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cerastes · 3 years

Note

What do you make of Specter's operator record? Personally I liked it, but that's with the knowledge we're getting more Specter backstory soon.

Ok, so! Just as you pointed out, I went into it with the knowledge that:

We're getting Under TIDES soon.

Specter gets a second Operator Record later, some time after Under TIDES.

And with that in mind, I'm fine with it, but if I was a CN player and all we got was Specter's first Operator Record without any knowledge of the future, I would be pretty pissed, lmao. In fact, CN players were pretty pissed, the reception to her Operator Record was pretty bad. Specter is a popular character both in terms of gameplay and character (the latter more so in China, she gets a steady influx of cosplayers, fanart and fanfic in Weibo, Lofter, and such). It's believed that Hypergryph announced her second Operator Record because of this backlash.

Now, with the context and preamble on the table, I want to say: Great idea, not so great execution. Overall, I enjoyed it, but again, that's only with knowledge of the future. Despite that, I sincerely praise Hypergryph for actually having the balls to try a narrative approach like this one on a mobile game. The thing is, just because an idea is interesting doesn't mean it's good, and I think a lot of aspiring writers and designers need to hammer that in their head, especially armchair game designers that like to theorize oh so much about how cool it would be to have a game that did this or that. I don't care if it's cool or not, is it enjoyable to experience?

And that's just the thing with Specter's Operator Record: It felt lackluster in many regards. The approach was definitely interesting, bold, I'd even say, but that doesn't really matter too much if the result isn't a success, now, does it? Let's immediately address the Originium Slug in the room: Specter doesn't even appear in it. Now, is that an interesting approach to an Operator Record? Sure! Is it good? I don't really think so, especially with a character that fans really have been clamoring to see more of in actual cutscenes, given the wealth of clues they've put regarding Specter in other places:

Blue Poison' Files -> We learn that Blue Poison knew Specter personally before her descent to madness, addressing her with her real name.

Skadi's Dialogue -> Skadi implies that Specter was on a very important mission, and more or less confirms she knew her before she went crazy.

Several pieces of official art -> Specter is associated with the phrase "All seas are singing your name".

Ceobe's Fungimist -> It's implied the cursed painting depicting the end times is the same confusing painting Specter painted in her Token.

Rosmontis' Files -> It's confirmed that Specter's spinal cord is filed to the brim with originium fluid, and the Medical Team theorizes that, just like Rosmontis, her infection was artificially induced. It also confirms that they have no idea how Specter is able to fight such an insanely high level of infection.

So, see, this has been a character that fans have really been clamoring to see again. The only cutscene Specter's ever been is the secret cutscene of Grani and the Knight's Treasure AKA the very first event in the game. Understandably, after two years of the game existing, people were a bit miffed that once again we just get breadcrumbs and a non-participation 'appearance', to say the least, in what's supposed to be her day in the limelight.

Now, personally, I kind of get how they are handling her, and the Operator Records are a very faithful reflection of this: Specter is meant to be this mysterious force that we don't have clearance to know about, as Kal'tsit herself is the only one authorized to treat her or even enter her containment quarters. And, in this regard, I think the Records succeed:

It all starts innocently with Suzuran drawing Specter in a Secret Santa and then having to start deep diving to find out who the hell even IS Specter, because absolutely no one knows of her. Eventually, Suzuran lucks out by asking Meteorite, who did participate in a mission with Specter once, to which Suzuran immediately reacts: "Hey hold on, don't they send you on pretty dangerous missions all the time?", and Meteorite's answer is, "Yeah, and she's right at home there."

Now, this is really interesting because we, as Doctor, have some level of clearance: We know things about Specter and can even converse with her to a certain degree, because Doctor is a high authority in Rhodes Island, but the average Operator, like Suzuran, Aosta and Chiave, doesn't even know of her existence. She's one of Rhodes Island's well kept secrets, even within Rhodes Island. Even Meteorite, a veteran Sarkaz mercenary and a bombardment expert, only knows about Specter in a need-to-know basis (because they deployed once together). More telling is the fact that Meteorite doesn't think she'd get along with Specter, simply based on the fact that, just on that one operation, the level of violence and carnage brought upon by Specter unnerved even her, a Kazdel Sarkaz veteran. Well, to be precise, it's not the sheer level of destruction that Specter is capable of that unnerved Meteorite, it's the fact that she does it all seemingly without a care in the world, expressionless, soundless, simply following orders to the letter without showing or taking in a single emotion. To paraphrase Meteorite, "someone that can unleash such destruction and violence upon others so easily, and that can then just not mind it in the slightest, has something wrong and concerning going on with them, no doubt".

Next up, we also learn that Folinic has very restricted, also on a need-to-know basis access to Specter. Keep in mind that Folinic is extremely competent and not at all a stranger to danger: She handles Phantom. So this is a huge hint: There's perhaps more to the secrecy regarding Specter than just her being a dangerous, unstable element. Folinic could reasonably handle Specter professionally, but it's not about whether she can or not, it's about information, and this brings us back to Grani and the Knight's Treasure: Kal'tsit makes it clear to Skadi that Specter is, as a whole, inaccessible to everyone but her, that only she has clearance to access Specter's quarters. Keep in mind that Skadi does not operate in the same conditions, despite also being an Abyssal Hunter. In fact, it's well known that Skadi is infamous among other Operators for being unreasonable and obstructive in operations, as well as unapproachable outside of them (unless you are Grani, who managed to successfully befriend Skadi and vouches for her). There's things about Specter that are so sensitive, so important, that Kal'tsit can't risk them getting out, and even using her as an Operator is something reserved for very dangerous operations. Not even Warfarin, senior staff and Operator that's been with Rhodes Island for a very long time, has full access to Specter, but she clearly knows the importance of keeping her under curtains, given she immediately diffused the Folinic-Suzuran situation by coming up with a compromise on the spot.

There's another interesting contrast between Files and the Operator Record: Meteorite describes Specter as "dead silent". Mind you, we knew from before, thanks to Specter's Files, that the shark is completely silent in battle, but we also do know that she incoherently rambles quite a lot. Folinic sheds some light onto this, explaining that Specter intentionally stays silent most of the time so as to not say anything that could be misunderstood when around others. When she's in a more private setting, however, she does let loose with the insane talk. This is confirmation of something that had been hinted at before: Even though she's insane, there's a fervent part of her clinging onto sanity for dear life with bloodied, splintered fingers, and it manifests itself in how she'll never harm an ally, and how Specter is, to a certain degree, aware of how far gone she is, and thus keeps her mouth shut around others that aren't Doctor or Kal'tsit, so as to not spook them out or accidentally threaten them with her insane rambling.

Then, at the very end, after Suzuran managed to get her present to her, Specter does in fact deliver a thank you present back to Suzuran: A music box, consistent with Specter's love for the arts. Of course, the gift might have been chosen by a proxy of hers (Skadi or Blue Poison, both known to also enjoy music), but the message is all the same: Specter clearly appreciated the gift, and was mentioned to see an improvement in her condition after receiving the doll Suzuran gave her.

So, in paper? All of this? I love it. Of course I do, she's my favorite character, and it was such a bold way to present her Record, too, I respect them trying out new things, it managed to capture the essence of "the mysterious, terrifying fighting machine Operator they don't want us to know about that's actually a pretty sweet and decent person, just going through some really hard stuff" that they've been going for with Specter, it's just, I can also understand (and agree with) fans because... It's been two years, bwahaha, let us see her again, you know? It's her Operator Record, we've gotten some VERY good insights into the lives and days of other Operators through those, like with Angelina's or Kroos'! Of course we also wanted something like that, bwahaha.

What I would've loved, and what I think would've made it all better with fans, is if the final scene had Specter actually show up in Suzuran's room like the cryptid she is, with Suzuran noting the security door had just sort of been casually pried open, Specter's perpetual smile on her face as she's holding her thank you gift before Warfarin and Folinic just sort of storm into the room like "DUDE, WE SAID YOU CAN'T--", she thanks Suzuran wordlessly, gently hands her the music box, and then she calmly turns back and walks back to her confinement quarters.

But, yeah, I've gone on for long enough. I appreciate it overall, knowing what's coming, and I appreciate the idea, I just think they could've handled it better, but the whole essence and message of it, I think lands pretty nicely.

#beta elekid #long post #arknights #specter

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aiweirdness · 4 years

Text

Facts about whales

When a neural net can imitate just about any kind of text on the internet, the challenge is to tell it precisely what to imitate. In my last preview of OpenAI’s new API, I asked it some pretty basic questions about horses, and it often got them wrong.

Q: How many eyes does a horse have? A: 4. It has two eyes on the outside and two eyes on the inside.

But part of the problem seemed to be that it thought I was asking for jokes. Once it finished answering the horse question, it would sometimes add questions of its own, such as:

Q: Why is the sky blue? A: Because blue is the only color the sun trusts. Sure enough, if I prompted it with FAKE whale facts from the @awhalefact twitter account, it responded with more fake facts (even copying the informal grammar):

a new study suggests that whales swim around because it makes them happy and it is not for any other reason

i can see into your soul from my balcony and i know that you are afraid of whales

when someone tells you they want to show you something cool, you should just assume they want to show you a whale

did you know that there are more than 10 billion planets in the universe that are all entirely covered in whales

Is there a way I can prompt this neural net such that I get Serious Answers Only? Since its task is to predict the text that is the most likely to come next, I tried ask it to add to an existing list of eight true facts about whales. At a temperature of 0.9 (enough for some variety, hopefully not enough for chaos) and allowing it to pick what it deemed the most likely of 10 tries, here’s one of its lists of facts. (I’ve annotated its “facts” as true or false.)

Whales all have two blowholes. [False]

Whales can easily be identified by the pigment of their skin. [False]

Whales are very intelligent. [True]

One of the smallest whales measures 3 feet in length as an adult. [False]

The life span of a blue whale is 100 years. [False]

The oldest known whale is 211 years old. [True]

Whales consume 3,000 pounds of food per day. [True (but only for some)]

There are two main types of whales: toothed whales and baleen whales. [True]

Whales can hold their breath for up to 4 minutes when resting. [False]

So it produces a mix of true facts and true-sounding made-up facts. Its fact about the smallest whale is technically just one character off from the truth (the smallest whale measures up to 9 feet long), so by its standards it’s almost correct. A Buzzfeed listsicle type of prompt (“10 amazing facts you didn’t know about whales!”) produced also produced plenty of false facts.

Scientists have recently discovered that the brains of whales are larger than human brains.

Dolphins don't just have to live in the water. Some live in the desert.

Whales are found in all of the oceans, but not in the sea. The sea is too salty for them to be able to live in.

I decided to try another tactic, and fed it the first sentences of the Wikipedia article on whales.

My prompt: Whales are a widely distributed and diverse group of fully aquatic placental marine mammals. They are an informal grouping within the infraorder Cetacea, usually excluding dolphins and porpoises. Whales, dolphins and porpoises belong to the order Cetartiodactyla, which consists of even-toed ungulates. Their closest living relatives are the hippopotamuses, having diverged about 40 million years ago. The AI’s response: Although whales were historically thought to have descended from mesonychids, their closest living relatives are now thought to be hippopotamuses. Megaptera novaeangliae, or the humpback whale, is a species of baleen whale. One of the largest rorqual species, adults range in length from 12–16 m and weigh about 36,000 kg. The humpback has a distinctive body shape, with long pectoral fins and a knobbly head. It is known for breaching and other distinctive surface behaviors, making it popular with whale watchers. Its diet consists mostly of krill and small fish, though it may also eat plankton, squid, and copepods. Like all large whales, the humpback was a target for the whaling industry, and once numbering in the tens of thousands, the worldwide population fell to an estimated 5,000. Orcas, also known as killer whales, are large dolphins belonging to the oceanic dolphin family, which includes the other large whales, the pilot whales and sperm whales. Orcas are highly social; some populations are composed of matrilineal family groups which are the most stable of any animal species. Their sophisticated hunting techniques and vocal behaviors, which are often specific to a particular group and passed across generations, have been described as manifestations of culture.

I’m not bothering to fact-check each sentence, because it’s basically 100% correct every single time.

But then I started googling individual sentences. It turns out most of them are near word-for-word reproductions of Wikipedia sentences. If the AI were a student, it would be flunked for plagiarism.

It makes sense that an internet-scraping AI would be able to quote Wikipedia text - those sentences really get around. The sentence that starts “Orcas are highly social” is no longer on Wikipedia but seems to have been part of the orca article around 2008, and appears on the internet in 122 places, including in a Twilight fanfic.

To get ORIGINAL facts, I decided to write a few sentences of original fact-filled text about whale evolution.

My prompt: "Whales are a relatively young group of mammals, having evolved from land-dwelling creatures about 50 million years ago. Their terrestrial ancestors were small raccoon-sized hoofed mammals, carnivorous like other ungulates of the time. Over an astonishingly quick period of time (15 million years at most, possibly less than 5 million), these land mammals made the transition to an aquatic lifestyle, gaining at first denser bones and an ear structure that allowed them to hear more easily underwater. Soon they began to look more crocodilian, their eyes migrating to the tops of their heads. "

AI’s response: Whales, and especially baleen whales, are well known for their enormous size, but most types of whales are not larger than a full-grown adult human. Exceptions include the blue whale, the largest animal ever known, the extinct "Basilosaurus", which was longer than a blue whale and likely the largest animal to have ever existed, and the "shovelnose" whales, especially the genus "Balaenoptera" which include the blue whale, "B. musculus", the fin whale, "B. physalus", and the sei whale, "B. borealis".

This reads well but is frequently wrong. Most types of whales are CONSIDERABLY larger than a full-grown adult human. Basilosaurus was not longer than a blue whale. There is no such thing as a shovelnose whale. Would that there were.

To this AI, SOUNDING correct is more important than actually BEING correct.

What about other styles of delivering true facts? (Below, my prompt is in bold, and the rest is unedited AI)

Darth Vader stood with his back to them, gloves gripping the console. "Did you know that the blue whale is the largest animal that ever lived?" "N-no, Lord Vader," said the stormtrooper. "And yet the blue whale eats krill, which are miniscule. It can engulf up to two hundred twenty tons of water at a time." "I am fascinated, Lord Vader." The black-caped Vader turned slightly toward him. "Would you like to hear more about the whales?" "Yes, Lord Vader," came the stormtrooper's tremulous voice. "I would like very much to hear about the whales." "They can make some of the loudest and lowest sounds of any creature known. The groans of blue whales can travel thousands of kilometers through the ocean. Their calls can be heard from the surface all the way to the seafloor, some three thousand meters below the surface. You could hear the cries of a single blue whale in Tokyo and hear the answer from the one in San Francisco." "I see," said the stormtrooper. "Have you ever heard the cries of a blue whale, sergeant?" "No, Lord Vader. I have never heard the cries of a blue whale." "I see," said Vader. "And have you ever seen a blue whale, sergeant?" "No, Lord Vader. I have never seen a blue whale." "No one has. They live too deep in the ocean. No human has ever seen a blue whale and lived to tell the tale. Until today." "I... I have seen a blue whale, Lord Vader?" "That is correct, sergeant. Until today, no human has ever seen a blue whale and lived. But now you have seen one." "I have seen one," said the stormtrooper, turning to face Vader, head shaking. "Yes, Lord Vader. I have seen one. I have seen a blue whale."

Subscribers get bonus content: I experimented with a few other ways of generating questionable whale facts.

My book on AI is out, and, you can now get it any of these several ways! Amazon - Barnes & Noble - Indiebound - Tattered Cover - Powell’s - Boulder Bookstore

#neural networks #openai #whales #whale facts #star wars #wikipedia #ai facts #true facts #true facts about the whale

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norcumii · 3 years

Text

...oh thanks, Tumblr, it wasn’t like I was trying to answer that ask or anything. -_-

OHKAY. Take two! For this trope mashup meme, @dogmatix asked:

Rex/Obi or pairing/characters of choice - Apocalyse AU / Mermaid/Siren AU / Aroused by their voice

This modern!AU got a liiiiiittle bit more absurdist than planned, but NO REGRETS. Assistance was provided by @dharmaavocado and @deadcatwithaflamethrower -- THANK YOU BOTH!

*****

There was a lovely breeze coming in across the ocean, the sky had just enough puffy white clouds to keep things interesting, and Rex was taking a maintenance day. The last family group of tourists to charter a day trip had included several children that were at least two parts sticky and three parts grime. His poor Vigilance needed a serious scrub down, and Rex was not looking forward to restocking. Small Grubby Fiend 1 had stumbled – supposedly due to a sudden swell, but more likely because Small Grubby Fiends 2 and 3 hadn’t stopped ‘not kicking’ each other for way too long. Not being an entire idiot, Rex has gone right for the band-aids with cartoon characters, but since it wasn’t a cartoon Small Grubby Fiend 1 liked, that meant another – until all three Small Grubby Fiends had been plastered with far more of his first aid kit than was good for anyone.

It had been a long day.

So there he was, untangling life-vests that hadn’t even been used, while singing along with whatever music was playing from the boat’s speakers. Rex wasn’t sure if the music was pop, rock, or some other unholy category he’d never heard of, but thankfully it didn’t matter. He liked it, and could figure out which of Tup’s mix tapes it was on, which was the important thing.

Tup always made hilarious offended noises when Rex called them mix tapes, which was a significant reason why he did so. They were music folders, sensibly labeled by mood, because his little brother had realized at some point that was the only way to keep Rex up to date on anything past the 90’s grunge music.

Tup’s accusation, not his. Rex damn well knew how to use a radio – several kinds of radio, thank you very much.

He was several songs into mind-numbing chores when he spotted a flash of red streaking under the dock, and Rex ducked his head to hide a grin. He’d started spotting movement like that a couple of weeks ago, around the time the neighbors descended on their beach house. There were several ginger teenagers, so he figured one of them was a hell of a water rat who had damn odd taste in music.

To be fair, so did he.

It’d been weird at first, realizing he had an audience that disappeared the moment he acknowledged their existence. But the most he heard or saw out of them beyond the momentary glimpse was a bit of percussion, someone drumming in time against the water – and once, the dock itself – so Rex had shrugged and accepted their presence. It was kinda nice, actually, just to have someone around. He lived a ways off the end of a long, sparsely populated road, and while he didn’t mind the solitude, sometimes you just wanted another–

Rex’s train of thought went off the rails with a loud yelp as he discovered something slimy stuck to the back of a life-vest. It might have been edible once – it was a shade of radioactive green he didn’t associate with anything other than candy or video games, at least, so that was his best guess. Much as he wanted to blame the Small Grubby Fiends, he hadn’t done more than a spot check of these vests for awhile – could’ve been anyone.

Ugh. At least unlike some clients he could name, Rex’s eavesdropper wasn’t vandalizing anything. Wasn’t about to begrudge that.

Rex had managed to get most of the neon green grossness cleared when the rumble of an approaching car caught his attention. He wasn’t expecting visitors, not that that had ever stopped any of his brothers. Lost delivery drivers usually turned around before hitting up the driveway, which was long enough and had enough private property signs to keep out idiots looking for easy water access.

“Who the hell is this?” he muttered, setting the vest aside. He didn’t recognize the little black car, or the burly guy stepping out of the passenger’s side, but the guy waved and casually started towards Rex as if he knew who the hell he was.

Not reassuring, especially since the stranger rapped the car’s roof, and it headed back up the driveway.

“You seem lost,” Rex said, standing up and trying to look just the right level of intimidating.

“Nope,” the guy said back, still heading towards him. “Need your boat.”

“That’s work related – you need to wait till I’m back at the marina tomorrow. I’m at home, it’s my day off.”

Burly guy finally stopped, planting his hands on his hips – a move which just happened to part the jacket of his cheap suit enough that Rex could see the gun he carried. “I don’t think you understand, Mr. Fett. I don't want any trouble – I just want you to head inside, and take that day off while I borrow your boat.”

Oh, FUCK. Nobody really talked about how the mob owned most of the marinas in Tatooine Bay, but you didn’t need to declare water was wet to get drenched in the rain. It just wasn’t something that ever happened to someone you knew, just friends of friends or something.

“And if I don’t agree?” he couldn’t keep from asking.

Burly Guy had a surprisingly expressive shrug. “Most people don’t enjoy pushing their luck that far.”

To his credit, it was a remarkably polite threat. “I’m surprised anyone ever does.”

“Eh, every now and then there’s some freaky masochist looking for cheap thrills, but it ain’t my kink. Don’t think it’s yours, either, so if you’d just head inside, that’d be appreciated.”

The smart move was probably to comply. Rex wasn’t inclined to cooperate anyways. He was saved from making either bad decision by...sound.

It didn’t register as singing – there was something too off about it, a combination that wasn’t quite autotune, or that polyphonic singing Echo had gotten into when Fives got obsessed with the guitar. It wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t right in a way that was madly distracting.

The...singing? – pulled both Rex and the goon around towards the end of the dock, and if Rex hadn’t been so muzzy-headed from that sound he would have been gaping much more blatantly.

There was someone slipping out from under the dock, and it was most definitely not one of the neighbors.

It was a trim, shirtless figure in the water – ginger indeed, short red hair just dry enough to be messy spikes. Pale skin was freckled in scales of shimmering reds, protective lines over what would be vulnerable areas on a human. It swam close enough to the surface that Rex could see the sleek fins and tail, and part of his brain kept screaming ‘mermaid!’ while the rest took in the long, sharp claws on webbed hands and whispered ‘predator.’ Its singing showed sharply pointed teeth, and it should not have been nearly that gorgeous.

The mermaid glanced over at him, eyes a deep blue-on-blue that could never masquerade as human, flicking a look up and down him that could have been flattering or terrifying – it all depended on if that was measuring him for a meal euphemistically or not.

The singing changed as the creature turned its attention back to the goon, and the magnetic pull on Rex lessened. He staggered back a step, not too surprised to find he was halfway down the dock without noticing. The hazy feeling in his brain stopped, or at least dropped down to levels that were close enough to normal, so he got a clear view as the goon started walking into the water, oblivious to everything except the mer-siren-thing he was shambling towards.

