#like Obsidian was a whole half hour dedicated to them and who they were before the main show started | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

50shadesofmittens · 6 years

Text

ANOTHER massive thing I cut because it’s 50% OOC and doesn’t contribute anything to the story.

/////

Magnus of Prospero first met me ten thousand years ago, when I was a thousand years old and roughly five times his age. He knew nothing of me until that day, and in the grand scheme of things our first meeting was utterly unimportant. It lasted no more than five minutes, and frankly any other Custodian could have been given the assignment that led our paths to cross.

Of course I’d known of Magnus long before he knew of me. The first time I saw him I was sixteen times his age, and that was no more than a glimpse caught from afar during the festivities thrown to welcome him as the newest found Primarch of the Imperium, fifty-six years old and the ninth lost son of the Emperor to be found.

At that time, I had dedicated my life to fighting, training, studying, and serving my Lord as one of his Custodians. Magnus had done the former three throughout the first fifty years of his life, but he also found the time to perform research in his field of study, lead a war against an army of telepathic parasites, and become the primary ruler over a city of a million or so inhabitants. He spent his days after rediscovery commanding armies and helping rule planets conquered for the Emperor, while I continued to serve our Lord as I had all my life.

But all of these events were over ten thousand years ago. Less than a century after our uneventful meeting, Magnus betrayed the Imperium, his brother Horus almost slew the Emperor, the galaxy was split in half, and the Imperium slowly deteriorated into an era of religious obsession and slow decay.

It is the 41st Millennium. For more than a hundred centuries The Emperor has sat immobile on the Golden Throne of Earth. He is the Master of Mankind by the will of the gods, and master of a million worlds by the might of his inexhaustible armies. He is a rotting carcass writhing invisibly with power from the Dark Age of Technology, and anyone with even cursory knowledge of the galaxy at large would know this already.

Space marines, Imperial Guard, tech priests, in the grim dark future there is only war. I lived in that world for ten millennia. I witnessed the slow decay of the galaxy, watched helplessly as the light of the Imperium was slowly snuffed out by heretics, aliens, mutants, and madness.

Then I discovered ancient technology known only as a ‘text to speech device’ and had it installed into the Emperor’s glorious golden throne. For the first time in ages, the Emperor can command his forces once again. Perhaps now there is hope for humanity. Perhaps now mankind has a future that is more than meaningless death and suffering. Already, the Emperor has begun to re-shape the Imperium, and for the first time in ages change is stirring throughout the galaxy.

Now I serve the Emperor directly, relaying his orders and carrying out his commands. Amongst these, I was the one who told the Emperor’s Most Glorious Space Marines- the Allmighty Ultramarines™)- to find and retrieve Magnus the Red. I had my own guesses as to why the Emperor wanted his wayward son back under his command, but what happened to Magnus wasn’t a major concern of mine. At least until he started following me through the halls of the palace.

He wasn’t really trying to hide his approach, or at least not trying very hard. Magnus wasn’t leaving the sort of loud booming footsteps one would normally expect for a giant in armor, but he wasn’t entirely silent either. And using your reflective surroundings to maximize your area of awareness was one of the most basic skills for an agent who works solo missions. In a palace of gold, every moderately clean surface was a mirror.

I kept walking for a few paces after I first noticed him. I’d assumed there was something of his interest in the area that I happened to pass by, but when I kept moving he kept pace with me.

When I stopped, so did Magnus. Reflections in a nearby archway showed me that after a few seconds Magnus vanished in a swirl of purple. I wasn’t sure if he had actually left or simply moved out of my sight, but as there was little I could do about it I resumed my journey. Some time later I heard a sound like loud wind behind me, and to my consternation I found Magnus had returned. Again, within a few minutes he teleported away.

Well, though his social lesser I might be, I wasn’t one to let him stalk me. Especially given that he was a daemon whose intentions might be considerably less than honorable. I veered off course to take a circular loop through the palace. I stopping whenever Magnus showed up, and after a few trials of this I noticed that doing so provoked anger in him. On the plus side this shortened his visits to just a few seconds. Eventually, I hit a checkpoint where the guards knew me by name and I stopped to give them my greetings. I stayed a bit longer than usual, hoping that Magnus would show up so I could see if social pressure might scare him off.

Alright, to be fair, with the powerful charismatic aura Magnus held I didn’t really expect the guards to stop him. And he was faster than I could ever be, and (allegedly) a shapeshifter to boot. As I was looping back to the place we’d started at I found myself catching glimpses of his reflection more often than I needed to, and thought to myself, ‘It’s so exciting to hold the attention of someone so large.’

Then I thought, ‘Okay. That’s quite enough of that. Stop romanticizing the daemon who broke the Golden Throne and start dealing with your potentially world-breaking stalker.’

Primarch charisma is extremely potent, but that’s certainly no excuse for my behavior.

