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#also like little side things you can do in battle royale like fishing and driving around listening to the radio

skizzlers · 4 years

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A list of every Sonic game I've played in the order I like them because I couldn't sleep at 3am. (Didn't include Sonic Advance 1-3 because it's been too long since I've played it. Also 90% of these have good soundtracks so I didn't really touch on it.)

1. Sonic Mania

All time favorite because I'm a very nostalgic person and this game feels like a love-letter to my childhood. Every detail is thought of, it feels like you're playing every side-scrolling Sonic game at once!

2. Sonic the Hedgehog 3

First Sonic game I really remember playing. I adored Tails (still do!) And I used to fly around all the levels to see what Sonic couldn't reach. Also the save feature and ability to re-visit levels was super sweet!

3. Sonic Adventure 2

My favorite 3d Sonic game. I love the different gameplay styles that come with the different characters, and THE CHAO GARDEN!!! The bosses are a little weird, considering you're kinda beating yourself when you switch sides? (Knuckles vs Rouge, Shadow vs Sonic) Also this game has a sick soundtrack!

4. Sonic the Hedgehog 2

This game was much easier for me to get the hang of as a kid compared to the original. Took me years to beat because of the lack of a save feature though, and I never got past the third special stage. Overall just generally fun to play! You really feel like a speedy blue hedgehog, and the stages are memorable.

5. Sonic CD

Never really got to play this one until my teens. Haven't beat it yet, haven't had the time. I like the added challenge of making good futures too instead of just g o f a s t. The levels are a bit more complex and more puzzling than your other 2d Sonic games, but not frustratingly so like in the original.

6. Sonic Generations

Ironicly enough this was my first introduction to the modern boost mechanic. I liked how the stages worked in both styles, and the hub-world is fun to jump around in and isn't confusing at all. Also, I like collecting things in videogames, and there is a bit of that required to progress, although Cream beating my ass in the chao levels is frustrating to say the least.

7. Sonic Adventure

I understand this is an old videogame but the graphics make it a little hard to take seriously. When I know where I am supposed to go the stages are fun but who the fuck thought fishing would be fun in a Sonic game? Big's entire character is like someone sat down and said, "do you know what Sonic isn't? Slow and tedious! Let's add that to the game!" Also I like the variety in character options and story perspectives. (Not to mention classic memes like Knuckles' oh no)

8. Sonic Spinball

Another classic! Few but interesting levels. Not much else to say really, I liked the text commentary.

9. Sonic 3d Blast

I've noticed a lot of people say this is one of the worst Sonic games but I enjoy it! Like I said earlier, I like collecting things though.

10. Sonic Riders

I always kinda sucked at this game. Might've been more fun if I wasn't a solo gamer however. I liked the battle royale mode better than the main game to be honest. I like the character variety and the differing skill sets, and the stages themselves are fun to ride through and mess around with but the cpus are t o u g h. I would like this game a bit better if you could adjust the difficulty.

11. Sonic & Knuckles

I loved Mushroom Hill Zone and how it phases through the seasons, but I always died in Flying Battery Zone, and if I didn't Sandopolis zone would usually drain my will to go on with it's looping segments and light gimmik. I really enjoy being able to climb walls and access different spaces with Knuckles though! And the special stages were pretty fun.

12. Sonic the Hedgehog

Ah, the game that started it all. Classic. Green Hill Zone is fun as can be even without the spindash, but Marble Zone really takes all of that speedy fun to a halt with its small spaces and lava pits. Don't even get me started on goddamn Labrinth Zone... nothing kills my drive to continue the game than that zone. Aside from the two afformentioned zones, the rest are pretty fun!

13. Shadow the Hedgehog

I feel like this game is a bit underrated because it stars Sir Edgelord, but I enjoyed it a lot! The style and feel reminded me a lot of Sa2, and I like how your actions can affect your alignment and your ending. Unfortunantly my copy was badly scratched and I could only achieve a handful of the endings.

14. Sonic Unleashed

I only recently got this game. It's ok. I liked playing the normal stages as Sonic, but I wasn't a huge fan of the werehog stages, they just don't feel like Sonic to me. They're growing on me a little but that goddamn fight music is annoying as fuck. Sonic games are known for good music, but what do we get anytime you touch an enemy at night? Bland generic fight music that sounds like it belongs in the Incredibles or James Bond. It doesn't fit sonic at all. If something as simple as the battle music was better, I'd like this game a lot more. The werehog stages in general just don't feel like Sonic. They're slow and focus on brute strength. They could have just had Knuckles fill that role. I like a little-bit of the puzzle solving but again - Tails. Sonic doesn't need to do everything.

15. Sonic Heroes

Wow, Heroes at the bottom of my list? Shocker! I know this is a more popular one but I'm just not a fan. In theory it sounds like a good idea to handle teams of characters with different abilities, but I prefer to control these characters one at a time. I don't like constantly needing to shift between characters just to progress in one stage. I must confess, the game is growing on me however.

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secret-engima · 5 years

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Snippet of Deleantur (pt2)

(continuation from later on in this one-shot that continues to spiral out of control. Friendly summary is that Deleantur is a time-traveling Noctis who went back way further than he intended, but that’s okay since it just meant he saved the world in time to save Ardyn too. Of course, he’s the only one who knows about that time-travel bit, so other people are Very Confused at times)

Somnus was genuinely overjoyed when Deleantur finally expressed interest in fishing at a large pool they stumbled across. Because as boring as it was to wait around while Deleantur tirelessly hunted down fish with his rod and line, it was a sign of the young man he, Ardyn, and Aera had been coming to know —a sign of the brother Somnus and Ardyn were coming to love as fiercely as they ever had each other—.

Somnus even made an effort to demonstrate as much by sitting next to Deleantur on his chosen rock, watching the ripples in the water as Deleantur patiently reeled in his line again and recast in hopes of a bite, “You have a lot of patience for this.”

Deleantur hummed, “I like it.”

Somnus huffed, “Yes, but-. You aren’t this patient with other activities. It’s …” unusual, strange, interesting, “different.”

“That’s because it doesn’t hurt.”

Somnus stilled and behind him, Ardyn and Aera did too, “…Hurt?”

Deleantur gave a low noise as he adjusted his grip on his fishing pole, “Yeah.” Deleantur paused, like he was considering something, then continued, “When I was a kid, about … eight years old. I … couldn’t do a lot of stuff. It hurt too much and I was already constantly tired from the medication and the physical therapy. I didn’t want to go outside, even though they said sunshine and fresh air would help me. I didn’t want to … play or run or jump, but books were boring and heavy. So Dad took me out one day and … taught me to fish. He showed me his fishing rod and his line and his lures, taught me how to hold the rod and throw a line, then we sat there together and waited for a fish.”

Deleantur’s tone was nostalgic and Somnus didn’t dare speak, because this was the first time Deleantur had ever truly talked about his father or his childhood. Deleantur fidgeted with his reel, “I think if I’d been any other kid, it would have been boring. But it was outdoors, and I had a perfect excuse to sit still in the sunshine for hours, and … and Dad was there. Dad was teaching me. So I practiced, and I begged to go fishing whenever I could because I knew he’d come with me to show me how it was done and eventually I … loved it. It reminds me of those days. Before…” Deleantur’s voice trailed off, and breath hitched with sadness.

Ardyn, who had settled silently on Deleantur’s other side at some point in the story, asked, “Why was it so painful for you to move? Did your father not know the recipes for your powerful healing draughts?” Because potions and elixirs did not require the magic of the Crystal they’d learned, just careful selection of ingredients and even more careful preparation.

Deleantur did that gesture with his shoulders that he used so often, “Potions and elixirs only work so well. Especially when it’s … serious. If I’d gotten one as soon as it happened, maybe it would have worked, but I didn’t, so I had to recover the slow way.”

“Recover from what?”

Deleantur looked up from his fishing, considered the two of them, then reached back with one hand to tug his tunic hem up just enough to show the small of his back and a bit of his spine. Ardyn sucked in a sharp breath at the sight of the old scars stretching along the small of Noctis’s back, each at least as wide as two of Somnus’s fingers. The scars disappeared under his clothes in both directions, hinting at a size and damage larger than they could see and Somnus winced, because even he could tell that whatever had left those was … bad. They also looked distinctly like blade scars. Or possibly claws.

Ardyn reached out with a shaking hand and it was a testament to how far they’d come in earning his trust that Deleantur didn’t flinch away from the gentle touch, just went back to his fishing with a quiet, “A daemon attack. Ripped open the car. Killed the bodyguards, then took out the woman trying to get me to safety. I’m not sure if it was aiming for me that time, or if my getting caught in it was just an … accident. It was going to finish me off when my dad and his guards showed up and drove it off, but by that point the damage was done.”

Ardyn was still tracing the scars with a reverent touch, “It’s a miracle you survived this. It’s a miracle you can walk. I can only imagine-.” Ardyn stopped and went very quiet. So quiet Deleantur lowered his rod and twisted around to look at Ardyn in concern. Ardyn looked over his shoulder at Aera who was watching from a polite distance with a vaguely horrified expression, then looked back, “You are in pain, aren’t you? All the time. That’s why you limp, why you sleep so often and yet you-. All of this travel, and battle, and hard labor. Why?” Why would you do that to yourself?

Deleantur sighed and slipped his fishing rod back into armiger with a flick of his wrist, shifted to face them, “It’s my duty.”

Aera finally joined the conversation, settling down on the grass just behind their rock as she whispered, “You’ve mentioned duty before. What duty drives you to such lengths? No one knew you were of royal blood until a few months ago. Have you not already done enough?”

Deleantur shook his head, “No. No it’s-. It’s not over,” his expression folded briefly, weary and old again before it smoothed out, “it’s never going to be over. I made a promise. I’m going to fulfill it.” He shook his head again, like a man trying to clear away an inner fog, “Besides, it’s not so bad. I’m … used to it. And it’s better now,” blue eyes glanced at them through thick lashes, “I’m not alone anymore.”

Aera didn’t smile like she usually would have, just reached out her hands like Ardyn was already doing, “Can we-? May we try? To ease your pain?”

Deleantur waved their hands away, “Don’t waste your time. The scars are … old, and I’m used to them.” He blinked at their expressions and insisted, “Seriously, I’m fine. I’m used to it, and if Sy- if the healers couldn’t fix it when it was fresh, you aren’t going to be able to fix it now.”

Somnus watched the two healers of the group fuss and pout, Ardyn going so far as to wax on in a poetic way that was supposed to make Deleantur guilty enough to let him have his way, and tried to fit the newest puzzle pieces of Deleantur into place. Deleantur’s … father —not sire, because that would be Ardyn’s and Somnus’s father— must have been nobility. Deleantur had mentioned servants and guards and what must be one of his strange words for a carriage —Car? Car sounded like it was short for carriage, and Deleantur had a lot of strange words and even stranger ways of using existing words to mean things Somnus would never have associated with them—. Probably the noble of another kingdom, one of the neutral or far away ones, which would explain why Somnus’s father had never caught wind of Deleantur before now.

But that didn’t explain some of the other things he’d said previously. Or how Deleantur’s mother had met Somnus’s father if her native kingdom did not interact much with Somnus’s. That wouldn’t explain why Deleantur was traveling around here instead of his home country —and Somnus would have heard if an entire kingdom fell in the months leading up to the Wave wouldn’t he?— or who Noctis was, the mysterious King of the Crystal Deleantur had only ever mentioned once. Ardyn had brought up the possibility of Noctis being Deleantur’s elder twin brother, which might explain that part, but that still didn’t explain how they’d learned to purify the starscourge or why Deleantur hadn’t returned to his home kingdom to help out the peasants there rather than the ones here.

Not that Somnus wanted Deleantur to leave. He’d gotten attached to his mad, unexpected sibling.

Somnus’s thoughts were interrupted by a startled yelp from Ardyn and a sudden splash of water rippling up onto the rock. Somnus looked up in mild alarm. Ardyn was missing from the rock, Aera was smothering laughter into her hands and Deleantur was grinning, honest to Astrals grinning, like a child who had successfully stolen something from under the cooks’ noses, and Ardyn was-.

Resurfacing from the pond water, sputtering and sulking, violet red hair hanging in front of his face like a soaking curtain and his precious embroidered white tunic —the only royal garb Ardyn had refused to part with— already turning see-through from all the liquid it was absorbing. Somnus took several long seconds to process that Deleantur, mad, broken, usually too-serious Deleantur had just pushed Ardyn into the pond just to make him be quiet.

If it had been Somnus that had suffered such a fate, Ardyn would have immediately moved to help him out like a dutiful older brother should, checking for injuries and fussing about possible illnesses brought about by the cold water and the diseases of the pond weeds or some such nonsense. Ardyn would have smiled like a lunatic, but politely refrained from outright laughter until after Somnus was safely ensconced on dry land and dressed in fresh, dry clothes with a possibly a cup of comforting wine in hand.

Somnus, being the shamelessly cruel little brother that he was, sat there for a good two minutes pointing at Ardyn’s misery and laughing until his sides hurt.

Ardyn, who could have swum to the sloping, pebbled section of the bank and climbed out on his own at any time, chose instead to tread water and pout at them the entire time, whining melodramatically about cruel siblings and horrible fates and all the things he could fall ill of here in the water —the silly grin on his face gave it all away for the show it was—.

Ardyn eventually splashed water at the rock and Deleantur scooted to his feet to escape the assault. Somnus just snickered and leaned away from the stray droplets before finally crouching at the edge of the rock and holding out a hand for his brother, “Come on then, Brother, can’t have you suffering a watery demise just yet.” Ardyn reached out a hand and took Somnus’s and then-.

Water.

Somnus resurfaced with a spluttering squawk, flailing against Ardyn’s chest as his brother tried not to be shoved under by Somnus’s sudden submersion, “De- Deleantur!” Somnus had done nothing —much— to deserve being pushed in like that-.

There was a watery, coughing laugh just to his side and Somnus blinked past the wet hair in his eyes at … Deleantur. Treading water next to them and looking just as surprised as they were.

All three Lucis Caelums looked up to the rock … at Aera, who stood on the rock with a serene smile worthy of temple statues on her face as she fluttered her eyelashes and asked if the three of them were alright. A picture of holy innocence and decorum and kindness the filthy little liar. As if her shoulders weren’t shaking with suppressed laughter and her hands weren’t still outstretched from pushing Deleantur into Somnus in such a way as to make them both topple into the pond at the same time.

Deleantur broke the brothers’ stunned silence first, laughing so hard Ardyn and Somnus had to hold him up for fear he’d stop treading water and sink right to the bottom. They dragged each other out of the water, Deleantur still giggling helplessly like a child, and though Somnus scowled and swore revenge against Aera for her treachery, they all knew there was no real bite to his words, not when Deleantur was laughing louder and freer than they’d thought possible.

#Melodies and Manuscripts #ffxv #ffxv au fic #ardyn #somnus #noctis #aera #good guy ardyn #good guy somnus #brother feels #background ardyn x aera #these are my lovable morons now #and they will have a happy ending so help me #ffxv noctis

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rrrawrf-writes · 6 years

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michaelmas

time for my contribution to michaelmas!!!!

i almost feel like a cheat bc i rarely call rembrandt ‘michael,’ but for the record, i did name him that well before this ever became a thing, so it’s still legal :K

this is actually also an au, where instead of getting winn thrown in jail for ruining his life, michael rembrandt decides to turn the other cheek and help winn realize his childhood dream of becoming a superhero........... :)

ALSO I ALMOST FORGOT THIS IS BASED OFF A PROMPT FROM @gingerly-writing THAT I TORE UP A LIL FOR MY OWN PURPOSES

also @michael-lover-anon

“So.” Rembrandt slid onto the barstool next to Winn, peeling off black leather gloves. “What do I need to order you to solicit some help?”

Winn shouldn't have been drinking - even on his day off - but here he was anyway, his head pillowed on his arms and a single glass in front of him. Too much alcohol made his power go odd, and he guessed he was reaching that point, because he hadn't noticed Rembrandt until the man spoke.

“The whole bar,” Winn mumbled into the crook of his elbow. As always, when Rembrandt was around, his skin crawled and his legs twitched with the need to get away.

“Done,” Rembrandt said simply. He turned around on the barstool, leaning his elbows back against the counter. Even in the dim lighting, he looked thoroughly out of place here, in his usual black suit and tie and polished leather shoes. Winn, who actually worked for a living, was resplendent in a dark green sweater and jeans that were torn at the bottom.

He wanted to punch the smugness right off of Rembrandt’s face. Instead, Winn just rolled his eyes.

“What?” Rembrandt grinned, his gaze roving over Winn’s less than impressive attire. “I’m rich. Oh, and I own this bar anyway.”

Winn lifted his head at that. “Since when?” he demanded - this was one of the very few places he’d been certain Rembrandt didn't have his fingers in. It was on the edge of the city, far away from anything convenient or useful. There was literally nothing out here - except maybe the fish and chips - that could have interested someone like Rembrandt.

Rembrandt gave him a slow, cat-like smile. “Since yesterday.”

“Go screw yourself,” Winn snarled, shoving himself away from the bar and standing up. His power wavered uncertainly, along with the rest of him. “Give me a week off from Fell’s bull.”

“Done.”

Winn hesitated, then. He put a hand out to brace himself on the bar and narrowed his eyes at Rembrandt. “You’re being awfully accommodating, considering you basically exist just to ruin my life.”

“Well, that was when all I needed from you was entertainment,” Rembrandt said pleasantly. “Now I need help.”

“Entertainment?” Winn’s outraged yelp was enough to startle half the bar into looking at them. He ground his teeth together, then leaned in towards Rembrandt, his hand on the bar curling into a fist. “I don't do any of this for your entertainment.”

Rembrandt’s eyes glinted. “Don't kid yourself, Mr. Yale.”

“Get lost, Remy,” Winn snarled back. Rembrandt dropped his pleasant smile like a ton of bricks. His eyes shifted to a point over Winn’s shoulder.

Winn noticed the curling, tendril-like beginnings of one of Fell’s portals too late. It formed directly underneath him, and Winn could feel the solidity of the floor turn viscous and paper-thin. He cursed, but before he could step away, Rembrandt gave him a good shove, and Winn fell through.

He hit the ground hard on his back, knocking the wind out of him. The portal closed some three meters above his head, leaving Winn to stare at the dark ceiling of what might’ve been a subway tunnel years ago. His power automatically spread as he struggled to get in a full lungful of air, and he realized that about six meters in each direction, the tunnel ended. One side was the natural, constructed end; the other was a cave-in.

Another portal whirlpooled open over to the left, some five feet above the ground. Rembrandt fell through, landing on his feet with far more grace than Winn had managed, not even taking his hands out of his pockets for balance. Fell themself teleported in without the use of a portal, as far from Winn and Rembrandt as they could manage.

Winn coughed and rolled himself over. “Are you serious, Remy?” he snapped, shoving himself to his feet. He marked Rembrandt and Fell both with his power, backing away. “You don’t get enough of the bloody gladiator games from TV, you gotta watch us up close now?”

Rembrandt had picked up a collapsible baton somewhere along the way; he gave it an idle swing through the air. “I told you, Yale, I’m not here for entertainment,” he said coldly. “I thought I told you to stop calling me Remy.”

“Thought you told me you were gonna give me a week off from Fell,” Winn retorted. Fell didn’t say anything, not like Winn ever expected them to - he’d never heard them utter a single word in all this time, not even when Winn was lucky enough to score a real hit. They wore a black bandanna over their nose and mouth; tonight, the hood of their sweater was pulled low over their eyes, and they scuffed their shoe over the gravelly floor when Winn looked at them.

“Well, you didn’t seem amenable to my request.” Rembrandt snapped his fingers. “Don’t worry about Fell, Yale. You’re dealing with me tonight.”

Winn’s full attention locked onto Rembrandt, and he felt a chill run down his spine. The only edge he had over Rembrandt was that he was powered, and Rembrandt was not - but right now, Winn was feeling buzzed - probably past that, if he had to be honest with himself - and his power was having just enough trouble focusing that he knew he was royally screwed.

“We could’ve talked about this up there,” Winn pointed out, taking a couple steps back. His power scrambled to find him an escape route as he talked, but there wasn’t one. Winn quelled a small bubble of panic. “You don’t have to be so dramatic all the time.”

Rembrandt’s eyebrows arched. “Dramatic? Yale, I only wanted a simple yes or no. You’re the one being dramatic, throwing a temper tantrum in public like that.”

Winn scoffed. “Listen, Mikey -”

He didn’t get a chance to finish.

Rembrandt snapped forward; Winn hissed through his teeth and skipped back, stumbling a little. He knew he shouldn’t’ve gone out tonight - should’ve just gone to bed early -

He was too focused on the baton in Rembrandt’s hand that he didn’t notice Rembrandt’s kick, driving into the side of his knee. Winn staggered, swearing and bracing a hand against the wall. He was too slow to get out of the way, and so he put his arm up, instead.

The baton cracked against his forearm and part of his face regardless; Rembrandt ducked in and drove his fist into Winn’s stomach. He stepped back once Winn was on the ground, heaving for breath again.

“I’m sorry,” Rembrandt said mildly, “what were you saying?”

Winn raised his middle finger and wheezed, “Screw you.”

“Mm-hmm.” Rembrandt backed up, letting the baton hang from a cord around his wrist as he adjusted his sleeves. Winn, eyes closed, let himself lay there for a moment. Fell still hadn’t moved from their corner. “Who made you, Wings?”

Oh. They were back to this again. Winn clenched his jaw. “Your mum.”

Rembrandt crouched down on his haunches next to Winn, who tried to hide his flinch. He was still on his back on the ground, and right next to the rough stone wall; Rembrandt had him pinned. Poking Winn’s ribs with the baton, Rembrandt prompted, “Try again.”

Winn tried to push himself up into a sitting position, but Rembrandt laid the baton warningly across his chest and Winn froze, his eyes darting to the little button on the handle. Rembrandt smoothed a thumb over it in warning.

Closing his eyes, Winn flopped back against the hard ground and let out a long, slow breath. Hating himself, he bit out, “You did.”

“That’s right,” Rembrandt said quietly. “And so, who can break you?”

“You can.” Winn’s voice was flat and dull, but the response was good enough for Rembrandt, who nodded and pushed himself back up to his feet.

“I would think,” he said, turning to walk a few steps away, “you’d be more grateful to the man who helped you gain such a persona, Wings.”

Winn let out a bitter laugh as he pushed himself up into a sitting position. “All you did was make me’n’Fell fight each other on TV.”

“No,” Rembrandt said sharply, “I think I did quite a bit more than that. I made room for you both. Strongarm, Sharp, Death Valley - do you really think they just decided to pack up and move?”

Strongarm had been bribed into retirement. Sharp was dead, Winn was pretty sure; the hero had just disappeared from the streets, as far as the public was concerned, but his own personal investigations had culminated in the obituary of a young woman covered in burns in her mother’s house.

