton chirps eagerly. “And - and Thomas, I’m not an air bending teacher, by any stretch of the imagination, but if you’re willing to put up with me, I can try and teach you what I know.”

*~*~*~*~*

“How many times have they done this now?” Roman asks.

“Counting this? Sevent - nope, eighteen,” Virgil says. Thomas tries to copy what Patton is showing him, and he falls flat on his face. “I think the problem is that earth and air are on opposite ends of the bending spectrum, so their movements are the antithesis of each other. Earth bending is all solid movements and grounded footing, and air bending is about being light and detached.”

“So what are you saying? Thomas won’t be able to learn how to do it?”

“No, he’ll be able to learn. Every Avatar before him has mastered all four elements, there’s no reason that he can’t do it too. It’s just gonna be particularly difficult to do this stage.”

Thomas falls for the nineteenth time, screams in frustration, and punches a massive fireball into the sky. “Impressive size, poor technique!” Roman calls.

“I’m not working on fire bending right now, criticism is unwarranted!”

“This isn’t going to work, is it,” Logan says dryly.

“Have some confidence in your brother,” Virgil says. “But no, I don’t think it is. We might need to try a different approach.”

“Such as what? Patton’s the only air bender that we’ve got.”

“Technically, we have Remy, too.”

“What in the fresh hell are you smoking?” Roman says. Virgil ignores him, reaching out to gently pat Remy’s nose. The flying bison huffs out a puff of warm air that nearly knocks Roman over and gently pushes his nose into Virgil’s hand.

“Fire benders learned to bend from the dragons, earth benders learned to bend from the badger moles, water benders learned to bend from the moon, and air benders learned to bend from the flying bison. I’m not saying that Remy has the temperament to be a bending master, mind you, I’m just saying that he could be a teacher.” Remy makes a disgruntled noise and shuffles off to flop down and sleep a few yards away.

“He might have better luck than Patton is currently having,” Logan says. “I am sure he is trying his best, but Thomas is not showing promising results.”

“Yeah, but think about how long it took for him to first make a flame when I was training him,” Roman argues.

“We no longer have that kind of time,” Logan says. “The reports from your brother are getting more dire every day. Your father is speeding up his plans of conquest, and we cannot let him harm any more innocent civilians. We must stop him in his tracks, and that may necessitate accelerating my brother’s training schedule.”

Thomas hits the ground again. Virgil winces at the noise. “We should have a team meeting about this.”

*~*~*~*~*

The team meeting takes several days.

This is mostly because people (namely Logan, Thomas, both of them, and occasionally Patton) get fed up and storm away to blow off steam without taking it out directly on other people. Virgil does his best to maintain a neutral voice-of-reason position, but no one in their group has ever been particularly inclined to neutrality. (Logan claims that he is, but he is also the most prone to losing his temper.)

Eventually, they come to a collective consensus that while Patton is doing his best to teach Thomas the ways of air bending, it may not be enough for the time frame they’re working with. “I’m doing my best,” Patton says, staring firmly into the campfire, “and I know that Thomas is doing his best, too. But I don’t think our bests are moving fast enough, given the timeline of the Fire Nation’s attacks.”

“According to Remus, my father is moving up the attack schedules every day,” Roman comments. “The faster Thomas can master air bending, the better.”

“I agree,” Thomas says. Logan makes a face, rocks trembling at his feet, but Thomas reaches out and squeezes his wrist. “Hey, Lo, stop it. It’s not a personal attack on me. I’m not mad, he’s right.” Logan huffs, but lets himself calm down. “We have to find someone qualified to teach air bending and hope that they can help me.”

“We should see which Air Nomad temple we’re closest to,” Patton says. “I think that’s our best bet. The monks there spend their whole lives training acolytes to bend air, they’ll be able to help you.”

“Are we sure that’s the safest option?” Roman counters. “Remus said that Air Nomad dignitaries were meeting with Father, and if that’s true then -”

“We’re pacifists,” Patton says stubbornly. “We only fight if absolutely necessary. We would never side with a tyrant who’s trying to take over the entire world.” The fire flares a little, and Patton winces and takes a deep breath. “I’m sorry, I - I didn’t mean to insult your dad, Roman. I just -"

“It’s okay,” Roman says. He lets out a long, slow, controlled breath, and Virgil watches as the fire returns to its original size. “It’s okay, you - you’re right. You’re right, Patton, you don’t have to apologize for that. My dad is a tyrant and he is an abusive asshole and he is trying to take over the entire world. You don’t have to apologize.”

“But he’s still your father,” Patton says. “It only makes sense that you would have an emotional attachment to him.”

“I don’t want to have an emotional attachment to him,” Roman pouts. “I barely want to have a genetic attachment to him! He’s a dumbass and he’s useless and - and I don’t need him or his validation!” He pushes to his feet angrily and throws a fireball towards the surrounding trees. Patton swiftly bends a vortex around the fire to suction out its oxygen before it can cause any significant damage.

“We know,” Logan says softly. “You are more than your father’s son, Roman. You have grown to be more than he could ever be.” Roman’s shoulder shake, chest heaving as he turns away. Virgil reaches out and touches his shoulder; Roman flinches, but when Virgil starts to pull his hand away, he whimpers and leans back towards the touch.

“We know you’re not him,” Virgil says quietly. “I know you’re not him.”

“He’s hurt all of you so much,” Roman whispers. “He’s the reason you lost your father, Virgil. He’s the reason Thomas and Logan’s village was razed to the ground, he’s the reason that Dolos had half of his face burnt off, he’s the reason my mother abandoned Remus and me and - and he did so much bad shit and - and I have to fix it, I have to -”

“You don’t have to do anything,” Thomas says. “I’m the Avatar, Roman, and it’s my job to restore balance to the world. I know that you have your own reasons for wanting to dethrone your father, but you are not responsible for what he did.” He grips Roman’s hands and gives what Virgil can only describe as his best “I’m-the-Avatar-and-everything-is-okay-now” smile.

Virgil has trouble pulling comfort from it, but Roman seems to. “Thanks, Thomas.” He squeezes Thomas’s hands back, and he smiles. Virgil is still uneasy about pretty much every aspect of their situation, but he can at least relax in the knowledge that their little group’s uneven edges have settled comfortably against each other again.

*~*~*~*~*

You are in more danger than you realize.

Virgil lifts his head, and suddenly he’s not curled around the campfire sleeping with the rest of his friends. He stands in the middle of a vast expanse of black nothingness. Wisps of smoke curl around his ankles, creeping up towards his knees. He swats them away hurriedly, whirling around and watching a puff of water vapor appear where he’d just breathed out.

“Who are you?! Where am I?!”

You are safe, little water bender. I am a friend, one you have rescued before.

The mist stirs in front of him, forming a small dragon shape coiled in front of him. “You’re . . . the dragon I saved from the Fire Nation temple?”

The very same. Your fire bender friend is right to be suspicious. The Air Nomads are acting strangely. There are disturbances in the Spirit World. Proceed with caution and make sure that you protect those close to you.

“Disturbances? Isn’t it Thomas’s job to balance the natural and spirit worlds as the Avatar? Should I tell him about it?”

This is not a disturbance he can heal, not yet. You must keep him safe until he matures enough to help us. Protect him, little water bender, and keep your eyes peeled. If the Avatar falls, the world is doomed.

The darkness surges up around Virgil, and he wakes up screaming.

*~*~*~*~*

“And you’re sure that you’re okay?” Patton asks, gently touching his shoulder. Virgil rubs his arms, shaking softly. “You were screaming so loudly . . . you were so scared . . .”

“It was just a nightmare,” Virgil says. Patton wraps an arm around Virgil’s shoulders, hesitantly, as though he’s going to push it away. Normally he would, but Virgil is still shaken, and he leans into the soft touch. Patton makes a soft noise and pulls him closer.

“I know it was,” Patton says. “But it’s okay. You’re awake now, and we’re here. It’ll be alright. We’ll be at the Western Air Temple in a couple days, and then we’ll be totally safe.”

Virgil doesn’t know how to tell him that they won’t be safe, that they’d be safer in the Fire Nation’s outlying villages than in the temple, because he’s seen the way Patton gets more excited the closer they get. So he stays silent, pressing close to his friend.

*~*~*~*~*

Remy swishes his tail irritably as they glide closer to the mountains. “Is he okay?” Virgil asks. “He seems kinda . . . upset.”

“He doesn’t like flying close to the mountains,” Patton says. “The winds are a lot stronger, and it takes more effort for him to course correct. He has to do it a lot more frequently, too.”

Remy makes an exasperated huffing noise and veers sharply to the left. “It’s so pretty up here,” Roman wonders, leaning over the side of the saddle. “Isn’t it beautiful, Logan?”

“Beautiful,” Logan deadpans. “There are so many different shades of black to see up here.”

Roman winces, but Logan is smirking, so Virgil pats his shoulder reassuringly and turns his gaze to the mountains. There’s a large, elaborate structure built into the crevasses of the largest mountain, spires and peaks and buildings, some of which blend so seamlessly into the mountain they’re difficult to see. If he squints, he can just barely make out tiny figures flitting around the mountain.

Remy lands at the base, rather than taking them all the way up to the top. “The head monks take turns bending the air currents around the Temple itself, so we can’t approach unannounced. We’re just gonna have to hike up there.”

“Why would we hike when Thomas and I can bend us up the mountain?” Logan says. He hops off of Remy’s saddle and wiggles his toes, happy to be back on the ground. “It will not take long at all.”

“But I don’t just want to leave Remy alone down here . . .”

Logan squares his shoulders and leans into an earthbending stance. Within five minutes, he’s created a cave in the side of the mountain for Remy to settle into. “I promise we’ll come back for you,” Patton says, pressing his forehead against Remy’s nose. The bison huffs, but licks Patton back anyway.

“I don’t like this,” Virgil says. “What if something goes wrong? We’ll be all the way up there, with no quick escape, I . . .”

“Are you expecting something to go wrong?” Patton asks softly. He looks upset, Virgil realizes, like he was expecting pushback.

“Of course not, Pat,” Virgil says, reassuring. “I didn’t mean to say that I don’t trust your people. That’s not what I’m tryin’a say at all. I’m always nervous that something will go wrong. Anxiety, remember? It’s kind of my job to worry about stuff like this.”

“I know,” Patton sighs, reaching over and patting at Virgil’s shoulder. “I appreciate you, Vee. But you know you don’t have to be worried, right? These are my people. They may not be the temple I grew up in, but they’re still my people. They won’t hurt us.”

Virgil smiles, and wishes he believed Patton.

*~*~*~*~*

Even with a master earth bender (not that he’d ever call Logan one to his face) and the Avatar himself, it takes them a good while to get up the mountain. Virgil gets more and more anxious the farther up the mountain they get, and Roman looks pretty antsy himself. He’d ditched his more traditional Fire Nation clothing for some of Thomas’s spares and he’d let Virgil style his hair to obscure his face.

“How much farther?” he asks. Patton is bouncing eagerly on the tips of his toes.

“Not long now!”

When they finally crest over a ridge and into the temple, they’re greeted by a group of school-age children. They all stare at the strangers with expressions ranging from confusion to wariness to outright terror, and then Patton steps forward. He says something in a language Virgil doesn’t speak, but it must be some kind of Air Nomad greeting because all of the children parrot back in unison.

Patton pushes his bangs off his face, showing them the arrow tattooed on his forehead. “My friends and I have come to seek sanctuary,” he says. “We do not mean to cause alarm.”

“What temple are you from?” one of the children asks. The others cluster behind her.

“I am from the Eastern Air Temple,” Patton says. “My friends are not air benders, but we come seeking sanctuary.”

“You have to come with us,” she says. “You have to speak to the Head Monk about that.”

“Of course,” Patton says. “If you would be so kind as to lead the way?”

One of the children tugs on Patton’s flowy skirt. “Why do you have hair, mister? Is that a Eastern Air Temple thing?”

“It’s not an Eastern Air Temple thing, dummy,” the leader says. “All Air Nomads shave their heads. I dunno why he’s weird.” Patton doesn’t flinch at the insinuation, but it’s a very close thing.

“It’s because I have not been in a temple for quite a while, little one,” Patton says instead. “We’ve been traveling for many months, and I haven’t been able to take care of all this.”

“Well, we can cut all your hair off here, mister,” the leader says. “C’mon, the Head Monk is gonna be interested to see you.”

Virgil looks at Roman, who looks exactly as nervous as Virgil feels, and swallows. Logan looks normal, but he’s also pressing closer to Thomas than he normally does (probably unintentionally).

Yeah. Virgil has a bad feeling about this.

*~*~*~*~*

The children take them to a large hallway. A single woman sits inside, eyes closed, meditating. Virgil is about to suggest that they come back later, so as not to bother her, but she speaks without opening her eyes. “Hiroshi. Kanna. What are you doing here?”

The girl, apparently named Kanna, recites a greeting and performs a strange bow. The boy, who must be Hiroshi, copies her quickly; the rest of the children had scattered long before they reached this hall. “Visitors, Head Monk. We brought them to you.”

The woman opens her eyes, standing up and sweeping her robes around her. “I see. Thank you. You are now dismissed.”

“Yes, Head Monk,” the children say, bowing again before scuttling out of the hall. The woman approaches them slowly, letting the anxiety in Virgil’s stomach rise to a rolling boil.

“I am Kya, Head Monk of the Eastern Air Temple. We welcome you, visitors, seekers of sanctuary.” Her words are kind, but her voice disturbs Virgil. It’s too calm, too devoid of emotion. “What brings you here today?”

Patton reveals his tattoo to her as well before performing the same strange bow Kanna and Hiroshi had. “I am Patton, of the Western Air Temple. These are my friends, they -”

Thomas steps forward, brown eyes gleaming slightly. “Head Monk Kya, my name is Thomas, and I am -”

“The Avatar,” she breathes.

“I’ve been trying to teach him air bending,” Patton says, “but -”

“You could not. I am unsurprised. You have clearly fallen out of practice.” There’s something strange in her eyes, and Patton seems to wilt away from her. “Allowing your hair to grow over your tattoos? Shameful. It is any wonder you can connect with the element which breathes life into your body. I am disappointed.” Her voice is like frost, and Patton grows smaller with every piercing word.

“Hey, that’s not fair to Patton,” Virgil says, stepping in front of him. “We’ve undergone a lot of challenging circumstances, it’s not like shaving was a priority compared to staying alive.”

Kya turns her gaze on him, but Virgil doesn’t falter. He’s faced winters colder than her gaze.

“Who are you to tell an air bender what is proper?” she says. “Do you even bend?”

“I do not bend,” Virgil grits.

“Then you have no place speaking here.” Kya turns back to the Avatar. “I am surprised that one of your station would travel with those who are not in touch with the elements, but I suppose I cannot make your choices for you. If you wish to spend the night here, you may, and we will make arrangements for your training to begin in the morning.”

Virgil glances around the hall while Thomas and Kya speak, frowning when he catches sight of someone lurking behind a pillar. “Who’s that?” he says loudly. Kya frowns at him, but she turns to look at the figure.

“No one of your concern,” she says. “You are dismissed. Leave my presence.”

Thomas turns around and walks out. Roman presses close to Patton, who’s clearly trying very hard not to cry, and Logan turns his face in Kya’s direction. If he could see with his eyes, Virgil would suspect he was glaring at her.

As they reach the doors, Virgil lifts one hand up deceptively, as though he’s going to stretch or scratch his face. The knife hidden in his sleeve gleams against his inner wrist as he angles it to spy on what’s going on behind him.

The figure steps out from behind the pillar, dressed in the blazing crimson colors of the Fire Nation, and begins to speak in a low voice to Kya. She nods, face still impassive and stony. Virgil feels his heart drop straight through his stomach and tumble right off the mountain.

*~*~*~*~*

“Are you sure?” Roman asks, for the sixth time in as many minutes.

“I know what I saw!” Virgil snaps. “I travel with a Fire Nation prince, Roman, do you think I don’t know what fucking Fire Nation clothes look like?”

“Kya . . . she sold us out?” Patton says. He’s curled into a ball on one of the beds in the little tower room they’ve been allowed to inhabit. “I - I don’t -”

“Remus said that Father was trying to broker some kind of peace with the Air Nomads,” Roman says, “and this temple is closest to Fire Nation territory. What if . . . what if he wasn’t looking for peace at all?”

“You think he’s colluding with the Air Nomads?”

“We have no proof of that,” Logan says, running his hands along the stone wall. “I’ll tell you this, though. They locked the door behind us, and there’s two guards at the bottom of the stairs.”

“But we don’t have guards! We’re pacifists!”

“They do not read like Air Nomads to me,” Logan says. “They appear to be Fire Nation, judged on their stances and breathing patterns.”

Before anyone can say anything further, Thomas makes an aggressive “shhhhh!” and beckons them over to the window. The moon, newly full, is only a few days into its waning gibbous phase, and the courtyard below them is illuminated enough to see Kya and the Fire Nation man Virgil had seen earlier.

“Can you bend their words to us?” Thomas mouths at Patton. Even though he looks miserable, Patton nods, stepping forward lightly. Kya opens her mouth, and Patton begins to bend.

“Are you sure this is what the Fire Lord requires?” Kya says. “We do not wish to participate in this war, Ruon-Jian. We would ask that he leave us be, in peace.”

“The Fire Lord wishes nothing more than to accommodate the wishes of his most trusted neighbors and trading partners,” Ruon-Jian says. His voice is silky smooth and oily, and Virgil hates him immediately. “He of course understands your cultural traditions, and he had nothing but the utmost respect for you and your people. He admires that you share a goal with him, to protect your people and promote their interests and well-being.”

“However?” Kya says, tiredly.

“However,” Ruon-Jian says, “there have been rumors of a plot to overthrow our most gracious Fire Lord. Conspiracies against him, originating from his own people. The traitorous Prince Roman has, of course, been exiled, as has his betrothed, and the cursed Prince Remus has been sent on a fool’s errand with the disgraced General Emile, but you can never be too careful. You can understand why the Fire Lord might wish to keep tabs on those he suspects may be involved in such . . . foolishness.”

“What do you want from me, Ruon-Jian? What will it take for you to leave us?”

“The Fire Lord requires a sign, Head Monk Kya. A token of goodwill, as it were. In order to spare you and your people, he must know that you are not conspiring against him. You are currently harboring traitors to the crown, including the Fire Lord’s most reviled offspring and the Avatar. These are dangerous insurgents.”

“I can handle them.”

“We do not doubt your capacities, but the Fire Lord would hate to foist the responsibility of punishing and detaining his fugitives onto our most honored neighbors.”

“They are children, Ruon-Jian. How much damage can they possibly do?”

“Enough,” Ruon-Jian says, and his voice drops sharply. “Do not underestimate the Avatar. Do not underestimate the Fire Lord. The terms of the agreement stand before you, Head Monk Kya. Turn over the fugitives to me, and the Fire Lord will spare your temple. Otherwise, you will be engulfed in flames like your Southern brethren. We wouldn’t want that, would -”

Patton drops to the ground as though his legs have given out from under him, tears spilling down his face. “No,” he whispers. “No, they - he - they can’t have - they - the Southern Air Temple? They can’t have -”

“I am so sorry,” Roman says softly. “I know my father, and I know that guy down there. He’s the most ruthless of Father’s generals. He brags about things like that, he wouldn’t lie. He - he probably did, Patton.”

Patton bites back a sob. “They . . .”

“Kya is going to sell us out in order to protect this temple,” Virgil says. “We can’t stay here and get captured, but we can’t let the Fire Nation attack this temple, either. We need a plan.”

“What kind of plan?”

“We’re going to have to draw the Fire Nation away from the temple. If we escape, they won’t blame Kya, especially since there are Fire Nation soldiers guarding us, and they’ll have to give chase.”

“We’ll need a plan,” Logan says. Virgil grins, sharp and wolfish.

*~*~*~*~*

Predictably, things rapidly go downhill.

They make it out of the Temple, but they’re pursued so tightly by Fire Nation soldiers that they can’t immediately circle back to Remy for fear of getting him captured. Instead, they divert into the forest, splitting up to avoid detection.

Virgil ends up pulling Thomas along, gripping the Avatar’s wrist and tearing through the trees. He’s not accustomed to forests, but he’s travelled glaciers and snowdrifts before. Dangerous terrain is no stranger to him. Thomas stumbles along blindly, tripping every few steps, but Virgil just pushes forward.

They stop dead in their tracks when they hear someone scream. It’s high and frantic, and it sounds an awful lot like -

“Logan,” Thomas says. His voice rumbles deep in his chest like an earthquake, and his eyes begin to glow blue.

“No!” Virgil hisses, slapping Thomas to snap him out of the Avatar state. “Sorry, sorry - but you can’t do that, you can’t! You’ll draw attention, and you don’t have control of that state yet! You won’t be able to survive, you’ll get captured and we’ll never get you back!”

“That’s my brother,” Thomas says plaintively. “That’s Logan, I - I have to protect him, I -”

“I know, Thomas. But we have to protect you, too. Come on, come on, I -”

Virgil pulls Thomas after him, tearing through the forest. He stops a good distance away from his best estimate of Logan’s location and instead begins to pull Thomas after him into a tree. “You stay here.”

“Wh -”

Virgil slams his hand over Thomas’s mouth, pointing to the ground. There’s a heavy thudding noise, like booted feet, and Fire Nation soldiers rush past the tree. Once he’s sure they’re gone, Virgil uncovers Thomas’s mouth. “Stay here. If they catch you, it’s all over. I’m gonna go after Lo and the others.”

“And what if they capture you?” Thomas says.

“They killed my father, Thomas. They took the only family I had left. It’s taken me this long to build another one, I’m not going to let them take it away again.” He hugs Thomas tightly, quickly, before he can change his mind. Thomas is surprised, but he squeezes back just as tightly.

“Save them,” Thomas whispers, voice wavering. “Please, Virge.”

“I will. I promise.”

*~*~*~*~*

“There’s no need to be difficult, Roman.”

Roman stands, frozen, staring at a man he thought he left behind. Ruon-Jian has the clearing surrounded with his men; his tone is level and soothing, like he’s speaking to a frightened animal or a rambunctious child, like he’s presenting the only logical option. His face gives him away.

One of his goons stands behind him, holding Logan tightly. His massive arm is like a vice grip around Logan’s fragile torso, and he has a controlled flame-knife pointed at Logan’s throat. He’s holding Logan up so that he can’t touch the earth, and they managed to tie him up somehow. Without his bending, he looks like a blind, scared kid, struggling weakly. Patton is on his back on the ground, a spear point pressed against his throat, arms and legs bound with ropes.

“Come with us, and I promise I will be lenient towards your friends. Why you choose to travel with children is beyond me, quite honestly. Then again, most of your choices are . . . beyond me.”

“How did you find me?” Roman asks. He knows he should be fighting, knows he should be bending right now, but he can’t. The fire inside him has turned to ice as he stares at his captured friends.

“Your brother is not known for his subtlety, Roman. It was no secret that he was sending messages on your hawk. All I had to do was track it, and the stupid bird led me right to you.”

