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yostresswritinggirl · 3 years

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100 Followers Special

(And how to participate) you don't need to be a follower to vote ack

~yostresswritinggirl

Hello AGAIN, with your back to back followers special! Exiled here, very tired, as I just closed the requests box for our 50 followers special. I asked for some recommendations and no one helped me so this is what I came up with!

Granted, it's nothing that special, I literally just dumped my notes into this so—

Please make sure to follow the guidelines and read this thoroughly to properly participate!

1. You will be given a long list of fic prompts specific to a character that I've come up with for weeks on end, please don't steal, as I will remove them after this event is done!

2. Voting! You now have the power to influence my writing schedule haha- what you need to do: is to pick three prompts from the list and send it to me; either through reblog tag, a reply, or in my ask box (not anon so we can count fairly, will not publish these answers tho so worry not)! Not in messages tho! It should be in this format:

1. Character - prompt or prompt title

2. Character - prompt or prompt title

3. Character - prompt or prompt title

example:

1. Albedo - Citrinitas

2. Zhongli - Braid

3. Xingqui - Author!Reader

The top three most voted prompt and character will be the next fics I'll publish after I'm done with the current reqs. Speaking of: Voting ends when I finish the current reqs. You'll know it's done once the counter in my blog desc reaches 12/12.

3. In addition to the three prompts, you also get to add your own prompt to it! My prompts list does not include ALL the characters that's why I wanted to give you this option too! Add a fourth number and specify a character, a prompt/idea, and the format of the fic! Format it this way:

4. Character - Prompt/Idea (Format)

4. Kaeya - What's under that eyepatch? (Scenario)

After I pooled the answers, I'll randomly pick between the bonus answers and write them last! So give it your best shot!

4. Tags-list! I thought this would be necessary for this kind of a whim special, so if you wanna be tagged, just put Tag Me! at the end of your vote. Please make sure that you're actually able to be tagged because I just tried and some users are not in my orbit huhu, look here

5. If a pocket watch/series prompt gets chosen, I will only post the first chapter, not the whole damn fic pls. Have mercy,,,

I will post a counter of the top three in my blog description and will be updated as frequently as possible. Any questions, please direct to this post or my dms <3

Without further ado, here is your choice list!

Xingqui - "My liege, would you care to accompany me on my reading break? I've picked up a romance novel and it reminded me of us."

-> Author!Reader: You met Xingqui at Wanwen Bookhouse when delivering a batch of your newly-published book. But as a ghost writer, no one knew it was you that authored such books. Safe to say it was cute watching the noble bookworm fanboy about you in front of you. [FLUFF] [FIC]

-> Headcanons with a reader older than Xingqui who's a close family friend of the Feiyun Commerce Guild. Fascinated after meeting you in a party, the noble boy aspires to become the best man for you despite the difference, promising to be the best suitable partner for you in the future. [FLUFF] [HEADCANON SCENARIO]

Childe - "Hey there, comrade! What a coincidence that we had a break at the same time, care to accompany me for a walk? I promise I won’t lead you to a fight haha... hey, don’t look at me like that!”

-> Antinomy - The 10th Harbinger (You) and the little shit they had to mentor (Childe), this fic enumerates the trials of the 11th before he became a Harbinger under your care. From strangers to mentor to friends to love- Childe made a grave mistake, now you’re once again strangers. [FLANGST] [ONESHOT]

Albedo - "Ah, it's you. I've heard of fleeting rumors that you've been pestering a certain someone just to see me. Next time, just come directly to me, I wouldn't mind the assertiveness."

-> Refer to these three as well: Albedo Fic Ideas [FLUFF/FLANGST/FLANGST] [ONESHOT/ONESHOT/SERIES]

-> “You’re Enough”: A year into being the new Chief Alchemist of Mond, Albedo finds himself holed up in his room in the dead of night, haunted as he continuously comes out empty on his research to bring his master back, feeling inadequate. So you reminded him of what he’s capable of. [FLUFF?] [ONESHOT INSPIRED BY You Are Enough - Sleeping At Last]

-> Under the Artificial Sky: Michaelangelo Scenario focused on Albedo’s sketching aspect. Grand Master Varka and Acting Grand Master Jean figured Albedo needed a break and a change of scenery, and sent him off under the guise of a commission in Liyue. What he didn’t expect was another artist from Fontaine accompanying him in this big project.(Albedo and Reader are tasked to paint the new Jade Chamber within 7 days) [FLUFF] [SERIES - 7 CHAPTERS]

-> Albedo SMUT: I had this idea while laying wide awake at 3 AM. The alchemist had been trying all remedies to shake off the stress and fatigue in his system and they all seemed to fail, no amount of sketching or discoveries can pull him away from it. So when you offered a solution he hasn’t heard, he’d jump at it immediately. “You know, some people say having intercourse with someone is a good stress-reliever.” “Intercourse? If it’s true, then please, I wish to have intercourse with you.” “Wha- wait Albedo, do you not know what that is? It’s only done between lovers!” “Convenient, I love you, anything else?” (Two virgin dumbasses do the thing to relieve stress) [SMUT] [ONESHOT]

Xiao - “I’ve taken care of every threat around this area, you can relax now, I made sure of that.”

-> What is it with you and Qingxin flowers? The Traveler had once heard of Xiao’s affinity for Qingxin flowers, and they’re flying companion boldly asked this lingering question to the adepti himself. His pupils dilate and sharpen before Paimon could finish her sentence. (An origin story about his favorite flower, and his favorite person) [SLIGHT FLANGST] [ONESHOT]

-> Just how harmful is adeptal energy to normal humans? You both found out in the worst way possible: silently, deadly. (Slight spoiler: you fucking die) [ANGST] [ONESHOT]

-> Nightmares Taste Horrible: He’s seen that look in your eyes and the ancient soul within it; you’ve lived long ago, and the only thing your soul carried now was the nightmares of a macabre timeline. Was it him or was it demons that brought you that fear? No matter, he’ll protect you even from yourself. (eating the nightmare of a dead soul reincarnated to you) [FLANGST?] [ONESHOT]

-> Go for the throat: The seal that marked you had made it all too late for him to remedy. Bleeding eyes, growing fangs, it’s just another demon to vanquish just like he’s done for centuries. What makes it different was it was sealed in you. (Inspired from Melanie Martinez’s song uhu) [ANGST] [ONESHOT]

Zhongli - “Mortals are capable creatures that evolve and adapt for means of survival, but they advance in ways that changes the world around them. This retirement, may be harder to me than it is to them.”

-> “In human history, there’s a certain noble and powerful connotation to rulers who braid their hair.” Convince to braid his hair using some historical braid trivia; that long hair behind his back should not be ignored for any longer. [PURE FLUFF] [DRABBLE]

-> History has its eyes on you: A traveling theatre hailing from the land of entertainment finds its way to Liyue for their last caravan. A certain Geo Vision man seems to resonate with your newest script: fighting and protecting your land, building up its nation, before being forced to let go of it. He resonates maybe a little too much. (Musical!Reader with heavy references to Hamilton hehe) [FLUFF] [ONESHOT]

Venti - "Can you hear the symphonies of the wind as it sings to you? That's me, guiding you and protecting you! Whenever you hear it, know that you're safe and sound under my protection!"

-> the one the bard once loved: like actual bard, you are the archer or smth, loved by Venti and Barbatos. Yandere!Barbatos undertones, very unhealthy relationship. This hurts the kokoro. [PURE ANGST] [ONESHOT]

-> The Caravan: (related to the Zhongli and Musical!Reader up there) Your caravan stops at Mondstadt for a whole week before it reaches its final destination. This new fanfare pulled in a peculiar bard who now wants to tag along for the fun of it. "I have no more responsibilities in this free land!" Just what kind of responsibilities does a broke bard have in the first place? [FLUFF] [ONESHOT/HEADCANON]

Diluc - "You look weary, and you still managed to pull yourself here. Here, a fresh and cold glass, on the house. A relieved smile should be enough payment."

-> Abandoned by The Altar: A timeline oriented story focused on your once perfect childhood relationship as Diluc's bride to be, soon becoming estranged after the death of his father and his neglect. You only wish now that he looks at you the same way he did when you heard you were supposed to be together forever when you were young. [FLANFF] (The ending gets better pls; Inspired by Still Into You - Paramore) [ONESHOT]

-> There are No Laws Against Homelessness in Mondstadt: My favorite title out of all of this ahahhaa- who says adventurers can't be broke? You're the living embodiment of that. (Good boi Diluc with a broke ass reader) [FLUFF] (Warning: homelessness) [ONESHOT]

Scaramouche - "Let's go already, the sun is setting and we're nowhere near our destination. If you wanted to linger just to spend more time with me, I would have indulged you behind closed doors anyways."

-> Scaramouche Finally Does the Fandango: Have you ever wondered how Scaramouche is like working with other people? His first assignment was to accompany you in your main region and he sees you in your natural habitat, entranced. [I dunno how to tag this, NORMAL?] [ONESHOT/SHORT]

-> Skincare bitch, how I headcanon Scaramouche as someone actually conscious and always tending to their skin. Look at that smooth skin, cute cheeks, let me pinch, eyeliner glory— In which case, that hat has more purpose than being a frisbee. (May or may not include reader. (based from a reblog convo with chels-void) [GOOD VIBES] [HEADCANONS]

-> Once Supreme: Before Scaramouche, there was someone else higher than him. Before Balladeer there was just a young man fighting for his beliefs and her Majesty. Before Mondstadt, his smile wasn't just for deception. "Someday, someone would take advantage of that smile, Scaramouche. It's not appropriate in this work environment." The day you break a man. (Harbinger!Reader again, and lots of HCs for Scaramouche, same format as Antinomy) [I also do not know how to call this, eventual ANGST] [ONESHOT]

Kaeya - "What are you doing out here in the dead of night? Citizens like you should be cozied up in bed and leaving the patrols to us Knights. Come, I'll accompany you back home."

-> Honey Whiskey: A mysterious band of dancers from Sumeru visits Mondstadt and its taverns to offer a night of alluring dances. What was supposed to be a night of drinking for Kaeya and his troops ended up becoming a tipsy surprise mission when the main dancer steps down from the stage— and ignores him?! How scandalous! (Slightly suggestive themes/You're a bad guy) [COOL?] [ONESHOT] [slightly inspired by song with the same name]

General:

-> A Musical!Reader but with a scenario with every other character, most probably headcanons master post.

-> Genshin Food prompts: From that one post, I ended up making a whole storyline of oneshots related to their special dishes. Oneshots connected to a bigger picture. By impulse you've ended up leaving your normal life behind to pursue your cooking career, starting from Mondstadt, to learn all the cuisines to establish the first ever international restaurant. With the implications of magic and peculiar customers, your simple dream turns into a harder goal. [GOOD SHIT] [SERIES] [CANON-COMPLIANT]

-> God of Time!Reader that hails from Fontaine. Do you wish to know more about their origins and their purpose in this world? [CANON-COMPLIANT] [HEADCANONS] (General since it deals with all the characters/interactions)

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Tagslist-for-my-thirsty-homies:

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formless-monkeys · 4 years

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What is your favorite relationship(s) in the show (romantically or platonically, doesn’t matter!)

Anon you will regret opening pandora’s box. Or not. In any case, this post is going to be very long because I’m full of love. Also, anything marked romantic does not need to be romantic for me to lose my shit over them. In no particular order, either. Just in the order I thought of them.

1. The Black-eyed trio

Characters: Otto, Sparx, and Gibson.

Type: Platonic, Romantic,

Explanation: These three are grouped together by virtue of not being obscenely powerful and serving more practical uses on the team. Also, their eyes are all the same color. Besides the poetic connections of the colors of their design, they were alone in the robot together while the other three monkeys were out training.

Sparx and Gibson’s interactions give me life, going from playful jabs to genuine fighting right back to ride-or-die is amazing. The beginning of Night Of Fear, the battles in Brothers In Arms, and a bunch of small moments throughout the series are wonderful for this.

I could write an essay about Otto and Gibson, and someone else already has, but I’ll summarize it as ADHD autism solidarity with a side of Shut The Fuck Up Gibson. They care about each other and learn to respect each other in a way that’s better for both of them. I know a real-life Gibson to my Otto and learning that she’s just pretentious and doesn’t really hate anyone, and figuring out that we’re both equally brilliant and incredibly similar has made life a million times better.

Otto and Sparx don’t have as much development as Gibson with both of them, but their jokes together and general trust is amazing. Sparx is the dumb monkey and Otto supports him in his himbo endeavors.

These three together make an unstoppable technical team, and the only reason they probably couldn’t be a superhero team on their own is because of the raw power and fun dynamics brought by the other half of the team.

Romantically, these three would make the DUMBEST polycule ever. There is no true mediator here. It’s three dumbasses figuring out how they could possibly share a twin-sized bed when they have the ability to just make a bigger bed. Gibson calculates the most efficient 3 monkey makeout and none of them follow the statistics. They all give Chiro equally useless and conflicting advice on homework. Trying to give them a mediator in the polycule just makes me go back to shipping polymonkeys because I literally can’t decide if Antauri or Nova go better with them.

2. Quiet trust and encouragement

Characters: Otto, Antauri

Type: Platonic, Romantic

Explanation: When Otto is being dismissed by the other monkeys, or by the show itself, Antauri is usually the first to say “that’s bullshit, Otto is wonderful”. Circus Of Ooze is a notable example, but there are little moments in other seasons as well.

I just love the idea of the historically MOST SERIOUS and strongest monkey, sometimes even elevated to god-like status by some fanworks... paired with the monkey that has been infantilized and disrespected to no end. I personally like making Antauri have to lean on Otto, just to subvert that even further.

Beyond spite, I ship this simply because I like their dynamic. Antauri needs someone to ground him with more tactile physical things, and Otto needs someone to share his more nebulous thoughts I can’t imagine the others listening to. I love them.

Also, I want Antauri to unlock his true dumbass potential. He has the abilities, but not the will. Be silly with Otto. I want to hear him snort-laugh.

I literally forgot all the silver monkey stuff but I got three fics about that you know I go nuts over mechanic x robot shit.

3. The monkeys and their human son.

Characters: Chiro, Antauri, Nova, Sparx, Gibson, Otto

Type: Familial

Explanation: This family gives me joy. They were forced together through astronomical means and they made the best of it.

Everyone living in the robot is absolutely fucked up. They help each other in the darkest of times. They lift each other up when it’s light. They are a perfect team and nobody can be missing without it feeling wrong. But they can add people!

“Girl Trouble” as a concept is AMAZING to me but my secondhand embarrassment is so strong that I hate the episode. But never once is any of the monkeys resentful of Chiro. Not even Mandarin is like “wow I wish he didn’t take my place” no he’s also struck with the urge to nurture this kid to his fullest potential. Whether you see the team as a bunch of older siblings or 4 dads and a mom doesn’t really matter, they’re a family.

I mean, this also has a sprinkling of shipping all the monkeys in a really domestic way because I like seeing my optimal future in characters I like, but like literally all of these, it doesn’t need to be romantic for me to go nuts. I just think it would be fun to throw just a big monkey wedding or whatever. And funnier for Antauri to go “Chiro I’m having a baby. The baby is you” and holding up adoption papers because on the principle of Toby “Radiation” Fox I love that joke, especially when made much less weird than the original context.

I have a set of characters who is just 5 people in a polycule raising kids and living life because I really love this concept as a family.

4. Evil Coworkers

Characters: Mandarin, Sakko

Type: Romantic, Platonic,

Explanation: Why the hell are these two, in particular, working together? SK could’ve put Mandarin with literally anybody else and he chose what on the surface appears to be the LEAST compatible person on the account that they’re both monkeys. Some bitter asshole who now looks like the epitome of toxic masculinity and this tiny pink pet who used his femininity both as an advantage and a style. They’re different but it ends up working really well for both of them because they’re different in ways that cover each other’s bases. It’s wonderful. Pink and Orange go well together. Green and Purple go well together. Mandarin and Sakko go well together. Also, they clearly trust each other. During almost the entirety of “Hidden Fortress” Sakko was presumably just chilling inside of Mandarin’s armor. Mandarin trusted him enough to have Sakko in a place where he’s able to mess with his cybernetics, and Sakko trusted Mandarin enough to go into the battlefield with him and probably get tossed around.

If they were both human and in a more modern media, then they would definitely be shipped in the straightest way you can get without actually being straight. The Straightest Gay Ship.

5. A Witch and her Accidental Evil Coworker

Characters: Skelemandarin, Valeena.

Type: Platonic, Romantic,

Explanation: These two have been through some shit. Skelemandy was made to serve Skeleton King only to have that purpose yanked away from him. Valeena was groomed to idolize and serve Skeleton King for nearly her entire life. They were forced together by SHEER CHANCE and they both hated it. Arguably they both died at some point.

They both have absolutely NOBODY they can trust so let’s make them trust each other. All hilarity and sweetness comes from that.

Their dynamic is so good that I have them on a blog for a COMPLETELY DIFFERENT FANDOM and people love them with no context.

This is the only cross-species ship I have (besides chinmay and the antauri ships but that doesn’t count), but the fact that Skelemandy isn’t actually a monkey and needs no cybernetic assistance to be human-level sentient makes it a lot less weird. Just put them on equal ground power-wise (like by nerfing Valeena’s magic) and you have the ingredients for bonding.

They have like, no cute moments in canon, but that’s why we have fics and art. They have potential. I want them to help each other figure out who they are without their purpose. I want them to survive this horrible life together. I want them to figure out how to trust again. I want a lot but Valeena is fucking dead.

But she doesn’t have to be.

(Also Valeena is REALLY HOT and Skelemandarin is just me as a monkey)

6. Gay Dads

Characters: The Alchemist, Captain Shuggazoom

Type: Romantic, Platonic

Explanation: Oh my stars. Oh null. Oh me oh my hhougfhfakjghf. These two have the angst of Mantauri but on crack.

They only appeared in about two episodes each and all three episodes are top tier. They call each other “Friend” multiple times in their shared episode. THEY’RE FRIENDS!!!!!!!!! The face Al makes when he realizes that Cap is visiting makes me really happy. The fact that Cap had this whole Batman Double Life thing and he shows the Alchemist BOTH OF THEM is amazing. The alchemist is a hermit living in the woods and he lets Cap into that life.

There isn’t a lot shown, much less than everything else here. But that makes every single fanfic so much richer since they’re almost completely based on headcanons. Friends who have a mutual crush on each other but are No Homo about it? Secret boyfriends? Husbands with 6 monkey kids? An Old man and a grumpy Skeleton making it work? Literally just platonic friends? Dude, you can do whatever you want.

The tragedy of these two losing each other to one big horrible event crushes me. It influences my every move in my creative work. I have an entire character dedicated to reuniting these two in the most astronomical and ridiculous way possible because the alchemist angered the gods but she thinks he needs some company in his eternal punishment.

I want Clayton to unlock Al’s less serious, more fun side. I want them to work together. I want them to hold hands. GHGHGHDFBG UTTHTYE CNAZSNT EBCV ASUA ER

7. The girl power duo

Characters: Nova, Jinmay

Type: Familial

Explanation: These two were my only comfort during the uncomfortable nightmare that is “The Hills Have Five”

Nova was the one who trained Jinmay, and it seems like they hang out a lot offscreen in season 4. They fulfill the early 2000′s cartoon archetypes of girl and Girl, so they’re supposed to get along. If they didn’t I probably wouldn’t like Jinmay.

Nova is a really good big sister/parental figure to Jinmay, who never had any family to speak of.

Anyway, this entry has to be shorter because most of their bonding is in “The Hills Have Five” which is either #1 or #2 in my least favorite episode list. Not because it’s bad, but because it makes me viscerally uncomfortable. I really wish literally any other character than Jinmay was in her role in that episode. Or that the “taken to an offscreen area by an adult man while she screams” just wasn’t there. SHE’S 13!!! Nova did literally all she could to help.

I really like that scene in questionable where Valeena kills almost the entire gang. It’s what they deserve.

Look I just really like Jinmay and I always have. She deserves a good Mom.

8. "My Second In Command”

Characters: Antauri, Mandarin

Type: Theoretical

Explanation: The fandom has really made this ship go from “literally nothing to stand on” to “integral plot point in a lot of fics”. Seriously. I have TWO screenshots that vaguely imply these two ever stood next to each other on the battlefield. This was entirely title-based and fan-made until ProjectAfectivity interviewed Ciro. Yeah he knows Antauri but only as well as the rest of the team. Anyway. Wow. This ship.

This is by far the worst breakup in history. These two, despite what Antauri says, were on equal ground at some point. According to Ciro (and fan speculation), they trained together. This (and other Mandy ship) changes wildly depending on if you think Mandarin was corrupted by the portal or not. Maybe Mandarin was once a kind leader who just crossed the wrong boundaries and paid for it. He could’ve held Antauri gently before battle. He could’ve been the monkey Antauri went to when he needed someone to talk to. He could’ve hyped the team up like Chiro does.

Or maybe, they were constantly fighting against each other in small ways. An incredibly unhealthy relationship, yes, but an interesting story. I like stories where Antauri isn’t this all-knowing pillar of stability. He’s got weaknesses. One of them may have been Mandarin.

Now that’s a good nickname from one to the other.

Imagine Antauri, in a moment of complete trust, declaring Mandarin his weakness. A sweet sentiment. They both know the other is incredibly strong, and trust that the other would never take advantage of that connection. They love each other. Until...

9. "My Closest Ally”

Characters: Otto, Mandarin

Type: Theoretical

Explanation: Okay I'm looking at the screenshot I put for this entry while also having watched Evil Ages recently. My brain is making uncomfortable connections. Combine that with the fandom and the show’s general treatment of Otto and I’m about to slam my head into a wall. I really do not like that, but I feel like there’s somebody out there who does.

Anyway, this is Gibotto and Ottauri but with all the spice that shipping Mandarin with one of the other monkeys brings. When done well, it’s all the respecting Otto that comes with Ottauri and all the intimate partnership of Gibotto. And the Angst of Mantauri, but a lot more grounded.

It paints a lot of stories. A story of a single point of comfort in a world Mandarin thinks is out to get him. A story of powerful validation from the one authority in Otto’s life. Of letting your guard down. Of trust, then breaking that trust.

I’d LOVE to see some things with Mandottotauri because that’s epic and cool and poggers. Don’t see a lot, though.

10.The Hets, I guess.

Characters: Jinmay, Chiro.

Type: Romantic. Platonic. Canon.

