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strikedenko · 7 months

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The Two Nikos

Chapter 2: Across The Barrens

Summary: The two Nikos further explore the Barrens on their quest to restore the world's light.

(story under cut)

The messiah remained hesitant, though they could trust themselves! Right? They'd gone through this too, they'll know what to do. They forced a smile as the two Nikos approached the building near which Prophetbot stood.

Moving past the robot and into the building, they approach the box containing the solar battery and use the crowbar as leverage to lift the lid off the container. Inside was a hefty portable battery, though broken. Niko hands it to the messiah, setting the sun aside to accept it.

"We've got everything we need. Okay, the lens goes into the battery and then use the sun on it to charge," Niko hastily spoke, wanting to move quickly. The faster the two worked through this, the sooner they'd both be out of here.

The messiah though, wasn't quite following. "...Huh?" They tilted their head in confusion, dragging a sigh of subtle discontent out of Niko.

"...Okay, one thing at a time," They started again. "The battery's only missing a good lens, but we found a replacement, right?"

This prompted the messiah to take out the camera lens obtained earlier, before slotting it into the battery's lens compartment.

"Hey, it fits perfectly!" They exclaimed. "How do we charge it, though? There's no sunlight."

Niko tilts their head, raising an eyebrow. "Not outside, but..." They motion over to the bulb.

"Oh right, the sun! I never would've thought of that." Niko can't help but giggle in response. "...Wait, I suppose I did! Good thinking, me!" The two shared a laugh, before the messiah picked back up the sun and held it close to the lens of the battery.

Not even a second flew by before the battery reached full charge, much to the messiah's surprise as they pulled the lightbulb away.

"That was fast!"

Niko picks up the charged battery and glances over to the room opposite of the entrance. "I didn't see a generator in the back room... We should ask Prophetbot."

So, they do. Specifically, the messiah does. The robot continued to leave Niko's likeness to the messiah and their status as operator unacknowledged.

"Excuse me, is there a... generator missing a battery?"

Prophetbot took a few seconds to answer.

"The barrens do not have any generators, much less any lacking a power source." That's odd... What was this battery for, then? Niko couldn't really think of anything else.

"A-ha!" They've got it.

"Huh?" Unsurprisingly, the messiah didn't quite understand. "What're you thinking?"

"The rowbot, it might accept the battery."

The messiah returned an even more puzzled look. "What robot? We've only met two, and the rest are beyond repair."

"No, ROWbot, R-O-W bot. It's a boat robot that'll take us across the ocean towards the tower."

The messiah tilted their head, taking a few seconds for it to register.

"Oh, I get it!" They exclaimed, laughter escaping them upon realizing the pun.

"Prophetbot, where's the rowbot?" Niko inquired.

"I'm sorry, but my programming only allows me to answer to the messiah." Right, of course. Niko motioned for the messiah to ask the same question, thankfully receiving a better response. "A rowbot was stationed at the docks, though I can no longer receive a signal from them."

Niko grins, clapping their hands together eager to progress. "Right, let's go!"

"I wish you luck," Prophetbot spoke, before the two darted off towards the unpowered rowbot.

...A little too eagerly, perhaps, as the messiah was being pulled along by Niko.

"P-please! Slow down!"

"Oh, sorry!" Niko did slow, though it was clear they really wanted to reach the rowbot quickly. It wasn't long until they did, reaching the docks and noticing the boat-bound robot. Niko made haste, taking out the portable battery and inserting it into the perfectly sized power compartment.

. . .

"I AM FUNCTIONAL!" The rowbot flared back to life. "YOU! THANK YOU. WOULD YOU LIKE ME TO TAKE YOU SOMEWHERE?"

It seemed a little worse for wear compared to what Niko had remembered, though perhaps it was just the rust.

Oh right, the rust-

"...I CANNOT MOVE."

It had briefly slipped Niko's mind that they had to clean off the metallic body as well, which entailed venturing into the vent zones to fill the bottle with gas. This also meant needing to find the gas mask, most likely in the safe on the cliffs.

...There's probably only one gas mask in there, too. Well, they'll hopefully figure something out.

"We'll clean you soon, don't worry," Niko affirmed, before glancing back to the messiah letting out a yawn.

"Niko... I'm tired, can I take a nap?"

They paused. Niko... did kinda force them around, like how Cameron had in both the World Machine and their first few weeks in the Multiverse Machine.

A mirroring yawn. "Yeah, that's a good idea. I think there's a bed nearby," Niko said, pointing to an abandoned train car. "Bye, rowbot!"

No response from the robot as the two walked over into the train car.

A copy of the bed from the starting room sat along the leftmost wall, undisturbed by the surrounding fallout. The messiah was quick to approach and press a hand into its mattress, testing its comfort.

...

['It seems your name was no mere coincidence, Niko.']

A strange voice invaded the former messiah's mind, catching them off guard. "Wh-who are you??" Though their audible reaction echoed around the disheveled space, this world's messiah appeared unbothered by Niko's surprise.

['Do you not remember? I reached out to you through your machine, informing you of what was at stake.']

It was the World Machine. Well, it was this World Machine, before it realized its tamed nature and worth.

['I don't understand how you were able to enter, nor why, but I hope it does not dissuade you from ensuring the safety of your other self.']

The voice subsides.

The ensuing silence is broken by a soft squeaking coming from the bed, the messiah laying down and clutching the sun close, not wanting to drop it. They seemed to notice their other self watching, adjusting their body to make eye contact more comfortable.

"Niko?" They spoke, frowning into the warm sun. "I'm scared..."

Of course, Niko's concern for this world's messiah urged them to try and comfort their fears. "What are you scared of?" They could think of a few things, but the number one rule for this seemed to be to never assume.

"This world... What you said earlier... There's a catch, isn't there...?" The messiah grew more somber. "I just want to go home..."

"Hey, hey..." Niko moved in closer to the messiah. "I promised you that you would," they cup the other's free cheek. "No matter what, I'll make sure that you get home."

The messiah let a smile creep up, Niko mirroring a soft grin shortly after.

"Think of home, dream of it. Tell yourself that you'll return, because you will regardless of how hard things might get," they continued. "You'll return to mama."

The smile formed fully on the tired Niko's face. "Thanks..." they cooed, starting to fall asleep. Niko offered to set the sun aside so the messiah could nap unburdened. And then, everything went dark.

. . .

"H-Hello?" Niko's voice echoed throughout the void they'd seemingly wound up in. "Niko? World Machine?" No sign of either, obviously worrying...

All they could discern through the darkness was their own form. There wasn't even any discernible difference between what felt like the floor and the air around them.

"...Anyone?"

Niko was growing increasingly paranoid. It felt like when they first woke up in the tower without being able to hear Cameron's voice.

...!

This subtle weight in their coat, going unnoticed until now... Could it be?

"Oh, hey!"

It was their cyberphone, dubbed the Pocket Machine. It was a gift from Cameron for use within the Multiverse Machine, but how did they have it now?

Well, they shouldn't pass up an opportunity to try and get out of... whatever this place was-

The moment they powered on the device though, the world roared back to life. The surrounding void faded to reveal that Niko never left, the world had simply unrendered. Niko breathed a sigh of relief as the messiah awoke and sat upright, yawning.

"I'm awake," they exclaimed, turning to Niko. "I had a dream just now, about home." They smiled, recounting the visions that had played through their mind. "I was in the big wheat field surrounding my village. It was bright and sunny!"

Niko beamed a warm smile to their other self. "That sounds really nice! I'm guessing your sun is a big ball of fire in the sky?"

"We have two suns, actually!"

...What?

"Two? How does that even work?" Niko inquired. Never have they heard of a binary star system before, so the concept was VERY intriguing.

"I don't really know, I never asked about it." The messiah shrugged, getting out of bed and back onto their feet, reclaiming the sun. "A-anyway, we should probably get going..."

"That's a good idea," Niko nodded, proceeding outside and gazing upon the tall spire once more, then back to the lightbulb that the messiah held.

"I wonder if there's a world machine with two suns..." They silently mused.

Right, what was next on the list? They had to clean the rust off of the rowbot, which required them to make the cleaning solution itself. Luckily, the Barrens contained all the necessary components, the two Nikos simply had to find everything.

Despite the bubbled pond being outside of a vent zone, Niko assumed they still needed to venture through the toxic fumes in order to obtain the syringe needed. There still remained the question of where exactly the syringe was, but perhaps they could ask Silver on the way.

Of course, to even step foot into a gaseous area, they needed the gas mask from the safe. Though, the code to open it remained a mystery. Niko knew there must be a trigger, but the lack of a computer in the outpost left them puzzled.

Well, it couldn't hurt to try the safe anyways. Perhaps the trigger was the container itself?

The two cautiously walked along the cliffs over to the locked safe, thankfully possessing a larger chunk of land beneath. The messiah allowed Niko to take a look.

"Six numbers. That's..." Briefly counting on their fingers. "...a lot of possible combinations." Niko reached a finger out to touch one of the scrolling digits.

ZAP

"Yow!" Niko instantly pulled away, covering the point of contact.