This is all Roman’s fault. He’s gotten his new friends captured, and he’s going to get his brother killed. “What did you do to Remus?”

“Nothing, yet. For all his lunacy, he’s popular with the crew. But once I bring you and your friend the Avatar back as proof of his treachery, I will have enough support to stage a mutiny. Your brother will die at sea in a tragic accident, and I will be the Fire Lord’s right-hand general.”

“Never,” Roman croaks, but it’s a weak protest and Ruon-Jian knows it.

“You are no threat to me, princeling. I will end you and your brother, and your father does not care enough to stop it.” Roman knows that it’s true. He knows he has to get them out of this situation before they all get killed, but there’s nothing he can do. He makes eye contact with Patton, trying to convey his apologies through his eyes alone.

Patton shakes his head, mouths It’s okay before the soldier holding a spear to his throat kicks him, and Roman hates himself just a little more. Ruon-Jian holds up a rope, and Roman starts to lift his hands to be tied up, and then -

Creak.

There’s a rustling noise around them, too pronounced to be normal forest noises, and Ruon-Jian frowns. “Did you capture the Avatar and the Water Tribe brat yet?”

Two soldiers stumble into the clearing, carrying a third between them. Both of the standing soldiers have a knife sticking out of them somewhere, and the sagging soldier looks barely conscious.

“What happened?” Ruon-Jian snaps.

“It - out of nowhere, the trees -” one of them pants.

“Before we knew what hit us, there were knives, and - and they attacked Shoji with some kinda weird punches and he couldn’t bend anymore! He collapsed, we’re lucky we got outta there alive!”

“There’s no such thing!” Ruon-Jian protests. “You can’t take away someone’s bending!”

There’s a sharp whistling noise, and one of the Fire Nation soldiers cries out in alarm. A slender blade sticks out of his arm, and his eyes roll up in his head as he collapses. “Poison?!” Ruon-Jian hisses. More sharp whistles, and four more Fire Nation soldiers fall. Ruon-Jian snarls and thrusts his fist forward, vaporizing the blade that hurtles towards him.

“Show yourself!” he roars. “Do not hide in the trees like a coward!”

“Who are you calling a coward?” a voice snarks back; familiar, but also lower than Roman is accustomed to. “After all, I’m not the one who felt the need to attack children in the woods. You have, what, a teenager and a pre-teen tied up like prisoners of war? Did you really think you couldn’t handle them? God, you’re pathetic.”

“Come down here and fight me like a man, then!” Ruon-Jian challenges.

“If I can defeat your minions so easily, what makes me think you’re any more of a challenge?” the voice taunts. “You’re not so bad.”

“Prove it!”

The trees all rustle at once. If Roman strains, he can faintly hear the lightest of footsteps and grunts as something leaps from tree to tree. Knives appear out of nowhere, and a soldier screams as one pierces clean through his hand. There’s a gleaming ribbon attached to the hilt, and it gets yanked back before anyone can process what’s happened.

“No match for me,” the voice lilts. “Too bad, so sad.”

Ruon-Jian screams and thrusts his arms out, creating a fireball that he hurls at the nearest tree. He keeps screaming as he burns all the trees surrounding the clearing, and Roman cowers down to avoid a serious burn.

“Where are you now, without your precious tree shelter to protect you?!” Ruon-Jian shrieks. “You’re nothing!”

“Oh, I wouldn’t say that,” the voice says. A shadow steps forward from the wreck of the forest, knife glinting in the moonlight as they hold it between two fingers.

Virgil steps into the clearing, and Roman gasps a little. He can’t help himself. Ruon-Jian stares at him, and then he laughs.

“Another child? Pathetic.”

“I’ve taken down too many soldiers for you to call me that,” Virgil says coolly. “Also, destroying the forest? Not cool, asshat. The spirits are gonna beat your ass.”

“Spirits?!” Ruon-Jian snarls. “What can a spirit do to me?”

“Count yourself lucky that you won’t find out tonight,” Virgil says, “because I’m dishing out justice on their behalf tonight.”

“Where is the Avatar?”

“Safe from people like you,” Virgil says. “I disabled your soldier’s bending, and you think I’m not the biggest threat in this clearing?”

“You are a child!”

“So are the benders you have tied like dogs,” Virgil says. He looks angrier than Roman has ever seen him. “Let them go, and let Roman go too. Don’t think I won’t fuck you up.”

“What can you possibly do to me?”

Virgil spins a cord rapidly, and the knife on the end gleams. “You sound scared. Fine by me. Send your minions to fight me if you’re so scared. I’ll take them down and then I’ll come for your pansy ass.”

Ruon-Jian snaps his fingers and three Fire Nation soldiers step in front of him. He retreats to the edge of the clearing with the soldiers holding Logan and Patton, and Roman steps back as well. Virgil’s eyes gleam as he steps forward.

Roman sees the cord wrapped tightly around Virgil’s wrist as he throws one of the knives. It sticks in the shoulder of a soldier, who cries out in pain. Another soldier throws a burst of fire at the cord while it’s still stretched out across the clearing, and Roman winces, sure that Virgil is about to lose a weapon.

Instead, he smirks, yanking the cord and pulling the knife free. “What, did you think that I was going to fight a crew of Fire Nation soldiers and not use my fireproof weapons? Morons.”

Roman quickly realizes that Virgil has far more of an upper hand than he thought. He has a knife-on-a-string in each hand, and he wields them with terrifying efficacy. He spins the knives and uses them to keep the soldiers a good distance from his body. They retaliate with fire, but Virgil just evades them almost effortlessly with an impressive display of gymnastics.

“Stop playing around and kill him!” Ruon-Jian shrieks, presumably to his own men. Virgil rolls his shoulders back and grins.

“Great idea, idiot. I should stop playing, shouldn’t I?”

His knives disappear into his clothes and he runs straight towards the nearest soldier. They shout in surprise, and Virgil shifts to a stance that’s strangely similar to earth bending. He narrows his eyes and tilts his head slightly to the left and lays out a series of jabs, one-two-three-four-five, quick and staccato like Roman’s terrified heartbeat. The soldier wheezes in shock and collapses to the ground in front of Virgil.

“Use your fire bending! Set him ablaze!”

“I - I can’t,” the soldier says, “My bending - something happened, I can’t - I - it’s gone!”

Virgil grins, cracks his knuckles, and bares his teeth.

“Who’s next, motherfuckers?”

*~*~*~*~*

It’s short work after that, disposing of the soldiers.

The leader, that slimy Ruon-Jian, gets away, but Virgil does manage to disarm the rest of his men. He does his best to only use non-lethal combat tactics, but when he gets to the men that had tied up and hurt Logan and Patton . . .

Well, it’s not his fault if a knife ends up in their exposed throats.

It’s short work to slice through Patton’s binds, and he hugs Virgil fiercely the second he’s free. “That was so scary,” Patton breathes. “I thought they were gonna kill us - I thought they were gonna kill you -”

“Am I forgiven for swearing?” Virgil teases. Something wet seeps into his shoulder.

“Yeah, Virge, you’re forgiven.”

Logan is practically mummified in ropes on the ground, but he hasn’t made a single move to free himself. He just lays there, catatonic, and for a moment Virgil worries he’s been injured. “Lo?” Logan flinches, tears spilling down his face. “Hey, buddy, it’s me. It’s Virgil. Can I cut you free?”

Logan nods. “T - Thomas?” he rasps.

“I hid him before I came,” Virgil says. “We’ll go back and get him, Lo, I promise. Let me get you out of these . . .”

Logan stands up once he’s been cut free, stumbling forward one, two, three steps before collapsing. Virgil catches him, quickly sweeping him up into his arms. “Whoa! Are your legs sore from the ropes?”

“Y . . . yes.”

“Okay. I gotcha. Come on, I got you, you’re safe. I’ll take you to Thomas, okay?”

Logan tucks his head into Virgil’s shoulder, breathing shakily. Virgil presses his face into Logan’s hair reassuringly and politely ignores the way his shirt becomes damp.

*~*~*~*~*

Thomas throws himself out of the tree the minute he hears Virgil call to him. “Where’s my brother?! Logan, what happened?!”

Logan has been still and silent since Virgil cut him free, but now he shifts and reaches for Thomas, hands opening and closing rapidly in a childish gesture he would normally never use. Thomas pulls him into a tight hug, and Logan’s breath hitches as he sobs into Thomas’s neck. Patton presses his face against Thomas’s shoulder, and Virgil smiles.

“I’m sorry,” Roman murmurs. Virgil turns, confused.

“What? Why?”

“I froze. If I’d fought back, if I’d done - something, maybe - maybe this wouldn’t have happened. Ruon-Jian was right. I am a coward. I couldn’t stand up to my father for Dee and Remus, I couldn’t stand up to Ruon-Jian to save Logan and Patton, I . . .”

“You are not a coward,” Virgil says firmly. “You’re a victim of shitty circumstances and a shitty upbringing. Doesn’t make you any less of a person. It’s not your fault you were conditioned into this.”

“That would have been me,” Roman says. “If Father hadn’t threatened Remus and Dee . . . It would have been me.”

“But it wasn’t,” Virgil says. “And I refuse to believe that you would have stepped onto a battlefield full of innocents and decided to kill them. You’ve got a conscience, Princey, and you’ve got a good heart. You’ll be okay.”

Roman smiles, just a little, and touches Virgil’s shoulder. “Thanks, Vee.”

“No problem, Roman. What are friends for?”

“Are you finally admitting we’re friends?” Roman probably meant to be teasing, but his voice quivers. Virgil smiles softly, leaning forward and bumping his head against Roman’s cheek.

“Yeah, Ro. We’re friends.”

*~*~*~*~*

They make it back to Remy, waiting in his cave with Dragon. Roman writes a quick letter filling Remus and Dolos in on what happened, telling them not to reply and begging them to take care of Dragon, before sending the hawk off. Patton climbs onto Remy’s head, and they fly away.

Logan is huddled up against Thomas’s side, face blank. “Lo,” Thomas coos, “are you okay?”

Logan doesn’t speak, tucking himself more closely against Thomas. “Go to sleep, okay? I’ll keep you safe.” Eventually, Logan’s eyes slide shut, and Thomas exhales heavily.

“Has he ever done that before?”

“Once. After we escaped our home village, when it was on fire. He just . . . shut down. He’s never been good at dealing with emotions, so he doesn’t deal with them at all.”

“Not healthy,” Patton says from Remy’s head.

“You’re telling me. But I can’t force him to talk about his feelings. He deserves to work through things at his own pace.”

“I can respect that,” Virgil interjects, “but that kinda implies that he’s dealing with his feelings, doesn’t it?”

Thomas pulls Logan into his lap and shifts so his brother is cuddled against his chest. Logan exhales softly, mouth open in a little “O” as he breathes. He’s never looked younger than he does right now, except for maybe when he’d been tied up by Fire Nation soldiers.

“I have to take care of him. It’s my job. He’s the only family I have left.”

“The only blood you have left,” Virgil says. “Don’t think for a second that he’s your only family.”

“Who else do we have?” Thomas whispers.

“Me, obviously. And Ro, and Pat. You have us now.”

“He’s tellin’ th’tr’th,” Logan mumbles sleepily. “Don’eed bendin’ f’r that.” Thomas smiles at Virgil, watery and honest, and Virgil smiles back. It might be ragtag, but it’s his family, and anyone who threatens it has him to answer to.

#starshinewrites #avatar!au #thomas sanders #virgil sanders #roman sanders #logan sanders #patton sanders

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lunarsaga · 3 years

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EPISODE 2: Angel Among Demons

HOLY SHIT THIS BITCH IS LONG, HAVE FUN Y'ALL~ a very quick note, I wanted to work in more of Luna being bilingual, so when you see [text in brackets like this] that means that she's speaking in english. (This will only happen in her perspective—no one save Kagome will know what she's saying.)

ENJOY!!!

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“Luna, please tell me again why you have to go off on your own.” Kagome set her hands on her hips.

Luna sighed as she slung her shotgun holster over her shoulder and held up her sheathed short sword. “Technically I don’t have to. But if you all are stopping to rest, go ahead and rest. I’m just needing some practice with my sword—it’s been a while since I’ve even held a katana.”

“Shouldn’t you save your energy as well?” Miroku asked her. “We have quite a journey ahead of us, it seems.”

Luna shook her head. “I’m too restless to sit around right now. Besides, if we’re headed toward a fight, you’re gonna want me at the top of my game.”

“Just stay close, okay?” Kagome pleaded. “I can sense a demonic aura somewhere in the area.”

Luna tucked her sword into a belt loop on her jeans, offering her sister a little finger gun. “That is what the shotgun’s for, little sis. Don’t worry, I’ll be fine.”

As it turns out, she wasn’t… wrong. But that didn’t mean her little solo workout wouldn’t be entirely uneventful.

She walked a little ways away from where the group was, taking a second to appreciate the surrounding nature. Even back where her dad’s place was—in upstate New York—the forests weren’t quite like this. Not only was the scenery beautiful, but the air was about ten times clearer than she was used to. Truly beautiful.

She found a nice little spot among the trees: a little clearing, mostly clear of rocks or anything she could trip or fall on, and no grass or mud to slip on while she was moving around, just dry dirt. There was a little sapling, just big enough to be a practice dummy while she worked on her form. She dropped her gun out of the way, and shucked off the flannel shirt she was wearing. With that tied around her waist, she was left in just a pair of yoga pants and a tank top.

“Alright girl,” She said, repeating words that had been said to her so many times over the years: “Let’s get to work.”

She wasn’t afraid to admit that she’d gotten rusty. In her era, she only really ever needed her modern weapons; the only reason she even had a Katana was because the rare occasion called for it. Well, this was certainly a situation that called for it.

“Sorry, tree,” she chuckled to herself, “but you’re young, you’ll heal. Life, uh...” She drew her sword, twirling it in a figure eight around her body. “...finds a way.”

It was easy for her to get lost in her training. This often happened when she did repetitive drills or workouts: the movements came rather naturally, so she could zone out and lose herself in it. It might’ve been an hour, could’ve been more than two; she wasn’t sure.

“Fighting with a katana isn’t like what you see in the movies.” That was the first thing her father had taught her when he’d given her this sword—almost ten years prior. “It’s all about moving your feet.”

She sliced an arc through the air, envisioning her sapling opponent swinging a sword as well.

“Strike fast, and dodge faster.”

As the imaginary blade “swung” her way, she ducked the blow, feet sliding across the dirt. She paused for a second, hand extended in front of her and sword raised above her head, parallel to the ground. She smirked, steadying her breathing. She remembered being thirteen and how it felt to actually wield this sword for the first time...

“You and your sister are special,” her father had told her, “you can learn to see with your other senses.”

As a young teen, she’d laughed at that. “Like using the Force? Like a Jedi?”

“Just like that.”

The Jedi thing seemed like a joke at the time. But as she grew older, she learned it was more serious than she could have ever guessed.

“Everything gives off an energy called an Aura. The more powerful something is, the easier it is to sense.”

Before she could swing again, she froze. Speaking of auras, she was picking up on a rather strong one—and it was headed in her direction. She heard no sound—other than the wind rustling through the trees and the occasional call of an animal in the distance—but this strong sense of foreboding was unmistakable. Her ears were burning, and the hair on the back of her neck stood on end as a chill ran down her spine.

A demon, no doubt. And a powerful one at that.

“It’s not enough to sense its presence. Focus. Close your eyes. Where is it coming from?”

Right… over… There!

Without even looking, she whirled and flung her sword directly at the source of the demonic aura. The blade struck something—she heard the thunk—but she didn’t wait to look. She immediately dove for her shotgun, tossed the holster, and caught herself in a roll. She was solidly crouched on her knees and the balls of her feet, with the gun cocked before she looked up at the demon she’d chucked her blade at.

“Thought you could sneak up on me, huh?” She snorted. Then, she actually took in the sight of him.

First of all, her blade hadn’t even come close to hitting him. It was currently embedded in a tree trunk—just barely, it looked like it could fall at any second— about six or seven feet from where the actual demon was standing.

The first thing she noticed about him was the sheer amount of white on his person. Pristine white linen kimono, hakama of the same fabric cinched around his ankles, an enormous (and fluffy-looking) pelt of fur over his shoulder, and silvery-white hair cascading down his back. On top of all that, he wore armor that Luna supposed was meant to be intimidating— but to her, it just looked ridiculous.

And his face. He was positively gorgeous, which was incredibly confusing given that the feeling of dread she was getting from his aura hadn’t gone away. His eyes were a striking shade of gold—but cold as a polar ice cap. He had markings on his face—two magenta on each cheek, and an indigo crescent moon on his forehead.

“You’re in my way,” he said. Even his voice was cold, albeit resonant. “Move.”

For a second, Luna forgot she had a voice. Silent as her lips were, her mind was racing, trying to do the math: What the actual fuck— why is he so pretty? He’s a demon! Demons ain’t usually this damn pretty! Who the fuck gave him permission to look like that— it’s a Tuesday for fuck’s sake!

Almost a solid thirty seconds had gone by, and Luna realized she still hadn’t said anything. Oh, fuck, okay, stop just fuckin’ staring at him and say something, you idiot— so, of course, the most intelligent thing that she could say at that moment was: “...huh?”

Those frigid, golden eyes sparked just the tiniest bit of annoyance. “I said move.”

Her grip on her gun loosened just the tiniest bit, and she straightened up just a little. After a small glance around the enormous forest surrounding them, she made an amused face at him. “What? Dude, there’s a whole forest, just go around me.”

She uncocked her shotgun, stretching her legs to stand up.

“You have quite the audacious nerve for a human.” And he sounded none too happy about that. “Get out of my way.”

Luna sighed, “And you seem to like repeating yourself. I’m doin’ something here, so unless you feel like getting your demonic energy purified today, I’d suggest you take abouuut...” she pursed her lips, pretending to judge the distance with her pointer finger. “Five? Six steps to the right? It won’t be that hard on you, I promise. No one will think less of you.”

Now she was just being facetious, which was more than likely going to cause problems for her in the future—knowing how demons tended to be—but she had absolute faith in her weapon and her own skill. With an aura as strong as his, it wasn’t likely that her sacred salt rounds would do more than wound him, but sometimes that was at least enough to scare off some spirits.

When he didn’t respond, she figured he was just going to swallow his pride and take her advice. She was about to set her shotgun down and go back to practicing, but the Bad Feeling roiling in her gut got worse. It wasn’t just the buzz of a demonic aura anymore, the energy started crackling with even more malice, and she swore there was a sickly smell in the air for a split second before she felt it pop.

Her instincts screamed at her to move, so she spun to the side, almost as if her body moved on its own. What looked like a whip made of pure green light zipped close enough to her that she felt the heat on her cheek. When it didn’t stop, neither did she; she jumped back and nearly fell over backwards trying to bend out of the way of the second snap of the whip. This time, she didn’t hesitate to cock her gun and fire.

The air was still for a second as the shot rang in her ears, tension crackling and fizzling out like the tails of fireworks. When Luna regained her balance, she aimed and pumped again to ready the second shell. No distraction this time, she was aiming straight for his face.

She expected him to be at least a little startled—hell, she could see she’d blasted the end of his sleeve off, and there was a surface burn on his hand from the Sacred Salt packed into her ammunition. His claws were still bared, still glowing green from where he’d lashed at her. What was frustrating, was that he didn’t seem like he was more than mildly perturbed.

“...how did you do that?”

She growled at him: “Sacred Salt, you wanna see it up close? Try me again, fucker.”

“Vulgar.” His voice was flat, but he did finally move… but not to walk around her. He stepped forward like he was trying to inspect her. “You are a priestess, I assume.”

“Nah, I ain’t that pretty and nice,” Luna said, keeping her stance and line of fire. “Call me a Demon Slayer, or a witch if you like. Names don’t matter, the end result will be the same.”

He’d moved to point-blank range, but that horrible feeling in her gut had only grown stronger—her instincts were telling her to run the fuck away, but logic told her the point was moot. She only had one shell left, and the first hadn’t amounted to more than a scrape on him. Even at this range, she’d never do much more than scratch him.

“Whatever name you take matters not to me,” He continued, “regardless. You are still human. And as such you are no match for my power. I will give you one more chance to get out of my way, or you will die.”

There was another tense moment of silence. Luna could feel her heart beating from her ears, to her toes, to the tip of her trigger finger. Resolute as she was—and as much as she so desperately wanted to wipe that calm, detached look off this proud asshole’s face—she knew she wasn’t making it out of here alive if she didn’t stand down. And it’d be kind of a lame-ass thing to say when she got to the afterlife: “How did I die? Oh, I refused to back down from a standoff with a super-powerful demon because I didn’t wanna give him the satisfaction of telling me what to do.”

“Fine.” She huffed, uncocking her gun and stepping out of the way. She sneered at him as she rested the gun on her shoulder. “But not because you told me to. I’m gonna be late for dinner if I don’t head back.”

The air was still thick with tension as she went to grab her sword. She didn’t look back at him, but she was hyper aware of his presence. Thankfully, this time, there was no climactic snapping of the tense energy; as she pulled her sword from the tree trunk, she felt his aura receding. When it was far enough away, she heaved a sigh of relief and let her shoulders relax.

“One of these days, girl, your pride is gonna get your ass killed!”

Luna rolled her eyes as she went back to collect her holster and her katana’s sheath. “I know, Alice,” she muttered to herself.

~ ~ ~

This was why Rin didn’t like humans.

She had only been minding her own business! She needed to eat, so she’d been foraging through the forest like she always did. She didn’t realize that she’d wandered so far away from Master Jaken and Ah-Un until she looked up, arms full of foraging spoils, and realized she had no idea where she was.

She tried to retrace her steps, calling out for Master Jaken and Lord Sesshomaru every once in a while, but it didn’t help. She remembered passing by a human village before, but she made a mistake in trying to use that as a way of finding her way back to where they had stopped. Because when she passed the village, she was confronted by some men that lived there.

“You’re the one we saw earlier, with those demons!” One of them said, “Child, you should not be living among them!”

Oh no. Rin began to back away from them, but they only drew closer. One of them cut off the path she was walking on.

The one closest to her was looming over her. “You should come with us. Demons are dangerous, you could be killed or eaten!”

“No, I won’t!” Rin said. She might’ve been trembling, but she was firm. “I won’t go with you, and I’m fine on my own!”

“Don’t be silly, you’re far too young!”

“Where are your parents?”

“If you tell us, perhaps we can help you return to them.”

“I don’t need your help.” Rin kept backing away, hoping to put enough distance between herself and the men. She clutched the little bundle of food closer to her and prepared to run. “Leave me alone!” Valiant as her attempt to escape was, it was still in vain. The one closest to her grabbed her arm, and she accidentally dropped her food. She tried to struggle away from him, but his grip was too tight.

“Let me go!” She yelled, tears pricking her eyes.

“You should be living with your own kind, girl!” the villager said, “You belong with humans!”

“OI.”