Explanation: Look two entries on this list are polyamorous and four of them are mandarin so I have to say SOMETHING for the heteroes following me. Picked this ship over Spova because when I was a young child still suffering from comphet, I never watched the last episode of the show. I only saw up to season 3 at the most. This was the only canon ship for me. And out of all the ships, it’s the most relatable. I’m currently a teenager with black hair who looks really good in eyeliner dating a girl with pink hair who can pick me up and is unbelievably sweet. Except we’re gay and polyam. Wait a second I totally had a crush on Jinmay as a kid and now my gf is the Jinmay in this situation. Oh my god I was going to make this comparison if I did Spova too and I liked Nova.

ANYWAY

These are two LONELY kids. Chiro had bullies during school, and now he doesn’t even go to school. Jinmay hasn’t really had friends at all. Two kids with places in their universe that they aren’t too sure about, and just need someone to lean on. Their date was cute. They instantly bonded over their love of monkeys and I love that.

The super robot is sometimes an analog for Chiro, in the first two season at least, and the way the super robot held Jinmay’s hands to keep her steady on the COB while her head flew in was SO SWEET. Chiro’s instant recognition and reaction to Jinmay’s head being thrown at the team, as well. He really loves her.

I think it’d be interesting if she didn’t love him back, though. I might take a stab at writing that.

#srmthfg #super robot monkey team hyperforce go #srmthg #chinmay #Mandotto #Mantauri #Mandareena #Manokko #Captain Alchemist #Ottauri #Polymonkeys #Gibottarx #Anonymous

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fluffykitty1999-blog · 3 years

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Burned Chapter 15

Roy had been expecting a call in the wee hours of the morning. Even if there wasn't any news on the case, just an update, something- from Hughes.

They'd gotten home around midnight. Ed had grabbed a brief shower- it'd taken awhile to scrub the dirt and blood off himself, Roy had assumed- but the boy had made an appearance in the kitchen, looking cleaner, but exhausted.

He'd managed to coax the boy into drinking half a cup of tea- with a splash of milk disguised by copious amounts of honey- before convincing him to head upstairs, because it was investigation's department, and there was nothing he'd be able to do anyways.

Roy had fallen asleep downstairs on the couch, waiting for the phone call from Hughes that never came. He woke up at 3:13am with a sore back from falling asleep slumped over. He slogged upstairs, still just as exhausted and frustrated as when he'd fallen asleep.

He noticed a light creeping under the door of the other bedroom- Al's room- and he frowned, lightly knocking on the door.

"Come in." Al's muffled voice replied.

Roy did. Al was seated in the center of the room cross-legged, various research reports and open books spread out on the floor around him.

"Is everything okay, Colonel?"

"Yeah. I was just heading to bed and noticed the light was on. Wanted to make sure you were alright." only now, it was dawning on him that Alphonse didn't sleep. When he'd first begun staying at Roy's home, he'd turn his lights out at night, but as he'd grown more comfortable, he'd taken to quietly reading and doing small tasks at night.

"Oh yes, I'm fine. Colonel... is brother okay? I saw him when he came in- he was covered in blood. And I know he's not hurt, but he wouldn't talk to me about it. He just went right to bed. He only keeps things from me that are bad. Horrible, even. Because he doesn't want to upset me. But I notice. This has something to do with the ladies that keep getting killed, doesn't it?"

Roy sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. How was it he always underestimated Alphonse Elric at every turn? When he'd first met the boy- an eleven year old with a soul trapped in a suit of armor who passed the written state alchemist's exam- to now- the perceptive child sitting on his floor, reading during the day and night because it was physically impossible for him to sleep.

He was too tired to come up with a decent lie. And besides, the way those quiet soulfire eyes bore into his own, he knew Alphonse wouldn't believe it, anyways.

"Yes, Alphonse, it is. Hughes and I have been trying to keep your brother out of it- but tonight he found a body. Hughes is handling it. In fact- I'm expecting a call from him anytime now. If the phone rings and I don't get it- will you get it for me?"

"Of course." Alphonse sounded much cheerier at this- he just liked to be kept in the loop, Roy realized. Knowing Ed, he tried to shield Al from anything not related to them getting their bodies back- he felt the military issues were his cross to bear, and his alone. It wasn't true- Alphonse was more than willing to help his brother- but Ed felt it was his responsibility, his duty, as the older brother to keep Al away from such things.

Still, that wasn't a problem he could solve tonight anyways. And with Alphonse awake and ready to answer the phone, he was free to go to bed. The day had been exhausting.

"Thanks. Goodnight, Alphonse."

"Goodnight, Colonel."

Roy quietly shut the door behind him and started towards his room. He was about halfway down the hall but stopped past the door of Ed's room when he heard a muffled whimper. He paused, sighing, before he palmed the door open and stepped into the darkness quietly. Ed was curled beneath the blankets, but after a day as hard as this, it wasn't hard to see the kid was probably going to have nightmares.

Ed was wrapped in the sheets, his blond hair strewn about behind him on the pillow. His hands grasped at the sheets and he squirmed slightly in his sleep, a half-sob half whimper breaking the quiet of the night as his legs twitched restlessly.

"Easy, Ed. It's alright, buddy." Roy picked his way over beside the bed, his earlier exhaustion forgotten.

In the early days, when Ed had first been healing here, he'd learned that during nightmares, speaking to Ed could calm him down adequately. He understood the fear of being in the dark and alone- hearing someone talking to you made the darkness less lonely, and not nearly as terrifying.

"I know. You had a real rough day today. We all did. But you the most, probably." Roy was beside the bed, now, and he reached over, gently brushing the boy's bangs away from his face. Ed's breathing had slowed slightly, and his face was no longer screwed up in distress, though he was still breathing fast and his fingers still worried the sheets slightly.

"You did good though. You were scared- I know you were scared- but you stayed calm. Calmer than me, in fact. When I saw you come in covered in blood- I thought I was going to faint. I was scared I'd lost you all over again."

Roy paused mid-way to brushing Ed's hair from his face, realizing his hand was shaking. He took a deep breath to steady himself before he continued, reaching down to gently brush Ed's golden locks aside, more as a gesture of affection now than to be able to see Ed's face.

"I'm proud of you, Ed. Of how far you've come- you've always been a brave, stubborn little brat- but seeing you grow up into the alchemist I knew you could be- I never knew how rewarding that'd be."

Ed let out a long breath- he was no longer panting anxiously. Roy cracked a slight smile. Ed was relaxing- yet again it was proof that just talking to the boy was enough to calm him down. With Ed's face relaxed, he wiggled his toes beneath the blankets and shifted slightly, snuffling into the pillow. it was cute, almost. Roy couldn't help but smile. Ed looked so much younger while he slept.

He pulled out the chair he kept in the corner of the small bedroom, sitting down heavily and blinking.

"You don't have to be so strong you know. You're only a kid. You don't have to hold the weight of the world on your shoulders. I mean, I understand trying to protect Al, but you're human- you're just a kid. You aren't alone. You have me. And the team. Just... try not to be such a hero, kid. It never got me anywhere."

He sighed, leaning back in the chair. The weariness that'd been slowly stalking him overtook him once again, settling deep into his bones. He'd just rest his eyes for a moment, and then head off to his own room for the night...

"Hey. Hey Roy, wake up! Hey!"

"Brother, you really should be nicer..."

"This IS nice Al! I made him toast! I don't just do this for anyone!"

Roy peeled his eyes open to see Edward, clad in black jeans and a loose-fitting T-shirt, with his hair in pony tail and a plate full of toast in hand, with Al behind him in the doorway.

"Besides, he's the one who fell asleep in my room!"

"...in my house." Roy groused, reaching up to scrub an eye with one hand. The crick in his back felt much worse, now.

"You're awake!" Al chorused, sounding pleased.

"Eat this toast. I made it myself cuz you pretty much died in the chair."

Roy opened his mouth to yawn, only to have a piece of toast shoved in his mouth. He started coughing.

"Brother!" Al scolded.

"What? I'm feeding him breakfast. That's what you're supposed to do!"

Roy coughed, spitting out the toast slice in one hand and swallowing the bite in his mouth.

"Yeah, it's good. Chewy, though..."

"That's cuz I put peanut butter on it." Ed beamed. "We're out of bread, by the way." he looked a little sheepish.

Roy frowned, becoming more awake by the second. "Why do I smell smoke?"

"We put out the fire!" Alphonse chimed in, trying to be helpful.

"Don't tell him that!" Ed protested.

Roy frowned. How was it 2 alchemist protegees couldn't make toast without nearly burning his house down?

Still, he had bigger things to worry about. "What time is it?"

"Noon. You pretty much died in the chair, like I said. And Alphonse found a cat, and I don't like it, but he put it in the living room anyways."

"It was raining! I couldn't leave it!" Al protested.

"Wait, noon!?" Roy was stumbling to his feet.

"Yeah."

"What about that phone call? Did the phone ring last night? Did Hughes call?"

"Nobody called except Hawkeye. She said we could stay home from work today cuz she heard about what happened." Ed took a bite on his own piece of toast, frowning.

"Of course she did." Roy made a mental note to thank her later, stumbling into the hallway and into his study and going for the phone. It was nearly noon, and Hughes hadn't called? Something was up.

He dialed the familiar number and waited.

"Detective Hughes here." Hughes sounded half dead.

"Hey." Roy tried to keep the irritation out of his voice. "I was expecting a call from you. Maybe not news, but just an update of some kind since last night."

"Sorry. I haven't been home. I've been chasing leads."

"All night?" the silence on the line and the lack of cheer in his friend's voice confirmed his guess to be true.

"I have to solve this, Roy. This guy- whoever he is- made a mistake. The killing last night- was done by the theater where a political rally was being held. All those spectators watching- someone had to have seen something. There was a sign in sheet passed around, I've been interviewing. We're on interview... 87? Of approximately 150. I can't talk long- one of the candidates who was giving a speech, Susans- she's coming in soon."

"You need help. You've been up for nearly 24 hours straight, you have too many leads to handle and you're not thinking clearly. I can be over there in half an hour..."

"No. You need to stay and keep an eye on Ed. I don't want him involved in this. We're close to a break, I can feel it..."

"Hughes..."

"I can feel it Roy!" Hughes snapped, and Roy paused. Hughes wasn't one to shout normally.

"How can you be so sure?"

"Because... the killer's been too rash. He made a mistake. Ed said the victim's pink purse was left behind at the scene. When my team got down there, there was no purse."

"Whose to say robbers didn't just take it?"

"They would've taken the money. Our victim was a school teacher, and she'd just been to the bank. The clerk remembered her cashing her paycheck. And we found it. All 174 cens of bills in that alley. Crumpled up and bloodstained, but all there. They just. took. The purse."

Roy frowned, turning the fact over in his mind. "But if Ed saw it..."

"Then the killer came back and took a souvenir. Between the time Ed found the body and before investigations arrived, the killer came back for a memento."

The phone receiver clattered to the desk as it slipped from Roy's fingers and his blood ran cold.

Whoever the hell this sick bastard was... he'd come back for a souvenir.

Ed hadn't seen the killer, but perhaps he'd still been there, lurking in the shadows, waiting for a moment to strike while Ed had been close by.

Roy picked up the phone again, trying to calm his racing thoughts. Once again, Edward was lucky to escape alive.

"So someone has to have seen it. 143 spectators. 3 Politicians. 14 staff. Someone saw something. Our killer is boxing himself in. I can find this, I just need Ed safe with you and out of the picture..."

"At least let me send Hawkeye. She can help you. Don't tell me you couldn't use a 2 hour nap and some more manpower, because that's a lie and we both know it."

Hughes sighed. "Yeah. Sure, send her over, but keep Ed safe. He was there last night- the killer might've been there, Roy. Watching him."

"I know."

"This killer has been getting more aggressive. I don't want his luck to run out."

"Understood. I'll have Hawkeye and some staff drop by. When you get a break- call me. Okay?"

"Okay. Thanks, Roy." Hughes sounded exhausted but grateful.

"Take care of yourself, Hughes."

Roy hung up the phone and sighed. He was anxious for a break in the case too- the case had become too personal. Part of him resented not being able to go and help himself, but when he thought of Ed being anywhere close to this lunatic again, he knew why it was important to keep away.

"Mow?"

A ball of orange fluff jumped up on the desk next to him and started to rub his arms and purr.

"What the hell!?"

"That's Iggy." Ed frowned, crossing his arms and looking up at Mustang with distaste. "That weird ass cat Al found. I don't like him, he's shifty."

Roy looked down. The cat was rather bedraggled looking, and it's eyes were lopsided, looking in two different directions. It was kind of unnerving.

The cat started to purr like a motor, pawing at his hand and begging for pets. The cat was also drooling.

"Oh yeah. It might have rabies. Hughes have any news on the case?"

"No. Nothing yet. And you're not involved in the case anyways."

Roy frowned, picking up Iggy the cat and setting him on the ground. The cat promptly fell over like a drunk, sprawled out on the rug, and fell asleep.

"Right. When you find him, I want to help hunt him down."

"Ed. No."

"It's personal now!" Ed stomped his foot. "Like it or not, I AM involved, and I'm not gonna sit around like some useless child!"

"I never said you were a useless child. But we could use you elsewear."

"Yeah? Like where?" Ed raised an incendiary eyebrow.

"Here. Helping me figure out how to vote in this damned election this afternoon. And helping Gracia and Elicia. Hughes hasn't been home from the office in awhile, I'm sure Elicia could use a hand with the shopping and you and Al can help with Elicia."

There was a small poof as Iggy the cat farted himself awake before promptly dozing back off again.

"And also- we gotta find somebody to adopt this cat."

There it is, folks! An OC kitty!

And as usual... the ko-fi link, if you like the trash I, a human dumpster fire, produce https://ko-fi.com/fluffykitty12

#fma fanfiction #FMA #burned #burns #injury #accident #Edwhumph #edward elric whumph #parentalroy #parental roy #roy mustang #ed whump #whumph #whump #angst #hurt ed #comfort #hurt #hurt/comfort

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worryinglyinnocent · 3 years

Text

Fic: Things to Let Go Of

Summary: A series of four missing moments from Forged Through Fire from other points of view to the main four. They didn’t really fit in the main fic, but I feel they add colour and depth to the minor characters and I wanted to write them anyway.

Part three: Havoc and Rebecca take Trisha home, and Rebecca reflects on the first time she met Trisha and Hohenheim. Set between Chapters Eight and Nine.

Rated: T

Content warning: Abortion

Things to Let Go Of

On entering Trisha and Hohenheim’s apartment, Rebecca wondered if she’d accidentally walked into a greenhouse by accident. Almost every available surface was covered with planters and flowerpots of some description, and there were boxes and hanging baskets outside the windows as well.

“Well, at least we know where all your herbs come from now.” Jean looked around at the space with wonder. “Do you ever fear that one day the plants will take over?”

Trisha shook her head; Rebecca got the feeling that she wanted to laugh at the comment but she didn’t think that she’d ever laugh properly again.

“No. The plants are my friends. Although Van maintains that the aloe vera has tried to fondle his ass on several occasions. Perhaps that one’s too friendly.” She sighed. “Do you want tea, or anything?”

“We can take care of that, Trisha. Considering everything that’s happened, I really don’t think you ought to be worrying about being the perfect hostess.”

“Yeah.” Trisha sat down heavily on the sofa, kicking off the shoes that she’d borrowed from Riza for the walk back to the apartment and flexing her feet with a grimace. “I just… I have no idea what to do. My mind is just coming up with all these increasingly horrible scenarios of what they’re going to do to him and I just…”

She burst into tears again, and Rebecca went to sit by her as Jean went to fill the kettle and make some tea. Jean was not the sharpest tool in the shed; he was not the strategist that Roy was or the sensible, level-headed voice of reason that Riza was, but he was intuitive, and he always knew what he needed to do without any prompting.

“I just can’t bear the thought of him going through it all again,” Trisha muttered. “It’s been over four hundred years and he still sometimes wakes up with screaming nightmares about everything that happened back in Xerxes. I just wish I could do something. Anything.”

“We’ll find him.” Rebecca pulled her into a hug. “We’ll find him and get him back. If anyone can do it, it’s our lot.”

“I know. I know. I just…”

Rebecca let her cry it out. She had no idea how to reassure Trisha, especially when there wasn’t really any reassurance to be had and it was such a unique situation that they’d all found themselves in. Having a person close to you black-bagged was terrifying enough, but for someone like Hohenheim, with all his secrets, it was unthinkable.

Jean brought the tea over and went to double check all the door and window locks before joining them again. Trisha had quietened down and was staring down at her feet, still dirty and bloody from her run through the Narrows to get to the bar, and Rebecca got up.

“I’ll take a look at your feet. Where’s your medicine cabinet?”

Trisha gave a bark of rough laughter and gestured around the room with her mug of tea. “In all seriousness though, the bathroom. That door then hang a left.”

Rebecca stepped through into the bathroom and stopped dead at the sight that met her, the clean white sheet with its starkly dyed transmutation array hanging over the shower rail to drip dry into the tub.

She remembered that sheet. She remembered the first time that she’d met Trisha and Hohenheim. It had been the worst week of her life, until she had confided in Riza and Riza had offered her up a lifeline.

I know a very kind, very safe medical alchemist who won’t ask questions and will help you if you want it.

She remembered that first time she had gone into the back room of the shop. She had always suspected that there was something going on behind the scenes there, but Riza was nothing if not discreet in all areas of her life and had never slipped up and revealed anything. Rebecca hadn’t really taken in the speakeasy at first. She had been so nervous about what was about to happen that it hadn’t registered in her mind at all. She’d heard all kinds of horror stories about the unlicensed practitioners who helped out ‘girls in trouble’ and it was only Riza’s trust in the man that had given her the reassurance to go through with it.

They had gone into the little clinic, meeting Hohenheim straightening out this very sheet with this very array dyed in.

(Rebecca had now known Hohenheim long enough to know that he generally drew all his medical alkahestry arrays from scratch with chalk, and it saddened her to realise in hindsight that this was one procedure he performed often enough to have the array pre-made. All she could hope was that one day, things would be better, and the laws would not be so draconian, and the women of Central City would not need to resort to back-room alchemists.)

Trisha had been there too, a friendly female face for moral support, and the whole process had been comparatively painless and over in just a few minutes. They were such good people and they must have helped so many people in their turn. They didn’t deserve what was happening to them now.

Rebecca shook herself out of her reminiscing and grabbed antiseptic and bandages from the cabinet, going back through to the main room of the apartment and settling on the rug in front of Trisha, beginning to clean her feet. Trisha didn’t say anything, just staring into the middle distance. Rebecca didn’t want to ponder the nightmares her brain must be conjuring up.

“Trisha, I’ll stay over to make sure you’re safe,” Jean said presently.

“Me too.” Rebecca didn’t really know what she could bring to the table in terms of keeping Trisha safe when compared with an actual soldier, but she had a pistol in her handbag and she’d fired it in self-defence before without batting an eyelid.

Trisha gave a wan smile as Rebecca finished up with her feet.

“Thank you.”

There were more than enough pillows and throw blankets in the apartment to make them comfortable in the living room after Trisha had retreated to her own bed, although Rebecca didn’t think that any of them would actually get any sleep at all that night. Jean seemed comfortable enough on the rug, staring up at the ceiling, and Rebecca turned onto her side on the sofa, looking at him.

“Jean?”

“Yeah?”

“I need to tell you something.”

“Shoot.”

“This isn’t the first time I’ve met Trisha and Hohenheim. I mean, I didn’t meet them casually. I went to Hohenheim for… help with something. Before I met you. I’d only just met Riza, actually, and she was the one who introduced me to Hohenheim and then the bar by proxy.”

Jean shrugged.

“I’m pretty sure he’s patched all of us up at least once.”

“You know what I mean.”

“I know what you mean. You had an abortion.”

“Yes.”

It felt good to get it out there in the air between them; even though it really wasn’t the right time or place to be talking about it, everything was still so raw and emotional from earlier in the evening that Rebecca didn’t think she could have kept it in if she’d tried.

“We’ve all got pasts, Becca. I don’t care what happened in yours. It’s none of my concern. As long as you’re happy now - well, not right now, not with everything that’s going at the moment, but you know what I mean - then that’s all I care about.”

He smiled up at her in the dim light and Rebecca smiled back.

“Thank you.”

“Don’t mention it. Are you all right? You look as if you’re about to cry.”

Rebecca nodded, although whether she was agreeing with the being all right or the being about to cry was beyond her at that moment. Probably both. Jean got off the floor and squeezed onto the sofa beside her, taking her in his arms without a word. Rebecca pressed in close against his chest, breathing him in. She had no idea what might happen in the future, but she knew in that moment that she never wanted to let go of him.

#FMA:Brotherhood #FMA Fanfiction #Havolina #Rebecca Catalina #Jean Havoc #Fic: Forged Through Fire #CW: Abortion

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manlyquail · 3 years

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Nerdy Lucid Dreaming

So I figured for no reason whatsoever that I’d share the small story about how I started to learn how to lucid dream as a kid without even realizing what I was doing.

For some brief context, I’m (and always have been) a big gamer. My dad had me playing video games ever since I was young (looking at you Blizzard games), and needless to say I became a bit of an addict. So anyway, with video games ingrained in my brain, there was a day where I suddenly just learned a new skill in my dreams, and it was sort’ve the first step of learning to lucid dream.

See, what would happen is I was a kid that got nightmares quite a bit. Waking up from the cold sweat all scared of whatever happened to be going on (I also grew up on movies like Alien, Friday the 13th, etc. I even saw the opening scene to Fullmetal Alchemist when I was a kid, the scene where they try to ressurect their mom? Yeah, lots of nightmare fuel for my tiny little brain to process). Anyways, it really gave my brain a lot to process, and I don’t really remember any of the dreams because I was so young, except one.

I remember this particular dream because it was the first time I’d ever been aware of my dreaming state, and I was so scared I basically took control almost in a state of panic. In the dream, I was in a really thick hedge maze, above me was all black so no stars or anything, kind’ve like there was just a thick black ceiling above me that was so dark it didn’t even seem like there was anything there. In this maze I was being chased by monsters, in particular I remember Predator being there, a xenomorph from Alien too, and a few other baddies all teamed up chasing me through this maze. As hedge mazes do of course, I eventually found a dead end in the chase and got cornered. So, for dream me it was basically the end, but then the weirdest thing happened. I was so desperate to get out of the dream, to get away from this moment, that a “PAUSE” menu appeared.