I kept up a fast pace as we reached our starting point, so that when I stopped Magnus would keep moving and bridge the gap between us a little. It didn’t work as well as I hoped, as I turned about to face him there was still a few meters between us.

“Is there something you needed?” I asked him. Magnus’ eye widened for a moment, before he huffed, leaned against a nearby pedestal[1]and waved a hand flippantly at me.

////To put SOMEWHERE in the rewritten version:

“You!” Magnus said. “Custodian!”

I was the only Custodian in the area, and I wasn’t surprised that he didn’t remember my name. “Yes?” I said.

“Don’t mind me. Just getting re-acquainted with this place.” The pedestal next to him cracked loudly, and he pulled back. “It sure has been a while.”

“…Right.” I said, unwilling to start a fight when I already had too much work to do. “Well, is there anything you needed from me, or can I go?”

“Am I interrupting you?” Magnus said, “Don’t mind me. Just, go about doing whatever task it is you need to do.”

I opened my mouth to point out that he was following me, but stopped myself. Dishonored traitor or not, Magnus was a Primarch, and as such held a level of prestige far above me. Instead I turned back around and continued on my way.

Three minutes later he appeared directly in front of me. “Has the message to the Ultramarines been sent yet?” He said, oblivious to my panic.

As I de-activated my spear I replied, “Um, no, no I was just on my way to do that.” As soon as I finished speaking he was gone again. My first concern was that the he might have plans to intercept the message, or to send a fake before I arrived. I began to hurry, though given the scale of the palace admittedly that would still give Magnus a good deal of time to fulfil whatever plan he had in mind.

I didn’t see Magnus again for an hour or so after that. I was ready to chalk the whole thing up to boredom, but he came back scowling and muttering to himself. It wasn’t until I got within seeing distance of the City of Sight that I heard him groan ”Finally!” And once again Magnus vanished through the warp.

I passed through the gates before it hit me, ‘Did he not know where this place was?’ For any other Primarch I might’ve understood, as it had been several millennia. Magnus was THE strongest psyker alive bar the Emperor, surely he would be able to sense the presence of several hundred other psykers a few miles away. Honestly sabotage still seemed more likely.

But I still had a mission to complete, so brushing it off, I made my way to the Obsidian Keep. The Astropathic Choir on Terra is one of the more important orders, but bureaucracy is bureaucracy and there’s always going to be a check-in desk. And a waiting line.

[1]The pedestal used to house a fully accurate solid gold model to scale of an Imperator class battleship. Said model had been knocked over one too many times and was now awaiting repairs alongside all the other priceless treasures formerly on display. Nobody bothered to move the pedestal because it still served as a good speed bump for anyone racing through the palace halls.

#wip #abandoned wip #tts

6 notes · View notes

overfedvenison · 6 years

Text

Dnd Journal, Session 8

Alright, session 8! Resolution, and a new enemy appears

Characters: CHARNAME: My fighter. A student of the Storm Petrel school, usually goes by Charn Erdrick: A dwarven fighter and prince Tosh: A kitsune ally. Social, talkative... And the only person who can track Charn. Demon Slayer: A demon slaying elf from another plane. Rescued from a crystal isn a hidden Veil outpost. An NPC party member that joins us occasionally Walter: A green and exemplary soldier from the Black Ravens. Always positive.

Rilo: The murderer of Okra, and empowered tiefling, and currently trapped in a scheme. Shira: Leader of the Veil, a neutral demonic faction dedicated to maintaining universal balance. Declared war on the Storm Petrels and Angelpoint The Queen: A power-hungry woman who's ruled over Angelpoint as queen for the past 150 years. Has a peculiar gem that glows when she is angry.

---

A lot happened here, and this investigation ended. But, a new enemy appeared...

This session started with my in hiding... I had planned out many contingencies, and was ready for my own death to save humanity. Everything was just set in order with as many "outs" as I could think of.

I had to hide for three days, and did so by disguising myself as a concubine using a Hat of Disguise in the house of Tosh's adoptive father, Michael.

(Tosh had been with us for much of the campaign as a bit of a mascot - He hadn't played deeply in the plot until now, but occasionally took on a human form to chum it up around town.)

I had purchased a very nice comb to masquerade as the hat if questioned - I would take it off, and turn myself into an old lady while hiding the actual item as a tiny clip hidden under some hair. If they saw through that, I had a potion of invisibility and a smoke bomb for a quick escape. The Shard of Obsidian itself was glued to my back permanently. To get it off, a demon would have to kill me. And, to avoid domination, I'd be unable to get it off myself without dissolving the Sovereign Glue - Which Tosh was helping with by dropping off a universal solvent dropping off 15 minutes into put meeting by dumping it through a sewer grate (so he wouldn't technically be at our meeting.)

In the end... My caution was unwarrented. I survived the days without incident, but the 15 minute wait worked as a stalling method until the Demon Slayer approached and absorbed his soul in an instant.