And Death Valley worked for Rembrandt now, down the coast.

Of course, Rembrandt hadn’t told either Winn or Fell any of that. They’d had to figure it out on their own.

“I get it, Remy,” Winn said tiredly.

“There wouldn’t have been any opportunity for the two of you in this city,” Rembrandt continued, “if I hadn’t arranged it.”

“We get it, Rembrandt,” Winn snapped this time. He used the wall to get back up to his feet, as Rembrandt shot him an irritated look. Taking a breath, Winn glanced over at Fell. They almost blended completely into the dark tunnel, huddling inside an oversized hoodie over form-fitting leggings.

Fighting them always felt wrong to Winn. He couldn’t be sure why - but they both owed Rembrandt, so when he arranged their little battle royales to cover up his own operations, they obliged. Winn wasn’t sure that the hype and prestige Wings was getting from it all as a supposed hero was worth this.

“Do you, Yale?” Rembrandt asked skeptically. “Because lately, all I’ve been getting from you is one ungrateful comment after another. You barely give Fell any exercise anymore. They’re getting lazy.”

Fell didn’t do much, either, Winn thought. “Don’t talk about them like that.”

Rembrandt arched an eyebrow. “Like what?”

Winn opened his mouth, but behind Rembrandt, Fell gave a quick shake of their head, eyes widening. Winn shut his mouth again, then said, “Maybe I’m not grateful because all that stuff you spouted, the fame and the money - I’m not getting any of that.”

Rembrandt scoffed. “I can only work with what I’m given, Yale, and I’m not a miracle worker. I’m giving you a chance, but you have to put in the work.” He tipped his head slightly. “You’re abrasive and antagonistic. Hero or not, no one’s going to like you when you act like that.”

He was right. As Winn remained silent, Rembrandt continued. “We’ve wasted enough time. The Liberty Guard has something in their New York branch office, Yale, I need you to get it for me.”

Winn stared at him. “No.”

The sharp look Rembrandt gave him made Winn start sidling away from the wall, so that Rembrandt couldn’t trap him against it again. “I’m not - I’m not going to steal from the Liberty Guard, Rembrandt, are you insane? The New York guard? They’ll kill me!”

“And I would be overwhelmed with sorrow to hear that,” Rembrandt deadpanned.

Winn ground his teeth. “I can’t.”

“No, I think you can,” Rembrandt said. “You’ve stolen from Wildcard - they’ll be a cakewalk in comparison. What’s the real reason, Yale?”

“There isn’t one,” Winn snapped, “Except they think I’m a bloody hero, what d’you think they’ll do if I’m found out?”

Rembrandt looked unconvinced. “Yale, you’ve been up to New York three times in the past two months alone. You aren’t even up there to help them with their own problems.”

“Maybe I just like New York,” Winn said.

“You don’t.” Rembrandt narrowed his eyes, and then let out a single, sharp laugh of disbelief. “Did you make some friends?”

“Screw you,” Winn snapped. Rembrandt grinned at him, hands on his hips.

“You did. Or are you just trying to? Mewling at their door like those little lost animals you like to adopt so much? Hoping they’ll take in a little stray like you.”

Winn, scowling, stalked down the side of the tunnel, towards Fell’s space. Maybe he could get them to teleport him out of this bloody hole in the ground.

Rembrandt took two steps towards him and Winn flinched, stumbling over a chunk of debris. Rembrandt snorted.

“Are you lonely, Yale?” he asked, “or is this just a bid to get out from under my thumb?”

Winn put his back to Rembrandt, teeth clenched so hard his jaw ached, and tried his level best to ignore him. Get me out of here, he mouthed at Fell, but they just shrank into their sweater and shook their head. When Winn got a few steps closer, Fell dissipated into black smoke, inky against the dim shadows of the tunnel, and then reformed at the opposite end. Winn couldn’t help but throw a curse at them.

Rembrandt stepped up behind Winn. Instead of moving away, Winn forced himself to stay put, staring furiously at the heap of rubble and dirt that blocked him from running.

“You don't have friends for a good reason, Winn,” Rembrandt said quietly. “You're a tool. In every definition of the word possible. At best, they tolerate you because they need you.”

“Shut up,” Winn snarled over his shoulder. “Can you not go one day with being a stuck-up prick?”

He picked up mentally on Rembrandt’s movement, and didn't realize it was a feint as he jerked to the side, his reflexes - along with his power - far too dulled to be dealing with this. Rembrandt’s foot swept his ankles just as Winn stepped, and he hit the ground again. Hard.

“You want a day off from me?” Rembrandt asked, standing over him. He smiled thinly. “Done. Fell, give me a portal.”

“Wait, what?” Winn started to push himself up, but then Rembrandt pulled his foot back and swung it directly into Winn’s face.

“Fuck!” Winn shouted, rolling over - partially from the blow, partially to keep from Rembrandt kicking him again. He cupped his hand over his face, blood already spilling out of his nose; behind him, Rembrandt stalked over to the portal Fell had opened.

“I’ll be back,” Rembrandt glanced at his wristwatch, “at 11:39 tomorrow night. One full day, Wings, just like you asked.”

Winn swore and shoved himself up to his feet - and then stumbled back to his knees again, dizzy and nauseous. “Wait - Wait, please, Remy -”

“Don’t call me that.” Rembrandt turned to look squarely at Winn, the black portal swirling behind him. “Why don’t you give your new friends a call? Surely they’ll come to your rescue.”

Winn gritted his teeth, tasting blood inside his mouth, as well as on his lips, feeling it dribble from a cut on his cheek from where the heel of Rembrandt’s shoe had struck him.

They wouldn’t come. They wouldn’t come help Winn, and Rembrandt knew it.

“Twenty-four hours, Winn, down to the second. Then we’ll see what your answer is.”

“It’s fuck you!” Winn snarled, against every single instinct in his brain that screamed at him to stop, to make peace, just enough to get him out of here -

Rembrandt just smiled, stepped backwards into the portal, and disappeared.

#iwrite #rembrandt #violence tw #swearing #winn #superpowerverse #au #winn is a cape???verse #tw rembrandt

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olivertreespirit-blog · 5 years

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the elven chronicles

**so maybe if anyone likes this it’ll actually get published some day.. it’s i suppose my first real jab at writing, here goes then**

the elven chronicles

by oliver treespirit ~

the elven chronicles prologue the journey of the queen olympia

chapter 1 limberdore

in limberdore the eldritch drarves carve thistlewood into woven hearths and dip them in the golden waters that are enchanted by the goodess eldra whose temple is at the edge of the woods this allows them to be lit as torches and burned for all time until extinguished; any that have her blessing within the city have this gift it is not the only reason many travelers come to limberdore; the shops are known for their fine craftsmen merchants of all from weapons to worldly delicacies and this place attracts all kinds as they say from eccentric collectors to hodgepodge peddlers as well as some nasty sorts the eldritch dwarves and their children live in the wooded city; so it is of course the city center and the pubs and shrines that gather odd bits and pieces from across the strange and magnificient nine realms like some sort of cosmic tub drain it is in this bizarre centre that we meet our players

the tall bearded man is marko; his ship has been wrecked after a pirate attack in the serpent seas though his crew has abandoned him as is the natural course in these businesses to easily find work in a centre as bustling as limberdore, he has managed to pick up a stray- a small girl who insists that her father told her to talk to him, but also that her father is dead the dejected captain is of course convinced the girl is mad but thinks better than to hand a mad child over to just anyone in the centre of limberdore so he's decided to table this problem over the issue of his ship the girl, who claims her name is elexa, continues babbling on enthusiastically about chasing butterflies in the forest and times her father would sing to her old elven folk songs it was drifting in and out of marko's consciousness that it was strange that her father knew elven folk songs, but it would be even stranger if her father had been elvish or even something of the sort, because elves and humans had not coexisted since the days of magic marko's father had been a child in the days of magic; he told enthralling stories of battling dragons and falling in love with enchanting sirens in the forest

it was as they approached the pub a new player entered the scene; a rather broad and staturely gentleman was, rather painfully shyly, being thrown out of the tavern and the situation was somehow escalating marko saw a pair of men in uniforms that were not official to her sovereign district of limberdore and looked as if they'd just lost badly in a game of shufflebout and were out for revenge against the world, draw their sabres on the man towering over them who appeared to be pleading like a child, only to hurdle them across the center of the street and into the carts of the merchants on the edge of the road, who each had their own men in out-of-jurisdiction uniform who proceeded to chase the baffled previous men off the fellow who seemed to have caused all the trouble was by this point in tears what's the matter big guy? markos attempted. elexa was more successful. that mean guy try to overcharge you again taiga? every time, taiga managed between sniffles this time i tried to trick him by ordering the same thing but he said it went up you shouldn't come here i know, but the stuff i make at home doesn't taste good i'll help you next time you know this man? markos interrupted you know elexa? taiga countered not really.. markos needs new hands for his ship. how would you like a job taiga? i promise this guy seems nice taiga looked contemplative we could get a new raincatcher yeah!... the thought briefly crossed markos' mind that taiga and elexa were roommates of some sort, a thought which he found even stranger than elexa's father being involved with elves or taiga's restraint against men he was head and shoulders taller than which meant ultimately that markos had more issues to table in preference to the ever-more pressing issue of his ship, wandering in a strange town and having picked up apparently two children- an issue which at this time decided to release itself from his head, perhaps if only in a desperate attempt to clear up space for all the new and complicated thoughts and problems that were entering it how the bloody hell am i supposed to get a new ship!? i thought you said he was nice nice people still swear sometimes having found no answer to his quandary in the sky, markos turned at last to his new traveling companions do either of you know where to find a ship in this centre? or how im supposed to pay for it if i've been robbed by pirates?! i'm sorry, that's awful- taiga blurted elexa watched the space between them solemnly; she had already expressed her condolences to markos tirelessly over the beginning length of their long journey from where he had washed up on the shores of limber grove markos seemed to breath heavily for a moment, with the look of a man who has realized he has been accidentally carrying a strangers purse from the journey depot a look of realization seemed to creep across his face, perhaps spurred on by what he was beginning to consider might be an attempt by these new involvements in his life to drive him to madness or else defeat him entirely why am i going to limberdore?... my ship hasn't sunk.. it's only all banged up, but there was timber and birch to repair it in the groves ...what am i doing here?!? elexa chose this moment to break the silence i told you to come to limberdore, remember? it's my fault i'm sorry you asked me where to go when you woke up; but you didn't tell me the ship was okay taiga looked interested of course it's okay! i remember now i mustve... fallen overboard when i blacked out after it washed up on the rocks it's only a little ways from shore! will you hire taiga then? and can i come too? markos looked for a moment like he was in the path of a noble's grand wide carriage taiga.. seems like he would make a good hand, of course taiga smiled i need to get you home to your parents little lady taiga frowned a little, sympathetically i told you, my father's dead and what about your mother? where is your mother? taiga looked at elexa, as if he knew she thought for a second candlethire that's why i need to come with you on your ship the look in taiga's eyes told markos the girl was telling the truth he paused, then sighed heavily i'm not going to candlethire where are you going? i... don't know... i have no shipment... i suppose anywhere i can send a message to my freelancers and tell them to file with the crown for the standard piracy cushion can we go to candlethire please? it was painfully obvious taiga wanted to go too it is... the other side of the world can we stop somewhere to tell your bosses you're sorry and then go to candlethire? please? ... it was at this moment markos felt something that he had not felt since the last day he had spoken to his father before he died a sense of... peace in the face of those things which are beyond our control happening as he looked out over the ocean of silsivar, he wondered where the feeling had come from i... will recieve my pirates insurance when i send the misage, while my freelancers will have to wait the day... so if i receive no work by the time we reach a port we can send the misage, i will have time to take you to candlethire markos was surprised and almost horrified that the words had come out of his mouth, but a small familiar.. trustworthy voice told him it was alright taiga certainly seemed pleased; for a second in fact he almost looked markos in the eye to candlethire then! aye!! elexa screamed enthusiastically yes sir, taiga sounded off proudly markos couldn't help but smile, and then wonder if he had hit his head on the way being washed up on shore do any of you know anything about repairing a boat? my daddy taught me how to make toy boats, elexa offered i'm good at making things, i make all sorts of things dogs fish cats trees groundhogs dragons airhoppers frogs funny faces... it was at this moment markos realized that taiga would probably continue at least until they reached the ship and had something else to focus on elexa was watching silently with the look of a patron who knows every word by memory, beaming proudly lobsters, electric fish, sea serpents, toads (which kind of look like frogs but they're different) rats, squirrels, kittens... markos could not remember even remotely how long it had taken to walk to the city centre from the shores of limber grove

chapter 2 limber grove

within two hours the good ship queen olympia looked better and more elegant than it had the day markos bought it markos had spent most of the time bringing wood vines and other supplies to taiga elexa had provided the cheerleading section in everything you listed on the way here from limberdore, markos panted, you never mentioned ships taiga beamed what he had done was not only mended and reinforced the broken structures, but the entire ship, and added a few decorative flairs that markos could tell were gathered from more than one local culture markos was in actual fact most proud of the medalion that now hung from queen olympia herself's wooden neck, bearing the ancient insignia of limberdore- not the new one the duke merchant was putting on all the carts it was considered a proud relic throughout the world and have random berries custard for breakfast! elexa interrupted the two's silent bonding moment absolutely, markos blurted, realizing after the fact what he'd agreed to but to his relief the other two seemed to let him get away with it are we going to candle thire now? just as soon as we stop at a port with a royal misage station... i have to check my map in the cabin but if i recall, the nearest to this isle is the island of darmwort, and should be about a day or two's distance than what are we waiting for ?! yay! taiga agreed neither of you have anyone to say goodbye to or anything to collect from the village? a look of silent understanding seemed to pass between elexa and taiga we could say goodbye to the raincatcher... she offered we have to find your mom, taiga answered elexa looked resolved. and we'll get a new raincatcher, she volunteered yeah, taiga agreed, one that doesnt leak the beginning of the journey until sunset was rather quiet, when taiga and elexa managed to find rooms that suited their unique tastes in the now vacant crews quarters and retire for the night, and markos stayed awake to watch the helm, as well as the stars as he was fond of doing he knew he was tired from the chaotic day, and he figured maybe it was just him but he felt as if the entire evening elexa and taiga had shared in some kind of... mourning for a lost love in the face of duty he hadn't thought much about their raincatcher, he had one on the ship he'd had to replace just the other weeks'time

chapter 3 lagoon silsivas

markos had encountered winds as good as the ones that bore them to the port of darmwort by noontime the next day (which was around the time taiga and elexa were each waking up) but not for many a long while, and as he passed the marker island in the morning he muttered a prayer of thanks to the men's god of his childhood village, seamor. are we there yet? elexa mumbled sleepily while taiga amused himself cooking eggs on the cabin stove we will be quite soon actually, we're early, said markos yay and then candlethire! the epic weight of the word seemed to hang in the air markos thought to himself candlethire was literally the opposite side of the world- the world of acaemia was in fact flat, or rather the flat bottom surface of a dormant volcano the size of a small celestial body acaemia's creation fables tell of its atmosphere and cooled oceans coming from long past volcanic eruptions some of some past world but you get the idea markos and his former crew had navigated the pace streams around the edge of acaemia to reach limberdore early at his freelancers' request, though that trick was still sometimes used by pirates he could use a similar approach to reach candlethire at latest by the end of the week, as opposed to the weeks at least it would take to sail through the middle he needed only to cut the distance to the inner edge winds from darmwort of course, the same stratagem had lost him his ship to pirates only the day before, and now he was traveling with a crew he wasn't sure would be about themselves in a fight on the high seas however... he felt that same strange feeling he had felt when he originally agreed to take them to candlethire he was also becoming more and more aware of a sense of urgency about reaching elexa's mother he was beginning to unspokenly share with her and taiga he couldn't place his finger on it, but it made him wonder why she hadn't reached out to anyone else in the village or perhaps she had anyway, the answer he gave was that after the station at darmwort they would sail toward the inner edge winds, which would take them to candlethire in four to six days, maybe seven elexa was so overjoyed she began leaping and dancing around the deck, and markos found himself surpisingly impressed at her seemingly intuitive sealegs taiga dropped an entire tray of eggs in sudden delight at the news, and was almost let down before he proceeded to emerge from the kitchen with three remaining or extra trays of eggs breakfast!

chapter 4 darmwort

the station at darmwort was no trouble, and markos even received extra pirates compensation because he had had to repair his ship out of port he knew that it wouldn't hurt his business in the future either because the goods he'd been carrying through potentially pirate waters were replaceable at best; teas, burning oils, tobaccos, spices, casting sands... perhaps that was why he felt strangely at peace about the idea of sailing back into the inner edge winds with a crew comprised of a lumbering jack-of- all-trades who probably couldn't hurt a fly, and a sparkle-eyed little girl who probably would take on the world it was on the way out of the port of darmwort that the first vibes of tension began to creep into the air- a black sailed ship, with no flag, after some amount of time it became clear had been following them from the harbor at first markos thought nothing of it, they could easily be taking the same path he was from port to reach the inner edge winds and after it became clear, at least in everyone's emotions that something was amis, there wasn't anything he could really do about it no one spoke as the suspense hung in the air, and the black-sailed ship drew ever-slowly closer in the distance it was about the time they could make out the faces of some of the crew the ship finally raised a flag markos froze elexa, taiga, get below deck, he muttered absently pirates

chapter 5 the inner edge winds

on the high seas, each man is responsible for his own weapons; and since markos usually sailed with a properly fitted crew, that meant that he had one, a silvered blunderbuss enchanted by an eldritch shaman to almost never miss it didn't do much good if he was outnumbered and the ships cannon wouldn't do too much good either at this point; debris might even hit the queen olympia so markos held his ground, shaking, as only one pirate stepped onto the deck of his just-repaired ship we've come to give this back, he moaned, it is our right; we have made sacrifice to the pirate goddess she-ra it is once again your burden with that, he handed markos what to his memory was a cheap trinket from one of the shops at his last shipment port, bowed, and retreated back to the black-sailed ship, which hastily sailed away after an unknown time of stunned and confused silence, markos called elexa and taiga back on deck you're alright! what happened?? taiga seemed to silently agree they... returned what they had stolen, as pirates will sometimes do, according to their mythology... it has happened to me before, with a shipment of royal gems that a price was then placed on... but i don't know what this is tabby! elexa blurted who? she seemed to correct herself. it's not.. but.. it looks like a toy i had when i was little, i named her tabby markos was not quite sure what to make of that statement do you have any idea what this is or where it came from? my daddy got mine for me in candlethire an untraceable silence seemed to hang in the air it was broken when the ship suddenly accelerated, causing all on board to almost lose their footing hold on, markos assumed his captain's role instinctively, we're entering the inner edge winds in what seemed like perhaps a minute the ship was practically skimming the surface of the water, a thrill markos knew as an experienced sailor of acaemia but which taiga and elexa had never experienced whoooooo!!!!! elexa stretched her arms outward at the top stern of the ship, like the figure of the good queen olympia riding the same surf below her taiga seemed troubled that they were going so fast you know where we're going right? it's mostly sea until candlethire, we might pass a few islands.. smooth sailing, we're well prepared having stocked up in darmwort taiga was not reassured i don't like when things around me are changing too quickly markos nodded, ponderingly; elexa announced from her proud vantage point that an island was approaching do you think it has monkeys? it might, markos volunteered, but we have to get to candleshire i knowwwwwww, elexa retorted, i've just never seen monkeys, my father said they live on islands they do, markos agreed, but only some islands and i don't know if that one has any monkeys than it's not worth stopping anyway elexa concluded right then markos saluted next stop candleshire at this taiga smiled, then seemed to think for a second and resolvedly returned below deck this left markos to keep elexa company, as she gazed out over the ocean flying beneath her feet so how long do you think until we reach candleshire now? she asked we've only been sailing a day, markos defensively countered but how far are we? i don't know, we could see if that island was on the map what do you remember about it? you didn't know if it had monkeys right, markos agreed, we'll check if we've passed the island without monkeys yet elexa silently agreed

do you think we'll find my mom at candleshire? markos realized that the thought had not until this point crossed his mind why shouldn't we? he asked. you told me that's where she was yeah, but i don't know where. i only know that she's in candleshire and daddy's.... she trailed off i'm sorry don't be sorry, he's in a much better place, was all she had to say markos began to wonder who or what exactly he'd brought aboard his ship, on a free journey no less he decided to change the subject and attempt to answer those questions which he felt were his place to ask so all you know about this little... trinket is that it reminds you of a toy your father got you from candleshire? uhuh, tabby, my best friend what can you tell me of candleshire? it's where mommy is don't you know anything about candleshire? don't you? i... don't really... i've never been to candleshire, in fact i can't remember if there had been anything from one of the ports there in that shipment i know mommy and daddy met in candleshire oh? yes but that was before they had me ... where were you born? i don't remember you don't remember? because i've never known, my mommy and daddy wouldn't tell me where i was born, but i lived and grew up in hodgebridge, near limber grove where i met taiga uhuh... and... what happened? if... you don't mind my asking... mother went to candleshire... when my father died. she said she would come get me or send for me when she found a home there... a startling reality slowly began to sink in upon markos you're... you're half-elven, aren't you, elexa? ..yes, i am... my mother... candleshire is an elven village that's true, at least, it was.. before my mother and father left to have me there was another deep and thoughtful silence those hired thugs' swords at the tavern.. you did that my mother taught me what else can you do? i can tell you what you're thinking right meow did you just say right meow? right meow? yes right meow! you mean just meow? meow?!?!? i did not say right meow just meow you did that on purpose didn't you mhm~ ...okay, so what am i thinking right now? you're thinking that it's just your luck you've managed to find a couple of crazy kids to give a free ride to after losing your shipment to those pirates. you'd rather just take the insurance and have your rightful island vacation how did you do that? my mommy was better at it than me, i could never lie to her... no, i imagine not, markos laughed at a moment, elexa suddenly smiled at him, which took him off guard i'm glad you're taking us to candleshire, she said gratefully of course, i couldn't have you wandering the streets of limberdore looking for some other total stranger to follow around all day this time elexa laughed so when will we get to candleshire? markos sighed lightly at morning light we'll be able to scout for landmarks that should tell us how much of the distance around the edge we've covered so far yay! thank you again markos ~ with that, she followed taiga downstairs with a yawn, and markos suddenly realized that the sun had set since they'd been talking he shrugged to himself and quietly resumed his vigil by the helm and the stars when he was young, markos' father had always watched the stars with him, pointing out the constellations of course now as a sailing captain markos knew them all by heart, but he still remembered them as if his father were teaching him that was why he never felt lonely on those nights watching the helm