Think any game with a pause menu. The screen sorta darkens around the edges, a bright menu in the middle with a list of options and “PAUSE” at the top. It showed up just before things were at their worst, and I was so desperate to wake up from the nightmare that a cursor started to move its way across the image of my dream. It made its way to the pause menu, scrolled down to an EXIT button, and when it clicked it BAM, I woke up. It was so weird to me, and internally I realized how absolutely dorky it was that a video-game style pause menu is what I somehow used to get out of my dream.

After that happened I guess I internalized that ability because I was so thankful to be able to wake up from dreams that it ended up becoming a sort’ve default setting to nightmares at that point. I gained some foresight into when a dream was going to be a nightmare and could simply just ‘exit’ the dream, wake myself up, and then just try another dream.

Since then I’ve learned more to be able to lucid dream, but in my own way I suppose. I haven’t looked too much into what its like for others with the ability, but for me I’m almost just actively ‘watching’ a show at this point. I’m well aware I could change things around, intervene at any time to wake myself up or change the course of the dream, but I’ve become essentially my own checkpoint system. My curiosity to see how a dream plays out before me makes me eager to simply let dreams play out, but if something bad happens to me in the dream, or something happens that would prevent the dream from continuing or finishing in a way I’m satisfied with, I briefly rewind in a sense and let it play out once more but with the knowledge of what went wrong to avoid it.

I have a few other unique quirks about the way I dream, but some of them are honestly a little horrifying to describe, so I’ll put like a TW and a cut right now for descriptions of extreme gore, and like, loss of limb stuff below really quick just in case before I continue on, mostly because I’m enjoying sharing this and figure why not put all my dream stuff in one place?

So something else kind’ve messed up about the way I dream is how vivid everything is. Because of the self awareness I have that everything is a dream, I no longer panic or freak out when something horrible goes wrong. I’ve been eaten by cannibals, had my limbs ripped off, been cut in half, and so on in my dreams before, but because I realize that they’re dreams I don’t get super freaked out by the events. Usually I just roll with the punches, and in most cases, quite literally try to put myself back together.

I remember one dream in particular, I was in a Halo Warthog in the dream and I don’t quite recall where we were going (group of just sorta faceless people I suppose, and it was a four seater without the turret), but there was a crash and an accident and I ended up getting cut in half right at the waist. Horrifying yes, I remember the feeling of that dismemberment followed by desperately crawling across the ground to a set of legs I thought were mind. Through dream logic I just sort’ve planted my torso on the set of legs and after a couple second was able to use them. Joke was on me because I found out they weren’t actually my legs but someone else’s from the accident, but they were already attached so what was I to do?

The freakiest part of it all though wasn’t the dream, but when I woke up I still felt ‘separated’. I’ve described it to some people in the past as almost like a reverse-phantom limb situation, where I have the body parts but it doesn’t feel like they’re actually attached to me. I was so scared that if I lifted myself up in bed my torso would just pop off from my legs.

It’s not the first time a situation like this has happened, though most of the time it involves my hand. Somehow I frequently get my hand lopped off in various ways, usually not at the wrist but somewhere along the palm or even a few fingers. I always ‘reattach’ it in my dream (usually with something silly, like glue, tape, etc.), and the logic in the dream is as long as I don’t move it around too much it’ll naturally just ‘heal’ itself back connected. I think I get that logic from the idea of sewing limbs back on in emergency situations to save the limb, my brain just equates that to “Well if I just find a way to keep the two pieces lined up long enough it’ll all work out!” Then, when I wake up, than translates to me being utterly terrified to so much as flex my hand or move my fingers around too much lest it just fall apart.

It’s the same sensation as the cut in half one as well. Despite the fact I can see my hand, I can move it and wiggle it around, there’s a lengthy period of time where it feels like a cold fog is there instead. Like, I can feel the warmth of my body up to the part where the limb was lost, but then its like this cold sensation where its as if it isn’t really there even though I know it is. It’s a spooky sensation, almost like a part of my soul was just cut off or something. Eventually the sensation goes away with time, but my imagination and memory are vivid enough that if I think really hard about the scenarios I can recall that feeling pretty distinctly. Spooky stuff.

Anyways, that’s about the end of my weird dream rant. I love sharing nonsense like this but it mostly feels like me rambling some of the time, so thank you for indulging me if you’ve read this far at all and I hope it was the least bit interesting!

#dreams #lucid dreaming #graphic #story #story telling #dream story #video games #nerdy #psychology #thoughts

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eskalations · 4 years

Link

Could a retired sniper even become a loving mother after all she had seen and done?

FFN Link

(Day 3 "Old Wounds" - Royai Week 2020)

A/N: Here's my entry for Day 3 of Royai Week for the prompt "Old Wounds". I didn't really know where this was all going until it suddenly became a comprehensive retelling of everything that happened post-canon. I know the fandom likes to headcanon that Roy and Riza have a little boy named Maes, but I really wanted to give them a child who had her own name and identity. Plus, Roy Mustang with a little girl is an absolute weakness of mine.

I also have him calling her Lizzie because I’m a sucker for Pride and Prejudice and can just imagine how sweetly he would say it (much like Darcy says ‘dearest, loveliest Elizabeth) *swoon*

I hope you enjoy!

"Mommy?"

Riza was awoken from her slumber by a small voice and a tugging hand. She blinked her eyes several times, trying to regain her bearings in the near darkness of the room. Glancing at the window over the form of her sleeping husband, she noticed that the moon was still high in the sky.

'It couldn't be more than midnight,' she thought to herself, rubbing a weary hand over her eyes in an attempt to clear her vision.

"Mommy?" It was then that she remembered the reason for her sudden wakefulness. The tiny voice that she knew and loved so well was trembling with an escalating fear, the tugging hand at the back of her nightgown pulling a bit more roughly than before. Sensing the desperation in her plea, Riza turned around to face the small child.

"Elizabeth?" She asked, her voice coarse with sleep. A pair of dark, swollen eyes peered up at her from over the edge of the bed. "What are you doing up?"

"Nightmare."

Riza could tell that her daughter's sleep had been less peaceful than normal, just by the way her wild, dark hair was pulling out of her braid – evidence of the tossing and turning she had done before running to her parent's room. In the dim light of the moon, she could also see the fresh tear marks that marred her daughter's cheeks. The sight broke Riza's heart.

"Come here," Her mother quietly beckoned, reaching her arms out towards the three-year-old. Elizabeth stood on her tip toes as warm hands were placed under her arms. Once the young girl was settled between both her parents, Riza wrapped her up in a warm embrace and nuzzled her face into her shoulder.

Elizabeth was not the type of child to seek out her parents' comfort in the middle of the night, so this type of behavior was incredibly unusual for her. Whatever she had dreamt about must have really frightened her to have her traversing the dark halls of their home in the middle of the night.

"Lizzie?"

Riza cringed at the sound of her husband's sleepy voice, knowing that he needed to be up early in the morning for a meeting with his generals. But a tiny pair of cold feet had made their way to the exposed expanse of his back, waking him from his deep slumber and alerting him to his sweet daughter's presence.

The woman watched as her husband turned over – eyes heavy with sleep but concern evident in their dark depths. At the sound of her father's voice, Elizabeth buried her face even deeper into her mother's neck, fighting back the tears that forced themselves forward at his gentle tone. Riza glanced over their daughter's head, meeting his questioning gaze with a concerned one of her own.

If you had told them ten years ago that they would be sequestered together in a lovely home, married, and snuggled up with their daughter – they would have laughed at the sheer idea of it. Two killers, as horrible as them, could never repent enough to ever deserve the happiness that most human beings sought. It just wouldn't be fair after how many lives they had taken that they would get the chance to be together.

But life was full of surprises.

The first surprise was the pardoning of them for their crimes in relation to Ishval. Though they argued with Grumman over his decision to sign the papers to forever have them excused for their actions on the frontline, they couldn't find it in themselves to argue with the Ishvalan Elders. The Elders had asked that they, and whoever else had taken part in the efforts to rebuild Ishval, be pardoned on the grounds that, they would continue to commit their time and energy to ensuring something like the Ishvalan Extermination campaign never happened again.

While both Riza and Roy did not believe they deserved to walk free after all they had done, they swore that for as long as they were in a place of power, the Ishvalans would not be persecuted again. Roy took it one step further and even began lobbying for laws against hate crimes that would bring an ample amount of punishment to anyone who participated in them. They still had not forgiven themselves for their actions – however, they were adamant in their resolve to provide Ishval with whatever help they needed. If they wanted them alive and working, then that's what they were going to do.

The second surprise was Grumman's dissolvent of the Anti-Fraternization Laws. After having sat in the Fuhrer's chair for nearly three years, the old coot had decided that he had had quite enough of the laws that dictated a soldier's personal life, and chose to abolish those along with a few others. The moment those laws had been dissolved, the entire military seemed to turn their eyes towards Mustang and Hawkeye – but the two of them had far too much to do than worry about dating and marriage. Besides, they quite liked the secret nature of their relationship.

The third surprise was Roy Mustang's decision to not run for Prime Minister after power had been shifted to Parliament. The general public was shocked that the young upstart, who at the time was still a fresh-faced thirty-five, had decided not to move along with the power. Even Riza could hardly believe his decision to pass up the opportunity – that was, until he explained it to her.

'I'd rather become Fuhrer and be able to control the military than become a politician,' Roy had shared with her one night over supper. 'I know I would be decent at it, but I would rather focus on ensuring that the military never fall back into corruption than sit in on meetings where all they talk about are laws. I need to be doing something. I need to be in the Fuhrer's chair to make sure that the military will never be used to cause so much destruction ever again.'

The fourth surprise was Grumman's campaign for Prime Minister and his ultimate winning of the title. It was the first democratic election that Amestris had held in over two hundred years, the voters all agreeing that if they had liked the old General as a Fuhrer, they would most likely like him as a Prime Minister. Roy couldn't have been happier with the turn of events, now knowing that someone he trusted would be in control of Parliament.

That only left one thing to be decided. Who was to be Fuhrer?

Having jumped the ranks easily after his participation in 'The Promised Day', it came as no surprise to anyone that the newly minted General Mustang would not hold on to that title for long. Upon his 'promotion' to Prime Minister, Grumman had announced Mustang as his desired predecessor. There were few naysayers who remarked that the title truly belonged to Olivier Armstrong – however, the majority of the military found no reason to argue with the decision to give Mustang the chair. Besides, Armstrong preferred her title of "Queen of the North" to Fuhrer and wouldn't have it any other way. Briggs was her's; Mustang could have Central.

It was only after Roy Mustang had officially become Fuhrer that the idea of marriage finally became a possibility. With Roy's climb to the top done, he saw no reason for Riza to continue to stand behind him, and voiced his desire to have her stand beside him instead. The First Lady of Amestris would have many responsibilities of her own and he couldn't imagine any other woman filling that role but her. It took a while for Riza to agree to their union – still having lingering doubts after all she had done in Ishval – however, eventually Roy was able to wear her down.

Their wedding had been a spectacle, much to both their displeasure. They would have been happy with just a small ceremony and a few friends – but given Mustang's position as Fuhrer, they had no other choice. The whole of the military was there along with Fullmetal and his rambunctious brood of children. Though Roy was too proud to say anything, Riza knew that he greatly appreciated Ed setting aside his business in Resembool and making the time to attend the ceremony. Even Al, in his Xingese inspired get up, was able to make it as well.

After the wedding was done – the real work begun.

Roy settled in nicely to his new position, taking to his fuhrership like a duck took to water. Riza also had an easy time falling into her new role upon her retirement from the military. She enjoyed the opportunity to participate in projects that would assist the lower income families across Amestris and found that she had a real passion for projects that involved children.

Speaking of children…

At the age of thirty-five, Riza had begun to assume that her and Roy would never be blessed with a child. Naturally, she was disappointed – but she couldn't really say she didn't understand the reasoning behind fate's cruel decision.

That was when – a month after her thirty-sixth birthday – the sickness began.

To say she was terrified was an understatement. She had spent so long assuming that her and Roy would never have a child, that she hadn't even begun to think about what to do if they did have one. Could a retired sniper even become a loving mother after all she had seen and done?

There was one thing she knew for sure though – and that was that Roy Mustang would make an excellent father.

From the moment he knew of their child, he immediately accepted the "dad" role. There was not a single doctor's appointment that Riza went to alone. Not one morning did she spend her time on the cold tile floor of their bathroom alone, Roy always there holding her hair and whispering loving words of comfort. He was so gentle, so concerned, and so excited – fully accepting the good fortune they had been given and thanking whoever may have resided above for the blessing.

As time went on, and Riza grew bigger, her anxiety developed into her own sort of excitement. She was still scared – oh was she scared – but after having felt the baby kick for the first time, she could no longer question whether she would be able love this child enough. With that one little movement, she had realized that she already loved this baby more than anything – and no past of her's was ever going to negatively affect the future of her child.

Mustang's men, still loyal to the man as ever, had placed bets on what the gender of the baby would be, despite Riza's annoyance in regards to the whole affair. Being the total men they were, they all bet that the child would be a boy.

'Powerful men like the Fuhrer have boys,' Breda had told her once, positive in his assumption. 'Your little kicker is going to be a boy – I'm sure of it."

The only person who dared bet against the 'boy theory' was Prime Minister Grumman himself. He said that he had no inclination one way or the other, but he couldn't pass up the opportunity to bet against the majority.

'I like to take my chances.' He had commented when asked about the rationale behind his bet.

Little did the man know that he would be walking away from Central Regional Hospital about thirty-thousand cens richer the day that Riza went into labor.

It was a girl.

Though her and Roy had never spoken about what they believed their baby would be, they had been convinced by their men that this child just had to be a boy. But man, were they wrong.

Elizabeth Mustang entered the world as pink as the blanket they used to swaddle her. With a small nose and heart-shaped lips, she was definitely her mother's daughter – however, she took more after her father. Even at birth, she possessed a head full of thick black hair and eyes as dark as the night sky. She was beautiful. She was perfect.

The men had been disappointed at first, but once they saw the newborn's face, their hearts were no longer theirs's. Elizabeth was going to be one spoiled little girl.

It wasn't until everyone had cleared out, and Riza and Roy were left alone with their daughter, that a thought occurred to the very tired, new mother. As she watched her husband cradle Elizabeth in his arms, his body naturally swaying in an attempt to comfort her – she realized why men like Mustang and Hughes were blessed with daughters rather than sons.

It was because they needed them.

Already, Riza could sense a change in Roy. His eyes held a sparkle in them that she had only seen a few times in her life, and she knew exactly what it meant. He had a new purpose. He was going to be the best man he could be for this little girl and protect her from all the evils that lurked in the world. Roy was a man that needed purpose in his life – he was too driven to live without it – and in Elizabeth he found a lifelong purpose that he was only happy to fulfill.

The goofy grin that appeared on his face as Elizabeth gurgled and twitched, had tears forming in Riza's eyes. In that moment, he looked more like Hughes than he ever had before.

The look he gave his daughter on the day of her birth was the same one he was giving her now. It was a promise, a promise to protect her from any harm she could possibly imagine. Riza was brought back from her reverie by her husband's sweet voice, beckoning their daughter again.

"Lizzie, what's wrong?" He asked the girl gently, placing a hand on her small shoulder in a show of support. Riza could feel the child's tears against her neck, the small puffs of air escaping the girl's mouth in her panic causing her mother's heart to ache. She had never seen Elizabeth this worked up.

"Elizabeth?" Riza asked, pulling the girl back from her neck so that she could see her face. The small girl tried her hardest to latch on to her mother, not wanting to be moved from her spot, but she was fighting a losing battle. "Elizabeth, what has gotten into you?"

"Scary," The little girl mumbled, her bottom lip trembling. She gazed up at her mother with puffy, dark eyes. "Too scary. I couldn't – I couldn't – find you. Fire."

The child's words were near incoherent with her breathing as rapid as it was, but both Roy and Riza were able to decipher the last word she had mumbled. Fire?

"Lizzie," Roy stroked the messy black braid that lay haphazardly down his daughter's back. Both his touch and tone were gentle. "It was just a dream. There's no fire."

"Daddy hurt."

Roy's brow furrowed in confusion. His hand went back to its previous place on her shoulder and he turned her over to face him. Reluctantly, the girl disengaged from around her mother's neck and laid flat on her back.

"I'm not hurt." The man insisted, gently pushing a few unruly strands of hair back from her face. He even gave her a soft kiss on the forehead for good measure. Usually these soft ministrations would be enough to calm his daughter down – but tonight, it just set off another round of tears.

"Burn."

"Burn?" Roy asked, taken aback by the fresh set of tears rolling down her cheeks. "What burn?"

At this point, Riza turned on her stomach to reach for the bedside lamp. With neither her husband or her sleeping, there was no point in leaving the room shrouded in darkness.

With the light now on, Roy had to squint to see the face of his small daughter. Although he had regained his sight many years ago, his eyes were still sensitive to light. Once he was able to blink away the pain from the unwanted intrusion, he focused back on the girl. Though the light seemed to calm her slightly, she was still pale as a ghost and crying.

"Burn." The young girl finally answered, lip wobbling as she attempted to speak clearly. "You're burn, Daddy. It hurts."

Ah, that explained it.

When Roy had put her to bed that night, he had foregone his shirt in favor of a light robe. It was summer and their home stayed warm in the evenings due to its position in relation to the sun. Though Elizabeth had seen him multiple times without a shirt, it was the first time she had taken notice of the large burn on his side.

Roy had thought nothing of it – just telling Elizabeth that it was a burn he had received in his earlier years with the military. Being the Flame Alchemist's daughter, Elizabeth knew about fire and what happens if you touch it. Knowing this, Roy had simply brushed off the situation, kissing her on the head and tucking her in for the night.

He never even thought to reassure Elizabeth that it no longer hurt (well, it still ached – but not bad).

"Lizzie," He murmured, moving closer to the toddler. "Daddy's burn doesn't hurt anymore. Everything's fine."

At these words, his daughter stopped mid-hiccup. With small fisted fingers, she rubbed at her eyes, before looking up at him in confirmation.

"No hurt?"

"Nope!" Roy told her, smiling widely before turning over on to his back, the sheet sliding down to his waist and exposing the old wound. "See? I can even touch it!"

Elizabeth watched as the man took two fingers and prodded the puckered skin of his side. She watched his face for any sign of pain, but there was none. From her side of the bed, Riza breathed a sigh of relief, believing this was confirmation enough to soothe the child after whatever nightmare her mind had managed to conjure up.

"Mommy's?"

Roy's brows furrowed in confusion at the question, his fingers pausing over his skin. "Mommy's what?"

"Burn. Mommy has burn."

So much for not allowing her past to affect her daughter's future.

Riza was normally so careful with her back, only ever exposing it on hot, summer nights when she opted to wear a nightdress instead of one of Roy's old shirts to bed. Elizabeth had never had reason to see it, her mother's blonde hair reaching just past her shoulders once again and covering up the small sliver of tattoo that resided at the base of her neck.

However, when the young girl had crept into their room that night, she must have seen the burn that lay on her mother's shoulder blade, and recognized it as the same wound she saw earlier on her father. Whatever nightmare she had – doused in fire, surely – must have only been made worse once she chose to seek comfort from her mother, only to be met with a back full of scars.

"My burns don't hurt, Elizabeth." Riza assured her – one hand coming up to gently play with the sweaty locks that lay on her forehead. Oh, how she loved this child. "Daddy and I are all better now."

"Really?" The toddler asked in a sweet voice, her tone hushed. The hopeful look in her eyes was enough to almost make Riza cry. Such a big heart, for such a small girl. How did two killers create this?

"Yes, really." Riza leaned in to kiss her cheek, taking her thumb and wiping away the last remnants of tears that lay on her pale skin. "Mommy and Daddy will never let the same thing happen to you. You're safe with us."

Roy regarded his daughter with a tired smile, nodding at his wife's words. "You have nothing to worry about, Lizzie. Old wounds are old wounds."

Though her toddler brain couldn't comprehend what he was saying in the last part – the young girl nodded, accepting her parents' reassurances. This had Riza breathing a sigh of relief, hopeful that they might be able to go back to sleep.

At that exact moment, Elizabeth's mouth opened in a yawn – the excitement of the night finally catching up to her. The sleepy expression on her face was too adorable for her parents to ignore, both looking at her fondly as she snuggled down into the pillow between them.

Riza had already turned over on to her stomach, arm reaching out to flick the switch of the lamp off – when she felt a tiny pair of warm, chapped lips graze over her back. Tilting her head back, she watched as Elizabeth repeated the gesture by placing a small kiss right over the burn mark on her father's belly.

As if she didn't realize how much of an affect her actions had on her parents, the small girl snuggled down in the blankets once more and was out like a light before her mother could even turn the lamp off.

Roy looked over at her, shock written across his features. She imagined she looked much the same.

Once they had gotten over their initial surprise, both settled back into bed, praying that sleep would come easy with the busy day they had ahead. After she turned the light off, Riza lay facing away from her husband and daughter. She didn't want either of them to see the silent tears that now streamed down her face.

If she had turned around, she would have noticed a slight telltale shake in Roy's shoulders, as well. It wasn't the first time she had thought about it that night, but she found herself asking the same question again.

How did two killers create this?

#royaiweek20 #royai #roy mustang #riza mustang #fma #fullmetal alchemist #fullmetal alchemist brotherhood #fmab #royai fic #royai fanfic #royai fanfiction #fma fic #fma fanfiction #fma fanfic #royai child #royai week

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duhragonball · 4 years

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[FIC] Luffa: The Legendary Super Saiyan (135/?)

Disclaimer: This story features characters and concepts based on Dragon Ball, which is a trademark of Bird Studio/Shueisha and Toei Animation. This is an unauthorized work, and no profit is being made on this work by me. This story is copyright of me. Download if you like, but please don’t archive it without my permission. Don’t be shy.

Continuity Note: About 1000 years before the events of Dragon Ball Z.

[14 November 233 Before Age. Nagaoka.]

Zatte was a Dorlun, born with a unique ability to manipulate energy. She mostly used this for bending light and other radiation around her body, to make herself invisible, or for deflecting ki to protect herself or to hide her own power level from those who could sense it. She had accompanied her wife, Luffa, the Legendary Super Saiyan, on what she considered to be a holy mission to Nagaoka. Luffa had sworn to destroy the planet, and the wicked Saiyan cultists who lurked beneath the thick grey clouds of the Nagaokan atmosphere.