"Niko? What happened?!" The messiah took an instinctive step back, before taking a few steps towards their guide to check in on them.

"...I just got shocked. Some static, maybe?" It was a loose guess, though one that made sense. Well, now with it discharged, Niko could try again?

Nope, it happened once more. The guide pulled back and let out a disgruntled sigh, before turning back to the messiah.

"I think you need to be the one to do this..." Niko moved to the side, allowing the messiah a full view of the door and the combination lock.

"We haven't seen any codes, though. Not since the remote, anyway." The messiah leaned in to take a look, then suddenly froze on a dime. No movement even from their eyes.

['I see you two have made progress, Niko.']

The Entity roared back into Niko's mind, taking them by surprise. Was the messiah freezing because of this, because the spirit of the world wished to talk with the operator?

['But that stops here if you don't stop to consider this: The world is falling apart.']

They figured. The Barrens were, well, completely barren, even more so than Niko's recollection of events from their own World Machine.

['It's possible that the INFORMATION you seek no longer exists in this world.']

They had gathered. Niko's first thought was that it was to be found elsewhere on their computer, though being inside the world itself made that a little difficult. How would they go about that...

...!

There's a buzzing inside their coat, the Pocket Machine. Niko took it out to see a system message, reading: "You're quite lucky to have this." Nothing else.

['Start looking.']

The world around them unfroze as the voice vacated. As the messiah tinkered with the combination, Niko stood aside, thinking about how their possession of the Pocket Machine made them 'lucky.'

Then, it hit them. From what they recall of the village IT person's guidance, a program unrendered if the window it was viewed in was closed. They recall Cameron making reference to the world 'closing' on him, and the world, alongside the messiah, had woken once Niko turned on the device.

The Pocket Machine held external power over the world! That considered, it's possible it may grant Niko access to the rest of the computer outside!

Meanwhile, the messiah has just been trying incremental combinations starting from all zeros-

Niko starts looking, scouring the various menus of the Pocket Machine. The Entity put particular emphasis on the word INFORMATION, so that was the word to search for.

Eventually, entering a menu titled 'Documents,' they discover a file called 'INFORMATION' with the extension '.oneshot'.

Score.

"Niko, I've got it! I found the code!" The guide exclaimed, prompting the messiah to pull their focus from the combination. They were still on '000017,' so knowing the correct code was certainly preferable to brute-forcing their way in-

The file opened a screenful of text that appeared to be a letter all but lost, written by an unknown author. Most of the page was unintelligible, though the most important information was on the last line, untouched by the cruel sands of time.

"The code to the safe is 426713," Niko read aloud, with the messiah returning to the code entry and inputting the combination. Miraculously, it works! The door of the safe opens to reveal... one gas mask.

"Oh, shoot..." The messiah sighed. "Looks like we'll have to share." They pocket the gas mask and investigate the journal stored within. It lacked a clover on the cover, being replaced by some text in an unknown language. Odd...

The messiah briefly flipped through its pages, though the content itself proved similar; An unknown language within, not to mention a lot of it. "Weird... do you know what this says?"

"I don't recognize that journal, no..." It may prove to fill a similar purpose to what Niko remembers, though even back then they never had a complete translation.

"Let's stop by Silver," they suggested, moving on ahead and waiting for the messiah to follow. As they walked out onto the thin path, though, the two faltered. They looked to the left to gaze upon a peculiar phenomenon, though one that the guide knew particularly well, and despised.

Square anomalies.

The staticky sound emanating from the corruption alone was enough to jumpstart Niko's fight or flight response. Though, all they could manage to do was freeze, anticipating the unpredictable spread of the corruption.

"...Niko," They eventually spoke. "We need to go. Now." The messiah was more mesmerized by the dancing particles, though managed to break the trance-induced stare when their guide addressed and urged them to come along. They do, of course, but curiosity was flooding their mind.

"What was that?" They asked, but Niko wasn't keen on answering so soon. They simply wanted to get out of there as soon as possible, pulling the messiah along once more. Their speed was noticeably slower than earlier, comparable to a fast walk, though their grip was firm around the end of the messiah's sleeve, warmed by the sun.

Escaping earshot of the corruption, Niko finally answered. "Bad. Those squares are the world tearing at the seams," They spoke, stern. "Stay the hell away from them."

"H-hey, that's a bad word!"

Niko stopped. They... really said that...

"I'm sorry..." They spoke after a pause. "I had some bad experiences with those things, and I guess the memories coming back caused me to say it..."

The messiah hesitantly nodded, understanding the use of the word though still taken aback.

"...Let's go see Silver."

The two return to the facility housing the head engineer. "Hello!" The messiah greeted.

"Hello, messiahs," Silver reciprocated. "Is there something I can help you with?"

"Yeah. We're trying to clean the rust off of a rowbot," Niko answered. "We've been trying to make the cleaning supplies ourselves, but we don't have all of the supplies..."

"Make it yourself? That's not something I would recommend," Silver spoke, glancing off to the side. "Though if you must, the atmosphere in the vent zone combats rust particularly well. If you manage to concentrate and contain it, mixing it with the rare form of liquid phosphor results in a strong cleaning solution."

Well, Niko knew that-

"We were on our way to the vent zone now, actually! We just can't find anything to get the rare phosphor..."

Silver thought for a second, before an idea sparks into her mind.

"I possess a kit of medical supplies in case of a human work accident, though since everyone left, it fell into disuse." She breathed a silent sigh. "Feel free to take anything you might need.

So THAT'S where the syringe was...

The two approached the box in the corner and scoured through it. Most of the tools were broken or rusted, but...

A-ha! A clean syringe! Niko can't help but wonder how it's stayed clean for so long.

The messiah pockets it, before the two bid farewell and head out.

"So, about the mask," Niko started, drawing the messiah's attention. "I've got a plan." Their plan was to split up, the messiah dawning the mask and venturing into the vent zone to collect some of the acidic fumes, whereas the guide was to head down to the bubbled pond and extract a sample of liquid phosphor, and they'd meet back up at the docks after they were done.

"How... would I contain the gas?" The messiah asked at the tailend of the plan.

"You take the bottle, hold it over a vent, and seal it up once it's been filled." It's a good thing they kept the cork from the starting house, then. "Good luck."

The messiah nodded, dawning the gas mask and heading into the nearby vent zone. Niko waved a temporary farewell before running the other way. Over the cliffs, through the dorms, back to the shrimp swamp, where it wasn't long before they arrived at the pond with the bubbled-over surface.

They waste no time jamming the needle into the jelly-like substance before pulling back on the plunger, extracting the liquid phosphor into the barrel. Once that was complete, Niko proceeded to the docks.

The messiah, meanwhile, took more time to find and grab their gas sample. Most vents were so tall, they couldn't even reach over the top on their tippy-toes! Soon, though, they were able to find one expelling gas from the ground, but removing the cork from the bottle took more effort than they'd like. Despite the prolonged struggle, the messiah was eventually able to wiggle it free and yank it out.

"Okay... Into the bottle," They muttered to themself, turning the top side over to catch the flowing gas inside. It didn't take much time, though the messiah made the mistake of moving it away from the smoke before sealing it off, causing the gas to escape. "Oh, shoot..."

They don't make the same mistake on attempt 2, sealing the smoke within and heading out to the docks, their guide just arriving there as well.

"All good?" Niko asked, the messiah raising the filled bottle in response before removing the gas mask. "Great!"

Niko began the procedure, injecting the liquid phosphor into the bottle through the cork, discarding the syringe before beginning to shake. The messiah put on the rubber gloves and prepared the sponge, allowing Niko to pour the solution onto it.

"There we go. Now all we need to do is clean the rowbot!" The messiah exclaimed, before approaching the robot with the sponge in hand. "Alright, hold still..."

"AS IF I HAD A CHOICE," The rowbot replied, dragging a chuckle out of Niko as the messiah rid the metal body of rust. Following a few minutes of wiping down the rowbot, it began to move!

"I FEEL BETTER ALREADY! I AM ABLE TO FOLLOW MY PROGRAMMING AGAIN."

The messiah grinned. "We're headed towards the spire. Can you take us there?"

"CLOSEST DESTINATION TO THE SPIRE IS... THE GLEN-"

The rowbot stutters. "MY BUILT-IN NAVIGATION CIRCUITS HAVE FRIED."

"Oh, shoot," Niko muttered, dismayed.

"IN THE EVENT OF AN ERROR, YOU SHOULD SPEAK WITH THE HEAD ENGINEER. SHE WILL KNOW WHAT TO DO."

Back to the mining facility and Silver, they suppose. Luckily, the walk this time around wasn't so bad. Quiet, a nice kind of quiet, knowing they were close to moving onto the next area. The two Nikos entered the facility to talk with the robot lady one more time.

"Excuse us again, miss," the messiah started. "We managed to clean the rowbot, but it said something about its navigation circuits being fried."

Silver thought for a moment. "If you give it something from the Glen, it ought to remember how to get there. It'll be rare to find anything like that here, though."

The messiah breathed a disappointed sigh, whilst Niko was counting down on their fingers until...