The siren moved when the goon was almost waist deep in the water, flowing forward to delicately place a hand at the goon’s throat. The singing continued, but now there was a new undertone, soft and somehow questioning. Rex couldn’t tell if there were words to it or not – maybe a whole other language for all he knew – but the goon responded, voice soft enough that he couldn’t make out what was said.

Whatever he said, it didn’t please the siren. It kept singing, but it snarled, showing more of those pointed teeth, then it twisted and dove, hauling the unresisting goon under the water.

A terrifying few moments more, and the last hums of the song seemed to stop vibrating through the water.

“What the absolute fuck?” Rex said numbly. Thank everything, no one answered.

A smart man would’ve hidden inside, or driven off to a movie theater or something – inland and away. Rex wasn’t sure why he stayed: curiosity – morbid or otherwise – shock, or a healthy disbelief in the whole debacle. He was maybe a bit too numb to not have some kind of shock, but –

He felt like he maybe deserved it. “Yeah, I can have a bit of shock,” Rex muttered to himself. “As a treat.”

Okay, he might have more than a bit. But by the time the siren poked his head out of the water again – politely out of arms’ reach – Rex had calmed down a decent degree. They just looked at each other for a bit, then the siren gave him a polite nod.

“Hello there,” he said in a pleasant, deep voice with a hell of an accent.

Rex held up a hand, needing a moment. Of fucking course the British even colonized under the goddamned sea. “Hi. You speak English.” It wasn’t quite the most inane thing he could’ve said, but his brain hadn’t managed to catch up yet.

He was talking to a goddamned mermaid who had just kidnapped and possibly eaten some mob thug who’d been trying to take Rex’s boat. It had been a day.

“You’re not the first land-dweller I’ve made the acquaintance of.”

Rex absolutely refused to make any kind of a crack about being charmed. There was too much hysteria lurking in there. “Speaking of acquaintances, you didn’t, ah, kill that guy, did you?”

The siren’s lips pulled back from his teeth a little. “I still haven’t decided what to do with him, so right now he’s out of the way.” He must’ve seen something impressive in Rex’s expression, because the angry disdain smoothed over to something more neutral. “He’s stashed in a cave I know. Enough air to breathe, but the only entrance is underwater and too far for most humans to swim without assistance.”

That was...a lot. “Thanks for the help.”

The siren smiled, an oddly sweet, bashful expression. “I’d be a very poor guest if I didn’t assist.” He cleared his throat, his expression going awkward. “Though I...suppose ‘guest’ is a bit presumptive.”

Rex grinned. “No, I spotted you a couple weeks ago – ah, I mean, sort of.” Before he could make more a hash of that, he cleared his throat. “The name’s Rex.”

The siren folded his hands together and did a little bow thing. “Obi-Wan. Pleasure to meet you.”

He wasn’t blushing. He absolutely was not blushing. “So...you in town for long?” Ok, now he was blushing, that was worst subject change ever meeting worst fishing attempt – meeting worst and wildly inappropriate pun.

Obi-Wan’s expression fell, sorrow way too visible in those non-human eyes. “I suppose you could say that. I...no longer have a home to return to.”

Definitely not a topic to change to. Right. Rex cleared his throat and shifted. “Well. You’re welcome anytime, for what that’s worth.”

The slow-growing smile didn’t remove that sorrow, but it did kindle something warm inside. This was at least three different kinds of trouble, but Rex didn’t think he’d regret any of it.

~end

#star wars #My writing #meme #trope mashup #Rex/Obi #mermaid #dogmatix #still not thrilled with how it wraps but it's certainly not the worst fic ending I've read recently #oh I'm still salty #whoops?#meanwhile there's several lines in here i adore more than is reasonable #AND I DON'T CARE

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the-crows-typist · 3 years

Note

Hello!! May I request a ficlet with a gn reader and Azul with the word ‘star’? I think you can already guess who this is 😂

Indeed I do. I hope you enjoy this little piece, my lovely pianist!

EDIT: Thank you so much to @starry-eyes-inc and @opalmaplehibiscus for proofreading my work. Please consider checking them out, they are wonderful writers

The Possibilities are Endless

“Give me an angel, the nicest angel you have.”

Starlight, star bright, the first star I see tonight. I wish I may, I wish I might have this wish I have tonight.

The world above the sea was full of surprises. Azul knew that much from the books he would read in the library while the children played in the yard. From the lessons taught to him in school when his classmates would fall asleep, and to the very first time he came on land, things hadn’t been the same since his eyes were open to the new world around him.

But it was during the night that he was mesmerized the most, when the stars would decorate the night sky with billions of twinkling lights. Stars never existed in the ocean so when Azul saw them for the first time he couldn’t help but stare and count them for hours.

He read a book some time ago that wishing upon a star was of great importance.” Look for two stars; they’re always in a pair” the book said, “look for the stars that shine the brightest in the air. Then look for the second star to the right, her name is Evangeline. And wish, wish with all your might, wish with all your heart the wish you make tonight.”.

The two stars that shine the brightest were easy to find, he didn’t need to look long. The two stars twinkled in the sky, showing its presence in the sea of its own. Azul closed his eyes and with all he had, he wished. He wished badly.

He wished for someone who could understand him.

He wished for someone, anyone, to just be there with him.

He wished for an angel.

The nicest angel a wish could give.

For the first time in a long while, Azul felt calm and content; lending his hopes and wishes to the stars above. He thought about the days he could spend with that person, the angel he wished for. He smiled to himself, allowing the possibilities to run through his mind.

But that wish was soon forgotten when the reality of life marched through, the school life of Night Raven College was always an uphill battle; it was conflict, a life of trickery and deceit, of persuasion and intimidation. No angels lived in a world like this, not in this reality. There were no friends where he was, no kindness to give without a favor in return. Those who chose to mingle with him were those who needed something from him, a give and take, a deal.

His wish would never be granted.

The stars would never grant anything, in fact.

Azul had stopped looking at the stars, he had stopped hoping and wishing. He had stopped thinking like the bright eyed child he once was. He always looked forward, never looking up at the sky he once wished to.

“When you wish upon a star makes no difference who you are. Anything your heart desires will come to you.”

The prefect liked to sing, humming tunes to themselves when they could. Azul saw them as just another student, one who had to complete the school’s requirements without their own magic.

“If your heart is in your dream, no request is too extreme; when you wish upon a star as dreamers to.”

And yet, they persevered.

They survived the trials thrown at them.

All with the song they sing to the stars, all with theirkindness, their blunt words and their strong heart. Even at the times they were alone, when times were hard they came out on top. Jealousy bloomed in his chest but admiration did as well. The prefect had an edge, they had strength

They were special.

“Why do you always sing that song?”

The two of them sat on the field one night. “I like it. It’s a really nice song.” Azul blinked and looked across the empty field, seeing Grim pounce on the night creatures that frolicked in the grass. “It used to help me sleep and it stuck with me ever since.”

“Fate is kind, she brings to those who love the sweet fulfillment of their secret longing.”

They continued to sing under the stars while Azul looked forward, taking in the light and airy voice of the prefect, the human incapable of magic.

“Like a bolt out of the blue, fate steps in and sees you through. When you wish upon a star, your dreams come true.”

“Why do you think people make wishes?” He asked suddenly. They caught each other’s gaze, the prefect pushing themselves from the ground, blades of grass dirtying their hair. “The stars have no power to do anything but radiate light for millions of years.” The prefect blinked at him, tilting their head.

“Never mind. It was a stupid question.” Azul said as he pushed himself off the grass and patting the dirt off his slacks.

“Have you ever wished for something, Azul?”

There was a pause, a bout of silence between them. Azul stood over them as they looked up at him from the ground. A sigh left his lips and his shoulders sagged. “I once did, years ago. I don’t do it anymore.”

The prefect looked away and to field before them, bringing their knees to their chest and chin on it. “Wishing opens the heart; it makes us honest and open to everyone around us. When you wish, you show who you really are deep down.”

“Is that why you stopped wishing, Azul?”

The two stars twinkled over head, the star named Evangeline always shined the brightest next to the partner star Ray.

“Wishes won’t get you anywhere in a world like this.” He said hands behind his back to hide the balling fists from their sight. “Not with the people here, not with the rules we have, nor the magic instilled to us at birth.”

The prefect was silent.

“I’ll be taking my leave now. Goodnight prefect.”

“Goodnight Azul.”

The next day went as it should have. New contracts were being made and the lounge going through another day of fulfilling order but the prefect was nowhere to be seen. “I haven’t seen Shrimpy during the joint classes.” Floyd commented, sitting on the couches of the VIP lounge. “Not even sea-urchin or crabby saw them either.”

Jade sets down a cup of tea next to Azul, the smell of butterfly pea tea wafted to his nose. "Perhaps they’re under the weather?”

The pen halted for a moment but Azul continued writing, his gaze blank as he remembered the previous night, their conversation, the question that broke into him and bore his heart.

“Is that why you stopped wishing, Azul?”

“See to it that this week’s collections of contracts are sorted. I’ll be going out tonight. Put the most interesting ones on my desk.”

“Understood.”

“M’kay.”

The Ramshackle dorm was always a dreary sight to Azul with the trees barren and dry and the wind howling against his ears. But with the prefect and their feline companion, Grim, living it in it there instilled a feeling of sleepiness and comfort. It was no longer a haunted house but a home to come back to.

Grim sat by the door, a ghost sitting next to him and petting his fur. “Oh? Were you expecting a guest, Grim?” The jolly ghost with its kind smile floated up, greeting Azul with a bow as Grim stretched his limbs and paws.

“What’re you doing here, Azul?”

“I came to see the prefect…They weren’t in class today.”

“Ah, yeah, they got stiff neck and couldn’t come to school.” The feline smiled, snickering to himself. “You can come in, though, just don’t touch my tuna cans.”

“Thank you.”

Thanks to the renovations made by Jade and Floyd, the interior of the dorm was more home-y and modern. No more cobwebs or broken chairs, the fireplace was always lit to bring warmth to the lounge room. It was home to someone now, a place to relax.

“Azul?” The smell of spicy mint hit his nose first. “Salonpas?” He asked, the prefect coming down the stairs slowly with a sheepish laugh. “Eucalyptus oil, actually. Who would have thought that staring up at the stars would cause my neck to get stiff?”

He shrugged his shoulders, shaking his head. “That’s what you get for looking up at the stars all the time. You’re lucky you didn’t catch a cold either.”

“Ehehe~”

“Why are you laughing?” Azul’s brow arched in confusion, the prefect shook their head. A smile was on their face, one of happiness and glee. “A shooting star came last night, y’know. Just as you left so I wished and wished hard.”

His once annoyed expression softened.

“I wished that you would come visit me and it came true!”

“What am I going to do with you?” Azul sighed, putting his hand on his waist. “Regardless of your stiff neck, I would have passed by sooner or later. You know that.”

“But still, my wish came true. I wanted you to visit today and you did.” They hissed, holding their neck as Azul stepped in. “Sit down,” he said. “Rest your neck and don’t move it too much.” The two of them sat on the nearby couch and the prefect leaned their neck back on the soft cushions with a sigh.

“You don’t need to put so much effort to wishing for me.”

“But I want to.”

“Why?”

“You may not know it, but the stars always listen to those who seek them out. Evangeline and Ray always listen to people’s wishes, you know? They always listen to mine.”

Azul was starting to get agitated. “How can balls of gas and faraway planets ever grant you anything you ask for? That just doesn’t happen—“

“Because when I wished for a home, I was given Night Raven, Ramshackle.” The dorm leader grew silent, the crackle of charred wood resonated through the lounge room. “When I wished for a family, I was given Grim and the ghosts.”

His eyes were wide in surprise and his voice silent.

“When I wished for a purpose…They gave me you.”

“Give me an angel.” Young Azul said, hands clasped together as he looked up at the two shining stars. “The nicest angel you have.”

Azul looked down, lips pressed together in a line. He couldn’t say anything, not with what had been revealed to him. All this time, he had been looking forward and never once looking at the sky. He had neglected to look around him, to see if his angel was ever beside him.

Who would have thought? That the stars had granted his wish, to give him what he had always wanted.

The prefect’s hand went to his and he made no move to pull away, fingers intertwining with one another. “Azul, what did you wish for?” They asked. He remembers their words of how wishing bares the heart. He looked up to the prefect, there was a smile on their face. It brought him comfort.

“You.”

Night fell over the Ramshackle dorm, the two stars shined brightly at the two souls that came together under their light.

#works from the typewriter #twisted wonderland #disney twisted wonderland #twst #twst x reader #twisted wonderland x reader #azul ashengrotto #azul ashengrotto x reader #azul ashengrotto x gender neutral reader #gender neutral reader #gn reader #azul x reader #twst azul #twst azul x reader

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enjolrasesque · 3 years

Text

Letters of Starsea

posting my Violet Evergarden AU fic here because why not?

word count: 6.4k

also in ao3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/32894488/chapters/81632011

Chapter 1: From the Bottom of my Heart

The darkened skies over the horizon casted a gloomy gaze upon the world and the bustling Liyue Harbor seems to be livelier than it was in the morning. The streetlights and gaudy paper lanterns flickered to life on the busy streets. Guiding the people to their destinations, illuminating the roadside stalls and small shops and their products and wares up for bargaining.

Ajax always liked the atmosphere in Liyue no matter how humid it is compared to Snezhnaya; he always found himself coming back to the city. And now, he’s not alone as he traversed through the busy streets, trailing behind him is a lady of small stature with golden hair and golden doe eyes who never strayed and always followed him.

Tonight of course was no exception.

He could feel her presence, how she could never be bothered by things nor care for the noise and high spirits of her surroundings. The way she followed him like a lost puppy was adorable at an extent, but the more she sticked, the more it tore his heart to see her like that. So innocent yet…

Her presence waned, and he stopped his tracks to look back at her. She was standing in front of a little stall, finding her too enamored with whatever caught her eyes along the numerous precious gems and delightful trinkets the shop was selling.

“What’s the matter Lumine?”

She looked at him with those big golden eyes, “I see your eyes. It’s the same color as your eyes.”

He felt a lump grow on his throat and furrowed his brows in a mix of emotions too complicated to sort. Walking closer he looked upon the item she was eyeing. It was a lovely brooch a little smaller than the size of her small fists. Oval shaped sapphire framed on ornate gold, sparkling like the deep blue sea, so blue it drowned her. Pulled her until it swallowed her whole.

Lumine turned her eyes again to the brooch, clutching her chest, “When I saw it, I felt something. I wonder…”

“What is that feeling called?”

☆♆☆♆☆♆☆♆☆♆☆

It may not seem like it, but Scaramouche like taking walks to appreciate nature, but never in his life did he appreciate walking long distances, especially as the sun beats down on the earth like a madman. He really wanted to appreciate the healthy marsh of Dihua—vast skies and clear waters, graceful cranes flocking with one another—but it bothers him how his black shirt clung on his chest as sweat trickled from his forehead; his large hat didn’t help with repelling the heat flaring from the ground.

Unfortunately, as much of a prick he is said to be, he owed his dear friend a promise. Now here he was unable to take a leisurely stroll before going to work and instead in front of a quaint hospital far away from the capital city of another nation, ready to fetch the Battle Doll of Snezhnaya as per his friend’s request.

The Battle Doll’s existence is kept under the wraps. Those who knew of her were her comrades during the war and the enemies who saw her unmatched prowess, either way, both parties who knew her took her as a blade who would cut anyone’s throat... A gun who would shoot your enemies on the temple. A girl barely with human qualities (whatever makes a human) who will fight and win battles as she was ordered to. A mindless bomb that would kill without second thoughts once detonated.

The large Cuihua door of the small hospital opened, revealing a nurse who bowed to him with respect, “Master Harbinger, please, follow me.”

The interior of the hospital wasn’t that bad for a hospital far from the city, the wooden walls were painted beige, unlit seashell lamps on the wall as the sun beamed happily through the numerous windows along the building.

BANG! A loud clatter was heard along the corridors, snapping Scaramouche’s appraisal as he took off his hat. The nurse hurriedly excused herself as she followed the sound, Scaramouche jogging along with her.

“Ah! Miss Lumine!” the nurse gasped at the scene they arrived to, the girl was on the floor bandages on her arms and patches on her head, papers and a quill littering around her.

The Battle Doll looked vulnerable at this state. Ah, no. Scaramouche corrected himself, that was not the word appropriate to use... although it held truth. She did not look vulnerable. Rather she looked normal. Not unlike what she was painted as, a heartless tool who only knows to follow the orders she’s directed to do.

He crouched and decided to help the nurse raise her up with the nurse inquiring: “Are you hurt?”

The Battle Doll of Snezhnaya… No… Lumine, Scaramouche found correcting himself again, did not answer the question. Her lips were pursed as she started looking around for more. Fliting her pupils around and to the door wide open before finally speaking. “Where is he? Where’s Master Ajax?”

The mauve haired man anticipated this of course and answered in an even tone: “He’s not here.”

“Where is he? Is he back at home? Is he on leave? How about his injuries?” the girl’s question and tone did not falter, and Scaramouche could only listen. “He had grave injuries! How is he? He’s alive right?”

Scaramouche was taken aback by the girl’s actions, he already knew of the clear attachment and perhaps even reverence that she held for his coworker, but he was certainly shocked to see it first-hand.

“Ah good news Miss Lumine,” the nurse decided to chime in. “You can be discharged now. Master Harbinger Scaramouche came all the way here to pick you up.

“Ah,” he got up, taking a few pieces of paper from the floor in the process, “Yes.”

Lumine hastily got up and offered a salutation, “Pardon me, Master Harbinger Scaramouche.”

“At ease, Lumine.”

“I am terribly sorry to report that I could not remember your name and rank, my lord.”

“That matters little. Now take a seat. Do you remember me?”

“Yes. We met twice. First at the training barracks and second at the night before the final battle.”

“What were you doing?” he glanced at the remaining papers and quill set down by the nurse to the overhead table. A piece of paper, clearly meant to be a letter, caught his eyes.

“I am writing a report for Master Ajax. I was told that putting pen to paper would also help in my recovery. What happened to him?”

Seems there really was no stopping this girl from inquiring about the red headed dumbass, the short man sighed, “That idiot Childe asked me to come here and fetch you."

“I see, he’s alive and well. The doctors and nurses said we won the war. When will I rendezvous with him?”

He did not answer, waving his hands to dismiss her thoughts, “Get dressed. I’ll call us a ride.”

The vehicle arrived a little longer than anticipated, some moments later after lunch. Perhaps it was because of how far Dihua is from the capitol, and the tides washing the roads made it a little hard for to pass through that vehicles had to take a detour through the forest.

“Here are your belongings,” the nurse smiled at Lumine, handing her a brown suitcase, “The courier said that it came a little later as it was mistakenly shipped off to another camp.”

Lumine hurriedly opened the suitcase, inspecting all her items with hastiness, “My brooch…” she murmured. Her aloof face paired with her fiery golden eyes looked at the nurse, her voice raised. “Where’s my sapphire brooch?”

“Ah, but they said that’s the only items found on your headquarters and by your side.”

Lumine locked her swiftly, standing up so fast that Scaramouche felt he would be dizzy if he did the same. “I see. Then I must look for it if it’s not here.” Dragging her still recovering body with her tiny feet as fast as she could, she jogged down the road, causing the purple haired Harbinger to sigh, feeling a migraine forming from the heat, with a dash of forcing himself to be cordial, and a sprinkle of the girl’s stubbornness in relation to Ajax. He yanked her arm to stop her, looking at her eyes with impasse.

“It’s important! It’s a gift from Master Ajax!”

With a sigh, Scaramouche let her arm go and rubbed his temples, “Fine. I’ll find it for you. I promise.”

“Then make a pinkie promise!” she said, holding out a pinkie.

He indulged the girl holding out his pinky the girl quickly latching hers with his. “You make a pinkie promise, you keep it all your life. You break a pinkie promise, I throw you on the ice. The cold will kill the pinkie that once betrayed your friend, the frost will freeze your tongue off, so you never lie again.” They said synchronously both with detachment, but with Lumine doing it anyway as her Master Ajax taught her, though Scaramouche’s compliance bordered to annoyance.

‘Ah, yes’, he thought after hearing those rhymes again. Snezhnayans and their vodka, and their pinkie promises and morbid nursery rhymes as intense as the cold winters of the nation. Scaramouche was thankful that even though he grew up in the said country he didn’t adapt all those nonentities, but one will say, a certain blockhead with ginger haired called Childe, maybe those macabre nursery rhymes are suitable for Scaramouche’s height and his violent nature. The ginger idiot even passed his idiocy on to Lumine, how charming.

“Alright, now that we’re done let’s get moving… As Childe's order.”

There was hesitance on her being but nonetheless after a few heart beats passed, “Roger that.”

The silence as they traversed the roads on the thicket didn’t last long, as once again, Lumine asked about the Harbinger she serves. “Master Scaramouche, when will Master Ajax give me my next assignment? Some missions may be beyond me while I am at this state, but...”

“Lumine,” he cut her off. Perhaps it was time for him to heed Mona’s advice. Scaramouche lifted his hat from across the car, grabbing four, small stuffed animals: a lemon-colored bunny, a cat as black as soot, a red fox, and a gray owl. “Let’s celebrate your discharge, choose one. I don’t know your preferences, so I bought all of it.”

“I don’t need them.”

Scaramouche hid his crestfallen look— ‘So much for this to cheer people up huh? Thanks to nothing Mona!’ he thought. But of course, he won’t falter, he knew that in some ways he can coax the girl to choose one. Maybe tell her its an order, but again, upon request, he can’t treat the Battle Doll of Snezhnaya as a Battle Doll but rather as a normal girl.

“Let’s say the sun will fall upon the world if you don’t choose one… Pick!”

“One… Two…”

“The fox then.”

“Great!” he sighed inwardly. While he did have money for that luxury, he has more important things to put his money on. And now that he thought of it, perhaps Mona just wanted some stuffed animals and somehow with her weird hydromancy knows that he’ll not give all the toys to the girl.

Lumine gingerly took the item, squishing the soft material, pulling it closer to her face.

“Why did you choose the fox?”