I had made a deal with Rilo to arrive with a plan to get him the stone, and bring no allies. I told the demon slayer that I'd likely be possessed and I'd become an enemy of the city - And to only come if she suspected as much. In the end, she trusted me and believed I was an ally, and so disobeyed my wishes and captured the demon on her own... By going against my wishes, I brought no allies. I just trusted her to ignore my request.

I thanked her. He got the Shard of Obsidian off my back, and delivered Rilo and the Shard to the Queen...

---

I arrived at the queen. She saw the marks burned into my head - Counting down to my death at the hands of the demon hired by the Veil to kill me.

The Queen was at first angry about speculation and not results, but then I clarified: This was no mere demon I has caught. This was the number one enemy of the Veil, the item he wants, in the hands of an enemy Shira was at war with.

I explained that we had essentially won - Either Shira, weakened from her wars, would either submit to our demands or suffer the worst possible outcome for her - Rilo, with the stone, allied with an enemy army and a school of demon hunters. She thought about this and smiled, taking both objects with a sadistic glee.

Red flags were going in my head. Aside from her odd demeanor, the king was nowhere to be seen.

But... If it's for the survival of Angelpoint, I didn't mind this at the time. I returned to my party, and explained the events as best as I could.

I also told the queen my next step: I have information for the Veil on how they can acquire Rilo, information very valuable to the demon hired to hunt be down by the Veil. I intended to use him as a courier.

---

The next day, our party set out - The situation was dodgy, and there was a high chance we would have to kill a demon.

Charn had come a long way with demons... The first time he encountered one, the presence froze him. Since then, he has grown to be commanding and their presence routine to him. He feels more... In power. More like a confidant superior able to command and bend them to his will, than an unproven student. This reflected in out encounter with this headhunter.

We went out of town a half hour, and waited. The scars on my head were counting down, and so he appeared. I negotiated.

"I don't have your money. But, I know things the Veil needs to" "I do not care for your material plane and it's fate, nor the fate, nor the fate of the veil. Whatever happens, I'll still get money" "Mmm, you are mistaken. The information I have on the Veil might be worth more to you than my soul... But I'll let you claim both, if you just ferry me there to deliver that message first" He chuckles "No, human. If I kill you, you'll go to a demonic plane and never escape. I cannot ferry your soul by killing you."

Walter chimed in, here, with an idea "What if I killed him?" I agreed. The demon looked at us funny.

"You humans are always... Interesting. Unexpected."

He thinks

"Alright, I have this candle - If your whole party agrees to it, I can rip the souls from your body temporarily. But if you die in the abyss, you're gone forever. And, you'll be in agony for the next month"

We contemplate. Charn looks to the party.

Walter and the Aasimar agree immediately, though the Aasimar has second thoughts when he calls her out on using a divine circle of protection before recanting. Tosh debates, and says "Alright, if it'll save the world, but you owe me BIG for all this!" The demon slayer nods without issue.

"Alright. We'll do it."

We gathered in a circle. The demon watches; smirking darkly. The candle burns, and our souls are ripped from our bodies and sent to the abyss...

---

For the second time, we reached the Abyss. The sky is a haze of chaotic colours, and the floor shale and bulging limbs. We have no equipment, no magic, and only our souls and words... A demon looks upon us, and charges us down.

We have to run away, besieged by a demon and the enviornment. We survived by Tosh's natural attacks, able to slice and run with his fox claws. Tosh is chaotic and not careful, being a kitsune, but proved himself to us here. At one point he dragged me out of a collapsing pit by the tail, and by the end was half destroyed by the abyss.

Eventually, we lose the demon and make our way to the Veil

"TRAITOR! WHAT BUSINESS DO YOU HAVE HERE?" "We have captured Rilo." "..." "..." "SHIRA, YOU SHOULD COME OVER HERE"

Shira was haggared, and was resorting to draining imps for dark power. Her abilities would fail soon... And she was desperate.

"Charn," she hissed, "What do you want" "I've completed my investigation. The Veil has been cleared of charges, and so we would normally turn over his soul and the stone. Of course, we have a bit of an issue... You have declared war on us, you see" "The demons we send are not a declaration of war-" "No, the dagger driven into the Petrel Academy and Castle was" "...Ah, yes. One of our more... Overzealous... Members..."

Shira was a shadow of her domineering self... For us, it was only a few months. But yo her, it has been years of war. She was at the end of he rope, and was squirreling away from her decisions

"Where is Rilo?" She demanded "In custody" "As usual, you speak in nondescript terms" "...In custody in the Angelpoint Castle, in a soul stone. If you want the information on how to get him, I have two demands" "What's stopping me from killing you here?" "Absolutely nothing. But if I die or you don't agree, Angelpoint would ally with Rilo and have the stone. So what do you say?" "You would... Stand here, in my own home. And give ME an ultimatum?" I nodded. Tosh was terrified and tried to save face, as we was through this entire negotiation. We mostly ignored him. "Would you rather Rilo have an army behind him?" "...Fine" "You have to unconditionally sign a peace agreement, and grant me an unconditional request in the future in case something goes wrong."