"Wait!" There we go-

"I have this." Silver removed her necklace, a charm hanging off the end containing a clover housed in amber.

"This contains amber from the Glen. The rowbot should be able to route back if you show it this."

The messiah gazed upon the charm, intrigued. "It's very pretty."

"But... I can't just give this away. It's special to me," Silver spoke, reminiscing. "Tell you what. I haven't played chess with someone else in years. Play a game with me, and I'll let you have it."

Niko doesn't remember Silver acting so... reluctant, though they suppose it's the least they could do. The messiah volunteers to play, with Niko acting as the judge, they guess. It ultimately mattered not, but it did spare them from having to play chess.

As Niko watched, they couldn't help but notice the messiah's human-like ears.

"Your ears... They're on the side of your head?" They inquired as Silver pondered which move to use.

"Yeah? Are yours not, Niko?" The guide then took off their hat, revealing a pair of purple cat ears. Silver caught a glance before briefly glancing away and snickering, much to Niko's bemusement.

"Everyone at home has eyes and ears like mine! So, you're a human?"

The messiah frowned. "Nuh-uh, humans have small eyes! Well, some of us have small eyes as well, but I'm still not human." Their denial was, frankly, quite amusing. Guess that's how others see Niko when they deny being a cat...

"Checkmate." Quite a short game, with Silver ending up winning. "Alright, guess I've kept you two long enough." The messiah stood out of their chair and reclaimed the sun as Silver reset the board, before handing over the necklace. "I hope you get home safely."

"Thank you, Silver. Goodbye!" The two bid farewell, leaving the facility and returning to the docks. Niko shows the charm to the rowbot, allowing them to analyze the amber.

"OH. THIS COIN. I... I REMEMBER NOW! SETTING COURSE..."

The two shared a smile.

"...ONE LAST THING. THIS BOAT IS OVER-CAPACITY." The smiles quickly dissipated from their faces. No doubt two of them would be considered 'over-capacity.' "YOU'LL NEED TO LEAVE BEHIND SOME OF YOUR POSSESSIONS."

Hastily, they took out anything that they weren't going to need in the next few areas. The crowbar, the gas mask, the hefty gloves... Would that be enough?

"THAT IS ACCEPTABLE."

Huh??

"...What do you mean 'acceptable?'" They shouldn't pass this up, though it was quite peculiar.

"CAPACITY IS SUFFICIENT. ONWARD."

Well, they aren't about to try and contest. The latch, keeping the boat from drifting off, detached, and the rowboat began to row. Despite the combined weight of the two cat-people, the boat ride was surprisingly steady. There was nothing to worry about.

Onward!

#ao3 #oneshot game #story #denko.arts

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cartoonfanaticmonsterrobotalien · 2 months

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Solar Opposites: The Rise of The New Order Ch. 5 (by @avaveevo)

The next morning, Korvo approaches a the New Order as he grins.

Korvo: Let’s do this.

Korvo opens the door and sits down.

Moran: Hey hey! Korvotron! What’s up! You doing good!

Korvo groans

Korvo: Seriously Moran? Do you have to be funny right now?

Moran: What? Just trying bring a little humor to lighten our day! *laughs*

Korvo rolls his eyes

Bee: Seriously?

Then, Tortus entered the room.

Tortus: Greetings New Order. You may now rise from your seats.

The New Order rises except for Gadget who is working on an invention

Tortus: Ahem! Gadget?

Gadget doesn’t hear Tortus

Tortus: Gadget? Gadget! *grows irritated* GADGET!

Gadget looks up

Gadget: *yelps a bit* Yes Tortus?

Tortus: STAND. UP!

Gadget angrily grumbles to himself but stands up

Gadget: Sorry geez. I was just working on an invention.

Tortus sighs and turns to Korvo

Tortus: Korvotron, it is an honor for you to be finally sitting with us.

Korvo: Heh. Thanks.

Tortus: Now, New Order. I have an assignment for each of you.

Bee: What is it, sir?

Tortus: Bee, you shall chronicle everything on Shlorp that must be kept safe at all cost.

Bee: Of course, sir.

Tortus: Gadget, keep inventing some more weapons of the New Order.

Gadget: Yes, sir.

Tortus: Moran, for heavens sake, just try do something more useful once in your life instead of being a prankster!

Moran: Can’t make any promises.

Tortus groans in annoyance. Xinna jumps on the table.

Xinna: And me, sir?

Tortus: You make to stay rough and guard any Shlorpian that me be harmed by predators and keep your team safe in line.

Bee: Yeah. And get off the table.

Xinna: Ugh! You don’t have to tell me twice, Bee.

Tortus: And Korvotron.

Korvo: Yes, sir?

Tortus: I have a very special assignment for you

Korvo: W-What is it?

Tortus: Come with me

Korvo nods and follows Tortus and then grows amazed by the chem lab.

Korvo: Woah. What is this place?

Tortus: Our lab. We know how much you love science and we believe it should be the perfect task for you

Korvo: *laughs* You know me too well.

Tortus: Of course. Korvotron, you think you can create something that could help our future generations of Shlorpians everywhere?

Korvo: But of course.

Tortus: Good it’s time to get started. Good luck.

Tortus leaves and Korvo smirks

Korvo: Oh this is gonna be fun!

Later, Korvo arrives home and Terry embraces him

Korvo: *laughs* Hey honey! *kisses Terry*

Terry giggles

Terry: So, how was your day?

Korvo: It was honestly very stressful.

Terry: Aw, I’m sorry honey. You don’t have to talk about it if you like.

Korvo: I don’t. For now, I just wanna-

Terry suddenly gets a phone call from his mother.

Terry: Yes mom?

Terry’s smile fades as he gasps

Terry: What? Oh my God… oh don’t worry mom. It’ll be okay. Love you.

Korvo: What happened?

Terry takes a deep breath.

Terry: My mom is starting to worry about Tortus.

Korvo: What do you mean?

Terry: She said there has been some suspicions about him lately.

Korvo sighs and decides to tell Terry what he learned about Tortus

Korvo: Terry, I believe you me be right.

Terry: Yeah.

Korvo: Terry, for years, Tortus’s father had a deadly thing called, execution, which means killing Shlorpians who refuse to obey the New Order.

Terry gasps

Terry: Oh my God… that’s terrible…

Terry starts crying as Korvo soothes him

Korvo: Shh… it’s okay my darling… you’re safe with me…

Terraformus: *offscreen* Son?

Terry gasp and turns around to see his parents

Terry: M-mom? D-dad?

Jessica: Hello, Terald.

Terry gasps as a flashback plays. Teraformus and Jessica are waiting for their Sproutling.

Shlorpian: Good news! Your Sproutling has been born!

Jessica gasps

Teraformus: Let’s go see our baby!

The two Shlorpians rushed in and gasped upon seeing baby Terry crying as he gets wrapped up in a blanket. The Shlorpians passed the baby over to Jessica’s arms as she and Teraformus cries tears of joy.

Teraformus: Hello, Terald.

Baby Terry: *crying*

Jessica kisses Baby Terry on the forehead. We then see an execution taking place with Teraformus and Jessica in the crowd while Jessica holds Baby Terry

Teraformus: Oh boy, this doesn’t look too good.

Jessica holds Baby Terry close. A group of Shlorpians were killed during the execution which made baby Terry cry louder.

Jessica: Sssh. It’s okay, sweetheart.

The flashback ends as Terry sobs

Terry: Mom! Dad!

Terry hugs Teraformus

Terry: *crying* I miss you…

Teraformus: Shh… it’s okay. Daddy’s here. Daddy’s got you. It’s my little boy. All grown up. You look just like me!

Terry smiles

Terry: Thanks dad. *hugs mom* Hello mom.

Jessica: Oh sweetheart. I missed you so much.

Terry: I miss you too. *tearfully smiles*

Korvo smiles

Teraformus: *smiles* It’s nice to finally meet you Korvo in person. Thank you for taking care of our son. He’s lucky to have a husband like you.

Korvo: He sure is. *pulls Terry in for a kiss*

Terry: *chuckles* Yes I do.

Jessica: *smiles* Thank you so much for taking care our son! *hugs Korvo*

Korvo: Anytime. It’s an honor being his husband.

Teraformus and Jessica smiled. Then they notice Jesse and Yumyulack.

Teraformus: Oh and these must be our grand kids.

Jesse: Yep!

Jessica: Oh little Jessica. *hugs Jesse* Look how big you grown. We haven’t seen you since you were a sproutling.

Jesse: It’s Jesse actually.

Teraformus and Jessica: D’aw okay.

Yumyulack: Uh, hey.

Teraformus: And you must be our grandson. So nice to meet you Yumyulack.

Yumyulack smiles

Yumyulack: Thanks Teraformus and Jessica, or um can I call you Grandma and Grandpa?

Jessica laughs

Jessica: Of course.

The Replicants then hug their grandparents as they smile.

Korvo: But what about Tortus?

Teraformus: Don’t worry, we know what a tough Shlorpian you are. And trust us, he is just like his father and worst.

Korvo: *sighs*

Jessica: But just keep an eye on Tortus. Okay?