Mostly, Zatte's job was to keep the ship running and coordinate with Luffa's attack fleet. And she was more than happy to do this. This was Luffa's epic story, and Zatte was simply honored to be a part of it. The Dorlun culture prioritized survival, and the Dorlun religion commanded its people to stay alive so that they might eventually find a worthy cause to support. Zatte believed that Luffa was her cause, a pivotal figure destined to change the course of history, what the Dorluns called xan-nil'Dor. Zatte's life had become a swirling mass of contradictions since she realized Luffa's importance. It was hard to balance out all her roles-- loving spouse, devoted disciple, martial arts student, sensible advisor, down-to-earth sidekick-- but now those roles seemed to have finally converged into one. As Zatte stood on the bridge of Luffa's yacht and watched Nagaoka, she felt a serenity in her heart that told her that everything had worked out for the best. Luffa would triumph, and the universe would prosper. All Zatte had to do was follow her beloved the rest of the way.

And then the bombardment failed. Every ship in the fleet fired conventional weapons on the planet, and nothing happened. It was like some enormous force field surrounded the entire planet, but Zatte couldn't locate a power source on the surface big enough to support such a technology. She had never heard of a force field big enough to shield an entire planet, but she knew such a device had to run on something.

Undaunted, Luffa went to the cargo bay to fire on the planet herself. As the Super Saiyan, Luffa's power was greater than any other Saiyan in the universe, greater than the firepower of the entire fleet. For a moment, Zatte felt reassured. Nagaoka would be destroyed in an instant, and its secrets would die with it. From the bridge, Zatte could sense her bride's immense ki energy building. On the viewscreen, she could see the lance of golden energy streaking out to the planet.

And then the energy faded away, only for the planet to split it up and shoot it all back from a hundred different directions. Even if there was a force field big enough and strong enough to do this, there was too much cohesion in the reflected energy. It should have just diffused evenly, leaving little more than a harmless wave of radiation. To split a beam into dozens of smaller beams was something more like Zatte's own innate ability, but how could anything achieve this on a planetary scale? It was impossible, unless...

Her mind raced with horrified speculations, but soon the answer appeared before her as she watched the clouds on Nagaoka shift and swirl until they formed the image of a man's face. She instantly recognized it as the likeness of King Rehval III, the Saiyan monarch who abandoned his kingdom to start his bizarre alchemical cult on Nagaoka.

And then, as the lips of the cloud-image began to move, Zatte could hear his voice in her mind. "Hello, Luffa. I'm so glad that you've finally arrived. Now, at last, we can put all of this to an end."

Saiyans all had a low-level telepathic ability. Over a limited range, they could send their thoughts to other beings, like a sort of mental walkie-talkie, although they lacked more advanced mind-reading powers. Luffa could read minds, but only by making physical contact. In this case, it seemed like Rehval was projecting his thoughts across a much larger range, not just addressing Luffa, but anyone nearby. Zatte began to wonder if the entire fleet could hear this.

"I'm sure you remember Pozet," Rehval began, and Zatte's heart sank. She remembered Pozet well. Zatte had killed that horrible creature aboard this very ship. It had tried to prevent her from rescuing Luffa on planet Pflaume. It should have marked the end of that nightmare, it looked like Rehval wasn't finished with it yet.

"Homuncular synthesis is one of the greatest tests of an alchemist's skills. Many of the greatest alchemists die without ever achieving it. I actually pulled it off on my first try, but I didn't feel like I had truly mastered the technique until I created Pozet using folicle samples from your wife. She's an amazing woman, really. My compliments."

Zatte forced herself to look away from the viewscreen and get back to the computers on the bridge. The energy bursts from the planet hadn't been aimed at anything in particular, but a number of ships had been hit anyway. She needed to contact the fleet commanders and get them to back off from Nagaoka before something else happened.

"I created Pozet to act as that serial killer," Rehval explained, "which I used to lure you to my trap on Pflaume City, but she was also a peace offering if you changed your mind and decided to see things my way instead. I thought we could join forces, Luffa. I thought there would be no limit to the things we could achieve together, but you rejected my gift and you spurned my friendship, and now you've come here to destroy me. Fortunately, Pozet served a purpose for that scenario too."

"No," Zatte murmured to herself. "No, no, no..."

"I made three of her, Luffa," he said. "One to present to you, the second to act as my 'serial killer'. You and your lovely bride made short work of them, but the third Pozet I used for my research. I was fascinated with the energy manipulation powers, you see. Imagine what a Saiyan could do with that sort of ability! Imagine what I could do with it, the greatest Saiyan of all!"

Zatte looked up at the viewscreen and clutched at the fabric of her shirt over her heart. She didn't know exactly what all of this meant, not yet. She didn't know how Rehval had become so powerful, or what he planned to do with that power, but she knew that it would be something terrible.

And worst of all, he had used her to make it all possible.

*******

[14 November 233 Before Age. Despye.]

Prester Ganzut paced in a tight circle around his office in the capital city of Despye. There had been no word from the Federation fleet they had sent to Nagaoka. He didn't expect to hear anything, since they were avoiding communications to prevent anyone from learning of their counterattack. He would only receive word when the battle was over, and by his reckoning, the fleet would have just arrived in the Nagaoka system. A cold pitcher of iced tea was waiting for him at his desk, slowly soaking the wood with condensation. Every time the pitcher caught his eye as he walked around the room, he told himself that he would drink it later, but he never got around to it.

Nothing would be the same when this was over. Even if Luffa won the battle, she had all but promised to bring sweeping changes to the Federation when she returned. He had no idea how drastic those "changes" would be, and she probably had no idea herself, which was what made her so dangerous. Even if it all went perfectly, he doubted that her plans would bode well for his career.

As he mulled over his political prospects, the ground began to shake under his feet. He wasn't sure what to do about an earthquake, as this part of the planet had never had one before. Just as he decided to take cover under his desk, two of his security detail rushed into the office and escorted him to an emergency transport. This was standard procedure during an attack on the city, but he couldn't hear any air-raid sirens or any other sounds he had come to associate with a battle.

The way to the transport was underground, connected to his building by a tunnel, but before they could reach it, they found the entire entrance smashed into rubble. A large column of earth was rising out of the ground, and the tunnel entrance simply had the misfortune of being located in its path. So too, was the ceiling above them, and the upper floors of the building.

His security team managed to get him outdoors, and they even evacuated most of the other people inside, but as Prester Ganzut watched the Despye Executive Hall being impaled by a giant column of rock and dirt, he was certain that there had to have been causalities. Angrily, he demanded an explanation for what was happening, even though he doubted that anyone else had one to offer.

Then the great tower of earth began to shape itself, like clay in the hands of an invisible sculptor, and Ganzut suddenly knew.

"The cultists!" he gasped as the column finally took the form of a man. He had heard of this taking place on other planets, but Luffa had always been there to stop them before they could do any real harm. But Luffa was at Nagaoka, supposedly fighting the cultists, wasn't she? If so, then she wasn't fighting them hard enough for Prester Ganzut's liking.

"Prester Ganzut, I presume!" the earthen giant said aloud. It looked right at him, and Ganzut's blood ran cold. "Good day to you, sir. I'm King Rehval III, also known as Trismegistus. Well, this is an avatar of me, anyway. My followers planted it here so that I could talk to you when the time was right."

"This can't be!" Ganzut said. "You... can't be here! Luffa's fortuneteller, she told us there wasn't gonna be any more attacks from you Jindan Saiyans!"

"Fortuneteller?" Rehval asked. By now, the avatar was so detailed that Ganzut could see the look of surprise in its "eyes". "Well, now, that does explain a few things. I expected her to defeat my warriors, but I could never understand how she always seemed to know exactly when and where to find them. Such a resourceful woman. Well, Luffa's fortuneteller was right, Prester. There will be no more attacks on your territory. Right now, my avatars are rising up on planets all over the Federation, but they aren't going to fight. They'll just be standing by, awaiting your unconditional surrender!"

"Surrender?" Ganzut asked. "Are you sayin' you already defeated her at Nagaoka?!"

"Prester, you don't understand!" Rehval said with a laugh. "I don't need to defeat Luffa, anymore than I have to attack you. As of today, I've become invincible, and Luffa? Well, she's simply no longer relevant!"

*******

[14 November 233 Before Age. Chai I.]

A similar scene was playing out on the grounds of the Imperial Palace on Chai I, seat of the Camelian Empire.

"The war with the Federation was never about conquest or revenge, your Majesty," the rock-Rehval explained to Zinenz 15, the Emperor of Camelia, who had been playing cricket on horseback when the avatar rose up from the field.

"It was a diversion," Rehval continued. "Luffa had to stay put inside her own territory to defend it from my warriors, while the rest of you watched from the sidelines, believing that I was only interested in the Federation. All the while, my agents were traveling to your planets in secret, and pouring a special potion into the soil of your planets."

"All of them?" Zinenz 15 asked with some skepticism in his voice. His mount was very nervous in the shadow of the earthen giant, but the emperor did his best to stand his ground.

"Enough of them," Rehval replied. "The figure that stands before you know is more than powerful enough to destroy Chai I with ease. I can't destroy every planet in your empire so quickly, but I can threaten enough of the important ones to throw Eternal Camelia into turmoil."

*******

[14 November 233 Before Age. Festid III.]

"Unless we submit to you, is that what you're saying?" asked General Zinfandel asked.

"Precisely," said the rock-Rehval that had manifested on Festid's capital city. "You cannot defeat this giant creature that stands before you, General. The potion that animates it was already absorbed into the very matter that makes up your planet. You might destroy this physical form you see, but another will rise out of the ground to replace it, again and again, for as long as I see fit. Luffa has the power to break the spell, but your armies simply don't have what it takes. You'd only destroy yourselves in the attempt."

"Or we could simply take the fight to you, Your Majesty," Zinfandel suggested. "Killing you on this planet, you mentioned, Nagaoka, would surely disrupt your control over this thing you have created."

"Indeed it would, General, which is why I've taken measures to protect myself," Rehval explained. "Even now, my stronghold is under attack by a Federation fleet, led by Luffa herself. The entire planet is impervious to her strongest techniques. Even if she could find a way to reach the surface, she would have to fight through tens of thousands of my followers. Each of them has been empowered by my Jindan potion. Luffa struggled to defeat twenty of my warriors at a time. How can she hope to beat them all at once?"

*******

[14 November 233 Before Age. Goldwall.]

"This planet has seen enough tyrants, Rehval. I won't allow it to be dominated by another, no matter how powerful."

These were the defiant words of M'ranga, formerly known as Ensign Liberty, now the Kami of Planet Goldwall. Being a goddess was still new to her, and her performance of the role was highly unorthodox. When the giant Saiyan-thing emerged from the dirt, she descended from her Heavenly Lookout and met him directly, rather than watch passively from a distance. The gods of the higher realms might not have approved of this hands-on approach, but Ensign Liberty was a revolutionary, and to her the divine hierarchy was just another power structure to be questioned whenever possible. Likewise, she saw King Rehval as simply another bully.

"I respect your position, Your Grace," the rock-Rehval said. It knelt before her in a mocking show of respect, and kept angling its ear closer to M'ranga as if straining to hear such a tiny creature. "For the time being, I'll allow you to indulge in whatever comfortable slogans you like. Devastating your planet right now wouldn't accomplish anything. I don't want to make an example of Goldwall, but if it comes to that, I'd prefer to have witnesses to see it happening."

"Then wh--?" M'ranga began to ask, but then the earthen giant rose to his full height and looked away from her.

"I only produced these giant avatars because I wanted to inform you all of what was happening," Rehval said. "The Age of Trismegistus has begun, but it hasn't really reached you just yet. For now, this is mostly just to prove a point to Luffa, but once I've finished discussing it with her, I visit all of your worlds again, and I'll explain exactly what it is I expect from each of you."

M'ranga continued speaking after that, delivering a fiery speech about freedom and the irrepressible spirit of sentient beings, but if the rock-Rehval could hear her, it gave no response whatsoever.

*******

[14 November 233 Before Age. Nagaoka.]

"It's amazing, truly amazing," Rehval said as he bathed in the glowing red liquid that filled his sunken bathtub. It was a public section of his compound, and his followers were encouraged to enter and watch him soak. Some fell prostrate at the edge of the bath and worshiped him, while a parade of attendants added scented oils and other chemicals to the liquid as he soaked in it. Behind him, Treekul lounged on a mat and massaged his neck and shoulders.

"Tell me about it, boss," Treekul said. The hair on her head was over two inches long.

"I'm everywhere at once now," he said. "Not literally, but but I might as well be everywhere. I'm talking to a thousand people at once right now. I can see them, Treekul. They all look so outraged, so envious of what I've become."

"I'm sure Luffa looks pretty ticked off right about now," Treekul said with a smile.

"Oh, I can't see her," Rehval said. "But I can see her ship, and all the other ships she brought along. They're just hanging there in space like little toys. And beyond them, the stars, my kingdom. My laboratory. The very clouds have become my eyes, Treekul. I can see it all as easily as I see you."

He looked back at her, and raised one of his hands to caress her cheek. She pulled back at the sight of the crimson fluid still dripping from his fingertips.

"Oh, it's harmless, I promise," he said. "I've been drinking different potions and rubbing ointments into my skin for weeks to prepare myself for this. Without all those treatments, all of this would be useless, like stewing in melted candlewax."

"That's what you said about this lotion, too," Treekul replied. She held up her hand to show the oily film she had been rubbing into his shoulders. "And you talked me into that, but let's just say I'd like to know more before I jump in there with you. How did you pull all of this off?"

"It's like I told you from the beginning, my Apprentice," Rehval said. "The energy of living things is what gives rise to ki. Saiyans have more of it than most, but it never seems to be enough, and there's more than one way to get it. There's untapped power within the very planets themselves. My namesake, the original Trismegistus, found ways to study that geomantic energy, but he lacked the vision to do anything with it. I named myself Trismegistus to honor the fulfillment of his discoveries."

"I thought you took that name to claim supremacy over all other alchemists," Treekul asked. "You know, 'Look at me, I'm the best.'"

"Well, that too," Rehval said with a satisfied smirk. "I can have more than one reason."

"Yeah, I guess you can have anything you want now," she said as she went back to rubbing his shoulders. One of the attendants handed him a crystal sifter of wine, and he sampled the bouquet with relish.

"I had more than one reason for keeping you here, too," he added. "Of course, I couldn't let you just tell outsiders about this place. Not until I had its defenses prepared, anyway. It took some doing to incorporate Pozet's abilities into my link with the planet's geology. But besides that, I needed someone I could talk to. Someone removed from the Saiyans, who could appreciate everything I put into this plan."

She leaned in and kissed him on the cheek. "Well, it's not like there's anywhere else for me to escape to, is there?" she asked. "You've practically conquered the whole universe, so I might as well stay here where all the magic happens."

"Exactly," he said. "Admit it, you didn't think any Saiyan was capable of this sort of genius. We're all nothing but brutish warriors to you."

"I gotta admit, I have been rethinking a lot of old attitudes since I got here," Treekul said.

"The whole universe has looked down their nose at the Saiyan species," Rehval said. "And rightfully so, because many of us believe in the same stereotypes. I tried to reverse that perception, to play the dignified statesman, an ambassador of goodwill from the Saiyans to the rest of the galaxy, but I knew they didn't really believe me. They thought I was a curiosity, or an aberration. Sooner or later, they expected me to revert to type. What those haughty princes and emperors didn't understand was that I was counting on them to underestimate us."

He raised his glass to toast the worshipers at the opposite end of the bath, then drank. "That was how my flock was able to seed so many worlds in such a short span of time. No one thinks of a Saiyan using stealth. They expect us to crash onto a planet's surface and run wild, pillaging everything in sight. No one imagines a Saiyan infiltrating a group of tourists, or a work crew. No one is on guard against a Saiyan stepping out of sight and pouring a vial of liquid into the soil near a government building. And even if that Saiyan were spotted, no one would understand what he was doing. They wouldn't even know he was a Saiyan, not without a tail to give him away."

Treekul gestured at everyone else in the room. "That's why you had everyone lop off their tails?" she asked. "So they'd be sneakier?"

"More than that," Rehval said. "I did it to prove that we no longer need the tails, that we're so much more without them. Look at Nagaoka. Surrounded by clouds, its moonlight is useless here. Even if you had a tail, on another planet it wouldn't be good for more than a day or two. But I've channeled the geomantic currents of this solar system. The planet's relationship to the moon serves me at all times, without a tail. That's progress, Treekul. Why would anyone want to escape from that?"

*******

"Aren't you forgetting something, dad?" Seltiss asked from the bridge of the SFC's command ship. It was unnerving to stare into the eyes of his image on Nagaoka's surface, but she fixed her gaze anyway, determined to show her resolve.

"Ah, Seltiss," Rehval said telepathically. "I hear you've kept busy while I've been away. I'll admit, I was somewhat surprised when I found out you had joined forces with Luffa."

"You were surprised? I thought you were dead," Seltiss shouted. "Or that you had gone totally freakazoid after you evacuated Planet Saiya! Then this cult shows up and I thought some lame-o wizard was trying to enslave us all! Turns out it was you all along."

"Then you should be relieved," Rehval said. "The Saiyans are in no danger from me. The Jindan power is a way for them to become stronger, and a way to make myself stronger in return. That's how I've made all of this possible. By merging my spirit with the planet, and drawing power from my followers, I--"

"You've empowered yourself," said Xibuyas, who stood beside Seltiss on the bridge. "But only yourself, from what I can see. You say you have rock-avatars on a thousand key planets, ready to destroy them if anyone defies you. The only way to stop them is to destroy Nagaoka, which you've made indestructible. That's not like you, Your Majesty. You always taught Princess Seltiss and me that wielding power was a much more subtle art."

"Yeah," Seltiss added. "It's a scalpel, not a club. That's what you always told us. Its like a strategic game. You make one move at a time, building your position until you can win."

On the viewscreen of Seltiss' ship, the clouds on Nagaoka chuckled in time with Rehval's telepathic laugh. "Don't you understand, children? It was a game, but it's over now! I've won! I wielded the scalpel, since long before you were born, and now the surgery is finished! The game is over, and this is the end of history. Whatever happens from now on will be decided by my power, and mine alone. This was always the point, Seltiss. It was always about securing the future of the Saiyans at the top of the universal food chain. Everything before today was a means to an end."

"But you've forgotten something, dad!" Seltiss insisted. "Whatever this creepy future is you've envisioned for the Saiyans, it can't outlive you! Who's going to maintain all of this when you're gone? You need heirs for that, and right now you haven't got any!"

She was trembling now, and Xibuyas nearly reached out to put a hand on her shoulder, until he thought better of it. He knew this was something she had wanted to say to her father for a long time, and now that the moment was finally here, she was building confidence in her words. Seltiss pointed her thumb at herself, then poked her own chest with it, deforming the logo of whatever musical act was featured on her 7000-credit t-shirt.

"I know about your eugenics plans, dad," Seltiss said. "You told me about it often enough. The genetic profiling, the incubation chambers, that was only just the beginning. You wanted to breed a stronger generation of Saiyans, and you wanted your descendants to be the strongest of each new generation, right? That's why you needed Xibuyas! He was your special project to make an ultimate Saiyan, but you needed me to bear his offspring, so they would share your bloodline!

"Well guess what? Xibuyas and I aren't playing along anymore. You may need us, but we sure don't need you, not anymore! So even if you are invincible, your new era won't even last another century... unless!"

Her lips curled into a triumphant smile, like a high-stakes gambler on the brink of winning the pot. Xibuyas couldn't help but smile himself. He didn't understand her fashion sense, or why she insisted on dyeing her black hair pink, or how she could possibly think Luffa was "cool." Xibuyas only knew that he admired this girl more than he could possibly express.

"We can work something out, father," Seltiss said. "You'll have to agree to share power, and grant certain concessions to my Saiyan followers. They have their pride, you know. They're not about to start bowing down to you like some sort of graven image, not when they came to me to get away from your bogus brand of order."

The cloud-image of Rehval seemed genuinely impressed by her bold demands. "Concessions," he said, as though trying the word on for size. "Interesting, Seltiss. Suppose I agree to your terms. What do I get from you in return?"

Seltiss relaxed slightly. "When we're older, Xibuyas and I will produce those heirs you want," she said. "And the two of us can take over your rule when you... well you know... die. And I can talk the Free Companions into a working relationship with you. They can act as enforcers, since you and yours are probably, like, stuck on that planet for the long term right?"

Xibuyas chuckled quietly. Luffa and her Federation fleet would be furious over this, but what could they possibly do about it? She had them over a barrel. As powerful as Rehval had become, she was the one person in the universe who had something he wanted. He watched Rehval's face on the atmosphere of Nagaoka, curious to see how he would react.

The face in the clouds simply laughed.

"Seltiss, Seltiss, Seltiss," he said as the cloud-image shook its "head". "I'm impressed with how far you've come. I really am. Organizing this Free Company of yours, building a coalition against me, well I knew you would try it, but I honestly wasn't sure how well you would succeed. You really are my twenty-seventh greatest creation."

"You... you knew I would turn against you?" Seltiss asked.

"I raised you, my dear. Sent you to all those private schools to teach you political theory. I chose those programs because I knew they would fill your head with ideas about taking bold steps to secure power, and how important it is for leaders to take initiative. I wanted you to grow up looking for ways to seize power from me wherever you could. At first, it was just so you would be a worthy successor if something ever happened to me. But when I abandoned Saiya, I knew you might start gathering all of my enemies together. Every Saiyan who would oppose my rule, all united under one banner. And how thoughtful of you to deliver them to my doorstep!"

"You wanted me to do this?" Seltiss gasped.

"Either this, or maybe you'd get them all killed in a war you couldn't win. Or they'd abandon you in disgust and recognize my power as the only one that works. But this! Oh, you've made me very proud. Your sisters were never capable of this kind of leadership, Seltiss. That's why I chose you to be the one who bore Xibuyas' children. It had to be you."

"Well it won't be!" Seltiss shouted. "I'm not your puppet, dad! I don't care how powerful you are, I'm not going to play along with your sick plans!"

She began to stamp her feet on the deck, not quite hard enough to smash the deckplate apart, but enough for everyone on the bridge to feel the rumble.

"We won't do it!" Seltiss insisted. "You can send your goons to chase us all over the galaxy, but you'll never get your heir! And Xibuyas can beat those rock monsters of yours. Luffa's already shown us how! So unless you plan to die of old age on that planet of yours, you'd better--"

Rehval started to laugh again.

"Seltiss, do you really think you were ever that important to my plans?" Rehval asked. "Would I really let a spoiled teenager out of my sight if I actually depended on her cooperation?"