In her haggared state, she agreed without even thinking. I had won, and so simply. And, note my phrasing - I get this deal, no matter what happens next. Important, as I suspect the queen is planning something. At first, I asked they stop sending imps through their portal... But actually, they need to do that just to survive the war until we make our delivery.

I informed Shira of the happenings. Since I had, against all odds, survived, I did not need to give her the password and safeguard as I knew them... But, as a final snag, we would need to deliver the items to the veil base in person. I informed her that I would deliver the stone, and that we had arranged a ship to travel already. (A separate statement from the information, mind.)

After Shira healed the Aasimar and Tosh using demonic abilities, much to their terror when they asked, I declared our business done here, and we were spirited away back to the material realm.

----

We returned. We had won, though we awoke screaming and in pain, and the demon laughed and laughed.

In more words than this, the demon said the following...

"Well, consider your debt repaid. I got information worth much more than your soul from these demonslayers... Things pertinent to you, if you have the cash" And Tosh agreed to this term, and his satchel of gold was taken as payment. I was satified, having "won."

It seems that the Shard of Obsidian was not the only artifact of power... The Shard was the result of a union between an angel, a demon, and a devil for the purposes of sealing away their realms. Each shard contains the immense power of their plane - And their true form is but a tiny sliver of power inside the actual stone.

One, a shard of obsidian containing the power of the abyss One, a shard of quartz containing the power of hell And one, containing the power of heaven. It's location is unknown.

If the three are united, the possessor will have unlimited power. But, that power corrupts absolutely - And the current holder of the Quartz Crystal, which reacts to anger, is slowly being corrupted. We soon realized - The queen had a crystal that glowed when she shot a magic bolt at Pavia for speaking out of turn... The Queen now possessed two shards.

Tosh had bought a carrier pigeon, and sent for a carriage. The anonymous guards fetch us as we laid exhausted and fatigued. Tosh complained the whole way.

A final twist... We avoided the city, and moved straight to the boat to the Dwarven lands. The caravan lead removed his helmet, revealing himself as captain of the royal guard - The queen had gone mad.

He explained that she had been going cold, lately. Becoming a cruel tyrant. In the past day, she had declared the party, the storm petrels, the black ravens, and several others as enemies of the state to be executed on site - It seems, we knew too much. The queen is unbelievably powerful, wielding two primordial stones, and so the paladins decided it best for us to flee for now. And, at night, she gloated to the stone containing Rilo and basked in her own glory.

The king and princess are missing, and presumed dead. The population hasn't realized it yet... But the Queen has become corrupted by otherworldly power, and needs to go down. We need to save Angelpoint.

It's not all bad news, though... Of the eight other survivors of the Storm Petrels, it's defenses likely weakened by the Queen, ten now stand - Human potential is great. Fifteen Black Ravens arrived with us, from a much higher starting number, as well as the royal guards. We have Erdrick, the Dwarven Noble, to guide us along. We have a demand we can ask of the Veil, and this paladin - as acting captain of the guard - can write us a peace agreement. (I suggested he request aid in usurping the queen.) And, we have the knowledge of all the happenings we need to move forward. For now. Finally... We know our enemy. We know how to find our enemy. And we know some idea of our enemy's power. I'd much rather have this overt and obvious woman in possession of the stone than an intellectual schemer like Rilo - And I very much doubt this woman will allow Rilo to have this stone.

The fate of humanity, and the material plane, lies with this small force... Within a year, we have to usurp the queen. The most obvious solution is to obtain the final stone, but there may be others.

We departed to the dwarven lands, to the north.

#pathfinder #dnd

3 notes · View notes

inkofamethyst · 3 years

Text

January 7, 2020

Gone are the days of being underdressed for any occasion. I am resolved to be overdressed for nearly all occasions, that I might be adequately dressed for the rare event that matters.

Speaking of dressing, I know my wedding is far far far far far off if it is to happen at all BUT I think I’d want a wedding dress with a cape. Like, you know that dress Brie Larson wore to that one event? The one with the sleeves that weren’t really sleeves they were just floor-length capes for the arms? Yeah. I want those.

Oh! Oh!! Techno’s festival stream was fantastic!! I definitely should’ve seen Tommy switching sides coming. Also, poor Tubbo. Berated by Dream for being a bad president (which, like, lowkey, he kinda is), losing his country, aw. BUT DREAM AND TECHNO TEAM UP?? I support this because I support Techno (after all, what’s L’Manburg ever done for me?), but Dream is shifty, so I’m not sure exactly how that whole thing is going to go. I’m excited to see whatever L’Manburg does to prepare though! At first I was like ??? when Techno decided to show Dream the secret Wither cave, but it’s okay! He hid the other two and a half stacks of heads he has, apparently. Because, as Techno himself said, you wouldn’t expect someone who has eighteen wither skulls to be hiding any. Oh and also I’m 96% sure Dream griefed his own community house to manipulate Tubbo into giving him Tommy’s final disc. Also, I think it’s kinda funny how whenever Dream gets mad he starts building his obsidian wall around L’Manburg. Ohhh, what an evil man, building his walls ahhh ohh noooo :P. Anyway, he’s homeless, so what does it matter what he wants anyway. Maybe he’s just jealous of L’Manburg because it’s prettier than anything he could ever build. Ah, my comfort streamssssss.