Korvo nods and smiles.

Korvo: Okay I will and don’t worry things will be a success. I promise!

#solar opposites #solar opposites au #solar opposites: rise of the new order #tervo #kim-La solar opposites #korvo #terry solar opposites #british korvo #yumyulack #Moran solar opposites #bee solar opposites #gadget solar opposites #Xinna solar opposites #tortus solar opposites

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thesungod · 3 months

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i think it would've worked better if they'd done some more exposition w/ will? it seems to be a sun/light thing- orpheus (sometimes attested as a son of apollo) had no issue, nor does artemis: the only other god who can't enter is said to be helios, because the underworld is "never looked upon by the glowing sun". so this is presumably connected to will being a child of apollo's solar aspect. they could've just said that... he can go there physically due to his mortal side, but it slowly kills his godly side? smth like that. it's implied that any stretch of time away from the sun weakens will, but they outright say that the underworld was literally draining the life out of him.

(this is about this ask)

i can’t decide if will was too weakened in t*sats or too strong, honestly.

because like, he was downright useless and pathetic to the point fans got annoyed with him (lmao) but he also survived?? which is crazy, because tartarus should equal certain death even for most gods.

are you seriously telling me we were all worried about Percy and Annabeth being down there and wrote/read a million fics about their extensive trauma and the fact they’d never be the same just for Will fucking Solace to survive it too lmaooo

i agree that it was kind of dumb how even just the underworld was killing him. i remember at one point in the book he was on the ground shaking and i thought “they aren’t even in tartarus yet… wtf is he going to do there”

t*sats is so fucking stupid they couldn’t even stay consistent to the canon they’d made up just for the book😭

#ask

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axolotlinjammies · 1 year

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I am running in excitedly with questions for more about the cigar smoking doodle and their companion 👀 mostly wanting to know more about the context, story, everything! - @clxckwork-sun-n-moon

Okay I wanna do a master post about this au but I will give you the basics!

Cyber Security

This au takes place in the future. With a cyberpunk aethsetic with hits of 1920s inspo we have our setting! A city mixed with anamatronics/robots and Humans alike.

Our cast!

Solar Eclipse- Cheif of Police- hard worker and a hard ass. He takes no shits and hands out orders.

Lunar Eclipse- Lieutenant- brothers in arms with Eclipse! They worked through the ranks together. He is the big softy w/ a huge heart!

Y/N- Detective- Did they chose this job or was it forced upon them? Hard to tell. All people can tell is that they are scruffy and the Lieutenant keeps an eye on them.

Sun/Moon- Theifs- They do what they have to to survive. Quick on their feet and kings of quips they keep law enforcement on their toes.

This is all I will give you for now (n3n)! Keep in mind this au wouldn't be a thing without the help of @darkwingswarrior & @feralmoonlight they have been doing so much to help me with the story! even coming up with stellar plot points I wouldn't have thought of!

#we just came up with a name for the au #oml #still working on the story so like-#dont expect much #but I'm hype #Cyber Security

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ordon-shield · 1 year

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Whumpril 2023 Masterpost

Link & Sheik

Link Makes Bad Decisions

Four Becomes One

Malice Infection AU

Shades of the Calamity

Runaway AU

Retrieved Communication Logs

F-1: Link? You’re near Lanayru-5 still, right?

L-1: Currently orbiting while the solar cells recharge, why?”

F-1: We’ve picked up a distress call from near its moon, and you’re the closest ship with the capacity to help.

Recovered communication logs between Central engineer Zelda Hyrule with her F-1 Class experimental fighter ship, and an L-1 Class scout ship (pilot unknown).

Sorely Needing Rest

Link just needed a horse, not an argument.

A Meeting in the Desert

Link gets left in the Haunted Wasteland to die.

His pale skin was already far past red, already peeling under the heat of the sun, and if he stayed out much longer he’d be willing to hand over the Master Sword to Ganondorf himself in exchange for a drink of water.

Blood and Stitches

Carelessly stepping into the next room, he found himself tripping over his own feet as his ears caught the whirl of one of the many traps found throughout the old mineshafts.

Link gets injured in the Cave of Flames and Ezlo helps him deal with it.

Minds and Malice

As it grew closer, Link realised what it was — a Hylian. He’d never seen a living one before, although he had a good idea of what they were like based on his resemblance to them. He knew he wasn’t one though— the word the monsters he’d met had used to describe meant something more like ‘harbinger’ or ‘herald’ from what he could understand.

Painless Potion

“Link, please just listen to me. I went to talk to that couple who runs the potion shop at the bazaar. They said you’re coming in near-daily for heart potions. They assumed you were just picking them up for the Academy, but I checked our stores and they’re the same as they’ve always been. Why do you need those potions Link?”

Under His Skin

Link is fine. The blood staining the front of his tunic might look bad, but the potion he took was able to heal the wound over once he was able to get to it, leaving only a thick scar across his chest. He was still cursing himself internally for making the mistake of forgetting to keep track of his injuries while using the painkilling potion.

Hope in Your Heart

Steeling herself, she stepped forward, calling upon her inherited magic, which took form in her hand as a bright orb of light.

“Vaati. Why have you come here?”

They turned to face her directly and smiled, the sides of their mouth stretching too far as they did so.

“Don’t worry Princess, I have no interest in you anymore.”

Evening Ambush

Link wasn’t panicking, not at all. He was just frozen in fear under the Yiga assassin who had found him while he was sleeping, and had pinned him down with their knee on his chest, waking him up with the feeling of something heavy constricting his breath, with the sharp blade of their sickle to his throat.

Snowpeak Snowboarding

Link is bad at snowboarding.

Dreams of Past Lives

The place he’s in now is… odd. He stands on a thin layer of water in a realm that seems to be nothing more than a bright summers day, light shining down through the sparse white clouds without a sun in sight.

The Malice of a Stranger

As they got closer he realised they were moving oddly, injured perhaps? It was when they were nearing the end of the bridge, close enough for him to seen more clearly, that he saw familiar blond hair falling out from under their hood.

Below the Clouds

“Master Link, I would advise returning to the sky before your illness becomes any worse.”

Death in the Castle

She let out a sigh of relief when they reached the castle infirmary. She knew it wouldn’t be able to help much, but it made her feel better to know that Link was somewhere safe.

One Hundred Years Later

“I… I don’t think this is something you can help with. Ever since I woke up in the Shrine of Resurrection things have just been… different for me.”

Shades of Family

Oh. He remembered her now, fragments of memory forcing their way into the front of his mind. He remembers playing with her as a child, how she begged him not to leave after he drew the sword, how he’d brought her gifts from the different regions he travelled to alongside the princess.

Almost Giving Up

“What if I… what if I feel like I don’t want to exist anymore Fi?”

Unexpected Imprisonment

Link knew it was his fault. It had to be. Sheik could have escaped capture if only Link hadn’t been there, slowing him down.

Alone With A Shadow

He might not know how long it had been, his cell without any windows to see the passing of time through, but the dark stone of the walls that surrounded him gave him a clue — he was trapped in Ganondorf’s castle, that floating fortress that had terrified him so much when he first stepped back out of the Temple of Time with the Master Sword on his back.

No Longer Alone

He could feel his mind breaking apart bit by bit as time went on. He found himself forgetting names, forgetting faces. He screamed sometimes, as futile as it was, as if someone could come and save him.

Scars

Link has a body covered in scars.

Things Lost in the Desert

The ruins around him were clearly much older than the ruins of the Calamity, and it seemed as if a great city had once stood against the highlands but was destroyed or simply abandoned at some point in the distant past.

when the fires of battle still smoulder

“So,” said Link, awkwardly rubbing the back of his head where his hair poured out from under his helm, “do you need something to change into?”

Father and Son?

“Link, what have you done?!”

Thoughts of a Hero

Sometimes he wished he could just run away from it all… except he could, he realised with a start. He could just leave. Could they stop him?

A Hero in the Wild

He’d been wandering Hyrule for a few months now, mostly avoiding more populated areas. As far as the villages he passed through occasionally were concerned, he was just a travelling hunter, who had some talent with a blade.

A Captured Hero

He scowled up at the men holding him captive, his arms tied behind his back and held there by another one of the small group. He recognised their armour if not their faces — Hylian soldiers.

Sleeping in Malice

Each time he slept, it would come back, shouting at him and cursing at the other presence in his mind. He knew that one’s name now at least — Ganon, the one the monsters knew only as the King.

Hero’s Downfall

Link thought his plan had been flawed from the start. If Zelda hadn’t shown up after his capture, now months in the past, she never would. Ganondorf seemed to have realised the same thing, choosing to force Link into working for him rather than holding out for Zelda to reveal herself in a rescue attempt.

Returning the Favour

She’d done the same for him once, over a hundred years ago, so he supposed it was just returning the favour.