That was a new voice. Rin stopped pulling, and the villagers all turned their focus to the newcomer: it was a woman—human, as she appeared to be. Her black hair was tied up in a ponytail, and she was dressed strangely; black garb, and skin-tight like a ninja’s. She had something that looked like a very short, strangely-patterned kimono tied around her waist. In her hand was a short katana, and she carried what Rin thought looked like one of those matchlock guns on her back.

A samurai? Rin guessed. If she was, she was dressed really strangely. No armor, either? Maybe she really was a ninja.

The woman’s hazel-brown eyes narrowed at the village men. “Is there a problem here, gentlemen?” She held her hand out, gesturing to Rin. “Let the girl go, or we’re gonna have issues.”

What an odd accent. Rin looked up at the man, hoping he’d listen and let her go. No such luck yet.

“This doesn’t concern you, woman,” the man said. Rin could swear she saw a twinge of anger in the woman’s face when he called her that.

“This child was residing with demons!” One of the others joined in.

The woman arched an eyebrow. “So what? You her father?”

“No—”

“Uncle?”

“....no.”

“Caretaker?”

“No.”

“Then it ain’t much of your business either, now is it?” The woman crossed her arms, leveling a stare that could mow down a forest. In an instant, her expression changed as she shifted her eyes to Rin and gestured with her sword. “C’mere, honey.”

The man holding her wrist looked like he wanted to object, but Rin took the opportunity to rip her arm free and run away from him. She did not like humans, not in the very least. Humans were horrible, and these men were no different. But this woman—her eyes were soft, and she squatted down to Rin’s height when she stood next to her, her posture non-threatening.

“Did they hurt you?” She asked gently.

Rin stared at her a second, folded in on herself. “...No…”

“You know these guys? Are they from your village?”

Rin shook her head. “I don’t have a village…”

The woman nodded, processing that before asking: “You have someone taking care of you, sweetie?”

Cautious, Rin paused a second. It seemed this woman wanted to help her—but… she was still a human. Rin didn’t trust humans. There might’ve been something about her that was different. This close, Rin could see her eyes better: they weren’t just hazel brown, they just looked like that from far away. Most of the color was a cool brown, but right around her pupils, she had flecks of gold that took the shape of crescent moons.

Was she really a human with eyes like that? Lord Sesshomaru had golden eyes… and the crescent moon on his forehead! Perhaps she wasn’t a human after all—or she wasn’t a full human, at least. That settled it; she was definitely more trustworthy than most humans.

Rin smiled a little as she answered her: “Yes… I have Master Jaken and Lord Sesshomaru.”

Her savior nodded and smiled, then she stood to face the village men again, blocking them from Rin. “Alright, you all can head home. This girl is obviously spoken for.”

“By demons!”

“Are you mad?!” the one that grabbed her demanded. “She is in danger!”

“Probably,” the woman said. “But look at her. She’s unhurt, she’s obviously able to feed herself, and the only ones I see endangering her is you three. So scram.”

“How dare you talk back!”

Rin flinched as the leader reached out and smacked the woman across the face. She started shaking again, but this time it was from anger. “You can’t hit a girl like that!”

“Don’t worry, kiddo.” The woman’s voice was low. She cracked her neck, rolled her shoulders, and untied her odd kimono from around her waist. She turned around, set her weapons down, and held out the kimono. “Hold this for me?”

Confused, Rin nodded and took the garment, surprised at the soft, warm fabric. She watched as the woman turned back to the villagers once again.

“Alright, boys,” she said, cracking her knuckles as well. “Just remember… you hit first.”

The leader had no chance to figure out what she meant before she swung back and punched him square in the nose (Rin tried not to laugh). The other two shouted and lunged at her, but she kicked one in the side of his knee and smacked the other in the face with her elbow. When the first one went down, the second came back and tried to grab her, but she flipped him over her shoulder as easily as if she were lifting a sack of beans. The leader had fallen to his knees, cradling his bleeding nose. The woman stood before him, crossing her arms.

“Hope you’ve learned to leave young girls alone,” She said flatly, “If you haven’t, I’ll be back.” Without waiting for a response, she turned back to Rin, her face softening again. “Sorry you had to see that, honey.”

Rin shook her head, blinking wide eyes up at her as she held out the kimono. “...Are you a ninja?”

She laughed. “What? No, no, not a ninja. Just good at fighting. Thanks for holding my shirt for me.”

Shirt? Was that what that was called? This person was incredibly odd, but still; Rin was very grateful for her. She went to go gather her food up again, as the woman tied her “shirt” back around her waist and picked her weapons back up.

“Now,” she said, holding her hand out for Rin to take, “let’s get you back to your people.”

Rin happily took the outstretched hand. “Okay!”

“What’s your name, kiddo?”

“I’m Rin!”

“Nice to meet ya, Rin. My name’s Luna.”

~ ~ ~

“Rin! Where on earth have you been?!”

Well, that was the shrillest voice Luna had ever heard. And it came from—what the fuck was that?!

“Master Jaken!”

...well. Sure, when she’d heard this little kid was “residing among demons” from those limp-dick douchebags from the neighboring village, she didn’t expect to be returning her to someone who looked like your average human. But when Rin mentioned she recognized where they were, she definitely didn’t expect to be greeted with the sight of a little demon that looked like Kermit The Frog’s ugly step-cousin.

And yet, Rin spoke to him like he was an uncle. “Sorry, Master Jaken! I went to find something to eat, and I almost got taken by humans from that village!”

“WHAT?!” The little demon shrieked.

“No, it’s okay! Miss Luna helped me!” Rin turned back to look at her with a wide grin on her face, and Luna gave a little three-fingered wave.

“Yo.”

“I thought she was human at first,” Rin went on, “but now I think she might be a demon!”

Luna laughed at that. “What?”

“You foolish girl!” “Master Jaken” chastised her, “That’s no demon!”

Rin looked confused. “Huh? But… she has gold in her eyes, just like Lord Sesshomaru!”

Gods above, this kid was adorable. Luna shook her head, smiling fondly. “I promise, I’m not a demon.” When Rin looked disappointed, she added: “But I promise, I’m not like those guys that tried to take you. I’m one of the good ones.”

She was snapped out of her good mood by a familiar feeling. A demonic aura, another strong one. With her focus on the adorable kid—and the little demon and the horse (dragon?)-looking demon so close—she hadn’t noticed it until she felt it directly behind her. Her grip on her sword tightened, and she hazarded a look over her shoulder. And who should be standing there, but the pompous asshole she’d run into earlier.

Startled, she practically launched herself into the air, shouting: “[JESUS FUCK!]” in English. She didn’t dare draw either of her weapons, just stood out of the way so she wouldn’t be killed.

“Lord Sesshomaru!” Rin greeted him happily.

What the fuck. “[Y… you’re—]” she stopped herself, trying to get her brain to go back to the right language. “[God damnit], you’re her Lord Sesshomaru?!”

“Lord Sesshomaru”, of course, didn’t answer. He just glared at her, likely planning how he was going to murder her. “Rin. Who is this woman.” It wasn’t a question, and those disdainful golden eyes never left Luna.

“This is Miss Luna!” Rin answered. “I was just telling Master Jaken: she saved me from these terrible villagers that were trying to take me away!”

Luna held up her hands defensively, never breaking eye contact with the demon. “Didn’t know she was with you. I just wanted to help her.”

Sesshomaru was silent for a moment, but his glare disappeared and his expression returned to indifference. Luna gave him a nod, a silent (yet contemptfully begrudging) sign of submission. Without another word on the subject, the demon passed her by.

“We��re leaving.” He said to the other two.

Luna made a face at him behind his back, then shook her head. Fuck, this guy pissed her off to no end, and she’d only known him for a little over an hour. The little girl, however, caused her to smile again, and Luna waved goodbye as she turned to leave.

“[What an asshole.]” She muttered, once again in English.

~ ~ ~

Luna had to admit, watching Inuyasha choke on his instant noodles was pretty hilarious. “You did WHAT?!”

“Yeah, this demon lord guy,” Luna said, waving her chopsticks around as she spoke. “Colossal dickhead. I had no idea that this little girl was his—well, not his, but— [dammit, what’s the word for it again…?]”

Kagome pressed her hands together, looking like she was about to burst a blood vessel. “Luna. Do you remember when I told you about Inuyasha’s older brother?”

“Kinda?” Luna said, slurping up more noodles. “Somethin’ about the swords, right? Inuyasha sliced off his arm?”

“Yes. You remember what his name was?”

“Uh…” Luna trailed off.

“Sesshomaru.” Kagome deadpanned.

“What’s this got to do with that assh—” It clicked, and Luna swore her eyes nearly came popping out of her head. “Wait— THAT was the older brother?!”

“Yes! I told you about him, Luna!”

“[Son of a BITCH, Kags!]” Dammit, she had to get better about that. “You know I’m shit with names!”

There was also, of course, the fact Kagome hadn't mentioned that he was fucking gorgeous, but there was no way in hell Luna was gonna say that out loud now.

Sango looked a little worried. “It doesn’t bode well that you just ran into him randomly.”

“Well, it’s not entirely impossible,” Miroku said, “he is searching for Naraku, just like we are. Unfortunately, that means our paths are likely to cross at some point.”

“What’s amazing is that you came out of it alive!” Shippo said to Luna. “He’s crazy powerful, and none too friendly at that.”

“I refuse to believe you just dodged his poison whip like that,” Inuyasha snorted. “He’s way too fast. You woulda been dead meat right then and there.”

“Maybe I’m just faster than you~” Luna teased him.

“You are not, ya damned liar!”

“Or maybe it’s cos I’m stronger—I am taller than you.”

“COME AND SAY THAT TO MY FACE!”

“Guys, not over the food!”

#the lunar saga #inuyasha #inuyasha fanart #inuyasha oc #inuyasha au #fanfic #sesshomaru #rin #kagome higurashi #sango #miroku #shippo

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butterbeeryuta · 4 years

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the tech guy

techie!xiaojun x historian!reader | oneshot series | fluff, slight angst | 2.3 k

summary: if there was anything people had to know about you, you were very clumsy. You were so clumsy to a point where you may have dropped your laptop and broke the screen. Of course, you brought it to the computer shop, and the tech guy did his shit. What he didn’t expect was for you to break your laptop on a weekly basis.

‘So what you’re telling me is, you tried to reach for the packet of Lotus biscuits on the top shelf, with your laptop on your left hand, and the moment you reached the biscuits, your laptop dropped?’ Yuqi, your roommate, asks as looks at you as if you were the dumbest person to ever breathe. Though if she did think so, she wasn’t exactly lying. You knew you should have left your laptop on some flat surface rather than your hand. You knew that your only talent was dropping things, or making a fool out of yourself by tripping on things unnecessarily. You couldn’t help but just be naturally clumsy.

‘Ok yes, I might have not been exactly careful—‘

‘_______ you dropped your laptop and broke the screen in exchange of biscuits.’ She says monotonously, as if she is trying to comprehend whatever you just told her.

‘I mean if you put in that way, then yeah, I did that. But Yuqi babe—‘

‘You’re an actual idiot, why didn’t you leave your laptop on a desk or something?’ She loudly asks, not bothering to listen to whatever defence you had. Which was honestly quite reasonable because you didn’t really have anything to defend yourself. You were just… you. Not wanting to hear whatever Yuqi has to say, or scold you, you placed your broken laptop down and cut her off.

‘Okay yes yes, I know I am in idiot. I know I should have placed it down, but Yuqi this was bound to happen someday, I just break shit—‘

‘Because you are so stupid—‘

‘Stop cutting me off! Anyway, it already happened and it’s not like you’re gonna pay for the repairing cost so tell me babe, do you know any tech place where I can ask someone to fix this?’ You desperately asked, pointing at your damaged laptop screen. Yuqi sighed, fully understanding that her getting angry at you won’t exactly change your extreme clumsiness. At the same time, who the fucking hell can be that clumsy?

‘Oh well I don’t know ______ I haven’t broken a laptop yet for trying to reach for some brown-coloured biscuits’ she sarcastically says, only earning a deep sigh from you. Thinking that your roommate’s great disappointment in you won’t go away, you decided to leave the shared space and go back to your room, and look for a repair shop by yourself.

‘Alright ______ I’m sorry, I know you’re a clumsy mess. I’m just worried that if you keep doing careless things, you won’t fix it’ she says, going towards you with her arms slightly open to hug your sulking frame. Not exactly sure what to say, you sort of just let her hug you, unsure if you should feel relieved that she will stop telling you off, or annoyed that you’re letting her be this affectionate towards you after bursting at you. Then again, a fraction of you felt that you needed to be told off for your clumsiness. This wasn’t your first time you drop such… valuable items. In Grade 9 your mother’s engagement ring slipped off your finger when you were planting a tree for service purposes. Then in your last year of schooling you accidentally dropped your friend’s camera in the sea when you and your friends were on a boat— it was a mess. The only good thing about your unnecessary clumsiness was that you at least admit it. You just nodded under Yuqi’s embrace, now thinking of ways to repair your laptop because you had a research paper due in a few days, and you only had to finish your conclusion. You were not willing to rewrite 7500 words in a matter of 72 hours. As if your roommate read your mind, she looked down at you currently smaller form.

‘You know, I know this guy whose really good at tech stuff. How ‘bout I give him a call about your laptop? I know you have your History paper due soon,’ she softly asks, hoping for a more cheerful response from you. You looked up at her immediately, very close to hugging her tightly for actually saying something useful.

‘Really? You’ll do that for me?’

‘Yes, why won’t I?’

‘Because you called me stupid for being a clumsy ass—‘

‘Okay yeah no Yuqi was being mean, I’m sorry bub.’ Well, at least you got some support from her roommate.

—————————————————————————————

If you remember correctly, Yuqi told you to turn left after you see your favourite stationery shop, and that if you keep walking straight, you’ll see a shop with the sign ‘Xiao Devices.’ And of course, you still managed to fuck up. Yuqi said to the tech guy that you’d come around at 4 in the afternoon. What was originally supposed to be a 10 minute walk turned into a 30 minute walk, making you 20 minutes late. Good on you _______. Despite your shitty navigation skills, you somehow made it to the store, and my dear, were there a lot of devices. The moment you enter the shop, it was gadgets stacked on top of another. You were beginning to wonder if the setup of the place was done for aesthetic purposes, but you felt as if you were about break something with how the store was setup.

‘Hello?’ You ask, slowly taking out your damaged laptop. Just as you were about to take out the mess you made, you felt someone coming out wherever they were. Turning to see who it was, you came to face probably one of the prettiest faces you have ever seen. He was a pretty lean guy, not too tall, but not short either. His dark hair was laying over his round glasses, making him look quite soft. In other words, he was attractive. He couldn’t be the tech guy, right?

‘You’re Yuqi’s friend? ______?’ He asks with his surprisingly deep voice, contrasting his soft features. His oversized knit sweater was not helping the fact that you thought he was some soft-spoken little guy that liked puppies, and was on a whole new level of nerdy. Then again, he probably could still be.

‘Uh, yeah. I am _______. And you’re Xiaojun?’ I confirmed, hoping that I did not mess up his name just like how I did last time with Yuqi’s ex-girlfriend. One year ago her ex came to your apartment to pick up Yuqi for a date, and you mistakenly called her Minnie instead of Miyeon, and you were very close to breaking them up. Now, the consequences will probably not be as big as what happened last year, but you still did not want to take the chance.

‘Yep, that’s my name. Yuqi told me that you broke your laptop, but she wouldn’t tell me how. She said something about how you were a better person to ask about how your laptop broke…?’ Well fuck. Of course I can, I can casually and confidently just say that my laptop fell out of my hand when I was trying to reach up for a biscuit with my other free hand. Yeah, I can totally say that. Fucking clumsy ass _________. Showing your broken laptop to Xiaojun, you took a deep breath and explained what led you to creating the product you were showing to him. You did not want to look at his disappointed face. You literally met this gorgeous guy for the first time, and you do not want your lungs to explode on the spot for your high quality embarrassment. After telling him your reason to why your laptop broke, you could feel his piercing eyes looking at your sulking frame. In your mind, he was piercing your body with a spear.

‘So you’re telling me that your hand just… gave up on you when you were reaching for the biscuits, and it just, crashed to the floor?’ Precisely Xiaojun. Precisely. You nodded slowly at him, unsure if you wanted to run away from the store and never come back and show your face to him ever again. ‘Well, that is a first for me. A much more interesting story than I expected to be honest. Come on ________, let’s take a quick look at what we can do.’ He says in a surprisingly cheerful tone, only causing you to look up at the pretty man immediately, only to see nothing but a smile on his face. Oh?

—————————————————————————————

‘Damn, you’re a History major? At fucking Tsinghua University? Damn, that’s really impressive,’ Xiaojun exclaims as he replaces your horrendously damaged screen. You were just telling him about how you needed your laptop to finish off you research on Japanese invasion of Korea, otherwise known as the Imjin War from 1592 to 1598. It was pretty interesting for you, but you didn’t exactly had the need to tell him about your research in full depth. You didn’t want to bore anyone with it, no matter how much that hurt to say that internally.

‘Well, thank you. How ‘bout you? When did you start being so… techie?’ You asked, watching him screwing the new laptop screen. Right after the words left your mouth, you felt him tense a bit from the way his gripped the screw harder. Did you say something wrong?

‘I was actually a theatre student, then my father passed away so I took over the shop…’ Oh. Unconsciously biting your lower lip, you were not sure what to say anymore. You weren’t even sure if you should talk. Deciding to stay quiet until he fixed your laptop, your head naturally dropped, your eyes watching your two thumbs fiddling with another. Xiaojun noticed your sudden change in posture; you were making yourself smaller. Taking in a deep breath, he knew that it wasn’t your fault to suddenly change the mood. You didn’t even know anything about it, you literally just met him. He couldn’t have expect you to know everything about him the moment the two of you exchanged looks.

‘It’s alright __________, you didn’t know. Now instead of keeping quiet over there, why don’t you tell me how the hell did you become roommates with that crazy ass friend of mine.’ He says, cutting the tension in the room to hopefully lighten the atmosphere. And he genuinely did wanted to make you feel at ease, you could tell with the way he looked at you. The moment you lifted your head, it was clear that he genuinely wanted to let you know that what you did was okay, and there was nothing to feel sorry about. You smiled at him, somewhat trusting his word, although you didn’t exactly know why you have to trust him in the first place. But, it just felt right.

‘U-um, it’s really nothing special’ you stuttered, trying to keep your shit together without trying to feel like pure crap. Which was already too late, but you still gave it a go. This tech dude was making you feel that you were alright for some reason. ‘I was looking for a roommate cause the apartment I currently live in is a bit pricey for one person. I kinda just asked my friends if they knew anyone who needed to move, and that’s honestly how I met Yuqi. She’s lovely, but she can be quite intimidating at some times. But lovely!’ Trying not to say anything wrong. You did not want to go through another mini meltdown.

‘Yuqi is scary as shit, that I can agree with. I don’t know about “lovely” though’ Xiaojun chuckles, and if you didn’t think you were falling for this tech guy, well you lied. His little chuckle only further complimented his soft aura, and his naturally nice personality just makes it even easier to just admire him.

————————————————————————

‘Alright here you go _______. Screen is brand and new, and zero cracks.’ Ha, thank you Xiaojun.

‘Well thank you, I honestly thought this would take more than a day to fix.’

‘It usually takes 1 hour, but yours took 3 hours to fix… so you weren’t wrong with the length of the time.’ Oh.

‘Right, of course. Well, thank you so so so much Xiaojun. How much does it cost again?’

‘Actually, you don’t have to pay. It’s alright ______.’ Your eyes widened at his words, what the fuck did her say? Ya’ll live in China for fucks’ sake, sure communism is a thing, but capitalism is still at the top.

‘I’m sorry what? It took your 2 more extra hours than usually and expensive ass crap to ease my clumsiness, I don’t think you want to get nothing in return.’ You said, not wanting to hear any more of his nonsense. He just smiles at you, closing your laptop and handing it to you.

‘Well if you put it that way, then yeah. I’ll give you a discount though, you made my job easier today despite the longer hours.’ It would be a lie to say that your cheeks didn’t go red from what he said. If he implied that your company made his job more fun, perhaps, you died internally. Perhaps. You handed the cash to the tech guy, only for you to leave his shop looking like a tomato with the image of his beautiful smile embedded in your brain. Goddammit Xiaojun.

If Xiaojun thought that was the last time we was able to see you, that would be a complete lie. Let’s just say that you were running to classes with your backpack zipper open, and only one of the straps were actually hanging for its dear life. And let’s just say that your laptop may have fell out, and fell flat on the concrete ground. Well, I guess you’re going to the tech guy again.

a/n: HELLLO EVERYONEEEEEEEE. so this took longer than i thought but here iT is. school has been closed for almost 2 weeks now because the virus, and i hope everyone else is taking care of their hygiene even more. yesterday was my birthday, but it honestly didn’t feel like it cause h a h a school decided to give us a load of shit to do since we had no school, so i was focusing on those. BUT BUT BUT BUT the KICK IT MUSIC VIDEOS JDNISDFNIJFNIJ anD the alBUM holy fuck actually what the literal fuck. taeil’s high note, MY BBY yuta has lines, haechan served, and fucking johnny... this is HIS era ya’ll. i really like elevator and pandora’s box the most, but lmao sit down is by far the most different(?) note euphemism djksjks idk how to explain it. kneeways, i hope ya’ll have a good day/night.

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toledoendo · 5 years

Text

Resetting the Bone- Part Four

Trigger warnings: self-harm, anxiety, shame

The outing happened just like it was planned. The lemon grove was quiet and fragrant. Peter climbed into the tree and tossed down lemon after lemon for Morgan. She was in bliss. Seeing her laugh made him feel lighter. With a quick look back toward the grove’s entrance, Peter webbed two sides of a large basket sitting by the trunk of the tree he had climbed.

Morgan instantly recognized this game. She giggled and scrunched up her nose in glee. He had made her web swings everywhere— the trees at home, the porch, and her room on rainy days. “Happy, push me!” She scrambled in the basket.

Happy tossed up a fretful glower at Peter. His eyebrows seemed to demand, Are you serious? What if someone sees? But, he moved toward the basket where Morgan was asking him to hurry.

Peter’s grin answered back, You worry too much. He pulled the basket up until it was a couple feet from the ground. The strain on his left arm’s muscles caused it to burn. He felt one of the plasters pop slightly. Peter ignored it. He hitched the two web ropes to the branch.

Happy began to push the basket. Morgan smiled. “Push me so I can touch the leaves!”

“How about just a normal height?” Happy tried to reason.

Peter used this moment to breathe. He dropped from the branch, on the other side of the trunk from Morgan and Happy then sat down on his ankles. A sting to the top of his thigh reminded him that he had brought a blade; it was in his pocket.

It was a refill razor for a multi-purpose tool. In a panic, after he handed over his knife to Tony, Peter had snuck into Tony’s workshop. He took the tool apart and pocketed the blade. He just wanted to have it with him; he wouldn’t use it, he told himself.

They ate lunch in the grass, Happy grumbling about his knees. Their heaping baskets were beside them. Happy suggested only taking one enormous basket home for lemonade but Morgan had definitely inherited Tony’s extravagance. She had a plan for a lemonade empire, apparently. The trunk on the way home was weighed down by 50 lbs of lemons.