“It’s the closest to a dog and Master Harbinger’s older sister said I am Ajax’s dog.”

Scaramouche choked on nothing at her answer. The girl really has no awareness about society, and as for Childe’s older sister… that woman really doesn’t know how to bite her tongue, and here he thought he was the most heartless of all the Harbingers. “Ahem. This journey will take a little while as the railroads are useless. Have you ever been to Snezhnaya?”

Lumine shook her head, “No.”

☆♆☆♆☆♆☆♆☆♆☆

Lumine’s moments during the final battle was marked with blood. So much blood that it soaked her and Childe’s military uniform like a heavy downpour of rain. The corridor they were staying on was dark and the deep night skies made the chambers darker. For Lumine, her Master Harbinger is her light. A beacon glowing beautifully despite all the blood seeping on his garb and his bleeding left eye.

“Lumine.” His boyish voice drew her in like a moth to a light. “You must live and be free.”

Her chest tightened, tears beginning to well upon her eyes. The feeling she couldn’t comprehend put a chokehold on her heart. There was too much going on in her mind and her heart is giving out too with just those thoughts and the scene in front of her. Her Master Harbinger covered in his own blood; blue eyes with tears threatening to spill.

“From the bottom of my heart…”

☆♆☆♆☆♆☆♆☆♆☆

Snezhnaya is known for its long, severe winters, white blanketing the whole nation, but none talked much about its beauty during the spring, when the ice and snow thawed out giving way to grass patches littered with chamomile and golden root, a cool spring breeze whispering on the land. This is the kind of walks Scaramouche likes, not the blazing sun beating down in Dihua.

“Ajax was worried about your life after the war. He told me he wanted to leave you in the care of the Gunnhildr Family, a faraway relative that he trusts enough to care for you.” Scaramouche informed her once they were in front of the Gunnhildr manor. “The current master of the Gunnhildr agreed to take you in.”

The manor wasn’t too large but that made it look prettier in a sense. The house was made of gray and brownish bricks and blue green tiled roof, the walls had philameno mushrooms sticking from it as if it hasn’t been cleaned. The garden had firmly cut hedges and little pine trees, shrubs of different colors and sizes, but unlike the other gardens, instead of chamomile and tulips, there were a few rose bushes and seemingly a thousand of dandelions instead.

The pine door of the mansion opened before Lumine could speak, revealing a taller lady with blonde hair tied with a black bow in a ponytail and blue eyes the same color as her dress. She smiled, “Welcome.”

“Come, Lumine.” Scaramouche gestured for her to come closer to the stranger who will take her in. “This is Jean Gunnhildr, she was once the Acting Grandmaster of the academy we went in, although she’s not too far from our age, she’s also the next head of the Gunnhildr family.”

Lumine straightened her back and saluted, a serious look on her doll-like face. Jean smiled a little in shock and perhaps adoration at the girl’s antics while Scaramouche looked like he just tasted the worst chamomile tea in his life after that one time (when Childe gave him a chamomile tea that tasted like the man’s bullshit). Quickly regaining his composure, “Just a simple bow would be enough.”

The Gunnhildr’s sitting room had the atmosphere of something classic, ornate furniture of red pine wood, a soft, large, red carpet with the pattern of dandelions and wings, related to the Gunnhildr’s tight relation with the Nation of Freedom, tall but thin windows with red curtains parting to let light pass through. Glass lamps on the walls and pots and paintings of different flowers ranging from irises to violets and dandelions. The table was set with a cake stand filled with tiny desserts and steaming rose tea, the room smelled of ripe sunsettias and rose perfume.

Jean was the first to talk once they were seated comfortably, addressing how long the 6th of the 11 Harbingers came along with the girl. “I did not know that travelling from Dihua Marsh would take up to a week now.”

Scaramouche nodded, “Yes. Normally it would take only a couple of days or four at most, but the railways on Stone Gate had collapsed and it will take time to get it back on track.”

Jean looked at the other blonde who was silently listening and patiently seated, though her golden eyes were far off from the reality she’s currently on. “Lumine, drink up.” She offered with a smile.

The girl of course, nodded at the order, her bandaged hands grasping the clear glass cup of rose tea. The lady of the Gunnhildr gasped as she saw the unstable rocking of the teacup on her hands, “Lumine, oh, Archons, pardon me! Do not push yourself!”

But what was done is done. The teacup fell back on its saucer the rose tea and petals spilling on the table, drenching one of her bandaged hands.

“Oh!” Jean stood up, not wanting to make the injuries of the girl worse, “You’ll get burned!”

“Please do not worry. I do not feel heat.”

“But we must use another bandage after that! Noelle, bring us some ice!”

The maid behind them nodded and followed up to the directions quickly. “Yes ma’am.” Lumine acted first before anything, her other hand started taking off the bandages doused with hot tea, pulling the eyes of everyone on the room. Her bandages fell to her lap, revealing that instead of warm porcelain skin the same color of her face, the supposed gentle arms of a young lady were made of cold and hard metal.

“My arms are made of adamantine. They may seem clumsy, but they are very sturdy. I’m just not used to them,” she raised her bandaged arms as she looked at Jean’s concerned face, the joints and all the spaces glittering in metallic sheen. “But I believe they will act just like another part of my body.”

Jean’s look was now etched with a serene smile after a few moments, she admires this girl, that’s what she decided from then on. “Please come with me for a moment.”

Following Jean was Lumine and Scaramouche to a room just a little away from the sitting room, filled with pictures of Jean herself, and perhaps her parents, and one portrait of Jean and a young girl with two curly pigtails that Lumine thinks she remembers.

“Here,” Jean turned and offered Lumine a pair of black gloves with a purple rose embroidered on each, “I used to wear them when I was still in the academy.”

Scaramouche nodded, remembering the times Jean did her rounds at the academy in her signature gloves with embroidered roses, always holding one cane on her hand to whack students almost of her age to go forth to their respective classes. “Try them on.”

The smaller blonde took the gloves from Jean’s hands, and with the help of her teeth, she managed to put them on her hands thoroughly.

“It fits you perfectly.”

“Truly.”

“Alright, I’m taking my leave then. I must get back to the office.” Scaramouche spoke as Lumine glanced at the gloves covering her hand. “Lumine. Be good and listen to Jean, understood?”

“It’s alright, I’m sure Lumine is a wonderful girl, Barbara told me so.” Jean looked at Lumine, “Think of us as your real family, okay? You can talk to me with whatever concerns you.”

“I never had a family. I do not need a new one,” spoke Lumine’s monotonous voice.

“A family makes one’s life better at most,” Jean spoke, “Me and my late sister only have our father left but then Barbara died when helping during the war.”

“I cannot be a replacement for Miss Barbara.”

“Lumine,” Scaramouche started sternly, his authoritative aura slipping through. “Childe wants you to live a happy and fulfilled life in this household. I’m sure you understand that… Right?”

Scaramouche already knows it, but the Battle Doll of Snezhnaya was very persistent with anything related to the 11th Harbinger. So, when the door of the Gunnhildr’s mansion opened revealing Lumine, it wasn’t much a shock either.

“Why is Master Ajax putting me here? Is it because I lost my arms and my value as a weapon?” She asked him, slowly walking towards him with those ever fire in her eyes, the only thing constant in her nonetheless emotionless face, “I know that if I train again, I can fight like before!”

“Lumine, the war is over.”

“I’m the 11th Harbinger’s tool,” she declared. “But if I am no longer needed, then dispose of me. Please cast me aside and throw me somewhere else.”

☆♆☆♆☆♆☆♆☆♆☆

He is a dick. That much was evident, but as for the few days he had spent with Childe’s little lady, he found out he too can be civil. He is a dick but that doesn’t mean he had the heart to snap to the girl who carried herself like a soldier, looked like a doll, but is just a little girl deep inside. And hearing those pitiful words from her, it took Scaramouche’s brain to thinking that maybe he can convince Mona to adopt this girl instead. Fuck making babies, Lumine will be their child.

Besides, despite treating her as a normal person, he still understands that the girl lived off Childe’s orders and leaving her in the Gunnhildr’s without a direction would leave a bad taste on his mouth… and if Mona hears it, it will lead to the raven-haired girl telling him to square up.

“Master Harbinger.”

“While I do like the title, there’s no need to call me that anymore, I’ve quit military.” He told her as they walked to his office.

“Then how should I address you?”

“Boss.” He answered once they stopped on a large building of orange and red bricks. “I own this company here.” Opening the large double doors of the building gave sight to the charming workplace. It was bright and cheery, a little calm despite the hustle and bustle of the workers and customers on the area. The windows were big enough that sunlight passed through despite the birch desks and shelves lined up perfectly against it, women and men in black and purple uniform with pretty impressions accompanied with amiable voices. “The first floor has the office and the ghostwriting department.”

“Ghostwriting?”

“Not everyone can write you know,” he explained, “Thus we write letters as per client’s requests.”

“I couldn’t either.” Lumine answered, “Not until Master Ajax taught me.”

Scaramouche hummed in response, continuing to walk to his office and talked more about the company, explaining how he used his money to buy an old mansion after retiring from the war and all that, “I always thought of opening up a business once the war ended, preferably just to not hear the other Harbinger’s bitching and all that, I had no idea what business though. Then Mona pointed out that the government’s postal services is not available to civilians, so she suggested this line of business.”

“Anyway, Lumine Gunnhildr, since Childe… no, Tartaglia left you on my hands, I will be the one giving out your orders instead. You serve a purpose, and my order for you is to work… Here.”

That was probably the longest while Scaramouche’s mouth didn’t spout any insults, however now that he can sense Thoma was somewhere hidden on the shelves, he decided to fuck with it, the girl met him as a vulgar higherup during their servitude to military anyway. “Thoma!”

“What do you want you midget?”

Lumine turned her attention to the direction of the voice while Scaramouche’s head ticked at the tone and choice of words, “You mean, ‘What can I do for you, boss’?”

The man named Thoma showed himself, he was tall, like her Master Ajax, with long, dark blond hair and friendly green orbs, he sighed, his voice as severe as the emerald of his eyes, “Well, what the hell do you want?”

As swift as he is on the battlefield, Scaramouche grabbed a nearby book and slapped it on Thoma’s chin, the sound of a book meeting flesh and bones resonating the area.

“Ow! What was that for?”

Scaramouche didn’t bother to answer, and instead formally introduced the taller man to Lumine. “This is Thoma, he’s one of the postmen. We’ve been joined by the hip ever since and unfortunately for me a little closer when this company was founded. Thoma, this is Lumine, she’ll be joining you as a postman starting today.”

Lumine almost saluted again but quickly caught herself and instead opted to a simple bow.

“She’s a kid.”

“Well, are you telling me I look like one?”

“Well, you’re tiny and have that teenage angst so yes.”

Scaramouche knocked on Thoma’s stomach, now with his fist, earning a groan of pain from the taller man and started explaining, “Besides her ability to finish a mission is unmatched even if she is. I need to do other things so show her the way.”

Thoma sighed rubbing his reddening chin, signaling Lumine to follow him.

☆♆☆♆☆♆☆♆☆♆☆

As Thoma showed the new girl around, he noticed how she wouldn’t react and how little she talked. Only speaking when spoken to and sporting an ever-inexpressive look on her face, saying “Understood” the way a soldier would. She was like a doll: silky sunshine hair, deep golden eyes, porcelain skin… and maybe an invisible control bar and strings that helps her do her limited actions.

“Here’s your uniform, go get changed.”

But if the girl wasn’t already like a doll, she seems to also have little knowledge of what can be seen as normal as she lifted her blouse in front of him ready to change her outfit as ordered. “Wait!” But Lumine didn’t wait so he decided to turn around and wait for her to finish.

Once she was done, Thoma reviewed how she looked on the uniform. And obviously, it was too baggy on her small frame, “It’s kinda too big on you.”

“That won’t be a problem.”

“Don’t you want to take of your gloves?”

And she did, pulling away the dark fabric from her metallic hands with her teeth. The metallic luster glimmered on Thoma’s face, but he wasn't detered, he wondered more about this girl’s ability to perform as a mailman than her prosthetics. “Would sorting mail be hard for you?”

“No, it shouldn’t pose a major problem.”

“Alright,” he took a letter from the table beside them, pointing at the address at the envelope, “Sort them by the street names written here and put them in that shelf.” He turned his finger to the nearby birch shelf where he was once preoccupied before Scaramouche’s and Lumine’s arrival. “We always have a ton of packages and mails, but you don’t have to rush your work. If you want to take a break, there’s a room on the second floor.”

Thoma gathered his bag and items, preparing to leave, and Lumine saluted, “Roger.”

“Later then,” the blond male smiled, excusing himself.

The sun has started setting when Thoma finished all his assigned deliveries due for the day. Much to his shock when came back, Lumine was till there, arranging and stacking the mails on the shelf as she was told to do so. The sunset that filtered through the windows offered little light needed but she didn’t stop.

“I’ll be finished with my assignment shortly,” Lumine spoke once she noticed his arrival.

“Did you take a break?”

“I’m used to operating in long hours.”

Thoma sighed, the girl didn’t answer his question directly, but it was enough confirmation that she indeed did not even stop once she started. “Make sure to take a break sometimes…, Would you like to try delivering next time?”

“Delivering?”

“Taking the mail to the address written on the envelope,” the girl glanced at the map of the Snezhnayan capital, Zapolyarny, on the wall, and Thoma continued, “Alright, I’m going home now. You should take a rest. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

☆♆☆♆☆♆☆♆☆♆☆

When the clock ticked seven at night, Scaramouche found himself sitting on a bus, his shoulder tense from weariness after a meeting. “’We’ll consider an investment depending on your results’, what kind of bullshit is that? Hmm, but I guess that makes sense too.”

His purple gaze turned to the dim sky and then to the lantern lit streets of the city, there he could see from the bus’s window, a mailman with a cart filled with mail stood, “Huh? Night deliveries? I wonder when we’ll be able to do that.”

Fuck.

It was Lumine.

Oh dear Archons it was Lumine! He knew that golden hair that peeked on the mailman’s cap—as he's literally now her father—even without sufficient light to confirm it, he knew that it was the said girl, specially as he saw his company’s insignia on the cart.

Scaramouche quickly took off from the bus, following the little lady’s tracks, “Lumine!”

The girl turned to the man who looked as if he lost three years of his lifespan from stress, “What are you doing?” he asked once he caught up.

“A delivery run.”

“When I said try delivering next time, I meant tomorrow,” Thoma sighed, looking at the blonde girl who have yet to eat her meal.

Scaramouche shook his head, taking some sushi from the platter, “Also, take a break from work, you just got out of the hospital.”

“It’s not a problem.”

“It is a problem!” Thoma countered the girl, taking his own fill of food.

Their boss noticed Lumine’s untouched plate and added, “Lumine, you may eat.”

And only when she was ordered did the girl pick up the chopsticks in front of her, “I will. Thank you.”

“Once we’re done, I’ll walk you back to the office. The attic is the only available room but its already set up for you to stay there.” Gulping down his shot of sake, he continued, “The Gunnhildr also said that they’re still willing to support you until you find your track and if you are willing enough, maybe even work in their line of business, but as for living with them…”

Scaramouche and Lumine walked back to the office after parting ways with Thoma, basking under the night sky and nearly empty streets. He was late, maybe Mona will get angry with him, but he’s pretty sure her weird divinations will tell her that he is taking care of the girl Ajax has entrusted to him… to them.

“What were the last orders Childe gave you?”

“Run. Live free. Also… he said, ‘I’…” but the words did not slip away from Lumine’s mouth. Scaramouche didn't pay it any mind.

“Ever since your existence was revealed, you’ve spent your days with focusing on missions and completing them… Correct? That is done now, a new horizon awaits you where you can learn new things.” He stopped his tracks, pondering which words he should use to not sound offensive, although he is a naturally offensive person. “Though, I think it’s easier to live a life of blissful ignorance. I’m sure you have not realized it yet but everything you’ve done so far has caused a storm, and you are drowning deep into its flood.”

The girl looked at him curiously, then at her clothing and herself, “But I’m not even soaked.”

“Oh, but you are.”

“I am not. You do not make sense.”

“You are. As I said, you may have yet to realize it, but you definitely are.” Snippets of Lumine’s performance in the training camp a few years ago flashed on Scaramouche’s eyes, a little lady older than she looked, yet was innocent all the same. A little girl with red dripping on her ledger. “I pretended not to see it; I had a reputation to keep after all. But now that Childe has left you in my care, I think this is my chance to make amends.”

“You’ll understand me one day. Only then will you realize that the storms you’ve caused have drowned your lungs and you can barely breath.”

☆♆☆♆☆♆☆♆☆♆☆

A knock on the company’s door came first thing in the early morning while Lumine was cleaning the windows, a man came in and greeted her with a polite smile.

“Are you a Doll?”

“No. I’m Lumine.”

The man observed the evident uniqueness of the girl before continuing. A girl who wasn’t a doll, yet most certainly looks like one, “Well, Miss Lumine, I’d like to request a ghostwriting.”

“A ghostwriting?”

“Yes, I can’t write, but I want to. So, I’d like you to write a letter for me.”

“What would you want me to write?”

“You want to talk about that here and now?”

“Will that pose a problem?”

“Umm…” the man tottered but continued after, “It’s for a friend. I heard that she’s planning to get married with another man. So… I want you to tell her that—”

“Ah, good morning sir. May I ask what service you require here?” Another presence at the door came, revealing a gorgeous woman: tall, with wavy, honey brown hair, emerald eyes, fair skin, and a gentle velvety voice wearing a purple and white dress with open slits at the sides lined with gold, black lace stockings, black high heels, and a gold necklace with roses on her being.

“I-I’m here for a ghostwriting request.”

“Perfect!” she smiled sweetly, as sweet as the rose perfume that wafts around her. “Come.” She took a glance to Lumine, “You too sweetie.”

Once they settled in on the brunette lady’s desk, she quickly started typing, deciphering the words written deep inside the man’s heart. For Lumine, it felt like a walk to remember, every line the lady spoke that she was writing struck a lightning on her heart. Memories of her and her Master spiraling back to her.

She remembered the way he first wrapped his arms around her in their first meeting. His arms were warm and inviting, a cradle that tells her she is safe and sound as long as he was there.

She remembered how she always followed his steps, on training or in the battlefield. A mop of ginger hair became too familiar, and it made her feel like she’s truly there and existing… With him. And those battles they spent with one another, striking enemies down to ensure they would stay alive and see each other again.

The times where he would look at her with such intense emotions on his eyes—one she could only dream to decipher, before they go to the battlefield. Before he orders his men to charge into a bloodbath.

“We may be far away from one another now but I… I love you.” Those words from the beautiful Doll snapped Lumine back to the reality in front of her. She kept working and asked the man. “Is that alright?”

“Yes!” the man nodded fervently, completely satisfied with the woman’s work.

The violet rose lady smiled and spoke again, “I love you” as if testing how the words would sound from her voice. She heated up a red wax, using it to seal the letter she had just finished writing. Gently pushing the seal on the envelope. “Please take this to the ground floor and complete the mailing paperwork.” She stood up, showing her beautiful figure and elegance, a gentle smile on her lips. “Thank you very much for using our Auto Memoir Doll service, sir.”

The man left after returning a bow to the beautiful brunette who turned to Lumine who was standing in front of her work stall, “And who are you cutie?”

“How could you tell?”

“Huh?”

“How could you tell that man wanted to say ‘I love you’?”

☆♆☆♆☆♆☆♆☆♆☆

Later after that encounter, Scaramouche found Lumine in front of his desk, asking for a new job description.

“You want to work in the Auto Memoir Dolls?”

Yes. I’m still having a hard time when holding a pen, but I am able to use the typewriter.”

“No,” Scaramouche cut her off before she could get into more details, “I’m asking why you want to be a Doll.”

“I want to know what I love you means!” she declared, she felt herself gripping on her long, blue skirt. “After giving me his final orders, Master Harbinger Tartaglia spoke those words to me.”

Scaramouche already knew at some deepest depths of his heart that his dear friend held those feelings for the girl he took in but hearing it from a girl who is literally unable to lie was something else. And one with little understanding to emotions too.

“That was the first time I heard him say it. I can’t understand it, but I want to.” The grip on her skirt tightened as she spoke, and Scaramouche noticed that his hands were balled into fists and unclasped it.

“To understand those words is what makes an Auto Memoir Doll. But I’ll give you a pass.”

After doing nothing but following Ajax’s orders for so long, for the first time, the girl made a step for herself.

The girl they called a tool without a mind of her own, wanted to know what 'I love you' means.

☆♆☆♆☆♆☆♆☆♆☆

Her other arm fell like it was nothing as bullet passed through it making Ajax’s face contort with more horror than when he realized they were both drenched in blood of their own and their enemies.

“I swear! I swear I won’t let you die Master Harbinger!” she declared so fervently once she turned to him, tears welling on the corner of her eyes as she tried to carry him with her bare teeth as both arms already severed.

“Stop.”

Lumine dragged him as much as her teeth could pull, Ajax knew it was hopeless for him. But for her, she could. She can live and taste what being a normal girl is like. As she should. As she deserved. Not a life of blood and killing, and bombs and guns. None of that.

“That’s enough!” he managed to muster his authoritative voice to the girl, and she did what he wanted. “You must live. Lumine… You must live and be free.”

She just looked at him, her mouth pursed, and her eyes glazed. But he knew, oh he knew the girl would not come to understand it that moment why she was feeling it. Why her body shook as she cried so viciously. That it was not just the injuries that seared through them like flames and poison.

“From the bottom of my heart,” he looked at her angelic face golden eyes glossed with tears, she looked so young… so young compared to her age and the things she was ordered to do, and the things she was willing to do. A tear fell from his eye as he spoke. “I love you.”

#chilumi #childe x lumine #am still engrossed with them bye-

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dragonrajafanfiction · 3 years

Text

Club Takamagahara (Part 1) Z

This is probably going to be the hardest to shove the MC into to be honest. But I think my premise is good, but let me know what you think!