And an update on the greenish-brownish wool pants from yesterday: too small :( And the black wool pants I liked are too large. I did, however, find a lovely dark brown button-down skirt on depop today that I’m intending to buy, as soon as the seller gets back to me about shipping. It’s really inexpensive which makes me worried that someone might snipe it even within the next few hours. That’s happened to me before (once with a skirt, once with some pants, both on Depop), but the seller said to contact them directly about shipping, so that’s what I did :/. It’s really really pretty and the price is exactly right and UGH it would go so well as a neutral bottom in my wardrobe. I don’t have a button-down skirt yet, and they seem really daunting to make, so I’d be super happy if I could get this purchased tonight and just stop having to worry about it. Well, I suppose that I’ll get it if it’s meant for me to have it. ...I really hope it’s meant for me to have it.

Oh, and, um, just a quick note... I think I enjoy talking about silly and inconsequential things here so much because it is dedicated time I get to spend away from all of my stressors. Like, yes, I often mention and talk at length about things that stress me out, but I also talk a lot about sewing and historybounding and the DreamSMP and whatever other hyperfixation I might have at the time because when Future Nina checks in whenever she happens to do so, I want her to smile a bit, you know? I went back as Future Nina to reread some of the stuff I wrote during my senior year of high school and it was trash. Like, the emotions were valid, but I had so many bad days. I’m sure I’ll have more bad days in the future, but I think it’s important for me to write about the dumb things that I’m excited about. I don’t think it’s shallow, I think it makes more of the post into an extension of the “Today I’m Thankful For” bit, which is always a good thing! After reading my senior year stuff I went back and read some entries from my first semester in college and there were so many happy memories! Things that made me smile and remember what it was like to live with so much freedom. I miss it terribly, but it feels really nice to remember those times. Sometime this Spring, I’ll probably read through what it was like at the start of the pandemic again. Or at least, at the start of my awareness of it, which was probably only a week (or less) before the extended Spring Break was announced.

I just... for a few moments I was typing but feeling like what I was writing was inconsequential and meaningless. But really, it’s not! I’m connecting with myself, I think. It belongs in this journal because this is my journal and I may do with it as I wish.

Speaking of doing as I wish, I wish I could bring myself to read all these papers for my immigration anthropology class but I simply cannot. It’s somewhat interesting, to be certain, but agh it’s just a hassle and I’d really just rather... not. I know that taking this class will give me more freedom in the long run when it comes to selecting classes for my anthropology major, but it’s honestly just not all that intriguing to me. At least it’s only a 3-week course. Plus, there’s no real final paper/project/exam. We just chillin with a few discussions and mini research assignments. I just need to remind myself that the pain will be temporary, and that anti-procrastination habits are worth building (though it helps when you’re interested in the task you’re procrastinating).

By the way, I again fell asleep last night before I could get to any good parts in the story. There were two main developments, but they didn’t amount to much before I drifted off. I must just be boring myself.

Today I’m thankful for this journal! I’m thankful that there’s a place that I have now to just... exhale? A place where all of my thoughts can just live for me to one day look back on with fondness or empathy. A little bit like curating my own personal time travel experience.

Side note: the amount of rage I feel when I see anything related to the big minecraft youtubers of today anytime outside of my irregularly scheduled periods in which I watch the streams really is just... unreasonable. Like, this is something I really really enjoy, but I’m almost afraid of my own enjoyment of it, for some reason? Perhaps, ashamed, even? I don’t know :/ Like, I get so defensive for no reason whenever I see fanart on Pinterest, then I reluctantly go into a fanart hole, as if I won’t enjoy it even though I’ve always enjoyed looking at fanart. Honestly seeing fanart of my favorite scenes is my favorite part of being part of a fandom, so I don’t know why I resent the fact that I really enjoy the Dream SMP. I think my enjoyment of the DSMP is on the same level as my enjoyment of Critical Role, and that’s saying something.

Maybe it’s the fact that it’s minecraft. Maybe it’s the fact that it’s roleplay occurring within minecraft. Do I think it’s childish, maybe? Just plain weird? I’m honestly not sure, you know? I wish I knew. This actually feels like just another sneaky avenue for self-hatred and I want to sort this out at the roots. I don’t want to attack myself for something completely harmless that I enjoy. And the fact that I can’t come up with a legitimate reason why I should feel ashamed and resentful toward liking mcyt is really just proving to me that this is just another instance of me attacking myself for no reason to push this idea that I’m not all that great.