"You knew you couldn't stop me, so you didn't try!" Seltiss protested. "That's why you didn't send your men to stop me from rescuing Xibuyas from Pflaume--"

"I let you have Xibuyas," Rehval said, "because I had no further use for him. He failed to defeat Luffa, and I knew he wouldn't bother me too much while he was with you, so I abandoned him. Just like I abandoned you when I had no further need of you."

The cloud image shifted, forming a planet-sized monochrome photograph of a cryonics laboratory. A scientist could be seen handling frozen embryos.

"I wanted grandchildren through you and Xibuyas," Rehval expained, but I never needed your cooperation to get them. I took genetic samples from both of you when you were small children, and sent them to a facility that specializes in genetic engineering projects. It's on Planet Bliff in the Nullon Sector. I'm telling you this because one of my avatars is already on the planet, ready to protect it in case one of you tries to interfere with my business there."

Seltiss was horrified. "You... you what?"

The image in the clouds shifted into a wider view of Rehval, soaking in his alchemical bath, surrounded by his faithful. "I saw great potential in both of you, but I had to see what you could do in practice, and I didn't want to risk losing your genomes if you got yourselves killed. You see, Seltiss, I want a line of descendants, but not as heirs. No, I needed you to produce a line of enforcers. Saiyans of royal blood who would go out and handle provincial matters in my new kingdom. You would be the matriarch of that line, and I think you'd be very good at that work. But your sons and daughters will fill the role just as well. I wanted you to cooperate, I really did, but I only needed one thing from you, and..." he paused to chuckle, "I already have it."

In the cloud-image, Rehval clapped his hands together with great enthusiasm. "As for my death, I wouldn't mark your calendars anytime soon. I'm not just bonded with the energy of this planet. I am the planet now. Its vast geomantic energies are mine to control, like the ki of my Saiyan body. The process has merged us in a way that I can't quite put into words, but I think I'll have plenty of time to figure that out. We Saiyans think of planets as things that are fairly easy to destroy, but Nagaoka is now a planet that can defend itself. Or rather, myself. And we think of Saiyans as creatures with a finite lifespan, but I've become so much more than that now. How long does the moon live in the sky? Well now I am the moon. I am the sky. I am the planet. So now that we've got that straightened out, let's talk about the concessions you can make for me, my daughter."

Xibuyas saw Seltiss trembling again, but this time it wasn't out of anxiety or excitement. Now, it was despair. He couldn't help but share it. He wanted to call Rehval's bluff, to say that it was impossible for him to do the things he was claiming. And yet, he knew he owed his life to Rehval's alchemical skills, and he had fought the rock-Rehval creatures before. As for Nagaoka, he could sense the strange power of this planet, and he had already seen how ineffective their weapons were against it.

"Every Saiyan who partakes in the Jindan potion has given me a portion of their energy," Rehval began. "Every Saiyan who does not, will be considered an enemy of the state. You, Seltiss, my daughter, will bring your followers to the surface of Nagaoka, and they will join me. Any who refuse, well, that's fine. I can destroy you here and now, or my followers can hunt you down later. I know there are other Saiyans out there who haven't taken sides yet. I'd like your help in finding them, Seltiss. But I don't need your help, and honestly, I don't mind taking my time. Those other Saiyans are no threat to me."

*******

Aboard Luffa's star-yacht, Luffa and Guwar watched Rehval from the open door in the cargo bay. The force field that maintained the bay's atmosphere offered a perfect view overlooking Nagaoka, and Rehval's telepathy relayed everything he had said to Seltiss.

"I'll go ahead and offer an invitation to Luffa as well," Rehval said. "No harm in that, since I know she won't accept it, but I would suggest that you consider the alternative, Luffa. You can't defeat me here. Even if you reached the surface, you'd never stand a chance against my armies. You can defeat my avatars, true, but you'd have to get to them first, and it'll take you weeks to get back to your precious Federation. If I were you, I wouldn't bother. I'll command my avatars to destroy any planet at the first sign of your approach. The Federation will surrender to me, immediately, I think. And you... well, I guess you can roam the stars, Luffa. No inhabited planet in the universe will dare accept you, not if it means incurring my divine wrath. I suppose you can find some remote world to settle on, or just fly your star-yacht as far as you can go until it runs out of fuel.

"I'm willing to let Guwar return the fold as well. Yes, I can sense you aboard Luffa's ship, Guwar. You were part of my plan, after all. I knew my scheme would make no sense without an understanding of what I intended to do with this planet. That was why I took you into my 'confidence', Guwar. I knew your faith in me would falter, and that you would go running to the only person you thought was strong enough to stop me. Hopefully, you see just how wrong you were to doubt."

It horrified Guwar to hear Rehval speak to him directly. He hadn't wanted to come along on this mission at all, and he had hoped the cult wouldn't learn of his presence on Luffa's ship. But now, Rehval had seen him, and.... forgiven him?

"I hope you appreciate my revenge, Luffa," Rehval went on. "I sacrificed so many of my favorite things when I tried to kill you on Pflaume City. And then I had to give up my kingdom on Planet Saiya. Well now I've taken away the thing that matters most to you, Mrs. 'Super Saiyan'. I've taken away your relevance. I've become more powerful than you now, and that makes your power meaningless. Now you can slither under a rock, the way I only seemed to do when I left Saiya. The difference is that I came here to achieve an even greater glory! While all you can do is decide how you want to die. Have fun making up your mind, woman."

Here, the telepathic words of Rehval Trismegistus came to an end. Luffa didn't move as she watched the clouds resume their natural patterns. She didn't move when Guwar approached her.

"I guess that's it then," he said with a sigh. "He played us all. Nothing left to do but head down there and accept d--"

Luffa powered down, her gleaming yellow hair resuming its natural black color. She turned and shot Guwar a murderous glare. "I'm going to kill them," she said. "Every last one of them."

"What?" Guwar asked. "Whoa, wait, you heard what he said! You saw what happened when you fired on the planet. There's nothing anyone can do! Let's just be glad that he's being graceful enough to let us join him. I mean, I've been there before, you know. The cult's not so bad, once you get used to it--"

There was a loud "crack" as Luffa swatted her hand across Guwar's head. Guwar himself didn't hear it, as the force of the blow killed him a split second before the sound arrived at his ears. The last thing to go through his mind was the right side of his skull. For a brief, horrific moment, his dead body remained standing, and then it finally collapsed, as though remembering what it was supposed to do.

Luffa turned and walked out of the bay.

NEXT: Become The Wind.

#dragon ball #fanfiction #super saiyan #luffa #lssjluffafic #zatte #trismegistus #king rehval iii #guwar #zinfandel #prester ganzut #seltiss #xibuyas #m'ranga: ensign liberty #chai #despye #festid #nagaoka #goldwall

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kate-read-that · 4 years

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Sidney had taken the chance to read her father's files when the fight started, and her careful attention shifted. To be fair, it wasn't much of a fight, because everyone knew dad would win, but her sister still put some resistance, which was why Sidney loved her so much. Sometimes it looked like she could almost win. Of course, that didn't last long.

_He's a brute and an arrogant idiot. I don't want to spend more time with him than strictly necessary -Carly yelled, with her body squared for battle.

_You've already ashamed me enough by rejecting to be an alchemist and choosing to live like an irresponsible teenager. He's invited you, and his father is one of the most important alchemists in the world; -their father's words, as always, didn't give a chance to answer- you'll be charmant and he'll have a good time, and that's it.

At that point, Carly looked at her mother for help. Sidney knew it was vain hope, but she looked at her as well. Their mom was as pretty as Carly, but she looked more tired than the older sister ever had.

_Why don't we compromise? Carly goes to a date with the boy, but if she doesn't like it she doesn't have to repeat.

At that, both looked at her with a fury that was common. Sidney knew they would scream again so she took her dad's files and left the room. She knew she shouldn't read them, but she was curious about her future job, even if her father punished her later.

The fight finished with Carly running up the stairs crying, followed by a bang and her mother's sigh.

A few days later Sidney saw Carly get dressed with teary eyes while she searched for something to say that would make her sister feel better.

_ It's only a date. You won't have to go out with him again if you dont like it.

Carly huffed. Both of them hated that guy, Keith. He had spent the summer with them it had been a nightmare. The way he walked, like he owned the very floor he stepped on. How he looked at them, like they were innocent children and he was a wise adult, even when he was Carly's age. And that stupid wink that made Sidney want to hit him in the face with the thickest dictionary she could find. The chances of a second date were slim.

_It doesn't matter. If i say I don't want to see him again dad will make life impossible for me until he finds a new young alchemist to pressure me with. I can't wait to go to collegue and get the hell out of here.

_Dad knows? -Sidney loved her sister, but even though she liked studying for alchemist, she sometimes envied the freedom Carly had. She envied a lot of things from Carly, like how beautiful she was, or how delicate, or how the boys always looked at her with dreamy eyes. But she loved her over all of it, because she always stood up to dad when Sidney was terrified of even talking.

_ No need. Mom knows and she promised she wouldnt tell. And i got a good scholarship, so i don't need much money. Just a few more months... -Carly finished buttoning up her dress and twirled, looking like a magazine star. At first, she had wanted to wear jeans and a tshirt, but dad's look had made her reconsider.

_I'll miss you -Sidney's voice sounded offly quiet, so much her sister turned around and hugged her. They didn't hug much at home, but it was nice.

_I'll come visit all the time, and maybe you'll come visit at some point! I have to go, it's almost time and if I'm late dad will try to get me in a second date or something -and with a toll of eyes, she left.

..............

Sidney woke up to the sound of screams in the living room. She looked at the clock and saw it was well oast midnight. Seconds later, her sister came in banging the door and got in the bathroom without even looking at her.

Sidney got up quietly and knocked on the door, asking her sister if she needed something. She got no answer, and after trying again twice she opened the door softly, and gasped.

Carly was sitting in the shower, which was on, totally dressed. Her perfect makeup was messed up and her pretty hair barely retained the elegant bun she had had a few hours ago.

_What happened? -Sidney barely recognised her own voice.

_No...thing. Go to bed...Sidney-she could barely understand her sister with the constant crying, but she turned off the shower and brought her a towel.

_No! I... I have to clean it! -Carly screamed, turning it on again and rubbing herself with a sponge all over.

_You just need to wash your face but that can wait until tomorrow -Sidney started helping her sister get undressed, not sure about what was going on. Dad would be so mad about the dress, it was a Christmas present.

That's when she saw the bruises.

Her sister's tan skin was covered in bruises in some parts, like her hips or her thighs. It looked painful and Sidney had no idea where those came from, but her sister seemed to cry even harder when she saw them.

_You don't understand, Sidney. He... he... -Carly didn't try to talk again after that, too impacted to say anything. Sidney didn't fully understand what was going on but she could tell it was horrible.

It took Sidney half an hour to get her undressed and in bed, and another half an hour to get her calm. Luckily, her parents were already asleep because there were no other sounds in the house.

_He took me to a restaurant. I said i had never drunk alcohol, but he ordered wine anyway and promised me I'd like it. I didnt want him to tell dad I had been rude, so i took some -her voice was even quieter than Sidney's, who laid by her side absolutely quiet and listening.

_Is Dad mad about the alcohol? -she tried to guess, confused. But that wouldn't explaim the bruises... maybe they had an accident in the car?

_No... no he's mad because I said I dont want to see him ever again. And because my make up is ruined and he said there was no way I'd catch a man if i ended dates crying.

Many times Sidney disliked her dad, but there were some times she really, really hated him.

_But why are you crying?

_Oh, Sidney... you dont... you dont understand... he took me to another place later, in the middle of nowhere. I wanted to go outside and walk but he said it was too cold. I was really tired and a little dizzy with the wine so I agreed. And then he... he started kissing me.. and i tried to push him away but he was so strong... -after that Carly cried so much there was no way of getting more information of her.

But it was no needed. Sidney knew what sex was, their mom had talked a lot about sex and consent and consequences with them. Bruises made sense now. Keith had...Sidney felt the bile rise inside her as her sister screamed of shame and pain against the pillow.

Out if nowhere, a wave of rage filled Sidney filling her body. He, that idiot with that stupid wink and that arrogant smile, had hurt her sister, her beautiful, delicate, intelligent and sweet sister. How dared him. How dared him even think about hurting Carly like that. They were alchemists, saviors of the humankind that worked to help the human race and protect them. What he'd done was... but there would be consequences.

_We'll tell Dad. If he knows what happened, he'll make sure Keith gets punished. You're Carly Sage. Your father is one of the most famous alchemists in the world. There's no way dad will let anyone do that to you and walk away -Sidney gritted her teeth just thinking of it. How could he? For once, their father's rage would be good for something.

_I'll never tell dad, or mom for what matters.

_What? Why, for the love of...

_Because he wouldn't believe me, Sid. Dad loves Keith, more than us anyway. He's always wanted a son and Keith is everything he could want. He will never admit it and dad will always believe the perfect boy over us. Besides, imagine what he'd say about me now-her sister sounded... deflated. She looked so tired she almost looked like their mother. She trembled when she said his name, but she didn't look totally alive.

Sidney wanted to scream, because she knew her sister was right. Even if they convinced her dad, which was almost impossible, Carly was no longer a virgin. Dad would lose gus mind and acuse her of ashaming the family name, even if it had been against her will.

_But we have to tell someone! Mom will...

_Mom will tell us to tell Dad, because he fixes everything apparently. She can't help us because she's not an alchemist, Sidney. Look, it doesn't matter, okay? All I want is to sleep and forget today happened.

She closed her eyes and finnally succumbed, the crying had worn her down so much she didn't move in the whole night.

But Sidney didn't sleep, too filled with rage and hurt for her poor sister to do so. Instead, she thought. She searched through her brain over and over from a thousand different angles until she found a way. A way to get justice. Or, as her favourite authors would call it, vengeance. She had a plan.

............

Two weeks later, she stood before Abrahan Mazur in a very luxurious looking club at 11 am. Getting her father's office key, checking the archives and finding what she had read a few months ago took a lot of effort, but going to the library and then scaping to take a bus to the city? Every step Sidney took, part of her expected her father to appear out of nowhere.

The club had seemed closed, but the documents said he would be inside already, even if there was still some sunlight, handling his "businesses". Sidney had wanted to turn around and leave, but whenever she thought of Keith's wink and her sister cries her determination grew stronger.

_Well, I've got to admit I'm surprised. A young alchemist was the last thing I expected when I got up today -Zmey smiled with a ladine expression while he looked at her. His fangs made Sidney tremble and every single piece of information she knew about Moroi appeared in her mind frantically.

They drink blood.

They aren't alive.

They can control your mind.

They want to condemn you.

They aren't human.

But Sidney was smart. She had considered all possibilities, and this was the only way. Human police could do nothing agaisnt alchemists, and alchemists would not lay a finger on Keith. So she had to seek help from someone who didn't fear Alchemists.

_How did you know I...? -she had covered her mark with her sister's make up before coming as precaution.

_Oh, please. I can smell one of you from the other side of the road Ms...

_Sage. Sidney Sage -if he already knew what she was, hiding her name had no sense.

_Perhaps related to the famous alchemist?

_He's... my father -and he would kill me if he saw me now.

_Well, now that's a surprise. What could I possibly do for you, Sidney? I doubt your influential father needs something from me, and if he did he wouldn't send ymhis beloved daughter, I'm sure.

_I've heard you... do favours. In exchange for things -very loquacious, Sidney. Zmey seemed to think the same thing, but didn't express it out loud. Just smiled with those horrid fangs again.

_That's true, but I'm not sure what kind of thing I could do for you.

This is it.

_I want you to punish someone.

The guardians of Zmey Mazur, who had been still like sculptures until that moment, suddenly looked at her, surprised. Even Mazur seemed a little baffled, which made Sidney feel safer for some reason. But Mazur composed himself quickly.

_Punish? I guess you dont mean telling off someone?

_No, not like that. He's done something horrible, and he's got to pay -she could hear her own voice get lower with rage, and could see Mazur getting more and more interested with every word.

_I thought you alchemists had your own justice system -Mazur arched his brow, crossing his hands on the table. Sidney swallowed and tried to keep calm as her feelings tried to jump out.

_My... people can't handle it. The crime can't be proven and even if it could, the person I'm talking about belongs to a very important alchemist family. You must know, you'd anger very dangerous people.

The elegant vampire laughed at that.

_No one's more dangerous than I am, Ms Sage. And I'm not scared of a few god-fearing humans. Is this person's family more important than yours?

-Yes, that's why I need to hire you. I cant pay you right away but as soon as I'm off age I can...

_I have enough money, I got no interest in more, specially if you can give me something else. Depends on how bad his crime was.

_What... do you want then? And what he did is... not important.

_It is important, there are a thousand ways I could punish him. Think about it, you'll only have one chance.

Sidney thought about it. Whenever she'd planned this, she hadn't thought of something specific, she just wanted him to pay, to be sorry, to...

_I want him to suffer. Every day of his life, I want him to see himself in the mirror and feel as horrid as he is. I want him so destroyed he can never harm another person again without thinking about the possible repercussions. And I want him to never feel confident enough to hurt someone again- Silent followed her. She had known she was angry, but the extent of her anger scared her a little. She discovered, with a little worry, that she was sorry she couldn't hurt him herself like she had just said-. His name is Keith Darnell.

Mazur stayed quiet for some minutes before smiling again.

_I know the Darnell family. I think I can do this for you, if you do something for me in exchange.

Sidney expected to pay money, which her family had, not to do something for her. But she couldnt back down now, and even if she could, she wouldn't. Carly deserved it, she was worth it.

_What?

_Oh, not yet. You see, I prefer to keep favours in case I ever need them, and when time comes I'll ask you to do something for me, and you'll accept-Mazurs smile shone again, giving her chills-no matter what it is. Deal?

Mazur outstretched his hand, waiting.

She didnt want to, she couldn't do it. She wasn't brave and she never went against the rules. If her dqther found out... There's no way-

_Deal.

She said it. And as she shook Mazur's hand, she knew exactly what a deal with the Devil felt like.

.........

Sidney waited days. Then weeks. She thought Mazur had been joking, that he wasn't going to risk it for the possibility of getting a favour from her. She had started fearing not having alternative solutions by the time that phone call happened.

They were in the kitchen again, eating dinner quietly. Carly had finally left her bedroom and Zoe was happily playing with her food when the phone rang. Her father, of course, picked it up.

His face suddenly turned white, followed by an angry red Sidney knew well. Part of Sidney's mind sang: he knows what you did, he knows you talked to Mazur... but when his father turned around, he didn't look at Sidney, she looked at all of them.

_Its Keith... he's... he's been attacked by strigoi.

Sidney's mom silenced a scream with her hands and immediately took Zoe as if to protect her. Carly just paled as much as her father, and closed her eyes. Sidney felt like everyone was watching her as she tried to sound surprised.

_What? What's happened? -she really hoped her voice didn't sound as plastic as she heard it.

Her father turned to look at her a few seconds, but hopefully he was too astounded to realise she was trembling.

_I can't... I knew they were cruel but this... it's... he's just a young man, it was totally.... they didn't even drain him of blood...

_Dad, what happened? -Sidney knew insisting was not the best way to seem innocent, but she needed to know, needed ro make sure he had paid. She found herself feeling excited about knowing how had he paid.

_His... eye. They cut... his eye... out. He's lost his eye. The poor boy... Of course, the alchemists will give him a new glass one but...

Sidney's mom screamed again and started crying, covering Zoe's ears. Carly left running and, by the sounds of it, puking in the nearest bathroom. Sidney got up from the table and went upstairs, not even needing to fake shock.

His eye. Abraham Mazur took Keith's eye out. She immediately thought of Keith's damn wink and how handsome everyone said he was. They wouldn't think the same thing again. Sidney shot out a laugh.

She covered her mouth, looking around to check no one had heard her. She felt like a terrible person, at least for a few seconds. But she couldn't help it. She had to lock herself in a bathroom and turn the shower on because she just couldn't stop laughing. Tears streamed down her face as she tried to stop the laugher coming from inside her.

His eye. His eye was gone. He'd never wink again, and whenever he saw himself in a mirror, he'd remember the pain and the fear. Sidney kept laughing until the tears overpowered her, and then she stopped and thought she'd do whatever Mazur asked of her. Anything.

#by me #sidney sage #keith darnell #abraham mazur #i said id do it and i did it #alchemists #vampire academy #va #zmey

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elencelebrindal · 4 years

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Honest Opinion - Sagittarius Sisyphus

I really hope I wrote his name right

Overall score (character, not looks): 8/10

After a not so explainable delay, I’m finally presenting to you the man of a lot of people’s dreams. Maybe not mine, but a lot nonetheless. Now, Sisyphus. What can I say about him? Honestly, a lot and not enough at the same time, mostly because I have contrasting feelings about him. As I often say, don’t get me wrong. I pretty much enjoy his character, and I wouldn’t have give him such a high score if it was the opposite, but... there’s something about him that seems too much. Namely, his deep-rooted faith in Athena and his faithfulness to her.

I know some of you might say “but op, why are you saying this, when you praised Aiolos to the stars?”, and you’d be right, but hear me out. Sisyphus is a little bit too exaggerated for my liking, to the point of his guilt about having hurt her willingly trapping him. That’s not just his personality showing, at least as I saw it, but his faith in Athena paired with the pain he thought he inflicted her made him a weigh more than a useful character. Also, the fact that only Athena managed to save him from himself... Sisyphus chose to be sealed away in the middle of a Sacred War, knowing he was a crucial Saint thanks to his power, just because he felt guilty about his goddess.

This is the “too much” I was talking about. This kind of behavior put a lot of lives at risk, and I don’t want to accept this as something a Gold Saint should do. Instead of helping, he eventually lead to El Cid’s death, and you cannot convince me otherwise. Hadn’t Sisyphus did that, he would have survived, if only a little bit more. And I’m bitter about it. His mistake brought death to other Saints, and I didn’t like it at all.

[Italian dub digression]

Let’s talk about his Italian voice actor for a second. A man that I both love and dislike as Sisyphus’ voice, because he seems both too young in some cases and absolutely perfect in others. Though, I can’t complain, he’s one of my favorites after all, and I quite like him on the Sagittarius Saint.

The voice actor is called Renato Novara, and is notably known for being the voice actor for Monkey D. Luffy (One Piece, 2nd voice), Ezio Auditore da Firenze (Assassin’s Creed II - Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood), Ted Mosby (How I Met Your Mother), Edward Elric (Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood), Jesse Anderson, Leo, Yuma Tsukumo, Dennis McField (respectively Yu-Gi-Oh! GX, 5D’s, ZeXal and Arc V), Neito Monoma (My Hero Academia) and many many more.