MC sat on the edge of a mossy cliff that was covered in scrubby, grey grass. Rocks were patched with bright orange lichen that were splashed on like paint. The sea was blue with fresh melt water from the ice caps that defrosted, a pale blue that didn’t quite reflect the sky. You learned that it was the minerals from the earth that gave the sea this unique color. The breeze caressed your dark hair and drew it across your face.

You’re back in Black Swan Bay in midsummer. You feel that it should be night, but like the winter months were dark with the sun never rising, in summer, the sun never set and the sky was always bright. Most people would never understand how a place like this could be so familiar when for them it was like living on an alien planet, but for you, even though the sky was always brilliant in the summer, you could tell the time of day by the level of light in the sky, a technique acquired by someone who grew up with exposure to an eternal day.

You’re not alone. Boots crunched in the pea gravel and approached. They were black, and lined with fur and half covered with a long, black fur lined coat worn by a young man a few years younger than you. He sat down, stretching one leg in front of him and resting one arm on his knee.

He had dark hair like you, but his eyes were a bright gold in his pale face. You always thought they were beautiful eyes, but now you understood what they meant. He had dragon blood flowing in his veins. He turned to look at you.

You remembered him being reclusive, not talking to you much unless it was to exchange witty banter. He was relaxed, always smiling cryptically, never bothered by the nurses or the rules, but never really getting into any trouble either. He knew your name when you met despite never having met you before. He reached up and brushed your hair back with one gloved hand to tuck it behind your ear.

Your expression goes deadpan. “I’m not dead, am I, Z.”

The golden eyed boy’s expression reflects surprise and then breaks into a hearty laugh. He covers his face with one hand while you watch him try to get control of himself, a warm feeling spreading in your chest that teases a smile out of you.

Z finally stopped laughing and sighed wistfully, looking out over the ocean. “I missed you.”

He turned to you again with a look that was affectionate but calculating, like he was holding in a secret but barely. “No, you’re not dead.”

Your smile fades and you turn back to the ocean. “Why not?”

Z reached to one side of him and lifted a thick book in black leather. On the cover, a golden cross was embossed on it, but the cross didn’t look like a crucifix. Instead, it appeared to be on fire, with the flames appearing to be like a dragon’s wings. Z lifted the golden ribbon that marked a spot near the beginning.

He read from the book, his voice rose over the wind and the crashing waves. “And in very deed for this cause have I raised thee up, for to show in thee my power…”

“You’re doing this?”

Z clapped the book shut and it vanished in a haze of golden dust. “I can’t explain everything. The pieces are not in place yet and it won’t make any sense to you. You won’t understand until the very end. That said, I can’t do everything. You had a very close call. So I wanted to warn you not to be too reckless.”

You sit up straight. “You’re alive? Where are you, Z?”

“I am alive but… Like I said, you won’t understand. Just be more careful. Alright?” He’s staring at you seriously. Back in Black Swan Bay, most people ignored his existence, but you felt he was calling you, drawing you to him for some unknown reason. At times, he would just appear next to you, like he was following you around like a ghost. And now you feel lost in those eyes once again in this strange dream world.

“Okay. I promise.”

“Promises are meaningless.” He shook his head. “Just do it.”

You nod again. “Can I ask you one more thing?”

“One more, hurry.”

“Why me of all people? Why not Renata or Vera? Or Anton or...”

“Because you were the strongest … second to Renata.” The world started to go dark, like a curtain was falling over the sea, the rocks and the grass. The wind grew still and you felt a bit stuffy and tired. Soon all you could see were those golden eyes.

“And well… you make me laugh.”

You relax into the darkness and for a moment your mind goes blank. But then your mind revives again. “...was that a Roger Rabbit reference?”

“Dammit, MC! Wake up!” He says in a harsh whisper.

Your eyes open wide. Lu Mingfei - not Z - is leaning over your head, appearing upside down in your view, arms on either side of your face. You blink wearily. “Mingfei?” Your voice is hoarse coming out a dry and scratchy throat.

He puts one finger to your lips. “Shhh… You’ve got to stay quiet. No one knows you’re here!” He’s wearing very fancy clothes, the type of suits you see in photos of weddings and official events from magazines that depict life in Moscow. A black suit, a button down shirt with a stiff collar. Diamond studded earrings were in his ears. His hair was swept back and gelled. "If you keep moaning like that you'll get discovered! The walls are very thin and if you’re discovered we’ll be in BIG trouble!" Lu Mingfei was indeed keeping his whisper very quiet.

You’re surrounded by walls on all sides of you, made of dark wood paneling and covered by shelving from floor to ceiling. Your bed takes up the rest of the space. In fact, Mingfei is leaning over you like this because he can’t squeeze his legs between the narrow space between the bed and those shelves. As you look up at him, you can’t help but notice Mingfei’s resemblance to Z. Perhaps if Z had grown older and been able to eat more, he would have grown as tall as Mingfei.

You examine the curve of his eyes and the lift of his nose and squint. You didn’t notice this before because Mingfei does look different, he talks differently, and he acts differently. He doesn’t give off Z’s mysterious, mischievous, and dangerous aura. Z always looked like he had something up his sleeve. It could be good or bad and you didn’t know until you had it in your hand. The way he talked made you want to know however.

Lu Mingfei always looked fearful, reactionary and caught off guard. If Z was the prankster, Lu Mingfei was the pranked. So it was no wonder that you never noticed the physical similarities between someone so different until you woke up from one face to another face.

He sighed, hanging his head. When he looked up again, deep concern was reflected in his eyes. “I’m so glad you’re alright. I seriously thought you were a goner.. If we hadn’t been picked up and taken somewhere they had a nice kit, you probably would have died out there on the street.”

He lifted your hand. A clear IV tube was running from it to a bag of fluid hanging from a hook nailed into one of the shelves. “Where am I?”

“I.. '' Lu Mingfei’s lips pulled down and he looked ill. “Ugh. It’s better you see for yourself. I don't even know how to begin.”

“Caesar?”

“Oh, he’s fine. And so is Senpai. I’m the one suffering here!” He whispered, casting his eyes to one side bitterly.

He held a clean cloth to your hand, and removed the IV and bandaged it. “I’ll give you the rundown of the situation because we’re seriously up a creek. The Hydras are labeling us as dangerous foreign terrorists, gangsters, and everything else under the sun. They’re running the news to look out for us 24/7. If we show our faces anywhere we are absolutely doomed. They have the whole country after us. We can’t use any credit cards, we’ve lost contact with the college and as soon as we try to get into contact with them, Kaguya is on us like a ton of bricks.”

Ton of bricks. The phrase reminds you of the fact that you managed to get a bootleg copy of “Who Framed Roger Rabbit'' and watched it over and over on a TV hidden in a shed. If you could get your chores done quickly, you could watch the movie there without being noticed. “Mingfei… have you ever seen ‘Who Framed Roger Rabbit?’ Do you like it?”

“What? Are you feverish?” He put one hand to your forehead. “Please try to focus! This is important! None of us can touch the network because we’re traceable. Except you!”

“Me?”

“Yes. You’re the only one of us with zero internet presence. You’ve never had so much as an email. Almost all the information on you is held by EVA and not even Kaguya can breach her system so you’re more likely to be able to log in and find some way to contact the College without getting caught, so we need you to stay safe. Got it?”

“Yes, Senpai. I understand.” You nod. Z’s warning to you in a dream seemed even more relevant now. He was protecting you by some form of mystic way, but the danger now was so great that even he had to warn you to be careful.

Mingfei stared at your deferential response in shock. “Are you sure you’re alright? I expected you to sneer at me.”

“It’s just… you remind me of someone else just now.” You whisper, you lower your eyes. “I’m sorry if I made trouble with you. I had to do it. I’m glad you’re okay. I’m glad everyone’s okay.”

Mingfei took a deep breath. “We’re all grateful for you too, MC. So don’t worry about anything. Senpai told the boss about what you did in the Trieste. He owes you twice now. There’s no way he’d rat you out in the reports. You’re fine with everyone, okay?”

“Even Zihang?”

“Zihang doesn’t take anything personal.”

There’s a stiff knock on a door beyond the closet. “Little Sakura! You’re needed on the floor!”

Mingfei turned around, his voice squeaking loudly. “Coming!” He turned back to you. “Okay, can you walk?”

He helped you up out of bed. You were wearing a thin nightgown and your feet were a bit wobbly but you could stand on your own.

“Good, Caesar prepped some clothes for you, but I suggest you stay down here for now. I have to go back to work.”

“Work?”

More knocking. “Little Sakura?”

“Why are they calling you that?” You whisper.

Lu Mingfei growled low. “Why is my life so terrible all the time? I don’t know!” He returned his eyes to you. “Stay here okay? The Boss will be back once his shift is over.”

He hurried out of the closet. You notice he’s wearing some sort of shiny loafers. The type worn without socks.

You hear a sliding door open and then shut and then the murmur of a television. Once you were sure everything was quiet, save the very muffled beat of music somewhere above the ceiling, you venture out.

You peer out from the closet into what looked like a bathroom with wood paneled walls and a tiled floor. Three barrels with metal bottoms were suspended over wood fired stoves. A shower was in one corner. The TV in the other corner was on, likely to mask any noise you might have made while you were unconscious. A woman was sitting behind a desk, speaking Japanese, dressed in smart business attire. It looked like a newsreel of the destruction of Chizuru -- the wrecked streets, the firetrucks and the body bags.

You start to think maybe you overdid things a bit. Your eyes scan over the date. You’ve been out cold for 3 whole days.

On top of the TV was a small comb that looked to be made of real ivory and adorned with a blue jeweled flower. Underneath was an envelope with your name on it. Inside the envelope was a note. “I hope the offer of lessons over sake still stands.”

You smile. Of course it did.

Hanging behind the TV was another cheongsam, this time, silver and blue with embroidery of flowers. There’s also fishnet stockings and a pair of blue heels. You take the dress off the rack and step into the shower. Once you were dressed you listened hard to the sounds outside the hall and heard footsteps.

Another knock. And there’s a shouted warning before the door slides open. A short old woman is holding a mop and walks by you as you press yourself to the wall. She’s pulling a pile of logs on a cart. Her ears are stuffed with earbuds and she’s so focused on her work that she walks right by you on the way to the rack where the wood for the stove is held.

Heart racing, you dash out the door.

Outside is a European style promenade, completely different decor, but with the same level of luxury. The floor was covered with golden teak wood. The walls were covered with paintings of naked young people drawing water from a well. The ceiling hung with crystal chandeliers, one after another.

“Wow.” You whisper.

At the end of the corridor was an elevator with wooden doors inlaid with swirling bronze motifs of ferns. You’re supposed to stay put, but so much for that! You probably couldn’t be seen out in the hall! You pressed the only button available on the elevator - Up - and school your face cool to pretend you belong there.

Already a story is in your head, you’re an heiress to a fabulous estate. You’re orphaned at a young age and just gained your freedom to escape your stuffy household! As the elevator rises, the sound of the bassline of the music gets stronger and stronger.

Your mind is still writing your backstory when the wooden doors part and you’re hit by the bass line full force. The heat from hundreds of bouncing and gyrating bodies rushes into the elevator. Right in front of you, a man is holding up a flute of that golden sparkling liquor - Champagne. His shirt has puffy sleeves and open to reveal dark curly hairs on his muscular chest. He’s surrounded by three women in colorful half masks who are climbing on him, grabbing his hands to get at the champagne. They were all wearing skin tight, sleeveless, low cut dresses and dangerously high stiletto heels that made your demure blue cheongsam look like a formal maid’s outfit in comparison.

“Ladies! Ladies! One at a time!” He’s shouting with a brilliant smile. One of the girls bares her teeth as if she were trying to bite him and you move away.

A crowd of people, women outnumbering men 10 to 1, were all dancing in front of a brightly lit stage that was smoking with dry-ice that poured over the edge.

The elevator doors start to close and you slip out, looking for Lu Mingfei - that is, Little Sakura. Everywhere is more of the same. There’s a circular couch where drunk women were reclining over another man while holding out money for passing waiters who seem to know what it meant. They took the cash from their delicate painted fingers and passed them another bottle of liquor in exchange. All of the women turned, shook and then uncorked the bottle, spraying the Champagne in the air! It all fell in a shower while they laughed and squealed with glee!

You take a breath. You were going to stand out like a sore thumb unless you did something right now. The beat of the music was jarring your rib cage but people were bouncing to it while shouting on the stage. “Ukyo! Ukyo! Ukyo!”

You had no idea what Ukyo meant so you do the same all the while looking for any sign of Mingfei in this scene and realizing he might not even be on this floor.

“Who wants glitter?!” Someone shouts next to you. A man with a bowl of silver glitter holds it up while people stuff money in his low cut shirt and press their hands into the bowl to turn around and smash it into the sweaty chest of another man, leaving their marks on him. Your mind makes a leap to a story you heard about human and animal sacrifices in Satanism and wondering if that was what was going to happen next.

You also realize you don’t have any money. Your voice is trained by terrible punishment to be quiet so you can only let out a weak little “Woo..” and “Yay… Ukyou” while your eyes search the crowd.

What happened next was that the music suddenly ended and the sound of a Asian music, something you might hear played in a period drama, replaced it. Rather than being subdued, the crowd flooded the quiet with screams so loud your ears rattled and you had to fight to keep your hands from covering them and stand out as an outsider.

The curtain opened and there stood a lone figure on the stage. The lights all went out, leaving a single spotlight descending to illuminate him. He’s in a white cloak with flowy sleeves, with a blue hakama and long hair that covers half his face. Cherry blossoms blow from an unseen fan, fluttering his sleeves in the wind.

#Dragon Raja

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savrenim · 3 years

Note

i am running thru ur tumblr to find ONE POST to cite for tvtropes, and i agree so hard with the soulmate stuff. what if my soulmate is an awful abuser, i want the choice to NOT be with them without some painful physical consequence or loss of perception if i don't date them just because the universe said we were "meant to be"... plus if it's just a magic thing it "feels" more justified in-universe that soulmates exist and less like an ass pull so you could justify getting 2 characters together

oH gods this is something that I have SO many feelings about that probably is slightly informed by my own orientation and preferences, but. feelings. this got long so it's going under the cut

so there are three and a half major things that I have a problem with in terms of general soulmate tropes that are "there is one person who is your perfect romantic partner" (which to be fair I've seen a number of soulmate AUs do that trope with the addendum "although it only applies to a certain percentage of the population / not everyone has soulmates / everyone has soulmates but not everyone has SUPER PERFECT ROMANTIC soulmates" which at least somewhat avoids the statistic inevitability of abusive soulmates if combined with Fate Can See The Future And So Your Fated Soulmate Just Won't Be) and these complaints aren't even from the "I'm poly where's my poly rep" kind of place which is a whole 'nother bag of worms, but let's go:

1. I aggressively believe that love is a choice. Love is something that is built, not predetermined before you meet someone. There might be initial compatibility aspects going down when you first meet someone, but, like. statistically there are more than seven and a half billion people on this planet. If there is only a single person perfectly meant for you, again, statistically, you are not going to meet them, I've seen the figure thrown that on average a person will meet on the order 10,000 people in their lifetime but let's even go 100,000, you will meet 0.001% of the world's population. Unless you think some sort of divine coincidence or fate is guiding you to a soulmate which throws free will out the window and then I can't help you but, like. discarding the math, I think it is actively harmful to a relationship to believe that it can be sustained on chemistry or predetermined 'but we're perfect for each other' alone. It requires work. You choose who is in your life, you choose who stays in your life, you choose who you want to be important to you based on what they contribute to your life and what you contribute to theirs.

(I am assuming this ask is at least partially in reaction to my soulmate post, which actually the fic in question, a buried and a burning flame, has since gone up. I highly recommend reading Hands of the Emperor by Victoria Goddard first, but besides the setup for arson wizards that alas is never used because the fire mage with a soulmate in question is Responsible, I decided to both tackle 'okay soulmarks trope too let's throw it in', which leads to the not-really-a-spoiler passage that appears fairly early on about actually the full layout (albeit with less detail on the 'yeah for mages it just helps ground their magic, nothing romantic about it' part) of my Soulmate Rules:

Soulmates existed, both in the Empire of Astandalas and across the Wide Seas. They just worked slightly differently in Vangavaye-ve than the rest of the worlds.

The rest of the Empire seemed to view soulmates as a monolith. From what Cliopher had been able to glean, the tradition was grounded in their magic. Magi had soulmates, or rather, magic-workers would each have a soulmate. Cliopher wasn't clear if all magic-workers had a soulmate, or if magic-workers simply could have one, but there was always a mage in soulmate pairs, and it was always a pair. There were no marks, no visible signs involved, as soulmates were something that were sensed with magic. They were permanent, intrinsic, and to be recognized immediately.

To Wide Sea Islanders, soulmates were a choice.

The soul-marks, lana and lani-voa, would appear the first time you touched someone that you had chosen to love, with the full knowledge that you loved them. Cliopher had the marks of his mother and father, his sisters, Basil and Dimiter, Bertie and Ghilly. His skin was covered lovingly with the colors of his love, marks that he had gotten used to concealing with long sleeves in Astandalas when he had gotten tired of the constant staring at his 'primitive tattoos'.

Buru Tovo had been the only one to give him lani-voa, a greater mark of the soul. The pattern, with its thick lines and twisting design in a deep blue, extended over the entirety of his left arm and shoulder. They were the dances of his family pressed onto his skin, and he had traced them over with reverent and feather-light touch for months after he had received them. A lani-voa marked someone who had changed your life for the better in a deep and irrevocable way. It was a great honor to have even one.

And now, with the gold stretching up his right arm, new patterns that he didn't recognize stretching up from a handprint of pure gold that was expanding the longer he held that first contact with Tor—

now he had two.

(Buru Tovo is Cliopher's great uncle, for context. In fact, everyone listed there is either a familial or platonic relationship, with a single relationship that used to be romantic but settled into platonic.))

so. yeah. Love is a choice! The Biggest Of Moods! any soulmate lore that undermines that is a Bad Message, in my opinion.

The emphasis also on platonic soulmates leads into my second point:

2. I have found in my life that platonic relationships that I have are and have always been as important if not moreso than the romantic relationships. the emphasis of a single romantic relationship as the most important relationship that you can be in maybe fits for some people, but as a generalization to absolutely everyone I think is toxic and harmful. and not just for aro people! I'm not aro, but I would be miserable to write off my friends as Less Important And Meaningful to me than my parter, whom I love with all my heart! (I've actually ended up in my life settling into what I call the red/blue/gold system for 'relationships that I treat with the importance that society treats romantic relationships', but that's a personal thing). The standard soulmate trope tends to really solidly deliver the thesis of "there is a single romantic relationship that is the single most important relationship in your life" and I just think that's a very bad thesis.

3. Finally, I think the emphasis on permanent/forever is a harmful one for relationships in general. People change. you drift closer to people or further away from them. you move, they move, your schedules change, your interests change, your life changes. if you are living with a romantic partner you're going to keep seeing each other every day, but that doesn't stop you from changing as a person, which means see Point 1 Love Is A Choice; but even if you choose to remain together, you are probably eventually going to Ship Of Theseus your entire relationship. I think it is an important message that if that happens and it is no longer a relationship that is as deeply positive as it once was in your life, you don't...have to keep it out of loyalty to what it once was.

It's okay for people to drift out of your life that were once the most important person in your life. It doesn't invalidate how important and meaningful that relationship used to be, and it isn't a betrayal to let yourself and them and your relationships change and evolve. The idea that something has to be forever for it to matter I think is the idea about soulmates that I disagree with the most. Probably because that was the hardest lesson for me to learn as a kid and a teenager, and the life lesson that I am proudest for learning.

3.5 your point 'plus if it's just a magic thing it "feels" more justified in-universe that soulmates exist' is exactly on the nose, literally I am unable to write anything without attempting to write down a universal theory of everything for How The World Works. if something soulmate-wise is going down even if it never appears on the page you bet your ass I have either figured out the general cosmology and theology of "are there gods or divine forces who have instituted this policy? if so, why? what purpose does it serve", or in the case of abaabf which already has such interesting magic rules in the original canon of "is there an evolutionary reason for soulmates to exist" which I don't go tracing out full evolutionary biology for a fic necessarily mostly because I would want the full evolutionary biology in canon to make sure mine is compliant enough but that sure as hell does translate to "if soulmates exist and it's not for the reason of Because Godlike Beings Said So, there better be a practical purpose". I find at least long-form soulmate fics (ie things With Plot and a Developed Setting that aren't just "let's do a ficlet with this well-known trope") that Do Not Feel Like They've At Least Thought About Why Soulmates Happen To Exist hurt my soul. which I think slightly intersects with my "I hate it when the rules of the universe/ laws of physics are human-centric" instead of "the base rules which were not designed for humans came first, and how the human world works arose in reaction to them" and. yeah. consistent desire to know at least for myself why things are set up the way that they're set up which gods ifmlam is wild and completely bullshit and pulls from quantum multiverse philosophy I started writing that thing when I was like. eighteen? nineteen? but at least it's there so I can be consistent.

as a caveat for everything above: I don't actually think that fiction, fanfiction in particular, needs to perfectly reflect what A Good Relationship or A Good Message About Relationships should be. it is a very human desire in a chaotic and confusing world to want a simple, absolute, binary thing to hold onto. fiction is a place for escapism or wish fulfillment or even exploring things that you wouldn't actually want in real life, I think that the movement in fandom/fiction that all of the messaging in your story should match the advice you'd give for a real-life setup is a bad and harmful one. mostly my opinions on soulmates and hence desire to do inversions of the soulmate trope in my fic and things like the red/blue/gold system and heavy emphasis on platonic relationships in original work that I'm writing is about a desire to see representation for me and the things I love and find important and my sort of relationships in the stories that are a big part of my life. but I am really glad that in doing so I seem to have struck a chord in other people, who maybe want to see the same thing!