#loz #legend of zelda #the legend of zelda #my writing #whumpril2023 #botw #breath of the wild #OoT #ocarina of time #skyward sword #loz skyward sword #loz minish cap #minish cap #four swords #loz fanfiction #loz fanfic

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astraldrake · 2 years

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sketch/wip/unfinished nonsense dump but there's context bcs why not under a cut because otherwise it'd be six miles long

these are some boss arena sketches for achilles the upper sketch is a rough map with a few specific symbols denoting the location of corpses and trees, as well as a few notes pointing to the starting location of the boss and the player entry of the arena. The lower sketch is a set of scenes taking place in different parts of the arena. The first depicts a character entering the arena, the second is the character approaching the boss, and the third is a shot of the boss, now awake. In this hypothetical setting (game? thing? i have no clue what to call this really), Achilles guards the path to felwinter peak, an optional area (although what is in said optional area i have yet to fully decide, i think he may just be guarding a friendly npc or something).

The idea is that you have to beat him to access the area beyond. The arena is full of the corpses of previous heroes who had challenged him. You find him stuck in a wall of ice that's blocking your path, but he wakes upon seeing you, and thus begins his bossfight. At half health he gets overtaken by corruption and switches from solar to stasis attacks.

boss design thing for darren. sticking with the theme for a moment. I figure even after you beat him he doesn't die, and after recovering somewhat actually ends up helping you out later on.

His thing in this setting is that he's essentially become so saturated with light that it's taken a toll on him (i toyed with giving him the title 'Light-lost' in reference to how his nature as a person has been 'lost' to the light. im being veeery subtle). It's eaten away at his memory and identity and when you initially start the fight he's amnesic and confused, he knows he has to kill you but can't remember why. Despite this he's still incredibly powerful, hurling bolts of lightning and and slashing at you with two massive swords. After you deplete his first healthbar, he self resurrects, beginning to remember more and more, and kicks off his phase 2. If you survive the hail of blades and fire, you knock him prone, at which point he recalls enough to switch tactics and will become friendly, offering his aid in exchange for you to stop trying to kill him.

Elden Ring, O Elden Ring. I just couldn't figure out what to do with the background on this one. Also, I was very disappointed to find out that there was nothing that let you get the bird wings the crucible knights have. I have decided my tarnished has them anyway because they look sick as hell. (also they match the scythe, so, yknow.)

Character expression practice. I had a few more of these but I think these two turned out the best. (some of the other ones looked kinda unsettling and wrong) So many part of a face squish around when you emote, and if you miss something then the whole thing looks off.

been watching a bloodborne playthrough again. Had some very- shall we say self indulgent, ideas about universe hopping, and one particular adoptive grandchild of Aerrhiks. (that phrase is gonna mean nothing to anyone whose never heard of my ocs but eh) first sketch is some hunter armor, second is a design for a baby great one version of them.

should probably state here that my favorite way of doing crossovers (although i dont often share them) basically amounts to picking up one (or several) of my ocs and just plopping them down into the setting in question. Let chaos ensue and all that jazz. It's fun to see how the ocs will respond to their new setting, as well as thinking about how the setting might react to them in turn. (I also acknowledge that this method usually ends up breaking the narrative/setting/themes/etc at least a little if not a lot, and is by all accounts kind of a stupid and unintelligent way to interact w/ the source material, but have you considered? it's fun.) Anyways yeah, tldr for these is that I considered unleashing Ash on yharnam for enrichment purposes. (and then thought way too much on how that might end.)

And that's all I have for tonight! I might do another one of these at some point with some older things i never got around to sharing/finishing. We'll see.

#my art #astraldrake's art #destiny the game #oc: Achilles #oc: Darren #oc: Ash #oc: Varda #id tag er and bb but these are mostly my destiny ocs so for the sake of the occupants of those tags i will refrain #anyways #woe. me talking about my art and ideas be upon ye.

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heythere-mel · 2 years

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Missing Piece

Frankie Morales x f!reader

W/C: 1.2K+

Warnings: pregnant reader (if that’s not your thing) mild language, husband!Frankie obviously comes with his own warning.

Summary: Your newest comfort activity sends your thoughts into overdrive.

A/N: This is purely based off what I am currently doing to decompress lately. I am not nor have ever been pregnant so I’m just writing off of what I’ve read about. Nothing is in crazy detail when it comes to that. Another little visual a/n at the end. Love of any kind is appreciated. Enjoy y’all. 🤍

——-

Your phone read 2:30AM.

Of course this would be the time your daughter decides she wants to practice her flips from within the warm confines of your swollen belly.

You were 8 months pregnant and any sleep these days seemed to be partially interrupted by your little bean either jumping on your bladder or with a foot in the rib. This instance being no different.

You turn to your left to see your husband Frankie completely dead to the world. He had been working longer hours lately in preparation for the baby’s arrival, so you could forgive him for the slight snoring and little nose whistles he made but totally denied doing. At least one of us is resting you thought, snickering when the aforementioned nose whistle chimed in. As if on cue, a kick to the side turned your focus back to your daughter as you decided to finally get out of bed. You knew lying there was going to make you start to overthink everything as usual, so you thought if you had to be awake you might as well make use of your time and be productive.

“Ven mija,” running your hand over your bump. “Let’s let daddy sleep.”

——-

Following a brief stop in the kitchen for a glass of water, you make your way over to your office where your current project sat. In the middle of the room was a large desk with the 2000 piece puzzle you had been working on. The picture of space and the solar system caught your eye during a recent shopping trip, telling Frankie it would be something to keep your mind sharp while also taking it off of the constant planning and worrying about the baby. You had made a pretty good dent in it over the past couple of weeks. Starting with creating the border, then slowly finding patterns and assembling from there. You even got Frankie and the boys in on it one particular afternoon, finding it quite humorous how competitive they ended up being while tackling the suns portion.

“There’s just so much goddamn red and orange!”

“Duh, it’s the sun pendejo!”

Pulling up your exercise ball to sit on, and with a final sip of your drink, you get started on the section you were pretty sure was Neptune, and let the worries of your upcoming arrival slip away, if even for a brief moment.

——-

Frankie turned over reaching for you only to be met with the coolness of the bed sheet. He sits up on his elbows, sleep ridden eyes scanning the room for you. The light in the bathroom is off, slightly concerning him.

“Hermosa?” he speaks out to the empty room.

He kicks the blanket off, bare feet softly hitting the hardwood floor. He moves quietly through the house when he comes upon the soft glow of light from your ajar office door. He doesn’t want to ruin your concentration so he simply watches you. He knows that you’ve been feeling more anxious getting closer to your due date, this being your place to retreat to. He has no clue why though. You were ready. All the books read, classes taken, motherly advice passed from his own mamá along with yours. Always teaching him new things in the process. In his eyes, you were already the best.

You had a few puzzle pieces in one hand, the paper with the image in the other, studying it while trying to match them in the correct place. The other assorted pieces scattered about in the other half of the box. Yet, you seemed lost in thought.

Wait…did I wash all those new clothes Frankie got from his coworkers? I’m sure I did. Speaking of which, I need to move that dresser. I don’t like it in that corner of the nursery. Nursery, nurse, oh shit I have my checkup tomorrow too.

You stare down to the pieces in your hand and back to the desk.

“Ughhhh! These don’t even fit here!” letting out a frustrated huff and Frankie couldn’t help but laugh, catching you off guard as you look toward the door.

“Fuck Francisco, you can’t just sneak in on me like that! You know I pee myself so easily now!”

“I’m sorry babe, you’re just so intense sometimes. What’s wrong?” pulling up your computer chair and having a seat next to you.

“I can’t find this piece. I have one piece left of whatever goddamn planet this is and I cannot find it. What if I never find it? And then there’s still so much of it left to do. What if we get to the very end and there’s still this one piece that’s just missing? This is the universe saying I’m not ready to finish this puzzle.”

Frankie let you rant. Knowing well that all of this wasn’t actually about the puzzle.

He takes the pieces from your hand gently and places them onto the desk.

“Come here baby,” as he extends his hands out to you, helping you up from the ball to sit in his lap.

“Frankie I’m too heavy right now.”

He shakes his head, chuckling at your disposition. “You are not! Siéntate mi amor.”

He wraps his arm around your waist, his other hand delicately splayed over your bump. He feels a slight kick from where his palm is resting and the two of you giggle.

“She knows it’s you.”

Frankie’s smile grows wide at your words. That dimple of his making your heart flutter with how cute he looks. Heaven help you if your daughter inherits that from him.

You both sit there for a moment. Enjoying the quiet of the early morning while you still could before Frankie breaks the silence.

“You know, that piece will show up soon. I mean, look how far you’ve already come with this. All these other parts came together. This one will too. And you know I’m always here if you need a fresh set of eyes,” sending a wink your way.

He always knew what to say.

“Thank you cariño.” bringing your hands up to caress the apples of his cheeks and leaning into him with a sweet kiss.

“Anytime mami. Now c’mon,” placing a quick peck to your forehead, “let’s get back to bed. We have your appointment in the morning.”

“I have to go to the bathroom first. I don’t know if it was that water or your sneaky ass scaring me but I’ll meet you back there in a minute.”

Frankie helps you up off his lap and grins at the little waddle you have in your step. He gets up, yawning while giving his limbs a good stretch when something on the floor catches his eye. He reaches under the desk to find a piece of the puzzle. About the same color as the area of the planet you were currently working on.