Back at the lakehouse, Tony managed to steer the kids away from the kitchen. “You’re never going to believe what’s outside in our yard.” He hooked Morgan instantly. Peter followed as Tony led them around the side of the house. He revealed the lemonade stand he’d built. It was gorgeous and just needed a paint job. Morgan eagerly set to work. Peter assumed that Pepper was cutting the lemons while they were occupied.

“What colors are you thinking, boss?” Tony asked Morgan.

“Mommy Blue,” Morgan began to list colors by the names she’d had for them since she was younger. “Daddy Gold, and Peter Red.”

Peter smiled. He didn’t know she still called them that. Morgan had associated colors with the people in her life when she was learning them as a toddler. Somehow, years later, when Peter entered her life, she revived those names and gave him the color red. He had a place with her; she wanted him to belong.

Heading the old name, Peter again felt dear to his little sister.

Eventually, colors had dropped the assignments she’d given them. For example, “Uncle Rhodey Purple” had become just “purple” (much to Uncle Rhodey’s disappointment, despite that he’d always encouraged silver as an alternative.) “Uncle Bruce Green” became just “green” (much to Uncle Bruce’s relief.) But blue, red, and gold still belonged to her mommy, daddy, and to him.

“Order received,” Tony said, turning toward the garage. He murmured to Peter as he left, “Gonna be a hell of a lemonade stand.”

“Where do you think she gets it?” Peter grinned.

It was truly a hell of a lemonade stand. Tony had to return to the garage after Morgan schooled him on the difference between gold and yellow. Morgan asked Peter a million questions as they painted. “Does Ned still build LEGO models? Would he come with you next time and could you help me with my Minecraft world? I got the Ocean Hideout. Daddy said if he stepped on another LEGO brick he wouldn’t build them anymore… Is Aunt May’s new magazine about architecture or technology or business or… fashion? Does she have all the same writers or new ones each time? Who draws the pictures for her magazine? In college, do you have music class? I have music class. It’s my favorite other than Math and recess.”

Peter realized this was the most uninterrupted time he had given her in two months. He worked to answer all of her questions without exasperation. He didn’t want her to give up on him.

When the first coat was done, Pepper called from the porch. It was time to start squeezing the lemons. Morgan quickly abandoned the paintbrush.

“Come on, Pete!” She said.

Honestly, Peter was ready for a break. Her energy could be tiring as well as infectious, he’d long since discovered. “I’ll finish painting the stand and be right in,” he said.

Pepper swept Morgan inside before sending him an encouraging look. She was saying he should take his time. Then they were gone.

The breeze picked up, and though it wasn’t as present as it had been in the grove with the well-trimmed lines of lemon trees, Peter welcomed every touch. It faintly reminded him of coursing through currents of air, a living physics puzzle in his head, as he threw his entire body into surviving each swing or dive through Queens. He missed being Spider-Man in that moment.

Then he remembered the faces of people who had clung to him, reached for him, relied on him. Faces in the dark, faces in the smoke of burning buildings, faces hiding behind abusers. He was ignoring them. His lungs seemed to shrink. I’m not helping anybody, he remembered.

The faces were with him when he was fifteen. More and more walled him in every night. He didn’t want to scare May with them. Mr. Stark, although he had begun to check in more often after The Vulture, would only think less of him if he talked about all this… fear.

At first he tried to push away the faces; the pressure of their states as too much. He was burgeoning with it. It tested and stretched the boundaries of his skin until he had to let it escape. He sure the hell couldn’t escape it. So, he hid and let his secrets out in little punishments across his body.

Here he was with his teenage fear again. I should be able to handle this shit by now. Peter agonized. The faces found him again and he didn’t have anything for them. He tried to hide, cowering deeper into himself. He couldn’t imagine getting back to the place where he could face the responsibility again.

Out in the yard, a little farther away, Peter heard Tony humming. Peter scoffed and smiled. Tony didn’t hum. May hummed, sang — he loved catching her singing “Here Comes the Sun” which was her favorite. But, Tony didn’t hum. This was an invitation. Peter surprised himself a little when he stood and walked to Tony.

Tony was bent double, collecting discarded branches from the maples. He straightened when he heard Peter approach. Peter noticed the pained expression on Tony’s face and the muted cracks as his back hoisted his weight. Peter had a feeling reminiscent of seeing Tony‘s grey hair for the first time.

Tony gestured to the lemonade stand. “The stand is coming along. Makes me want to take a hundred pictures and post them on Pinterest. Get the InstaMoms talking.” He tossed the dead branches in the wheelbarrow.

“Why don’t you let me do that for you?” Peter said as if the argument had already started.

Tony snorted. “Oh-ho! Back for round two?”

Every time Peter offered to help Tony with anything around the lakehouse, Tony turned it into a competition. Peter pleaded. “Just let me do something for you. For once!”

Deaf to the plea, Tony marked off some perimeters with the finger of his right hand. “That’s your side, this side is mine.” He challenged Peter. “If you take any sticks from my side, we’re going to have words.”

“Would any of those words be: ‘Thank you for helping while I visit my chiropractor’?”

“Almost definitely not.”

They talked as they worked. Soon the wheelbarrow was full of sticks and the yard was clear. “I accidentally used Morgan’s strawberry toothpaste last night,” Peter said. He shook his head. “I’m never going back to cool mint.”

A few times the flat blade in his pocket poked his thigh and Peter’s thoughts sank. He wished he could dispose of it, lose it on the ground, but he bit back the thought. Tony spoke to him and he laughed; how could this feel so natural?

“Pepper cut me off of the bubble gum mouthwash.” Tony said. “The older you get, the more people expect you to suffer.”

Morgan bounded out of the back door. Immediately, she squealed. “Are we going to have a campfire tonight?”

“Oops.” Tony said from one side of his mouth. Then he caught her as she leapt at him. “I don’t know… You’ve already done one fun thing today. We have a one-fun-thing a day limit, you know.”

Morgan dismissed this instantly. “Pete, do you want to have a campfire?”

Peter shrugged. “I have to catch my bus at 5:00, Mo. Sorry!”

Morgan stared at him, clearly not seeing the problem. “The bus can wait.” She smiled at her problem-solving skills.

“That’s not how busses work, Mo,” Peter said. To divert any more disappointment, he added: “Is it time to make the lemonade?”

Morgan smiled again. “Yep! We squeezed lemon juice from 50 lemons! Now we need sugar and water and mint and ice cubes…”

Peter let Morgan lead him inside. As they went, Tony caught his eye. He mouthed: “Fifty lemons?”

Peter returned his own mimed words: “She is your daughter!” before the back porch door closed.

#self harm recovery #irondad #irondad and spiderson #spiderson #ironfam #mcu fandom #mcu fanfiction #multi part

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iliveonmylaptop · 5 years

Text

Disappeared

(In which my I wish my DM took obvious plot hooks so I could play my secondary character oh well guess I’ll do it myself)

To say the heist went off smoothly would be a blatant lie, but it was actually successful in the very least so they couldn’t do too much complaining about it in the end.

One tense, waterlogged night later, and Amir had his mech and his anti-scrying necklace, Navryn had a new charm to stave off her illness a little while longer, and the rest of them had some new bruises and a good amount of money.

Now the night later, Amir had bid them farewell and vanished to supposedly start avoiding Ravenwatch. Meanwhile, Gilther had nabbed a small amount of funds from the Bank of Miry and practically commandeered a nearby tavern to throw an impromptu party to the success of their mission.

That’s Gilther for you, Alwin figured.

The others had joined in, though Nav had bowed out early to retreat to her room in the inn they were staying in. Alwin suspected that she was still feeling the effects from such a high-intensity adventure. She’d been coughing a lot more in the past few hours, waving off his concern when he asked with just a weak smile. So he had let it go.

Alwin wasn’t really a party person in general, but tonight was going especially poorly for him. He still hadn’t had the chance to meditate yet and was nursing a nice new scar on his upper left arm; courtesy of a Child of Athos’s lucky dagger strike. So here he was. Outside the festivities, by himself. As usual.

It was dark and cool out. The sun had set several hours ago and the taverns lights were still shining brightly, thanks to the party. Alwin sighed, resting against the stone blocks that made up the wall behind him. He was definitely feeling last nights exertions. His whole body ached with a low ambient pain and he had that exhausted swirl behind his eyes that marked him being all out of spells for the moment.

He took one last glance at the tavern, smiled tiredly, and pushed off the wall. Maybe a walk would clear his head.

Tent Town was quiet, even for this time of night. Alwin breathed in deeply, taking in the sour stench of misery wafting below the cooler tones of the salt air. Nethis was a city like any other. Still, something about it felt… off. It was so crowded with people, overflowing with poverty and general unrest. The city seemed to press in on him, almost suffocating in its size. It’d been a long time since he’d been this anxious about his surroundings.

Maybe it was his upbringing talking. Trees aren’t nearly as noisy as people.

Alwin paused at the end of a row of tents, rolling his shoulders and wincing. Damn. Maybe walking wasn’t the best choice when he was still this tired. He instinctively went to tug on his bracers, getting a flicker of surprise and then irritation when he remembered they weren’t there.

He wasn’t used to roaming around without his armor on. But it had gotten soaked on the previous mission and it needed some drying out in his room before he could re-treat the leather and be able to wear it again.

Alwin sighed again, claiming a seat on a nearby stump. He was being ridiculous, wasn’t he. Oh well.

“Got anything to say?” he murmured, glancing up at the moon. It was a mere sliver in the sky at this stage, forcing his night vision to work for every foot of sight he got. “Am I still on track for you, Goddess? Are heists in your grand cosmic plan?”

The moon, predictably, did not reply. Alwin laughed, a soft huff in the still air. “Didn’t think so.”

“You’re out late.”

Alwin flinched with a full body motion, spinning in his seat with hands instinctively raised. What the fuck…?

Amir stepped out of the shadows, eyebrow raised. Alwin blinked and relaxed a hair, bringing a hand over his chest.

“Damn, you scared the living stars out of me,” he said. He shook his head, squinting back at the thief. “Kinda rude, actually. Weren’t you supposed to have scampered off with your prize?”

Amir chuckled. He tugged at a cord beneath his hood, giving a silver glimpse of the charm they’d stolen for him.

“I have a passage on a ship leaving in an hour or so. My cargo is already on board, ready for some insurance. Ravenwatch won’t be finding me anytime soon with this, anyways.”

Alwin nodded, leaning back in his seat and rubbing his eyes. Something was buzzing in the back of his head, an old suspicion to not trust any thieves guilds. Amir seemed… alright, though. He hadn’t done anything super shady so far, and he was doing his best to get away from Ravenwatch, something Alwin could appreciate at the very least.

“So, other than doing your best to put our party’s rogue to shame with your sneaking skills, what are you doing out here?”

Amir smirked, casually claiming a seat next to him.

“I have to wait somewhere, don’t I?” He said while Alwin wondered if it would be overly rude to shift away. “Besides, I wanted to thank you.”

Alwin snorted, fiddling with his gloves. “Yeah you already did that. The gold is nice.”

“I meant you, specifically.”

Alwin paused, giving him a steady look as his instincts sang in warning. Amir’s face was still mostly hidden in the shadows of his hood, making his face hard to read at this angle.

“Why?” He asked flatly. “You didn’t seem so thrilled about the rest of us tagging on. You only wanted Thora; for the heavy lifting. What makes me so special in your eyes all of a sudden?”

“That is a question, isn’t it,” Amir mused. “Who are you, Alwin? The wandering vagabond? A rogue cleric on a mission from his goddess, as you claim?” His voice dropped. “Or are the rumors true?”

Alwin flicked his eyes around them. It was quiet, with no one else in sight. This was… not great. He curled his fingers against the rough wood, missing his staff and wishing for maybe an extra five or six spell slots.

“What rumors, exactly?” He finally said. Amir seemed to smile at his tight tone, a glimmer of white teeth peeking out from the shadows.

“I may not be part of Ravenwatch anymore, but they do deal in information. Now imagine my surprise when some old contacts had a significant amount of information on you. You’re a long way from home, te’krula.”

Alwin stood up, heart hammering. He knew it this was foolish he knew people would know why didn’t his party take him seriously-

“This conversation is over,” he snapped. His hands were shaking from nervous energy, and he shoved it down.

“No, I don’t think it is,” Amir said, soft. Alwin snarled as Amir’s hand shot out, grabbing his elbow. He whirled on him, already summoning a handful of arcane flames.

“Don’t even think about it you piece of- ” Alwin gasped, stumbling momentarily as a sharp pain bloomed in his rib cage where Amir had buried a needle-like dagger in a lightning-quick movement.

Amir tried to back up after his strike, but Alwin grabbed a handful of his cloak as leverage to punch him directly in the face with his flaming hand. The thief stumbled backwards with a curse, hand immediately going to the seared flesh across his cheekbone. Alwin yanked out the dagger after a moment, barely even wincing at the trickle of blood. He threw it aside with a contemptuous motion, the metal disappearing into the scraggly grass.

“I’m not gonna give you a second shot, asshole,” Alwin spat. He reached for his magic, the beginnings of thorns growing out from the ground beneath his feet. His hands trembled, which he ignored.

And Amir- laughed.

“I don’t need a second shot.” He wiped the blood from his nose with the back of his hand, grinning. “The first was enough.”

A wave of dizziness spun over Alwin and his eyes went wide in realization. The trembling in his hands stilled, along with the rest of the movement in his body.

“Fuck,” he rasped, swaying as his joints and muscles locked up. “What the fuck- did…”

“A paralytic poison,” Amir said, watching Alwin struggle uselessly against his own body with a distinct amount of satisfied interest. “ Don’t worry- it won’t kill you. It’s not strong enough to stop your heart.”

Breathing was hard, but it was all he could focus on as his body stopped answering to him. Alwin screamed internally as his jaw locked up with the rest of him, stopping the verbal component needed for his spell-casting. The vines shriveled away, disappearing with the last of his magical capabilities.

He collapsed.

I knew it, his frantic thoughts said, swirling around in his frozen head. I knew it I knew it I knew this would happen-

Amir knelt next to him, cocking his head curiously.

“I’m always surprised by how quickly that poison takes effect. Still,” he brushed a lock of hair out of Alwin’s face, calmly meeting his furious gaze. “Can’t be too careful when dealing with spellcasters. Especially not ones of… your caliber,” he chuckled.

Fuck you, Alwin wanted to scream, but all that came out was a strangled growl. The instinctive terror of once again being helpless, flat on his back, burned into rage at Amir, at the world, at himself for once again letting his guard down when he had just started thinking that maybe he’d be ok, that just maybe he’d finally found some people he could stay with. But he couldn’t say it- just stare upwards at the man who was casually going to take it away. Amir seemed to get the message anyway.

“You’re probably wondering what this is about,” the thief continued. He was currently rummaging through his bag, pulling out some loops of rope and something leather that Alwin couldn’t make out, frozen on the damp grass as he was. “To put it simply- you’re my insurance.” A firm hand pushed him on to his side, so Amir could start the process of binding his hands behind his back. “You’re worth a lot in certain circles. Alive, again, so don’t think that I went through all this trouble just to kill you.”

Alwin’s breath hissed through his teeth, unable to answer- not that he wanted to at this point. Amir only hummed from where he was, pulling the ropes tight with practiced ease.

“Someone in Athos will be very happy to have the sole heir to Terranith at their disposal,” Amir said. He finished on Alwin’s wrists, moving up to his shoulders. Alwin shuddered as the rope looped around his chest, the act of breathing starting to escape him as the poison ran its course. Amir appeared to notice and paused as Alwin’s vision starting swimming into black.

He patted his captive’s shoulder, clicking his tongue sympathetically. “But that will be your problem- not mine.”

Alwin finally let go, world fading into darkness, and he knew no more.

--------

So the storyteller in me is screeching right now.

Also- I write these for me. But if even one person enjoys reading these, I’ll continue posting them here on tumblr. (My Burn Scars comp seems to have gotten deleted? I guess I’ll have to repost the whole thing.)

Hey if you want more Alwin and the Inhumans stuff, how about leaving a like or a reblog? (Or an ask I talk way too much about everything and will yell at you for like an hour about it)

#my stuff #the inhumans #alwin #ocs #fanfic #dnd

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beer-me-strcngth · 5 years

Text

Something Wicked This Way Comes

When: June 22 Where: By the river Who: Bree & Eerb (Please forgive the lack of editing on this, I’ll update it at a later date I just wanted to get it posted for now)

The river is placid today, its surface calmer than usual and sparkling under the midday sun. Birds chirp in the trees on the island’s shoreline. Summer heat settles over everything, blanketing it in humidity that manages to be almost pleasant, if still a little stifling. The current begins to pick up, gradually at first, but then the river starts to rush. Waves form on its surface. A figure comes skating through them, light bouncing off of her sun-bleached hair. Her feet are bare, floating upon water which bends perfectly to her whims. Her grin is wild and her laughter unbridled; seaweed strands are tangled up in her hair, and a fine film of salt coats her suntanned skin wherever it hasn’t recently been splashed. Despite all the little details, Bree may as well be looking into the flat waters of a clear lake, or a perfectly clean mirror - this person is a perfect reflection of her. When she opens her mouth to speak, even her accent is the same. “You look like you could be having a lot more fun right now.”

Bree blinks at the alternate version of herself -- part of her had been preparing for this since the others had their encounters, but it was still weird. Really weird. "Riiiight. Sure, okay. If this is a parent trap type situation and you're here to tell me that your mom has a picture with half of my dad's face and we're twins separated at birth, I'm gonna need a drink."

"I wish. How funny would that be?" She laughs. Liberty in a single sound. The water around her shifts like it finds Bree amusing, too. "We're not really twins. I mean, I guess we are? In a sense? But not literally in a shared-a-womb way. Besides, I'm too busy doing whatever I want to worry too much about schemes and hijinks. There are always waves to catch and magic to use, you know."

"Sure, I guess. But have you tried schemes and hijinks? They're pretty awesome," Bree said, moving closer to the water. "Like, recently I put out a bunch of catnip for a friend who... you know what, long story. Complicated story. But I digress. You know rivers aren't really great for surfing, right? White water rafting, maybe."

"I remember the catnip! That was fantastic. Aeron never quite puts that in the past, watch out." Her hands are on her hips and she wiggles her toes in the water, perfectly at ease suspended just above it. "I'd be on the open ocean now, but you happen to be on a river. You make do with what you've got. Actually, I'd rather be in the Bermuda Triangle." Her eyes are alight with mischief. "Once, just for fun, I pulled the whole area into a giant whirlpool and sped around so fast I gave myself whiplash. Worth. It."

She frowned at that, trying to figure out what exactly all the implications of those statements were. But that wasn't really her strong suit. "What if I get Aeron like..... a cool sword or something? Will he forgive me? I honestly didn't mean it for him. But also, what the fuck, dude? Are you gonna explain who you are or what you're doing here? Or are we going to just hang out, I'm leaning toward the second one if you want my opinion, always figured I'd be fun to hangout with."

"You could give him magic the likes of which he's never seen. Worked wonders on me." Her smile is completely unbothered even as Bree tries to usher them to the point. "Right right, I came here for a reason. We could totally hang out. Come with me to Bermuda! And, you know, stay." She tilts her head, watching Bree intently. "Sticking around here... It's fine. It's whatever. A little bit stifling though. I was okay with that at first, until I found out that magic doesn't work like we think it does. Bree, there's so much more we can do. I love everyone on the Council, for sure, even the grumps, but the thing itself is kinda... Unnecessary. I've found something better. So I came to tell you about it."

"I never doubted there was more," she said honestly. "The trouble with being reincarnated and relying on my shitty note-taking skills to learn from. But if I'm going anywhere, it's home. Australia home. I mean, Bermuda is officially on the bucket list now because that sounds awesome, but these people would literally die without me. Of boredom, probably. Gimme your spiel. And your cell number. And your go-to karaoke song."

For perhaps a split second, something serious, maybe even solemn, crosses her face. "They really do struggle not to let their seriousness swallow them whole." Water laps at the river shore, inching closer to Bree. "You can go anywhere, Bree. Surf Bermuda, check out some arctic glaciers, be back at Bondi in a second. I'm telling you, the magic we've had hidden away from us all this time? Total game-changer." With a puff of air she blows a lock of hair out of her eyes. "You've kinda gotta throw yourself at it, though. It's a whole-ass-or-nothing deal, and it'll tear the Council right apart if you aren't careful. Guess that's what happens when nobody is in charge."

"Yeah, I'm not actually worried about getting more magic for myself, I'm pretty happy with what I have. It's way more than most people have. But if you know where Feiyan is, that I'm interested in."

She groans almost playfully. "You're asking me the one thing I'm incapable of answering. Or, actually, one of like five. I can try, but I think the effect is supposed to make me look like a fish out of water. All lip, no noise. Feiyan can be found, though, that's the good news. I used all this magic to do that." She hardly lifts a finger and two columns of water rise to flank her. Then they begin to twirl, graceful as dancers, before sliding back into the river. "It's not just raw power - although it's that, too. Have you ever dreamed of commanding the entire ocean, Bree?" The reflection smiles like she's looking right through Bree. Her eyes are a little wild, focused on the horizon. "We are the ocean. Have you ever thought about that? What's a better embodiment of Strength than that?" Her words fall to silence and it lasts for several long beats, until she shakes her head and brings herself back. "But it's not just that. It's being about to teleport just like Mitch, or walk through the world with all your Spidey senses dialed up as high as they go like Justice. It's what The Ancients meant to take away, I suppose, and it's the key to finding Feiyan. Or to destroying the Council as you know it."

"What are the other four things?" Bree asked curiously. She sat on the river bank and leaned back on her elbows, face toward the sun to soak up as much vitamin D as she could. "The ones you can't answer. I know you can't tell me the answers but what are the questions?" Part of her doubted her double would answer that, either. Maybe it was question two. She turned her head toward the bizarro-Bree and shaded her face with one hand. "So, you're me. You made your choice, got the power, whatever. You're here to tempt me to do the same. Why? What do you care, you got your eeveelution, why does it matter if I make a different choice?"

She hummed, looking down at Bree from where the water held her high. "Five wasn't literal, buuuuut, I can't just give you the secret to using other magic - I can only tell you it's drawn from ley lines. I can't tell you who's about to come meddle in the Council's whole shtick, but I can tell you someone is. Stuff like that. I'm allowed to warn you, but I can't give you the answers you need." No emotion shifts over her face to cover her serene contentedness. Even if what she says seems urgent, she herself is as carefree as the ocean. "You're me, right? I'm you. And I kinda care about myself and what I need. Not enough to try to make you do anything, because when has that ever worked on us, but enough to warn you. There's a lot more to being Strength than you know, and was exhilarating to figure out for me. Helped me find Fei. Helped me figure out where I belong. Spread the happiness, babe."