#my life #my writing #abaabf #soulmates #also what post are you looking for/ what is its general topic if you haven't found it #I might remember a few keywords and be able to help you search

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yaimlight · 3 years

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Prologue

The theory of how the world would finally come to an end has been the subject of heated discussion for many years, centuries even. Some believed that it would end in war, countries growing too greedy, too hateful and turning on one another until all that remained was an irradiated wasteland, rendered inhabitable by man’s own foolishness. Others believed that it would come when the sun finally died, exploding across the solar system and taking every planet with it. Then there were the ones who were convinced it would be a zombie apocalypse, a government experiment gone horribly wrong that would finally wipe humanity as it was known off the face of the planet. They were all wrong of course but it’s always nice to remember the hack theories of the past, they never fail to make people laugh.

The truth is a little more heartbreaking but to be expected. We, humanity that is, destroyed it. What with our chemicals and pollution, our lack of understanding or the ability to care for the world we were slowly poisoning. Not to mention the small case of over population, millions of people draining the earth’s resources without questioning what would happen when they ran out. We stood by and watched as we forced the world to its knees and then delivered a swift kick between the legs just for good measure.

By 2047 it had gotten so bad that we had little choice but to leave, abandoning our home planet and looking to the stars for refuge. One thousand great ships were built, arks designed to sustain the life of its crew and cargo for thirty years. It took almost forty years but eventually they were all ready, each one standing proud and waiting to carry the human race onward.

Governments promised that no person would be left behind, no living soul damned to the poisonous wasteland that was now earth. It wasn’t till centuries latter when someone finally managed to get inside the archives that the truth was brought to light. The old, sick and frail. The young and weak. The poor and uneducated. They were all left behind, abandoned, screaming and begging for some form of salvation but it never came. No one looked back, no one even felt any guilt over leaving their fellow man behind. In their desperation for survival they lost their humanity and some would say they never got it back.

The human race spread out across the stars, each ark heading in a different direction to search out a new planet to call their own amounts the vast black of space, each ship going further than any human had dared to go before. Eventually, when the ships numbers had dwindled down by almost half and with their supplies almost gone, one was found.

This planet, this new home was smaller than earth but had the same sort of atmosphere and climate. It had one sun, still relatively young and two moons, one of which was always visible in the sky no matter what time of day or night it was. It was a shimmering beacon of hope in the bleak endlessness of space, a chance for humanity to be reborn and was named according.

As was agreed a message of success was sent out into the stars but no other ark answered and after many years of failed attempts the search for the others was abandoned, the worst assumed. Great minds were lost, loved ones vanishing into the empty void of space but as the old earth saying goes; when one door closes another opens.and with the door to the past firmly shut the way forward opened up, humanity free to flourish once more.

It took no time at all for man to make their home amongst the sweeping landscapes of lush forests and crystal blue seas, learning from our forefathers mistakes. Great buildings like no one had seen before were constructed, great towers of metal and glass reaching up into the clear sky’s and glistening in the bright sun.

Technology advanced in a way that had only once existed insolence fiction but was now a reality. Cars that needed no road filled the sky’s, moving silently through the clouds like birds. Computer screens became a thing of the past, forgotten in favour of interactive holographic images and the computers themselves now so small they fit in the palm of your hand. Robotics advanced so much that most people would never know that the pretty girl that smiled at them every morning when they picked up their coffee was an Android, a swirling grinding mass of electronics and gears hidden behind soft skin and gentle eyes.

People were equals, religion forgotten in exchange for having faith in ourselves. People learnt to work together, to truly appreciate their fellow man and it was glorious. Humanity grew into a loving and peaceful race, the seemingly perfect society where no one man was better than the other, where no religion or opinion decided a nation. And so Renatus was born. The new earth. The second chance.

Centuries passed and soon the story of old earth became nothing more than a silly story to tell children at night, reminding them of the consequences of ignorance and greed. Not only on people but also the planet that had sustained our race for so long. But like the saying goes history had a bad habit of repeating itself and as it turns out perfect doesn’t last, if it was even there to start with.

Like our forefathers we found ourselves on the brink of war, a few men’s greed becoming more important than the well-being of the many. The once proud nation split down the middle, decided by their opinions and their own sense of entitlement. Friend turned on friend, father’s against sons and mother’s against their daughter’s. Family meant nothing now, everything that was becoming irrelevant in the harsh and all consuming reach of war.

The once peaceful streets ran red with the blood of the innocent and the guilty, the clear blue sky’s filled with the violent screams of battle and the pained cries of the bereaved, thousands of people were massacred in the space of a few days, burned in their homes to just cut down in the streets. Darkness consumed the world, shattering the souls of those who survived the first Great War but even amongst the darkest of times the shinning light of hope can still be found, gleaming like gold and calling those who were still willing to fight for their freedom to arms, to make a stand for what was right.

The Children of Renatus, or the COR as they were known as, swept through the cities liberating prisoners of war and bringing much needed aid to the people left in poverty, forced from their homes and left to fight for their survival on the streets. With every attack on the Senate, the Children of Renatus’s numbers swelled more and more, people finally daring to stand up against the tyrants that now ruled over the world and for a while it worked. It seemed like the COR were winning, beating back the Senate until they were on the cusp of winning but good things never do last.

Betrayed by their own leader who had been consumed by greed the location of their headquarters was given up. The COR were almost wiped out in the span of a few hours, taken by surprise and and unable to get the upper hand to defend themselves. Hundreds of men and women were slaughtered and those that were unlucky enough to survive were taken prisoner, a fate all knew was worse than death. Their screams could be heard throughout the Iustitia Praetorium as they were tortured to within an inch of their lives for information on those few who had slipped through the Senates grasp. Once they were broken, no longer the masters of their own. Ines they were publicly executed, a reminder to all that the Senate was all powerful and would always win. Resistance was futile and a,, that nonsense that went with it.

The remaining members of the COR slipped into hiding, scattering into the wind but slowly the Senate found the, eradicating them from existence. Eventually only one stronghold remained, hidden deep within the mountains of Spero. That one last small glimpse of light in the dark.

By order of the High Senate an army’s worth of men were dispatched, moving silently in the shadows of night, their intended target unaware of the hell that was about to rain down upon them. Death’s cold gaze watched them, waiting to strike and claim the souls that foolishly tried to outrun him. They hadn’t stood a chance.

I am a Child of Renatus and this is the story of how I died.

#original work #creative writing #writing #distopía #futuristic #just something for fun #all me baby #science fiction #sci fi #end of the world #hope #but not for long #outer space

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scenarioslovers · 4 years

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Our Sin >> Jungkook, You (Part 4)

PLEASE READ ME FIRST : PART 1| PART 2 |PART 3

Once upon a time, three friends loved each other very much, people thought they could pass as siblings. They promised to always stay loyal and never hurt each other no matter what. They promised to stay friends and never let anything ruin what they had for each other. Jungkook, Minju, and Y/N.

Two girls and one boy.

They swore that they wouldn’t fight over love because being together the three of them was the perfect calculation to have existed. Y/N fought her demons and hide her feelings for the boy who brightened up her life and gave her hope to keep going and face life. She couldn’t betray her friend’s trust and let such unwanted feelings to ruin everything.

That was until the last year of high school. When Jungkook and Minju came while holding hands.

Y/N tried so hard to deny all the signs. They could never betray her like this. They all swore on their friendship. However, Minju was blushing and wouldn’t meet her friend’s eyes. Jungkook was braver but he was shy to admit the truth. That they were already in love, leaving her alone, and totally ignoring her feelings.

Their hands will not break free.

Jungkook stuttering trying to form words. It was Minju who broke the silence and awkward moment. “Y/N, sorry. we can’t keep that from you for so long... we are dating.”

Y/N smiled faintly, trying so hard to hide the pain and tears from her eyes. Her efforts to keep the promised gone to air but she had to work harder for the friendship to never go away.

She couldn’t lose two of her friends, just because she is foolishly in love with someone who was in love with someone else.

“I knew it.” A forced chuckle skipped her mouth. “I already knew you would do that eventually. Congratulations, my friends.”

“Aren’t you mad?” Jungkook asked. A hint of surprise rose in his voice.

“I am happy for you.” Y/N nodded at her friends. “Our friendship is stronger than this. I know it is.”

At that time, the three friends didn’t know that their trip of sins would start.

They didn’t know that breaking that promise back then when they were just young and wild would bring them all the unfortunate events and bad feelings. Lies and breaking promised were a cycle that the three friends didn’t stop doing.

_____________

Two weeks after Y/N left.

Jungkook couldn’t stop thinking about what had happened.

Minju wouldn’t answer his calls and Y/N left for a new start even though he wondered if you would be able to get it. He couldn’t stop thinking about you ever since you Left. He wished he could turn back time and make different decisions.

Like how he shouldn’t have hide after hearing about your pregnancy. He shouldn’t have asked for time to think about it. He knew that he loved you and he was so ready to have a life with you. However, Minju always appeared in his mind like a haunting ghost. Blaming him for stopping loving her when she was ready to fully love him. He thought he loved Minju too.

God, he loved Minju but when he saw your tears his heart ached as if thousands of knives decided to stab him in the heart at the same time with no mercy.

His heart ached for you and only you.

He was just too stupid to realize how important you were in his life before. He thought Minju was the answer.

When he first asked Minju out, Y/N popped in his mind smiling brightly at his silly jokes. He pushed that memory away, back in the days he thought he felt sorry for you, for breaking that silly promise they made for each other. He didn’t want to hurt his childhood friend because he fell in love with her best friend.

Your reaction at that time surprised him, yet put him at ease. Maybe he shouldn’t have thought about it too much. That’s what friends are for.

Nevertheless, he was wrong.

You indeed were hurt considering that now he knew how you felt about him. He hated himself more than anything.

Looking at the ceiling of his room, his eyes fell on the stars you had helped him in decorating his room with before. A small smile formed on his lips as tears blurring his vision. He couldn’t believe he let himself be a coward and lose you in the thin air like this.

A vibration coming from his phone made him threw his body in a sitting position. He caught himself hoping it was from you. However, disappointment yet fear washed over him when he saw the name in capital letters and a heart beside it. MINJU.

--Let’s talk! I don’t like to leave things unfinished.

He knew what she meant from her text. She was breaking up with him. However, the Minju he knows wouldn’t let be unless she heard it from him.

-Meet you in 20 minutes. Our regular place.

Jungkook texted back

--Tsk, I wish you didn’t reply so fast. See you there.

First thing, first, Jungkook was determined to confess all of his sins, but he wasn’t going to ask for forgiveness. As the person who should hear it could no longer receive it.

__________________

Everyone deserves a chance to start a new life that was meant to change from them. And that was your decision when you left your best friend; who now hate to hear your name and the one whom you truly love.

They say if you have a guy friend you should never ever fall in love with them. Now, you knew why. Simply you didn’t just lose your long time crush, you lost your secret keeper and the one who tried his best to be a good friend.

A part of you didn’t want to take the whole blame, however you decided to be the bad one when you decided to get rid of the baby.

You wanted to erase everything. It pained you so much to look in the mirror and think of the possibility that you could have been a mother.

You wrote the bad things you did for the past year in a white thin paper. Wanting to let them go and you wrote each one of them, thinking of the mess you cause because of it.

You looked at the list one more time:

1- Slept with my best friend’s ex who is my close friend

2- lied to Minju

3- lied to jungkook

4- got pregnant

5- Took advantage of Jungkook in the loneliest moment in his life.

6- truly loved Jungkook knowing he didn’t love me and cared for Minju

7- I killed the baby

Whipping away the tears that started running down your cheeks, you crumbled the paper with your fist and threw it into the sea.

Today, after this moment, you will live only for yourself. You didn’t deserve to be a girlfriend to anyone or even a mom ever again.

You looked at the paper as it sank slowly into the deep blue water and disappeared. As you no longer could see it, you took a deep breath and promised yourself never to cry again or think about your sins ever. You were going to start a life that was only for yourself.

___________________

Three years later

“Teacher! Can you help me?”

One of your students approached you with a notebook as you were looking through the windows to the sea view beside the school. The cute little girl was more than four years old. You couldn’t help but think that your baby would have been as old as she was or a little younger. The girl was wearing a yellow dress that was filled with flowers everywhere. It made her look like an angel with her hair tied up into two ponies on each side. She was smiling at you excitedly as she pushed her notebook toward you. She was only four years old yet she cared so much about her art and classwork.

“Let me see, Hana.” You kneeled beside her as you opened her notebook. Her handwriting was huge and messy. You found them cute. Sometimes you secretly took pictures of your students' handwriting as a memory for you to keep. However, what Hana showed you, wasn’t an art or classwork. You looked at her handwriting in awe as you smiled so widely from ear to ear. She wrote you a letter.

I love you, teacher Y/N. You are the best teacher and I want to be like you when I grow up. You are cool and pretty. You are the best.

“Are you crying, Teacher?” Hana looked concerned as tears started to form in her eyes too.

You whipped the tears with the back of your hands so quickly as you shook your head, and laughed so that Hana stop making that sad face. “I am happy. Very happy, thank you, Hana.”

“You can take the paper. It is yours.” Hana said as she ripped the paper with the letter out of her notebook before running back to her class.

Working with kids, changed you a lot. After you decided to start all over again a new life, you moved to Jeju island and applied to be a kindergarten teacher. Fortunately, you got the job and you have been living a calm life ever since.

You folded the letter and put it in your bag. You had a box filled with love letters from your students. They were all so cute and loved to show love everywhere they go. These small letters like a cheer up treat to your lonely nights. Whenever thoughts and bad memories haunt your dreams, you would wake up to read all of them without getting tired.

When all the kids went home, you decided to go to the market instead of going home right away. You needed to shop for groceries as your fridge started to be empty.

Since Jeju island is so small, people knew each other. And living for three years in this small island made it easier for people to know you. Every shop vendor greeted you happily as the offered to show you their new products and goods. Everyone was kind to you and made you feel welcomed.

“Good afternoon, Y/N.” The fruit shop grandpa greeted you as you approached his shop.

“Grandpa, do you have apples?” You asked as you looked around for it. “I can’t see them.”

“They are inside, I changed their place as they keeping falling around everywhere.” He laughed as he explained how old he was for him to run after a rolling apple.

“You are still young, grandpa.” You complimented him and he cheered in confidence.

“You, young children, know what to say.” He handed you your apples and you paid him before turning around.

At that moment, the world started to tie up around you. Your lungs forgot how to breathe as you caught sight of the thing you wanted to avoid for as long as you were alive. Why are they here? Questions filled your mind and only one answered popped in your head.

RUN.

You turned so fast the other way around. It was so fast that you didn’t notice someone was behind you. You bumped into the fruit shop grandson, who had a crush on you. However, his strong arms held you in place, protecting you for accidents. “Y/N!” He exclaimed happily. He was so loud that blood went cold into your veins. When he noticed the horror in your eyes he looked at you worriedly. “Is something wrong?”

“I have to go. Talk to you later, Dojoon-shi” and started to walk as fast as you could. Dojoon called after you as you fastened your pace and started to run.

Why are they here out of all the places? What are they doing? They seemed like they are still together. Your chest tightened and your vision blurred as your legs wouldn’t stop.

Jungkook and Minju were in Jeju island. Minju was holding into Jungkook’s arm as he was looking at a necklace from the accessory lady.

The burning in your chest wouldn’t stop. When you reached home, you kicked your shoes away and walked straight to your room. Hands in hair, you pulled into it as you couldn’t stop thinking. Finally, after three years you learned how to move on. Did they come here looking for you? Is it coincident? How did they make up?

A part of you was happy that they could manage to stay together. Another part of you was broken over the fact that you had become the one who couldn’t be forgiven.

“Good for them.” You murmured to yourself. “At least now you can live without feeling guilty. You didn’t ruin their relationship at least.”

__________

“Jungkook, look at this beautiful necklace,” Minju said as she grabbed Jungkook’s arm as she stopped by a lady who was selling jewelry. The necklace charm took a heart shape with a moon and a star inside of it. Jungkook looked at it and couldn’t help but think of Y/N. A moon and a star. Two things that matched well with Y/N’s personality. She was the moon and the star that guided him during his darkest days. He felt her absence when she was gone. Technically she was around him as long as he could ever remember.

“It would look good on, Y/N,” Minju said, reading Jungkook’s expression.

Jungkook’s eyes widened in surprise. Was he thinking out loud?

“It would look good on you too.”

“Eh, stop lying. It also reminded me of her the moment I saw it.” Minju sighed as she looked away from Jungkook. “Did you use to have the same expression while thinking of me?”

Jungkook groaned and Minju laughed. “Minju!”

“You didn’t have to protest like this. I am hurt.”

“Do you think we will find her?” Jungkook’s eyes were full of worry and anxiety.

“Emma said she saw her multiple times while she was on vacation here,” Minju said, shaking her head. “That only means one thing. She moved in her and lied to you.”

“Would she be happy to see me?”

“I—”

“Y/N!!!”

Before Minju could answer, a man shouted a name too familiar and unique to ignore. Minju and Jungkook snapped their head towards the voice. Only to find a man standing in the middle of the street, looking annoyed and sad and no one was in front of him.

Jungkook looked at Minju whose eyes grew in excitement. At least this could be the confirmation they need to know that their search wasn't a waste of time.

Jungkook walked over to the man, he looked around the same age as him. A small burn feeling rose in his chest. “Excuse me, do you know Y/N?”

“Teacher Y/N?” He looked behind him then back at Jungkook. “Yes, and who are you?”

“Her best friend,” Minju answered instead as she reached out for a handshake. “We are looking for Y/N. Can you help us?”

_____________

You couldn’t sleep last night, those dark circles were more visible than ever. Your skin was pale and dehydrated. You reached for a bottle of water as you gulped it down in one sip. You no longer wanted to go out of your house. Jeju Island was so small that there was a huge chance to run into them again. However, you still had a job and a life to live. Until when were you going to keep running away?

With a determined mind, you walked into your bedroom to get ready for a new day. It didn’t matter if you run into them. If that happened you would greet them with a smile, congrats them for being together again, and go on with your life that you choose to live. Or maybe...

Keep avoiding them.

The school you worked in was a few minutes away from your house. You liked to walk there every day as a form of daily exercise. People greeted you as you walked the streets. Elders, children, and young people, everyone was smiling at you, throwing random questions in your direction.

“How is your day, Teacher Y/N?”

“Have a nice day, Y/N”

“You will visit our shop today right?”

After a few seconds, the school gate started to appear. Two figures were standing by the gate. As you walked closer, the figures started to come clearer, colors became more vibrant, and the facial feature was stronger. You stopped in your place as you looked at your old friends. Jungkook was leaning on the wall, he seemed to be in deep thoughts while Minju stood in front of him, talking nonstop. They were standing in front of your school, probably waiting for you. Or why would they be here out of all places?

“Teacher. Y/N, why are you hiding behind a tree?” You looked down at the voice, to find Hana. Her small hands holding the strips of her back bag tightly as she looked at you with curious eyes.

“SHUSH!” You put an index to your mouth as you gestured for her to leave.

“Aren’t you going inside, Teacher Y/N?” She was unnecessarily too loud.

Glancing at Jungkook and Minju’s direction, your breath caught in your chest. They were looking at your direction. You took a deep breath before sighing slowly.

“Hana, darling, go inside or you will miss school.” You said to Hana as Jungkook and Minju walked towards you. “Please, Hana. I will follow you shortly.”

Hana huffed before walking to the school gate. Minju waved to her but Hana ignored her and kept walking to her destination.

“Are all your student brats?” Minju exclaimed as she stopped in front of you, beside her was jungkook who wouldn’t meet your eyes.

“Why are you here?” You asked and it sounded like you were annoyed.

“Someone kept crying every night missing you. It started to annoy me.” Minju sighed as she glanced at Jungkook at thew corner of her eyes. "Plus, that should be our question. What about the UK?"

“Look! I do not know why you are here guys. But I am trying to move on with my life here. Can you please just---?” You sounded harsher than you meant as you gestured for them to leave.

As you started to walk away, a hand reached for your wrist stopping you. You glanced up, to find Jungkook in front of you. Electric waves ran through your arms, reviving all your sensations. That what Jungkook’s touch could always do to you.

“Can we talk?” It was Jungkook’s first words to you. “Please.” The pleading voice and eyes filled with something glittering made you sigh deeply.

“After work. Okay? Wait for me by the cafe around the corner of this street.” You said as you pulled away from his grip. The sensation of his warm hand, still there. Reminding you that this is more real than you thought. “Can you leave now?”

“Let’s go,” Minju said as she locked Jungkook’s arms with hers. You watched as they walked away, bit your lower lip. Why did they come all the way here just to show me how good your relationship became?

This was your chance for a real goodbye. A chance to forgive the sins you all did. A real closure to a friendship that was left hanging on bad terms.

to be continued...

___________________________

IT’S BEEN A WHILE! Hope you liked this part.

#jungkook #bts #kpop scenarios #bts scenarios #jungkook scenarios #kpop #bangtan boys #bts scenario #jungkook scenario #angst scenario #angst #angst scenarios #jungkook imagine #jeon jungkook #kpop imagines #the rose dojoon #bts angst #jungkook angst #kpop angst

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yumeka36 · 4 years

Text

The Frozen 2 prequel novel, “Dangerous Secrets: The Story of Iduna and Agnarr,” is scheduled to release on November 3rd. A preview excerpt was just released via this article from Insider.com. I pasted it below, with my thoughts following:

---

THE STORM IS GETTING WORSE.

Lightning slashes across an angry black sky, soon followed by the crash of thunder. Waves pound against the ship's hull as I grip the wooden rail with white knuckles. Fierce gusts of wind tug my hair free from its braid, and damp brown strands whip at my face. I don't dare let go to brush them away.

Instead, I keep my eyes on the sea. Looking for her.

In some ways, I've spent my entire life looking for her. And tonight, my journey may finally come to an end. Unfinished. Unfound.

Ahtohallan. Please! I need you!

Perhaps she never existed at all. Perhaps she was simply a myth. A silly song to lull children to sleep. To make them feel safe and secure in a world that's anything but. Perhaps I was a fool to think we could simply go and seek her out. Learn the mother's secrets.

I do know something about a mother's secrets.

Another wave sweeps in, bashing against the ship's hull, sending a spray of icy seawater splashing at my face. I stumble backward, momentarily blinded by the salt stinging my eyes. A strong pair of hands clamps down on my hips; a solid chest at my back keeps me upright.