Hmmm, I wonder…

He picks it up, looming over the table as he places it in the center of the picture, stepping back to assess his contribution.

I’ll tell her in the morning. As he reaches for the switch to turn off the light and head to your bedroom.

His missing piece falling perfectly into place.

——-

A/N: So I am actually in the process of putting a 2K piece Pokémon puzzle together which spawned inspiration for this fic. It’s kind of a mess rn but LOOK YALL!! 😂

#frankie morales fluff #Frankie Friday #frankie morales x f!reader #frankie catfish morales #triple frontier fanfiction #pedro pascal #mel writes!

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blue-pastel-cat · 3 years

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Xiaobedo Fanfic Recommendation

Welcome to my personal “if you are new to xiaobedo peeps please read these” list. As said before this is my personal list so please feel free to reblog/comment/hit me for not including any gem here. I might miss a lot of them because I am drunk or blind. (mostly have them on my to read and then forgot as I am being assault by real life shit).

I would like to say first that so far there are 150+ Xiaobedo fics on Ao3. I can’t review all of them but I can say that I have read a majority of them. Most of them are just pure love and I would like nothing more than a thousands thank you for all the fic writers who spent their free time writting these gems for us to read for free. But these...these takes the cake as it finds a special landing spot in my heart that I would just thrust them into someone’s hand if they say “I am new to this ship can you recommend me?”

1. Orange dust by bobamilkteas (Wes)

In which Xiao learns to open himself up to the world a little more after the collapse of Rex lapis's contracts but it was not always easy for a soul doomed to eternal damnation. Meanwhile, Albedo liked to tempt fate where the extraordinary are concerned.

If only the traveler's comrades are made of saner bunch.

Comment: Long ago when I like both Albedo and Xiao as a character, I was wondering hmmm....will anyone actually even write about them lmao they never met each other. I am surprise to see this one as the 3rd fic in the whole 3 Xiaobedo fic on Ao3 (yeah back when there’s literally only 3 fic for this couple). I was like I’ll read it for the curiosity, I’ll probably won’t ship them. And that people is how I put my clown make up on my face upon finishing reading it. This ONE fic alone convert me into a devotee of Xiaobedo. Please consider joining me in this circus if you want to know what is Xiaobedo. I would put this as the first of my “Big 3″

Orange Dust also come with its compliation of short stories over the course of the game and a big sequel to it. Please also consider reading ALL OF THEM.

2. Solar Wind by birdpriestess (Sparrow)

For the yaksha, his duty was his life, and his life was his duty. No human could ever hope to understand the eternal war he fought out of sight and in silence.

So why, then, did he feel that Albedo would understand?

---

Finding himself at death's door once more, Xiao is saved by a surprising person, setting off the unlikeliest of adventures.

Comment: Do you like crying? Do you like the feeling of getting your heart ripped into pieces as the author destroy your emotions over the end of each chapter as the story picked up the climax? Yeah, this one is for you masochists. The action, the characterisation, the drama THE EMOTIONS OH WOW. I kid you not that it was so good I read this while workinng when I am not suppose to me. Also, this fic has my favourite characterisation of Gold ever. I love that dramatic queen Mad Alchemist. AND DAIN. I LOVE DAIN IN THIS FIC. Our dearest Sparrow manage to toy with our feelings like how I bully ruin guard for big numbers lmao. This is the secound of “Big 3″ of my Xiaobedo list.

Again, just like Orange Dust, Solar Wind comes with its own compliation of short stories of what came after that. Please also consider reading ALL OF THEM.

3. Castle of Glass by AlchemicalStardust (Morgie)

A black shadow rises over Huaguang Stone Forest. Caught in the wrong place at the wrong time, Albedo flees the shaking ground and the crash of boulders tumbling form the sky. As the dust settles, Albedo finds a young man – an Adeptus – amidst the carnage. Despite the karmic agony ripping his body from the inside, Xiao’s only question is “How?” How did a human survive after witnessing his battle?

Comment: The last of the “Big 3″ of my Xiaobedo list. And it is still on going! Castle of Glass? More like I AM IN A GLASS CASE OF EMOTIONS! Have you read a fic about 2 people yearning, longing, reaching out for each other so damn well that you just want to throw your phone in the air as they both had their impending doom coming down upon them? Yeah this is one of them. You will like want to be stuck in the moment they express how much they just yearn for each other’s love and care that you want to shake the author for what comes next. Like...everytime Morgie update I am expressing my gratitude at the end of the chapter by writing on Xiaobedo discord “MORGIE COME HERE AND LET ME BONK YOU WHY ARE YOU ENDING IT THERE”

trust me when you read you will def feel the same. With just Big 3 and their compliation alone that would give you like a LONG list of reading already LMAOOOOOOO

4. Find a place to call it home by yamajiroo

Our room, he said. Xiao’s brow twitches. Zhongli never said anything about this. But then again, perhaps he should anticipate this from the beginning...

Xiao looks over at Albedo, who is now tilting his head, his look as innocent as ever.

“Are you not okay with sharing a room?”

Comment: College AU for Xiaobedo! One thing that I love this is the slow burn and what made me LOVE LOVE LOVE this fic more is how cute Klee is in this fic. Their relationship in this one is very simple, but that simplicity highlight why their chemistry work. Xiao is someone who was just very gentle, who was largely misunderstood by his lonesome nature. Albedo was someone who like peace and quite in his introvert bubble. And how they respect that bubble that each other has actually made their relationship work. I love it when fic highlight this and this one captures it.

5. I Can't See Your Face From the Other Side of the Classroom by MissWeaver

When Albedo and Xiao unexpectedly start eating lunch together, they begin to find that they have more in common than anyone would have realized. They both struggle in their own ways with blossoming feelings, too many assignments, and annoying classmates as they navigate a relationship for the first time.

Comment: I’ll be honest, I usually hate high school au just because its so cliche. I don’t even watch and drama/anime surrounds high school student anymore LMAOOO (unless it’s very good). So if there’s an high school AU that I actually keep come back and read after a couple of chapters, it means that the cliche that I hate wasn’t there or barely was there at all. The pinning in this fic makes me want to bang their head together sometimes LMAOOO The tag wasn’t kidding when they said both Xiao and Albedo are bad at feelings. Also that’s a lot of heart broken caused by these two idiots XD

6. new world, same me, same bullshit by bobamilkteas (Wes)

At the belly of Dragonspine, Albedo lost control to the festering corruption that permeated his senses and watched, from the recesses of his mind, as his devoured body turned his allies into enemies. Before his rampage reached its climax, he is sealed in a crystalized confinement by the last hand of Reindottir, where he then reawakens centuries after, in a rebooted Teyvat.

Comment: Yeah I know it was list in Orange Dust but here me out. This sets out in an entirely different universe. And if you like Polyamory, this one has Zhongli joining the duo and I love it because I also love ZhongXiao with my life. Time Travel is my biggest kink. Especially when I am the person who love it when people explore Archon War era/ Alatus!Xiao. So this one hits double of my kink. Of course it is still on going and I will bully Wes whenever I can to see that new chapter. Albedo is a total fucking badass in this story and I completely agree from using him in Abyss so often. Everyone should write badass Albedo.

7. misplaced heart of mine by inkburn

“If you are ill, then you should be resting at home. In Mondstadt.” He emphasized Mondstadt with a pointed look in his direction.

“I assure you I won’t be troublesome, Adeptus Xiao,” Albedo said, “You’ll find I’m a rather low-maintenance traveler.”

“Travel,” Xiao scoffed, “without airstep?”

Albedo looked him up and down. “Are your legs just for decoration?”

(albedo is sent to liyue on mandatory vacation. xiao is his unfortunate bodyguard.)

Comment: Most of the time you will see Albedo and Xiao starting their relationship with one of them taking interest in another. But this one took another approach, they starting off by make them hating each other’s guts LMAOOOO and I live for every second of it. There’s only 1 chapter so far but wow it was SOOO GOOD. I am really really excited for next chapter and is waiting patiently ;w;

8. Blossom of Grace by birdpriestess

One day in Liyue Harbor, Albedo watches a street performance by an enigmatic dancer named Xiao. And he becomes completely obsessed.

Comment: Have you ever look at Xiao fight and thinking that he’s one of the most beautiful deadly thing ever? How it was like he was dancing around the battlefield? How about actual dancer Xiao being so absolutely beautiful and perfect and that slow burn of Albedo falling in love with that beauty with a touch of Modern AU and cute Ganyu as the Wing woman. Yes, Sparrow delivers yet again another beautiful slow burn and while it’s still ongoing it is worth the read.

9. i think we could make this work (could get used to this) by outspaced

“Xiao? What are you doing out here?”

“I—”

“It’s raining,” Albedo says, as if it isn’t obvious. “You could get struck by lightning.”

“What are you doing out here then?” Xiao does the only thing he knows how to do, he challenges Albedo. “It’s raining.”

Albedo just hums. “If I get struck by lightning, it’s for science.”