chapter 6 the isle of floating rocks

when elexa and taiga sleepily wandered out of their rooms the next morning, markos was beaming we had exceptional winds yesterday to get us to darmwort, but this takes all of the cakes! i told you the best we could do candleshire in was four days? well we are half-way there! elexa was brought to the point of tears by this news, and markos felt himself become all the more proud of his ship taiga reacted with a look of horror, which was immediately versed that's not right! he shouted. how did we sail two days in one night? we didn't taiga, we sailed most of yesterday too, but we have made really good time nooo nooooo noooooo nooooooooo noooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!! taiga ranted can't anyone see we're not where we're supposed to be!?!?! elexa's eyes were still wet, but a look of concern began to spread across her face as she looked at taiga taiga, what's wrong? markos attempted look around us!!!!!! taiga shouted desperately i am, i'm a captain, remember, we're in the sourdritch vicinity, we passed elmer island a little while ago; these waters are friendly and safe to swim in no no no no no no no no noooooo!!!!!!!!!!!! taiga ranted again, and at this point it was clear that he was having some kind of emotional breakdown he suddenly caught markos' gaze firmly, which made markos realize that taiga had not made eye contact with him since he came on the ship i asked if you knew where we were going, not where we were markos paused for a second then they both turned and looked at elexa, who was still in tears, but the look in her face had grown from one of surprised joy to fragile madness she was trembling of course i know.. where we're going... last night while you two were asleep, we passed the isle of floating rocks, which lies under the constellation hysteros... elexa... taiga pleaded she answered him, finally, in a terrified whisper i wanna find my mommy taiga markos suddenly felt as if someone were standing right behind him the isle of floating rocks isn't beneath the constellation hysteros... we use it to set our compasses by the north star. the isle of floating rocks lies under the north star... taiga and elexa both looked at markos, silently someone sailed under the constellation hysteros as they passed the isle of floating rocks... in a myth... a myth my father told me... the question that hung silently in the air was shared on all three faces the island of living dreams

chapter 7 the island of living dreams

living dreams don't sound so bad, elexa offered, shakingly not dreams, markos responded, not like daydreams or fantasies, or only good dreams... in the myth, hysteros found his dream, because his only pure intention was to be reunited with a lost love... but his entire crew perished at the hands of their worst nightmares elexa looked like she wasn't sure if she was laughing crying or screaming at this time everyone suddenly realized that she was clutching the mysterious trinket from the night before tightly in her hands taiga broke the silence taking everyone off guard you did this elexa! he shouted no i would never!!! than it did!!! i think... you're right... she barely whispered markos all but slapped his hand to his mouth as he realized the words that he let escape it land sighted taiga rushed to the edge of the ship no.... he murmered. it's coming... don't think about it!!! markos screamed whatever it is don't think about it!!! just think happy thoughts!!! it's too late it's here!!!!!!!!!! a massive sea serpent, almost equal in diameter to the ship itself, and easily six times as long, slithered out of the water beneath them, ever upward, towering taller and taller above them no taiga! fight it! markos pleaded desperately how can i fight it it's right there?!?!?!?! the serpent lowered it's massive head to simply glare the three trembling sailors in the eye it grinned, evily as if some sort of mist had begun to pour unsensably from the creatures nostrils, the vines and birch embraiding the good ship queen olympia began to warp stretch and break, as if they were shriveling in a matter of seconds no! taiga pleaded, sunkenly my ship!!! markos screamed as taiga's hard work vanished, the ship itself began to warp and twist, it's wood colors darkening and massive splinters seeming to grow from the planks the ship began to rise out of the water, growing into a terrifying jagged peak, or perhaps it was being held aloft by the watery dragon the sails now bore jolly rogers markos whirled on taiga you're doing this!!! no!! it's the monster!!! taiga gasped no it's you!!!! this is your worst fear!!!! oh what your worst fear is my ship getting wrecked?!?!?! mine too!!!!!!!! no.... taiga, how could you? there was a look of ominous darkness in elexa's eyes the two had never seen before you said you'd help me find my mommy. you said you'd help me find me mommy!!!!!!!!!! the sky rumbled, and taiga fell to his knees you're not real, he whispered nothing lasts forever, the serpent whispered back including my fears!!!!!!!!!!!!!! taiga lept from the edge of the ship, just beneath the towering dragons mouth it was at this moment markos and elexa managed to snap back to reality or out of the dragon's spell long enough to follow, and find taiga, of all places, in a field of wildflowers how did you know we'd be safe if we jumped overboard? everything was changing. not just my new home... everyone... people i thought i could trust or who would never hurt me the place that had been the scariest had to be the safest place now their moment of peace was broken by a voice from across the meadow a feminine voice markos, it called is that... your mother? he asked elexa then why would she be calling you? she whispered the lady who emerged from the forest was beautiful, like a drawing out of a book of mythology or poetry she kept eye contact with markos the entire time, as she strode effortlessly across the prarie- strewn meadow markos, it's me. the one you love taylia i've come to take you home markos. we'll be together again taylia... i really can't... i have friends over... c'mon my love, let's go home taylia... we parted ways back in barldoor... i'm willing to forget the past if you are my love you know there are still times you miss me markos suddenly had to admit to himself that there were still times he missed her, but he suddenly realized that taiga and elexa were nowhere to be seen he whirled to catch sight of them far back in the clearing where they had been resting, and realize that he had unconsciously followed his former lover to the edge of the glade they were shouting to him but he couldn't make out what they were saying he felt his gaze pulled suddenly back into the eyes of taylia, who was standing on the other side of the trees now come, my one true love, she purred, be mine again markos suddenly stumbled forward, struggling to catch himself on the branches and finding himself stuck within moments he realized that he could not move at all, and the branches were not normal tree branches but actually the massive strands of a giant spider's web he turned to face taylia's body mounted upon the legs of a giant spider, its claws wrapping him into the webbing i want to mate with you, she crooned to him, and i want to eat you, because you're mine!!!! her fangs pierced the sides of his neck, growing as his vision became more blurry to appear more like massive jaws, and everything went black

when markos came to, he was walking along a dimly torch-lit tunnel, in what he could not tell if was a man-made or natural cave. his hand was held by a tall lady in a dark robe who was guiding him for a second markos started to run, then realized when he looked the women in the eye that she was not taylia in fact- she was elvish i can only guide you a short ways longer, her voice seemed to reassure him just remember to trust in love to overcome your fears it was then that they came to a brighter lit clearing in what seemed to be the center of the cave, and markos saw elexa and taiga gathered around a warm fire mommy! i'll see you soon love, she all but whispered, and was gone

markos joined taiga and elexa by the fire is it safe here? he asked uhuh, taiga volunteered, no neat-freak attacks markos chuckled, slowly relaxing onto the floor of the cave

chapter 8 the coastal drifts

when markos awoke, he realized, first of all, that he had not gone to sleep since he had been shipwrecked and secondly, that he was in his cabin, aboard the good queen olympia he was relieved for a second, then rushed up the stairs frantically to find elexa and taiga in the kitchen, having breakfast he rushed past them to the front of the ship, which was once again skimming along the suface of the inner edge winds water way, and climbed over the stern to the headpiece, queen olympia- which still bore the ancient insignia of limberdore markos entered the kitchen, partly relieved but still shaken. taiga and elexa met his gaze enough to let him know that it was them how'd we get back on the ship? he asked aimlessly i guess we must've had good dreams, elexa offered where are we? according to your map we're passing through the coastal drifts, taiga volunteered, -now- we're halfway to candleshire markos smiled

a sudden look of concern fell across his face where's the trinket? taiga and i looked all morning, we can't find it anywhere on the ship, elexa answered maybe we left it behind ... you still have no idea what it was? tabby was my best friend, but i don't know what that was, no, she answered i see, markos replied the room once again fell into silence

elexa finally broke it taiga doesn't know which islands have monkeys either, she dejectedly stated markos all but burst out laughing. monkeys are a rare and illusive breed, he countered like good sea captains! hey! at this the room burst into laughter, to once again fall into silence but a noticeably more peaceful one the ship continued to skim its way along the inner edges toward candleshire

chapter 9 memories of hodgebridge

that evening once again found markos entertaining elexa at the stern of the queen olympia, as taiga was adding something to the helm that he said in his theory would give markos a sort of auto-pilot only enjoyed by much higher-end ships after he had confessed that the only island he knew of which might have monkeys was one a traveling old sea peddler told him he had gotten a pet monkey from, but the man might've gotten the monkey on sale at another stand, and they concluded they would go to that island after they found elexa's mother at candleshire, markos rather awkwardly approached the perhaps rather awkward question elexa... what can you tell me about... your mother, or your childhood, or candleshire, or, anything... i feel ashamed that i don't understand anything, he managed elexa nodded not many know much of the elves, she sighed, there are so few of us my parents said that's why lots of people believed breeding with humans was one way to save them, even though it was becoming... frowned upon even before the end of the days of magic my mother and father loved each other; they just wanted a life for our family markos nodded in return my childhood was... lonely... hodgebridge was between a few human and elven settlements, so for awhile i would have friends that only knew one or another of my parents... but that couldn't last when i started to show ...show? she pulled back her unnaturally long (beautiful) tangled, messy hair to reveal the perfectly pointed ears of any elven princess mhm, markos nodded so even my elven friends became suspicious when they could never meet my father... markos listened ...people treated me like there was something wrong with me. my whole life people have treated me like there's something wrong with me. it's the same way with taiga; i think that's why we're friends... what other powers do you have? markos realized after he asked it how silly the question was and that now he would only make it worse if he added anything elexa smiled if i were a pure-blood elf, like my mother, i would have telekinetic abilities... as me i can only tweak things a little bit, like someone's grip or footing or maybe the needle of a compass -have you ever tried it? no, my mommy said that was what i should try if i ever wanted to try to hone my telekinetic abilities.. she said magnetism was the easiest force to overcome uhuh, markos continued listening you know i can read your thoughts, i'm almost as good at that as my mommy that's kinda weird actually, markos stammered no it isn't, elexa insisted, because you're a good guy i didn't like limberdore markos understood why this girl who had apparently lived on her own or with her friend taiga had followed him from limber grove that day now i don't know what to say, he struggled i knew my mommy could rescue you in the cave, she interjected how?.. ..your worst fear was love, because you'd experienced love that wasn't real markos was silenced i've experienced love that is real; my mommy and daddy's love for each other and me, no matter what anybody thought that's how i knew she could rescue you markos finally spoke i think you rescued me, he managed, tears in his eyes elexa smiled again no, i just called for my mommy markos laughed at himself, teary-eyed, as the words once again escaped his lips do you have any other powers? i have one that only half-elven children have... oh?... yes... but it's silly and? sometimes... i can predict the future... but i'm no good i can never tell for sure until it happens, she stammered to explain markos was floored you can tell.. the future? have you done this before? once when i was really little, i said the milkman was going to come early because of some aldrevian holiday they would be taking off, and my parents didn't know or remember, but the milk came early... i just knew that it would, the milkman explained the holiday to all of us but my parents were more convinced than me that i had told the future, i thought i just liked milk ... have you had any... thoughts like this, about our journey? to candleshire? that's how i know i'll find my mommy there wait a second... i thought you said she went to candleshire yes, when my father died. i haven't heard from her but i know she's there now. and i knew you could take us there when you washed up in limber grove markos wasn't sure quite how to respond to that, but he resolved that by this point he should trust the girl and i knew we had to find her, she finished why? markos asked before the full weight of what she had just said hit him because i feel like she's in trouble... elexa suddenly whimpered markos was shaken when she went to candleshire... it was a keystone in the rising war between elves and humans ..is that still going on??? only in some parts of the world, but i'm afraid yes.. it says enough that there's no safe place for someone like me markos nodded understandingly what about candleshire? i don't know. i only know we'll find my mother there. markos drew a deep breath in sharply. then we have to get to candleshire. it's almost morning now. we'll be there tomorrow really? have we been up all night? i guess so, we did sleep pretty late yesterday.. it gets harder to tell day from night in the coastal drifts mhm, elexa understood i did a terrible job, taiga rushed up and blurted, frustratedly what's the matter? nothing's wrong with the ship is it? no, but you were supposed to be able to steer it from anywhere taiga that's not what- now, for some weird reason, the ship is steering itself, and i give up on inventing with that, taiga stormed below deck to his room, leaving a stunned markos and elexa to enjoy the just dimly emerging stars together

chapter 10 candleshire

it was the morning the crew arrived at the shores of candleshire markos was feeling the same sense of instinctive pride he always felt when his ship had safely completed a journey; although he was brought down and concerned a bit because elexa seemed only worried about something taiga was glad to almost be back on solid ground, but he clearly shared whatever sentiments elexa was silently expressing markos broke the silence we're almost there, he announced, where do we find your mum? elexa seemed to think for a second if we explore the city, we may find her or hear something about her, or i may feel something about where she is when we get close... i used to always be able to find my parents when we'd be out wandering in the woods alright then, markos continued to debate, the problem with that is none of us know anything about candleshire it's unwise for any crew to enter territory they're unfamiliar with elexa and taiga answered with silence so... markos struggled to think you could tell them you're our father, elexa managed what? you could tell anyone who asks you're taiga's and my father, and we're in town to find our mother how will that... we have to go in, markos markos was taken aback by the girls sudden insistence alright, we can try that.. should we give them a name or? elexa looked truly caught off guard she used a number of human names.. and her elven name was... maybe it's best to not even bring that up unless we have to elexa and taiga agreed at least until we find out where we are. but i suppose we could pass as a family... it makes more sense than the crew of a pirate ship why are we pirates now? taiga joked i don't know, we're not merchants, i don't have anything in my storeroom except eggs and maple syrup apparently at this elexa and taiga laughed warmly, and markos found himself joining in

alright then, he finally interrupted we are now reaching the shores of candleshire

to be continued in the elven chronicles part ii, tales of candleshire

the elven chronicles book i tales of candleshire

chapter 1 the everyever

the everyever is a creature residing in the misty mountains of candleshire, told in ancient mythologies to be somewhere between a dragon or a spirit, or some breed of both; it will answer anything you wish to know, providing you say its name correctly upon first meeting its gaze of course, elexa knew about this mythological creature from a dream "how would we even find this creature if it does exist in legend as you say?" markos debated "elexa's dreams have been right before," taiga volunteered "we just have to go into the misty mountains," she answered, "i feel like.. we'll find it, or it will find us if we do" "i don't like the idea of it will find us," markos countered. "i'd rather we find a nice port with a decent tavern" "but it's a way to find my mommy," elexa pleaded markos could not by this time in their journey bear to see elexa despair "well, 'tis morning light; there is no better time to set out scouting. we're sure to find a place to moor the boat it won't be bothered and perhaps we'll find a way to the city..." "thank you, markos!" markos caught when he had a second to think about it that elexa was beginning to talk about the everyever as a kind of imaginary friend, or moreover a friend she had to find, who had become just as important as finding her mother the city of candleshire, as it appeared from a safe neutral distance, was a towering stone beige castle set in the center of a hollowed-out mountain that had been a long-since dormant volcano the glistening city was now older than the volcano itself had been when it was built off the shores of candleshire naturally were strewn folliage and trees and even a few little volcanic islands at the edges that you could very well use to cross over into candleshire if you had landed or lived on one of these islands that was the idea at least; it was much safer than trying to directly enter the city, from an unmarked sailing ship no less now the idea had become to make land in this general vicinity, in the forests that were at the edge of the mountain of candleshire itself, inward they would arrive in the misty mountains

in fact, having made it past all that they ended up finding the everyever before they realized they were in the misty mountains elexa found it first, as she was gazing out across the edge of the cliff trail at a grand majestic waterfall; she suddenly felt almost as if someone in front of her were breathing heavily she stepped back to refocus her glance and saw that the everyever was exactly half dragon half spirit; a blue misty watery dragon that was all but transparent, like a ghost in the sky "guys, i found it," she chirped "where is it??" "you can't see it?" "no.." elexa thought for a second "try this. do you notice how this waterfall kinda looks like a dragon?" "yeah... is that.. it?" "uhuh," the everyever smiled, observing its new visitors "we want to find my mommy in candleshire," elexa blurted markos winced, and taiga continued to squint in awe, but the creature smiled "i know my child, but first one of you must call me by my true name." "we have more than one chance," markos jumped in, "let's each try. I'll go first." he approached the phantom dragon "everyey-" he stopped, having faltered, and whirled with a look of only slight disdain "it's a tongue twister," he informed the group like any captain taiga thought "may i practice?" "you may," was the dragon's answer taiga turned his back on the fantastic vision and repeated to himself under his breath, "everyever, everyever, everyever..." he turned around finally, and proclaimed, "everyever." the dragon paused "i'm sorry, that is not my true name." taiga looked defeated, and markos looked for a second as if he were about to actually fight a dragon for elexa, when she interjected, "wait, i know your true name, from my dream. it's spelled everyever.. but it has an elven pronunciation..." she spoke it like the name of an old friend "yevyre"

chapter 2 have you seen my mother

the dragon smiled "that is correct my child; your mother is now in timberscrawl, in the village tavern; but she is on the run you see, i cannot say where she will be when you find her." elexa seemed perplexed, then thought "is there any way we can be sure to find her?" markos paused. he had assumed for some reason that they would only be allowed to ask one question, or three or something like that but the dragon spirit thought, too "i cannot forsee a future in which you, for certain, find her... but i can tell you, that she is on the run from the city officials of candleshire; the prop empire in place of the ancient eligacy is not friendly to elves. perhaps that will help you." "thank you, my friend" elexa answered without thinking, and turned to face markos and taiga "ready to go?" they seemed perplexed. "go where? candleshire? we don't know where to find your mother," "yes we do," elexa interrupted "she's on the run from the city officials," she stated, "so she'll end up wherever's safest from them. my mother has good instincts like me. we just have to find that place" the dragon spirit raised its head to call out to her, like a parent calling to a child that's forgotten their lunch, in what appeared to markos and taiga to be the foam at the peak of the waterfall suddenly all but rippling "i can tell you where the safest place in candleshire is, even though i do not know for sure if she will arrive there." elexa turned back and her jaw dropped "the safest place for elves in candleshire is a small borough in the center of the city that still holds some of its ancient enchantment, making it harder for officials to find elves or deserters who live there, called holvesbriss"

chapter 3 holvesbriss

in candleshire, elexa's mother had learned of holvesbriss in the timberscrawl tavern, and was trying to make it there without anybody especially officials questioning her hood it wasn't that hoods were uncommon fashion in candleshire, but unfortunately it was also common for the empirial officials to engage in "hood inspection"

she remembered when the empire had been handed control over candleshire, at its conception, without so much as an election among the due citizens already living in the ancient city; it had been a compromise, because candleshire was a strategic military location, that was supposed to end what had become the secret war on elves. that hadn't happened

she was rounding the corner of an alley toward what she felt in her heart must be holvesbriss, when her heart stopped as she was interrupted by an empirial official, clearly off- duty slunken in the shadows on the edges of the alley "hey there little lady," he crowed, "i don't see any reason you ought to be opposed to a hood inspection" the official was in turn interrupted by the voice of a young girl from across the street "that's my mommy!!!"

markos and taiga barreled toward the official, seeing red, with elexa in hot pursuit he staggered backward, and seemed as if he were feeling around for a weapon he didn't have or didn't remember what he had done with, before he was pummeled into the ground and subsequently restrained, to tones of the concepts of social ettiquette and manners espoused amidst harsh cursing by markos

elexa reached her mother, and clutched her hand, without slowing down, as their eyes met, pulling her into the very center of a paved circle that had been just inside the alley, where they suddenly disappeared

"what just happened?" taiga questioned out loud "i don't know," markos answered, "but i do know a few things. we made it to candleshire. we helped elexa find her mother. and now, we're deserters"

chapter 4 the fog

elexa and her mother didn't have time to worry about where markos and taiga had gone, because they were suddenly preoccupied with trying to figure out where they had gone the main challenge to that was that it was hard to tell where they were; it seemed as if they were outside, and it was foggy, only instead of seeing landscape or buildings through the fog as they gazed deeper into its swirling layers they seemed to find only more fog in front of them stood a man whose hood was also drawn over his face, only his was certainly human crafted, and it was long and red with gold trim, some kind of strange red satin that actually seemed to glow through the fog elexa didn't have a chance to be frightened "have we met?" her mother greeted the strange man "you met my father, during the original war" elexa seemed to suddenly understand the gravity of their new companion "i am mage, and i am a deserter. i cast a spell to draw you from the city centre when i saw you approached by that official, i recognized you. i had been looking for you" "go on," elexa solemnly watched her mother answer, with shared curiosity

after a moment to collect his thoughts, mage did "actually, it.. cost me something very dear to find you. a gift from my father." "is he..?" elexa started without thinking "yes" there was a sorry silence "a wish.. from the everyever." "we met the everyever on the way into the city!" elexa suddenly volunteered "you did??" her mother responded, seeming half surprised "well that only sounds right," mage answered, "but my wish was to find someone who had known my father. you see... i lead the deserters. because of my power, inherited from my father, not because i am anything more than self-taught or because i am anything of a leader... but because i might have a chance... and i don't have a single friend in the entire village of candleshire"

"you know that we can both tell that you are not lying," elexa's mother broke the silence, calling to mind the abilities elves have to read the thoughts of humans and each other "tell me your father's name" mage paused, as if for the first time doubtful, then proudly answered, "hal merrick" elexa's mother froze; then turned to elexa "i am the reason this young man lost his father.. he sacrificed his life to save my village in the war" a look of understanding seemed to pass between them then she straightened her back, and turned to look mage in the eye "i pray you will not think the everyever's wish wasted, my friend," she adressed him "now you have two friends in candleshire"

chapter 5 the borough centre

with that, the fog dissipated outward, somehow revealing a room barely wide enough for elexa and her mother and mage to stand across from each other as they had, on what must have been the second or third floor of a shabby old stone-clay hut in the centre of the room on the floor were some etched runes, obviously mystical and obviously improvised, but now elexa thought she recognized those seemingly random scratches from the paved centre on the outskirts of holvesbriss the room looked like rooms she had had growing up in hodgebridge and later surrounding regions; decorated in a way with the kind of sparse everyday objects a poor or traveling family or individual manages to hold onto, sparsed with a few seemingly very special artifacts of decoration, such as a few tapestries on the walls, only everything in this room seemed otherworldly and as if it definitely had some mystical design

meanwhile, markos and taiga had finally decided between themselves that it was best to stop running, in large part because they were now certain that they had fled through some parts of the borough of holvesbriss two or three times, and the only officials they had seen had seemed to just wave at them. no, it was time to figure out how to find elexa after much critical hypothetical and exasperated debate wandering the streets of holvesbriss, taiga finally offered, "why don't we go back to where they disappeared?" "that's where we all ran into that official remember," markos pointed out "yeah, but i think we're okay now. i mean.. he won't still be hanging out there, right?" "i mean, i guess probably not..." markos quietly didn't like that all his years of experience with leadership and knowledge of being a captain of the high seas of acaemia had not at all prepared him for being on odd sides of the law in a strange city that he knew very little about; he was slowly beginning to take reassurance more and more in taiga, who seemed far wiser than he had before let on, especially when he would take a moment to think things through as a matter of fact, they did run into the official again, who had naturally resumed his favorite off-duty slouching spot in the shade of the alley "hey, i am sorry about earlier," he jumped up to offer as he saw markos and taiga catch his gaze "i didn't mean nothin', i just thought your friend was pretty..." "more than you know," markos answered solemnly, as they walked past him

standing in the paved centre, markos and taiga looked around themselves, hopefully "well, they're not here," taiga finally dejected, "of course they wouldn't be stupid enough to come back to the same spot" with that, he angrily kicked a rock that was lying in a broken-up scratched part of the pavement

the rock, or a rock, suddenly found its way harmlessly against all odds into elexa's hands "what the they who what now?" she managed "it came from the window," was mages only answer the three turned to glance down at the street, where taiga and markos were standing, wandering in circles, as if they were debating one to another standing there all day or going someplace else

chapter 6 the deserters

part ii

taiga and markos and mage had taken rather nicely not only to each other but to an old card game mage had that had been his father's, although strangely markos kept winning "it's because i've played cards to meet friends all over acaemia," he insisted, "sea captains always become experts at cards, and then find that the rules and strategies are about the same throughout the world." "i'm just glad we aren't playing for money," mage offered "that's what everyone says, and then you've made a friend or two in a new port town."