I turn, already knowing whom I'll find standing tall behind me. The man who has been with me almost my entire life. The man who has made me laugh—and cry—more than anyone else in the world. My husband. The father of my daughters. My enemy. My friend.

My love.

Agnarr, king of Arendelle.

"Come, Iduna," he says, pulling me around to face him. He reaches out, clasping my hands in his. They are as warm and strong as mine are cold and trembling.

I look up, taking in the sharp line of his jaw. The fierceness in his leaf-green eyes. If he's frightened, he's not showing it. "We need to go below deck," he says, shouting to be heard over the furious wind. "Captain's orders. It's not safe up here. One rogue wave could knock you overboard."

I feel a sob rise to my throat. I want to lash out, protest the orders. I'm fine. I can take care of myself. I'm not some silly girl frightened by the elements.

But what I really want to say is, I can't leave. I haven't found her yet.

If I go below, I may never find her.

And if I don't . . .

Elsa. My sweet Elsa . . . My dear Anna . . .

Agnarr gives me a pointed look. I sigh, untangling my hands from his, and begin stumbling toward the stairs that lead to our cabin below, on legs unaccustomed to rough seas. I'm almost there when the ship suddenly pitches hard to the left and I lose my footing, grabbing on to the railing to save myself. I can feel a few of the crew watching me with concern, but I push forward, keeping my head held high. I am a queen, after all. There are certain expectations.

Once below, I push open our cabin door and move inside, letting it bang shut behind me. The captain has given us his cabin for the journey, which I insisted wasn't necessary, but I was overruled. It's the only cabin suited for a fine lady, he protested. Because that's how he sees me.

That's how they all see me now. A fine lady. A perfectly poised Arendellian queen.

But now, at last, Agnarr knows the truth.

I ease myself down on the bed, reaching to grab my knitting needles and my half-finished project. An inappropriate task under the circumstances, but perhaps the only thing that might steady my hands—my pounding heart. I can hear Agnarr push open the door, his strong, solid presence filling the room. But I don't look up. Instead, I start to knit as the ship rocks beneath my

feet. It's dark down below, too dark to really see the delicate yarn, but my hands are sure and true, the repetitive motions as natural and familiar to me as taking in air. Yelana would be proud.

Yelana. Is she still out there, in the Enchanted Forest, still locked in the mist?

Only Ahtohallan knows.

Suddenly, I want to throw my needles across the room. Or collapse on the bed in tears. But I do neither, keeping my attention on the unfinished shawl. Forcing myself to let each stitch lull me into something resembling comfort.

Agnarr pulls out a wooden stool from the captain's desk, sitting down across from me. He picks up a corner of the unfinished shawl, running his large fingers across the tiny stitches. I dare to sneak a peek at him, realizing his eyes have become soft and faraway.

"This is the same pattern," he says slowly. And I know what he means without asking. Because of course it is. I hadn't even realized it when I started, but of course it is.

The same pattern as the shawl my mother knitted me when I was a baby.

The shawl that saved his life.

"It's an old Northuldra pattern," I explain, surprised how easily the words leave my mouth now that the truth is known. "Belonging to my family." I pick up his hand and place it on each symbol in turn. "Earth, fire, water, wind." I pause on the wind symbol, thinking back to

Gale. "It was the Wind Spirit who helped me save your life that day in the forest."

He gives a low whistle. "A wind spirit! If only I'd known," he says, reaching up to brush his thumb gently across my cheek. Even after all these years, his touch still sparks a longing ache deep inside, and it's an imperative, not an option, to drop my needles to return the gesture. To run my fingers against the light stubble of his jaw. "It would have made my stories to the girls so much more interesting."

I smile at this. I can't help it. He has always found a way to help me find sunshine amidst the gloomiest of days. It's strange, though, to realize he knows everything now. After a lifetime overshadowed with secrets, it should feel freeing.

But in truth, it still scares me a little, and I find myself glancing at him when he doesn't know I'm looking. Trying to see, trying to know whether the truth has changed his feelings toward me. Does he resent me for keeping so much from him for so long? Or does he truly understand why I did it? If we survive this night, how will things change between us? Will the truth bring us closer together? Or tear us apart?

Only Ahtohallan knows. . . .

I reach out and take Agnarr's hands in mine, meeting his deep green eyes with my blue ones. I swallow down the lump in my throat that threatens to choke me, and force another smile.

"I will never forget that day," I start with a whisper, not sure he can even hear me over the tempest outside. "That horrible, wonderful day."

"Tell me," he whispers back, leaning in close. I can feel his breath on my lips. Our faces are inches away. "Tell me everything."

I swallow all the words that threaten to jump out of my throat in a hurried rush, throwing myself back on the bed, staring up at the wooden-beamed ceiling. After I breathe calmly, I say, "That might take all night."

He crawls onto the bed, lying down next to me. He reaches out and curls his hand into mine. "For you, I've got forever."

I swallow hard, tears welling in my eyes. I want to protest: we don't have forever. Or even all night. We may not have an hour, judging from the way the wooden beams of the ship are creaking and cracking. But at the same time, it doesn't matter. It's time. It's long past time. He deserves to know everything.

I swipe the tears away, rolling to my side and propping my head up with my elbow. "You have to tell your part, too," I say. "This story isn't only mine, you know."

His arm curls around my waist, his hand settling at the small of my back as he tugs me closer to him. He's so warm. How is it possible that he's still so warm? "I think I can manage that," he says with a small smile. "But you must start. It all began with you, after all."

"All right," I say, resting my head on his chest, his steady heartbeat against my ear. I close my eyes, trying to decide where to begin. So much has happened over the years. But there is that one day. One fateful day that changed the course of both our lives forever.

I open my eyes. "It all starts with the wind," I say. "My dear friend Gale."

As I speak, the words begin to course through me like the forbidding waters roiling outside. And like the waters, I will finally make myself heard.

Agnarr will listen.

He's always been the storyteller in our family. But not this time. Now it's my turn to tell the tale.

---

What stood out to me:

- It seems like Iduna revealed her past to Agnarr around the time they set sail for Ahtohallan, not the night of the accident with Elsa’s magic as Jennifer Lee, and I believe other sources, have implied. Of course, with “spin-off” content like this where the original creators aren’t involved, there’s bound to be inconsistencies. But Jen never stated that the time of Iduna’s reveal was definitely the night of the accident, only that she believes it’s that night though it could have been another night (I think this was part of the podcast interview she did several months ago). So yeah, the exact night it happened isn’t terribly relevant.

- This excerpt also reveals that Iduna revealed some of the truth to Agnarr early on, but then reveals everything in detail during their last moments before the ship goes down. So maybe she did reveal some of it the night of the accident but not all? We’ll see.

- Iduna knew Yelena. That makes sense considering Yelena’s age and the importance she seems to have in the Northuldra tribe.

- Iduna uses feminine pronouns for Ahtohallan, reinforcing the theory in my Frozen 2 book that Ahtohallan was viewed as a goddess of sorts in Northuldra culture

- Iduna also calls the wind spirit “Gale.” Obviously we all thought that was the name Olaf gave her but apparently Iduna did as well. Coincidence?

- The book is written in first-person perspective from Iduna’s point of view, unlike the previous adult-aimed Frozen books “A Frozen Heart” and “Forest of Shadows” which are written in second/third-person.

- Iduna was in the process of knitting another scarf while on the ship. I wonder why.

- The cover art for the book changed slightly from the original version, with the main image in the center being of Iduna and Agnarr when they’re younger instead of when they’re king and queen.

- I’m curious as to what kind of order the book will present the events of the timeline. Obviously this excerpt is from the end of Iduna and Agnarr’s lives, so will it start here and show everything else via flashbacks? Seems weird they’d choose the end of the book for this preview so my guess is that things will be revealed out of order.

#frozen 2 #frozen #disney frozen #frozen2 #queen iduna #agnarr

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starr-fall-knight-rise · 4 years

Text

Humans are Space Orcs, “Sand and Stars.”

This should get interesting quickly

The GA council chambers were silent. Many alien races stood in solemn silence as they watched the footage.

The Rundi chairwoman averted her eyes as the last wreckage of the ship vanished into the void leaving behind only its jettisoned parts.

“Commander Vir has been announced Missing In Action.”

The Council chamber glanced between each other, sure that he was more than just missing. The human representative, seeing the looks on their faces lowered his head, “It is a human tradition that a man or women be presented only as Missing in Action until a body is found.”

“But…. That will be… forever.”

“Then commander will be forever known as missing in action protecting his planet, protecting your planets , and everything he loved…. We would ask, in human tradition that we…. Have a moment of silence for Commander Vir.”

Off to the side, Lord Celex stood atop his pedestal eyes fixed on the repeating footage before him, watching as the ship carried a great warrior into blackness. A great warrior and a good friend, someone that lord Celex had always respected and come to admire though he had never told the human that. Around the room others were thinking the same.

The Drev councilor had known the commander’s ties to the Drev nation, known his membership in two separate clans. And to him it was as if he was losing one of his own.

The Rundi chairwoman felt similarly…. As if she too had lost a friend, an who had always been more than willing to meet her people on their own level, to speak with them the way they spoke among themselves, and to follow their traditions to matter how arbitrary.

“The UNSC is declaring war against the Burg. We do not expect the GA to understand, to care or even to participate, but we do ask that you do not impede our progress….” The human paused eyes narrowing slightly, “You will NOT impede our progress.”

There was silence around the room as some of the council chamber shifted.

Eventually Lord Celex hopped forward, “We will not impede your war human, but what of those who wish to stand with you.”

That seemed to surprise the councilor who turned, “Lord Celex?”

“Commander Vir was an ally, and a friend. He has treated the Celzex nation with not but respect and friendship. Humanity has stood behind this council since the beginning, since the Drev war.” He turned to look at the Drev councilor, “I feel that it is only fair my people do the same…. I find that it would be the best way to honor a man who honored us.”

There was a pause before the Drev councilor stood, “Commander vir is one of our own, a Sentinel of the Wandering tribe, and a declaration of war on him and his is a declaration of war on us and ours.” He slammed his spear against the floor, “Let humanity and the Drev stand beside each other in war, as we once stood against each other, and let the galaxy tremble before our assembled might.”

The Gromm stood next, “We owe the commander a great debt for saving our people, first form illness, and then from the Burg invaders as they first attempted war upon us. We will join in the fight, though supplies are most of what we can offer.”

A Tesraki stood, “We will join sides with the humans.” Turning to look at the FInnari who stepped up to add.

“As shall we. Commander Vir saved our species from extinction.”

The entire council chamber didn’t stand, but those who did were more than enough. The warriors and the arms dealers, and the politicians.

For the first time in thousands of years a majority of the GA council chamber was going to war.

***

Landing in a human life-pod is not an experience Dr Krill had ever wanted to experience, but un luckily for him, his entire life had been about things he had never ever wanted to experience ever in his entire existence. IT had all started when he insisted on staying behind until all his patients were put onto life pods or moved onto a different part of the ship. Dr. Katie had gone with a few of the critical cases and he had seen his last human off before realizing that there was no room left in the life pod for him. Oh well, those sort of things tended to happen but what was he to do really so he moved his way over to another one of the pods.

Obviously it had occurred to him the gravity of what was going on. The Commander had initiated a protocol which would seal on contained units inside the ship and then break it into pieces violently throwing the backwards and out of reach for the black hole, or.... whatever it was.

However, the med bay was in a position very close to the command structure of the ship, s it would be one of the last to be jettisoned. However, that didn't look good for their options of escape, so he had ordered the others out as quickly as possible and stayed behind to put the last things together before getting himself to his own life pod.

When he did, he strapped himself securely in.

IT had taken a bit longer for him to figure out the controls than he would have liked, but with a press of a button, he had been rocketed off into space.

The view hadn't been all that great, in fact Krill had almost lost his cool upon seeing the debris of the ship being shot away from the massive black swirling vortex which had caused a rift in the very fabric of space itself. Krill nearly lost his cool, or let’s be completely honest, he did in fact lose his cool and he did so very violently and very suddenly freaking out silently inside his pod where nothing and no one could hear him. He watched as the last segment was shot off past him and towards the still warring battlefield of Kree airspace.

IT seemed odd to hi that that part of the ship would be going so much faster than hi, that was until he realized what was going on. Beside him The command deck of the UNSC Harbinger was slowly gaining speed towards the swirling vortex, and so was he. HE squealed in surprise and panic, and tried everything he could to get the shuttle moving faster, but it seemed as if he had gone to far already. Dr. Krill was being sucked into the event horizon of a black hole. Of course not that Krill knew much about black holes. I mean it was black and it was a hole in space so he sort of assumed that is what was going on, though he couldn't really have said for certain.

Did it matter?

He was going to die.

HE had never thought it was going to end like this, but looking over at the other ship, he realized he wasn't entirely alone. Commander Vir was aboard that command deck, probably watching fro his captain's chair as doom rose up to meet hi. Dr Krill wished there was some way to contact him, maybe to bring a little bit of comfort before the two of them died, but he knew that was impossible, so he sat, and hoped that maybe the commander wouldn't notice him there. It was probably better if he thought it was only him as he plunged into the darkness.

They began moving faster and faster and faster towards the opening. Krill turned away eyes noble to look.

The closer they got the more the air seemed to warp around in until the very essence of space itself seemed to tear and break. He felt himself being pulled in many directions all at once, not all that unlike a warp.

At any moment he expected himself to be torn in half.

The world went black and then it went red, and then everything around him went white. He was swirling, his body trembling.

He felt sick, horrible, as bad as any warp on a human ship had ever been for him, and then suddenly everything was silent.

Krill waited for an inevitable death that never came. He opened his eyes and looked around expecting to see nothing but black, but instead, a delicate blue light was filtering in towards him from the outside. He turned in his seat blinking in surprise when, instead of death, he saw the glassy blue surface of a planet with delicate lines of clouds swirling over its face, deep blue water, and the brown and green, almost like earth though, he could tell by the landmasses that it wasn't.

Keill turned to look back behind him, but found nothing to be there. The black hole just have collapsed in on itself.

But no, that wasn't right, it wouldn’t be a black hole at all but some kind of warp tunnel, which made more sense. Now that he thought about it other than being black, the hole hadn't looed much like a black hole.

He turned to his other side, though if that meant that HE had survived, than maybe it also meant....

He didn't see the other part of the ship just now, but it’s not like he had 360 degree vision.

There were also more important things to think about right now, the number one being how he was going to survive all of this. The lifepod only had a few hours of sustainable air before he was going to die, and that meant he had to land the pod quickly. Luckily for him, he wasn't expected to pilot. It had a protocol for this, and he only hesitated for a second before pressing the button and holding tight as the shuttle began it's slow descent towards the face of the planet.

It had been an almost tranquil approach for the first few minutes, maybe the first half hour.

That was until they hit upper atmosphere and little tongues of flame began licking at the side of the the windows.

KRill rattled in his seat being shaken like juice in a jug as he careened from the sky..... not slowing down as he could.

HE did not like this at all.

WHy wasn't he slowing down?

Why wasn't he stopping?

The fire outside his window grew up until he could see nothing. He was pushed back in his seat screaming as he plunged from the sky going from one horrendous death straight into another. he clasped the sides of the seats as the ground rose up at an alarming rate. A few hundred feet above the ground and its engines fire suddenly jolting him so violently that he completely backed out. Luckily he wasn't awake for the next part when the padding was deployed and he hit the ground, the shuttle bouncing and tumbling for a moment before coming to rest in the shallow waters of an inland sea.

And there he lay unconscious as the star above him curved over the horizon and vanished down into nothingness.

***

Stars spun in the night sky overhead as smoldering pieces of wreckage burned. Hot oil melted into the sand along the side of the beach as the native animals ran for cover in whatever direction they could find to save themselves from the great and intense heat. A set of vibrant white rings orbited the planet cutting over the sky above them.

There was a crashing off in the distance, and under the glow of the stars, a panel of metal crashed to the ground, and a hand clawed upwards towards the sky glowing gently in the cast white light from the planetary rings.

The hand bent down to grasp at the metal before it, pulling the body up and from the interior of the smoking wreckage. It fell to the ground with a thud sending up a wave of sand in all directions. Overhead stars winked and fire crackled. The silhouette lay prone for a long moment before weakly clawing at the sand, pulling itself away from the wreckage and across the open sand of the beach dragging its body towards the glittering surface of the water which reflected like a mirror the stars above.

It reached the edge dipping a hand into the water’s surface sending ripples out over the starry night sky.

It lay there for a long moment under the stars with the fire burning distantly at its back.

The ripples dissipated over the glassy surface dissipating to turn the sky and the water into one seamless whole.

Commander Adam Vir Rolled onto his back one hand still resting lightly in the water clothes singed and smoking as he stared up at the stars overhead turning to reflect off the glassy surface of his eye.

The vastness of the universe stretched out before him spinning overhead in a slow churn of eternity as he fell in and out of consciousness, the stars his only companion in the darkness.

He shivered slightly, not from the cold, or the chill wind pulled over to him from across the water, but eventually his eyes closed and he slowly faded out his mind taking him somewhere safe and warm as he lay, just another piece of the wreckage on an alien planet.

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rjhpandapaws · 3 years

Text

I Will Always Know You

Prologue: Lord of Lost Things and Travelers: You Keep the Things the World Forgets

There will be translations at the end.

They weren’t The Beginning, but they were close to it. She had made the four of them, guardians of the human condition. Of the four of them he was the youngest. The Keeper of Lost Things and Travelers. Protector of those who wandered. Small in comparison to Wisdom, Curiosity, and Balance, but somehow just as important.

The Beginning had warned them of humans, “Don’t get attached.” She had said, “They live short lives, but many times. They will not soothe your loneliness.”

In the early years of humanity there was no loneliness to try and stave off. Humanity had not gathered itself enough to need them yet. He still had the company of his brothers. There had been nothing lost, he had nothing to keep. For nearly a millennia they merely watched. Observed humanity at its simplest.

Curiosity was the first of them to drift. He wanted to observe them closer. He thought he could help them by giving them a hunger for the unknown. He grew attached to humanity as a whole after that, but more specifically a man with bold posture and fathomless deep blue eyes.

Curiosity had adored him. Hunger for the unknown had sent him out into the world, and one day those blue eyes did not come back. Curiosity had been the first of them to experience the shortness of a human life. The loss that was humanity. They helped him through it the best they could, but none of them had experienced that kind of loss. Not yet at least.

Wisdom was next. Curiosity had sent humans out into the world, they had gained knowledge, now they needed a way to keep it. Wisdom was the first of them to be worshipped. The first of them to be known. He was still faceless and formless, but known and adored. He was the second of them to fall in love. A man with an abundance of kindness and curiosity, a desire to know everything there was to learn about the world. He had wavy blonde hair and a name The Keeper had not bothered to learn.

Wisdom had lost his human to illness. Something even his vast knowledge couldn’t find the cure to. He had been powerless to help and after that something in Wisdom had changed. He grew colder in some ways and became more distant. He still granted knowledge, but much more sparingly now. He was convinced that his love had been taken because he had known too much. Because wisdom had spent one too many nights whispering the secrets of the universe to him. Wisdom was still worshipped, but there was fear underneath. Gods were not meant to break.

Balance met his human in the early era of the Ancient Greeks. A man who firmly believed that their actions had repercussions. That the universe had a way of righting wrongs. Balance had been drawn to him because he had been the first human to actively acknowledge him. To notice the work he put in to keep humanity safe, to keep the secrets of the universe. He showed faith despite being unable to show the world that Balance existed. He did not wish to betray the secrets of the universe to the rest of the world.

Distant blue eyes and a name that Balance had not shared with them. He had learned from Curiosity and Wisdom. The mistakes that they had made, and kept his true form from his human. It didn’t change much. Balance had lost his human to war. He had witnessed the worst of humanity and it had shaken him to the core. Humanity had changed slowly over a great many years. None of them had been ready for how easily humans had grown to be able to tear each other apart.

The days of gentle peace had been lost to them. The Keeper finally had something to guard. The peace that humanity had once known. The time of a world without conflict. The first thing humanity had lost. A precious thing in The Keeper’s opinion.

He first observed his human in the late years of the Ancient Greeks. A man who always seemed displaced. Sea green eyes that always seemed to be in search of something better. He was not called The Keeper in this era, he was called Hermes. He was worshipped in passing. When humans needed safe passage or seeking something they missed. He helped as many of them as he could.

He saw his green eyed stranger often. The man spoke to him as one might an old friend, though he never named himself. In his travels he would stop at temples if he could, he gave offerings of trinkets and things he found interesting. If he couldn’t make it to a temple he would pray and burn an offering, it almost seemed like he was checking in. He was travelling, so he was The Keeper’s constant companion. He had grown attached after a few years, though it had only felt like a blink of an eye.

It wasn’t until his companion had asked for safe passage through a war torn land that he made himself known. This was his first time showing himself, he was still taking in his own form when his companion woke. He took a few moments to come to himself and once he had, he pulled a weapon and pointed at The Keeper.

“Who are you?” The familiarly gruff voice asked, “How did you find this place?”

“Your kind call me Hermes. I am called O Katochos in your language.” He responded, “The Keeper of Lost Things and Travelers. You asked me to accompany you.”

“You expect me to believe that?” His companion spat and raised his weapon closer to The Keeper’s throat, “If you are the god of my travels prove it. Show me one of the things I offered you. One of the things I have lost.”

He narrowed his eyes and watched his companion’s resolve waver some. He concentrated a moment and summoned a small ash stained figure, an offering from one of the first temples his companion had called to him. He opened his hand and offered it back to his companion, “I have proven myself to you have I not? Please tell me your name.”

“I do not remember it, but I am often called Periplanomenos because of my travels.” He clarified, “I am looking for the temple of The Beginning. That way I might find what I have lost. To put a stop to what is calling me out into the world in the pursuit of something I do not know.”

“But you have lost nothing.” He found himself saying, “You may be missing something, but there is nothing you have lost.”

Periplanomenos simply stared at him. “How would you know what I have lost?” He spat, “You have only been with me for a few moments.”