If you’re curious about his performance as Sisyphus, here’s the link: La Promessa di Sisyphus

[End of the dub digression]

Now, of course it doesn’t end here. Because there is a reason why his score is so high, despite so much criticism I have against him. And it’s one particular scene. The scene where, while he’s trapped in his nightmare, Sisyphus challenges Athena and instead of the Gold Cloth he wears a Surplice.

Now that is something truly memorable, that I will always love for how painful and heartbreaking it is. Seeing Sisyphus being so hurt and guilty that he literally rejects the Gold Cloth in favor of the armor wore by the enemy... damn, it hit right in the chest (yeah, ah-ha, I know, I’m not funny). I’m kinda convinced that Sisyphus wearing a Surplice had been done as some form of compensation for not seeing Aiolos as a Specter, but hey, who am I to speak my mind.

But honestly speaking, that scene, that scene with Sisyphus crying tears of blood, so painfully guilty and conflicted with himself, to the point of shooting an arrow towards his goddess... yeah, that scene got him the score he has. Still not enough to justify a mistake that ended precious lives, but enough to make me love his anime version with only a few doubts. His fierce intervention against Hades is worthy of note as well, Sisyphus was so determined he counteracted a god’s cosmo just to try and protect Athena. That’s a feat and a half, let me tell you. Too bad that when the arrow backfired at him his entire likability went horribly downhill for me, until the Surplice scene.

However, I recognize him as a honest character, true to his words (as we see when he promises he will protect Athena to Tenma), and extremely caring. He has a good heart, Sisyphus shows it during one of El Cid’s flashbacks, and loves his friends and companions. That’s a good person, if I’ve ever seen one, even though a person with one mistake too many.

#saint seiya #saint seiya the lost canvas #saint seiya lost canvas #lost canvas #the lost canvas #I Cavalieri dello Zodiaco #il mito del re degli inferi #il mito di ade #Los Caballeros del Zodiaco #sagittarius sisyphus #sagittarius #sisyphus #my opinion #honest opinion

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ask-codeearasure · 4 years

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Questions and Answers

Question: Why did you combine Dreamtale and Mafiatale together for Dream and Nightmare?

Answer:

I did so because I thought it would be fun. I like to go with the most wacky and zany ideas because to me it’s fun. Think of Treasure Planet.

How can they breathe in space? Why are the spaceships like boats? I DON’T KNOW BUT IT’S FUN AND COOL AND FUCKING AMAZING!

I love that fun shit. Fuck serious shit, let me have my fun. But, also I like to add serious tones to it but the thing is, is that too much seriousness is not fun. Think of Teen Titans, it was a funny as shit show but also had serious undertones that would seemingly come up out of nowhere but it did so in a way that let the viewer take them seriously because of how they complimented the comedy. Angst and drama works in small bursts, but you can never have enough comedy. If you don’t let yourself have fun, you are going to lose interest in your own creation and no one wants that.

Also there was a deeper reason for this. A good while ago (fuck my memory) several people were having very serious issues with a guy called ManiaKnight, and his treatment towards people during these event things where he’d roleplay as several characters, such as Ink, Error and push narratives, however he’d use the characters to gaslight and manipulate those who had joined the events.

He made it all super dark, serious and edgy in the worst way possible and people wanted him to lighten it up via Dream. However for some reason Mania hated Dream and so out of spite he made Dream an Amalgamation, and thus normal Dream became a symbol of “Fuck you Mania” for the people who were tired if Mania’s bullshit.

A former friend of mine had vented to me about this so I designed Mafia!Dream to help encourage their “rebellion”. One thing led to another and here I am! We’ve been having fun with the characters since then.

Question: Is Error obsessed with Hazbin Hotel?

Answer:

No, I made a few Hazbin Hotel jokes in OOC because I fucking loved the pilot and couldn’t help myself because I’m a massive goober. Also FYI. Error is actually obsessed with Gambling, and doesn’t know Novella exists nor would he care that it exists.

My version of Error is not much like normal Error.

Question: Why’d you make Dream and Nightmare hoomans?? Nightmare looks like a onceler >:(

Answer:

The AU that my Nightmare and Dream are from requires them to go to the human world, so they need a human disguise. Thus they use illusions to make them look human. They’re not actually humans. They’re monsters with illusion magic. The humans in their AU don’t know that Monsters exist.

Let me elaborate, sorry for Spoilers.

Nightmare and Dream’s AU is extremely different from Dreamtale.

Mafia!Dreamtale is an AU where Dream and Nightmare are from two different realms of reality that they’re named after. The Nightmare Realm and the Dream Realm. Monsters are from these realms and consume desires and only feel certain emotions.

Dream Realm: They only feel Positive Emotions and eat Positive Desires

Nightmare Realm: They only feel Negative Emotions and eat Negative Desires.

They need to go to the human realm in order to collect these desires because the human realm is in the beginning of an Industrial Revolution and sleep has been practically outlawed because people are more concerned with progressing technology. In this AU Sleep Medicine and Alcohol are outlawed and give you time in prison if you’re caught with them.

Nightmare and Dream both make and sell these products. Nightmare sells alcohol, Dream sells Sleep Medication. Which is why they need to go to the human world and why they have the illusions.

Question: Are you tryna butcher every AU sans you come across gurl

Answer:

If by “butcher” you mean switch shit up and have fun. Then yes. Yes I am. I’m not trying to be accurate to the source material. You assuming that I’m trying to stay accurate to the source material is just that. An assumption. Not the truth.

Aren’t you tired of the same ideas over and over and over and over again? Let’s get extreme! Let’s go ham! LETS FUCKING GO! FUCK, KINGDOME HEARTS!TALE LETS GO -- okay but in all seriousness. Let’s look at all the AUs that we have. Where are the more zany ones? Where are some that just go weird and shit comes from seemingly left field before doing a nose dive into weirder territory? Why not have fun?

Fuck, I’ve seen Harry Potter meets My Little Pony fanfictions that are twice as fun than some of the AUs that I’ve seen.

Outertale is just Undertale but in Space! Can we go a little bit harder on the concept? Let’s push it just a little bit further. What else can we do with this concept? Are there space theme magic? What about when the monster’s die? Do they become dust? Stardust? Why not push the concept a bit further? What if they went supernova? What about that? Can we go further or are you just content with Undertale but in space? What if we made the story take place in the year 3000?

(Note: I don’t know much about Outertale. I only used it as an example.)

Question: Why is your Horror based on Japanese mythology?

Answer:

I wanted him to be different and I like going all out with my characters. I like basing them off of different things. I wanted my versions of the characters to be different. I didn’t want to be blatantly ripping off others. I know the originals are great! But I didn’t want to feel like I was ripping them off and claiming them as my own. But I also wanted to show off some individuality. I wanted to deviate for the sake of fun. I wanted to go all out. There is nothing wrong with changing things up.

Horror is actually mainly based off of the Blood Moon skins from League of Legends. But it got my interest in Japanese mythology going again so I decided to mix that in there BUT that is also because The Blood Moon Skins are based in Ionia a region on Runeterra (the world of League of Legends) that is based off of Japan and… well.. Asia in general. So I got those two things and mixed them together and started to switch shit up. Change the Blood Moon idea into something new! I want to make things different.

Question: Is Dust based off of Assassin’s Creed???

Answer:

I have never played Assassin’s Creed. The closest thing to it I’ve played is League of Legends’ Pyke, and Ekko; and with Watch_Dogs (the second one) but I haven’t gotten past the first level because I had to focus on my college education and I haven’t had the time to play through it.

Dust is based off of Alice in Wonderland, Alice: Through the Looking Glass, American McGee’s Alice, Alice: the Madness Returns, Dr. Spencer Ried from Criminal Minds, Sheldon Cooper from the Big Bamg Theory, Ekko the Boy Who Shattered Time from League of Legends, Visual Kei, and the image in this Youtube video: https://youtu.be/jJ0qDlyrGow

It’s weird that you came to such a conclusion because everyone else keeps telling me he looks like he’s from Kingdom Hearts, which is hilarious! Dear god, I don’t see either! Someone needs to break this down to me because I must be fucking blind.

(Ps. Please send the music artists in that video love, adoration, support, and money. They’re amazing and need more of everything positive.)

Question: Killer looks like a walking JoJo reference!!! Is he??

Answer:

Nope. I didn’t even watch Jojo when I designed him -- which reminds me I still need to binge the show. Killer is actually based off of Tanya Degurechaff from Saga of Tanya the Evil, and Edward Elric from FullMetal Alchemist and FullMetal Alchemist: Brotherhood.

His story will barely even reflect this. And I know what you’re thinking “So original/sarcasm” well there is no such thing as originality. As an artist (which writing even falls under). Everything is inspired and based on something.

To quote Picasso “Good artists copy, Great artists steal”. Now this can be taken in a horrible way but it’s talking about technique. You can steal a technique and those techniques are something you are even taught in art school. You can take inspirations and those inspirations are dependent on how they are used. In this context, the technique is a trope. Tropes are dependent on how they are used and executed. And yes I might switch up Killer’s design a bit, but at the same time I like his design but I don’t think I will change it right now, I need to think about it, because now that I think about it, it’s not much of a military uniform but that’s because of his jacket. I will have to add a bit more detail to his uniform. Also the shadow behind him is a visual signifier of the Chara part of his soul (he absorbed Chara’s Soul but her soul is still active) which is awake and can still talk, but it's more like she is talking through him a voice emanating from his soul -- perhaps that’s why he looks so… Jojo-y?... I’m going to have to go through his design with a fine tooth comb to switch it up a little more.

“Question:” WHY IS BERRY TOO CUTE AND TOO MUCH OF A BABIE!! I HATE THOSE KIND OF BERRIES AND I WANNA MURDER THAT THING FGHJKL!!!!!!111!!

Answer:

That isn’t my problem bud. I don’t cater to anyone. If you think he’s too cute, that’s not my problem. Hell I made him that way because my version of Berry -- Cyber!Berry -- is literally a 3 year old who is super intelligent but still a child. I’m not sure if you’ve ever seen a 3 year old, but they look so fucking cute. But if you don’t vibe with cute things… that’s a you thing, not a me thing.

It’s your problem. Not mine. You don’t have to like my designs.

“Question:” i hate ur characters, they made me cry because of how badly designed they are hurrrr durrrrr

Answer:

Not my problem, I’m not catering to anyone. You hating my characters doesn’t mean shit. After all, let's point out the obvious… it’s just your opinion. You don’t have to like my designs. They weren’t made specifically for you. They were made for fun not for you. I’m not going to cater to you. Do yourself a favor and go away and find something you do like,or find the best discount at Macy’s, or send your favorite creator love, because those things are better than wasting your time and more importantly mine and my friends’. If you wish to stay strictly to bitch, bemoan and troll, please cry directly into my coffee mug, your salty tears give me life.

#faq post #qna #Code: Erasure

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charlemange1 · 4 years

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Ask of the Lesser (Frankenstein/Lovecraft Works): 7 The Horror from the Shadows

“Ernest, you are late! Wonderful news, the conditions needed for us to press forward have miraculously aligned! We shall revive your brother tonight, just before the sun rises on the horizon!”

“Mr. Curwen, we need to talk.”

Curwen barely glanced up from the candle he was lighting. He did not seem surprised by my tone as he rushed around the strange symbols newly chiseled into the scorched floor. Many of the large bowls and vases I had purchased on his behalf lined the walls. The crates of blood were nowhere to be found.

“Idle chitchat can wait, Ernest. Tonight, we become gods!”

The power churning beneath his tone nearly swept me into submission, but I stood my ground. I had failed Victor, but I would save his friend.

“Mr. Curwen,” I started, pausing to steady my trembling broom-turned-cane. “I saw the contents of your cargo tonight, and so I must dissuade you from reviving my brother.”

“Your disgust is justified, I will not try and moralize my work,” Curwen said with smooth rehearsal. “But this is how discoveries are made. Dirtied hands now shall benefit mankind for generations! Your brother knew good could come from even the vilest of research.” Curwen shut the book he had been flipping through. The already torn cover peeled down to reveal a title beneath Qanoon-e-Izla. It was Necronomicon-- the forbidden text even Victor had shunned!

“Victor used the dead to bring about life,” I said, eyeing the hall where I knew Walton hid, in case intervention was necessary. “He would never hire people to murder fellow humans. That goes against everything he stood for.”

“Which is?”

“Preserving life!” I screamed. “You said we would help people, yet you have them killed with no remorse. If my brother is brought back, it will not be at the expense of others!”

“So you found it in your heart to forgive him?” Curwen taunted, placing his hands on his hips. “Stumbling over family ties was Victor’s mistake too. He could have been so much greater, had he only cast aside you deadweights and focused on the potential of what our research could accomplish!”

“You burned his letters,” my voice was barely a whisper. “And ours to him as well?”

“It benefited Victor to not obsess over your little lives,” Curwen spat dryly. “Reading of birthday parties and sappy laments wishing he was with you instead of studying the alchemists or perfecting his theories of galvanism!”

“Our mother had just died,” my voice trembled. “He was seventeen, Curwen. Victor needed family more than ever, and you took that from him. You made yourself all he had to cling to for companionship and bent his well-meaning aspirations into a twisted replica of your own!”

“Hardly,” Curwen snorted, running his finger around the rim of a nearby vase. “Despite your years of fabricated silence, he never forgot. Victor’s mind could have unraveled the eldritch secrets of the cosmos, yet he settled on perfecting pathetic humans and see how that ended for him?” Curwen’s voice faltered, and he shook his head. “Not me. I left the dull minds of Salem behind to ascend beyond the feeble species of man! I shall surpass both the gods of earth and the cosmos, and it will be done by raising up geniuses and yanking the secrets straight from their mouths, because dear Ernest, knowledge is power.”

I thought I knew insanity, but even Victors most manic fits paled in comparison to the man standing before me now. Something had changed in Curwen’s face. That reserved mask of cordial gentlemanliness had peeled away to reveal something very different beneath the surface. Something beyond reasoning with. Beyond the confines of reason itself.

“You are mad,” I breathed. Walton, where are you?

“Victor said as much too, but he cannot lead an angry mob to run me out now!” Curwen’s laugh bounced off the scorched walls. “When I bring him back, Victor shall answer to me alone and his bleeding heart will obstruct his true capabilities no longer!”

“You will not make him a monster,” I shrieked and smashed my broom against a table of glass elixirs and spiraling instruments. Curwen made some strange noise as I flipped the table. Maybe I was weak compared to Victor, but I was still a Frankenstein. A human with enough fury to take a couple of syringes down with him. Curwen’s footsteps splashed through the puddles and I swung my broom his way. He smacked it to the floor and punched me with a force that slammed me against the wall. I grabbed a bottle from a nearby shelf and smashed it against his head. Curwen leaped back clutching the side of his face. I could see blood welling just above his right eye. His white teeth smiled in a perfect, horrible grin.

“Such determination! It is moments like this that you remind me of him the most! I truly respected Victor, and by extension tried tolerating you, but your refusal to cooperate leaves me to take drastic measures.”

I pushed myself off the wall, but my adrenaline was fading fast. The pulsing in my brain threatened to overwhelm me as I continued to glare Curwen’s way. A dark shape lurched upwards by the door. Walton? Had he come at last?

My happy cry ended in an abrupt gurgle as the growing figure extended up to the dome-ceiling far above me. Its tentacles thumped carelessly against the rough stone despite the rows upon rows of bulging yellow eyes jerking in every direction imaginable. Neither my nightmares nor the chiseled image beneath Ingolstadt could compare to what floated above me now. It was wrong in every angle and proportion and hinted at cosmic realities that could drive a man mad. My limbs went numb in the presence of this creature who watched me from its place in the air. Curwen’s voice whispered nearby, though I barely heard it.

“Did you really think I could retrieve souls unaided? Bow to Yog-Sothoth, my dearest helping hand!” His voice grew soft. “Speaking of helping hands, your dearest brother’s corpse was missing one of his. The fool! Thinking he could escape me by not being a perfect specimen. He did not anticipate that I would run into his own blood, or more likely, that an invalid like you would even try to get anywhere near the work of great men like us!”

Somewhere there was a thud, a clack of steel slicing bone and the sensation of dripping wetness, yet it felt far away. What did petty injuries on a small earth to a smaller boy mean in the face of those watering yellow eyes? Eyes! Eyes without a face!

“Given your failure to bring me more blood, your own must do.”

Those were the last words I understood. After that, Curwen spoke in syllables foreign to the human tongue as I slipped to the realm beneath consciousness.

#ernest frankenstein #mary shelly's frankenstein #frankenstein fanfiction #victor frankenstein #lovecraft fanfiction #lovecraft #classic literature #gothic fanfiction #The Case of Charles Dexter Ward #joseph curwen

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wheremytwinwatches · 4 years

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[Where My Twin Watches]: Full Metal Alchemist Brotherhood Episode 16

Work continues to drive me crazy, so of course I make my life more complicated by getting online classes set up for the fall. That, and I kinda don’t want to see our babies learn about Hughes. Blissful ignorance, am I right? *sigh* Onwards with Brotherhood.

Do we have captions this time? We do! Awesome, it was so irritating last time not knowing if I was mangling names or not. We’ve got the second intro featuring the Xing contingent, curious how influential it’ll be having a foreign prince bopping along with the Elrics. (Also, I continue to be juvenile and giggle at one of the lyrics in the new song being “shite”. Hee.) We open up with a bird's-eye view of Central, then with Ed yawning at the train station. Al mentions that being spied on for hours is pretty tiring. Right, Ling’s ninja squad don’t trust the Elrics. But where’s the Prince? The Ninjas proceed to freak the heck out, Fu runs around the traintops calling out for the young lord as Lan Fan worries about him collapsing. Is Ling fainting a common thing, then? Ed just shrugs his shoulders at the absence of the freeloader and heads off with Al and Winry. Huh, music’s getting ominous. Oh, there he is, doing a Brooding Anime Rooftop Stare on the station’s clock tower, looking towards the center of the city. [Ling]: “Something about this country doesn’t feel right.” Well, the current speculation (backed by the freaking Fuhrer being a Goth!) is that they’re sacrificing people to make Philosopher’s Stones, so… don’t know much about Xing so can’t say if they’re any better, but it’d be pretty hard for them to be worse. Episode 16 - “Footsteps of a Comrade-in-Arms” In a run-down area of the city, a car stops and the blond-haired smoking guy (Havoc?) of Roy’s crew is checking in with the grey-haired member (I’ll get their names some day, I swear), dropping off food from the colonel. Oh, guess Grey’s been guarding Barry, who cheerfully recognizes “the smokin’ guy”. Not tied up and playing chess? Are they keeping him prisoner to try and get more info or more protecting their only source? Well, I suppose for a serial killer like Barry being kept inside at night and denied any chances to chop someone up would be uncomfortable. Still, Grey’s bored with the assignment, asks how much longer it’ll be. Havoc just says that Roy apologizes for the dangerous assignment, that Grey’s absence it being treated as sick leave… and if he’s seen in public by anyone he’ll get court-martialed. Yikes, ok then. No breaks for poor Grey. Any good news? [Havoc]: “Falman, I found myself a girlfriend!” ...well that’s nice and all for you, buddy, but I think Falman (thank you!) was looking for good news for him. Poor, poor Falman. Hey, it’s Ling! Taking another impromptu nap? A couple of cops are asking if he’s ok, he whispers about food… ah, trying for another free meal? Unfortunately for Ling, the cops less interested in feeding him and more interested in seeing his entry visa. Cue irritated cops dragging a crying Prince away. [Cop 1]: “Outta the way, everyone!” [Cop 2]: “Illegal alien coming through!” The Ninjas continue to freak over the absent master, while Ed says that they should stop by the military offices. Winry… decides to go straight to the Hughes’ house. Oh boy. [Winry]: “I can’t wait to see Miss Gracia and cute little Elicia!” Uuuuuugh. Make it stooooop. The Brothers are off to meet up with Hughes himself, while they think Hughes might have been stymied by Bradley’s orders to stand down they have info on the Homunculi now (and still don’t know the Fuhrer himself is one, gah!). Off to the court-martial office! Quiet somber music as the brothers run through the park. And right by the phone booth that Hughes was murdered in. Bleh this episode is not going easy. In the office, Sheska’s carrying around some books when another lady officer asks for a key to Room #3. Which freaks Sheska out, and she babbles about cleaning up the mess first? What, have you made that your private reading lair or something? Nope, not your lair it seems, but Colonel Mustang’s private napping chamber. Yikes, hope you had an alarm set, and it only wasn’t Sheska waking you that kept you from being late to a freaking Council Meeting. Wait, Council? I don’t think I’ve heard of that group before, I’m just assuming by the tendency for Anime Councils to be Big Deals that it’s the same in the FMA universe. The highest-ranking officers of the military? Sheska worries that Roy’s not getting enough sleep, he just waves her off and goes to the meeting. Staying up late doing research on the conspiracy, I gue- GAH new voice! Sheska freaks and identifies them as Captain Focker, who asks about the open storeroom and what Roy was doing. Uh oh, a watcher sent by Bradley? Double uh oh, in her concern for Roy’s state Sheska is telling Focker about how he seems to be researching the Fifth Laboratory. And the Hughes case. Bleeeeeh, more Hughes feels as Sheska gets sad about her getting her job through Hughes. Captain Focker walks away deep in thought, glasses obscuring his eyes. Uh oh. But then the looks up in surpr- That’s Captain Focker! Oh my Leto, that’s the real Captain Focker! Real Focker’s too busy looking at some piece of paper to notice a shapechange and red electricity as Envy takes on a new disguise. Shapeshifters: A security nightmare.