elexa and her mother were reconnecting, to both of their bittersweet delight, though it was undercut by one or a few oddities that just were a bit hard to explain to normal humans; elexa's mother had felt instantly relieved, like a breath of fresh air, upon finding herself inside holvesbriss, owing to the ancient enchantment of the old elven city that had not completely faded away; but the turmoiled city of candleshire surrounding them was like a case down over the vibe of comfort, and the affect that this had on her was strange and crossfading; she spoke slowly, as if thoughtfully, and seemed often at times to be off somewhere else elexa's reaction, being a half elven child, was all the worse; she had begun seeing things, and her mother had talked her through it as well as the imagined voices that would come with them and being in the noisy center of holvesbriss

the revolution, or rather the desertation, continued on, and as the everyever had said would not affect the centre borough of holvesbriss

their first involvement in the revolution was to pivot solely on the performance of markos

"it's a rule among the deserters," mage explained, "nobody can introduce new members, they have to introduce themselves." "well, then since i am a captain, i'll be the unofficial leader of our group, unless someone else wants to volunteer... i'll invite them to a game of cards," markos all but quipped "they might not have a deck, but that is a respectable way to approach this," was mage's answer markos approached the cluster of men in the storehouse room who seemed to carry themselves as if they were the sort of appointed, well captains, under mage in his resistance, but at first glance not to share any of that respect on to him he thought for a second about ports he had frequented that were neighboring to candleshire "do any of you gentlemen play... hobb's cribbet?" was what he managed to come up with the man in the center of the group seemed for a moment to grimmace, then replied, "no, nobody plays hobb's cribbett. where are you from?" "i was born in the setlands," was markos honest answer, "i'm a sea captain." at this the man seemed to smile slightly at himself, and replied, "then that's forgiveable. mage seems to like you, but we know that any one of us may be fooled by one of the empire's spies, but maybe, not all of us will be." markos tried to explain that their only involvement so far with the empire had been with the official on the outskirts of holvesbriss, but the man cut him off "just tell us what good you are to the deserters," seemed to mirror the thoughts on the faces of every man standing in the room markos paused for a moment, to think he knew that he trusted mage, because elexa and her mother trusted mage, and this was mage's group- so all things considered, he felt maybe it was best in this scenario to be as open as he could, and perhaps even try to sell himself a little as he would do when taking a breather offering site seeing cruises he glanced across the room to elexa, who seemed to tell him that he should go ahead with what he was thinking "with us are an elf and her half elven daughter," markos insighted, "being from candleshire perhaps you know better than i what good they may be to the deserters," the leaders seemed to give a doubletake. "you didn't tell us some of them were elves," one of them said to mage "it doesn't make an exception to the rule" it was as fate would have it at this moment that elexa, perhaps in part from the tension, gave in to one of the side effects she was still having from being in holvesbriss "shut up you stupid mutt!!" she screamed, springing across the room and causing the shadows on the wall, which peculiarly bore the perfect silhoutte of a massive hound, to dance before the room had a chance to respond, elexa's mother stepped forward "i'm from candleshire too. the empire's officials can't do this trick" with that, she raised her hands outstretched at her sides, and a series of tapestries with presumably deserter symbols painted on them that were hung across the four walls of the storeroom rose up on their hangers, as if in a strong breeze, then flew off them entirely to meet in the center of the room above their heads, proceeding to dance and swirl about like fish swimming in a pond before settling together in the rigid shape of an elven crest, then all at a sudden going limp and fluttering lifelessly to the floor and into the arms of the deserter leaders "mage can do one pretty close," "yes, but i've told you, if i tried to finish it with an elven crest that spell would strike me dead." a few of the men in the group seemed to remember that mage had said that before finally, the man who had originally been the first to adress markos stated, "alright, on the virtue of mage's trust, and, talent, only with the fact that these two do appear to be elves... we accept you to our group. second?" actually, the decision was carried unanimously

the first mission of the deserters, now having added taiga and markos to their ranks and with the aid of elexa and her mother, was one which they had been forced to table for a long time - finding another deserter leader who had gone into hiding somewhere in the city; a girl named melvrose

chapter 7 melvrose

the first phase of this mission was conceived on the walk home to mage's house from the meeting with the deserter leaders "guys, i think i know a way we can try to find melvrose," elexa suddenly volunteered "how?" was the obvious answer "you know i can sometimes tell the future, like with dreams," she went on "what if i try to dream about melvrose?" "that could work," mage immediately jumped in, excitedly "i'll tell you everything i remember about her, and i have some pictures of her at home, too" the rest of the group caught up to what had been said, and seemed to share in a close silent agreement

as they approached mage's home they were met, allbeit to anyone's surprise, by the empirial official who was fond of lazing around in the alley on the outskirts of holvesbriss when he was off-duty "milady," he started she jolted to make eye contact with him "please let me apologize for yesterday, i certainly had not meant to embarrass you," he continued, "some of the young ladies around candleshire think it a compliment when an empirial official asks for a hood inspection..." he seemed sheepish, then naturally more mature "i should know better." he paused for a moment, then seemed to have a realization which he kept to himself "especially around holvesbriss, but hey that's why i love this neighborhood" with that, he all but winked at elexa's mother, but not in a way that would imply a downslide from the maturity he had arrived at earlier in the conversation, and wandered on to his slumping alley

the rest of the evening was spent in regailing elexa with memories of times spent with melvrose, which ranged from her initiation into the deserters to missions she had gone on with mage to a time when she and mage had briefly dated, after they met, as well as sharing old pictures and drawings and letters off in the corner markos was teaching taiga techniques and strategies for winning at cards, though neither of them could pronounce the name of mage's particular card game melvrose was a very young woman with short hair, who was fond of coloring it, both in natural representations and the traditional festive colors of candleshire, and wore a blue cloak with gold lining similar to mage's red one "alright then," elexa finally chimed, "if that's everything you remember about melvrose, i should go to bed right away" mage nodded "mommy?" she asked "hm?" her mother softly answered "would you make me some warm milk, like when i was little?" "of course," was the teary-eyed answer elexa was all snuggled up and sound asleep before her mother arrived with her warm milk

chapter 8 the dream

she awoke, or rather found herself seemingly awake, in a strange sort of desert dreamscape with massive hollowed out obelisks in the natural landscape towering around her in the distance, all either catching the elusive sun or stained with varying bright otherworldly sand colors she remembered suddenly that she was looking for someone.. a girl she knew.. no, a girl a friend of hers knew... with that, she suddenly caught sight of a figure standing off in the distance she approached it, at first hurriedly, then hesitantly, but the figure turned to meet her gaze it looked like melvrose- elexa had never seen melvrose in person, but it looked like melvrose "don't come close!" the figure suddenly screamed elexa was frightened "who are you?" "not melvrose!" it screamed in return "not melvrose!" "alright," she pleaded, "but who, or what?.." "melvrose does not dream.." the figure answered "melvrose does not dream anymore, melvrose dreams are haunted so i haunt melvrose' dreams, and she need not remember" elexa suddenly understood "a soul spirit, given to those of the world so weary that they wish only for sleep to be their escape" the spectre seemed to answer without a sound or movement "where can i find melvrose in the real world? i want to help her" the creature surprised elexa by seeming to gaze off in the distance and think "before i came, she had nightmares," the spectre recalled "nightmares of a place called... elvesbridge"

with that, elexa jolted awake, remembering at first all that had just happened but slowly fading down to just the one word- elvesbridge her mother was by her side "what happened? what did you dream about?" she asked, comfortingly "elvesbridge," elexa answered solemnly, but still with a slight tired look of terror on her face "all i remember is that melvrose went to elvesbridge" "then that's where we're going," mage interjected before the others had a chance to say anything "there's more you should know.." elexa answered him "i don't remember much about the dream,.. where i was which was nowhere and talking to someone who looked like melvrose... but i remember, it was a nightmare. i think.. she was in trouble after she went to elvesbridge..." this time markos interjected "what do you know of elvesbridge?" he asked mage mage had not changed in his resoluteness nor his frantic packing about his room "a place that is not at all as friendly to elves as the name implies," he answered, "and melvrose may not be a half elven child like you elexa, but she does have some elf in her lineage"

chapter 9 the inn of elvesbridge

part iii

to everyone's overshadowed relief, they actually found melvrose in elvesbridge, without any trouble with any officials or otherwise; she was working as a waitress in a tavern they had wandered into when markos confessed that he felt he could not go another step without a drink and elexa stammered that she had a good feeling about this place the wall murals inside reminded her of her lucid dream they caught sight of melvrose across the room - she was wearing an outfit that was perhaps deliberately casual in an instructed way but certainly nothing you'd mind wearing in public, and a pair of novelty elf ears unfortunately melvrose didn't end up being the elf-eared waitress who served them, so they were left to try silently to think of something else while markos made conversation with the waitress and ordered a few different glasses and some small appetizers for everybody after markos had gotten his drink in his system, he was the first to come up with a plan "you're the one who has the best chance of making contact with her without anything too obvious happening," he told mage, "she'll probably recognize you" "you think i should just walk across the room to the business house and try to catch her in passing and ask say if i know her from somewhere?" "yes, be very subtle and non-suggestive about it," he murmured mage took markos' advice gingerly "i beg your pardon.. have we met somewhere, you only look familiar" melvrose' eyes went wide when she caught sight of him, enough that he noticed, then she seemed to catch herself and then seem relieved that no one other than mage had "well if that's sincere and not an invitation mister, we can talk about it when i'm off in about an hour's time," so after mage had used the business house they were left to order an actual dinner, which no one especially elexa really objected, and eat it as slowly and casually as possible waiting for melvrose to be off work

chapter 10 to those who want to dream

the conversation they ended up waiting about an hour and one half's time for, which they were only allowed to stay again to everyone's overshadowed relief when mage instinctively confessed to their waitress that he was waiting to talk to one of the other waitresses, whom he knew from somewhere, was in actual fact very brief "i know why you're here mage, and i miss you," she began "i don't suppose i could convince you to leave the deserters and make a little life out here with me" she half laughed at herself "what happened melvrose?" mage answered "what happened is, i blurted about my lineage and it got me this job - elven things are kind of.. "popular" in this part of town" she seemed to struggle over the words "and because i was smart and haven't said anything about it to anyone since,.. when i get off work, i'm able to go home, smoke, maybe have dinner if i haven't eaten here... and it's not a bad life, not as bad as holvesbriss" mage seemed to quietly understand elexa wasn't so convinced "i had a dream about you," she interjected, "i thought.. i don't know that you weren't happy, or you wanted more out of life, even if it was with this..." melvrose seemed puzzled by the child's statement "that's quaint," she finally offered, "when i was little i used to have the coolest dreams and always remember, but now i guess because i'm older i never seem to remember them; i guess that's kinda normal" she finished, and the look in mages eyes told elexa that she was not coming back to holvesbriss with them

chapter 11 all's well that ends well

part iv

with mage's mission to find a friend he could confide in on his calling that wasn't the everyever and the deserters' again tabled mission to recruit melvrose out of the way, the cause as it were was back to doing well normal deserter things which in the great city of candleshire meant mostly sharing a home and a helping hand with anyone who might need it, as more and more of the people grew tired of the new empire this of course left elexa to stay with her mother, who had chosen to stay with mage and the deserters, and taiga and markos to well decide what to do "i do feel as if i want to stay with elexa," taiga murmured, "we've been friends for a long time, but i've really loved working on your ship, and i would miss you..." markos was all but brought to tears by taiga's honesty "i would miss you too, both of you.. all of you... in fact," he smiled to say, "i'd go so far as to say you're all my crew now. so what better is their for a captain on vacation to do than join up with the deserters for a while?" he laughed "it's settled then," elexa answered, "from now on, we'll stick together, no matter what" nobody took the effort to point at elexa's statement had been premature, or for that matter anywhere about untrue

chapter 12 precursor

it was after a moment of somewhat satisfying silence that one of the deserters whom other than mage they had not met rushed into mage's room, out of breath "the empire has been dissolved," she blurted, "dissolved." the look on elexa's mother's face spoke to how she caught herself getting her hopes up, as she asked, "then... the eligacy has been returned control?.." "no, the eligacy is still dissolved," was the frenzied answer, "because the situation in candleshire has done nothing to aid the political interests of the people who were behind the empire... candleshire has been given over to the rule of unlawed land" "did i hear you right?" markos answered her, the wild look in his eyes telling he knew the phrase from his years on the high seas of acaemia "yes," was the now soft and distant answer "candleshire has been given over to the rule of unlawed land"

the league of candleshire preface

book ii preface

the rule of unlawed land when a local government in acaemia was not, as it were, making ends meet for the people, or in some cases its invested interests (this was often in the case of colonies of the grand empire, which thanks to a dishonest treaty in what was now the secret war on elves is what candleshire had been) it could be given over to the rule of unlawed land, which meant that any governing bodies had been officially dissolved and the people were left to, hopefully, amidst whatever chaos may ensue if the land was already in political turmoil which was often the case, establish and elect their own government that may better suit their needs all this time, the league of candleshire, or the unofficial leaders of the deserters from the now dissolved empire - a boy with an heriditary magical talent, named mage, whose father had been a leader on the side of right in the original war on elves a sea captain of acaemia, markos, who was finding when put to the test he could navigate each new city of their adventure like a new sea a young genius inventor, taiga, who is quiet but thoughtful when it counts, and the best friend of the real leader of the group, a young half elven girl named elexa; who, together with her elven mother, made up what had become on this day the league of candleshire, minus one previous member whom they had just managed to find living in another part of the city; a deserter girl named melvrose - had only served to protect the good people of candleshire from the incumbent empire and its officials now it seemed, the new and greater task which lay before them was to achieve some sort of order in what was now a lawless land; easy as that may have sounded at first, in actual fact the people the deserters and the league represented were at best a smaller majority in candleshire; despite the fact that the empire had abused just about everybody; there was an entirely new faction of empirial colonists who had descended upon the once small ancient city, and whose loyalties would be completely and totally in question there were also those of the empirial officials still living in the city, and it was unknown what their collective or individual reactions would be there were even those who had lived in the city before the empire who had been led to believe that the sovereignty of the eligacy had been in part responsible for the war on elves no, even if candleshire had probably become much safer for deserters; it had not become any safer for elves - and now it desperately needed to, before it was too late

the elven chronicles book ii the league of candleshire

chapter 1 the rule of unlawed land

after some ititial debate as to the structure of a course of action, the league was finally rolling; melvrose would show up when she felt like it, now that she knew where they were; perhaps her tavern was doing extra good business in the midst of a complete political collapse in what was now a bustling trade and tourist city markos, taiga, and elexa's mother had been hold up with the leaders of the original deserters for days, discussing the situation throughout candleshire the overrall gist seemed to be that people seemed comfortable gravitating toward the parts of the ancient city that suited their tastes (easy to do when candleshire was divided rather fairly perhaps even generously between a colonial district and the lands of the original citizens, whose political opinions were mixed and reticent anyway), a practice which was beginning to form a series of hubs around what was long since an ancient and royal city the task at hand seemed to be to rescue as it were any elves that were still in hiding in the city, as elexa's mother had been, and regroup in a sensibly fortifiable hub they would establish of their own in holvesbriss to that end, mage and elexa had been hold up on their own, reporting any dreams elexa had she felt might have some meaning and focusing on helping each other hone their individual talents, those of a born wizard and half elven child

katantra was a beautiful young woman, in her twenties or perhaps even teens, who liked to dress in floral and natural colors and long elegant flowing dresses and gowns that was to outside appearance - allbeit with the exception of a pair of long pointy clearly elven ears she no longer tried to hide, because she hadn't seen other elves or especially people since candleshire had been given over to the empire from where she lived in a nice little grove by the brook that humans would've found it far too difficult to navigate the woods and briars to, she could still just see the flag atop the grand turret of candleshire - and today, for the first time in what seemed like eternity even to an elf; the flag of the empire was not flying in fact no flag was flying which meant that the facetious prop anti-elven empire had finally collapsed and candleshire had been given over to unlawed land, a possibility katantra had been dreading more than a few others that was why she had chosen to call in an old favor as it were - and the flute at her side which had now begun to whistle as she passed through the windy sunbeams of a meadow near her home as if it had a mind of its own was the key part in that plan; it had not left her side since she had left the city with the swift motion of a prodigy who shall play from the heart no matter how rusty, she called the flute to her lips, running its oddly uneven lengthed ember pipes from side to side in an entrancingly flowing serpentine motion, producing a sound that was otherwordly though definitely musical the peculiar dance that accompanied was equally otherwordly, and would almost certainly have had to have been rehearsed, except that it seemed to rely on instinct after a few vast moments that would've seemed to anyone watching like a girl either mad or drunk out of her mind in the woods alone having the time of her life, the bizarre regale was answered by, well; how best to explain it - every kind of weather that existed in acaemia and somehow all localized within the tiny shady meadow, clustered around her like a personal performance in another matter of vast moments the various isolated weather patterns had clustered into themselves and begun to resemble humanoid shapes; the one that most clearly resembled the weather they were having that day in candleshire adressed katantra the voice was unnaturally shrill, like a musical prism played at the wrong speed, but at the same time it was as if every note without intending to be was musical "we are the weather pixies of candleshire; and we know you, katantra, for we are in your debt and have given you this song of all seasons" "thank you, my friends; i want to find those like me living in the city; i fear we may be in our gravest danger now" "if you travel to the borough centre of holvesbriss, you will find those who share in your quest; we will seek out and use our powers to aid any elves who may still reside in the city" "thank you, my friends" "when you aided us in a time of need, we gave you something in return - this song of all seasons which you have used to summon us. if we help your people in their time of crisis, we ask in return that you will help our people, the fae also residing in hiding in candleshire - for the pixies and nymphs can escape into the forests and even the elements, as even some elves have done, but the fae are like humans in form as elves and must dwell among the forests and among mortals" "i would think to do nothing less" "then we will use the guided flute to contact you when we have found someone you and your soon-to-find friends may be able to help" "thank you, for all of us, friends" with that, the shady sunset-watered meadow returned to its regularly scheduled forecast

chapter 2 katantra

the embrace that katantra and elexa's mother greeted each other with when first their eyes met was on par with one of lovers who've been apart for a long time, in form, but the kiss, or any kind of clutching that would have jostled the gentle affection, was replaced with a meeting of the foreheads which was even more ceremonial while obviously still affectionate markos, taiga and mage had seen elexa greet her mother with a gesture that was similar but included a side-to- side bobbing motion of the heads or maybe both as elf-hugs were shared, mage began to behave as if he'd become suddenly aware of something shifting in the weather he turned, instinctively, of all people to elexa "it's the fae, isn't it?" "you mean the pixies, but yes; i think an elf living in candleshire might have called to them for help, maybe even katantra"

"can you feel it too?" her mother asked their new-joined member "yes; it's like morning light" the elven sisters were speaking of the affect which the ancient enchantment the elven city of candleshire still held in its very heart had on elves, especially who had been apart from elven air; elexa, being half-elven, had been having an in fact hallucinogenic reaction, spurred on by the thick vibes of tension and chaos near the end of the collapse of the empire; now, even though all three were aware of a kind of... swirling anxiety or apprehension that seemed to float across the skies of candleshire, like ripples on a pool catching sunbeams... she was finding that anything unmanageable or even unpleasant was gone, and further that it had enhanced her elven and half-elven powers to a remarkable degree in case of point she had already had a dream about a hidden elven settlement in the outer forests, which they hoped to scout as soon as they felt things had settled down reasonably in the outside city

although he never let on to the other members of the group- and although he knew that elexa and her mother knew anyway, but never said anything- mage was quietly becoming more and more concerned, even frantically worried, for any elves or fae that actually were still living in the once elven city of candleshire - unlike the deserters, and markos' seafaring party, mage had read the official statistics put out by the empire before it collapsed - and the statistics said that there were no elves or fae living in candleshire. they could have been propagandized by the empire, but that wouldn't have served to stir up anti-elven popular sentiment; so mage figured that any elves or fae who had survived and not fled the city when it was given over to the empire had been, rather well considering candleshire was in-between size as port cities go, in hiding all this time, as he had only recently learned elexa's mother and katantra had been therefore his hopes were bleak for anyone who had managed to escape both the war and the statistics, especially now in the grim state of the city they were in given that anyone on any side with any political inkling would also know that the statistics could be lies