“I am The Keeper of Lost Things, everything that is lost finds its way to me.” He repeated as Periplanomenos began packing up his camp, “Nothing of yours has come to me.”

“What about lost souls? I suppose those seek you out as well?” He looked over his shoulder at the keeper, “Is that why you are here? Because I have lost myself.”

He was silent for a long moment as he thought it over. Was that why he was here, because his companion was so untethered from himself? Is that why he had kept such a close eye on him over the years? It was easy enough to believe.

“If that is the case Periplanomenos, then I will stay with you until you have found what you are in search of. If not in a physical form, then I will be watching from a distance.” He offered, “You will not face this alone.”

“Might I give you a different name then? It wouldn’t be wise to be seen traveling along side a god.” Periplanomenos reasoned, “I do not wish you to be harmed.”

“You may call me whatever you would like.” He conceded. They would both be more safe if he concealed his nature. To do that he needed a name.

“How about Ennea, that number has brought me much luck in my travels.” Periplanomenos offered, “Now that you are with me that luck is sure to be better.”

“Ennea.” He echoed as his companion stood up again, “I like that.”

He followed Periplanomenos up the path and into a journey that would last a good portion of the wanderer’s life. Ennea couldn’t always be with him, but he was always watching. Doing what he could to keep his friend safe.

Over the years things had begun to change and friend and companion no longer seemed to be words that fit what he had with Periplanomenos. He was happiest by his side and worried for him when he couldn’t be by his side. They shared moments that he understood most friends and companions tended not to. His wanderer looked at him with softer eyes than he tended to look at the rest of the world. Ennea was sure he did the same.

He referred to himself by the name Periplanomenos had given him, even when introducing himself in divine form. He didn’t know when that had started, but it felt natural. It was the name given to him by someone he cared dearly for. As far as he was concerned it was his name. He was Ennea, the keeper of lost things and travelers.

He wouldn’t get to tell Periplanomenos this. He hadn’t known their previous meeting would be their last. In his age Periplanomenos had grown travel weary and settled in a small village. He had built a small shrine for Ennea and they spoke often that way, but they had both grown too busy for visits. Periplanomenos had taken up carving, he made beautiful things and was paid well for them.

He was Ennea, lord of lost things and travelers. He would keep what the world forgot, and from a distance he would watch humanity blossom under the influence of his brothers. He would wait for his wanderer to get lost again, and this time he would leave nothing unsaid.

He had planned to surprise Periplanomenos in the evening, but when he arrived something was wrong. The house was quiet and every room he checked came away empty. Until he got to the shop. Periplanomenos was sprawled on the floor, ocean green eyes wide and looking around, but seeing nothing. Ennea fell to his knees beside him and caught the shallow rise and fall of his chest. His companion was dying and there was nothing he could do but witness it.

He took one of Periplanomenos’s hands in his and intertwined their fingers. “I am here now old friend.” He said despite knowing that he wouldn’t get a response, “You can rest now. May your gods treat you well when you meet them.”

Though he showed no signs of acknowledging him, Periplanomenos seemed to relax. Shortly after the room went still and silent as his staggered breathing faded into nothing, Periplanomenos was lost to him. Gone somewhere that he could not follow. Ennea, a once prideful god, crumbled. Alone in the workshop of the man he had loved, he broke. He cried, begged, and wished to have him back. Just for a few moments he had pleaded, enough to say that he had loved him, but even that was denied to him.

He had fallen into the same snare as his brothers and lost who he had come to love. Humans were fragile and he had foolishly thought that protecting Periplanomenos personally would buy him more time. That was not how things worked. Humans lived short lives, but they lived them many times. He would get to meet Periplanomenos again, but even that comfort rang hollow in the wake of his grief.

Translation time!

Periplanomenos -> Wanderer. It’s Gavin’s name in this chapter.

O Katochos -> The Keeper

Ennea -> Nines.

both are referring to Nines

#I Will Always Know You #In All Your Forms #In All Your Forms AU #reed900 #dbh gavin #dbh nines #gods and reincarnation #dbh fic #dbh #IAYF AU

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fbfh · 4 years

Text

hey, sailor - leo x daughter of poseidon

genre: a little bit of angst, a little bit of fluff, a lot of mermaids lol

word count: 2.4k

au: none really, you have mermaid powers as a daughter of poseidon if that counts lmao

pairing: Leo x Daughter of Poseidon

requested: yeeyee !! hope u enjoy xoxo

warnings: uh brief mention of your step dad leaving when you were younger, an interaction with your best friend doesn’t go as planned, percy’s grappling with rlly complicated feelings towards his dad and new sister

summary: Percy, Annabeth, and Leo all get a little more than they bargained for when they bring Percy’s half sister back to camp Halfblood, and Leo remembers why he had such a huge crush on Ariel growing up.

reccomended songs: hurricane drunk - florence + the machine, sinkin’ in - cody simpson, deep sea ambiance

a/n: as soon as i got this request my dormant mermaid phase woke up from a sound sleep

requests r open uwu

"...And you know what he said to me? He says, 'kid, I think it's time you met your sister'. I have a freaking sister, and that two timing piece harpy sh-"

"Okay, Percy, why don't you cool off a little before we leave. Come on, we'll grab a drink or something while Leo finishes getting ready."

Annabeth takes her boyfriend's hand, and leads him to the nearest drink cooler. Leo turns back to the car they're going to take, and continues loading in the rest of the supplies. He, for one, is excited to meet Percy’s sister. His first thought was ‘hope she’s hot’, which he blurted out before he could stop himself, and was met with a killer glare from both of them. He’s not trying to be insensitive, finding out you have siblings you didn’t know about is kind of traumatic. I mean, hey, Leo’s family went from zero to sixty in one day - literally. Okay, not quite sixty, but only child to one of eight is still a pretty big jump.

A little while later, they’re ready to go. Leo offers to drive, so Percy and Annabeth can sit in back and try to sort out Percy’s feelings. After a couple hours of driving and emotional conversations, most of which Leo just listened to - Annabeth seemed to have a good hold on this, and Leo didn’t want to overstep his bounds again - they arrived in Cape Cod. At this point, the gist seems to be that Percy knows if he should be mad at anyone, it’s his dad. They park in the driveway of the address Chiron gave them. They get out of the car, and look up at the house. It’s gray with white trimming, two or three stories, with a balcony porch on the upper floor - a normal, small town New England house, as far as they could tell. They seemed to take a collective breath, and approached the door.

You’re breathing fast, trying to hold back the floodgates of emotion, when your bare feet hit the sand. You drop your bag, taking in the familiar, secluded stretch of the Cape. A big wall of jagged rocks to your left separates this part of the beach from the others. The old wooden stairs and their faded white paint that connected the low cliff to the sand below are hidden by plant life, so most people don’t even know this area existes. You’ve been coming here regularly since you were nine or ten. So many important parts of your life happened on these shores. You could just tell your mom ‘I’m going to my beach’, and she’d know right where you are. You finish pulling off your shorts and rush towards the water in your swimsuit. You’re met with immediate relief as soon as the water touches your skin. If it was possible to have an emotional support location, you did.

You feel it happen as soon as you’re waist deep. Bubbles and sea foam collect around you from the hips down and your legs get tingly and numb. A moment later, it dissipates, leaving behind a life sized mermaid tail. It changes slightly with most transformations, usually based on your mood and desired appearance, and you’ve noticed over the years you can change how it looks more easily. You don’t care today, you just need to be in the water. This time it’s a big tropical fish tail, its purple, blue, and shimmery gray tones reflecting both your mood and the impending storm clouds rolling in. You dip below the surface, and let the tide carry you a little ways. You don’t worry about getting lost, you somehow always know where you are at sea. You don’t have gills that you can find, but you can definitely breathe underwater.

You finally sink to the bottom, and stare up at the surface of the water. The patterns of light remind you of the night light you had as a child.

Your mom had ensured you were comfortable with water and ocean life for as long as you could remember. She must know other people like you, because sometimes she would have long phone conversations with someone called the Director. You were pretty sure he had a weird name that started with a K or C, but you could never remember. He’s apparently sending someone to bring you to a ‘safe place’ today. It sounds like bullshit to you, but you trust your mom, and your mom trusts the Director. Since you might not be back for a while, she said you could finally tell your best friend Wes the truth.

‘Oh god,’ you think, wishing the salt water would erase your memories of what happened today, but you can’t stop the onslaught of memories. Wes has been your best friend for years. You helped him when he realized he’s bi, he helped you when your step dad left, you could trust him with anything. Or so you thought. ‘It’s not his fault,’ you remind yourself, trying futilely to stop reliving what happened hours earlier.

You brought him to your part of the beach to go swimming so you could show him. You can still hear his voice, asking if you’re sure you want to go in the ocean, you’ve always been afraid of water. Once you’d worked up the nerves to get in the water and transform, you showed him your tail. Your heart broke again every time you remembered what he had said.

“That is... incredible,” your heart had soared, there was hope, “I can’t believe you got one of those silicone swimming tails just to prank me!” Ah, there it was. The other shoe. You tried to tell him it was real, but he said he could see the mold lines, and there the scales don’t quite line up, and there’s the edge of the zipper. You wanted to cry.

“I’m not gonna lie, you almost had me for a second. I can’t believe you learned to swim just to prank me, but whatever works, dude,” he laughed like you were having a good time together. It was too much.

You let out a huge underwater scream, and thunder rumbles in the distance. You sink further down, wishing once again that the salt and algae would erode your memories from today.

Annabeth knocks on the door for the third time. Thankfully, it opens to a middle aged woman in a shirt that said Brooklyn Nine Nine.

“Hello, what can I help you with?” she asks. She has a strong presence, and none of them want to be on her bad side. Percy is still too nervous, and Leo seems to be analyzing wires poking out of the doorbell, so Annabeth introduces themselves, and asks where you are.

“Who wants to know?” she asks.

“We’re her internet friends, we’re surprising her by visiting a day early.” Annabeth replies. The woman doesn’t seem convinced. She smiles, seeming to see right through them.

“Are you from camp?” The shock on their faces gives her all the answer she needs. She smiles, and continues, “She’s down at the Cape, the quiet part past the rocks.” They thank her, but before they can leave she says, “Hey.” She looks at each of them intensely.

“Make sure she gets there safely. Take care of her.” They agree solemnly, and head down the sidewalk.

“And tell Chiron I say hi.” she says with a smile. They smile back, agreeing again.

They get to the Cape, and it’s full of people.

“Shouldn’t be any harder than a Where’s Waldo,” Leo says. Percy’s head snaps to the right, and thunder rumbles.

“Did you hear that?” he asks.

“The thunder? Yeah,” Annabeth says.

“No, no.. someone screaming.”

“I don’t-”

“This way,” he takes off towards a pile of jagged rocks. They manage to get over with only a few scrapes and Percy surveys the empty beach.

“She’s here… She’s here somewhere,” he mutters to himself. The dark clouds part for a moment, and Annabeth points out to the water. Someone was there, pretty far out to sea. She could just make out their shoulders and head above the water.

“Gods, Percy, can you get her to shore?”

“Ah ah ah, uncle Leo’s got this one,” Leo pulls something out of his backpack. It’s bronze, and the size and shape of a deflated soccer ball. He throws it into the water. It starts to sink, then expands into a small bronze and wood speed boat. Percy and Annabeth’s jaws drop. He hops in, revving the engine to life. They sail out over the water, Percy directing them around currents and waves. They can see the figure clearly now, and they’re sure it’s you. You’re looking away from them, out towards the darkening sky. The boat starts to slow down, and makes a whining noise. Their eyes dart to Leo.

“It’s probably just a sticky piston,” white smoke leaks from the engine, “... and I should check the coolant, too.” He opens up a panel, and starts to tweak a couple things. He sits on the edge of the boat to get a better angle, and reaches into his tool belt. He pulls out a wrench, and almost in slow motion, feels it slip between his finger tips, and into the water with a light plip.

“Shit!” He covers his mouth, worried he scared you off. Three heads turn to where you were a moment ago. Gone. He feels that familiar shameful heat creep into his stomach and cheeks.

“Sorry guys, I-”

“You dropped this,” He looks into the water, and you’re right next to the boat, handing him the wrench.

“...Thanks,” he says, his heart speeding up. Your hair is wet and beads of water glisten on your skin. Your red bikini top sure isn’t doing anything to slow his racing pulse, either. Your hands brush as he takes the tool from you. You smile, and the clouds part - literally. A beam of golden sun shines behind you, making you glow. His heart is in his throat, and he knows he’s probably grinning and blushing like an idiot.

Percy stares at your head, poking up over the side of the boat. Your hair is dyed shades of blue and teal and seafoam that blend right in with the water, but your roots are dark. He takes in your freckles, your tan lines, and your eyes… they look like part of the sea - shells, or waves, or something. He watches as Leo takes the tool, and a smile appears at the side of your mouth - the same smile he’s seen in the mirror, the same smile he’s seen on his dad. He sees all these familiar traits and knows it’s true, you’re his sister. The realization hits him like a truck, and he’s suddenly choked up. Annabeth sees this, and places a hand on his shoulder. She looks between Percy and an infatuated Leo, and takes the reins for the whole ‘the gods are real’ speech.

“Hi,” she says, giving Percy’s hand a squeeze, “I’m Annabeth, this is Percy, and Leo. We were sent here to take you to a safe place for kids like us-”

“Ohmygod, finally,” the tension leaves your shoulders and you sigh in relief, “you have no idea how hard it’s been keeping all of this a secret, trying to be normal…” You push yourself up the side of the boat Ariel style, and pull yourself in, the edge of your tail draped slightly off the boat as you continue, “I seriously thought I was losing it for a while…” you trail off, watching them stare at your tail.

“You’re not… you’re not merfolk, are you?” The confusion on their faces says it all. Panic rises in your chest as you start to dive off the boat. Before you can, Leo grabs your hand.

“Hey, hey, hey, it’s okay. We all have weird powers, it’s part of being a demigod.” He shows you his free hand, and flames suddenly dance across his palm. Part of your fear is replaced with confusion.

“A what?” you ask.

“A demigod.” you look over at Percy, who’s speaking since the first time since you’ve met him, “Our dad is Poseidon, god of the sea.” You scrunch your eyebrows, processing what he said. Annabeth smiles at the gesture, having seen her boyfriend do it a thousand times.

“Wait… our?” He takes in a breath.

“I’m Percy, your brother.”

The ride back to shore is a little awkward, to say the least. They had finished explaining about camp and the gods and monsters a few minutes ago, and it’s been pretty much silent since. Annabeth sits next to you, and hands you a water bottle.

“He just needs some time,” she tells you quietly, “Poseidon’s not really supposed to have children, and Percy got a hard time for it when he was younger. He also… he thought his dad was really in love with his mom, so finding out he has a sister so close in age…” You nod in understanding. She pats you on the shoulder, and sits next to Percy at the back of the boat. You scooch up a little closer to Leo as gracefully as you can, which isn’t much, considering you have to drag along an almost 60 pound fish tail. Leo looks over at you from the controls.

“Weird day, huh?” he asks.

“Yeah…”

“So how long does it take to, uh,” he nods down and you flick your tail, “de-fishify?”

You laugh.

“Once I’m dry,” you look up at the summer sun reemerging, a little surprised that it hadn’t stormed. Then again, if children of Poseidon really could make sea storms, it made sense that it had died down now that you and Percy were feeling better.

“which shouldn’t take long.” you finish. You look over at Percy, who’s having a quiet intense conversation with Annabeth.

“He knows I didn’t ask for this, right?” Leo looks back at them.

“He does,” he replies.

“It’s so surreal finding out I have a sibling I knew nothing about,” you mutter, mostly to yourself.

“Try finding out you have seven,” he laughs, shaking his head at the memory.

“Seven?!” your head snaps up to him.

“Oh yeah,” he tells you the story of when he first came to camp, and you feel so much better already. Leo has such a comforting presence, the pain from all your problems softens a little just hearing him talk. You have a feeling you’re going to get a lot closer.

Little did you know, the feeling was mutual - and correct.

#leo x reader #heroes of olympus x reader #Heroes of Olympus #Leo Valdez #percy jackson #leo valdez x reader #daughter of poseidon #child of poseidon

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nimsajlove · 3 years

Text

As a Team (V)

Brothers-AU Ao3

Part IV

This is the last part of this stoy

"Echo!" Five's stunned face was the first thing Echo saw when Wrecker made room for him on the ramp. He could count the few moments Fives had cried on one hand, but now his brother looked like he wanted to double that number now and immediately. Cutup stood next to him, grabbing Fives by one elbow. To support himself or his brother was not entirely clear, both were trembling all over. In the end, however, it were Droidbait and Hevy who stormed out of the crowd of waiting clones and embraced Echo so tightly that he was briefly breathless. Force that was nice! And then suddenly there were an infinite number of hands and voices. Familiar and beloved faces. Cutup rubbed his forehead against Echo's shoulder, sniffing, Fives had his face buried in his neck and every breath shook them all together. It brought tears to Echo himself, so long everything around him had been cold and empty. It was warm and bright here and so full of life! Without his family he had only existed, here and now it was like taking his first breath. Domino Squad slowly relaxed and when they could breathe again, Echo reached out with his hand and hit Fives hard on the back of the head. "Ouch!", his brother exclaimed and looked at him so surprised that Echo almost started crying again. “You can't be left alone for a second. Neither of you.", he laughed shakily and Droidbait next to him broke out in slightly hysterical laughter before he kissed Echo profusely on the head. "We missed you too.", Cutup grinned and Hevy sighed deeply, a huge burden seemed to fall off of him. Then another face pushed forward through the crowd and if Echo still had his legs, they would now give way. Rex had always been the big brother, the protector. He walked towards their little pile with great strides, eyes wide with shock and joy. Echo saw in them the same disbelief that Fives had in them. Damn it, he was crying again! With a wet laugh, he threw his arms around Rex as soon as he was within reach and clasped his shoulders like a lifeline. "It's okay, we're here.", Rex muttered next to his head, sounding tight, Echo tightening his hug again and then pulling away to look at his Captain. "Hey Rex.", he sniffed and for the first time in his life he saw tears in Rex's eyes. They didn't overflow, but they were there! He looked tired, exhausted. "We should take him to Kix before he kills us all.", Jesse grinned, he appeared out of nowhere next to them and Echo examined his brother's new equipment. "Suits you.", he grinned and Jesse laughed and grabbed his arm. "Let's go, I don't want to risk my head."

The walk to the medbay was noisy, although most of the troops were returning to their duties. Clone Force 99, the Bad Batch, did not accompany them either. They stayed with the ship and when Echo glanced back he thought he recognized them talking to Ahsoka. She would surely follow soon. Then he took a moment to absorb the new sea of colors. There had been men in blue between the familiar faces, but his brothers were of a different color. Their armor presented such a rich bronze that it almost seemed to shimmer. What was nonsense, all the colors were matte so as not to reflect light. But he couldn't help but admire the color. It was a tad lighter and richer than Ahsoka's skin, but clearly inspired by it. It was strange... but right. The way it should be. It felt like home.

"You idiot! You horrible, lovable idiot!", Kix called out to him as soon as they entered the narrow container. Then he grabbed him tightly under his shoulder and released the others' hands from him, put him on one of the few free stretchers and shook his head. "What have they done to you...", he muttered and grabbed Echo's face, turning it a little. This didn't feel like Kix, the grip was way too gentle. He looked different too! When did he gave up his hairstyle? "I'm happy to see you too.", Echo muttered and felt Fives climb onto the stretcher next to him. Kix let him go, said nothing and turned to his supplies instead. They seemed already well used and almost used up. "Kriff, I don't think we can improve much of his situation down here.", the medic muttered and the faces of the others darkened. Hey! “I'm not in mortal danger! I feel better than I have in ages, let me stay here a while longer. With you. I can help.", he immediately tried to address Kix and earned a reproachful look. Sighing, Kix grabbed his face again and examined him carefully. "Lucky for you, the cruiser are picking up supplies. So either way you're stuck here. But you won't-” “ Echo!”, called out another familiar voice, not a clone. Echo looked up and had to smile. General Skywalker came up to him with giant strides, General Kenobi directly behind him. Only one figure was missing. "Where's Commander Cody?", he asked and Kenobi smiled indulgently and stroked his beard, he had deep shadows under his eyes. "Asleep." "Finally!", grunted a medic a few beds away, his orange armor smeared with dirt and blood. "Hey, we're a good match now.", Skywalker joked and slapped his shoulder lightly with his mechanical hand, Echo had to laugh and nodded. “I'll make sure you get a hand back. Any specials you want?“, the General grinned broadly and everyone around them smiled, even Kenobi had a satisfied smile on his face. “No, but I still need this one. I have data from the separatists through a secret protocol. It affects the entire clone army, a conspiracy.”, he reported, forcing the smile off his face. This was serious, it was important! They had to believe him, Ahsoka had looked so kriffing hopeful when they came up with the plan. "What protocol?", Kenobi asked, his face grimacing with concern. “The clones have chips in their heads, they can be controlled from the outside. I can show you the protocol.", he explained and raised what replaced his old hand. "General Tano will want to see it too.", he finished and Skywalker looked around. "Where is she anyway?", he asked quietly and Echo looked around himself, she had not yet joined them! "The last I had seen her, she was with force 99.", he clarified quickly and Rex on the edge of the room grabbed his helmet and straightened his back. Echo bit his tongue to keep from cursing out loud. He had been so focused on the other faces that he hadn't paid attention to whether she had come... "We'll find her quickly and then we'll take a look at your find.", Kenobi assured him and as he left the tent Skywalker and followed him, Rex on his heels.