But it looks like Envy might have made a mistake, as Real!Focker’s now saying good morning to Sheska, who is rightly confused. A simple “Laugh at this clueless character” moment, or a break for the good guys? Roy’s washing up in a bathroom for this Council Meeting, takes a moment to stare mournfully into the mirror- until with a flush of a toilet his angsting is interrupted by The Mighty Armstrong, glinting manfully in his bandages while towering over the stall door. Hah! Armstrong remarks that Roy looks a bit peakish, who asks why Armstrong is bandaged. Oh right, Armstrong was involved in killing all of Greed’s human-chimera crew down South. He mentions that he ran into the Elrics down there, on their visit to their old teacher. But he couldn’t bring himself to tell them about Hughes. Armstrong makes his way out- [Roy]: “The Fifth Laboratory and the Philosopher’s Stone; the Stone’s key ingredients are live humans.” Armstrong comes to a halt. Roy continues about how Hughes died following up on the Elric brothers’ investigation, and how if/when they find out they’ll blame themselves. He says Armstrong not telling them was kind, and Armstrong compliments him on figuring out so much. But warns him that he never knows who might be listening. Riza’s waiting out in the hallway when Ed walks up and says hi, although he’s not as happy when Roy joins them. Oh yeah, Elric didn’t know about Roy’s promotion. Now if he’s hanging out in Central it’ll be the same place as good old Colonel Mustang. The sarcasm in Ed’s “Great” is astounding. As for the Elrics, they’re just doing some information gathering. And might pay Hughes a visit later in the day. Where is he, anyway? Roy… says that Hughes retired. Went out to the country with his family to run the family business. Really, dude? I get that it’s a sore subject, but the “he went out to the farm” excuse only works for so long. They deserve to know what happened. Well, with the false story the boys think that they should tell Winry, they spin around only to run into Lieutenant Ross. She asks about the rush, Ed mentions that they heard about Hughes… and Ross isn’t in on the “tell them the farm story” excuse. Oh boy. Uuuugh, the two conversations sliding right past each other here is painful! And here’s the kicker: [Al]: “He retired to the country and they promoted him?” Ross realises she did a no-no, covers her mouth to keep from saying anything else. And Ed realizes the truth. Mid-episode cards: Captain Focker with an Envy silhouette behind him, and a downcast Gracia Hughes on the second. Notable for both Narrator “Full-Metal Alchemists” being the sad, somber one. Out in the city, Winry’s shopping for apples, presumably to give to the Hughes’ family. And Ed races out of the building after hearing the new. [Lt. Ross]: “Brigadier General Hughes is dead… He was murdered shortly after you were discharged from the hospital, Edward. I’m afraid we still haven’t found the person responsible.” As he runs and cries, Ed blames himself for pulling Hughes into the investigation. Flashes of Happy Hughes and his family, a memory of Hughes seeing them off at the train station and inviting them to drop by again, hosting dinner, first meeting them and inviting them to his home… Al catches up with the suitcase and then stands there silently as Ed slumps against the wall. And now we’re with Winry, who’s arriving at the apartment. The door swings open- [Elicia]: “Daddy?!” Oh no, that’s fine. I didn’t need that heart anyway, go ahead and use it as a footrest show. The Elrics have arrived at the apartment building, when Al asks what they should do Ed tells him to go back, that he’s “the only one who has to take the blame for what happened.” Oh my Leto kid you have enough self-imposed guilt from Mama Elric and Nina, stop taking the weight of the world on your shoulders! Al argues that it’s on both of them, and double all my protests that Ed does not deserve this for his little brother as well. Ed tries to dissuade Al again- [Al]: “We made up our minds; We said we were getting our bodies back, no matter what. But if people are going to die because of that… then I don’t want mine back.”

Freaking A, Al. I cannot overstate how much damn respect I feel for you right now. You are a poor boy, trapped in a cold metal body from a horrible accident. Getting your body back has been your driving purpose, along with healing your brother. But when you discovered that the cost of making a Philosopher’s Stone was human sacrifice, you discarded the method. And when you discover that a friend has died in the process of helping your investigation, you are fully prepared to renounce your goal in order to protect others. I salute your selflessness. Gracia opens the door, and gives the Elrics the same sad smile that she gave Winry, telling the brothers that Winry’s already arrived. The mechanic’s sitting quietly in a chair with Elicia curled in her lap, she looks up with Ed quietly enters. Ed then asks to talk to Gracia and Winry about Maes. The quiet sad theme starts playing as Gracia recaps the Elrics’ message; that Hughes looked into the Philosopher’s Stone, and was killed as a warning against the brothers. Gracia looks down at sleeping Elicia, as Ed bows his head in grief and gasps out “sorry” again and again. [Gracia]: “That would be just like him, dying while trying to help someone else.” The Trio look up in surprise. [Gracia]: “My husband. He always was a busybody and a meddler, and it got him into trouble. A lot. But you know… I don’t think he ever had regrets. Not any… not even in his dying moments, Edward.” So many people to respect in this episode, seriously. Al being prepared to give up on getting his body back, and Gracia insisting that they can’t give up, or else Hughes died in vain. With a little smile, even. Forget about the dead end of the Stone, there still might be another way. [Gracia]: “You boys have to keep moving forward… any way you can.” The door closes as the Trio exit the apartment, Ed turns to look at the others- [Elicia]: “Mommy?... Mommy, please don’t cry.” ...damn you, show. Later in the day now, the sun is setting as the Trio walk through the streets to a sweeping cello melody. The Elrics see Winry to a hotel room, and then go to their own. Right, because they… used to stay at the Hughes’ residence. Winry’s quietly resting on her bed, Al’s sitting in the living room, and Ed’s downstairs in the restaurant too upset to eat. Now he’s knocking on Winry’s door, asking if she’s eaten yet, and she should hurry because the dining room is closing soon. The parallels are strong here: when they were children the Rockbell’s fed the Elrics, and now Ed’s trying to make sure Winry keeps up her strength now. When Winry doesn’t make a move Ed excuses himself to his room, but Winry grabs his automail hand. Aw, aw no. She still has the basket of apples she was planning to take to the Hughes’ family. Seems she was planning to make apple pie. And had hoped that Mr. Hughes would get to try some too. Winry cries as the screen fades to black. WOW OK talk about rough transitions, we’ve got Chimeras in cages. And eff you it’s the Goths, Lust leaning on Gluttony as she talks with still-disguised Envy. Now they know that Roy’s been looking into the matter, and may have found some things out. Lust gripes that they orchestrated Roy’s move to Central to keep a closer eye on him, and it’d be a waste to lose an important sacrifice candidate. Wait… [Envy]: “Haven’t been able to learn anything from your new boyfriend?” Aw hell no, I’d thought that Havoc gushing about having a girlfriend was just a little joke at the beginning of the episode, like a running gag about his relationships or something. You’re telling me Lust is playing Havoc? Run dude, run! Lust goes off to gather more info, calls for Gluttony like a loyal little attack dog. Envy chides Gluttony for leaving some bones scattered around… but then gets an idea. Uh oh, we’ve got string music as Envy suggests making another “play”, giving Roy a bone to chew. What are you up to? We’re at what appears to be a cafeteria now, when someone comes up and taps Lieutenant Ross on the shoulder, introducing himself as Henry Douglas from the Provost Marshal’s office. Flanked by goons, he says that Ross has to come along with them, and demands her gun? Wait, is Ross being arrested? Brosh, where the heck are you, come defend your partner! Whoa whoa what?! They’re accusing Ross for Hughes’ murder?! What the heck, how can you make that claim? What evidence do you have for that absurd claim? Besides… well, besides the shapeshifter accosting Hughes in the phone booth while looking like you… uh oh. Riza is updating Roy on the situation, saying that Ross (man, there are a lot of R-characters involved in this case, huh?) is pleading not-guilty on all charges. The Flame Alchemist just tells Riza to gather all the info on the suspect that she can, secretly. Dramatic string music continues as we see Havoc buying some flowers and then running along to his “hot date”, stubbing out his cigarette as yup, “Solaris” is Lust. Who demurely asks Havoc to sit down and tell her about his day. AAAAAAARGH! Ok then! Was putting off this episode because I knew there would be Feels about Hughes, and damn if it didn’t deliver. But like Gracia said, they can’t let Hughes’ death be in vain, and they can hardly just give up and let the killer go free. Speaking of, framing Ross? As if I didn’t have enough reasons to hate you jerks, Goths! Ugh, this is gonna get complicated, isn’t it?

#wmtw #where my twin watches #ranubis #full metal alchemist #full metal alchemist brotherhood #fmab #fmab 16

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luffywhatelse · 5 years

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Even when there is no star in sight

A/N: I thought about Ed's moments of sadness, his nightmares, his guilty conscience and maybe feelings of inadequacy. And then I added Winry who helps him when he's physically and literally in pieces. It's set in Resembool, after the fight against Scar. Words: 2034 Genre: Angst, Drama, Romance, Hurt/Comfort Pairing: Ed x Winry Rating: T Completely immersed in water, holding his breath, he opened his eyes and came face to face with the woman who was watching him: a shiver ran down his spine and the boy sank even further, bumping on the warm bottom of the bathtub.

His mother Trisha just smiled, with chapped lips, giving way to a silence so deafening that Ed's eardrums were like about to rupture.

It's all physics, the pressure is blocking my upper airway, I need to keep calm – his thoughts were faster than light, so he just exhaled – "gas sylvester", carbon dioxide out of my lungs.

He laid still, until his survival instinct kicked in and made him emerge from the water as he continued to stare at the vivid apparition in front of him.

Now Edward was no longer holding his breath but felt trapped anyway; a cold windblast chilled him to the bones.

He kept his gaze on her, sitting on the opposite edge of the tub.

"Hi sweetheart, you need some help?"

His heartbeat quickened wildly; his eyes widened noticing her approaching him, graceful and loving as always as he stood petrified. The woman ran her fingers through her son's wet blond hair, softly touched his face, and then placed her hand on the boy's sore right shoulder.

"I was starting to think you’d forgotten me," she spoke in a sad voice kneeling at the side of the tub. "Don’t be scared of me, Ed," she whispered in his ear, her lips resting on his forehead while he blinked overwhelmed.

Then the woman moved away enough to look into his eyes, her expression became serious, her look darkened; she creeped him out.

"You’re even more feckless than you were as a child, or maybe you haven’t changed a bit," she pronounced those words a few inches from his face, looking him straight in the eyes. "Do it, Edward," she said imposing upon him but always keeping the distance, "Come to me once and for all." The boy's breathing became faster and, suddenly, in the distance, a familiar voice called his attention:

"Edo!"

He opened his eyes, immediately sat up in the middle of the tub and took a deep breath as the water spilled on the floor.

The steamy tiles in front of him looked like they were covered with tears. He sat for a moment in the ripples, clenched his left fist, grinding his teeth as a persistent ringing tormented his ears.

"Edo" the voice he thought he dreamed along with everything else was clear now. He looked up to the left, meeting those blue eyes.

He stayed like that for a few seconds, breathing heavily until that empty silence was filled again by the sounds of life around him. He felt reassured, everything had found its place and he gradually came back to reality: the mirror above the sink was completely fogged, the towels were white and fluffy.

He instantly remembered.

~ Edward hadn’t slept very much and was in a bad mood. His automail arm was still under repair after being destroyed in a thousand pieces and even just that made him very angry; then he couldn’t even toss and turn in his bed. At times he almost got the feeling it would have been better not to have any automail: because of the fact he was used to them, he took for granted every basic movement that he shouldn’t have been able to make.

But there were still a few days of unbearable discomfort waiting for him, at least until Winry had repaired the automail. Still in bed, he rubbed his aching neck, stood up and, limping on his temporary leg, moved on to Winry's laboratory. He found her sitting, bent over the table, and working. This also irritated him: knowing that she probably didn’t go to sleep at all just to complete those repairs as quickly as he had asked her.

He felt guilty, even though he knew he needed it.

Outside it was a gloomy day, befitting his mood, and he got a little bit of a headache.

Just what I needed – he thought to himself.

He entered the bathroom and remembered when brushing his teeth with his left hand was a challenge while now, after four years of training, he was completely used to it. He opened the water in the tub. The blowing of the hot water suddenly brought him back to a few days before, during the fight with the Ishvalian who had destroyed his mechanical arm. It was raining and Edward got knocked down, on the wet ground. Scared, he had tried to back away and escape from Scar heading straight for him but, in that moment of weakness, he had practically forgotten he no longer had an arm and so, instinctively he had put his right hand on the asphalt behind him, finding himself lying facedown, slamming his right side into the puddle of rainwater, with no support. Shocked, insecure. Helpless.

If the idea of being out of play for a few days made him mad, not being sufficiently self-reliant was even worse. Despite this, he felt the need to take a bath.

With a finger he grabbed the shirt behind his neck and tried to take it off, but he was so angry that he ended up in a maze of cloth that made him feel inside a straitjacket; he got out of it finally ripping it with a disjointed movement and a roar of rage. Exasperated, he took off his boxers and slid into the tub.

He sat down and felt the anger piling up; he knew very well that it was foolish, but he couldn’t do anything about it: phantom limb pain, trouble and frustration had always had that kind of effect. They made him angry and angry, generating a circle of pathetic thoughts. Sometimes, instead of pushing him to get to the end of the matter, that whirlwind of emotions depressed him horribly. There he was: a boy of barely fifteen, a disabled and increasingly pissed off State Alchemist, who had only hard knocks throughout his life, now was also pathetic, without an arm and with a prosthesis instead of his left leg that made him seem even more invalid.

Flooded with those anxieties but extremely tired, he had ended up falling asleep in the tub, exhausted.

~ "Edo, are you alright?"

Winry was on the door and he, still lost in his thoughts and his bubble bath, saw her enter.

"Come on, I'll help you,” she said.

"Wh-what?" he asked, caught unawares.

But she didn’t give him time to reply, "You were asleep in the tub," she said. With gestures that seemed so coordinated to him, the girl knelt next to the tub and wiped away a few drops of water – or maybe they were tears he hadn’t realized crying – on his face, under his puffy and tired eyes.

A dejavu brought him back memories; she had done the exact same gesture as they were kids and he told her he was afraid Al hated him. His eyes were covered with a cold cloth that was used to help the fever go down. She had it shifted to the right, finding his tears and drying them with care and apprehension. At that moment, Edward hadn’t felt exposed after showing her his sadness. He had allowed himself to be consoled – for as much as he could find comfort in such a situation – by that touch and that look which was so full of affection that had reminded him of his mother's, in some ways.

"Can I wash your hair?" she called him back to the present.

He nodded, even this time deciding to let her do that. Conscious of the pout that still puckered his lips and that he was unable to pave, exactly like when he let his mom treat his scraped knees as a child.

"Then lift up your head."

He obeyed, adjusting his back a little. She opened the water and guided his hand to take the shower head. Ed leaned back with his torso, keeping his arm up.

The touch of Winry's hands on his head was the first pleasant experience after nearly twenty-four hours of distress and sent a bolt of pure electricity down his spine. The bad mood was dissolving as if it was washed off.

Her hands began to draw small regular circles on his skull, dwelling in some points.

Edward left his own shoulders drop a few inches, realizing he had kept them tense all the time.

"Lift your head again, so I can rinse your hair."

He raised his left arm, which he had relaxed in the meantime, and squeezed the shower head before reaching back. The soft caress of the water was pleasant, but not as much as Winry’s touch while she took great care to ensure that not even a drop fall into his eyes.

She turned the water off again.

He lowered his head, still a little lost in the pleasure of that feeling. How long had it been since he felt pampered like that? When was the last time he had dared to put his pride aside?

Like he had already done before with his tears, now Ed decided to ignore the warmth in his heart and the need to let go completely and let off steam. He stretched his lips in a grimace trying to hold back that river in flood but the sweet taste of Winry’s tenderness reassured him.

"Can I wash your back?" once again she didn’t hesitate waiting for his answer and, with the same careful gestures, neither too slow nor too fast, poured the bubble bath on her hands and then rub them together, meticulously.

The contact of her hands on his shoulders caused him another shiver and this time he wasn’t able to contain it: his whole body shook under her touch. She seemed not to notice it and ran her hands over his shoulders and arm, down to his wrist. He felt the wrinkle in the space between his eyebrows disappear. She rubbed his shoulders up to his chest with energetic gestures that weren’t sensual at all, but he still had goose bumps. He didn’t dare look at himself, his body looked awkward, so he closed his eyes and gave himself up. He felt her spread the soap on his skin, even where the skin became more sensitive to tickling.

He kept his eyes closed, his breath stuck in his throat when she stopped. It was a moment that seemed to go on forever.

What happens now? He wondered. The sound and the heat of water were the only answers to his question. She was rinsing his body, always with the greatest care, which now began getting on his nerves: Why? Why is she doing it? The question suddenly crept into Edward's mind. Not only she was working hard on his automail, giving him priority over any other job she had to complete. But now this. He felt kind of useless.

You’re even more feckless than you were as a child, those terrible words Ed’s unconscious had made his mother say were in his head like a scream that went on and on. And insecurity came back aggressively. Did Winry act out of pity? He didn’t want her pity!

Then the water stopped flowing again.

"I'll get you a towel," she said.

She wrapped his hair in the towel and, once again, he was impressed by her manual dexterity. Winry's face was a few inches from Ed's but he suddenly looked down.

“Thank you…” he whispered. His hand reach out to her and then grab her wrist, "Now just get out… please, Winry."

The girl didn’t speak but silently and gently put her hand on his shoulder and stood up.

Edward, not showing it, surrendered himself and focused on her touch. He felt Winry was truly by his side and connected to him; that wasn’t like a touch that’s perfunctory or detached, it was warm, loving, grounding and gave him a sense of calm stability that immediately made him feel safe.

And just like that, Ed felt that everything made sense again.

#edwin #edxwin #edward elric #ed x winry #Edward x Winry #Winry Rockbell #trisha elric #fma #Fullmetal Alchemist #fullmetal alchemist brotherhood #fan fiction #my fan fiction #fanfic #fma fan fiction #angst #drama #romance #hurt comfort

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codynaomiswireart · 6 years

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“Gauze in the Wound” - Part 5

Part 1, 2, 3, 4

Upon his arrival at the castle, Xavier had been brought immediately to the throne room. There he found Varian, a few of the city’s nobles, and a handful of guards already seated in a circle around a table in the middle of the chamber. Many of them were murmuring to each other as they waited for the council to officially begin. Pete stood guard right behind Varian’s chair, and both seats directly beside him were among the few that had remained vacant. Xavier sat down in the one to Varian’s left, giving a small friendly nod of greeting to the boy as he took his seat. Varian gave his own little nod in return, though remained silent as he fiddled nervously with the cuffs around his wrists, trying to ignore the glances, stares, and whispers of the others around them.

Xavier took a moment to study the odd shape that sat before them on the table. A thick white tarp covered what seemed to be a slightly raised platform, with the object in question situated on top of it, and a few rough cords extending out from underneath the tarp to different points on the table. Though the tarp prevented those present from seeing what the strange object was, this much was very plain – whatever it was, it was the thing the guards had found in Old Corona, and it was apparently something of extreme significance to the whole mystery surrounding them.

“How are you holding up?” Xavier asked Varian kindly as he turned his attention to his apprentice.

“Well enough,” Varian replied, though Xavier could tell by the way Varian continued to twiddle with his chains – and also by the way Ruddiger looked up at him from his lap – that Varian wasn’t being totally honest.

“How’s Ruddiger doing?” Xavier thought to ask, hoping to steer Varian’s thoughts to more calming things while they waited for the king and queen to arrive. Perking up at Xavier’s addressing him, Ruddiger let out a soft trill of greeting, and leaned into Xavier’s touch as the blacksmith gave Ruddiger a few scratches underneath his chin.

“He’s alright,” Varian replied, managing the tiniest raising of a smile at Ruddiger’s contentment. “Although…” Here, Varian frowned hard again. “…I get the feeling he misses home sometimes…”

“I’m sure he does,” Xavier said sympathetically, giving Ruddiger a small pat on the head (and the raccoon once again finding it surprising how gentle the strong blacksmith’s hands could be).

There was another moment of silence between the two of them, Varian now beginning to stroke Ruddiger’s fur in thought. Then he spoke again, a bit haltingly. “...Do you…do you think that I’ll ever get to go back to Old Corona? To help free my father I mean?”

Xavier’s brow furrowed pensively. “I can’t say for sure,” he began honestly. “Especially when we don’t know what exactly this latest development is all about. But if there is a way Varian, we will work towards it.”

“Promi-?” Varian attempted to ask out of reflex, but then quickly cut himself off before he could complete that word, his eyes turning downward again. Varian had decided long ago that he wasn’t going to take any stock in promises made by anyone ever again. It hurt too much whenever they were broken.

Xavier looked down at him, saddened by this response. “Varian-” he tried to preface any words of solace, but his words were interrupted as the door to the side of dais opened and King Frederic and Queen Arianna came in, led by the Captain of the Guard and followed closely by Nigel. Xavier, the nobles, and the guards at the table all stood as they came in, though Varian remained in his seat, refusing to look at them or anyone else as he again allowed his face to be hidden behind his long dark bangs.

A few of the nobles gave little looks of disapproval at Varian’s defiant posture, but Xavier paid them no heed. He and Varian had of course talked beforehand a few days ago about how they were to approach any sort of meeting with the king and queen once it should arise. Varian had made it very clear that he did not intend to participate in any “inane ceremony” (as he had put it) when meeting with them. But Xavier had been able to convince him of a compromise where Varian didn’t have to stand, bow, or anything like that if he didn’t want to, but he also was not to resort to raging outbursts as he had done during his trial. Instead, Varian was to attempt to be as diplomatic as possible (i.e. to be as “noble an opponent” as possible, as Xavier had put it). Xavier made it clear that this did not mean Varian had to placate to their majesties, or feign any warm feelings towards them, but it also did not give Varian license to shoot his mouth off in the heat of temper.

“I know it won’t be easy,” Xavier had acknowledged to Varian. “But it will serve you the best in the long run. And I will be there with you this time. As in a sparring match, if you find you cannot face your opponent as agreed upon, you let me come in and help you. I know it’s a lot to ask after everything Varian, but I need you to trust me to be your advocate on this. Will you allow me that?”

Varian hadn’t been able to give a solid answer at the time (which didn’t surprise Xavier), but as it was, Xavier figured that Varian was perhaps doing the best that he could (or perhaps nearly the best he could) given the circumstances, and while it would’ve been better to have the trust between them solidified more before this “trial by fire”, Xavier felt he could work with what they had so far.

“Let’s see how well our blades have been tempered for this next joust, Varian,” Xavier couldn’t help but think to himself in a mixture of confidence and nervousness. Of course Xavier didn’t mean this thought in a hostile way, and he knew that there was likely to be more challenges facing Varian at this meeting than just the royal bureaucracy of Corona. Whatever had been brought in from the old village, it would likely present its own slew of trials for the young alchemist, no matter what conversations or debates came of it.

“Thank you everyone for coming to this meeting on such short notice,” King Frederic began. “As you all know, the site out at Old Corona has been gradually quarantined over the last couple of weeks, and whatever patrols we can spare have been out there ensuring its security. It has been brought to our attention that the guards found something of particular interest yesterday that requires the immediate attention of the court. Stan,” the king now turned to the guard sitting a few seats away. “As you were the one leading the patrol yesterday, I’ll leave it to you to explain what it is you found.”