"now that we have a new member to our league, as well as the aid of some of the local nature spirits; i think we should make to scout the outer forests at morning light, unless elexa has any revelations otherwise" he nodded at her quite respectfully despite his all-men- at-arms tone "i agree," elexa's mother answered, after a considering pause among the group "do you have any talismans or artifacts that may aid us in navigating the outer forests?" "i do," markos was the one to answer her, "a compass, as well as a spyglass for sighting our path if we can reach highground- and a map the upper-footnote corner of which contains a cursory representation of the outer forests of candleshire" "very good then; morning light it is" "if morning light finds you snuggled in tight, rise and shine to see the sun cast glowing lines" elexa volunteered "huh?" "you remember, mommy?" she asked "when i was little?" "i do remember," she nostalgically answered "besides, i sorta felt like i hadn't said anything funny for awhile. i thought we could all use a little cheering up" with that, they all collectively agreed she had succeeded

chapter 3 the outer forests

part ii

markos, elexa, her mother, taiga, mage, and katantra had not considered the flowing illustrations of strange monsters on the map which barely alluded to the outer forests of candleshire to be literal, as opposed to embroidered artistic expression - until now in fact, almost in the way a hologram seemed to appear when you turn it a certain way to look at it, as soon as they were out of reach or out of sight of the outskirts of the city of candleshire, they were surrounded by a miriage of the most fantastic sparkling flickering glowing swirling flashing tessalating flourescing creatures one could imagine without having sailed to the centre of the earth and seen the clear eye of the waters of acaemia, and all the majestic deep-sea life it offered the creatures, though almost impossible to look away from, did not make a move toward the newcomers, and in fact eyed them neutrally in the way lesser-territorial animals will do in the woods "are they.. spirits?" markos wondered out loud "nay, spirits do not usually produce light which casts reflections, and these creatures do" mage hypothesized "then.. they are.. animals?" "yes.. enchanted animals of candleshire, thought endangered or extinct" the strange league of questers and the strange ensemble of glowing chamelesque creatures eyed each other, curiously "do you think they can help us find the other elves?" elexa wondered "i mean.. they probably don't speak.." she almost seemed perplexed at the obvious statement, then thought and countered, "yeah but,.. if there are so many of them all together out here at the edge of the forest, they must feel crowded further in the same way they do by the city - so that's where the hidden elven settlement must be, in the centre of the forest" mage was impressed and taken aback by her deduction "by the way we came in, we can reach the centre or ought to reach it if we simply keep going straight," markos offered, "and that means we have to keep north"

chapter 4 keep north

in the forest settlement of candlebridge - as it was called by the handful of elves and fae living there - no one had received word that the empire colonial had been dissolved, until the water pixie had risen to tell them that a band of heroes was on their way to search for them, and bring them to the new settled hub of holvesbriss as exciting as the news was after so long in the forest (which was comfortable, even if it didn't offer enough running room for the fae, but elves preferred the mystically crafted cities and castles that they made their own) they could not set up a flare or try to signal in any way, for fear of attracting attention to their hiding place from the city so they had posted lookouts on the perimeter of their several-odd tent camp, which ultimately left a few members to hold down the fort as it were in the centre - a young fae girl named tigera, and an elven boy named meirk "do you think they'll find us? what if there are other parties looking for us from the city?" she spoke the thoughts on both of their minds as the fae will be inclined to do with their friends and companions meirk, being elven, though nervous smiled at the fact that he could read her thoughts anyway "it's not like we can't defend ourselves," he countered, "we've made it on our own out here all this time" "yes, but nobody's ever found us before, now somebody's looking for us... what if they're followed?"

the thoughts were echoed around this time, as fate would have it, by markos "the animals would tell us if someone were in the forest," elexa hoped "they didn't seem bothered that we were in the forest," markos replied "it may be different, we are elven.." her mother offered "i can cast a spell to tell us if we are being followed, and where those we seek are from here;" mage began "but it may be visible to any with magical abilities in the city and eyes on the forests" "a risk that may be worth taking at this juncture, but we should enquire of elexa," her mother concluded elexa thought, and seemed to try to take in the gist of her emotions then she responded, quite carefully: "i don't feel like we're being followed.. but i do feel worried about attracting attention from the city.. so i feel like.. we should just keep going" "then that's what we'll do" mage answered immediately for all of them

in another hour less-than half hour's time, they actually reached the settlement of candlebridge, as the flourescent hand-painted sign spread over the tiny camp informed them the elves of the camp ran instantly toward katantra elexa and her mother "thank you so much for coming; is it safe in the city now?" "i wish i could say so; we don't quite know for sure yet, or where, but the deserters are fortifying a hub in holvesbriss, which still holds some of candleshire's enchantment" was elexa's mother's answer "that's where we're all going," markos chimed in only then did it sink in upon all of them the gravity of the plan markos had just restated traveling with a group that was evenly half elves and half people, no less when one of the group was a mage, had been unexpectedly easy going through the restless in-dispute outskirts of candleshire from holvesbriss traveling with a small brigade of refugee elves and fae accompanied by three humans, from the outer forests to the center of the city, sounded comparatively impossible mage was the first to offer an answer to the question hanging in the air "i can put upon an enchantment that will make us appear.. well.. not worth bothering with, until we make it to holvesbriss... it just might be a little... silly..." without questioning what mage's plan might be, the group agreed to the quickest and safest way to holvesbriss possible, and began making preparations to leave

chapter 5 coming into candleshire

as they reentered candleshire, they were stopped in fact, but this was no surprise as they were going through a main-road gate that led directly to the center of the city "name and business in candleshire?" the empirial guard uniformed-man asked drolly, giving markos the impression that his opinion of markos' answer would be more important than his official or unofficial business in candleshire "coming in from port, markos helmsbridge, sea captain of acaemia, sir, with this delivery of circus animals" in fact, in addition to markos and taiga, proudly displaying the first mates badge markos had made for him on their journey to candleshire, there were eleven various animals of natures that were mostly native to candleshire as well as other parts of acaemia; mostly horses, ponies, and camels, a few more exotic animals like giant tortoises, and goats, and one red-and-gold crested falcon which rode like a prize on taiga's gloved hand "circus animals? why i haven't been to the circus in a long time" the guard seemed half excited and half skeptical "our customer hasn't had much of a circus to run," taiga volunteered, "but he says nothing brings people together like a good old circus. he thinks it's just what candleshire needs" this seemed to touch a soft string in the empirial guard's heart "now, i don't think that's a bad idea," he conversed, "alright then, animal delivery, just need to document what you're bringing in" "right," markos butted in, "two camels, for rides, three horses and three ponies, to be the stars of the show i've heard, two giant tortoises, two goats, and this priceless red-and-gold crested falcon which is a treasure to both the grand empire and candleshire" the guard seemed to simply jot things down, agreeingly, then paused - that's twelve animals; i only see eleven markos started, but only for an instant "i don't usually deal with cargo that moves around on it's own; what'd i say, two goats? it was two tortoises, only one goat" markos didn't have a chance to safely glance behind him to confirm his statement, but fortunately his instincts had been correct "right, i like that," the guard laughed "what kind of cargo do you normally deal in?" he went on conversing as he signed markos' papers "oh rather just cargo - cargo, the easier to stock and the more profitable the better, i prefer daily goods like tea and spices, tobaccos, they usually aren't too much trouble, and when i can i love to get my hands on some fine tapestries, or even silks.. well worth the small risk in traveling with them, anyway it's no conquering effort to pirate a man's crew of a silk" the guard nodded, smiling, and handed markos the small stack of papers "you're all set, enjoy your time in candleshire" "thank you sir," markos and taiga chimed, but for a second the guard thought he heard at least some of the animals murmur in answer as well he decided thereupon that it was because markos and taiga had begun herding them into the gate, a process which was very long and slow-going due to the fact that two of the group were in fact giant tortoises, and which was carried out amidst many long and awkward smiles between markos and the uniformed guard when they were finally out of earshot at least, markos breathed a sigh of relief, only to have it cut short by the voice of a falcon that had flown onto his epauleted shoulder in his ear squawking, "you called one of us a goat" "i did no such thing," markos blurted, then suddenly could not help feeling like the guard's eyes were on his back until they were finally out of sight as well as earshot at this point, of course, possibly because the entire group breathed the same sigh of relief that markos had tried to, everything collectively collapsed most of the horses and ponies were fae, who of course had been horses before, but being a camel would find frustrating to anyone, as they are rather slow and... wobbly animals being a giant tortoise was all the worse the only member of the group that was really enjoying mage's enchantment was, naturally, elexa "brahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaa!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" she bleated, galloping circles around the struggling caravan "i wanna chew on something sweet and fibrous, like reed grass or a metal can!!!!!!" "we don't have time for that," taiga volunteered "we have all the time in the world, you guys are turtles!!!" "hey!" the turtles in the group interjected elexa the goat missed their argument, because she had found an abandoned toy in one of the house-groves nestled in the outskirts of the city- a rubber tarp stretched across a metal-cast hoop without a second thought, she ascended the springy surface as she had done as a child, only to find that with four hooves and a long neck it was not quite the same experience "eh-wuhp" she galloped and jolted about on the stretchy mat completely uncoordinatedly, causing taiga to eventually burst out laughing, and markos to retain a look on his face that implied he wasn't sure if he needed to use the business house finally, she collapsed safely to the ground at the edge of the toy, proclaiming that was fun and she wanted to try again, but taiga insisted despite their turtle pace they keep moving

it was dusk when they reached the now proclaimed hub of holvesbriss, to the warm sight of golden-cast lettering which pronounced its name upon the gate that had once been an open alley fortunately, after the guard by staying on the main road and traveling as a procession they had managed to avoid any further investigation, and taiga had only been forced to shyly regail a few passers-by with tales of a circus that was supposedly coming to town in candleshire when they were safely inside the hub, and mage had unworked his enchantment, it was of all people melvrose who greeted them "hey, i thought you went and got a dayjob," mage shyly approached her "the elvesbridge inn is doing more business from incoming tourists who want to see what will become of candleshire than we've ever done in the time i've worked there..." she answered "i was making double my paycheck after tips... i had all my wildest dreams come true... but it just wasn't what i wanted" she glanced, warmly, at a painting in the corner of the room she had done for the deserters "well, i guess you're back then..?" "yeah... i'm back" she smiled, and hugged mage warmly, a human hug

short of waiting for any more of elexa's dreams, which lately seemed to just serve as defcon markings, the group agreed there was only one way to determine for sure where if any elves or fae there may be still hiding in candleshire - and that was to enquire of the everyever since they made a formiddable and swift team together, and since both knew the everyever, mage and elexa were chosen to make the quest "we'll leave in the morning," elexa proposed "agreed, but we should wait until the sun is high, or we may become lost in the mists of the misty mountains," mage went along "agreed" with that, they began packing what few things they would need for a journey through the forests and mountains of outer candleshire, and, after repeating an incantation which they had co-authored in the hopes of helping elexa have prophetic dreams... they were asleep

chapter 6 felrae

part iii

when they awoke, they were, in a way that was oddly familiar but in a good nostalgic way to elexa, within some sort of strange multi-colored dreamscape actually, after closer thought elexa realized it reminded her very much of the strange multi-colored phosphorescent animals in the outer forests of candleshire mage seemed right at home

after some silence, he announced, "i think our arriving here is some sort of sign from or about the everyever.. i'm not sure it's a good forboding..." he looked at elexa with the expression of someone returning to a troubled but beloved home; elexa knew it well "how can you seem so.. sad, and dreamy in this beautiful place?" she asked "this place is home to me," was all mage replied she thought for a second "what is holvesbriss?" "that's where my room is," mage laughed, "right now i have about fourteen guests sleeping over" elexa had to smilingly agree

when they had walked together across the sprawling neon dreamscape, for a length of time that was very difficult to judge because they were in fact in a dream, talking to each other to pass the time, though they knew not always about what, sometimes the other would sound as if they made sense but be hard to understand, and it was possible they talked about many of the same things over again - they arrived at what, somehow, in this sprawling desertesque neon landscape, was a clearing - in the center stood a figure, clad in dark blue he turned to face them, smiling, with the look of a child that reminded elexa of the first time she had met markos "oh hello; are you lost too?" "lost?" mage asked, suddenly "oh yes, lost in your dreams," the boy cheered, spinning about like someone enjoying a first snowfall

upon closer examination, elexa realized the boy was obviously fae, though there was something.. off about him his skin seemed pale, the kind of pale that would imply dim indoor lighting, but it wasn't, it seemed as if it were actually his skin after another moment mage spoke up again "we're not lost, we've come looking for you, my friend" he began "if you'd like, we've come to take you to holvesbriss, where there is an established hub friendly to elves and fae, now that the empire has collapsed" "holvesbriss?" the boy questioned the word, as if it sounded only slightly familiar "yes, holvesbriss, in the centre of candleshire," elexa answered him "candleshire?" the boys eyes lit up, as if he wasn't sure if he recognized the place because it was home or frightening "will you come with us? especially if you are lost as you say?" mage finally asked "the places you speak of... sound like... home..." the boy answered, slowly "but my home is a place... a place called.... " he struggled for a long moment, then seemed at peace with his realization "odds grove"

with that, the dreamscape dissipated in a way that reminded elexa of the mystical fog when first she and her mother had met mage, and the two of them were standing in a very dim, dusty, dim; old wooden shack sprawled in a rustic old bed in front of them, and seeming to just now be waking up, was the boy from the dream "mmmmhhhh hello, i'm felrae, have we met somewhere before?" the boy greeted them, shuffling up out of the covers with what elexa had to admit was the cutest bedhead she had ever seen on a boy, except maybe for taiga's, whose reminded her of the monkeys she dreamed of one day finding on the islands of acaemia "we've come to take you to holvesbriss, where there is an established hub friendly to fae and elves, now that the empire has collapsed," mage answered him the boy seemed to pause and stare off for a long time into space, taking in what had been said as if it were all coming back to him after a while, he spoke "yes, that sounds.. so nice, thank you.. i only have a few things..." with that, he retrieved a bold robin's egg blue canvas knapsack from beneath his seemingly antique bed, and went about filling it with the few belongings and clothes elexa and mage had seen scattered about the tiny falling down shack when they got outside, they were greeted, by what was for the first time to elexa and mage, by a sight that brought tears to elexa's eyes, and gave felrae a look of realization all the more deep and resolute than he had had when they informed him of the fall of the candleshire empire "my woods," he started indeed, it looked as if someone had intended to build another hub or city where a small outcropping of trees had once stood that must have been odds grove, but the small forest had long since been leveled, leaving only a flat labyrinth of tree stumps which was every bit as barren, though it shared none of the other qualities, as the landscape in elexa and mage's dream "i remember," he went on "they came and took my woods, shortly after i found this nice unwanted out-of-the- way home... and.... i was so sad, i must have just gone to bed, and.... " he trailed off "we understand," elexa answered him mage had to admit that he finally did understand

fortunately, it is much easier for the fae to travel and live among humans than it is for elves; instead of pointy ears, which are an obvious giveaway, they only had to worry about accidentally attracting swooning attention from the locals which they had dealt with by felrae and elexa holding hands on the way back to holvesbriss, which to mage it seemed as a fae and half elven child they were oddly comfortable doing; felrae was still a little downfallen about his home in odds grove but they made it into the centre safe and sound, greeted in turn by everybody who had managed to comfortably settle within the newly established hub

"is that everybody?" markos greeted them, along with the new member "i think so," mage answered him "i feel like... it is," elexa agreed "good"

the night was spent in nostalgic elven and fae celebration, to commemorate the establishment of the new hub of holvesbriss, which to markos and taiga's delight included higgilty-fidge candles, the human or non-mystical name of the card game mage had introduced them to

the elven chronicles book iii dragons of acaemia

prelude

from her perch on the back of a great serpentine sky dragon, high above the clouds of acaemia, elexa smiled at mage, as they soared toward candleshire together he smiled back, the way friends who feel inside as if they've known each other longer than they really have would, then suddenly caught the look of something in his eye as he glanced ahead of them toward candleshire for a second elexa felt as if something was.. off about the city... darker... then it sunk in what mage had seen, in the distance were two massive flying burning catapult missiles, coming at them from the city the winged dragons instinctively swerved just as she caught it, but she could still feel the heat from the rocky oily projectiles whizzing past them "mage, what's happening?!" she screamed he tried to answer her, as they struggled for their seating on the backs of the twisting dragons, but then everything went black

and she woke up

mage was sitting in front of her, and so was her mother, who seemed to instinctively appear at her side whenever she would have bad dreams although as her mother accounted for the elven part of her heritage that was not really surprising "what was happening?" he asked her "i-" she started, and looked almost despairingly mad at mage, as if his making her think about it had caused her to forget as she was still waking up "i.. just remember.. it was about dragons again, and, i feel like... candleshire isn't safe anymore"

the words hung in the air like the heavy smoke of a hookah pub

chapter 1 the beginning

part i

"candleshire isn't safe anymore??" her mother and mage mirrored her words questioningly at the same time "no... i think we should go as soon as possible..." "markos says that the nearest city still in elven hands is the port of hobbles creek... is morning soon enough?" "i feel like it might not be... since i woke up, i feel, as if something's changed since i went to sleep... like something's happened..." mage thought about the project taiga was working on to try to create an "antenna," like the ones of insects for his local music and dissertation broadcast talisman that would allow them to hear news from around acaemia as he watched their conversation, solemnly "then we should go, now.." her mother answered her "how do you feel.. about markos ship?" she looked at him with a shocking sudden wide look of terror "i.. don't have any idea why, but i feel like we can't go there..." "the deserters have already made backup arrangements. you and mage get your things, i'll get the others" mage could not share thoughts with his companions like the elves could, but he had keen senses as a wizard one of which was empathy, and he could sense that elexa's mother had directed the parting at him as well as for elexa's benefit, almost speaking as if mage were a brother to elexa in her voice, and he took both the compliment and the hint and went about helping elexa make sure she remembered to pack everything, in a way that would at least a little help keep her mind off the impending fear of what was happening

they rushed, satchels in hand, down to the main living room of mages stone clay hut, met by other of their elf fae and deserter friends about the same plan "IT'S ALMOST WORKING!!" elexa caught the look of desperation in taiga's eyes as they glanced past his room "elexa says we have to go, now," markos answer was deeply compassionate while firm, like a true sea captain "when you put it that way," elexa could just still make out the change in taiga's tone, and what sounded like he had somehow managed to perfectly pack his tinkerer's laboratory in all of about two seconds

when they made it out of port, she saw that he probably in fact had, because he had indeed constructed and or arranged himself a sort of portable tinkerer's workshop in the time they had been staying in holvesbriss with the help of which he was just now, and true to his word, picking up a signal from what a few of the group interjected was a broadcast of the hall of gilmrod, in the colonial district "sdfhogwand the refortified empire troops are on their way to holvesbriss as we speak, to finally bring some order to what people are calling, 'the anarchist hub.' should be nice for local trade, which we've been hearing has been doing great since the hubs were established, under the firm generous guidance of the empire, but word is it's about to do a lot better if traders finally don't have to worry about elves and fae," the tone in the man's voice would have reminded elexa of a propaganda newscaster in the early 1900's, if she had the ability to read your thoughts it was all mage could do not to break the device which taiga had spent all this time quite literally inventing "right, let's all just respectively glance over the fact that you are possibly the smartest man in acaemia, or somehow on par with elexa, and uh.. change the channel" he used the words as a sea captain of acaemia would, but he somehow felt the phrase fit "right! well, i.. intended that the way to do that was with this..." he toggled with the compass which had been markos' contribution along with mage's local broadcast talisman "svilsloblibbityglopbsolutely correct on that, but we have to be fair here, candleshire was an elven city.. we have to be fair to the empire in that it was unfamiliar territory, and we have to be fair to the citizens or the original citizens of candleshire who may have felt that what tried to replace the eligacy treated them unfairly.." elexa could tell from the tone of the man's voice that he was elven the man who answered him however was not "so that's a justification for war then? after they signed the peace treaty? you just said they knew their way around candleshire better than the empire if there was a serious problem they could have worked it out" "there was no declaration of war, the empire declared war first, remember? it was only answered because, as was stated, there had been a secret war on elves going on this whole time.." "secret war on elves, more like a made up war on elves, everybody knows elves are hallucinatory beings and as a result they're dangerously paranoid and delusional" "my brother was killed by a raid party, mr tinsmith, with empire insignia on their cloaks" "my son has an empire insignia on his sports' cloak, mr eldroheimasomething- boogledybiggledy elf name," taiga changed the channel again "iufgiahkjsfu;giafjli agree it's absolutely unthinkable, expecting to register us, like they'll have us at their beck and call?" "mh, they're telling stories of elves in the colonies being taken and locked in hospitals, as if they were both crippled and dangerous" "is that where we're going?" elexa chimed in markos looked at his compass which taiga had just adjusted "actually.. it is, most likely, i don't know just how taiga's invention works but the compass is pointed toward hobbels creek" "that's about how it works, and you said hobbels creek is the closest so yeah," taiga seemed proud but an exhausted kind of weary, and a charming kind of droll

the ship sailed on toward hobbels creek

chapter 2 hobbles creek

when elexa awoke, she felt more afraid than she had ever felt in her entire life, as if she knew for certain that she was about to die but quite bizarrely, the feeling filled her with a sense of... homesick pride? she knew instantly what was happening "mother, mother.." she called her mother was sleeping on a bunk nearbye "what is it.?" "we're sailing an empire ship.. we have to let hobbles creek know we're carrying elves..." her mother's eyes went wide, as if she couldn't believe she hadn't realized what elexa had just said "you're right, we need to tell markos.. markos.. markos!" she raised her voice only slightly to call for him, but somehow very firmly, and almost as if in magical answer markos was just then rounding the corner "what's wrong?" "we need to signal hobbles creek that we're carrying elves, and friendly" the look on markos face mirrored the one elexa had seen on her mothers a little bit ago "do we have anything with an elven crest?" markos replied after a second to think intuitively "yes, i'll get it," "meet me on deck" as soon as they left, elexa suddenly felt a tremendous rush of relief, as if the impending doom she'd felt coming around had resided

when they arrived at port in hobbles creek, they were greeted by a heralded salute, which was heartwarming and deeply nostalgic to elexa but which made her wonder, until she saw a friend she remembered from childhood, a friend of elexa's mother, and realized that their family crest must be what markos and she had raised coming into port she greeted elexa's mother with the customary greeting of long-parted elven friends "you've brought refugees from candleshire?" "elves and fae, we travel with a number of humans but they are far more loyal to us than the empire," elexa's mother answered, confirming "they will be housed as refugees, of course, but any who are willing to join our cause may prove useful, being human.." an elderly elf who was wearing a politicalate's robe cut in "i would of course," markos immediately stepped forward, followed silently by taiga "i think i may speak for mage," elexa smiled, "he's been on the side of good since the original elf wars" "very well then," elexa and her mother's friend smiled, and elexa realized that she was also wearing a politicalate's robe "in addition to the refugees of candleshire, you've brought us a genius human inventor and human sea captain, and a human wizard!" it took taiga and markos a second to remember that elves could in fact share thoughts or read minds

the evening was spent in celebration, as it was of course customary in any elven city or village to do, but that did not mean work wasn't accomplished toward bringing the new heads at the table up to speed on what was happening the second war on elves had been declared - to nobody's surprise - because, of all things, the empire claimed that elven spies had landed in candleshire - the propaganda was laughable, given that despite statistics there had already been elves still living in candleshire, but that only served the more to illustrate that the humans of the empire had, to use a human phrase, lost it the task at hand was for the elven cities and villages strewn at ports across acaemia to unite, and of course to determine which non empire affiliated human settlements in acaemia would take the elves desperate side so far only a few but a good few allies were known

by the bonfire, mage and elexa were sharing glasses of elven eggnog, talking about what elexa should try to dream about that night, and about the fact that she had been so often dreaming about dragons lately markos joined them, cheerily, with a glass of normal human beer "the party is grand, and we deserve it, so take it in folks! for tomorrow, as we fight, remember that this party may be our last thanks, but what a thanks it is, for we are heroes!" he cheersed elexa and mage, and wandered on to the rest of the party, proclaiming, "we are heroes!" in true captain mode

meanwhile up in his new temporary workshop, taiga was going through "channels" as markos had coined the phrase on his new cross acaemia music and dissertation broadcast device at long last, he settled on one he was sure would give a fair and neutral report - a broadcast from his and elexa's melting pot port town home of limberdore he listened in somber silence - and what he heard, after it had long enough to all be said, was deeply dissatifying to him the sides had been settled - to be realistic, a fair proportion of human towns had sided with the elves and the empire, respectively; it sounded as if some of the contenders had been swayed by geopolitical vicinity, but nonetheless allbeit, that news was not good facing the empire, the elves and the now global deserters were hopelessly outnumbered

taiga entered the room where the elven politicalates along with elexa's mother were dining, a sort of open challay where they could easily join or be joined by the rest of the party, to share the news, and was joined in funny coincidence by markos "taiga... we are heroes," he grinningly greeted him "indeed, my good friend, but i have bad news from my broadcast receiver" "what are you going to call that, by the way? you already used channels, so... you have to come up with something on your own... i wanna see.. if you're good at inventing... words" markos brilliantly answered him taiga thought, then seemed resolute, with the look in his eyes of a man truly ahead of his time "an elexa"

chapter 3 contacting the everyever

part ii

when she awoke the next morning, elexa had dreamt about dragons, again, and the everyever, and mage was now resolved "we have to seek out the everyever," "but he lives in candleshire..." the everyever did reside, as best a spirit dragon could, in the outer forests of candleshire whence they had just left "don't you a know a way we could contact him, if you really think about it?" elexa could tell what mage meant after much thought, she answered "in the dream, i remember, there was music... there hadn't been before, which makes sense because we were always outside..." she trailed off mage thought for a second "i remember, katantra told me she used a song of all seasons to summon the pixies with an elven flute.. could you do something like that with the everyever?" "i've never tried it, but maybe..."