I’m so thankful for this journal because without it I don’t think I would have realized how pervasive my self-esteem issues are. I don’t think I ever would have realized that even after addressing certain issues at the top of the problem, I would still be facing other symptoms of the problem because I hadn’t destroyed the root cause. And, honestly, I still don’t quite know what that root is. But, for now, I can use this journal as a weapon to help me fight the symptoms when they arise.

So, say it with me: There is nothing to be ashamed of about the fact that I enjoy minecraft youtubers. Absolutely nothing.

The most frustrating thing about all of this is that I don’t know what the cause is. So I can snip at these symptoms all I want, but I don’t think I’ll be truly done until I find and burn the root.

Maybe this is where therapy comes in. I need to work this out, but I’m either unable or unwilling to go deeper. I think I might need help with that. Kinda sucks that there’s a global pandemic and that I come from a culture where mental health is seen as a white people’s issue. But, as one of the folks from my school’s counselling center mentioned-- we go see a licensed professional medical practitioner when we feel physically ill, and we should do the same when we feel mentally or emotionally ill. Go to a licensed practitioner, that is. Maybe I’ll ask my parents if medical insurance covers therapy.

0 notes

restlessmaknae · 7 years

Text

Out of this world

As a part of my Birthday Prompt Party, Out of this world is dedicated to @dat-town who has requested #31 “You know, no one bothered me this much when I was dead.” in a mythological setting with a VIXX member. Hope you like it, dear! <3

Words: 2934

Genre: fluff, angst, drama, tragedy

Main Characters: Lee Hongbin x Kim Yuna (OC); Lee Taekwoon

Setting: Greek mythology AU

Warning: death

“Does that mean that I’m fired?” the young man gasped with a slightly offended expression, signs of confusion clearly written all over his face. It was as if he didn’t want to believe what he had just heard or assumed that it was all part of a big joke.

“Just look at you! You already talk like those humans!” the older man snickered with obvious pity in his voice. “I’m sure there won’t be a problem. As soon as you earn back my trust, you can come back and claim back your immortality,” the bearded man announced, his voice firm and confident. He made it very clear that he was the only one who had a say in the matter.

After all, it shouldn’t have come as a surprise. He was Zeus, the god above all while the young man was only at the bottom, if not the last one. No one thought that he had a difficult job but who were they to belittle something that they had never truly experienced – to be precise, they may have experienced but not whole-heartedly. Who were they to make fun of the most complicated and twisted part of a human’s life that he tried to protect as much as possible?

He may be the face of the most cringe-worthy day of the year but he wasn’t completely useless. He was Eros (more commonly called as Cupid, although it was only his Latin name) and if he didn’t exist, the world would turn into a constant battlefield because of hatred and rage.

However, after what Zeus had said, he wasn’t Cupid anymore, only hypothetically. He was forced to leave the Olympus and live as a human as a punishment for his crime – neglecting his duties for the sake of his appearance. It was funny enough how he always tried his best to help the heart-broken and now he was one of them and no one could be there to mend his heart. He was alone and helpless just like a forsaken ex-god should be.

How can an ex-god earn back Zeus’ trust without all his powers – seduction, manipulation and the ability of creating little things such as flowers and bouquets of chocolate? That was a bloody good question.

Eros had no idea in the beginning, so instead of coming up with one, he moped and cried for an entire week, using up more than 15 boxes of super soft tissues. All he got from his superior was a well-furnished flat, some money and a list of reminders about what he should and shouldn’t do as a suspended god living in human form. He was partly glad because he finally had the opportunity to breathe, feel his heart beating, smell the fragrance of sweet dandelions, taste the creamy caramel in a piece of cake, in other words he was now able to touch, feel and live. There was only one thing that he forgot: gods were invisible to the human eye.

Small wonder why he was so dumbfounded when he first moved out of his flat and one of his neighbours came up to him to say hi. He needed to remind himself that he was no longer a god, therefore he could be seen by everyone.

“So what’s your name, sweetheart?” the elderly woman asked with a genuine smile, her eyes filled with curiosity.

“I’m E−“ he started casually and almost facepalmed when he realised that he wasn’t allowed to use his real name. It was one of the beloved reminders of Zeus. He said that if he exposed himself and his name was mentioned more than 3 times in his presence, he would be fired for real. He wouldn’t even have the chance to go back. Eros was quite taken aback at first but when he realised that he had other names too, he wasn’t so terrified anymore. People would most likely call him Amor or Cupid, right? No one knew about Eros nowadays, only that so-called Cupid from commercials and toe-curling couple product names.

“I’m−“ his eyes frantically searched for a proper name and when he caught sight of the newspaper in the woman’s hand, he read out the first name that he happened to lay his eyes on. “I’m Lee Hongbin?” he averted his eyes back to the granny, plastering a friendly smile on his face. “Yeah, I’m Lee Hongbin. Nice to meet you, Mrs. Kim! You have such a lovely haircut,” he complimented right away, his generous comments not leaving him even as a human being.