"Yeah, we went to the ley lines. Someone is fucking with them. You know anything about that?" Bree asked. She sighed, this alternate version of her was too.... stoic. The fact that her face didn't give away her every thought spoke volumes to how different the two girls really were. Everything she was offering felt too good to be true -- the proverbial snake in the garden offering endless knowledge in exchange for eternal damnation. "Here's the thing Eerb... You're me, I'm you, so I feel like we know each other pretty well. And... I just don't trust you. There's an ulterior motive here, I don't know what it is, but I know it's there. I know that because I'm a terrible fucking person and given the chance at adventure and excitement I throw caution to the wind every time and fuck things up -- I've read about it over and over and over and I'm trying to break the cycle here."

Her calm surface gives no hint of any currents which may run beneath. "I do. I can tell you it's, uh, interference from others who..." She's thinking of words which won't get her in trouble, that much is clear. "Who know about magic and how to use it. Who aren't on the Council. Is that a good enough hint? I'm not discussing unicorns here or anything. That would be fun, though." She chuckles at 'Eerb' and doesn't bat an eyelash at Bree's candor. Doesn't seem moved by anything at all, really. Maybe her expression gains a hint of seriousness, but even that isn't easily proved. "You don't have to trust me. That seems fair enough. I did just show up out of the blue while you were minding your business. And I'm not asking you to decide anything now! I have to come back later to show you the full extent of this power anyway. So I'll come back, and you can decide then to trust me or tell me to get lost, if you like. Right now is just for giving you everything I can. Right now is for telling you that you an be the ocean, Bree. You can be a lot more than just some person or some Councilor. The Council is going to fall apart over this magic one way or another. You might as well become the force of nature you are, find Feiyan, and get a taste of that adventure before someone steals it from you for good."

saltlord06/22/2019

glittersatan06/22/2019

(,kjhgfghj) (that was so funny i broke character)

saltlord06/22/2019

(you're welcome)

"Come back for Halloween, we can get one of those two person horse costumes but a unicorn. We'll be super fucking magical," she said with a grin. "I'll keep an eye out for Death Eaters screwing with the leylines, if I can... And, for the record, I'm not saying get lost, do what you want as long as it's not hurting anyone, I just don't know what I'm going to do. In my experience when someone offers you something that sounds too good to be true, it usually is. The only exception has been Feiyan. What you're offering sounds a bit like Ultimate Cosmic Power, ITTY-BITTY living space, ya know? So I'll think about it. You can stick around, if you want. We can go do karaoke or like... freak people out with twin-y things."

"Are you afraid of me being some kind of magical used car salesman? I guess that makes sense. I can't promise people won't get hurt." She cants her head, expression pensive. "But that's true no matter what you do. See, once Marcy or Dan or Azra gets their hands on this power... yikes. Let's just say things went to hell right quick and my first instinct was to run away to Australia. Getting between them and their precious power wasn't easy. Hard decisions come with the territory." The little river waves around her grow agitated, sliding back and forth to the rhythm of the reflection's toes tapping the water's surface. "It took me a while to get used to all this... raw power. But magic is a force of nature, and nature's gonna be around long after us." She shrugs and then her grin starts up again. She starts to hum, a little off-key and without much attention to being nice to listen to, before a song tumbles from her laughing lips. "If you change your mind, I'm the first in line! Honey, I'm still free, take a chance on me." She steps onto the shore to accompany her singing with a dance, the water responding in kind. "I dunno the words, duh-nuh nuh nuh nah, something somethi-i-ing, take a chance on me-" She dissolves into her laughter for a moment and then straightens her spine again. "Karaoke rules and we are obviously fantastic at it. I can't stick around too long, though. Bermuda's my hot date."

“See, now I know you’re evil. How can you not know the words to ABBA? I’m going to kick your ass at karaoke.”

glittersatan06/22/2019

(is that her response for real kjhgf)

saltlord06/22/2019

Yeah. That’s it. She intends to think about the rest of it and try to sort it out in her head but talking to her double doesn’t seem to be getting her anywhere? Probably because she’s not asking good questions because she’s... a dummy lol

glittersatan06/22/2019

(i love everything about her)

saltlord06/22/2019

(I’m glad someone does lol)

glittersatan06/22/2019

"I mean, do you want me to be evil?" she asks, not remotely put out by the thought or Bree's lack of faith. "I can try. Not sure I'll be all that good at it since, like, all I can think about is ABBa and curly fries now, but you know how it is."

“No, that seems counterproductive. But I remember learning about doppelgängers and they’re like... always evil so.” She shrugged. “Damn, now I want curly fries. I think there a food truck nearby. Wanna see?”

"Oh, that's totally another thing I can't explain. What exactly I am. Or from when or- well, I can hint, but specifics don't come through. Let's get curly fries. I think the last time I had any was before Nadine went totally nuts and black magicked the whole Lair to pieces." She says it like she's commenting on the weather and then rubs her hands together excitedly. "You know what I love about food trucks? No dress code. I'm totally barefoot and they can just suck it."

“If anyone was gonna do it, it’d be her,” Bree sighed. “But also, I don’t like that you’re just so blasé about Nadine going bat shit and blowing things up. That’s... not ideal.” She looks down at her alternate self’s feet and cocks her head to the side. “If you’ve got access to everyone’s powers, couldn’t you just bamf some shoes here?”

"I got her to stop, so I mean..." She shrugs. "She can't hurt anyone now, and that's what matters, isn't it?" She does a mock tap dance in the sand just for Bree. "I could. I could do anything I wanted, though. Turn my feet into pterodactyl claws if I feel like it. Barefoot is nice, I like sand between my toes."

"Okay, but, ya know... it's June. And this isn't like a beach beach. Gonna be walking on asphalt soon enough. But hey, you do you."

She beams at the suggestion and pulls her knee up to take a step forward. Water rushes from the river to form a bubble floating just barely above the ground, and it supports her weight when she steps onto it. "Shoes are boring unless they're shaped like animals. And I could just bamf up some narwhal-shaped slippers, but this feels more fun."

"It's also super conspicuous? There are muggles around."

At that she groans. "Does that really matter? What are they gonna do, arrest us? Just tell them I'm a street magician and everyone else will come up with some rational explanation for what they're seeing."

"Yeah, and then you disappear and everyone looks at me with questions and I get blamed. Don't tell me you're too spoiled to walk."

"You're the one who just warned me about asphalt!"

"So put on some shoes! Damn, girl. There does not need to be this much drama. And that's coming from me."

She rolls her eyes but there's humor in the curve of her lips. It's the way someone who knows they're being purposefully unhelpful smiles. One moment her feet are bare, the next they're supported by beachy sandals. "Better, Miss Snippy?"

"Yes. And those are cute, you can leave them when you go." With that, she flips her hair and starts walking toward the food truck.

"Bossy bossy," she says as she strolls along after Bree. "And you think you wouldn't be a good leader."

"I wouldn't. There's a big difference between being bossy and making good decisions."

"Well, duh, but you aren't bossy to Azra or Eve or Aeron or anyone when you need them to listen to you." She arches her eyebrows like she's daring Bree to tell her otherwise. "You're a great listener when you try, and you know how to command attention without ever actually commanding. Sounds like leadership to me, but what do I know, I'm only you."

"You know as well as I do that people like Salma and Marcy will never take me seriously, nor should they. And I don't want to be in charge."

"They let their massive egos get in the way. How do they walk around like that all the time? Gotta be hard on their necks, am I right or am I right?" She stops in her tracks, her head cocked to the side. "Well if you won't be in charge, how can you trust anything will get done?"

"I'm not one of those if you want something done right you have to do it yourself types. I trust the people I'm with - yeah, they'll fuck some things up but we're all fuck ups so, what can you do? Micromanaging is exhausting and time consuming and ultimately counterproductive. So says the one book on management I read when I was seventeen. But it was written by flipping Navy Seals, so..."

"Did the Navy train them to flip, do you think?" She hasn't budged. "It's not really micromanaging if you tell them what to do and they do it. It's kind of just, managing. We are all fuck ups, though, that's totally true."

"Who knows," she replied with a shrug, moving around her double to continue toward the food truck -- the more important goal at the moment. "I'm not a manager."

She watches Bree's back as she walks away, her smile vanishing for a moment as her eyes narrow dangerously. Pleasantly she asks, "Then what are you?" and re-schools her face into something cheerful and benign, if a little tight around the eyes.

"A happy -- and hungry -- peon."

"I didn't realize you'd back down so easy from a challenge." It's an obvious attempt to goad her, but then, her carefree smile is starting to strain.

Bree smirked and shrugged. She didn't really think of herself as a happy peon -- it was true that she didn't want to be in charge, but there was also a part of her that wanted to see what would happen with this double if she just continued to do the opposite of what Eerb seemed to want. "Yup. We're pushovers, you ought to know that."

Now she makes no effort to hide her slitted gaze. "What about helping people? Protecting magic? Rescuing Feiyan? You'd rather just stand by and see what happens?"

Bree can't help but roll her eyes and sigh. "Calm down, okay? I'm partially messing with you because I know you're sure as fuck messing with me. But all that other stuff is going to work out -- we're going to find Fei. Magic is always chaotic and it will continue to be chaotic but we'll figure it out and we'll manage as a team -- it's what we do. I'm going to keep helping the council as much as I can, as annoyingly as I can, because they're my family and that's what you do with family. You, on the other hand, are probably an evil double sent from The Darkest Timeline™ to steal my soul, half my socks, and probably my favorite t-shirt, then stir shit up and either leave or replace me like a changeling. I'm not really cool with that but I also don't know how to stop it and I'm morbidly curious so I figure my best bet is to be myself -- an annoying troll -- and hope you get bored and either kill me or that we get a bicycle built for two."

There is a long silence. Nothing seems to move around them, and neither does the reflection. She just watches Bree. There is curiosity leeching into her face now, but it's tempered by wariness, or perhaps disappointment. Then she moves just a little too fast for comfort, coming to a stop right in front of Bree. Their eyes would be perfectly level if her head was not tilted slightly. Her gaze searches Bree's face. "I don't know what to make of you," she says softly, dissatisfaction evident.

She flinched slightly as her double moved in front of her, because that's weird af. "Yeah, I get that a lot." Her voice is nonchalant, but she's tensed to run if needed. (NOT THAT IT'D DO ANY GOOD BECAUSE HOLY SHIT HER DOUBLE JUST BASICALLY NARUTO RAN IN FRONT OF HER)

Her nose twitches. "You're so... tame." She's not bothered by their closeness, leaning her neck back only to get another look at Bree, then closing that distance yet again. "All the jokes and the pretenses. You're like a puppy. You aren't interested in power or doing important things or anything, are you? You just want to play."

"You're supposed to be me, you should know." She takes a step back and to the side, moving toward the food truck again. (She's such a little shit, I'm sorry. Because she knows her evil twin wants her do do something she's going to do NOTHING out of spite. #TheWorst )

"Maybe I should take your place."

"You'd be bored."

"I had such fun before, though... And I'm out of my own friends to drown."

Bree arches an eyebrow, turning and walking backward so she can look at her double while still making her way toward the food truck. "This is the part where I'm supposed to say something like 'touch them and I'll kill you' but if you really were me, you'd know that so I don't have to say it. Thing is, I can tell you're trying to get a rise out of me, I'm just not sure why. You want my life? Seems like you're more powerful than I am, you could murder me right here and now and take it. But you're not doing that, so there's either a bigger goal or something stopping you. I'm not the brightest bulb, but I'm also pretty sure that you're not actually me. I watched Back to the Future, interacting with your past/future self like...erases photos and fucks with the time space continuum. So, if you want something, do us both a favor and come out with it."

Disinterest filters into her expression and she shrugs. "I came here to offer what I have. You don't have to take it, but then I don't have a reason to stick around. Your life isn't important in the grand scheme of things." She turns away, looking back toward the water. "You just get reborn."

"If I'm so unimportant, why bother making the offer at all?"

"I never said you weren't important."

"So I'm important, just not my life? Meaning, what? Strength matters but not the current incarnation?"

She settles a sidelong glance over her shoulder at Bree, her face hard and inscrutable. "You could be the ocean, you know. Unfathomable. Powerful beyond belief, and vital. I don't know why you wouldn't choose that. But you don't have to - it's not something I can force. What comes next will be painful for you if you choose to watch from the sidelines, that's the best I can explain. Too afraid to take a risk and rise to the challenge? Then be afraid."

"Dually noted." She rolls her eyes and starts turns to walk away before turning back and adding, "Oh, and fuck you, too."

She smiles at that, an expression too wide and sharp for Bree's features, but she says nothing at all in return. (bree can exit orrrr engage, anything you want)

saltlordToday at 2:49 AM

Yeah, she's done with this bish

Bored of your threats now, i'm gonna get a snow cone

glittersatanToday at 2:50 AM

in that case picture eerb walking off into the water and sliding right into it to disappear - fancy exits are for chumps

saltlordToday at 2:52 AM

LOL And then there's bree who's just like, "I thought we were getting food? I think your threats might be more effective when not on an empty stomach." Bree also 100% had a hermione moment as Eerb was walking away and was like "is that really what my hair (and ass) look like from the back?"

#Something wicked this way comes #double trouble #bree and eerb #event 04 #Some commentary by myself and Divya left in because of the amusement factor and also for when I edit this into a real post

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spooky-ghostwriter · 5 years

Text

Dressed to Kill - Chapter Twenty-Two

<– Previous Chapter

Next Chapter –>

Garrick slapped an x-ray image onto a light box. He tilted his head in thought. Suddenly, he realized something he'd forgotten, and turned the screen so that Tsukiko could see it.

This was easier said than done. Forgoing the straitjacket, Garrick had taken a more direct approach to restraining his prisoner – Tsukiko was held in a mass of ivy vines; an amorphous blob equivalent of the creature that had wounded her mother. Tsukiko normally had a strong confidence in her escape artistry, but now, it felt like she was embedded in a solid wall of greenery. She could barely move a muscle, let alone escape.

“What do you think?” Garrick asked, gesturing towards the x-ray image.

Tsukiko still did not have the best angle of the slide, given the uncomfortable position the ivy at which was keeping her neck, but she got the gist – it was her skeleton.

“I'm going to need my wisdom teeth out, aren't I?” She asked.

Garrick snapped his fingers.

“Your dental records...” He said to himself. “Yes, I should be able to get those. Your dentist would have to be here in Maplefort, right?”

“Seriously?” Tsukiko almost laughed. “You must really be grasping at straws if you think I keep a tank in my teeth.”

A loud crash echoed from outside.

“The Alesia Circus is doing fairly well, all things considered,” Garrick said idly. “They've suffered minimal losses so far and have defeated a few more dryads than I expected.”

Minimal losses... Tsukiko closed her eyes. For a group of barely over a hundred people, the loss of even one would be hard to stomach. It had been many weeks – months, even – since Tsukiko had passed a single person on the circus grounds whose name she did not immediately know. The possibility that it could have been anyone she knew especially well weighed heavily on her. Let alone if it had been Miss Isle, Ravindra, Stiletto, Pierre, Henry, Vercingetorix, or, worst of all, Galen.

As much as Tsukiko enjoyed being smug, she couldn't keep it up forever.

“Garrick, please stop this,” Tsukiko said. “Call off the dryads and I'll tell you all about my... powers.”

“Oh?” Garrick asked. “Whatever happened to magicians never revealing their secrets?”

“Who cares about that?!” Tsukiko cried. “Just get a lie detector or whatever. I swear, I'll tell you everything.”

There was a moment of silence as Garrick and Tsukiko stared into each other's eyes, both trying to size up the other. Tsukiko looked desperately for any sign of humanity – any shred of decency she could use. She didn't know what Garrick was looking for, but tried her damnedest to project honesty.

“You've probably trained yourself to fool lie detectors,” Garrick decided. “Lying without a trace would be a very useful skill for a magician, wouldn't it?”

Tsukiko found herself on the verge of tears. She knew that Garrick would have no use for her if she told him about the Religalia, and clearly he'd have no qualms about killing her if he felt it wasn't important to keep her around.

But then, at least, there wouldn't be anything to fight over anymore.

“It's not me!” Tsukiko cried. “I don't have any powers, okay? It's the – ”

“Tsuki!” A distant voice called out – Galen's voice. “Where are you?”

It felt wrong for her to, but she let out a sigh of relief. Whoever these minimal casualties were, at least they didn't include Galen.

“Someone got into the facility?” Garrick asked. “Interesting.” He extended a hand towards the wall that held Tsukiko. A few vines uncoiled themselves from the mass and slithered across the floor. They rose up from the floor and wrapped themselves around Garrick's wrist.

“Go ahead,” said Garrick. “Tell your friend where you are.”

Tsukiko had seen what that dryad ivy could do to a person – it had practically drilled through her mother without a shred of resistance. She'd been able to save Elizabeth, of course, but in this situation, if Galen met the same fate, she knew that she'd be powerless to help him.

Then again, there was a difference between Elizabeth and Galen. Elizabeth had spent her life dealing with mundane problems with mundane solutions. Galen, he had dived into the impossible with Tsukiko. As impossible as it seemed, Galen would be all right – Tsukiko forced herself to have conviction in that.

“I'm in room 702!” Tsukiko yelled back. “But you'll be attacked as soon as you get through the door!”

Garrick smirked.

“A wise person wouldn't enter the room after being told that,” he said. “That was quite a risk you took.”

“You think so?” Tsukiko asked.

They waited, both of them staring at the door. They expected it to open; for the turning of the handle to be the signal for all hell to break loose between Garrick and Galen.

What they did not expect was for a lion's head to phase through the door.

“Oh?” Garrick said, more in confusion than the fear Tsukiko expected. “You were able to set up a trick like this in my facility?”

“You dumbass,” Tsukiko scoffed. “You put that much time into researching the circus and never knew about the ghost lions?”

“Of course I knew about them,” Garrick said. He pressed his hand against, and partially within, Heir the lion's snout. “Holographic projectors are certainly an interesting illusion, but – ”

Heir roared and tore at Garrick's hand with its fangs. Garrick recoiled; finally reacting with the fear Tsukiko expected. Streaks of blood poured down the back of his hand.

“Impossible...” was all Garrick could manage.

Then, finally, the door burst open – or, to be more accurate, off. It shot off its hinges and flew past Tsukiko. The way the wind from the door flowed through her hair reminded her briefly of her part in Stiletto's shows. Finally, the door crashed against the far wall, splintering into a hundred shards of wood.

There in the door frame, with his hands covered in shiny silver gauntlets, stood Galen. Tsukiko's current predicament was nearly forgotten; she wore an honest smile at the sight of him.

The smile was short-lived. Garrick swung the vines on his arm. They shot out, passing harmlessly through Heir, and at Galen. Galen punched the tip of the vines, stopping the attack dead in its tracks.

Garrick looked around the room. The ghost lion advanced slowly, and Galen moved closer to Tsukiko.

“How I wish there was more time to study the two of you,” said Garrick. “It seems your circus had some more tricks that I missed after all.”

“Or more impossibilities,” Tsukiko added cockily.

Garrick scoffed. A leaf folded itself out of his suit, and he began to vanish.

“It doesn't matter anymore,” he said, as more and more of himself became floating leaves. “Barging into my facility like this? You've left me no choice – there's no more time for research.”

As the last few leaves peeled off his face, he added,

“This is the end of Alesia.”

With that, the final leaf fluttered in the air. Both Heir and Galen lunged at the leaves, but Galen's punches did nothing to affect them and Heir failed to catch them with either fang or claw. The leaves fluttered out the door Galen had destroyed and out of sight. Heir ran to chase after the leaves; Galen reached for the chain, but the lion was too quick. Heir bounded out of sight.

“Damn...” Galen muttered. “Pierre's gonna kill me.”

“Well, if you'd kindly get me out of the friggin' dryad wall, maybe I can help you look for him,” Tsukiko said dully.

“Yeah yeah.”

Galen reached a hand into his pocket and withdrew a leather handle. Bit by bit, he pulled Shiba Karaki out of the Cargo Pants.

“I don't think I can punch the wall down,” said Galen. He unsheathed the sword and carefully pressed it against the vines covering Tsukiko. It took some time, and Tsukiko felt she may have lost another hair or two, but finally, Tsukiko was free.

“Why thank you,” Tsukiko said, stretching her arms. She tiled her head from side to side and relished a loud cracking noise from somewhere in her lower spine.

“You're all right, then?” Galen asked. “Garrick didn't do anything to you?”

“Just ran some tests,” Tsukiko confirmed. “I'm more worried about the others. Garrick said something about casualties.”

“The battle had only started when I came in here,” Galen said. His voice became more solemn as he added, “I don't know how the others are doing right now.”

The floor beneath Tsukiko and Galen began to shake. They heard a low rumbling noise emanating from below.

“Did I punch too big of a hole in this building?” Galen asked, though it was clear to him and Tsukiko that Galen wasn't the cause. They felt a sense of utter foreboding; the same feeling one would get from watching an uncontrolled fire or a car accident.

Cracks appeared in the far wall. Tsukiko and Galen backed away from it. The rumbling continued and the wall crumbled; a strange brown mass drilled its way through the building. As the last of the wall shattered and the debris fell away, it became clearer what they had been looking at – tree bark.

A tree had emerged from the pavement seven storeys below, boring through the side of the building as it grew. Tsukiko and Galen had a hard time comprehending the tree's size. Despite being wide enough to completely cover the wall it had torn out of the building, the trunk looked flat. It was as if they were only seeing a tiny fraction of the tree's full circumference.

Without a word, Tsukiko and Galen both ran out of the room. They found the nearest staircase and went up to the roof of the building.

Their intuition was correct. From this angle, they could see just how massive the tree was. Its trunk split cleanly through the city's downtown area, taking up space that only moments ago was occupied by streets and buildings. It stretched almost as far as the eye could see, and this was only the width of the trunk. The height was all the more daunting. The tree stretched far above the cloud line, with a canopy of leaves that felt like a circus tent had been placed around the entire world.

“Beautiful, isn't it?”

Garrick's voice – Tsukiko and Galen turned to see him standing at the edge of the rooftop.

“This is Yggdrasil,” Garrick said wistfully. “The tree of life. A few thousand years ago, it was the origin of the dryads.” He looked back to Tsukiko. “I had hoped I could find something in your genetic code to add to Yggdrasil to make it even more perfect than it was back then, but... this will do.”

Suddenly, part of the tree began to shift. A several-meter thick branch lowered itself slowly to the rooftop near Garrick. He climbed upon it. Garrick gave Tsukiko and Galen a smug smile as the branch lifted him higher, carrying him to the top of Yggdrasil.

“Galen, you have all the Religalia in your pocket, right?” Tsukiko asked.

“All of them.”

“Okay, give me the Jumper.”

“You're going after him?”

“I will,” Tsukiko said.

She looked down over the edge of the roof. Yggdrasil was quiet now that it was no longer growing taller, but she could still hear noises from below – sounds of yelling and fighting.

“But not yet,” said Tsukiko. “First, we need to help out the others.”

“That's what I wanted to hear,” said Galen, pulling the Jumper from his pocket.

Vercingetorix held Henry in his arms.