as it was it turned out explained to them by katantra, she just might be able to - the song of all seasons she had used to contact the spirits of fae in a time of need had been given to her, but it was an intuitive performance, like all enchantment working elven songs, so if the everyever had reached elexa in her dreams before she might already know it "then i'll try," she agreed after a command performance for katantra and mage that was both similar and dissimilar to the accompanied dance katantra had done in the woods of candleshire the ship suddenly swayed as if it had hit a bit of rough water or a sudden wind they rushed to the stern, to find the everyever, floating above the water as he had above the waterfall in candleshire in front of them, though only the elves and fae in their number and mage could see it elexa approached the phantasmical dragon spirit "we need your help, if you have any..." she started "i know," was the almost rehearsed answer "the dragons of acaemia will be glad to aid the elves and fae in their plight" with that he disappeared

the dragons of the underworld - fantastic creatures which nested in what some legends told were caves on the under facing side of the flat heavenly body of acaemia because they could fly, of course they could reach whatever must be down there without sailing off the edge of the earth

and now they were coming to the aid of the elves and fae

of course, nobody really knew what that meant the everyever had said dragons - one dragon the same size as the everyever, which was tangible and not ethereal, would be a menacing monster, but how many were coming to aid - two? more? dragons were beyond endangered, they were legendary

chapter 4 sides forming

when elexa told mage of her dream that morning, he seemed to share her allbeit curious relief that the elves and fae had some aid in the second war katantra had confirmed it, and smiled when elexa told her the part about her flute in a way that didn't quite let mage know if she were smiling at some heart kept elven secret or a little joke of her own

of course, other than waiting for dragons to show up all there was to do at present was go with the elven and fae refugees of candleshire and their friends to a grand ceremony with the eligacy that was to welcome diplomats from the human outcroppings of acaemia that had declared allegiance with the elves one topic of the evening was a fae stand-up comedian, or perhaps he could have been called a jester if he was human but since he was not "...and has anyone noticed that the fae haven't really even gotten involved officially?" his quip was greeted with roaring truthful laughter "it's the second war on elves - and waged by humans - no fae" the audience was by this point on the point of exploding, and elexa was laughing half at the non political jokes she was getting and half sympathetically "you know why that is, it's because the fae are so lazy. i should know, i haven't combed my hair in 123 years," more catterballing roars of laughter "and that's why the fae have sided with the elves too, not because our ancient sacred birthrights of nature and magic are entertwined, or because humans who aren't friendly to one are never friendly to the other anyway.. but because that's easy, how many fae live among, in fact raise your hands if you live with an elf? 'hi roomie!'" the crowd was catatonic the performer paused, smiled, and announced, in what was somehow obviously a "human accent", "now taking any questions, any questions from the audience?" to more laughter a very, but utmost forgiveably as the spirit of an elven ceremony is celebration, drunk allied deserter called out, "does your mother know you've dated a human?" to warm light-hearted laughter "i mentioned in the story about telling her," the performer smiled back, "but it might be worth mentioning that yours does, though i'm not sure if our mothers are friends" at this the crowd all but literally exploded

with nothing to fill the evenings now that elexa and mage had decided to give elexa's dreams another rest from mystical underlying in the hopes of perhaps a truly prophetic dream getting through, they had taken, at their surprise to taiga's fond agreement, to joining him at the elexa listening to world broadcasts "...the empire is massing together one main massive assault from home, and a series of others at each of its outpost colonies, but the problem will be having to split our forces because there are so many little elven settlements nestled through the waters of acaemia... *slblogajeha rhiau*...coming in from our elven allies is that they're badly outnumbered, and our valiant brave boys need all the help they can get.. *ajghiaubhglajh* ...personally think it's outrage, an absolute outrage, and all but genocidal, what can humans possibly take from us they haven't already anyway? do they wish to take all of our land, so that we may have nowhere safe to live? elves are not violent creatures, but we are ancient warriors..." with that, taiga flicked off the elexa "what do you guys think?" he asked, both conversationally and deeply as taiga or anyone as gifted or profound as someone like taiga would of a mage and half elven child "i think... i wish we knew what was happening with the dragons," elexa thoughtfully answered him "i agree" mage joined in "what do you think, taiga?" taiga looked at her "i think i don't understand the problem.. or rather, i do, but there isn't really a problem... elves have never threatened humans, have they?" "not since the war on elves, which had been started by humans a long time ago and fought in small scrimmages throughout the ages, cold..." elexa spoke as if she knew the acaemian histories on instinct, rather than from learning "i don't know why this is happening," she pleaded out loud to them "i think i do," taiga answered "i don't know what caused it exactly, maybe some other elusive political tension, maybe the decadence in the citizens of the decaying empire, it's not like, all the elves... but they're acting like they're afraid, really afraid, like, people are afraid of things they don't understand? could it be as simple and.. stupid as that?.." "i.. think it could," elexa finally realized "well, it doesn't solve our problem," mage finally resolved out loud, "and i'm going to do something about it" "oh?" elexa questioned, as she was left in the agreeable company of taiga "yes, i'll see you in the morning, good night" with that, mage was gone, and taiga and elexa were left to talk about things some of which they hadn't talked about since they had left limber grove for candleshire, and listen to the elexa

chapter 5 war

part iii

when elexa awoke, in the middle of the night, the unlit walls of the castle seemed to glow with a strange kind of bright color stained, yet dirty, light in fact, looking out the window, it seemed as if the entire world was glowing with the same worryingly unwordly light she wandered, like a child awaking from a nightmare, instinctively down the hall to mage's room what she saw was mage, suspended in the air as she had only seen the everyever achieve, quivering as if he weren't quite in control the same way the everyever was, in a kind of standing falling pose, with a look on his face that spoke as if it could not contain the madness which had been invited into the mind within open on the table in front of him was a very old looking book, the pages of which were black, and written in a language elexa could not read in what must have been blood, which was somehow red but also black as well "mage... what are you doing?" she asked, half with a tone of fear and half one of a mother who hears something she shouldn't be able to explain coming out of her child's bedroom mage seemed for the first time to notice her "i'm casting a spell," he glared and grinned "alright.." elexa nudged him "a spell.. to damn humans!"

elexa couldn't believe her elven ears "what will it.. do?" she asked "it will close the demon gates of the world," he growled, "so that whenever untalented man sets foot upon a new land he has not been verbally invited to, he shall die in flames," despite the clutching for even comfortable madness expression on mages face, he spoke as if his statement made absolute perfect sense elexa had to admit that would all but win the war "you can.. do, that?" she seemed to know instinctively to ask him "not alone, but a wizard is never alone," mage answered awefully, seeming to glance at the black book "did you.. have help with this idea?" "of course i did! the demon gates are not surface side upon acaemia! of course i cannot tell you from whom!" though it did not appear at all in his voice, elexa could tell in his face the look of someone crying out for help her face shared it "mage... what can i.. do? you know... there has to be a better way..." the look in his eyes told her all she needed to know, and with one swift motion she closed the book when she did it, she felt an electric shock, like someone had been rubbing their hozzysocks on the birshire rug, and there was a deafening boom like thunder out of clear skies which seemed to come from all around mage fell like a lifeless puppet into her arms "thank you," he whispered "what were you... thinking?" she asked softly, but compassionately "it wasn't the spell i was looking for.. it stood out in the book.. by being redwater, rather than blood... a wizard can tell, but the light, was so dim in here..." he seemed to come into a tone of sudden realization as he finished "i don't think.. you should try that book again..." she managed "no.. perhaps we'll save it for a rainy day," mage half-smilingly agreed elexa nodded at the realization that the rainy day he'd been saving it for had been the second war on elves

chapter 6 strategy

the eligacy had finally met with all the allies of elves across acaemia, and plans were under way for divying up troops to the various elven cities when the strike finally came down, and they had still not heard from the dragons of acaemia but they finally knew what had started off the second war on elves, from what had become to no one's approval the secret war on elves, and the realization was in fact harrowing markos and taiga had been followed when they led the forest-dwelling refugees of candleshire into the established hub of holvesbriss disguised as circus animals in fact, there was even one account of a goat ascending a trampoline - which was not normal to the people of candleshire and the empire (if you could believe the propaganda) it seemed as if about a dozen elves and fae, which was easily a lot more than the statistics showed had been living in candleshire at the time, had come into candleshire in disguise from an unmarked sailing ship moored off the coastal islands, to set up camp in a newly established anti-empirial hub amidst the collapse of the candleshire prop empire which... actually made sense

allbeit, knowing this did nothing to help their situation or perhaps it did "we have to go back to candleshire," markos stated the entire assembled group looked at him "that's my ship, that started a war, a ship that was made for me in the empire," he finished as only a captain could "i'll go with you, and so will mage and taiga," elexa spoke for all of them as only an elf could "very good then, and, when we get there, what are we going to... do?" he was answered by a long pause taiga, with a knowing tone that surprised everyone in the room, thoughtfully and finally answered "we're gonna put on a circus"

chapter 7 approach

part iv

elexa and mage gazed at each other, silently, finding that their goodbyes were harder than the ones they had exchanged with markos and taiga, for the opposite reasons of knowing the two more and less well than they knew each other finally, elexa spoke "we'll see each other again," she assured him "i know.. and it's not that, even if worse comes to worse, i don't have some beautiful memories with you, new friend.. it's just that.. well we've never really just made memories together, you know? i suppose you and your friends have, hobbles i have with the deserters, but you and i... well... it's always been an adventure," he smiled, and knew that elexa could tell he was smiling at what had just become their little shared joke that for an instant, mage was sharing their thoughts out loud the way elves or fae could "i kinda miss your mum too," he laughed elexa smiled "we all do," she comforted him, "and we will meet again, i promise" with that, she hugged him, in an impromptu way was which was neither entirely elven nor human, and set foot off of the stern of the ship they had taken back to candleshire, joining markos on the shore where his ship had been, though it had long since been - probably not easily - confiscated as contraband evidence of the empire it was of no matter, because the queen olympia was not what they were looking for

"ladies and gentlemen, may i have your attention please," markos announced, in a grand and flooring tone that could easily have been that of a traveling ringmaster as well as a sea captain of acaemia "presenting, for your absolute entertainment," taiga followed him, well rehearsed, "and after much of an.. ordeal with a few misarrangements of our arrival," his joke was greeted with, allbeit nervous, laughter markos followed him just as rehearsedly, with a sweep of his broad matching brightly colored sleeve "the enchanted elven animals of candleshire!" the performance that shortly followed was not one you would expect to see at a circus; the beautiful and endangered luminescent animals which the friends had encountered in the outer forests searching for the everyever, walked or shuffled or whatever they would do out onto the stage of their own accord, in a bizarre unison the torch lights inside the circus tent were dimmed, and the crowd breathed a collective breathtaking gasp of awe at the beautiful colored glowing creatures "these beautiful creatures were once abundant in candleshire, as abundant as dogs and cats," markos started "but since so many elves and fae left candleshire, the effect their magic had on the city and its local nature has caused their numbers to dwindle to near extinction" taiga finished the crowd seemed to sympathetically murmur, as the magical creatures looked out at them with all but tears in their eyes then they turned and left the stage, once again of their own strange accord "next, and we promise, we tried our best to keep this a surprise," markos joked, "the performing elves wizards and fae of acaemia!" taiga finished for him grandly the tapestries at the edges of the circus ring, embroidered with all the most regal colors of every nation of acaemia, rose suddenly into the air as if born on mystical winds, dancing about in the air above the audience illuminated by bright finding lights shone up on them from the ground by deserter uh circus crew, and a small group of elves and fae that exactly matched the number which had traveled in secret into candleshire stepped out onto the stage, led by mage, dressed in matching uniforms similar to the ones markos and taiga were wearing but different colors as the elves moved in unison in a bizarre but entrancing side-to-side arm stretching very official dance, the fae accompanied the dancing tapestries with songs that sounded like no human should have been able to sing them, and otherwordly beautiful, that caused visions of wild animals and nature spirits to appear above their heads and the center stage, to even more awe and surprise from the audience at the height of it all, mage, center stage like the star of the show, began what to anyone would have looked like just ordinary, though definitely not novice fire dancing but then, the flaming staffs he was spinning about began to glow with changing colors, first the seeming natural colors of fire and then completely unnatural colors, bright neon, growing brighter and brighter, until he was dancing not with fire but swirling piercing liquid neon light blobs, and the crowd had erupted in a standing ovation "and finally," markos started, "after all this, we've somehow managed to save the best for last... for ladies and gentlemen, alas we must confess, for -some of us- (he inserted with a laughing tone) the circus isn't a prime occupation, as my young compatriot has now to share with you all, an invention soon to be in the homes of every family in candleshire, nay in acaemia.. i give you, ladies and gentlemen.. the elexa" "and i couldn't have done it without the inspiration of my best friend whom it's named for," taiga once again joined in "a half elven child who lived in candleshire" with that, the contraption was produced by the same deserters who had been operating the casting lights, and taiga proceeded to adjust the compass on its mantle and produce the local music and dissertation broadcasts of every settlement in acaemia, one after another, through the strange magical gibberish caused by changing channels human broadcasts, and elven, about the war that was happening

there was not a dry eye in the audience

chapter 8 victory

it was at that moment as fate would have it the performance was cut short by the entrance of an empirial guard ensemble headed as if to make a point to the people gathered in the circus tent by the president of the empire himself, and the announcement, "the first strike has been launched. the second war with elves is officially underway"

and it was at this moment, as if fate would have it to make a point, that what sounded like a terrible wind storm descended upon candleshire everyone ran out of the tent outside, to the sight of thousands- no, millions of dragons, it looked as if they filled the sky like stars, flying in still formation over the ancient once elven city elexa felt her and everyone else's breath taken away by the sight an huge, even for dragons, very brilliant and apparent royal violet dragon alone landed in front of the president, and nodded at him, causing his hair to blow as if in a sudden strong breeze "you may speak for the empire, little human, but you do not speak for all humans, and you do not speak for the dragons"

after a considered pause, the president and his royal procession silently retreated, and it seemed rather gladly understood among the crowd that similar confrontations were occurring throughout acaemia

chapter 9 peace

part v

elexa and mage walked together down the sandy beach shores of candleshire, hand in hand, as he had seen her walk with a newmet fae friend once, laughing together about elexa's promise that they would see each other again things throughout acaemia had finally settled down, even if it meant that for now elves fae and humans were residing in their own lands, respectively - simply because that's where everyone had wound up humans as a whole were certainly not unfriendly or even unappreciative of elves and fae, and magic, and it was beginning to turn out the empire wasn't really either - mayhaps they had just needed a new election

"you know, we're really weird," elexa commented "yeah, we are," mage laughingly agreed "i don't know if we even belong in the same time or.. world together..." she trailed off "nothing makes sense," mage stepped in for her "it doesn't make sense how we met, and it certainly makes no sense that we're alright and having this conversation now" "i suppose you're right," she answered him after a pause, mage continued "even the way our abilities counteract with each other.." she nodded, agreeingly "it's like, as rare and strange and to some ways of thinking even new as a half elven girl is... i.. want you in my life, every bit as i want my own magic," he couldn't believe the words that came out of his mouth, and turned shy as he remembered that elexa could read his thoughts anyway "mage.." she looked him in the eye mage saw looking back at him a girl who possessed a beautiful timeless childlike innocense and wonder with the world that he had always secretly wished he had gotten to experience more growing up even more so, he saw in her eyes the look of magic, beautiful and sacred and bright, mirrored in his own he thought about the day he had met the at first only silly and whimsical young half elven girl who'd accompanied markos and taiga to candleshire

"the world will always have elves, however rare," she resolvedly stated "and fae, and magic, and dragons..." "yes, the world needs those things, it can't very well make a move to get rid of them without realizing what it's doing" they walked together a little longer in silence

suddenly, elexa spoke "what do you think.. the world has for us, mage?" he was taken aback by her profound question as she continued "a half elven girl and a wizard.. we're not even elves, or humans, or fae.. we don't belong," she almost seemed to despair "maybe we shouldn't be asking what the world has for a half elven girl and wizard.." he answered her, to his pleasant surprise wisely, "maybe we should be asking.. what the world has.. for dreamers"

she suddenly turned to him, smiling, tearily, and all but softly whispered, "i'll always have you"

then mage remembered that he could not read her thoughts the way she could his, when she kissed him, a kiss that was neither elven nor human nor even fae it was simply magical

#the elven chronicles #oliver treespirit #michael oliver hall #authors on tumblr #fantasy #fiction #elves #magic #fae #pirates #elven #chronicles #trilogy

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chronicbatfictioner · 6 years

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Subtle - Chapter 9

"We're going where??"

"Washington. I've cleared it with BatDad and he just... I dunno, kinda smirked and said, 'have fun!' - which made me even more scared than this date itself. I mean, they're BFFs, right? It's not like I stole this jet. Penny-one even put something in that box... I think we're supposed to give some kind of gift for the host and--" Jason rattled on for nearly a minute before he caught Tim's blank glare. "Oh, hi, you there?"

"I think my brain jumped out of the plane somewhere between state lines."

They were on their way to Washington, DC, on a Saturday night because Princess Diana of Themiscyra had extended the invitation to Bruce Wayne to send his two sons, Jason Todd and Tim Drake, to join her for a dinner. Said invitation was sent by courier (i.e. The Flash because Diana has a sense of humor) - complete with receipt and everything, and was duly accepted by Alfred. Alfred promptly prepared two dress-suits for his two boys, and demanded that "Master Wayne shall loan you his jet, young masters, have fun."

Tim had not reacted obnoxiously, if at all, when Jason picked him up from his Crime Alley loft and drove him to the private jet airport near Wayne Manor. He'd only looked up quizzically once, as they drove past the Manor, and looked at the suit Jason told him to put on. But he did not ask any question, too busy with whatever crisis that was happening in his cellphone.

It was only when they finally boarded the jet, with Jason taking the pilot's seat, that he'd asked. Jason had replied, "we're going to dinner." and when Tim did not press, Jason had thought that he'd simply forgotten of the invitation. Until, well, until somewhere between takeoff and now. "We'll land in about five minutes." Jason said. It was excessive, all things considered, to take a jet. But Alfred insisted and said that it was 'improper for a gentleman to appear ruffled for a royal dinner,' - and somehow, Diana had approved and provided a landing zone.

Why, Jason didn't know, either. But hey, who was he to object to a princess? Or a loan of a private jet? Or a 30-minutes flight compared to a 3-4 hours drive?

The landing zone, true to Diana's nature, was in a military base; and they were picked up by some military people who insisted upon driving them back to 'Miss Prince' in a Hummer.

Good thing that they had listened to Alfred's advise and wore suits, not armors. It would be awkward to explain why Red Hood and Red Robin was there to meet Diana Prince; and less so in explaining why Tim Drake-Wayne would come to see Diana Prince. Tim's flustered, "she asked for us to come..." helped a lot.

At the front door, Tim still asked, "why are we here, again?"

To which Jason glibly replied, "the Princess demand our presence for dinner." Judging from a soft snicker given by one of the soldiers, it was the correct, un-suspicious answer. "Good thing we're trained on how to behave around royals." Another snicker - and Jason couldn't be assed to tell the snickerer that they, in fact, had been trained to behave around royals by the Almighty Alfred Pennyworth. Sir Alfred. Jason fleetingly thought that if Alfred hasn't been knighted by now, someone at the Buckingham Palace should have their head removed.

"Come on in, young men!" Diana greeted them. She, as per usual, looked radiant in a long, flowing gown. Silencing the little voice in his head that mentioned the fact that she could have been wearing a potato sack and would look incredible, anyway, Jason gently ushered Tim and they both kissed Diana's cheek gallantly. Alfred would have been proud. Gift was exchanged, and it turned out to be truffle chocolates. Hand-made by Alfred, to which Tim excellently presented because rich kids like him would know how to present a gift for a host. Jason would probably simply hand it over and say 'it's from Alfred.'

Dinner, as everything that was Diana, were magnificent, superb and not minuscule-sized like the food in Bruce's gala dinners. And Jason paid full attention at their taste, and how Tim reacted to them, fully taking a mental note to ask for the recipes of the ones Tim seemed to enjoy the most. The wild boar ribs might be a little tricky, but looked like it was worth catching a whole damn wild boar if Jason could find one.

"So, Timothy," Diana started.

"Yes?" Tim replied politely around the line of ribs.

"I believe just about everyone and their super-grandmothers have gone and fussed over you, yes?"

Tim chewed a little slower, and replied, "I have no idea what you mean by 'fussing'. But if you're referring to how they all have meddled and put my relationship with Jason under a microscope and proverbial and actual X-rays, yes they have. I presume you're going to do the same?"

Jason did not choke on his water, nope. He almost did, but then remembered that this was Tim, who did not fear even Superman and made Ra's Al Ghul rethinking his life choices.

Diana's smile was sweet, but laced with a little danger. "Well yes, only not for the same reason. You see, I've known Jason since he was... quite a young cub, I'd say."