Comment: A short one-shot where I read the summary and went “This is it... this is their relationship.” I am sold immediately. Oh god Albedo why are you like this.

10. Ephemeral by criedprinz

“It’s not for your investigation, is it?” Aether asked mildly.

Albedo traced a finger around the sketchbook, considering the question. “No,” he admitted finally. “I... I just want to see them again.”

He opened the sketchbook to reveal the drawing he’d just finished. Aether nodded, clearly recognizing the sharp golden eyes.

“Xiao,” he said. “You were rescued by an adeptus.”

When a visit to Dragonspine goes horribly wrong, Albedo is rescued by an unknown stranger, wielding powers he's never heard of. Led on a search to find out who it is, he finds himself in the middle of an unforgettable encounter..

Comment: A really really well written one-shot that I love. The yearning oh godddd the yearning from Albedo side is just so so much that I have to put it here. (I think you can see the trend here lmao. I am a sucker for yearning). And the moment they get to meet each other again is just chef kiss. MWHAA

11. Idle Yaksha, Brilliant Yaksha by Pit0fTheEarth

Alatus didn’t have a lot of responsibilities to keep. He spent most of his days dancing across the sky and eating away all nightmares that plagued a person’s sleep.

But one fortunate encounter led to too many unfortunate ones, taking his carefree existence and plunging it in darkness. His wings, stripped from him. His gentle touch, replaced by an unforgiving grip of destruction.

There was a lot of blood on his hands. With each passing moment, it became harder for Alatus to recall the last time someone gently held him.

Comment: This is one of the ongoing fic where I am very very much excited on the take of Naberius. And the way the author portray Xiao when he’s still the innocent Alatus is just *clench fist*. Baby ;w; Baby why do you have to lose all that innocence. Also the fic has long LONG flashback to Xiao past and his relationship with Naberius. We are unwielding more what happened to both of them and why perhaps does this have to do with Albedo.

That’s it for now, might add more later! Thank you <3

#xiaobedo #tetsu likes to ramble #genshin impact

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ofbloodandfaith · 2 years

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Welsh New Year's Day traditions: British Goblins by Wirt Sikes

Glamorganshire - apple gift or New Year's gift: “...children, on and about New Year's Day, going from door to door of shops and houses, bearing an apple or an orange curiously tricked out. Three sticks in the form of a tripod are thrust into it to serve as a rest; it sides are smeared with flour or meal, and stuck over with oats or wheat, or bits of broken lucifer matches to represent oats; its top is covered with thyme or other sweet evergreen, and a skewer is inserted in one side as a handle to hold it by.

...takes the custom back to the Druidic days, and makes it a form of the solar myth... three supporting sticks of the apple... three rays of the sun, the mystic Name of the Creator; the apple is the round sun itself; the evergreens represent its perennial life; and the grains of wheat, or oats, Avagddu’s spears. Avagddu is the evil principle of darkness - hell, or the devil - with which the sun fights throughout the winter for the world's life.

Pembrokeshire: to rise early on New Year’s morning is considered luck-bringing... also deemed wise to bring a fresh loaf into the house. A rigid quarantine is also set up, to see that no female visitor cross the threshold first on New Year’s morning; that a male visitor shall be the first to do so is a lucky thing, and the reverse unlucky. As soon as it is light, children of the peasantry hasten to provide a small cup of pure spring water, just from the well, and go about sprinkling the faces of those they meet, with the aid of a sprig of evergreen. At the same time, they sing the following verses:

Here we bring new water from the well so clear,

For to worship God with, this happy new year;

Sing levy dew, sing levy dew, the water and the wine,

With seven bright gold wires, and bugles that do shine;

Sing reign of fair maid, with gold upon her toe;

Open you the west door and turn the old year go;

Sing reign of fair maid, with gold upon her chin;

Open you the est door and let the new year in!

The words 'levy dew' are deemed an English version of Llef i Dduw (a cry to God).

Glamorganshire - welsh song sung by boys in chorus on New Year's Day, somewhat after the Christmas carol fashion:

Blwyddyn newydd dda i chwi,

Gwyliau llawen i chwi,

Meistr a meistres bob un trwy'r ty,

Gwyliau llawen i chwi,

Codwch yn foreu, a rheswch y tan,

A cherddwch i'r ffynon i ymofyn dwr glan.

A happy new year to you,

Merry be your holidays,

Master and mistress - everyone in the house;

Arise in the morning; bestir the fore,

And go to the well to fetch fresh water.

Everywhere in Wales - Twelfth Night Custom, Mari Lwyd: the Skeleton of a horse head adorned with 'favours' of pink, blue, yellow etc. Bottoms of two black bottles are inserted in the sockets of the skeleton head to serve as eyes. They carry this object about from house to house, with shouts and songs, and a general cultivation of noise and racket. A duet is sung in Welsh outside a door, the singers begging to be invited in. If the door is not opened the tap on it, and there is frequently quite a series of Awen sung , the parties within denying the outsiders admission and the outsiders urging the same. At last the door is opened, when in bounces the merry crown, among them the Mary Lwyd, borne by one personating a horse, who is led by another personating the groom. The horse chases the girls around the room, capering and neighing, while the groom cries, 'So ho, my boy - gently, poor fellow!' and the girls of course scream with merriment. A dance follows - a reel, performed by three young men, tricked out with ribbons.

Aberconwy in Caernarvonshire: The Penglog (a skull, a noodle) is a similar custom peculiar to Aberconwy, but in this case the horse's skull is an attention particularly bestowed upon prudes.

Pembrokeshire: Cutty Wren is a twelfth night tradition. A wren was placed in a little house of paper, with glass windows, and hoisted on four poles, on at each corner. Four men bore it about, singing a very long ballad:

O! where are you go-ing? says Mil-der to Mel-der, O! where are you go-ing? says the youn-ger to the el-der; O! I can-not tell, says Fes-tel to Fose; We're go-ing to the woods, said John the Red Nose, We're go-ing to the woods, said John the Red Nose!

The purpose of this right is to levy contributions. Another custom was 'tooling' and its purpose was beer. It consisted in calling at farmhouses and pretending to look for one's tools behind the beer cask. 'I've left my saw behind your beer cask.' a carpenter would say; 'my whip', a carter; and received the tool by proxy, in the shape of a cup of ale. The female portion of the poorer sort, on the other hand, practised what was called sowling, asking for 'sowl', and receiving, accordingly, any food eaten with bread, such as cheese, fish, or meat. The custom is still maintained, and 'sowling day' fills many a poor woman's bag. The phrase is supposed to be from the French soul, signifying one's fill.

#wales #welsh polytheism #welsh folklore

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cartoonfanaticmonsterrobotalien · 6 months

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Solar Flare vs. The Master Sneak Peek #2: “Saving Montez” (for @avaveevo and @crazychanuwu77 )

Legendary Super Shlorpian and Solar Flare hide behind the walls, so the Master won’t see them. Terry then gets super pissed off as he flares up.

Terry/Solar Flare: Ugh! I can’t believe it! My plan fall apart again! Ugh! Why do I always screw things up?! I am such an idiot, everything I do, I always fuck things up! I am such a failure! Ophelia was right, how can I-

Korvo cuts Terry off with a kiss. Terry is shock but then melts into the kiss as Korvo and Terry moan, which causes Terry to stop ranting.

Korvo/Legendary Super Shlorpian: Terry, out of the things you have done that drives me crazy, you always come up with the best solution out of our lives! You mean so much to me and you are what keeps me going, because I love you. You are still amazing Terry, so please come up with the best plan to save Montez.

Solar Flare smiles and comes up with the right plan as he develops a serious look on his face.

Terry/Solar Flare: Okay here is our plan. It’s to tie up the Master, that’ll make him stop firing at us and we can get the Crystal that is how Ophelia is controlling him off of his head!

Korvo/Legendary Super Shlorpian: Sounds like a plan!

Cherie, Pezlie and Nova, who has recovered from her stabbed wound, meets up with the two Ultra Opposites.

Cherie: Ultra Opposites! Thank goodness we found you!

Korvo/Legendary Super Shlorpian: smiling at Nova Hmm, looks like someone took my advice after all.

Nova smiles at Korvo but gasp upon seeing The Master fully charged.

Cherie: Montez!

Nova: Don’t worry, we’ll help him!

Terry/Solar Flare: Thanks but first we need to find a rope!

Cherie: gets out a rope I always carry a rope with me!

Korvo/Legendary Super Shlorpian: Nova! It’s time for you to rise! It’s time to use your powers for something good!

Nova: You bet!

Pezlie: happy giggling

Nova turns into Lady Roseus and gets ready to use her powers. Cherie hands Solar Flare and Legendary Super Shlorpian the rope as the two alien husbands nod at each other and runs up to Montez. Solar Flare transforms into his Mundane form as he finds himself face to face Montez.

Montez/The Master: I got you now!

Terry/Solar Flare: Get ready honey!

Korvo/Legendary Super Shlorpian: Got it! transforms into his super Shlorpian forms and flies up

Ophelia: What the fuck are you doing now! Fucking stop that!