“Stay with me, Henry!” Vercingetorix ordered. For the first time since Vercingetorix had known Henry, the man was making sounds. A struggling gasp escaped the mime every time he breathed in or out.

Must be a punctured lung, Vercingetorix thought.

There was blood on the pavement, staining a large arc in the asphalt where Henry had fallen. His bleeding now was slow, but continuous. Even keeping him at the best angle did nothing to delay the flow of blood.

Vercingetorix felt the same sense of uselessness he'd felt holding Freya in her last moments.

“Why do you all go through such lengths to protect me?!” Vercingetorix demanded. He shut his eyes tight and cried, “I don't want to be saved!”

Henry tapped him on the shoulder. Vercingetorix opened his eyes to see the man gesture. He only got a few symbols in – none of which Vercingetorix could comprehend – before coughing blood onto Vercingetorix's shirt.

“Don't try to speak,” Vercingetorix said. “Or... mime. Don't try to mime either. Just hold on.” His grip on Henry tightened. “Galen should have found Tsukiko by now. She must have the High Heals by now.”

He wasn't sure how much he believed his own words. In desperation, he yelled something to the sky that wasn't exactly English. Then he found the words to shout.

“Tsukiko, where are you?!” He cried. “Help him! Please, help Henry!”

Once Vercingetorix stopped making sound himself, he realized just how silent the world was.

He could not longer hear Henry's struggled breaths.

After a moment, another sound crossed his ears – the click-clack of heeled footsteps on the pavement.

“Hey, Vercy,” said a voice.

Vercingetorix's eyes shot open. He looked up. Tsukiko stood above him.

“What are the biggest threats right now?” Tsukiko asked. “I've been itching to get back into the Tank Top.”

Vercingetorix couldn't reply; he looked at Tsukiko's feet. She wore the High Heals, and their silvery cross signs were retracting back into the ankle.

“Is anyone else injured?” Tsukiko asked. “I'll go fix them up, then blow up some dryads.”

Vercingetorix looked back at Henry. The mime was still covered in blood, but no more was exiting his stomach. The wound was gone, and Henry's breathing was silent only because it was normal once more.

“Vercy?” Tsukiko asked. She snapped her fingers a few times. “What's the plan? I'm out of the loop here. Give me something.”

Vercingetorix smiled, then focused on switching back into his leadership role.

“The mission plan was just to get you back,” He said. “However, under the circumstances...”

Vercingetorix and Tsukiko both looked towards Yggdrasil and the ceiling it had placed over the world.

“We need to destroy that thing,” Tsukiko agreed.

“Do you think you can do it?” Vercingetorix asked.

“Well...” said Tsukiko. “It might have a weak point like the apple tree monsters, but even if I can find it, considering how durable the apple hearts are, I'm not sure I can actually destroy it. Frankly it looks downright impossible.”

“I didn't ask if it was possible,” Vercingetorix said. He smirked. “I asked if you thought you could do it.”

“I wouldn't be much of a magician if I could only do the possible, now would I?”

Vercingetorix nodded.

Galen appeared on the scene, his metallic hands covered in what looked like pumpkin guts.

“Sorry to disturb your pleasant chat,” He said. “But there's still kind of a war going on.”

“Yeah, sorry,” Tsukiko said. “Tank, please.”

Galen pulled the Tank Top costume from his pocket, as well as a black curtain. In a routine practiced countless times, Tsukiko disappeared behind a wave of the curtain and reappeared an instant later completely redressed.

“Let's go,” said Tsukiko, a finger on the brim of her hat. “To Yggdrasil.”

The Alesia Circus' trucks were no longer the only vehicles outside the Cypress Research Facility. A white van pulled up and parked. On its side was printed the text 'Channel 17 Action News'. It took only a few moments for a cameraman and reporter to organize themselves, with movements as quick and as accurate as those conducted by the Alesia Circus' performers.

The reporter adjusted her hair. She held a microphone, and tapped it a few times to ensure it was functional. Finally, she gave a signal to the cameraman a few feet away, and he began recording.

“Good evening,” said the woman. “I'm Liz Ardtail of Channel 17 news. I'm here live in west Maplefort where a several thousand foot tree has just emerged from the ground. It is surrounded by an army of plant monsters, which is currently engaged in battle against members of the world-famous Alesia Circus.”

She paused for a moment, letting the cameraman take a sweeping shot of Yggdrasil and the dryads.

“More on this as it develops,” Liz continued. “But first, we'll get back to our top story – a celebrity has just announced that she is naming her child something unusual. Can you guess which celebrity?”

The cameraman tapped his headset.

“Boss says they're giving us ten minutes for this story,” He said.

“Ooh, that's pretty good,” said Liz. “Must have been a B-list celebrity with that weird baby name.”

Liz's thoughts were cut short as a tank rolled by. Tsukiko paused for a moment. Tsukiko did a double-take towards the news team, which also unintentionally rotated the turret to point at them.

“Who are you?” Tsukiko asked.

“I'm, uh...” said Liz, looking into the tank's barrel. “Channel 17's top reporter. Liz Ardtail.”

“You're filming this?”

“Well, right now we're in a different story,” said Liz. “But in a moment, we'll get right back – ”

“Get the camera back on,” Tsukiko said. “Galen, we're headed to that corn maze next. Get the Jumper.”

“Can do!” Galen said. He hopped off the tank and pulled the garish sweater from his pocket.

“I'm giving you news guys one chance,” said Tsukiko. “This is going to be the world's greatest magic show. ...And it's also going to save the world, so that's another plus.”

“All right, all right,” Liz said. She and the cameraman exchanged some words in private. Tsukiko shook her head; she and Galen drove off towards the corn maze. In the end, the cameras were on Tsukiko only an instant before she deactivated the Tank Top.

“Honey...?”

Takehiko Takenaka heard his wife's voice from the living room. He finished pouring himself a drink before replying.

“What is it?” He asked.

“Well, I'm watching the news,” said Elizabeth. She paused for Takehiko to enter the room and face the television himself. “And our daughter is on TV.”

“Oh, wonderful!” Takehiko said, bouncing into the sofa beside Elizabeth.

“Yes, well, Tsukiko was driving a tank, absorbed it into her shirt, and then put on a sweater and hopped fifty feet into the air,” said Elizabeth. She waited for a reaction. When she didn't receive one, she added, “Honey... did you know about this already?”

“No, of course not!” Takehiko cried, too suddenly for it to be believable.

“Honey?”

“I had no idea she had a tank,” Takehiko clarified. He now addressed the TV. “Good luck, Tsuki!”

Pierre and Reign wandered around aimlessly through the corn maze. He could have sworn that he'd tried every possible direction, and still couldn't tell if any progress had been made. From the sounds of the rest of his crew, from within more distant parts of the labyrinth, Pierre could tell that he was not the only one struggling.

He turned a corner. It was a dead end.

“Zat is impossible!” Pierre cried. “Zis is ze direction we came from, is it not?”

Reign turned his head in confusion. Pierre sighed.

“I was not asking you, but I appreciate your input,” Pierre said.

Suddenly, among the countless voices of confusion and Pierre's own personal outbursts, a new sound echoed throughout the corn maze. Some not insignificant weight had landed upon the cage. Pierre tilted his head up, and saw a garishly bright pink fabric above him.

Tsukiko sat upon the dozen-foot-tall corn maze walls, wearing the Jumper.

“Hi, Pierre!” Tsukiko said. “I don't know about you, but when I play corn mazes, I cheat.”

Pierre chuckled.

“Zat is perfectly all right with me.”

“Good,” said Tsukiko. She stood up, took in a deep breath, and yelled across the maze. “Okay, everyone listen up! I'm on top of the maze, so I can see where you all are. The exit is on the north – er...”

Tsukiko gave a quick glance towards the setting sun.

“The south side,” She confirmed. “I've been watching and it looks like the passages change every minute or so. So everyone's gonna have to do what I say, and quickly, got it?”

“Ze passages change...” Pierre shook his head. “Of course zey do.”

“I saw something that looked like the dryad's main body!” One of the stagehands called from a distant passageway. “It was yellow... corn cob, I guess. Do you see it, Tsukiko?”

Tsukiko hopped around the maze's roof, scanning each nook and cranny of the labyrinth. With each hop, she gave a new direction to one of the stagehands below, leading them around the maze. It seemed to have no entrance nor exit at all, so Tsukiko's goal was more to bring the group together than it was to help them escape.

Eventually, she saw the dryad – a three-foot-tall cob of corn that waddled on roots to move through the maze. It had the same sort of glassy eyes that Tsukiko had first seen on the pumpkins and an eerie grin made of cream-coloured kernels. The way it moved reminded her of a sentient garden gnome she'd seen in an old TV commercial.

“Creepy thing,” Tsukiko muttered.

She drew Shiba Kariki from its sheathe. Tsukiko slashed a hole through the ceiling of the maze and dove for the corn gnome. The creature vanished into one of the walls. She slashed her way through and followed deeper into the maze.

Cheating is fun, Tsukiko thought, tearing through another wall.

Finally, the corn gnome stopped running. It held two long leaves towards Tsukiko, as if arms in a martial arts stance.

“Sorry, but I'm not one for hand-to-hand combat,” said Tsukiko, tightening her grip on Shiba Kariki.

Tsukiko sprinted towards the dryad. She brought the sword back over her head.

The walls around her began to move. It was clear to Tsukiko that the dryad could not only control the position of the passages, but also the width. The walls came towards her; the dryad's last-ditch effort to defend itself.

Tsukiko slashed the crushing walls away, continuing to charge the dryad. They came towards her faster than she could cut them down, but still she gained ground on the gnome. Finally, she reached sword's reach of the dryad.

One final slash would be all it would take. Both Tsukiko and the dryad knew this. The dryad moved to the walls – Tsukiko asked herself if it would disappear completely before her attack.

She purged the doubt from her mind and swung the sword.

Mid-swing, a stalk of corn emerged from the wall. It caught her ankle. She fell – the sword dropped from her hand. The blade passed harmlessly to the side of the dryad.

The last that Tsukiko saw of the corn gnome was the corn-faced equivalent of a victorious grin as it backed up, preparing to disappear into the wall behind it.

Unfortunately for the dryad, there was no wall behind it. Tsukiko's slash had hit its target, tearing away the wall separating their current passageway from the outside. And there, standing behind the dryad, was Galen.

“Misdirection,” said Tsukiko, as Galen punched the dryad into a thousand kernels. The corn maze around them withered and died.

Without the main obstacle gone, Tsukiko and Galen left Pierre and the others to reconvene with Vercingetorix. The two of them continued towards Yggdrasil.

A few meters from the fallen corn maze, Ravindra stared down the hot pepper dryad. He was now alone; the stagehands had since regained consciousness and fled the area. Ravindra was sure he wouldn't be able to protect him and fight the dryad at the same time, but now, he wasn't even sure he could even fight the dryad. The creature only looked a little worse for wear; Ravindra's flames had charred bits and pieces of the dryad, but still the ape-like creature stood strong.

Ravindra reached for his flask. He shook it, confirming that it was empty.

He clutched the torch in his hand – his only weapon left. Ravindra pictured running at the dryad, trying to smack it with the torch. He couldn't imagine it working, but what other choice did he have?

He took a step forward. Then he paused as a green camouflage tank drove into his view. Tsukiko and her Tank Top ran into the dryad. The vines twisted under Tsukiko's treads, but the tank kept lurching forward.

There was a sickening splattering noise, and then, the problem was solved.

“That felt good,” said Tsukiko.

Faced with this sight, Ravindra could only laugh.

The next target in Tsukiko's sights was the apple tree monster that Stiletto and Miss Isle were combating. When she approached the skirmish, Miss Isle was hanging onto the branches on the dryad's back, clinging on for dear life as the beast shook to and fro.

The dryad's ribcage was shattered; dark splotches told Tsukiko that it had been blasted open by Miss Isle's explosives. The heart inside the dryad had several of Stiletto's weapons embedded in it, but still pulsed freely.

“Ah,” said Stiletto, as the tank rolled by. “Just who I was hoping to see.”

Tsukiko deactivated the tank and Galen tossed her the Bow Tie ribbon.

“Hi Tsukiko-o-o!” Miss Isle yelled from the thrashing dryad's back.

“Sorry I'm late,” said Tsukiko, drawing the compound bow out of her neckwear. She drew a metallic arrow, pointing it towards the creature's heart. “Ready when you are.”

Stiletto shook her head.

“One of these days, you need to actually take archery lessons...” Stiletto muttered. She grabbed Tsukiko's arms and legs and adjusted her stance. “There. That's a stance that won't shred your nose off when you fire.”

“Thanks,” Tsukiko said dully.

“All right,” said Stiletto. She leaned over Tsukiko's arm, directing her vision across the shaft of the arrow. “Wait for my signal. You should be lined up with the heart right about...”

A pause.

“Now.”

There was no hesitation as Tsukiko released the bowstring. The dryad, still distracted by Miss Isle, did not even notice the arrow until it was embedded a foot into its heart. It gave one last low cry of defeat before collapsing.

Miss Isle's head popped out of the pile of lumber. She rose to her feet easily enough, but it was with a dizzy stagger that she approached Tsukiko and Stiletto.

“Nice shot!” She said, offering Tsukiko a high-five. Tsukiko returned it, but the force combined with the dizziness sent Miss Isle down to the ground on her back.

“I need a minute,” said Miss Isle.

“There's still a hundred dryads, we don't have a minute,” Stiletto said. She shook her head and looked towards the world tree. “I take it you're on that?” She asked Tsukiko.

“That's our next stop,” Tsukiko replied, gesturing towards herself and Galen.

“All right. We won't let a single dryad follow you.”

Tsukiko and Galen reached the end. Behind them, the battle continued. With their passing through the war, the tide of the conflict had changed, and now the sounds behind assured them that the Alesia Circus was ahead. With Pierre's team able to join Stiletto and Miss Isle, Ravindra moving to back up Vercingetorix and Henry being able to rejoin the battle soon, Tsukiko was sure that the circus could handle most of the dryads.

The one exception stood before her – Yggdrasil.

The tree was impossibly massive, and it only continued looking more massive as Tsukiko and Galen walked. The roots that sank deep through the concrete were like trees in their own right, towering over the two of them. It seemed that the tree's roots had their own defence mechanisms; they were covered in thorns so vicious and sharp they looked like barbed wire.

After some unknown distance, Tsukiko and Galen reached a point where they could go no further. The sounds of the battle behind them were gone.

“Hey, Tsuki,” said Galen. He jerked his thumb to their right. “Look at that.”

It was as if the roots were providing them a second path. While the left path was still a sheer wall of foliage and spikes, the right path looked harmless. Tsukiko could see the rest of the city; tall buildings undisturbed by the battle and unaffected by the dryads.

She may not have known it, but that was Tsukiko's final chance to escape everything. If she had chosen to flee down that path to the right and run from the dryads and the circus, she could have lived a calm and quiet life. She would have never seen a dryad for the rest of her life, nor would she have ever had to pick up a weapon again.

Instead, Tsukiko turned to the left-hand path.

“How are we going to get through this?” Galen asked. “It looks kind of big, even for the Tank Top.”

“Yeah, the Tank Top won't be enough,” Tsukiko said.

She put her hand onto Yggdrasil's trunk.

“Galen,” She said. “Give me the Death Robe.”

#dressed to kill #original fiction #tsukiko

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dietaku · 5 years

Text

Chapter 6: Video Games Have the Deepest Lore

I’ve been wanting to do this chapter for a while, so I hope you enjoy it! Also, Adventures of Hourai High is not only real, it’s perhaps my favorite SNES jRPG. It’s definitely worth checking out!

I stood up, dusting myself off, as I spied the quiet hamlet we tumbled into. A quaint village lay before us, with three large buildings standing before us. As I looked back at my friends, Zechs groaned.

“I landed on my keys,” he whimpered, removing his shades as he staggered to his feet. Jake loomed over him, arms crossed, as he helped Errin and Potato up.

“Zechs, about that motorbike, is that the ChromeBuster?” he asked, as Zechs nodded.

“Yup!” he beamed.

“Zechs,” Jake sighed, uncrossing his arms just to knead his brow,”WHY are you using a real cash item like the ChromeBuster?”

“B-because I liked the aesthetic. Plus, I got a special on the items, and I got the platinum gems, and...Oh crap, I shouldn't have told you that,” Zechs muttered, as Jake loomed over him.

“Zechs, did you have platinum gems, and you didn't tell us?” Jake asked pointedly.

“Um...Yes?”

“And you forced me to work for more?” I joined in, as Zechs stepped back from us.

“W-Well, I didn't want to spend my hundred thou on stuff for the guild. That was for me,” he protested, as Jake, Potato and I looked at each other, then back to him. Only Errin and Jun, patting each other down and laughing at their good fortune for surviving, didn't join in the unspoken judgment of our Breaker.

Jake then kneaded his brow once more, and said some incredibly rude things to Zechs, which naturally drew Jun's attention.

“Ms. Errin, what does it mean to F*** a goat like the dirty W*** you are, you cantankerous C***?” he asked, as Errin shook her head rapidly.

“Good boys shouldn't use those words,” she said, as he nodded gravely, understanding the temerity of Zechs' transgression. I sighed, shaking my head.

“Does this mean I don't need to 'earn' my keep now?” I asked tersely, as Jake shoot his head.

“No, this one will, though,” Jake growled, pulling Zechs up by the scuffs of his coat.

“Please, no! I wouldn't survive working with my body!” he wailed, as Jake laughed cruelly.

“Oh, don't worry, you'll earn your keep from here,” Jake pointed cruelly down to Zechs' backside as he went white with fear.

“Y-You don't mean--”

“Oh, for the love of---I mean your wallet, you dingus!” Jake corrected, as Zechs sighed with relief. I ignored the continuing banter as I looked up. Before me sprawled a large city square, hemmed in by three large objects. Before me rose a dense forest of fir trees, and bizarre reddish shrubs I couldn't put a name to. The lone path inside this dense bramble marked the spot as the meeting site of the Wardens of Nature. To its left loomed a Gothic castle, made all the more spooky by its apparent emptiness. Despite seemingly abandoned, the masonry looked in god repair, and even several of the gargoyles were patched with fresh cement. The welcome mat before the castle gate denoted it the home of the Soldiers of Virtue. To my right stood a dilapidated stone building. With crumbling walls, hoary bronze gates and two wizened lion statues guarding its doors, the sad plaque emblazoned on the gate identified the site as the meeting place of the Scholars of Wisdom..

“So, this is what the princess meant by the three Great Societies, I suppose,” I mused, as the others caught up with me,” Did you all know about this?”

Jake and Potato nodded, while Zechs shrugged, and Errin and Jun looked at each other quizzically.

“Of course I knew about Treisegen. I was honestly wondering when we were going to end up here. Potato and are both Soldiers of Virtue. What Society are you part of, Zechs? Jake asked, as Zechs coughed.

“Well, I, uh, y'know...The thing is, I'm very busy, and....I never joined any,” Zechs admitted, not looking at him.

“Well, you are today. You're gonna join the Soldiers of Virtue! Where are you headed, then, Dieter?”

I tapped my chin,” I'm not too wild on the Soldiers of Virtue or Scholars of Wisdom. I guess I'll settle for the Wardens of Nature.”

“I suppose I ought to join the Scholars of Wisdom,” Errin said, as Jun trotted behind her,” And I suppose Jun is coming with me?”

“Yes, I want to learn,” he grinned, as I chuckled, tousling his hair.

“You listen to Ms. Errin, okay?” I told him, as he excitedly nodded, trotting off as I waved.

“We'll let you get situated, and we can plan further tonight,” Jake called, as I gave him a thumbs up. Trotting off onto the path into the woods, I soon found myself in a small clearing, where a skinny bald man lounged on a tall rock before me. He was notable partially for his seat, but what really drew my attention was his striking garb; his modesty held by a furry tiger loincloth.

“Oi, you here to join up?” he asked, as I nodded.

“You know, this place is, like, serious and stuff, it's not just a place for orgies and the like,” he called, as I shot him a glare.

“What was that for?”

“Oh, nothing,” he waved off my retort,” Just most Floof Clanners who join clique up and just want to spend all their time together rather than partaking in Nature's sweet mysteries.”

I crossed my arms,” I've no interest all that. Show me what you got.”

He grinned,” That's what I like to hear. Follow me.”

Leading me through the forest along a small path, he stopped as the forest opened up around a large pool of...

“Mud?” I asked, scanning the clearing. Before me was a pit of bubbling gray emitting a pungent odor. Feeling dizzy just being around this bubbling pit, the man sighed.

“Oh, it's no good. No good, no sirree,” He grumbled.

“What's no good?”

As if to answer his question the mud rumbled, and a large beast rose out of the mud, a gigantic, squat beast with dark fur. It yawned, revealing broad, flat teeth from its grand, bulbous maw.

“A Hippopotomuds,” the man warned,” It moved into the mud beds since the last time we initiated a new member. You better rough it up to get it out of here.”

“I suppose,” I frowned, rolling up my sleeves as I strode forward. My fist swirled with the chill of air sucking away; the skill I learned in my battle with Marmalade.

“FIRST ATTACK! VACUUM FIST,” I roared, hitting the beast cleanly with my skill. I felt my skill reverberate through my foe's thick body, as it lazily looked up at me, and smacked me away with its large head.

“Ugh, I guess this means I was correct after all. Vaccum Fist really is useless after all. Take that, Jake!” I grimaced, jumping to my feet and back into the battle. “SCREAMING JETTER KICK,” I hissed, battering the muddy monster with explosive kicks. Alighting back on my feet from my tempestuous fusillade of strikes, I clenched my fist. Now, this is the end, baddy! BRUTAL SHRIKE DA--! I managed as my fist lurched back, as if hitting an invisible barrier,” BRUTAL SHRIKE DA--. BRUTAL SHRIKE DA--! WHY ISN'T THIS WORKING?” I wailed, as I looked through my vision at my Art Cells, now completely filled with arrows. In my haste, I completely forgot about the limitations of Art Cells.

“You okay?” the man called, as I snorted.

“This is nothing,” I smirked, dong my best to hide my worry. Art Cells degenerated after ten seconds, and I currently possessed nine. To do my most basic skill, Screaming Jetter Kick, required two. Making the next twenty seconds the most critical to my well-being The Hippopotomuds rose from the mud, and snorted, its glare zeroing on me, as it slowly stomped forward, shaking its large head menacingly. Leaping aside did little as its snout caught me, hurling me into a tree. Using the momentum, I jumped back into action, only to be batted aside.

“Perhaps boasting about this wasn't the best thing,” I muttered, stabbing myself in the chest with Kindly Jab. Thankful my team skills didn't require any Art Cells, I looked up at my Art Cell Line, just in time to see two open up. Grinning manically, I leaped forward with a madman, sweeping forward with my kick.

“SCREAMING. JETTER. KICK,” I keened, slamming my kick into the beast as it groaned in pain. Slowly rising, it shuffled off, as I stood victorious.

“Yeah, you better run!” I called, turning to the man,” So, what's with this mud, anyways?”

“Oh, you just need to bathe in the mud. That way you'll receive Nature's blessing upon you.”