"Yes, I know. I've also heard from Bruce that he's your favorite Robin," Tim grinned. "I'm just enjoying the idea that, after everyone went to Jason and put a permanent death warrant on him if he would ever hurt me, at least you're here to do the other way around."

"I am," Diana beamed. "Bruce warned me that you would be smart enough to call my bluff? But my dear Timothy, I should also remind you that I don't bluff."

"I know, I get it. He's..." Tim looked at Jason fondly, and Jason hid his blush behind a grilled rib. "I get it, though. People asked me if he's good enough for me, and no one asked if I think I'm good enough for him - and they all forgot that if evil didn't happen, he and I might have ended up like this a lot sooner. You know? I just... a lot of time I wondered if they would act the same if I'd been the Red Hood, and Jason was Red Robin, you know what I mean? If they would be so harsh on me like they are on him, forgetting everything he'd done way back then..." he shrugged. "I'm glad you're... on his side, Diana."

Diana smiled, less dangerously, this time. "A war is never won by just the soldiers, Timothy, they are won by the generals." she offered a non-sequitur. That is, non-sequitur if one's life doesn't generally revolve around wars big and small or inter-galactic like the three of them.

Jason turned a little to look at Diana, wary at the direction of the impending question.

"What are you, Timothy?"

Tim pondered the question for a moment, while Jason pretended he didn't care by stuffing his mouth with the broccoli.

"I'm sure everyone wants to be a general. I'm sure people think I'm a general... a mini-general, at least for the Titans. But what I am, really, is an experienced soldier." Tim replied, sounding a little subdued. "I don't want to be in the war, Diana. I wanted to help people. Just that. It's simple. It should be simple. But as it was, is, and will be, it's never simple. Not when help is seen as the proverbial fish, you know what I mean? --instead of the proverbial rod. What I am is a soldier. Maybe I'll eventually die in battle. Maybe - hopefully - I'll weather the war and come up on the other side, some day. But what I don't want to be is the general.

"I can think like one, sure. Like Batman. Like Luthor. Like Ra's Al Ghul. But their thoughts hurt... hurt me. There is no end of their visions. There is no happy ever after. And maybe, maybe I just want a happy ever after..."

Jason cleared his throat. "Okay, enough with the questioning, I think. The mood just turned the wine sour." he commented. He couldn't reach over the table and he wanted to, if only to wipe that solemn, forlorn look out of Tim's face.

Diana's smile was a little brighter. "I am not sure if I should give you wine or not, Jason, so that is grape juice in your glass." she remarked.

"Hey! I'm actually 21!" Jason protested.

"Ah, right. I keep seeing you as the 15-year-old boy I once knew..." she signaled someone, and a goblet and bottle of wine appeared next to Jason.

"Shouldn't you stay sober? I mean, we still gotta go back home, you know. And I don't think you can afford crashing Bruce's jet..." Tim commented.

"Live a little, Timber! Besides, you're the designated driver." Jason grinned impishly.

"That is so unfair..." Tim grumbled.

"You may have wine, too, just a sip, if you want." Diana offered. "I am amused at the American's insistence that their children should not be introduced to wine until a certain age, whilst they are not protected from violence in general. But," she shrugged. "'when in Rome...', I guess. Wine, Timothy?"

"Eh... no, thanks. I actually really rather stay sober." Tim refused politely. "Yes, Jay, I know the jet has autopilot. I just prefer to stay sober, thanks."

"One sip isn't gonna make you tipsy, Timmy. But you know what? Whatever float your boat."

The flight back home was quiet, save a few questions from Alfred in the comms of their ETA and some technical questions - like 'who was flying' and whether the pilot is sober. Diana had wondered out loud if she should let them go back home, since it was late - at 11.30-ish. They assured her that it's not late for them batkids. She'd hugged them both, whispering to Jason, "be happy, Jason."; and something else that Jason couldn't hear to Tim.

Curiosity won, and Jason decided to ask. "What did Diana tell you when she hugged you?"

Tim smirked. "What did she tell you?"

"For me to be happy. You?"

"The same, with added, 'I've been told that it is a custom to tell a young man: you hurt your lover, I'll break both your legs and arms.' - quote-unquote. Apparently, Green Arrow suggested that, thinking she would be saying that to you."

"I'm hurt. Right here. After all I've done with Roy and all..." Jason pointed to his chest mockingly. A thought suddenly crossed Jason's mind. "Hey Tim?"

"Hmm... we're ten minutes out. What?"

"We're actually a couple, aren't we?"

"If you're thinking of changing your mind now, nearly eight weeks after the first time you asked me out on a date, you're a little too late."

"I'm not gonna." Jason assured him.

Tim was quiet for a few moments as Jason adjusted the plane's instruments for landing. And then he asked, "you know, I never knew why you suddenly decided you want to date me and woo me with food..."

Jason's memories flew back to the alternate reality, and he looked at Tim. "Let's just say I was given the chance to see that being with you is a lot better option than not." he grinned toothily.

"That's really cheesy." Tim quipped.

"I should let you know that I'm the king of Cheese and I've read a lot of them Harlequin novels."

"That... ew. If you ever think of spreading rose petals on the bed for me, I should let you know right now that I'm allergic to blatant cheesiness." Tim chuckled, "Landing gear down."

"Weeell... there goes my Valentine plans!" Jason mock-gasped. "How about lining up a few blocks of Narrows with bad guys you can punch all the way to the Penthouse, and then have some big-bad in the Penthouse - also so you can punch? That be a good V-day for you?"

Tim's laughter was a little delayed as he landed the plane perfectly. But it still sounded like music to Jason. "Oh, Jay-bear, you sure know how to woo a vigilante!" Tim sing-songed.

Jason just grinned when Tim looped an arm across his waist, in his jacket, as they walked to their waiting car. The night was still young, for bats, but it was still quiet. He has Tim, laughing quietly in Jason's arms. And Jason thought of the rooftop frolicking he'd seen in the alternate universe some months ago.

Maybe someday he'll be able to show Tim what he'd wanted, and how he's working to get it. Maybe someday Tim would get the happy-ever-after he told Diana. Jason just hoped that he, too, would be in it - he knew that he would work hard, short of selling his soul to be there.

Maybe someday they won't have to put on so much armor to fight the bads of Gotham, or elsewhere. Tonight, Jason didn't know who started it, but a few hours later, he found himself chasing Spoiler, who was Chasing Black Bat, who was chasing Tim, while Jason was being chased by Nightwing. The night was filled with happy shrieks and indignant squawks when somebody got tagged. The shrill, child-like growl of "I shall decimate you, Nightwing!" followed with a red-yellow-and-green blur told Jason that even the grumpy new little Robin has been roped in into the game.

For the first time in a very, very long time, Jason's smile felt just right on his face.

Even if he was tagged next - mid-flight and made him nearly missed his landing - by Tim.

"I'll get you, Red!" he threatened, quickly following the happy cackle. Oooh, he'll get Tim, alright.

#Jason Todd #Tim Drake #Red Hood #Red Robin #Batfam #Diana Prince #Wonder Woman #Subtle!AU #omg it's finally finished

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bloojayoolie · 5 years

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Apparently, At-At, and Bad: Here is a rollercoaster ride for you to read. Last week I went out of town on a driving adventure, I was gone for 6ish days and saw a bunch of national parks. My farthest east point was Niagara Falls. My basic path was almost straight their and then around the Great Lakes on the way back. One of the better experiences I have had recently. I came back to a decent week at work and a bunch of Chaos. Woke up Wednesday to find I could hear a beeping like the trash truck but from the wrong side of the house. Wondering what that could of been going on at at 7am and I went to investigate only to find that my new Jeep was halfway up on a tow-truck. I had parked on the road that day because I was drying out my tent in my garage. Of course I wanted to know what was going on. Turns out that the owner who sold it to the dealer I had purchased it from, had a lean out on it and never paid it off or told the dealer. (don't ask me how that chain of events worked, I am still not sure) Apparently the bill just went to collections and no one told anyone that the car was mine now. I was able to talk the tow-truck driver out of taking my car by producing my new title, and saying I would call the cops. Breathing deep I let it go, and tried to have a good day. As I was talking to a friend of mine Thursday, I found out that their cats went missing. Getting me to worry a about that person and their cat. They have been a pretty good friend to me lately (despite that I suck at texting or messaging on a regular) and I know they have been goin thru some stress unrelated to this. Of course this sticks to the back of my brain, in a "how can I help" kind of way, but also in a "I hope that my friend is doing okay." I have grown to care a great deal about this person over the last few years and I hate to see my friends in distress, as we all do. [If you read this my friend, I am still thinking about it. Let me know if I can help.] Continuing the ups and downs. I was at the movies yesterday evening (don't worries, no spoilers) and had my large bowl of popcorn and a soda. About half way threw the movie I noticed that the large, young, boy sitting to my right had reached into my popcorn container and took a big handful and put it on the nacho plate he was using. A bit upset by a stranger taking my popcorn, I ignored it at first and moved the popcorn to the other side. Few mins later I was so engrossed in the movie I had reach into the bucked to find that my popcorn is now wet (and not with nacho cheese, like you might expect... and it wasn't butter, I don't use butter on my popcorn), so l put it on the floor under my chair... So ten mins later he reaches under me and grabs the popcorn; I give him a "WTF" look and say "excuse me, this is my popcorn;" He didn't say anything back. Instead of starting some shit I walked out of the screening leaving he bucket with him. Talked to a employee about the problem. When the employee went back into the screening room the large man was no-longer in his place and I didn't see him. Figuring the problem solved I happily went back to the movie. Little did I know, I upset a *insert your bad word of choice* As the movie ended and I wasn't paying attending to who was around me, the credits pulled up and the man; who was a few rOws up apparently; came by and dumped a near full soda over my head and ran. So I breath deep, do what I can in the bathroom and leave. So I arrive home around midnight and found that one of my roommates had let Mordecai out of the house (he is a indoor cat). Immediately causing me to flip out. I start calling his name for about 10 mins outside, and thank whatever power was listening, he just walked over to me from wherever he was laying, watching me look for him, and did his "give me food, human" meow.. So I breath deep and feed the monster black cat. Took a shower and went to bed More ups and downs.. My chronic insomnia kept me up, or perhaps a adrenaline. I guess that was a bit of good luck. Another friend of mine really need a chat about the things stressing them out and I was able to help. Or at least listen. [Assuming they read this sorry your work environment sucks.] I slept in late and woke up from a nightmare about the events of the last couple of years (not uncommon). When I went downstairs to shake it off, I found all my fish except one is dead. I checked PH, nitrites, hardness and carbonate yesterday and they were fine... Not so good any more on account of the dead fish.. I went in my living room and found that Mordecai had killed two of my plants by pulling them down and dragging them all about the first floor. I guess the call of the wild is strong. Breath deep and move along today. Heading to another doctors appointment today (I hope they can get this figured out). Then I work tonight and all weekend (as usual in the summer). I am really looking forward to GoT, I know the cinematic battle that we expect might be long, but I am looking forward to the dragon/white- walker/royal house fun.. Pictured below is a few good things that have happened recently. Found on the ole FB. The stranger in the theater was none other than Einstein himself.

#funny #lol #humor #memes #meme #memehumor #dank memes #funny pics #rolf #lmao #Apparently #At-At #an

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the-odd-one-in-space · 6 years

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AnotherFell pt 3

I Am an Idoito.

I’m saying that because the months that followed were uttered and complete hell, even more so than usual.

Also if you’re wondering why I’m still writing these it’s because I’m bored and I still have nothing better to do. So why not? It’s not like I’m finding from Scar because it’s my time to wash dishes.

ANYWAY, about a month later, I had moved into Scar’s house(which wasn’t hard due to my lack of a house anyway) and got myself moved to guarding the grounds around Scar’s house. (Scar got Asgore to do that.)It was awkward as all hell being in Scar’s house all the time. Most of the time we barely talked or looked at each other, not only because we’re both used to living alone, but because it was weird trying to stir up a conversation with one another.

It constantly felt like there was a pretty big ass elephant in the room whenever we both sat in the same one. More often than not, I made meals for Scar when she wasn’t feeling well or carried her to her bed if she was too tired to move. We still barely said a word to each other.

Going into town to get stuff was… difficult. The people in town were getting used to looking at certain times to see me come out of the forest to go shopping. People used this to try and jump me, which I am had been used to, but I still got scraped up. Which left Scar to patch me up whenever I got home, where she took her time getting pissed off for letting myself get hurt. “If you get yourself killed before this kid I swear to god…” That was usually the phrase they’d use while fixing my ripped stitches.

That’s something I tend to never remember. That I actually can get hurt. You’d think I’d be more careful after what happened with Pap but even then, I never try to not get hit. I’ve never even tried that thing called “dodging”.

Speaking of papyrus, my encounters with him changed quite a bit after Scar had told him off at Grills. He would just stare with hate in his eyes while I go about my business, like he wanted to say something but couldn’t. Sans stayed the same, barely talking to me and somehow staying threatening.

Then there were my weekly reports to Asgore. He wanted a week to week update on how Scar was doing. Scar had told Asgore that she saw a human running through the forest around her home, that being how she got me stationed at her place. She also pretended to be sick so I forced to watch over her. If she was to be seen in town by herself, it was off with my head. Same deal if she ended up getting attacked or something along those lines.

Anyway, every week, I was to tell Asgore on how Scar was through letters. It was hard coming up with things to tell him without letting him know about … the kid.

We still weren’t sure if we should go to a doctor to see if the kid was gonna be a boy or a girl. We weren’t trusting anyone to know about the kid, even doctors or other guards. We first and most importantly, didn’t want Asgore to rip my head off, and didn’t want the kid to end up being in Asgore’s guard.

Asgore had a thing for trying to put powerful children into the guard. Often they just ended up being taken from the parents or they were killed. Even if this wasn’t planned at all and it was a huge pain in the ass to deal with, we weren’t about to let Asgore take our kid and use them as a weapon.

We were trying to come up with a plan one day, Scar was actually considering giving the kid to Toriel if the kid was ever found. She knew I found out where she was finding and she ran that plan by me. “If the kid does get found, maybe you should give them to Tori-” I cut her off by holding my hand up. “Hell. No. That women's crazy Scar, trust me. Last time I tried getting in there she was chasing a human kid through the ruins, trying to kill them.” She looked down at herself, well, more at the kid if anything. After the next couple months, it was getting pretty clear she was pregnant. I often teased she should try to go running more, which I did just then. This was met with her chasing me out of the house with fireballs to go get food. Which I also poked fun at.

It was at some points, pretty easy to put up with Scar. It was still awkward, but it wasn’t like we were always fighting 24/7. We still had arguments and crap, but nothing that we didn’t forget about a few hours later. Geez, I almost make her sound my friend or something.

After being in town for a while, getting some sweets for Scar (Not because I wanted to but because that woman has weird cravings.) I started noticing to myself that there was a lack of people staring at me today, and the royal guards were almost no-where to be seen. I considered calling Scar to see if they were at her place as I left the shop. Almost as soon as I pulled out my phone, I felt something move through my right arm and knocked it out of my hand.

I saw a large blue spear sticking out of my right forearm. I could still move my fingers, but with not without feeling that one of the bones were cracking against each other. I knew who had thrown the spear, and I looked to my left.

I spotted in the distance, A woman in black, ripped cloughs. Her Left eye messing and face covered with blue fish gills. It was the UnderGround’s criminal, Undying.

I knew Undying, she was one of the kids that had lost their parents due to them not wanting to give their kid to Asgore. She swore revenge against the old goat, but when she tried to bring Asgore down she lost her eye and was thrown out of the guard, becoming a criminal. We used to be friends (ehh) when we both on the run, but we stopped talking after I joined the guard to save my skin.

She had that kinda glare in her eye, the one that screamed that that eye was gonna one of the last things you’d see before kicking the bucket. I pulled the spear outta my arm, not showing how weird it felt to break my bones further or that I had to reset it quickly. I let the sweets in my left-hand fall to the ground as I summoned my scythe(four and a half feet handle, rusted chipped blade) to appear in my hands. I faced Undying, feeling the heat in my eyes as they burned red.

“What was that for Undying? You don’t look too happy to see me. Or is that because of how cold it is here?” She didn’t seem amused by my humor. (I blame Sans for that.) She made another spear appear in her hands. Her face got angry, she held the spear above her head and threw it towards me. I knew she hated jokes about the cold or heat. Not sure why but it’s funny.

I blocked it, using my scythe to change its direction to hit the ground at my feet. I didn’t want to waste time, I wasn’t much in the mood to get into a big fight. At my feet, spiked chains started to form under the snow. These chains continued to form as they rushed towards Undying, only managing to scratch her arm before she dodged away. She summoned more spears that hovered at her side before flinging themselves at me.

I tried to block as many as I could with my chains, keeping them just from hitting me. I could only block so many of these, however, as a few ripped my sleeves and pants. One even caught itself on my ear, giving me less space to get piercings if I ever wanted em.

I couldn’t say I was doing as much to her. She dodged past my chains without even having trouble aiming for me. I don’t know how she deals with the lack of depth perception but I wasn’t much in the mood for asking. Especially after I almost would have needed to start doing that myself when I blocked a spear that went right for my face.

Another spear hurled itself straight in front of me. I rushed, hoping to deflect it with my scythe, but before I could react I noticed the color of this spear was different from any of the others I see. It was a dark nasty yellow.

It stopped in front of me out of my reach and zoomed to my left and behind me. It rushed towards me again, digging itself deep into my back. No organs were pierced (At least I hoped) but I felt blood pouring out and down my back.

I stopped making chains. I may not feel pain, but I can feel when my body is starting to want to break. I have a weak soul, which leads to me having a very weak body structure. This is why it’s so bad that I almost never make sure not to get hit in battle. I can only take so much. Even if my Lv is a little high.

I felt my soul stutter and shake before calming down. In the time it took my soul to not be on the verge of breaking, Undying was right up to me. She slashed another spear across my chest, not cutting deep but cutting through my clothes and breaking some lines of stitches on my chest.

She pulled her spear out of my chest, and then kicked me on my back. I laid against the snow, feeling it crunch under my weight. She looked down at me, her old grin returning to her face as she hovered a spear over my own. “Well well… the great royal guard member Mas being beaten by a criminal. Who would had seen it coming?”

“What- what do you want fish?” I managed to choke out before she brought her spear closer to my neck. Probably level with my stitches there. “I heard you met the girl that everyone knows as Asgore daughter? Where is she? Tell me, and you won’t lose your other arm.” She pulled her spear away from my neck and slowly started driving it into my forearm.

I almost choked out where it was. Then I realized why Undying would want to know. Asgore doesn’t have many weaknesses, but using Scar as a bargaining chip could get Undying control over the Underground. Or she’d find Scar, find out Asgore doesn’t care about her and…

“... I ain't telling you a damn thing. I don’t even really need that arm all too much. It’s not even my writing hand on that one. So bite me ya trout“

Undying’s eyes widened. I could see and hear her growling. She held her spear up with both hands other my chest and came down.

...But it didn’t hit me. A burst of flames exploded against Undying, sending her off me and through the window of the shop on my left.

“How many times do I need to save your lazy ass? My god.” I looked over to where the flames had come from. It was Scar,(No shit) wearing a… oddly oversized sweater. It was about three sizes too big for her, apart from her stomach. She ran over to me, with some minor trouble, and started to help me up.

I heard Undying yell from inside the store. I also heard Scar’s breathing. She was tired and I knew she wasn’t gonna be able to walk us back to her house fast enough. We started limping together into the woods, getting up a good pace. Undying was not too far behind as she jumped through the window and started running after us.

I looked at Scar, she wasn’t gonna be able to run much further. I didn’t want to, mostly because of how tired I was, but I wrapped my arms around Scar and willed us both to teleport outside of Scar’s house once again. I was getting used to it at this point.

Scar was so surprised by this that she let me dropped to the ground. I hit the floor, seeing something rock shaped before I blacked out.

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I woke up on my normal little couch in Scar’s living room. This is where I’d been sleeping while I’ve been staying here. I kept the place clean instead of how Scar used to just leave her junk food bags and ice cream tubes on the floor. I was once again, wrapped in bandages and without a shirt. “You know you can put my clothes back on after you treat me right? Or do you do this on purpose-” Scar cut me off by shoving a pillow in my face. She was sitting on the floor level with me, her hands covered with my blood. I also saw she has some melted snow where her eyes where… “... Were you crying?”

Scar looked away, her face flushed with red. I chuckled. “Aw, so you really do give a damn about me? That’s so cute-” She looked back at me with more tears in her eyes, making her left orange eye even brighter with how red it was. Her face twisted, like she was forcing herself to look pissed off. “If you had f&*king died and left me all alone to watch this kid…” She held her stomach. I just stared at her, my face having a lack of emotion.

“...Hey. Come on. I’m not going anywhere. I’m too old to bite it now. And since you’ve asked so nicely,” I place my right hand on her head. She looked up at me. “I’ll be here for you. I’m gonna be here to help ya and the kid. So stop crying all over yourself. You look like a mess.” She pushed my hand off her. “Prick... Stop almost getting yourself killed! My front porch is covered in your f&%king blood!” She stood up wiped her face and crossed her arms.

I laughed again. It was so funny to me watching her try to be nice. Also yes that’s her being ‘nice’. She sat back down, facing away from me. I could see her ears were getting red as she slowly turned her head to find her head level with mine.

I was wondering why she was staring, and then I was wondering why she was getting closer to my face.

She closed her eyes and locked her lips with my own. My eyes widen and I almost pulled back before… I started to enjoy it. I closed my own eyes and wrapped my right arm around her. That’s how we stayed for what felt like hours, it was… amazing. I felt actually pretty happy. Like for once, I was allowed to just enjoy life for a bit.

After a while, she pulled back and faced away from me again, her face bright red all the way to her ears. “... That was um… wow, you… um…” Scar held a fireball up in her left hand. “Tell anyone about that, and I burn off your other arm, got it?”,She said with little humor. I nodded. “Yeah… got it.” I looked back up at the ceiling. I just got kissed by a girl I didn’t even like… I didn’t like her, I didn’t … love her. But then why did I enjoy that so much?...

“Guess maybe this girl isn’t so unlikeable after all”, I thought to myself, a little bit of doubt within said though I chalked up to fear. I closed my eyes again, and let myself drift off to sleep. I didn’t have any nightmares this time, and just enjoyed… the quiet. The quiet in my soul as I thought about Scar and the kid that we would have. The quiet in allowing myself to stop thinking about the family I was going to have.

It was a nice quiet moment. Too bad it couldn’t last forever.

#undertale #UnderFell #anothertale #AnotherFell #Mas #Scar #underfell undyne

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keywestlou · 3 years

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DAY 18.....GREECE THE FIRST TIME

DAY 18…..Greece the First Time

Posted on June 14, 2012 by Key West Lou

Mykonos. Nothing to compare it to. Perhaps a bit like the Jersey Shore, Coney Island or Jones Beach of old. Trying to be the Hamptons, but not quite making it.