From that day on, he was Lee Hongbin who turned his flat into an office since he found the perfect way to regain his position – he became a dating coach. He helped wandering souls who were constantly thinking about that sought-after love of their life yet they didn’t have any luck in love.

He was there to help them with his generous tips and thanks to his long years of playing the matchmaker, his business was quite fruitful. Even worried parents and friends came to him who wanted to put an end to the lonely days of their loved ones and their request usually led to a beautifully blooming relationship involving that said acquaintance.

Truth to be told, Hongbin was enjoying his job to the fullest. He could still do what he used to do as a god but he was closer to the humans, so he had the chance to see what the couples became after their first confessions. As Eros, he did nothing but be present at the time when they fell in love but as a dating couch, his clients sometimes came back to say thank you. Frankly, he couldn’t have been happier. He loved the smile on their faces, the way they gazed at each other and the little sparkles that accompanied them.

He was doing so well but as expected, his job didn’t come without obstacles. There was only one female whom he couldn’t help, no matter how hard he tried. He did everything he could, even though she wasn’t his client.

Kim Yuna was working at the café where he always bought his morning vanilla latte and there was a frequent customer who couldn’t look away when the pretty barista was around. It was obvious to Hongbin that the guy had a crush on her but she seemed ignorant to his obvious stares and nervous half-smiles. After several failed attempts and a conversation with the said guy – Jung Taekwoon −, Hongbin finally blurted out that Taekwoon was in love with her but he was also too shy to admit his feelings.

Yuna’s jaw dropped upon hearing his words but her bewilderment soon turned into something totally different – guilt.

“I’m sorry about your friend, Hongbin, but I don’t like him. We had talked a couple of times before but I don’t feel anything when I’m with him,” she admitted as she ran a hand through her obsidian-black curls.

Hongbin didn’t want to tell her that he didn’t even know Taekwoon, let alone being friends with him, because there was no use of correcting her. Instead, he wanted to convince her because there was nothing more heart-breaking than an unrequired love.

“Just give him a chance! He needs time to open up but I can guarantee that he’s a kind-hearted, gentle and caring human being,” he pleaded almost frantically, giving her the puppy eyes look. Yuna furrowed her eyebrows for a moment but her features softened a bit after that.

“Fine,” she let out a sigh, her eyes already searching for the tall guy at the table beside the window.

“Believe me! You won’t regret that you gave him a chance,” Hongbin clapped his hands enthusiastically while a sudden pang invaded his heart. He was so taken aback by the subtle pain that was suddenly rushing through him that he didn’t even see when Yuna sat down at Taekwoon’s table.

It turned out that Yuna and Taekwoon were a wrong pair from the start. She was bold, sassy, cheeky and playful while the guy was introverted, quiet, sensitive and easily hurt by jokes. Hongbin couldn’t mind her behaviour, he was actually attracted to her in a way that he had never experienced before.

On the other hand, for her and her biggest fan, things didn’t seem to work out well despite all the tricks and gifts that Hongbin gave them, showering them with date ideas and couple activities. The fact that Yuna wanted to give up from the very start pissed him off and he couldn’t help but reprimand her when he couldn’t take it anymore.

“You know, no one bothered me this much when I was dead,” he remarked not so gently and not until Yuna’s eyes widened, did he realise what he had just said.

“What?”

“Oh nothing, nothing! It was just a joke,” he tried to shrug it off and scamper away as soon as possible but she didn’t seem to be convinced. She took a step closer to him, squinting at him with suspicion-filled orbs.

“You were always acting particularly weird. I wouldn’t be surprised if you were a god or something,” Yuna stared at him for long seconds that seemed like hours for him.

He was always sure that he would be exposed in the future because he had blurted out something that he shouldn’t have. He was always blabbing after all. That’s also something that he could use to convince humans to believe him. He talked a lot and talked fast, so instead of trying to puzzle up his words, they gave in.

But what if he said something this time that could indicate that he was a god? What if she found out who he was? Would she think of him differently? Would it even matter?

Yuna gave him a final stare and took a step back, giving him some personal space. As soon as she turned around to head back to the counter, Hongbin let out a weary sigh.

“I always knew that she was smart,” he muttered under his breath as he wiped some sweat off his face. She was so close, he was almost caught. Almost.

“What?” Yuna turned around immediately, her head tilted in confusion. “So you are really a god?” she exclaimed not caring about the astonished and judging gazes she earned from the customers around her.

Hongbin was trying to find the right words to say but he froze on the spot, not knowing what to do. He had only a little experience with humans, so he never had to lie to anyone.

As a forsaken god, he couldn’t know that his silence was a bigger indication of his identity than any lie could ever be.

“Gosh! I can’t believe it! I’ve been hanging out with a god,” she giggled whole-heartedly without a hint of fear or judgement in her eyes. She shook her head in disbelief as she walked towards a customer who wanted to order, an amused smile never leaving her attractive lips.