“And this isn't anything weird?”

He laughed,” Oh, no, not weird at all!”

I sighed with relief and looked over the steaming cauldron of mud for a moment, before removing my gi and shoes as I turned back around, finding the man casually watching me.

“...What are you doing?” I asked testily.

“Just ensuring you're actually entering the mud properly. You really ought to wear as little as possible,” he opined, as I snorted. I wasn't removing my bindings and fundoshi.

“Whatever, weirdo,” I grumbled, slipping into the mud.

“My name is actually Gribbs. I'm the guide to the Wardens. Now, relax and enjoy your initiation, newbie,” he cackled, disappearing into the brush. As I settled into the mud, I sighed, enjoying the warmth on my bare skin as I sighed contentedly. Despite the odd smell, the mud felt nice and the pleasant morning sun shone pleasantly upon me. Slipping deeper into the mud, I felt more and more lightheaded, as the sunbeams danced and visions shone before my eyes. A pair of women stood over me, arguing with each other, shoving each other back and forth, one an auburn haired Floof with an impressive set of tails, while the other I recognized as Ayin He, the War Goddess. The pair shrieked at one another in a language I couldn't make out, before they disappeared as swiftly as they appeared. In their stead, I saw the auburn haired Floof woman once more, surrounded by adoring human women adorned in beautiful silk gowns. They were soon replaced by an ever increasing procession of Floof men and women, which finally ended in a man and woman who included Deegal's mother. The others disappeared, and Deegal's mother revealed a small bundle from behind her, as the two looked despondent. Eventually, the man left, leaving the woman in her own despair. However, just as she too left, a flash of sunlight hit the small bundle, and a tiny arm rose up, from its depths grasping at her. Realizing what happened, Deegal's mother scooped up the bundle crying tears of joy, and I realized what it all meant.

I was that bundle. Oh, God. Does this mean.....

Before I could continue this train of thought, new visions assaulted me; a tower in the center of a bustling nation, with happy, contented people, only to be swept aside by waves of flame and descending angels. Those who survived were branded with painful reminders of this transgression, as the Earth itself was slowly scoured. Then, ten stars alighted in the sky, and as quickly as it began, this apocalypse ended. Further visions haunted me, from a distinguished Loppo woman garbed in silver and red robes descending to a city of pagodas and fearful Pan'Tou. Then, at last, a single Loppo fell from the moon gracefully, to a grand city with a castle and a sprawling city, which I recognized as Grafzou.

“So, this is it, then. I'm just a magnet for bad luck, then. First I can't even be born correctly, and now this Loppo man from before. It seems there is no rest for me,” I thought,” Well, excpt maybe Jun. He's a good boy.”

I floated in this pleasant fugue for what seemed like hours before I blinked in the evening sun, as I felt the mud shift beside me. Rising to my full height, I gasped when I saw my neighbor. Beside me sat Dennis, grinning at me sleepily.

“Why do you always show up whenever I pass out?” I demanded, as Dennis tapped her cheek thoughtfully.

“I dunno! Why do you keep passing out around me?” she asked, nonchalantly.

I snorted,” Whatever, what do you want, anyways?”

“How rude! I'm a Warden of Nature, too! I just saw you in the pool of initiation, and I thought I'd join you,” she smiled, flashing a ring on her finger.

“What's with that ring?”

“Oh, this?” she smiled,” This is the Eternal Communion Ring you gave me, to symbolize our union.”

“Our what?” I asked.

“Our Union. When you were celebrating your adulthood with Pai Zuri, you and I enjoyed some time together, and it was then you told me,” I'm sorry you've been alone. You're really pretty when you smile, I'll be there with you. Forever.” You then gave me this ring as a symbol of this promise. I decided to let you have some time to yourself. I'm a kind wife, you see,” she smiled, as I blanched,” Oh, do you want to be the wife, then?”

“I...No,” I sighed. I didn't recall anything about that night, save my attempts to sing Qwest. I know, I know, it was cliche choice, but if I didn't sing “Don't Stop Doubting” badly, then who would? Still, this just raised more questions than it answered, and my concern must;ve showed on my face, as worry crossed over her face, as she fidgeted with her hands hurriedly.

“So...Are you denying it?” she ventured, as I shook my head slowly.

“No. I won't take back that if I did tell you that. Do whatever you want. I-I just don't remember, is all,” I mumbled. If I did tell her that, then who was I to back out now? That was the way my arents taught me, so I'd stick to my word, even if I regretted whatever drunken promises I made. Donning my clothes as I climbed out of the pool, they quickly slipped off my skin,” W-what the hell?”

Dennis giggled, pointing at my shoulder, now covered in a faint green swirling tattoo. Sure enough such flourishes covered my body as I looked myself over.

“Those are Nature Seals, the mark of initiation into the Wardens of Nature. To have those upon your body counts as clothing. You can only be garbed with very special and specific clothing,” she replied, as my heart sank.

“And how do I remove these, then?”

“You have to be fully initiated into the Wardens of Nature. Then they'll disappear.”

“Oh,” I sighed. Looking over my gear, I found only one armor was compatible with the Nature Seals: Aharel's Maidservant String. I groaned inwardly as I donned the slinky garment, Looking myself over, It seemed everything was in order, even if I suspected I was barely R-rated. Dennis looked me over with a small smirk, before tossing her blue cloak over herself.

“h, it's easy for you. You have a cloak,” I growled, as she tossed it off.

“What does it matter? We're here in the Wardens of Nature. No one will arrest us, and it's not like I'll catch cold. I'm an Ishtar Theurge. Why bother with the judgment of others? You're strong and beautiful, so take comfort in that,” she shrugged.

“D-do you really mean that?” I whispered.

“Of course! You and I are linked now. I would never lie to you,” she smiled, as I paused, thinking on her words.

“She's right. We're only with other Wardens here. Besides, what does it matter what others think? I'm the strongest among my party, anyways! I should enjoy this new freedom!” I thought. My epiphany must've shown on my face as Dennis brightened as well.

“C'mon, I want to see more of this place,” I motioned for her, rushing off into the woods. She and I ran through the woods, coming across numerous other Wardens as they contemplated Nature, planted trees or enjoyed the sun through the boughs of the trees. After frolicking, we finally sat down on a grassy hill and listened to Gribbs speak to several other Wardens below us.

“Nature itself has no morals, merely accepting what is. It is for this reason alone that we must preserve it. Humanity has its morals and values, and that is fine, but the only moral Nature teaches us is Life is sacred and must be preserved. This of course means other lives must end, but that is the beauty of Nature, to see that those with Will, Luck and Strength live. So, Life and the pursuit of its continuation is the one Virtue we espouse. All others are your own personal goals, and will be accepted as Nature accepts all, but do not confuse your own values with that of Nature's Will,” he warned, droning on and on about such philosophical points. As the sun dipped beneath the horizon, I left the woods alongside Dennis, as I found the others camping around a small fire.

“Oh, wow, Dieter. I didn't know it was my birthday,” Zechs called, looking up as I paused, unsure what he meant. Dennis giggled, and as his meaning dawned on me, I growled back at him loudly.

“Momma, why are you dressed like you're gong to the beach?” Jun asked, as I knelt down and tousled his hair.

“I had to do some things today near some mud pits. I didn't want to get my clothes dirty, I explained, as I scowled.

“I wanna t'go to the beach, too,” he grumbled.

I patted him on the head,” When we're done here, we can go to the beach.”

“You promise?”

I beamed,” I promise!”

“Oooooh, who is this?” Dennis asked, sidling up beside me.

“I'm Jun. I'm a Rancher. Who are you?” He asked bluntly.

“She's a friend of mine, Jun. I want you to be her friend, too, okay?”

He nodded, rummaging through his pocket, before revealing a glass rose he handed to Dennis.

“A Porcelain Rose! You can only find those in the Subterranean Depths! Thank you, you're quire the gentleman,” she patted him on the head as he chuckled proudly.

“Once again, the little kid gets all the attention,” Zechs grumbled.

“Well, then, what did you learn from your time with the Soldiers of Virtue?” I asked.

Zechs shrugged,” Not much. I was taken to their inner sanctum and told about their history. Then I saw the mausoleum of their four founders, and saw their mummies. You'd never guess it, but they were these weird Qwibon-man things. And they all had extremely radical names, too, like Thomas, George, John and Benjamin.”

“Things were different back during the Green Age, Zechs. Lots of things were different,” Jake stated sagaciously, as Errin looked up from her soup, clearly impressed.

“Oh? That's very impressive that you know all that,” she called, as Jake shrugged.

“I just know that since I read all the fluff text for items and quests. Unlike these two,” he scowled, pointing at Zechs and myself.

“Hey! I have things I gotta do! I don't care what dead guy decided to mix mushrooms and Healing Herbs together to make potions,” I countered, as Jake shook his head.

“Then what have you learned?” he asked.

I paused, choosing my words as I spoke,” I...I realized we may not be in a game. This may be entirely real.”

“Bullshit,” Jake spat,” Entirely bullshit. How can this be real? This isn't the real world, and all this magic, these gods and demons? How can any of this be real?”

“Yes,I know! It's crazy, but, Jake, listen! I've seen things. I've met Deegal's mother, and I honestly think this may be a real world all its own. There's too many little things that tell me this! The trash on the street, the way people talk to us, the fact that they have bathrooms! Do you even REMEMBER a game that has bathrooms coded in?”

“Adventures of Hourai High has bathrooms,” Zechs pointed out.

“I....Yeah, you're right. Still! I think this is bigger than we initially thoguth,” I said, as Jake arched a brow.

“Then what do you suggest?”

“I dunno. I guess revisit Princess Catalina. She's the reason we headed this way ourselves,” I muttered, as Errin nodded.

“I'm beginning to feel the same way as Dieter. I noticed in my time here I've begun to recall things I would never -could never- know. Yet, I do. What does this all mean? I searched for answers during my time with the Scholars of Wisdom, but alas, nothing has come up,” she sighed,” In any case, I need to get up early, so I'll be turning in soon. Good Night.”

With that, Errin waved, and began unrolling her bedroll, as Jake nodded,” She raises a good point. I'll see you all tomorrow.”

With that, Jake, Zechs and the others wandered off to their own corners of the small clearing, collapsing asleep in their bedrolls, as Potato and I sat alone around the embers of the fire.

“So...You gonna explain to me why Jake things you're a guy?” I asked finally.

Potato looked up, removing her large top hat,“You're a guy. You wouldn't understand.”

“Oh? Go ahead, try me.”

Potato coughed, her voice becoming a fluty tone,”When I met Jake, he was a weakling who had no sense of the game or its mechanics. In spite of this, he tried his very best and never gave up, even when death looked him square in the eye. Because of this, He....He...I wanted to help him. I made a new character and everything, and even crafted this new persona as 'One of the guys' to help him, all because I loved seeing him sparkle so, growing and learning. All this for m, this is nothing. I love numbers and I love games. I'm a programmer in real life. I make websites and the like. Figuring out the underlying logic of Slidelands was simple. However, Jake didn't see it like that. He saw it as a world, and that's why I want to help him...”

“Because you want it to actually be a real world, don't you?”

Potato covered her face as her cheeks grew a deep crimson,” Y-yes, but there's other reasons.”

“O-oh. Oh God,” I snickered,” You-you actually like him, don't you?”

“See!” she squeaked, covering her face,” You don't understand! I told you!”

“Now, now,” I patted her on the back,” It's cool. I getcha.”

“Why are you so buddy-buddy with me, anyways, then? You trying to seduce him, too?” she whispered.

I snorted,” No. Absolutely not. Jake is a friend, and that's where that ends. However, you seem nice enough, and hey, it's cool you opened up to me like you did. If you need a wingma—erm, wingwoman, then I'll help you out!”

Potato wiped her eyes,”Thank you. I appreciate that. I guess I ought to have known a DPS like you would get it.”

“I—Huh?” I asked, as Potato giggled, waving as she too wandered off to bed. I sighed, tossing out my bedroll, as both Jun and Dennis sidled beside me. I fell asleep sandwiched between two squirming Floofs as I swiftly fell asleep.

I spent the next few days learning the ways of the Wardens of Nature, meditating in the woods, picking berries and listening to Gribbs' rambling diatribes about the aspects of Nature and the underlying sense of it all. No new epiphanies came to me during this time, but after performing a an afternoon of yoga, Gribbs approached me.

“You've done well, but now is the time for you to prove yourself. You must face the guardian of the forest, Humbaba.”

“He doesn't sound so tough. I'll take care of this,” I smirked, as Dennis trotted beside me.

“I'm not so sure, Deegal! Humbaba is a Divine Beast, tasked by Aleph Lamed to terrorize Humanity since antiquity! He won't be so easily cowed!” she pleaded.

“What do you suggest, then?” I arched my brow. What strange advice would she offer me? She rummaged in her cloak before producing a small pouch, offering it to me,” This is a small charm I made. It will boost your Luck.”

I took the amulet, not wishing to tell her my Luck was among my higher attributes,” Thank you. I'll wear it for you.”

I tied the amulet to my waist straps and trotted along behind Gribbs as Dennis waved me off We traveled together for an indeterminate time, as the Sun hid behind the boughs above us, with just flecks of light falling through the rare spaces in that dense armor from the sky. We walked along, till reaching a clearing, where Gribbs stepped aside. I blinked in the bright light, as I stepped back in fright. Before me sat a gigantic man-thing. He possessed the body and limbs of a human, but he was easily as tall as a two story house, and his head was that of a glowering lion, mane and all. Immediately spotting me as I jumped back, his attention turned to the pair of us as he shifted to face us.

“Gribbs, who is this you bring to me? Another play-thing to torture?”

“Master Humbaba, this is the latest supplicant to our order. I merely ask that you test her, to see if she is worthy of our order's inner secrets,” Gribbs asked, as Humbaba laughed. Standing, he loomed over even the treeline, as he looked down as me, his breath now hot and smoky.

“Small child, you stand before me a supplicant, then? Yet you also are a demigod, one of Hu Shian's despicable children. I will enjoy this,” he sneered, as he roared, a flash of flame and roaring steam spewing towards me. Leaping out of the way, I danced from Tree to tree as his offensive continued, sweeping his arm along, smashing over the trees. I hopped above his trundling barricade of flesh, running along its length until delivering a hearty Vacuum Fist to his cheek.

“GOTCHA!” I cheered, as Humbaba groaned in pain, before snatching me out of the air. Squeezing me in one hand, he gloated with a rumbling chuckle as his grip about me tightened.

“Little demigod, even with the divinity your bloodline gives you, you are nothing compared to me! I was granted seven terrors to array myself against you and all the other humans! Just skitter off to the rest of your disgusting race!”

“N-no,” I wheezed, as I felt my muscles and bones squeezed, bones cracking, muscles screaming out in pain. In this moment, my mind blanked, and I Bit his finger harshly. He howled in pain, loosening his grip as I let the flaring call of World Ogre's Mask overtake me.

“I dunno where you get off just mocking me like that, but I won't stand it,” I hissed, as I felt the pain of Alluring Tail Whirlwind. I stepped towards the giant with but one thought running through my mind; to destroy this monster utterly. He paused, stepping back himself as he flexed his fingers towards me.

“An impressive display, but your disgusting magic means nothing to me! Die in your own mind,” he cried, as a flash of flame covered me. Ignoring this torrent of heat, my temper flared. Lunging forward with several of my tails, I felt my power surge ever higher as “World Ogre Cleaver” flashed on my action menu. Whatever magic he employed cracked before him as spectral blades materialized about my tails, as he stepped back once more.

“What. Is. THIS? Destruction of Magic? Only a god could achieve such a feat! I-Lady Ayin,” he gasped, as I screwed up my face, my tails firing forward, slashing him with cruel slashes. He collapsed to his knees before me.

“Lady Ayin, I apologize. I didn't realize you were reborn. Please forgive this impudent slave,” he grovelled. I blinked, and my Rage dissipated like the fog on a sunny day. I scanned my menu and found my health barely at half.

“But World Ogre Mask only triggers if I'm at critical levels? What happened?” I thought, before realizing Humbaba still lay prostrate before me,” Ah, well, you are forgiven. Now, do I pass your test?”

“Huh? Oh, yes. You pass, of course,” Humbaba rose,” Gribbs give this one the lessons. I must return to the Cedar Forests. If Lady Ayin has returned, then her temple must be rebuilt.”

“Oh. Very well, then,” I called, turning to Gribbs as he looked at me with both awe and surprise.

“Very well, then, come along,” he motioned, as I trotted along behind him.

“Do you know why we gave you the Nature Seals when you first joined us?” he asked.

“No, what was that all about?”

“We bury our initiates in mud as their first task as symbolic of how, much a like a seed, they are beginning their journeys towards understanding. Then, we expose you all to the flames and danger of Humbaba in order to force you to grow. All those who cannot make it, well...” Gribbs looks away..

“You had them killed?”

Gribbs sighed,” Nature can be cruel, but fair. We like to think we're adopting her methods. With that, though.” He whispered a series of hushed syllables, and the tattoos along my body vanished.

“You don't mean,” I cried.

“Yes, you are free to wear clothes again, as a full Warden of Nature,” Gribbs declared, nodding, as I cheered. Donning my old gi, I spun about triumphantly, rushing towards the exit as Dennis perked up at my arrival.

“Oh! You made it! I mean, I knew you would, but....Well,” She mumbled, as I laughed.

“It wasn't anything,” I guffawed, putting Humbaba's strange surrender out of mind,” Now, c'mon, let's get the others.”

As we returned to the forum, we found ourselves alone, save for other Player Characters milling about. Meditating as a way to pass the time and raise my Holiness Skill, which raises my Spirit, I soon fell asleep, as a presence loomed over me, before I blinked awake, finding Jake and Zechs standing over me.

“I didn't figure you'd be goofing off so early in the day,”Jake mused, as I leaped to my feet.

“I was training! Meditating to raise my Spirit!” I countered.

“Yeah, sure. You drooling on yourself while meditating is a thing, too, right?” Zechs observed, as I shot him a glare.

“What do you guys want, anyways?” I asked, wiping my mouth.

“We just got Zechs initiated into the Soldiers of Virtue. If you want to continue elsewhere, then we can,” Jake explained.

“I was initiated early this morning. It's just the Grandmaster who had to go on and on with the prayers, benedictions, and rites for hours and hours on end aft—OWOWOWOW! WHAT WAS THAT FOR?” Zechs complained, as Jake slapped him upside the head with an armored hand.

“Those 'prayers and benedictions' were to extol you to further glory! Something you should've took to heart,” Jake growled. Before Zechs could reply, Jun bounded over him, crashing him to the floor as he rushed to my side, proudly presenting me with a diploma.

“Look! Look! I'm official now! I'm a smart!” he beamed, as I looked over the paper.

“This certifies Jun as a proper and rightful Scholar of Wisdom, fully certified to explore and plum the depths of all mysteries of this world and others. Wow, congratulations,” I patted him on the head, as Errin chuckled, walking up beside us.

“Indeed, despite his lack of schooling, his sense of logic and deductive reasoning are exemplary. Now, we're both licensed as Scholars What do we do now?” Errin asked.

“We need to get back to Grafzou. I need to talk to Princess Catalina and see for myself if my theory is correct,” I said.

“Oh?” Jake asked.

“Yes. I need to find out for myself if this really is a game or not,” I said.

Jake snorted,” There's no need. This is obviously a game.”

“But if you want to get from here back to Grafzou, then I recommend going along the Air Line bridge,” Potato interrupted, hopping down from a nearby tree,” It won't remove the need to travel along the Veeya Stream entirely, but it will cut off a good portion of the way, making it quicker. There's something else I remember is important, but....I can't recall what, though.”

“Well, then that settles it. Let's take this Air Line Bridge,” I declared as the others followed along,” One thing, though, where is it?”

Potato coughed politely, and took the lead, leading us off from the courtyard through a path to the east, crossing over a forested trail that weaved its way through the rocks and crags of the uneven terrain, painted with the falling leaves of the nearby trees. We traveled silently in this way for some times, as we came along a long narrow bridge made of woven metallic ropes seemingly pulled straight up from the ground itself. Walking along the platform of the bridge hesitantly as it vaulted at a steep grade up, I found, despite its narrow construction, it was of solid construction, and I soon forgot my dears, enjoying the view, all until the clouds about us parted and I spotted a lone figure before us.

“Oh. Now, I remember, “ Potato breathed.

“What? What is it?” I demanded.

Potato raised her trumpet,” This is the thing I was worried about.”

“What?”

“Ricky Raccoon,” she hissed.

“WHAT?” I demanded flatly as the figure approaching us came into focus. A roughly humanoid figure trotted forward, dressed in leather pantaloons and flamboyant red vests, covered in dark grey fur with a raccoon head, about as tall as Jun.

“Oh! Oh! OOOH! A bevy of beauties approaches me on my bridge! Well, I must've been a good boy in my last life! Oh, wait, I wasn't!” he cackled, as Jake sighed.

“What's your deal, little man?”

“I'm Ricky Raccoon, a Divine Beast formed by dear Lady Bet Mem! This bridge is my charge and I must charge those how travel along it! Now, if you want to, then I'll take one of your ladies, if you please,” he grinned maniacally, as I snorted.

“No chance,” I growled, as I rushed forward. As I shot ahead, I swung at his face. However, as my fist brushed his fur, he melted out of my sight, as I felt someone patting my backside.

“Mm, excellent, excellent. I prefer Loppo girls, but no one can deny the classics,” he chortled, as I spun about, slapping his hand as he wove out of sight again, dancing on the railing.

“NO ONE CAN HIT ME! NO ONE CAN HIT ME! NO ONE! WHOA-” he mocked, as Jake swung his hammer wildly at the weaving trickster,” You almost had me!”

“You slippery eel!” Jake roared, prompting only further laughter from Ricky Raccoon.

“Jake, keep calm! He's using an auto-evade skill, we can't just charge in blindly,” Potato called, as Jake fumed so badly, steam rose from his breathing slits.

“ABSOLUTE BATTLEFIELD MURDEROUS INTENT!” He roared, as a wash of killing intent flooded the air like a tsunami of solidified bad feeling, sending shivers down my spin, as Ricky Raccoon Leaped into the air.

“YOU! You did it! You did it! But, you have to know!, YOU CAAAAAAAN'T STOP THE RICKY!” He sang in a calliopean tenor. I grabbed my ears instinctively as the blast of the singing sent me flying backwards off the bridge. Hanging on the railing desperately, his pitch rose to an atonal wail, as I winced, grabbing my ears without thinking, and realized my mistake as I fell. Whistling through the air, I blacked out, presumably falling to my doom.

I awoke with Jun and Dennis hovering over me, as the pair sighed.

“Did we lose?” I croaked, as Dennis nodded slowly.

“We all got tossed off the bridge by that monster's bad singing,” she sighed, as I rose. I found we were in a simply furnished inn room, as Jun and Dennis rushed to my side.

“We're in the village of Feite right now, a small hamlet parallel to the Air Line. According to the locals we can get back on the Air Line if we cross northwest, but...As we are, there's no much we can do,” Dennis sighed.