“Thank you your majesty,” Stan began, now reaching to grab one of the corners of the tarp covering the mysterious object in the middle of the table (and Xavier noting the slightly nervous glace the guard gave in Varian’s direction for the briefest of seconds before proceeding). “We found this to the side of the pathway made by the black rocks that leads out of Old Corona and beyond the kingdom’s wall. Given what we know of the indestructible nature of the black rocks so far, we have no idea what to make of it, but we figured it would be of urgent interest to this council. Thus we brought it back here to the capital.” With that, Stan removed the tarp with a quick flick of his wrist, and all those who had not seen the thing that had lain underneath it all drew in sharp breathes and gawked at what was now plainly before them.

Sitting there in the middle of the table, lying on its side on the small platform, was a CUT piece of the black rocks!

Upon seeing this most unexpected revelation, Varian’s eyes widened, his blood ran cold, and he stood up quickly from his seat. His hands splayed out on the table’s wood surface to support himself as he leaned forward closer to see the nearly two-foot-long piece of rock, hardly daring to believe his eyes as he beheld it in front of him. Ruddiger gave a squeak of surprise as he fell from Varian’s lap to the floor at the sudden motion (though unhurt by the short fall onto the carpet), and Varian had a sharp, shocked noise escape his throat as he saw the impossible sitting there before him, feeling both bewilderment and hope begin rise within him in a splendid mess.

Pete’s hand was on Varian’s shoulder almost immediately as he had risen from his chair, and a few of the nobles sitting nearby flinched back as if they expected the young felon to lunge out at them. But anyone and everything else in the room were a million miles away from Varian’s mind as the cut piece of the rock held the boy’s undivided attention; as if he were spellbound by something equal parts terrible and beautiful. As if it were something out of Varian’s worst nightmares (which was indeed rather true), but was also something that contained the secrets to life itself (which in a sense it might, when it came to his father).

Xavier – also very shocked by this latest discovery – looked over at Varian uneasily, as did everyone else as the young alchemist had suddenly stood from his chair. Xavier could clearly see the storm of emotion in his apprentice’s eyes, and the furious working of the brain behind those eyes. After the initial shock, Varian’s fingers curled hard into the table, and then he made to reach for one of the cords that had been attached to the small platform that the piece of rock sat upon (which allowed for it to be pulled to different points around the large table easily). But Pete, as per protocol, pulled Varian’s arm back by the shoulder at this movement, also urging the boy to sit back down. Varian’s expression immediately shifted into one of rage as his entrancement to the rock was broken by yet another obstacle getting in the way of him freeing his father, and he let out a growl of anger.

“No! Let me go!” Varian yelped in protest, his other hand beginning to reach back towards the cord sitting nearby, and Varian began to feel a horrible, familiar, lonely desperation overshadow him again – like how it did when he was once so sure he had been so close to success, but those selfish mutton-heads whom he had once called friends continued to get in his way. But another large hand stopped his own, catching him around the wrist, and Varian’s enraged face whirled round to glare at the other person who dared interrupt him again.

Varian felt his blood run cold a second time as his eyes met Xavier’s. There was no condemnation in his mentor’s eyes, but neither were they near as soft as Varian had been used to seeing them. This sent an involuntary shiver down Varian’s spine, and caused him to snap out of whatever rage that had threatened to overtake him. While Xavier hardly made any movement as their eyes met, and he never uttered a single word of chastisement, Varian could clearly perceive the emphatic “no” that was being conveyed in Xavier’s expression and silence. It was not a pitiless expression of silence by any means, but neither was it lax. They couldn’t afford to be, and Xavier had to get that across to Varian immediately.

Varian felt his cheeks burn with embarrassment as he lowered his eyes, not being able to bear seeing such an expression from Xavier for too long. It wasn’t exactly like the looks of disapproval he had gotten from his father whenever any of his inventions or compounds accidentally caused mayhem in Old Corona, but it also wasn’t totally unlike them either. Hardly a minute into the meeting and Varian had already disappointed his one ally. Barely the first few strokes had been dealt, and Varian had already committed a foul. After a tense moment of stillness, Varian finally relented and sat back down stiffly, guided by Pete’s hand on his shoulder.

“It’s all right,” Xavier seemed to try to convey as he gave Varian’s wrist a light squeeze before letting go, though Varian didn’t yet look back at his face as Ruddiger cautiously climbed back up into Varian’s lap (and Varian also now feeling a slight pang of guilt at realizing how his little, loyal friend had taken an unexpected tumble to the floor like that because of him). “We can still try again. We’re not done yet.”

“Right,” King Frederic tried again after everything had settled back down. “Now than, Stan, you are certain that this is a piece of the black rocks that we have seen scattered throughout the kingdom? It is a genuine specimen?”

“As far as we can tell it is, your majesty,” Stan replied. “We even found what we believe to be the base that this piece of rock had come from. At least, when we stacked this piece back on top it made a perfect fit. Of course the trouble is that we’ve seen it demonstrated multiple times that the rocks have not been able to be cut or broken in any way, yet this seems to have been cut clean through. Some of the men who found it thought maybe it was a fabrication of some sort, and that someone had planted it on-site prior to when we closed off the village.”

“But why would anyone do that?” one of the noblewomen questioned.

“My thoughts exactly,” Stan replied. “And you can be sure, we certainly wouldn’t have called this council if we didn’t have good reason to think this was a genuine piece. So me and some of the other boys tried throwing all that we could at the thing shortly after we found it.”

Here, Stan beckoned for one of the guards standing nearby to bring forward a bundle he had wrapped up in his arms. Bringing it up to the table, the guard dumped out its contents with a loud clang as a whole bundle of steel weapons spilled out, and all of them were bent, split, or warped at many an odd angle. Varian couldn’t help but give a quick glance over at Xavier, as the blacksmith seemed to be both amazed and a tidbit horrified at seeing such fine weaponry damaged so badly beyond repair.

“This is the result of that experiment,” Stan said. “Needless to say, nothing that you’d find in our armory could even make so much as a scratch on it.”

“Hmm,” the king hummed pensively. “And you’re certain it was cut?”

“So far as I can tell,” said Stan with a small shrug. “Though, I am only a soldier, and so I’m afraid I don’t know much about what a cut rock looks like.”

“Yes,” the king said. “Thank you Stan for your vigilance and your report.” Stan gave a nod of acknowledgement in response.

“Now then,” King Frederic continued. “Xavier, your craft involves a great deal of working with ores and minerals. Would you be able to give us your assessment of what could’ve happened to this piece of rock to make it like this?”

Xavier nodded, reaching for the cord to pull the piece of rock over towards him. “My apprentice and I will take a look at it.”

Varian started a little as he heard Xavier suddenly lop him into the task as well. He also felt very nervous as all eyes now turned to the two of them, and the mutterings and whisperings began to be heard again from those around the table. Varian could tell by the way some of them looked at him that he was not well liked by this council, and a few even had looks of shock at the idea that Varian was Xavier’s apprentice. Apparently, not everyone had known about that development before this moment.

Varian swallowed hard as the piece of black rock was dragged closer, and despite whatever eagerness Varian had felt only moments ago at getting a better look at the thing, he now felt a horrible apprehension settle in his gut as his eyes watched it scoot across the table. What if this was just like before, and it was all somehow pointless in the end and he only got hurt again? What if they were following a wild goose chase, and this would only be another glimmer of hope that would blow up in his face in the end (perhaps literally)? What if-?

It was now that Varian realized he had been trembling a little as he felt Ruddiger lay a reassuring paw on his arm, attempting to steady his master. Now was hardly the time for a cuddle, but this much Ruddiger could do for him. “You got this,” his expression seemed to say as Varian glanced down at him in his lap. “I’m here.”

“Thanks bud,” Varian conveyed to the raccoon as he gave Ruddiger a couple quick strokes across his back as Xavier pulled the rock to a halt in front of them. Carefully, Xavier lifted the rock from the prongs that had kept it from rolling about on the stand. He stood up as he weighed it in his hands, motioning for Varian to stand as well. Varian gently draped Ruddiger across his shoulders as he stood, trying to ignore the shakiness in his arms as Xavier held the rock for him to see as well. They both looked to study the base of the rock sample, finding to their surprise that it bore marks similar to those of a rock that had been cut clean through by some sort of chisel or other blade. It was hard to make out these markings as the rock was such a dark color, but when tilted just right, the light was able to get at them well enough for them to be seen by the naked eye. There also appeared to be a pattern of layers and crosshairs on the inside of the rock – looking almost like that of petrified wood or the inside of a geode – but this was a little harder to make out.

“What do you make of it Varian?” Xavier now prompted him to speak. Varian knew full well that he and Xavier were thinking the same things, and that Xavier could’ve easily told his analysis to the council himself, but he wanted Varian to be the one to give the report. Varian’s brow furrowed. He didn’t very much like Xavier pushing him to speak in front of all these people who (as he thought) clearly didn’t like him, but it was hardly the time to argue about who would do the talking. There was much more than a bit of fear of public speaking at stake, and Varian wasn’t about to let any small matters like that get in the way of this next big lead on what could possibly be the key to freeing his father.

And, in all honesty, Varian was truly fascinated by what he saw in this rock, and he felt a flare of his old, nerdy self reawaken for a moment as he conceded to say, “This definitely looks like the cut of some sort of blade. It’s far to straight and clean for it to have been due to some sort of chemical corrosion, or-”

“Or” a dignified but nasty voice questioned from a quarter of the ways round the table, “could one of your automatons have broken it after it was pushed over them in an attempt at self-defense by those who fought at the Battle of Old Corona?”

All eyes now turned to the speaker, a man named Nazeem, whom Varian recognized as the head of one of the noble families of merchants in the kingdom’s capital. Varian’s eyes narrowed at him as Nazeem looked back with both a smugness and clear hostility in his countenance, his fingers steepled in front of him as his elbows rested on the table.

Varian clenched his hands and jaw at this, though he held his temper this time. “No,” Varian managed to reply flatly, feeling Xavier’s eyes on him as he spoke. “Even if that were possible, the angle and force of an automaton being hit against the rocks would’ve caused the break to be at a steeper angle than the one you see here. Or else the rock would’ve fractured into multiple pieces instead of the one solid part we’ve got here.” Varian couldn’t see it, but he could feel Xavier give a small nod of approval from above at his reply.

“Thank you Varian, Xavier,” the king now made to speak again, the two of them sitting back down as Xavier placed the piece of black rock again between the iron prongs. “If this assessment is correct, and it was a blade that cut these rocks, we must then figure out what blade could to this and who did it. Stan, would you happen to know who’s all been on-site since the Battle of Old Corona?”

Here, Stan sighed heavily. “I’m afraid your majesty that the harder question is finding out who hasn’t been on-site since the battle. By the time we got back out there to cordon off the place, dozens of citizens had already been out there to see all that had happened. We also found evidence of some looting that may have taken place-”

“WHAT!?” Varian now shouted in anger, his hands gripping the edge of the table hard.

“Aye,” Stand thankfully continued to say, turning to address Varian as if were merely another member of the council expressing his outrage at the news, as opposed to the resident felon. “Disgraceful behavior. It seems most likely that the looting was done by bandits, or thieves, or rogues and the like perhaps only a day or two after the battle. Though we also caught a few teenagers trying to make off with some parts of an automaton that they had somehow gotten a hold of. We put a stop to that though.”

“Was anything taken from my lab?” Varian asked in earnest, not noticing the hard frown that Nazeem gave at this question.

“We did find footprints in the dust leading up to the lab’s…er, entrance,” Stan said, trying to be as diplomatic as possible when talking about the gaping hole that now replaced what used to be the front door of Varian’s house. But Varian still cringed as the memory of his plowing through it in a fit of pure rage flashed across his mind.

“But everything inside seemed to be left largely undisturbed.” Stan continued. “Though, it was a bit hard to tell I have to admit.”

Varian slumped back down in his chair at this, feeling disgusted beyond measure at the idea of anyone trespassing on his home and looting his lab as his father sat there helplessly encased in amber. How could anyone be so insensitive like that!? Ruddiger again gave him a pat on the arm to consol him, also feeling with him for the vulnerable state of their abandoned home and the father Varian had to leave behind.

“But the site is secure now?” the king questioned, moving the meeting along.

“Yes,” Stan replied. “And since then, we haven’t seen any unauthorized personnel there.”

“Good,” the king commented. “Xavier,” the king addressed the blacksmith again. “Is there anything about the rock to indicate at about what time it had been cut?”

Xavier shook his head. “Unfortunately,” he began, “while apparently being able to be cut, the rocks are still impermeable to any sort of aging or erosion from the usual natural elements that would otherwise indicate such a thing. By how clean and sharp these markings are, seen on any ordinary rock sample could easily lead one to believe that it had been cut only seconds before now, which we know to not be so with this one.”

“I see,” the king commented. “In that case, Captain, would you know of any other way we could figure out who or what could’ve possibly done this?”

“Personally, I think you would be better off asking the boy that question as opposed to the Captain, your majesty” Nazeem interrupted before the Captain could answer…and Ruddiger giving a soft, low growl from Varian’s lap at this comment. Xavier also tensed up beside him.

“What do you mean by that Nazeem?” the Captain asked in a clearly irritated manner, and Varian feeling for the first time in a long while a twinge of discomfort at the way he heard an adult speak about him.

“Oh please,” Nazeem sighed. “Do you really all believe that the boy is as ignorant about these black rocks as he claims to be? The cut piece was found at his old home after all. Who’s to say that he hasn’t known how to cut them all along and has really been lying to us this whole time in order to make the royal family and the kingdom look bad? Or in order to grab power for himself perhaps? Hmm, come to think of it, maybe that whole disaster with his father as the leader of Old Corona wasn’t so…spontaneous as we’ve been led to think-?”

“HOW DARE YOU!?”

Everyone stopped as Queen Arianna herself now stood from her throne, her expression livid, and even Nazeem’s eyes widened at her incensed response to his comments. “Do you even hear what you’re saying!?” she yelled. “How could you make such outrageous accusations!?”

“I-I’m merely suggesting what could possibly be true,” Nazeem dared to retort (though looking like his confidence had been shaken, if only a little, by the queen’s opposition to him).

“Oh yes,” Queen Arianna replied, her tone not even trying to hide the condescension with which she addressed him. “Well, in that case, most anything could be ‘possibly true’ about all this, now couldn’t it!? Honestly, you have NO evidence to back such claims, and you-!”

“And you do dishonor to yourself for speaking such fallacies in a royal assembly,” Xavier now interjected, also rising from his chair in a show of solidarity for Varian and the queen. Varian had been quivering the whole time Nazeem had been listing off his ludicrous and cruel accusations of him, and would’ve also been enraged to the point of lashing out had his resolve not wavered as the horrible past began to press in on him all over again. So he had also sat stunned, holding Ruddiger close, as the queen had unexpectedly come to his defense, and Xavier also standing up for him (quite literally). Varian felt like he wanted to disappear as he hugged Ruddiger tight, and the raccoon wrapped his paws protectively around Varian’s arm and continued to bristle in Nazeem’s direction.

“You also do dishonor to me as the boy’s mentor for saying such things against him,” Xavier continued, “and I don’t believe you want to go there at this time now do you, Nazeem?”

There was a long, tense silence as Nazeem glanced from the queen, to Xavier, and back again. Finally, Nazeem let out an angry huff. “Fine,” he growled, rising from his chair in indignation. “But don’t you all come running to me when you find you’ve all been duped again.” Then, Nazeem gave a quick bow to the king and queen, offered a terse “Your majesties,” before proceeding to leave the council, slamming the throne room doors behind him as he left.

A heavy sigh of relief seemed to permeate the whole chamber at Nazeem’s departure, and Queen Arianna and Xavier took their seats again, both looking as one does when they just narrowly prevented themselves from throttling someone.

“Varian,” the king said gently a few seconds later, Varian giving a quick glance up in response before focusing his eyes back down in his lap, not even trying to hide how shaken he’d become as Nazeem’s cruel words and bullying. Xavier laid a steadying hand on his shoulder as Ruddiger nuzzled further into his arms. “On behalf of the council assembled, I as king would like to offer a formal apology for what just transpired.”

“Aye,” said several other voices in concurrence around the table. Varian felt Xavier give his shoulder a small squeeze as a gentle cue to respond. Xavier could tell that Varian felt conflicted over this apology coming from the king, and he didn’t expect Varian to be oozing with gratitude over it (especially in light of how he seemed to be waiting on recompense for other far more serious things). But he also knew that in light of this discovery with the black rocks, they would need to be on as good of terms with the royals as possible if they were to make the best headway in getting answers to this mystery.

With great reluctance, Varian took the signal, and managed to reply softly, “I…I accept the council’s apology.”

The king gave a court nod, and then made to refocus the meeting once again. “Now, as I was saying before, can you think of any way to figure out who or what managed to cut the rocks, Captain?"

“Well,” the Captain said, stroking his mustache thoughtfully, “I could have some of our troops ask around the kingdom for if anyone saw anything. Given the lack of any physical traces of evidence as Xavier had described earlier, an eyewitness account would be the next best shot I can think of at making any headway on this matter. But obviously it’s not guaranteed.”

“I think,” one of the councilwomen now made to speak, “that we should also work to discover what sort of blade could even cut through the rocks in the first place. We should definitely ask around if anyone saw anything in any event, but if it was indeed a blade that cut this rock, I would suspect such a thing wouldn’t go around unnoticed.”

“It is well thought Lady Aela,” another councilmen said. “Xavier, would you happen to know of any such blades that could do this?”

“None that I have crafted nor encountered,” Xavier replied. “Although…”

“Although what?” Lady Aela asked the blacksmith as he stroked his beard, looking hard in thought, and the closest Varian had ever seen him to nervousness.

“…There is the legendary Demanitus steel,” Xavier said, the rest of the council exchanging confused glances between one another at the blacksmith’s words.

“And, what is this Demanitus steel?” the Captain asked, prompting Xavier to explain.

“Long ago,” Xavier said, his voice taking on that serious, almost reverent tone that he used whenever telling an epic tale, “Lord Demanitus was said to have been able to craft a steel so strong and so pure, that it could cut through any stone or metal brought against it. Legend has it, that he learned how to craft this steel by obtaining the method used to make Damascus steel from some of his colleagues in the Ottoman Empire. Using this metal as a base, Lord Demanitus figured out how to further manipulate the already magnificent alchemical structure within the steel to create an even more durable and reinforced material, crafting a steel the likes of which had never been seen before his time nor since.”

“Wait, Damascus steel?” Varian now questioned, a quick flare of memory bringing him momentarily out of his despondent state. “Wasn’t that what the giants’ sword was made from in Beowulf?”

“Yes, that’s right,” Xavier replied, neither he nor Varian noticing yet another exchange of confused glances between those present as the two of them continued discussing the matter.

“Ok, now wait a minute,” Varian attempted again, trying to curb the frustration he felt begin to grow in him as they began to get into some sensitive territory for him. “This is all pointless though. I mean, these are all legends we’re talking about, right?”

“All legends are born of truth,” Xavier stated. “And while Beowulf may be merely a tale – or perhaps not, who truly knows? – but I am certain that Damascus steel was indeed real. And since Demascus steel was real, perhaps the stories about Demanitus steel are also true.”

“Then how come we don’t have any of this advanced steel now?” a nobleman named Proventus inquired.

“Unfortunately,” Xavier said, “most of the weapons made from Demanitus steel were used in the great war against Zhan Tiri, and many of them were lost in that conflict. The weapons that survived were either stolen, left in secret places where they were forgotten, or sold throughout the various corners the world.”

“That’s awfully convenient for a legend,” Varian couldn’t help but mutter under his breath, irritated that his mentor seemed to put so much stock in fairytales for any solution to something as serious as the black rocks that plagued the kingdom.

“So, our next best chance then is to try to track down one of these legendary blades?” Proventius asked.

“We can try that,” Xavier replied. “Though attempting to find one through the usual channels would be like trying to find a needle in a haystack, and it’s very unlikely that anyone in possession of such a blade would be willing to part with it easily.”

“So it’s a dead end?” Lady Aela questioned.

“Not necessarily,” Xavier said. “I think attempting to track down one of these blades would definitely be worth a try. But…” here the blacksmith paused thoughtfully, looking almost as if he didn’t dare say what was on his mind, but he did so anyway. “…I think we have an even better shot at replicating the steel ourselves here in Corona.”

“So, the formula for the steel still exists?” Queen Arianna asked.

“No,” Xavier replied simply, leaving everyone bewildered then at his previous statement. “The formula was kept most secret by Lord Demanitus and his followers, and any documents about it that survived the war with Zhan Tiri are all written in code. I have been able to decipher some of it, but even then, I had long since despaired of ever cracking the formula itself with so many elements of it missing.”

“So then, what makes you think we have a better chance at replicating the steel – without the complete formula mind you – than if we were to try to locate a blade through the global market?”

At this question, Xavier paused, his eyes twinkling with a mixture of pride and excitement as he turned to Varian, laying one of his large hands on his shoulder and answering the rest of the council, “Because we have him.”

Varian gawked up at Xavier, his jaw working to come up with some sort of cohesive reply to this unexpected assertion from his mentor. “Wh-what!? Y-you mean…you think-?”

“Yes Varian,” Xavier said, his eyes again meeting his apprentice’s. “I’ve seen what you are capable of, and I believe that you can help complete the missing formula, and once again bring Demanitus steel back from legend.”

For those of you who noticed it, congratulations! You get a sweet roll! The names of the councilmen in this chapter were indeed taken from the game Skyrim. (It was particularly fun throwing a Nazeem reference in there. Perhaps Varian will one day find a way to launch him to that Cloud District he's so fond of. xP)

Also, Damascus steel is a real thing from history! Developed in the Near Eastern world around the 3rd century, Damascus steel was revolutionary for its time, and to this day people have been unable to replicate it exactly. It's also theorized that the Vikings imported this steel in their trade routes to the Middle East - thus bringing it to Europe - and from this imported steel were able to forge the legendary +ULFBERH+T swords. Look it up! It's some pretty awesome stuff!

#tts #tangled the series #fan fiction #gauze in the wound #varian #xavier the blacksmith #king frederic #queen arianna #captain of the guard #stan the guard #pete the guard #ruddiger #skyrim reference #dun dun duuuuun!!!#time to return to the forge!#the black rocks #damascus steel #beowulf reference

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