Hongbin stood there like a statue, except the fact that he awkwardly blinked like he didn’t want to believe that the scene in front of his eyes was actually happening and it wasn’t just a part of his dream. Kim Yuna had really figured out who he was and didn’t make fun of him? Laugh at him, take pictures of him and tell silly god-related jokes? Did she really just… smile? Show that gorgeous smile of hers that was as rare as snow in August?

He couldn’t help but feel proud. There was an oddly unfamiliar sensation pumping in his veins, motioning his heart to beat faster and his lips to raise higher and higher until he was also smiling. He showed a smile of his that neither of them knew existed – the loving one filled with childish excitement and innocence.

He loved people in general, he really did. Otherwise, how could he be so eager to help them to find their other half? But this kind of affection was different because he received it and not just gave it away. It was different because he experienced it with her. With his other half.

Yuna was pretty cool about the god thing. She really believed him, stating that she was suspicious from the moment Hongbin read the menu upside-down or when he had no idea about how a vanilla latte tasted. Not to mention the time when he started laughing when her hand accidentally brushed his when she placed his order on the table. He had even blurted out once that he never touched a human before. It was a sentence that he didn’t even remember. Maybe he was too pumped up to care about the words he said out loud.

After he managed to stop her from calling him by his real name, he was no longer in danger. He knew she would keep his secret, and the fact that they both shared this knowledge actually brought them closer.

They were both sassy, so there was no way either of them got furious since they knew their words didn’t carry an air of seriousness. They teased each other a lot – almost like young lovers −, played various silly games and hang out a lot. Yuna was always amused when he tried something for the first time, let it be karaoke, going by train or trying sushi. As he was falling in love with the world around him, finding beauty in everything new and special, he was slowly falling in love with her, too.

He could never imagine that being in love was such a magical feeling. It was as if love was something out of this world. His whole body was reacting to the way she smiled, to the sound of her airy laugh and to the touch of her roughish skin. Getting to know her was like peeling an onion (new favourite food of his!).Whenever he thought there was nothing else left, there was always a new layer underneath.

She was sometimes as fragile as a glass sculpture while other times she stood still like a mountain. She could get emotional too easily or not feel any sympathy at all. She could play the little kid who wanted to have popcorn at the cinema or the responsible adult who showed Hongbin where to stand to not get hit by the train. She could lazily lay on the couch, whining about the fact that boys could never understand the pain of a cramp or jump up and down in excitement when she got a pay rise. She was a mixture of everything and he loved all of her colours.

Truth to be told, he didn’t neglect his job but he spent less time with his clients than with Yuna. They haven’t confessed yet and he wasn’t sure they would. He wasn’t even sure that it was how love was meant to feel or if Yuna felt it too because she didn’t say anything obvious.

Meanwhile, the fact that Zeus hadn’t even contacted him bothered Hongbin a lot, he didn’t even know what he was doing wrong. Because he was doing something wrong if his superior didn’t want to see him, right? On the other hand, he wasn’t even sure that he wanted to go back. At least, not until it was the matter of life and death.

It started as a usual day for him – counselling in the morning and spending time with Yuna in the afternoon. However, as he was about to get to the café where she was working, he was so immersed into smelling the rose bouquet that he had bought her that he didn’t care about anything else around him. That was a fatal mistake on his part.

Everything happened so fast. It was now only a blur to him. The stretching tyres of the bus, the pain in his chest, the warmth of his blood, the sirens of the ambulance and Zeus’ words.

“Choose, Eros! You’ve proved that you are still worthy of your title, so you can come back to the Olympus to fulfil your duties as the god of Love. Or you can choose to die as a human. You have no other choice. You can’t go back to her, no matter how much you would like to.”

Hongbin was selfish. He wanted to beg Zeus to let him live as a human because he didn’t want to die. He wanted to see her, to tell her how she made him feel, to tell her that he loved her, even though he had no idea if that was how love was supposed to feel. He wanted to caress her cheeks for one last time, he wanted to hear her laugh and gosh, how much he wanted to kiss her!

Hongbin was selfish. It may destroy him to see her again while she can’t see him but he wanted to do it. No matter the pain, he wanted to be around her. Even if he was invisible to her, the time they had spent together was not enough for him. He wanted more.

“I’ll go back to the Olympus,” he whispered with his last breathe as his heart stopped beating forever.

Now he knew. Eros, the god of love, finally knew why humans loved the feeling of being loved. Now he knew that love was something precious, something inexplicable and something out of this world.

Love was something to die for.

#kpopwritingnet #angstykpopnet #kkreationsnet #kreativewritersnet #vixx scenario #hongbin scenario #vixx mythology au #hongbin mythology au #vixx fic #hongbin fic #vixx fluff #hongbin fluff #vixx angst #hongbin angst #vixx drama #hongbin drama #beth's birthday prompt party #my story #restless_maknae

20 notes · View notes