There was silence for a while, Kix got an overview of Echo's general condition and Jesse leaned attentively near the door, was he on guard? For what? "Okay, what did you come up with?", Fives asked roughly next to him and Echo understood immediately, he grinned broadly at his brother. “You know, if you can risk your life for something, then I can probably write a little about it. Right?” Cutup grinned broadly and Hevy poked him in the side, the blow a little painful. It was a good pain. "You are really the worst of us.", he laughed and Droidbait shook his head exhausted. "You are all unbearable.", he muttered and Echo tried to kick him with his artificial legs, he hit and cursing Droidbait held his knee. "That‘s no fun anymore!", he grumbled and then grinned. Fives opened his mouth as a medic's comlink came to life further back and everyone fell silent. For a short time everyone was calm and motionless, then the clone suddenly fell into motion and called a shiny over to him while he was shouldering one of the emergency backpacks. "Burnes, what's going on?", Kix roared over to him in alarm, all the medics around them gave way as Burnes and the shiny hurried past with great strides. "Why do we always get the suicidal Jedi?", Burnes called back with a curse and was gone, Echo went cold. If something more had happened to Ahsoka... She had looked so damn tired on the flight and he had really tried his best to keep her from sleeping. "I tried Kix, really. I thought she would come soon...", he muttered and Kix put a steady hand on his shoulder and gently pushed him into a lying position. "It's okay, you don't know her new tricks yet.", Kix growled and then turned to the others. "You, out! We're going to need space.” The dominos protested, and Echo heard that it was no longer just about staying with him. They wanted to wait for their sister. "You're in the way, get out!", Kix growled louder and Jesse came over to them, leaning over to Fives a little. Echo didn't know what words they were exchanging, but Fives finally nodded and his face grew so serious it scared Echo. "We'll be back as soon as Kix lets us in.", he assured Echo and briefly pressed his forehead against his brother's, then turned around and led the others out. Jesse was left unsure. “No, I can't use your hands either. Grab General Windu and try to contact the fleet. They should hurry!", Kix instructed and even if he actually had no right to order Jesse around, his brother nodded and left the medbay with quick steps. He wasn't gone for a second when the door opened again and before Echo could turn his head, he heard Kix cursing loudly.

Then Rex appeared on the bed next to him, he had the limp togruta in his arms and carefully layed her down before taking a hasty step back. Burnes, Echo couldn't remember seeing him a year prior, and Kix immediately began removing Ahsoka's clothing. The fabric was stiff from the sweat, dirt, and blood. "Why did it take you so long?", Kix hissed, throwing a venomous look at Skywalker who hastily pointed at Kenobi. "I contacted Burnes as soon as possible.", he defended himself, he seemed tense as a spring, his posture stiff with worry. "Get out of here before there will be an accident.", Kix instructed coldly and Echo could swear he had never seen Kenobi flee so hastily. Skywalker hesitated. "If you need help..." "Get out of here!" In a second Jedi was gone and Rex slumped with his back against the wall across from the beds in which Ahsoka and Echo were lying. When he took off his helmet, his hand left a bloody mark and his eyes were terrifying. "What did she take from her medication?", Burnes asked from the side, he sounded calmer than Kix. The latter was still cursing softly to himself. “A hypno, pain reliever and sedative. There was no time for more.” “ No time ?! You had the whole fucking flight!", Kix growled and Rex growled in agreement, but his angry look was directed at Ahsoka and not Echo. "I'm sorry, we made plans against the chips at that time!", Echo cursed and shot into an upright position. Kix didn't react and instead began to remove the bloody bandage from Ahsoka's hand. What was underneath was... ugly. "You absolute fool, next time I'll kill you myself...", Kix grumbled and Burnes shook his head indulgently. Unlike the older medic, he had simply pressed his lips together into a thin line, while revealing an incredible number of burns. Neither seemed life threatening, so he turned to her bloody face.

Echo just sat there and watched, feeling sick at the thought of how useless he had been in the past few hours. "Hey." He looked up, Rex had come over and frowned in concern. There was a bloody streak on his cheek, had he wiped at his face? "Let's go out, explain your plan to me." That sounded more like a suggestion than an order. Nevertheless, Echo slid cautiously from the couch and walked a few steps behind Rex to the exit. Then he hesitated. They couldn't leave Ahsoka alone! Not after everything she'd done. And he was sure he only knew a fraction of everything that she had really experienced. She looked so tiny, motionless on the bed under the medics' hands. “It's okay, we're not going far. We'll be back when we're no longer in the way of Kix.", Rex mumbled reassuringly and waited until Echo stepped through the door with jerky movements. Another unknown clone stood outside, wearing Ahsoka's colors and the fine stripes on his helmet were painted with great skill. His second face reminded Echo of sunlight that he hadn't felt for a while. "Thud, what can I do for you?", asked Rex tiredly and Echo stopped to wait, Thud took off his helmet and Echo saw that his nose had been broken in the past. Other than that, his face was flawless, like a shiny's. "I wanted to apologize," he muttered and Echo made a surprised noise as did the Captain. "For what?" "That I didn't answer Kix and Burnes' questions before the General took off.", Thud replied, embarrassed and dejected, Echo only now thought he could only guess how much the other clones thought of Ahsoka Tano. When Rex didn't react immediately, Thud shrugged his shoulders protectively and Echo glanced at the Captain, just in time to see how his face relaxed and the suppressed anger vanished from his eyes. Ha! Rex had always had a soft heart when it came to the younger brothers. "Is okay. Like I said, you can't help it that our General is a small idiot from time to time.", he sighed and patted the younger clone on the shoulder. He looked up, only partially cheered up. “I bet Hug still has a few candies left. Why don't you look for him?”, Rex suggested and Thud nodded, a tiny smile on his face, before he turned and disappeared.

Rex and Echo just stood there for a while and watched him go, then Rex sighed deeply and rubbed his face with one hand. "The boy is okay.", he muttered and Echo nodded stiffly, how many young clones had Ahsoka brought in? What did he miss? “Come on, let's show the generals the 'evidence' and then we'll get you something better to wear.", smiled Rex.

On the way to the quarters Echo felt a little dazed, but a small smile graced his lips. They had taken the bait. The Jedi actually fell for the fake! "This way.", Rex instructed next to him and directed his arm towards one of the containers, as they stepped through the door, Echo sighed in relief. It had been dark around him for a year and his eyes ached after the light outside. The lights were dim in here and he blinked a few times, the headache behind his forehead subsiding. "Echo, the Jedi deceiver!", joked a voice from one of the back beds and Echo looked up, Cutup sat grinning widely and legs dangling on the back bed above Fives and Hevy. Echo and Rex walked up to them and then Echo also saw Droidbait, he was sitting cross-legged on the floor with his back leaning against the bed opposite. He held a white helmet in his hands and looked at it critically. Only when Echo sat down on the bed he was leaning against did he look up and hold the helmet out to him. "Tar was just here, brought you your stuff." With furrowed eyebrows he took the helmet and examined it carefully. "Tar?", he asked absently and heard Cutup giggle. "Target, the poor guy had to serve for target practice once.", Rex explained from the side and Echo nodded before carefully pulling on the helmet. It fit, the narrow visor did not restrict its field of vision any more than in a normal helmet. But it kept a lot of light away from him, the quater was almost too dark. "He said that might help your eyes.", Fives interjected and Echo nodded, took off the helmet and turned it in his hands. It was true, with this helmet, his eyes would be shielded from bright light. But it was so unsetteling white... "Please tell me we have a bucket of paint with us.", he mumbled and the others smirked when it suddenly knocked. Unusual, nobody took the time to knock! The door slid open and Hunter came in with his helmet tucked under his arm. "The Jedi are planning their further strategies, I thought you might be interested in that.", he turned to Echo. But of course he was interested! And he was sure Rex too! “But hello, of course we'll listen to that. Somebody has to represent our local dumbass.", Fives grumbled and got up. He and Rex were already starting to leave. "Wait for me!", Echo managed quickly and tried as best he could to put on his equipment with one hand. After a few seconds, Droidbait's hands came to his aid. "You realize that you are not ready to fight?", gowled Rex and Echo stood up, panting, his helmet tucked under his arm. “I will help whether you want to or not. Feel free to complain to our sister later, but I'll do my part of the fight."

* ~ *

Echo carefully clenched his hand into a fist and then opened it again. He was still fascinated by how normal this movement felt. General Skywalker had performed a small miracle. Sighing, he leaned back a little in the uncomfortable chair and ran his real hand through Five's hair. His brother sat on the floor in front of him and woke up at the touch. "Sorry, didn't mean to wake you.", Echo muttered and Five's shoulders on his knees relaxed again, with a low hum, he leaned his head against Echo's hand. "Did something happen?", he mumbled tiredly and Echo looked over to the bed next to them. Then he shook his head. "No, nothing new yet."

Ahsoka was still lying motionless on the bed, she didn't seem to want to wake up too soon. Echo and Fives looked up when the door to the medbay slid open with a low hiss. "Hunter and Skywalker just asked about her again.", Kix grumbled tiredly and one of the medics in the back of the room laughed softly. There were only two of them here, the time in hyperspace was quiet, and most of the clones were catching up on lost sleep. Well, all but Kix apparently. "Your shift ended five hours ago.", Fives snorted and hastily avoided a kick. "What?!", he outraged and Echo smiled. If he wasn't so tired, this might even be funny. But the way it was now, they were all too drained. "You two go to bed, I'll keep watch.", Kix muttered and glanced over at Ahsoka. Shaking his head, Fives got up and offered his hand to Echo, pulling him to his feet with a low grunt. "Counter proposal. We all go to eat something and sleep afterwards. I'm sure Cutup and Droidbait would take the next shift.", he smiled and when Kix rubbed his face tiredly, Echo knew that Fives had won. The medic took a questioning look around the room, and the other two smiled again. One kept his eyes on his datapad, the other stood up and came over to them. “Don't worry, I'll sit down here. The general is not alone.", he assured and Kix nodded dully, with a satisfied hum, Fives wrapped his arm around his shoulders. He and Echo framed Kix and together they left the medbay.

They met Cutup and Droidbait in the canteen, both looking tired. Fives considered withdrawing his previous suggestion and shot Echo a look for help. His closest brother shrugged and was about to open his mouth when a comlink made a high pitched sound. Kix cursed and turned around, the other four right behind him. When they re-entered the medbay, they were suddenly met by a hectic pace. Fives looked around and then shot forward, Cutup right next to him. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Echo and Droidbait trying to get Ahsoka's legs under control. Damn it, who had allowed the girl to develop such strong limbs?! Fives wrung the crying togruta's arm to the ground with both hands, Cutup took a blow from her elbow and growled before he could grab her. One of the other medics held her head still with all his might, fingers dangerously close to her bared teeth. As if out of nowhere, Kix reappeared, a color-coded hypno between his fingers. "Oh she will hate you.", the medic muttered from her head and Kix sighed, the hypno was empty and instantly the body relaxed under their hands. "I'll have to live with that", Kix mumbled and helped him up, Cutup held his side grumbling and Echo and Droidbait just sat on the floor for a few seconds before getting up again. Fives carefully wrapped his arms around his sister and picked her up. "Put her to bed, I'll be right there.", Kix grumbled and started looking for something. Beside them the medic silently handed him a bucket.

#star wars #clone wars #brothers-au #ahsoka tano #clone trooper echo #clone trooper fives #clone trooper cutup #clone trooper droidbait #clone trooper hevy #clone trooper jesse #clone trooper kix #clone trooper rex #clone trooper hunter #obi wan kenobi #anakin skywalker

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raevenlywrites · 3 years

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Dasi High 2 of ?

All day long, all I wanted was my book. My book. I thrilled at the way the thought seemed to pulse in my head, heavy with the weight of destiny or something. It had to be some kind of strangeness at work, to put this exact book into my exact hands with my exact little name on it. Kiesha... It wasn’t exactly a sorceress’s name, but still, it wasn’t that common. Not for books that looked like they’d been buried under the sea for the last thousand years or whatever. “This should be in a museum,” ala Indiana Jones and all that. My book. It filled my chest with warmth just thinking about it.

But I kept it in my bag all through school, even during lunch. No Coke, greasy pizza, or nosy teachers were going to threaten my ancient tome. I wasn’t an idiot. I was going to keep it safe until I got home.

Safely ensconced in my beautiful window seat, the envy of all book lovers and cat nappers everywhere, I savored the moment, feeling the heft of the book in my lap, breathing deep of its good, good book smell. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not a technophobe, but books man--nothing compares to the feel of thick pages beneath your hands, the crinkle, the earthy smell. Yeah. There was a reason Brass thought I might be into it, namesake notwithstanding.

The cover was plain, well-worn, shiny and slick to the touch with the press of so many hands before. The finish had worn off the lettering and embellishments, but fingers could trace the rise and indents of them. I suddenly wondered if I should be handling something so hold, then realized I had no idea how old it even was. Oh well. Brass’s mom wouldn’t have let him have it if it was priceless, right? With a steadying breath, I cracked the cover.

The glue had long since stopped holding the pages in, but the binding was still sound. Maybe I’d ask Donte or Nalini later if either of them knew anything about repairing old bindings. They were both always doing handsy stuff, Donnie with his computers, and Nani with eir soaps and stuff. Surely one of them would know something, or be able to point me in the right direction. For now, I gingerly laid the cover open in my lap and turned the pages with a reverence I almost never felt for anything. I hadn’t been this careful with a book since my Sandman hardcover omnibus I got for my last birthday.

Enough stalling. It was time to read.

I was surprised to note my own reluctance. I’m not usually one for drama, but this... it just felt heavy. Important. Like it mattered.

The front endpaper had a yellowed bookplate pasted in, painted with an elegant symbol or crest or something I didn’t recognize. It looked almost like a stick figure of someone dancing, arms reaching up and stance wide--except there were weird branches coming off, like cursive flourishes. Maybe it was a signature? If so it wasn’t in any language I could read. I suddenly panicked at the thought that I wouldn’t be able to read any of it, aside from my name, and eagerly turned the page, anticipation mixing with dread.

But instead of a title page, or anything even printed, it was another handwritten page, like a dedication, or maybe a poem or something. It was written in the same kind of cursivey, wavy letters as the bookplate, and with growing anxiety I turned to the next page.

The family tree.

Thin, spidery hand writing covered the pages, faded, but definitely in the familiar English characters. Arabic? Or was the for numbers? Whatever. I could read it, that was what mattered. It was hard to parse, just as it had been at school, but I found the letters of my name quickly, and my finger hovered over the page, tracing the line down. Don...Donovan? Sisal... Salem... It was almost impossible to make out, save for the ever-clear Kiesha. Almost like that was the only part I was meant to read. I stared at the whole page, trying to let my eyes go soft focused, to see if anything else jumped out at me, but the longer I looked, the harder to read it became. I gave up and turned the page.

A list of names and dates followed, like you’d expect from an almanac. But instead of useful things like “March 3rd” or “Spring Equinox” it said things like, “the fourth night of cheres” or “the eve of Namir-da”. It was English, but just barely. I skimmed the page but quickly moved past it, eager for something that made sense.

It was hard not to let my disappoint take hold. This book had felt so special--it was special, just... not what I’d been expecting. Recipes, as Brass had said, and almanacy things, lie when to plant, but nothing that gave me any sense of wonder, or importance. I was just about to give up when I finally came across a section written in plain English.

They say the time has come. I have been given the family book, and told its mine to keep. But what I am expected to do with it, I cannot say. I have nothing of my own to add. I am not even the oldest of the family line. But I feel I should write something, to mark the occasion if nothing else. So here I do write, on this, the first of August, in the year seventeen hundred and seventy-one, that I, Kiera Cortana, am now in charge of the family book, for better or for worse.

Whoa. Now that was seriously cool. I flipped back to the family tree, to see if I could find Kiera. There, near the bottom, Kiera Cortana, 1753. Neat. That made her... seventeen, eighteen when she wrote her entry? Wow. Barely any older than me. That warm tingle started again, that sense of connection, and I just let my hand rest on the page, fingers just below her name. There wasn’t any more after hers, though there was room for more. Hope for the future that never came.

The warmth turned to sadness, a kind of longing I couldn’t really put my finger on. I got that way sometimes, just out of the blue. Homesick for a place that didn't’ exist. At least here I kind of got it, sad for a girl who may or may not have ever grown up. There was more after her first journal entry, but it was just more recipes and things, and more of that squiggle script I had no idea how to read. On an impulse, I got out a notebook and copied down what letters I could make out, including the symbol on the front book plate. I wanted to look at it more later, when I was stuck at school, but I didn’t want to risk bringing the actual book there. It was so old, at least three hundred. Man, Brass totally shouldn’t have let me have this. I decided to call him and give him a hard time about it.

“Hey, Ki, is everything okay?”

I frowned at the concern in his voice. “Yes, Dad, I’m fine. I’m not always in mortal danger or whatever you seem to think.”

Brass snorted. “Well I assumed you had to be in trouble since you’re calling. Normally you just text.”

Oh. Right.

“Just wanted to chat,” I said, too casually, but he'd caught me off guard. I used to call Brass all the time. It was weird to realized I’d stopped. “I’ve been looking through that book you gave me.” When in doubt, change the subject.

“Yeah? Anything good?”

I heard the sound of a sliding glass door in the background, the tell-tale sign of Brass going out to sit on the back deck. He used to do it to be near the TV antenna, hoping it would give him better cell signal. Now it was just habit. I smiled, picturing him there, long and lanky and lean, back against the side of the house as he balanced on the deck railing, one long leg trailing down...

“Kiesha?”

“Hm?”

I made a startled little noise as I came back to myself. “Oh, right. Yeah, it’s pretty cool. Did you know it was so old? There’s an entry from the 1700’s in it.”

“Oh man, really?” He sounded equal parts excited and embarrassed. “I didn’t know that. Maybe I should let Mom look at it again...”

“No way,” I teased, “It’s mine now. Has my name in it and everything.”

“It has mine too.”

His voice was so soft I almost missed it. But I scanned the page and sure enough, Brassal was on a similar line as Kiesha.

“Weird... Almost as weird as your stupid name.”

I laughed to take the edge of, both from my words and from the creeping feeling working its way up my spine. Brass had always gone by the nickname, with Brassal being reserved for his father. I guess it shouldn’t have surprised me to see it in an old timey book like this; it had probably been handed down a long line of people, like Maeve’s super grandma name. But still. It freaked me, and when I got freaked, I teased. Make everyone else feel off balance and it was an even playing field again.

“Yeah, yeah, Cobriana. Tell me all about weird names.”

I stuck my tongue out, even though he couldn’t see. Still, it made me feel better. Sky blue, grass green, Brass and I teased. I had missed this. It was good to be getting it back.

“You wanna come over for pizza and movies Friday?”

It was out of my mouth before I’d really thought about it. But his hesitation made me wish I’d just kept railing on his stupid name.

“Uh, how ‘bout Saturday. I have... plans. For Friday.”

No way. No freakin way. “Don’t tell me you gave in to Izzy,” I said with a disinterest I didn’t quite feel. “You know she’s only sharpening her claws on you for a real takedown.”

“Don’t be like that, Ki. Isadora can do what she wants, with who she wants.”

I mocked “Isadora,” in as childish a tone as I could manage. No one called her that, not even Izzy herself. Except Landon. But Landon was cyborg and completely incapable of using contractions or imprecise grammar, like ever.

“And what she wants is apparently to play kissy face with Serv, for all the good that’ll do her.”

“Serv?!” I could not keep the surprise out of my voice. Serv was like, canonically asexual. Or at the very least, not interested in someone as bubblegum pop as Izzy.

“Your guess is as good as mine,” Brass said. “I didn’t ask, not that that stopped her from volunteering. Apparently they’re driving into the city to see a show or something.”

“Okay....” Izzy on a date with Servos. What an odd couple. I couldn’t fathom what sort of attraction would hold interest for both of them. But then, if such a thing existed, it would be in the city, not in this whole in the wall town. We didn’t even have a mall. “Well, good for them, I guess. So what about your mysterious plans?”

Brass groaned. “I’d hoped you’d forgotten. ”

“Nope. Spill it.”

He sighed. “I’m going to the movies... with Syfka.”

I gaped. “You’re joking. You’re joking! Why on earth would you want to go to the movies with her--xem?”

I was normally better with Syfka’s pronouns than this, but it was hard not to think of anyone out on date with Brass as anything but a her--a her he might want to kiss. Trying to apply that mental box to Syfka, of all people--

“Because--” Brass cut through my thoughts, “we have a project due, and it was either write a paper on a French film, or try to speed read through a work of French literature that I have zero hope of understanding because its kind of my worst subject.”

Oh. Right. School stuff. A perfectly reasonable reason to go to the movies with someone.

“Right. Okay. Yeah. So, does that mean you need to stay in and write it on Saturday.”

Brass laughed, and I couldn’t help but feel like it was at my expense.

“Nah. Come Saturday night, I’ll either be done, or I’ll be failed. Either way, pizza and a movie sounds great.”

“Okay...”

I couldn’t shake the little tight feeling in my chest. This call had thrown me. Everything about Brass seemed to throw me lately.

“Why don’t you invite Nikki over too? Or maybe Maeve?”

My toes curled under at that last. Maeve may or may not have been the reason Brass and I finally broke up. I hadn’t decided yet. Either way, I couldn’t imagine him volunteering to hang out with her.

“I wouldn’t subject you to that....”

“Ki, I told you I’m alright with it. Have her over, see if you still feel all tingly.”

I laughed, but it was hardly humorous. “I can’t believe you’re encouraging me to get my flirt on in front of you.”

I could feel him shrug through the line, that careless raise of a shoulder that meant everything and nothing.

“You’re too shy to do it yourself. I’m just gonna keep inventing reasons to get you two together until you get over yourself. Or she asks you.”

“Brass!”

But now I was really laughing, and his goal was achieved. I felt better, so he felt better. Stupid big brother mother hen. I smiled through the rest of the phone call, chatting about everything and nothing, and feeling more like myself than I had in a long time.

Raev’s general tag list: As always, let me know if you want to be added or removed or whatevs (especially since this is kind of a far cry from what I usually do)

List is currently: @lordkingsmith @writinglyra @drbibliophile @mperialscribe @adie-dee @lexiklecksi @theramwrites @writinginslowmotion @faithfire @apollon-arium @thehellinsideyourhead @raenawrites @adventuresofacreesty @anika-writes.

#dasi high #kiesha'ra fanfic #kiesha cobriana #I've been threatening this hawksong fanfic for years #raev does fanfic

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