Hordes of people! More than I can describe. All on holiday. Tourism is the major industry. The only industry.

Besides the original natives, way back in history there was an influx of Egyptians and Phoenicians. There are many wind mills. Known world wide as Mykonos’ landmark.

The name of the island is Mykonos. The name of the principal town is named Mykonos, also. Unusual.

Chora is the place to be in Mykonos. It is a special area of the town. A neighborhood unto itself. Stone buildings built close together. Narrow streets between them. Very narrow. Like 3-5 feet. The buildings were built close together many years ago to protect them from the sea and its storms. Today those alleys/walkways are the playground of Mykonos. Stores, bars, restaurants and I do not know what permeate the area.

These alleys of Chora go every which way. Like a maze. Easy to get lost.

Little Venice hangs on the ocean side of the Chora. It is called such because its houses literally hang over the sea. At least the balconies do.

I find three differences between Mykonos and Santorini.

One unquestionably is the weather. The humidity on Mykonos is a killer. The evening brings no relief. Breeze. What breeze? There is little, if any. Whereas Santorini had no humidity, was hot by day and cool by night. A sweater or jacket was required in the evening. Air conditioning not used. Open a window or door and sleep comfortably under a blanket.

It is said the difference in humidity, etc. between the two islands is the height of each. Santorini is high and buildings are on top of the cliffs. Mykonos is relatively low. Hills. Gradual, however.

Only about 100 miles separates Mykonos and Santorini. Mykonos is to the north of Santorini and normally would be cooler. Though it is not.

A second difference is the number of people visiting each island. Mykonos is jam packed. An avalange of people arrive daily. Every nationality visits and works on Mykonos. I would describe the crowd last night in the Chora area as being just slightly less appearance wise as Times Square on New Year’s Eve.

Santorini has significantly fewer visitors. Comparatively speaking, I would estimate Mykonos has more visitors than Santorini by 30-1.

The final difference is in the atmosphere. It is in the air. Everyone whoops it up on Mykonos. Party time till the wee hours of the morning. Santorini is in bed by 10. The streets are totally empty by 11.

Life begins between 10 and 11 in Mykonos. Last night as I was walking to my hotel away from the Chora, tons of younger people were walking in the opposite direction. Towards the Chora. The ladies dressed. Dressed! Like in minis, knee length and other size dresses. Heels. Tall. Made up for a night on the town.

I felt sorry for the ladies. The humidity was so heavy I could see their make up starting to run.

By the way, I was walking up to my hotel at 10 while the younger ones were going downhill into the Chora to begin their evening. A difference between the generations.

I had dinner last night in the Chora. Overlooking the sea. The restaurant was Antonia’s. Just like in Key West. Key West’s Antonia’s puts out a better product, though I did enjoy my meal. A lamb casserole.

After dinner, I was off to find the Montparnasse. It is a piano bar. The only piano bar in Mykonos.

Donna and Terri suggested I stop there. Terri sang there at one time. They told me the owners were a Judy and Nikko. Terri said tell them of our relationship and be prepared to be treated royally.

I never did. I could not find the place. It is in one of those alleys I described earlier. I asked three knowledgeable Mykonos citizens where it was. Each knew. Each sent me to a different place. Each was wrong. By this time, the humidity had gotten to me and I said screw it.

Bobby Peaco, who played and sang at the Keys Piano Bar, is playing at Montparnasse now. I was looking forward to seeing him again. I was also looking forward to boozing it up a bit. Did not occur because this man could take the heat no more.

Perhaps tonight.

The stones constituting the walkway in the Chora alleys interested me. I was told they have been there forever. They reminded me of the stones making up the Apian Way. Thirty years ago when in Rome, I visited the Apian Way. The roads were constructed of larger stones than in Mykonos. The same stones which the Roman chariots traveled over. Back before the birth of Christ. The Mykonos and Appian Way stones were similar, except in size.

Mykonos is definitely a tourist town. The prices 25-50 per cent higher than Santinori. Gin on the rocks was 50 per cent higher. For Gordon’s! I did not find this gouging on Santorini.

Today the Super Paradise Beach. I have been assured by many it is one of the world’s finest beaches. I am looking for to experiencing it.

The bottom line is Mykonos is a terrific vacation place. For many from all over the world. It is not my cup of tea, however.

The Greek election is Sunday. Very significant! The result will have world wide impact.

I compare this election to Governor Walker’s recent recall election in Wisconsin. I thought surely he would have been beaten. He was not. Walker has now set the trend to be followed for the next ten years at least in the United States.

In Greece, the issue is the euro or back to the drachma. From what I have experienced in Athens and Santorini, the populace wants back to the drachma. Except for my friend and recent landlord Nikos. He wants to stay with the euro. Nikos represents the affluent. The others I spoke with the more common people. A Wall Street / Main Street battle all over again.

No one is talking politics on Mykonos. The locals are too busy making money. The tourists too busy having a good time.

Sunday will tell the story.

Joanna is my savior! Her grandfather built the hotel I am staying in some fifty years ago. Her uncle now owns it. She manages the place.

Joanna is some place in her twenties. Industrious. Charming. Ever so helpful. You have to understand my cell phone is down, wi-fi does not work that often here, and Louis needs a computer to do his blog.

I explained my problem to Joanna when I checked in. She said no problem. You will use mine as long as you are here. So here I am, sitting at her desk, punching away.

An international hotel chain should look at Joanna. Her experience is in the blood. She would make a great acquisition.

Enjoy your day!

The impeachment trial is winding down today. The guilty/not guilty vote will be taken.

Trump will be exonerated as in the first impeachment trial. He is teflon. Nothing sticks to him.

I listened to this morning’s closing arguments. One observation. Trump’s lead counsel (whose name I cannot recall at the moment) from Philadelphia is a slime. One lawyer to another.

He was a disaster the first day. Came back yesterday. Disgraced himself today.

The Republican Senators were laughing at times during his delivery. Not because of the quality of his presentation. Rather, because of the manner of his attack on the Democratic Managers.

In a real court room, he would not have gotten away with it. The judge would have cut his testicles off immediately.

Don’t let me hear I am a Democrat and a poor loser. Not the issue. The attorney was an embarrassment to his profession. Garbage is garbage.

The funny thing is the attorney did not have to conduct himself in the fashion he did. It has been obvious from day one that Trump could not be convicted. The votes were not there.

Great golf this weekend. The Pebble Beach Golf Tournament.

Pebble Beach consists of three courses. One is closed down for repairs. The other is Spyglass.

I have played Spyglass, also. A tough round. Not as difficult as Pebble Beach itself. However bad enough.

Spyglass is like playing golf in the woods. Narrow fairways. Woods all around. Tall thin trees with branches almost to the ground. A mishit and a player is in the woods in bad shape.

I am impressed with Jordan Spieth’s play. He did well in last week’s tournament. He was leading a the end of the third round. Didn’t have it on the final 18.

He was leading yesterday at the end of the second round with a -12.

I hope he can continue the excellent play. He has had a couple of bad years.

Islamorada is in the mid keys. A 1 hour 45 minute drive from Key West. Old. Fun places, however.

The motels are generally old. Vintage 1950s. Clean. Located right on the ocean beach.

It is the bars and restaurants that make Islamorada a place I enjoy. For lunch, Loreli. On the gulf side. Great sandwiches and people. Pleasant atmosphere.

Dinner in the evening The Islamorada Fish Company. I sometimes go two evenings in a row. On the gulf side also. Stone crabs the specialty of the house. Enjoyed with a great vista view from a huge round deck sitting out over the gulf.

Islamorada is also known as the Fishing Capital of the World. Real fishermen go there to enjoy the sport.

Islamorada is a typical Key. U.S. 1 running down the middle of the Key.

Traffic over the years has obviously gotten heavy. People seeking many of the keys south of Islamorada. Crossing U.S. 1 from one side to the other can be dangerous. Patience required. If you have any smarts, you wait till crossing is easy. Many deaths and bad injuries the result of those who do not. Accidents are many.

The State decided an overhead bridge was required for pedestrian travel in order to avoid accidents from occurring. The Islamorada Council did not want it. The State announced it was cancelling construction.

Everything will remain as it was.

Baseball great Ted Williams was an avid fishermen. In the early 1960s, he purchased a magnificent home on the ocean side. The fishing boats are on the gulf side. Most everything is on the gulf side.

Williams sold his home in 1988. He said at the time that he decided to sell it when he had to wait to cross U.S. 1.

Traffic has always been problem. Worse today, of course. However with a bit of patience, not a problem.

May Johnson’s diary entry was not in the Citizen this morning. Has final publication arrived? Seems so. Hopefully her further diaries will get “translated” and we all will have the plea sue of following her again.

Enjoy your day!

DAY 18…..GREECE THE FIRST TIME was originally published on Key West Lou

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slothcritic · 5 years

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She-Ra and the Princesses of Power - Episode 5 Review

The episode features boats. And two new amazing characters!

With the Flower Power Princess in their alliance, Brightmoon now turns to the sea in the hopes of recruiting Netflix’s Ariel, the Little Mermaid, to their side.

However, as expected of a mermaid, she lives in the ocean. This means that the wonder trio is in serious need of an experienced sea captain if they want to rock that boat.

The Queen explicitly requests no violence or collateral damage, so I get the feeling we all know how that’s going to pan out.

I feel like I’m slowly falling in love with Adora’s puffy-shoulders overcoat. I’m sure there’s an actual fashion name or term for that. But it looks cool.

When the wonder trio enters the briny fishy bar, they meet some rough looking characters, and at one point Beau’s voice breaks. Like the voice actor delivers a line and the voice just pitches through the ceiling. But you know, I think that really fits his character, so that’s probably why they left it in.

Among all the bruisers and rough-housing animal and fish people, we’re introduced to a suave, majestic debonair of a daredevil that looks like the offspring of Miguel from The Road to El Dorado and Varrick from The Legend of Korra. And boy howdy does the attitude match the appearance.

He is exactly what they’re looking for, but he is not cheap, even by royal treasury standards. I can’t remember who it was, whether it was Glimmer, Beau, Adora or even Seahawk himself, but someone challenges someone to arm wrestle, and Adora squares up against this smooth talking snake-oil seas-man.

Right here, I wanted her to go She-Ra and just destroy him, but turns out she doesn’t even need the power-up and flexes on him without issue.

Seahawk stammers and stumbles over his words for a moment before agreeing to help, and we get our first glimpse at the idea that Seahawk may not be all he claims to be.

Back at the danger zone, Demontwister is still extremely buttrumpled over Adora up and leaving, and sends Catra to dispatch her. After some back and forth sass, Deathwalker informs her that she will not be going alone. A massive, imposing shadow looms over Catra, and we see a pair of massive lobster claws emerge from the shadows...

Right before they hug her. This is Scorpia. She has lobster arms. Well, scorpion arms, because her name is Scorpia. That’s pretty cool.

Scorpia, as it turns out, is an absolute delight of a character. They managed to make a zany, endearing character without making them “lul sO rAndOm!!” and her antics drive Catra up the wall. Catra is now the straight man in this duo, and this is a great change of pace from being the wild card to Adora’s straight man. It also doesn’t help that, hey, they’re also on a boat! And Catra, being part cat, hates water.

We’re sailing, sailing, sailing on the ocean blue. Seahawk almost sings a shanty several times, but keeps getting cut off for one reason or another. However, when he finally does pull it off, Beau is there to back him up with the violin.

Beau is really just the flow with it, be everyone’s friend character. Though considering this goofy scene more, I hope we see more out of Beau as a character than just being the amicable comedy relief and voice of reason. Some substance to his personality would be nice. It’s very easy to write the virtuous, pure of heart, yada yada character. It’s not an issue yet, after all we’re still only at Episode 5, I just have high hopes and expectations for his character development.

We’re here! No we’re not! It’s a sea serpent. Adora turns on the spotlights and dives bravado-first into the ocean to kill it. Bye She-Ra!

The more watch this show, the more I like its art style. I found it very pretty just in the first episode, but the longer I pay attention to how it’s drawn and how the animators move the characters, the more I just appreciate looking at it. It feels unique, but also refined, focused and not too dramatically exaggerated.

Granted, it’s still very basic. The drawings are simple and the art style lends itself to being quickly and easily animated. It’s not a master class of animation or anything, and the art style isn’t completely breathtaking, after all it’s mostly flat colors with limited shading, but I still like it because they were able to take something basic and present it with a neat bow on it. Perhaps I’ve just got Star Vs The Force of Evil and Steven Universe on the brain but this style just looks so much better than those. Maybe if I watched something else, like a bunch of Studio Ghibli movies right before diving into this, I’d have a much harsher opinion of the art in this series. But for a campy Saturday morning kids cartoon, I like it and I find it’s growing on me.

The wonder trio meets the water queen, a very no-nonsense, serious and drol woman. Seahawk, ever the extroverted and dramatic goofball, is madly infatuated with her. The clash here leaves a lot to be questioned. Princess Waterlily actually has the more interesting half of the relationship here. It’s not your typical, plastic writing for your everyday tsundere because it seems like a lot of the time she genuinely dislikes him. But certain situations leave her exasperated to explain why she’s still hanging out with him. It’s nothing explicitly stated, or inferred through omission, or even spoon fed to the viewers through contrarian yet obvious tropes, but more in the idea that they just keep showing up together for SOME reason.

Anyways, the crux of this episode is pretty much the same as the last. Go to new ally, use She-Ra powers to save them, they’re happy and join the Brightmoon alliance. Huzzah. Now, since the barrier is weak and on the verge of just breaking all together, all She-Ra has to do is save the damsel in distress and--

Ah, yes, this trope again.

It draws into question how useful these princesses might be to Brightmoon if they’re so inept on their own. Like, I know we’re gearing up for some Princess Battle Royale at some point in the future. That’s being telegraphed years in advance. I’m sure the princesses will kick ass when that happens, and it’ll be awesome. But are they just sitting on their hands right now, waiting for She-Ra or even just The Plot to come save them from their helpless predicaments? Isn’t Lady In The Lake badass enough on her own to be able to do something at all about her current situation? Anything at all? No?

Putting that aside for now, it goes without saying that wherever the main characters go, the horde is not far behind. Catra and Scorpia have a ship, which I’m certain has no innuendo, and any further shanties have been hereby banned. Beau boards the ship with ye old faithful CareBear bow, and of course Kyle gets shot.

While this scene plays out, Glimmer turns to Seahawk for his assistance and asks him to do the one thing he’s actually good at.

“Set your ship on fire!”

He gladly obliges and they kamikaze that son of a bitch right into the other player’s battleship. Don’t ask me why a flaming wooden dinky can completely sink a floating metal tank. Maybe that’s Seahawk’s special princess power.

During all of this She-Ra and Catra have been having some incredible sexual tension on the floating platform, where the shining goddess is attempting to use the power of magic and harmony and friendship or whatever to fix the rapidly eroding magical barrier around Misty’s Splash Mountain.

With the apparent defeat of a the horde for now, Catra just... backs off I guess. And they just let them.

Little Miss Seaworld is understandable thrilled that the wonder trio and yes even Seahawk have saved her kingdom, in her own lowkey and monotone way, and grudgingly thanks Seahawk for his contributions. As thanks, her butler provides a new ship for Seahawk, christening it with a bottle of wine and everything.

“Try not to burn this one down too.”

“No promises!”

With that, we have Seahawk and Murmista joining the party!

Conclusion

Seahawk and Scorpia are amazing. This episode is in very good fun and the new characters provide some great humor. The last four episodes were a little slow to the punch, but I found it hard to find something to dislike about this episode. The forced helplessness of the princesses here is a little off-kilter but it didn’t seem off-pace for the series and only started to bug me when I really thought about it. Initial first viewing it damn near flew over my head.

If I had to nitpick beyond that, I don’t feel like they leaned into Seahawk’s character enough. Don’t get me wrong, he’s great, but I feel like he could’ve been better if they had committed more into him instead of keeping his personality light like La Croix. It is the first episode he appears in so I’m sure there’s more to him that we’ll discover, but it’s hard to say he isn’t a little one-dimensional in this specific episode. Just an endearing goofball with no real depth beyond comic relief. Scorpia on the other hand seems to have more potential at least from the outset. She appears to have a more diverse personality but we don’t get to see too much of it here.

Now, it would be fair to say that I’m basing almost my entire judgement of this episode upon the shoulders of two very campy new characters, and that would be an accurate assessment. It’s important to note that the primary purpose of a show like this must always be entertainment. You need to be entertained to want to keep watching. That can either be done through a gripping plot, tension, character development, emotional investment, or just through goofy, hilarious hijinks. At Episode 5, we’re too early into the series for pretty much anything on that list except for the last one.

This has also cinched that little itch in my back for me about “not being quite sold on the series yet” - Up to this point, it had simply been a point of curiosity, but now I feel like I actively want to keep watching just to see how these characters develop and what happens to them as the story unfolds.

Score: 75

Passing Thoughts

“Go fish” says the fishy dude.

#slothcritic #she ra #she-ra #shera

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ezra8266166882-blog · 7 years

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2014 Festivity Programme

Why Is actually gel So Famous?

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tjdelreno · 7 years

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Final Fantasy XV review

Sitting in the Regalia you squeeze your leather butt to fart out an Egg–Fried Crustacean Bowl prepared by the Egon of your little royal boy band group. Your hero, Noctis, is on a journey to marry his true love for the good of the kingdom. This is the only time in history a man is on a journey to get married. I thought the story would’ve been a Japanese road trip version of the movie “Saving Silverman”. So Noctis has to fight to reclaim his throne one diner quest at a time. The characters are four archetypes; the brooding teen, the funny guy, the nerd and the jock. Also most of the women’s outfits are from the closet of Lara Croft circa 1990.

The game play is called “Active X Battle” system, which was designed by an eighth grader who thinks putting an “X” in things is cool. If you have multiple fights I guess it’s called “Active X BattleZ” with a Z which is radical right dude? You can “lock on” to a monster and watch the camera spin out of control like a drunk NASCAR driver. Your other choice is to aim at the creature you’re fighting which is super fun when the monsters jump all over the place and the camera still flies around like a sailor on shore leave. As for weapons you have your choice of sword, gun, giant sword, magic, spear, dagger, shield and auto. Auto is a type of weapon that I would imagine means “automatic” which is a cross bow or a circular saw. Yes a circular saw, the most dangerous automatic weapon you can purchase at Sears beside a snow blower gun. You can switch weapons on the fly like Devil May Cry or Bayonetta but there really isn’t any point since most enemies die by one or two types of weapons so you can switch but I really don’t know why. There are also tombs that have Ancestral Weapons like a sword, mace (the weapon not the spray), axe, swords, (or I should say swordZ). When discovered these implements fly into your body and stay with you like deadly genital warts. I never really used these much because they chip away your health. So it’s a balancing act between do damage or stay alive. Another battle perk is the mighty Summons! Ifrit, Shiva, Leviathan, Titan A.E. or Ramuh Romano come to your side when they feel like it. You see in order to gain their aid you have to fill certain criteria such as fight by water or survive a battle long enough. These are few and far between and feel like a broken random number generator or that crush you invite to your party. You hope they show up only to be sad when they text “That was last night” the next day so you drink Peppermint Schnapps, alone, on the toilet at noon.

The game is open world with certain mechanics to get you around such as the Regalia, Chocobos and my favorite, running. In the Regalia you drive manually, automatic or fast travel to discovered parking spots. If you auto drive you get to hear your friends banter. Let me tell you there’s no one better at writing small talk than a Japanese design team. It’s so natural, not robotic or unrealistic. You can also manually drive which is just holding down the accelerator and slightly turning the wheel when you need to. It feels like driving a boring roller coaster that goes thirty-five miles per hour and runs out of gas, which is too real for a game. I can’t wait for the D.L.C. where you have to fight a giant Auto Insurance Agent with Flame SwordZ to get good rates! You can also fast travel to locations via parking spots but not to the actual quest location. So there have been quests that you have no choice but to drive there for about five REAL TIME MINUTES! To be fair I got some dishes done and a tweet or two but this is not fun. After a while you can rent a Chocobo by the day for fifty bucks and the more you use them the more they level up and do cool stuff like help you fight and guard you against status ailments. Again, this is just like the Summons and it feels all RNG, which is annoying. Side note, there is a shore town that has the longest boardwalk I’ve ever ran down in my whole life. Of course Chocobos aren’t allowed on the boardwalk because they would leave big stinky Gysahl Green poops all over and that would hurt tourism. Which is a lie because the giant crabs patrolling the beach is the cause of low visitations not bird poop. The load screens are pretty long which in conjunction with actually driving to a quest makes doing side work unbearable. Here’s an example: You’re in a town and you want to go do a side quest, like a hunt. You grab the hunt at a diner after eating Bologna and Shrimp fried in a donut. Now you can only fast travel to a parking spot close to the area, then drive four real time minutes to the side of the road near said destination. Park the car, get out, run or call your Chocobo, get to quest area, try to fight large killer bees that are ten levels below you but somehow you get wrecked and realize you can’t do this side quest yet, run back to the car via legs or Chocobo, get in the car, fast travel to diner, pick up a different hunt. By then the Bologna Shrimp Donuts makes you crap your brains out so bad it feels like Ifrit punched you in the colon. All in all this took five real human American hours, three Japanese hours because they are efficient, and the video game sun went from red to white to red then crescent moon which makes zero sense.

Leveling up is done through the Ascension system. Which technically isn’t experience points because you get them after fights and quests. They call them AP, Ascension Points. It reminds me of the A.P. Tests, Advanced Placement, you took in school. Meaning play the game well enough and you get to enroll in the sequel. You acquire AP for leveling up like taking long car rides (yay), fishing, setting up camp, taking useless pictures that you can save which is meaningless and finally cooking. Then you get to choose what to level up like combat, magic, good schools, job placement…oh sorry thought it was the AP test again. I put all my skills into fishing because I once heard someone say, “You give a poor man a fish and you feed him for a day. You teach him to fish and you give him an occupation that will feed him for a lifetime until he dies and then uses Phoenix Down and rises from the dead”.

Finally, I did enjoy the game but I couldn’t’ help noticing all the horrible time management disasters that could’ve been avoided. Having to cash in quests one at a time, a ton of running around, mindless long wait times where nothing happens. Another side note, there is a segment where you walk around a moving train for about three minutes real time until you arrive at the station. Nothing happened on the train, zero dialogue, items or battles. You just walked or stood like you would on a real boring train ride. I found myself playing other games while waiting for this game to load. So pick this up if you have the patience of Saint Bahamut and the stomach for a boiled Fish Danish.

Follow comedian TJ Del Reno on social media @tjdelreno and listen to his video game comedy radio show Unlimited Lives Radio on CaveComedyRadio.com.

#finalfantasyxv #video game reviews #video games #rpg #xbox one #ps4 #final fantasy #chocobo #noctis lucis caelum #nocti #regalia #gaming

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