“Oh?”

“Yes. I have no way to attack an auto-evading foe, and it seems like you don't, either,” Dennis frowned, as I nodded. I had no clue that such a benefit was even possible.

“Can you do anything about it, Jun?” I asked, as he shook his head.

“Rancher is a utility class. I can buff you all, but attacking isn't much I can do. Especially with that much Air energy around. Most of my attack Skills are Earth-based,” he said,” Sorry.”

“Potato, Jake, Errin and Zechs, seem to have a plan, though,” Dennis offered, as we found our fiends around a table on the first level, with Zechs lifting a bizarre sword. Its hilt was nothing special, but its blade was that of a meter stick.

“Now, Zechs, be careful, this weapon is incredibly dangerous,” Jake warned,” It will apply Sure Hit to all your skills, so if you use Area of Effect attacks, you WILL hit everyone within the area.”

“No need to worry, all my best skills are single target. Now, time to test this guy out! What is this sword's name, anyways?” Zechs asked, testing its balance.

“The Absolute Metric--”

“No matter. I'll call it the Frank Glabzarios,” Zechs interrupted, as Jake pursed his lips.

“Why did you ask if you were just gonna ignore me?” Jake demanded, as Zechs raised his sword, as the jar of cookies on the far shelf shot into his hands.

“OH BOY!” Zechs grinned, as he turned to me,” Oh, Dieter!”

“Hi--” I managed, as Zechs appeared before me, massaging my chest roughly, before warping back to his seat,” W-WHAT WAS THAT?”

“Nice, really nice,” Zechs grinned, as Jun nearly fell over out of shock.

“WHAT THE HELL, ZECHS?” Jake roared, as Errin shook her head, chuckling.

“I'm not sure what you expected, Jake,” Potato offered, sipping her tea.

“ZECHS, H-HE JUST MOVED THE WAY RICKY DID,” I squeaked, as Potato shook her head.

“Zechs didn't move. You did. This weapon, the Frank Glabzarios, applies Sure Hit, so if something is targeted, it will be hit by the user,” she explained.

“It's the Absolute Metric,” Jake sighed.

“Yeah, yeah, whatever. I will be sure to use this weapon for great morality, just like the Grandmaster told me!” Zechs cried

“He said to use your power to protect others, not...grope people. Goddammit, Zechs,” Jake sighed, as Zechs teleported out of his seat and to the door.

“I'll be off training. See you all later!” Zechs called.

“We better follow him. Who knows what he's going to do with that much power,” Jake sighed, as Errin and Potato followed him out the door.

“Are you hurt? Do you need anything?” Dennis cooed, as I waved her off.

“I don't need anything. Just...I need warning from stupid stuff like that,” I sighed, as I followed the others outside.

The next few hours saw Zechs abusing space and time, as he warped about the small hamlet. Jun remained spooked as Zechs zipped about him. I secretly suspected he was doing it on purpose, but I didn't voice my opinions. Eventually, Zechs tired of his tomfoolery.

“Okay, okay, I think I got a hand for the Frank Glabzarios-”

“Absolute Metric,” Called Jake.

“Whatever. LET'S GO!” He cried, as we followed behind. Soon we fond ourselves back onto the Air Line, and before long, back against Ricky.

“You're back. Will you give me my toll?” he leered, as Zechs laughed.

“Hardly, you mutt! I'm gonna flay you alive so we don't have to listen to your singing! Seriously, it was like listening to a drowning cat on a blackboard!” he taunted, as Ricky paused. A bloody aura enveloped him, as Zechs reached for the Frank Glabzarios' hilt, as a cracking sound rang out and he winced.

“Zechs, what was that?” Jake asked.

“Promise to not get mad?” He asked.

“WHAT DID YOU DO?”

“THE FRANK GLABZARIOS BROKE, OKAY?” Zechs cried.

“YOU IDIOT! That was our one shot at beating this guy It took me three hours to make that sword!” Jake roared, wringing Zechs by the neck, as Ricky leaped forward, lunging and removing their heads with a clean sweep of his paw.

“YOU INSULTED MY SINGING! YOU'LL WATER MY BRIDGE WITH YOUR BLOOD!” He screamed, as I scampered backwards, falling over my feet as Errin, Dennis and Jun all fell prey to Ricky's attack, before he slowly turned to me.

“Now, where were we? Oh! Oh! Oh! What do you think of my sing--” he managed as a boom roared out across the bridge as he collapsed to the floor with a smoking hole through his torso.

Out of the fog a new figure stepped forward. Dressed in a red leather coat, fashionable red trousers, and high boots, with a broad stetson perched on her head. This Loppo lass looked over her handiwork with a satisfied smile.

“You can 'bang' that!” she chuckled in a cutesy voice, as she coughed roughly, blood dripping from her lips,” Oh, god. That was harder than I thought.” I stared, partially out of shock, but also at my savior's name.

FluffyStar

[Neutron Drifter]

Level 12,345.69

#Adventure #fantasy #fiction #mmorpg #Photon Breaker Zechs

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providentially-demonic · 6 years

Text

The Perfect Christmas

My Christmas gift for @morsprocella. Hope you enjoy it!

Sometimes it was hard to know what Arthur was thinking, even after reconciliations had been made and the relationship between the three of them had made its first tentative steps in a new direction. The joy that had lit his face when they had all confessed their feeling for each other had been unfeigned and blinding.

But Arthur had lost a lot of the more carefree attitude that Lewis remembered him having. He was a little skittish, though he did his best to hide it.

So that was what was making his current overly-cheery attitude a little disturbing.

He was wearing a gleefully ugly christmas sweater Vivi had given him a couple of years back and was engaged in a spirited discussion of the merits of one type of christmas tree over another with the seller. Vivi was dancing from one tree in the yard to the next, joyfully exclaiming over each, cheeks red in the cold air.

Lewis was enjoying watching her, but he was keeping a careful eye on Arthur, who had moved on to asking about the best method for keeping the tree looking good during the holidays.

Vivi suddenly made a high-pitched sound of joy and began jumping in place, her scarf flailing wildly with the movement. “That one! That one, that one, that one! It’s perfect!”

Arthur’s head came up like a startled dog and he zeroed in on where Vivi was pointing.

It was a massive spruce, the branches on the bottom well over four feet around and at least nine feet tall at the tip.

Much as he wanted to make her happy, Lewis frowned doubtfully. “Are you sure? I think that might be a little big for the living room.”

Vivi pouted dramatically at him. “No, it’s not! We can make it fit.” The look in her eyes promised that he had better help in that regard. He hadn’t tried modifying their shared apartment yet— though he’d experimented with one of the vacant ones on same floor, trying to expand the inner dimensions without changing the outer ones. He was still learning about just what he could do with his abilities. “It’s perfect! Arthur thinks so too, right?”

Arthur nodded, smiling at Vivi. “If you think it’s the perfect tree, then it must be the perfect tree.”

Vivi squeaked and flung her arms around Arthur’s neck, kissing him soundly on the cheek.

Arthur flushed but slung an arm around her waist. “I guess we found the perfect one,” he grinned at the seller. “We’ll take it.”

The seller quoted a price and Lewis blinked. That was a little much, even for a tree of that size. He sucked in a breath and adjusted his sunglasses. “Um, doesn’t that seem like—”

Arthur pulled out his wallet. “I got this, big guy. Small price to pay for the perfect tree.”

Lewis noticed Vivi quirk an eyebrow, but she said nothing as Arthur paid for the tree. The seller helped them tie it atop the van and threw in a wreath when he handed Arthur his receipt..

Arthur drove home, ‘hmm’ing and nodding to Vivi’s enthusiastic chatter about how they were going to decorate it. Lewis sat in the back, holding the wreath and wondering just why Arthur’s enthusiasm seemed just a little bit... off.

Lewis helped carry the tree upstairs and with several minutes of concentration (and some helpful coaching from Mystery), managed to tweak the dimensions of the living room so the tree fit. Shortly afterwards, Arthur helped Lewis carry up boxes of decorations from their storage unit in the basement of the building. Lewis summoned his deadbeats to help with the lights while Arthur made sure the tree was secure in its base.

The antics of the deadbeats soon had Vivi laughing uproariously, because, when excited, the deadbeats resembled nothing so much as overactive kittens. There was much tangling of the lights and batting ornaments across the room before Lewis decided it was a bad idea and shooed them off to play with a package of tinsel. At least that he could clean up and wouldn’t have to worry about them breaking.

Vivi went at it like a general after that, directing both of them on everything from the number of strings of lights to the placement of the ornaments. She scrutinized everything, directing both of them with, “Higher! No— one more branch to the left. That’s it! Perfect!”

Arthur followed her instructions like he’d been born to it, only satisfied when Vivi had pronounced perfection on each ornament and candy canes placing. When everything was to her satisfaction, Lewis floated up and placed the star on the top of the tree.

Vivi kissed his cheek and Arthur’s after he rejoined them on the floor. “Absolutely wonderful,” she enthused. “It’s just right!”

Arthur sighed and smiled at her. “Good. That makes me happy.”

The next day, Arthur and Lewis went out to pick up groceries, a normal enough activity, but Arthur kept questioning him on what he considered a perfect christmas dinner. Lewis grinned and said a perfect dinner would be getting to spend it with his family and Arthur and Vivi.

“”Not what I meant, big guy.” Arthur flushed and rubbed the back of his neck in a habitual gesture of embarrassment. “I meant for the actual foods. Vivi— she wants you to be able to eat christmas dinner, so she’s researching charms that will let you eat, at least for a little while. She says if she can’t work it out, though, she’s gonna let you borrow her body for a bit so you can. It won’t bug her, that girl can eat twice her weight, so she’ll happily eat more later, but y’know, we need to know what foods you would want for dinner.”

Lewis shook his head, a warm feeling in his nonexistent stomach. Trust Vivi to care so much. “She doesn’t have to do that.”

Arthur chuckled wryly. “She will anyway. You know her.” He tossed a box of cereal in the cart; something filled with sugar and colors not found in nature. “So spill before she decides to go ask your folks.”

Mama would undoubtedly tell her and then insist they come over so she could make all of them for him. Lewis didn’t want that. He wanted to spend time with his family, but not with Mama and Papa trying so hard to make foods for him to taste. When Arthur had turned back to the cereal, Lewis replaced his choice with something a little healthier, ‘hmm’ing thoughtfully. He wanted Arthur to stop running on energy drinks and quick (and usually bad for him) snacks. “I guess just little finger foods, like Mama and Papa always did. Since Christmas was always about family, they didn’t want to spend all day in the kitchen, so we always just had things that could be prepped ahead of time and snack on during the day.”

Arthur turned back and put his original choice of cereal back in the cart with a defiant look, but he didn’t try to take out the other box. “Okay, that’s cool, but what kind of things? What do we need to get for them?”

Oh. Lewis thought wistfully on the variety of finger foods his parents always had. Closing his eyes, he pulled up the ingredients of some of his favorites from memories of helping Mama and Papa prep them for Christmas. He mentally crossed off a few of the spicier ones, because he didn’t want to have things Arthur couldn’t eat, and began to recite an ingredient list, mostly to himself.

Lewis opened his eyes to see Arthur frantically scribbling on the back of Vivi’s hastily jotted grocery list. “Arthur? What?”

Arthur finished writing and shoved the paper at him. “Make sure I didn’t miss anything, willya? My note-taking skills are a little rusty.”

Blinking, Lewis took the paper from him and read over Arthur’s cribbed handwriting. “Just eggs. Arthur, we don’t need to—”

Arthur waved a hand to cut him off, taking the list back with his other hand and hastily noting eggs on it. “No. We do. Help me find all these things, okay?”

Lewis scowled down at him, but Arthur was not deterred, grabbing his hand and hauling Lewis after him. He checked against the list in his metal hand constantly, questioning on which brand he thought was the best for each ingredient. Lewis humored him until Arthur insisted on picking out the most expensive brand, when Lewis told him the cheaper one would do. “He took the bottle out of Arthur’s grasp. “You’re going overboard, Artie,” he scolded gently, replacing the bottle and taking the other, less-expensive one to add to the cart. “This one is fine. We don’t have to go crazy on this.”

Arthur scowled and swapped the bottles, defiantly placing himself between the display shelf and Lewis to keep him from switching bottles again. “I am not going overboard. I just want things to be absolutely right.”

Lewis, ignoring the other customers nearby, reached out and cupped Arthur’s cheek. “It will be. You’re stressing over the little things, when the big one is already right there and absolutely perfect.”

Arthur mmmed and leaned his head into Lewis’s hand, his eyes slipping closed for a second. “It is?” his voice sounded heartbreakingly uncertain.

Lewis brushed a kiss over his forehead. “It is. We’re all here, together. Nothing could be better than that.”

That seemed to do the trick, because Arthur’s shoulders sagged as if a weight had been lifted off of them. After that, he seemed far more amenable to Lewis’s suggestions, though if there was any debate on which was the better product, he insisted on the higher price one, unless Lewis flat out told him that a cheaper brand was better in quality. Still— the total was far more than Lewis was comfortable with, but Arthur paid for everything without a flinch.

When they had returned home, Lewis put the groceries up while Arthur headed off for a shift at the garage.

Vivi wandered into the kitchen while he was working and hopped up to sit on the counter, putting canned goods in the cabinet above her when Lewis handed them to her. “What’s the matter, Boo?” She asked, raising a foot to block him from going past her.

Lewis thought he’d been keeping his thoughts hidden, and Vivi snorted at his look, poking him with her toes. “Your hair keeps flickering and spitting off sparks. That only happens when you have something on your mind troubling you.”

Lewis ducked his head. He’d have to work harder at that. It wouldn’t do to give himself away in public. Quietly, with many pauses to gather his thoughts, Lewis told Vivi all the small things that had been troubling him about Arthur’s actions lately.

When he finished, Vivi sat there quietly for a long moment, her eyes distant and thoughtful. She made a soft sound deep in her throat and looked a little concerned herself.

“I think—” she said at last. “That he’s trying too hard.”

“Too hard?”

“Mmhmm,” she nodded. “Too hard to make it all—” she waved her hands in the air for a moment. “Perfect for us. That’s a word he’s used a lot lately. Perfect. He went shopping with me the other day, looking for, I quote, ‘the perfect gift for Lewis,’ and he wasn’t satisfied until I assured him that it was perfect and you would love it.” She pursed her lips thoughtfully. “I think he’s pushing himself to do everything for us, but not actually enjoying the holiday, not when he’s trying so hard to make it all ‘perfect’ for us.”

Lewis had to admit that she had a point. Arthur seemed far more interested in making certain that the holiday was perfect for Lewis and Vivi and not in enjoying it himself. For example, in the van earlier, while Lewis knew Arthur loved the funny and decidedly twisted christmas songs like “Christmas at Ground Zero” or “Away in a Madhouse,” he’d insisted on putting in a Mannheim Steamroller CD he knew Lewis loved. It had felt decidedly surreal not having Arthur gleefully belting out the dark lyrics of some of his favorite holiday songs.

“We need to show him—” Lewis began

“That it can’t be perfect without him,” Vivi finished decisively for him, thwacking her palms down on the counter with a loud slap. “Trees and presents and food are all well and good, but he’s what we need for it to be perfect, not any of those things! Right, Lew?”

Lewis could only nod agreement.

Vivi hopped down from the counter. “Great! Let’s go!”

“Go where?” Lewis questioned, swept along in her wake by the sheer force of her enthusiasm.

“To kidnap an Artie-bae and convince him that he doesn’t have to make things perfect, that they are just because he’s with us!” she declared, grabbing the spare set of keys from the candy dish by the door. Arthur had left the van, walking the two blocks to his uncle’s shop.

“Right now? Vivi, he just went to work!” Lewis protested, but followed her out the door and to the van.

“Doesn’t matter.” Vivi waved his concern off. “Lance will forgive us once we tell him why we stole Artie.”

“Better to ask forgiveness than beg permission, eh?”

“Right-o. We need to show a certain person it’s him we need, not all the trimmings and trappings.”

Lewis chuckled and boosted her up into the driver’s seat.

She grinned at him enthusiastically and started the engine. “Here’s the plan— I’ll run a distraction while you snag an Artie. Then we—”

Lewis put a finger across her lips, smiling at her gently. “I may have a better idea.”

“Mmm?” She mumbled against his finger.

Lewis went around the van and climbed in the passenger seat. “Simple. It’s almost noon. We tell Lance that Arthur was supposed to go out to lunch with us. He wasn’t, but Lance doesn’t know that and Arthur won’t object. We can steal him away without him suspecting anything.”

Vivi’s eyes brightened and she shot him a wide grin as she put the van in gear and pulled out onto the street. “Ooh, I like. I didn’t know you could be this sneaky?”

Lewis returned her grin, tugging his sunglasses down to give her a wink. “Maayy-beee,” he drawled.

Lance didn’t put up a fight, in fact he all but shoved Arthur at them. “G’wan, get him outta my hair. Feed him and let him work off some a’ that energy somewhere that ain’t my shop.”

Vivi saluted sharply while Lewis hustled a protesting Arthur into the van. “But I have work to finish—”

“It’s a simple transmission check on Mrs. Howell’s caddie. I can do that in my sleep. Now get outta here with them.”

“Yessir!” Vivi reached over to snag Arthur’s hand. “C’mon, You got your orders, bucko!”

Arthur let her and Lewis manhandle him into the middle of the front seat, sandwiched between her and Lewis. As she pulled away from the garage, he grumped at her, “Was this really necessary?”

“Yep,” Vivi popped the ‘p’ as she swung a left and pulled into the drive-through of a McDonalds.

Arthur’s lips pulled sideways in a rueful smile. “I know you didn’t all but kidnap me just to hit Micky-D’s, Vivi.”

“Not really, but I’m starving and you need to eat anyway...” She adopted a obnoxiously loud voice that sounded like a cranky version of her grandmother. “You’re so skinny. You look like the wind could blow you over. You need to eat more.”

“Vivs, you are starting to creep me out. You should not sound like your grandmom.” Arthur pulled a face as she rolled down the window and leaned out. “Also, she would never tell me to eat more. Might whack me with her cane, but...”

“Shoosh, you!” Vivi scolded before turning to her attention to the drive-through speaker. “Yeah, can I get like three— no, four orders of chicken nuggets, two large fries, and a mocha frap, please? And what did you want, Artie?”

Arthur rolled his eyes at her, “A cheeseburger and small fry. Nothing to drink though, there’s an energy drink in the cooler in the back.”

Vivi blew her bangs out of her eyes. “And two cheeseburgers— you know what— make those double-cheeseburgers and another large fry.”

The tentative voice on the other end of the speaker told her her total and advised her to pull forward, while Arthur huffed sourly. “Vivi—”

“I told you, you need to eat more. I am not having you shrivel up on me!”

“I’m not going to shrivel up on you, Vi!”

“Not listening.” She pulled up to the first window and passed her money to the teen, who looked far more relaxed when he saw there were three of them in the car.

“She has a point,” Lewis elbowed Arthur. “You don’t eat enough... or right, but being that we’re at McDonald’s—”

Vivii shot him a dirty look. “We need food. I am not doing this on an empty stomach. And at least it’s not Taco Smell.”

An apprehensive look flitted over Arthur’s face. “Doing what exactly?”

Vivi focused all her attention on getting the change back and pulling up to the second window, leaving Lewis to squirm uncomfortably as Arthur’s gaze turned his way. “Um... well...”

“Lewis—” The way Arthur dragged out his name made him twitch in his seat.

Vivi, now safely stopped at the second window, caught the collar of Arthur’s vest and tugged him over, stopping his questions with a kiss that left him panting and dazed. She shoved him back into Lewis, who almost automatically wrapped his arm around the smaller blond.

“Foodage now, talky-talk after,” Vivi tapped her finger against the tip of Arthur’s nose as he stared at her, wide-eyed. “So shoosh. I promise— it’s nothing bad.” She cupped his cheek in one hand and smiled at him, lacing the fingers of her other hand through his hair in a soothing stroke. “Trust me, willya?”

Still shivering with reaction, Arthur nodded slowly, almost unconsciously leaning back into Lewis.

Lewis tightened his arm and raised his temperature a little, hoping that it would work to calm Arthur a little.

Arthur said nothing more until after they had their food and Vivi turned the van onto the road out of town, taking the turnoff to Deacon’s Bluff, a seldom used stretch of road that ran up the hills that surrounded Tempo. She pulled the van off the road at Lighthouse Point, named for the tower of stone that time and wind had shaped naturally into a facsimile of a lighthouse. Parking in the shadow of the tower, she killed the engine and turned in her seat to face them, taking a slow sip of her drink.

“What’s going on?” Arthur asked plaintively, still leaning into Lewis. He’d wrapped his arms, flesh and metal both, around his own abdomen in an unconsciously defensive posture.

Vivi sighed and popped a nugget into her mouth, chewing contemplatively for a moment.

“Vivi?” Arthur pled.

With another sigh, she abandoned her food and squirmed closer until Arthur was sandwiched between her and Lewis, leaning into him as much as he was leaning into Lewis.

“Artie... Look at me.” She reached up to turn his face down to hers. “You know Lew and I both love you, right?”

Arthur shivered hard. “That sounds suspiciously like the prelude to a ‘But...’ ” He murmured, his voice thick and trembling on the edge of breaking.

“No,” Lewis broke in sharply. “No. No buts. There is no but about our loving you. This is about us loving you enough to make you look after you.”

“Eh?” Arthur squirmed. “Lewis, I’m fine. I know you worry about my eating and sleeping habits but you cannot blame Vivi’s grease-capade on me.”

“Hey!” Vivi protested, poking Arthur’s ribs.

“Not talking about that either. I’m talking about you running yourself ragged to make Christmas perfect for Vivi and I. Everything just so and you wearing yourself out trying so hard.”

“Yeah,” Vivi interjected. “It’s not perfect, not by a long shot.”

“Wha—?”

Lewis bent his head and pressed a kiss to Arthur’s temple. “Stop trying so hard. Make some time to enjoy the holiday with us, not trying so hard to make everything great for us that we barely see you.”

“I—”

“Seriously, Artie, it can’t be perfect if it’s not about all of us together. It’s only perfect with you in it.” Vivi said, reaching up to press a kiss on his lips. “The trimmings and the tree don’t matter at all if you aren’t sharing it and enjoying it with us.”

“All I want for Christmas is you?” Arthur cracked a wobbly smile.

“There is a reason that’s a classic, you know.” Lewis added with his own smile. “That’s what we need to be happy.”

“I have everything I need right here, “ Vivi laughed, waving a hand to indicate the two men she was pressed against and the van that surrounded them. “Well, minus a smart-aleck dog, but let's not tell him that, okay?”

Arthur breathed a shaky sigh. “C-can we just stay here for a bit? I don’t think I’m up to going back home just yet. My stomach’s still all knotted up.”

Vivi reached over the back of the seat and snagged the blanket in the back seat, pulling it over all of them. It smelled slightly of dog, but it had never been warmer. “I think that’s just perfect.”

#msaholidayspirits2017 #MSA #fanfic #ot3 snuggles

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