Solar Flare and Legendary Super Shlorpian runs around and ties up the Master as he falls down and Lady Roseus heads up to him.

Nova/Lady Roseus: Gift! shows happy memories of Montez with Cherie and Pezlie

Montez/The Master: What? What is this?

Nova/Lady Roseus: There is goodness inside you Montez! You are an important person in our lives. Please, look down! Don’t let the Empress take control of your life!

Montez/The Master: eyes glow disappears as he gasp W-what?!

Nova/Lady Roseus: Now!

Korvo/Legendary Super Shlorpian: On it!

The Legendary Super Shlorpian grabs the crystal off of Montez’s head and flings it to Solar Flare, who destroys it with his fire powers as it shatters into pieces.

Montez/The Master: Ugh! Sighs Wh-where am I?! What happened?!

Cherie: Montez hugs him

Ophelia: NNNNNNOOOOOOOOOO!

#solar opposites #solar opposites au #korvo #tervo #terry solar opposites #british korvo #terry/solar flare #korvo/legendary super shlorpian #nova/lady roseus #cherie the wall #cherie solar opposites #solar opposites nova #nova the wall #montez/the master #montez solar opposites #montez the wall #the ultra opposites #ultra opposites

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prototypelq · 3 years

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Outer Wilds and the DLC

S P O I L E R S

B E L O W

_________________________________________

I can't say that Strangers' story resonated more with me than the Nomai's.

Nomai story rips your heart apart when you read the loss they've suffered, all the trials and errors and complications of their experiments, you read as they have an ethical dispute about the Sun Station, you read about their kindness towards each other and to future Hearthians. You learn their tragedy because the ATP could not be powered and seemed to be a lot cause, and I can only hope their end was peaceful when the Interloper came into the solar system.

Strangers' story is supposed to be an inverted (or maybe alternate?) events as compared to Nomai, but it actually feels like it consists of two polar opposites.

The first half is domestic, comfortable and quite homy. You see inviting wooden interior, nice chairs all around, a cinema gathering space, something like wine glasses all around. Pretty much every room has paintings mostly consisting of family portraits (with wives, husbands and children together!) or domestic life (playing a board game together, having a discussion over a table, something like crew member portraits too) and the temples all have a nice and peaceful atmosphere because of the lanterns and paintings.

Even the dream has Lots of homy/comfort qualities, if you consider that Strangers probably are half-noctural and dark is not unseteling to them. Despite being able to see in the dark (or not being bothered by dark) all of their trails are marked with candles which are lit when the area is used. Woodlands is literally a cabin near the river with a fireplace inside, and where they play music. Canyon has a cinema room with a (once?) huge library of slides, there is a dining hall, something like a rock garden, and a stage for musical concerts. Cove is a little village around a lake, sadly can't say much more here.

Strangers themselves should be fluffy with their feathers and all.

The music while traveling the raft is otherworldy sweet and sounds kike something angelic, or from a fairytale.

All of this is just sweet and domestic and very nice.

And, instead, what do we feel the entire playtime? Dread, wrongness and feeling of being not just unwelcome, but preyed upon. The wooden and metal floors always make sure your footsteps are loud, and they usually are the only sounds you will hear. Dark unsettling you is one thing, but mechanisms that activate only in the dark (ESPECIALLY when they take an already quite creepy portrait and change it To Actually Angry At You and also lock the door you are in) are entirely another matter.

(I let slide (ha) pretty much all the creepy expressions in the reels because that's just it - they are expressions and we are unused to seeing them. Just like when the Prisoner yawns when you meet him for the first time and you get a heart attack because of that. 'Creepy smiles' in the reels seem to me like they could be making hissing sounds, which are a way of expressing aggression for birds)

I do believe that this rift was intentional, and this is a story about regrets, coupled with fear and anger transform peaceful people into something twisted and horrible.

However

The one thing that breaks this story for me is the Strangers themselves.

Why do you consider Kaepora (I believe that's his name in the game files, it's the Prisoner) a friend? Well, because he talks (in whatever capacity he can) with you, and you share your experiences with each other.

Why does No Other Stranger attempt to do just that? They go straight to breaking your spine. No one else saw a weird four-eyed small blue creature without feathers and thought 'Oh wow, what is it?", every Stranger in the game except the Prisoner immediately goes 'KILL IT WITH FIRE'.

That's not how you tell a compelling story.

Is there any reason all of them try to kill you (Strangers don't know you're alive outside the simulation, so it can be considered literal killing of the Hearthian)? Maybe Prisoner somehow knows about you and doesn't try to end your existence on sight?

No. No, Strangers do not know you are actually alive and they don't seriously harm you, they just expel you from the dream. No, Kaepora (Prisoner) has no reason to act deviantly, as compared to entirety of his "living" species.

This is not how you tell a compelling story. The issue here is not that they are hostile towards you, but that they have no reason to, and none of them tried to communicate the issue that they have with you entering the dream.

How could you improve the story and resolve the issue:

I believe that the story of EotE could be improved if the Hearthian could connect with the Strangers.

What if the Strangers were actually curious about what the Hearthian is and how they got into the dream, but would turn suspicious and hostile if you try to find your way into the Archives. Granted, they can't speak much, and maybe not everyone would be friendly enough to offer your their projection staff, but that's Still Better Than Breaking Your Spine.

Maybe you could sneak around some more (have you seen the Canyon? It has TONS of rooms, there should be hundreds of Strangers there!) you can find some Strangers who were afraid of the Eye, but though that what they did to Kaepora was too harsh of a punishment, and he did not deserve that fate.

Maybe the patrolling owls (like, 4-5 out of 10 or so? in each temple) are extremists who believe the Hearthian is someone sent by the Eye (not entirely false?) of a horrible glitch that endangers them.

What if your motivation for meeting the Prisoner was based on a feeling to right a wrong and tell him that his actions were not in vain and Nomai succeeded because he has shown them the way? For all we know Kaepora could have lived all those centuries believing he had seriously endangered, and possibly, destroyed his own people by letting the Eye emit it's signal once again.

The tragedy of Strangers does not change if you add a little bit of peaceful interaction with them - you will experience and see the consequences of regrets, fear and anger that twisted nice deer-owl people into something terrifying and hostile, and you would be able to feel empathy for them, yet go against their wishes and pursue the truth, and only then will they have a reason to turn on you.

The story of the Nomai felt emotional and personal because you had lot of individual Nomai you could feel empathetic to. As it stands, there is only one Stranger you can briefly connect to, there is no reason why others don't try to, and you can feel sadness for their overall story, which is powerful, but not as powerful as if you had a cast of individual strangers with their own desires and fears which, in a sad turn events orchestrated their tragedy.

#SPOILERS #outer wilds #echoes of the eye #that's a huge post right here no idea how that happened

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tu-mint · 3 years

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Amendment

A/N: Sooo I’ve been meaning to share my Mortal Kombat stuff on here for a while, I wanted to wait for the movie to come out first 😅🤣

TW: mentions of torture & sexual assault

In which Shang Tsung and the Black Dragon are officially put down and Earthrealm's defenders are able to return home, but Raelynn is stuck in her thoughts, but one of the young Kombatants is able to help her reconsider the negativity in her mind. (Based around MK11 & Aftermath but w/ a twist?)

Raelynn knew this all too well. With her entity as a half god, a change in time would do nothing to erase the horrifying memory in her mind back in the Black Dragon's dungeon -- at least, that's what it felt like. Hours upon hours of nothing but brutal beatings, each kick, punch, and swing as harsh as the last. While it wouldn't have hurt too much being that she was stronger than the average mortal, the bindings fused with the dark power of Shinnok's amulet extracted much of her godlike strength and left her as a helpless bait to be shredded and mauled at by the jaws of vicious and starved predators, desperate to take a leap at the prey before them. It still seemed unbelievable how she was alive even after all the bruises and cuts and blood...but she managed. After all, those shallow wounds were all but nothing comapred to--

The demigoddess shivered involuntarily and inhaled sharply. Thankfully, everyone aboard was too immersed in their own activities to notice her sudden actions, but she knew she wasn't stable enough with where her thoughts were treading. Her eyes searched for her son who was currently speaking in a group of the younger Kombatants. A yellow strip of cloth with an intricate design she couldn't make out was fastened around his bicep, and she wondered where it had come from until her eyes peered at the young male he stood beside. Takeda, son to Kenshi and pupil under Grandmaster Hasashi, was missing the usual yellow band that adorned his head as a reminder to those that he was a member of the Shirai Ryu clan. His short onyx locks blew freely but he didn't seem to mind all that much, instead grinning down at Haru who wore the cloth proudly. Cassie and Jacqui mirrored the telepath's reaction, the blonde pulling out her phone and snapping a picture. The sight warmed her heart and she was thankful the young fighters didn't look upon her son with irritation, but rather genuine care and happiness. When Haru had told her of the adventures and stories spent with them, a pang of guilt struck her for the early misjudgement on her part, believing they were just frivolous juveniles that only gained their high positions due to the status of their families.

Wishing not to allow her brooding to draw unwanted attention, Raelynn slipped silently to the back of the ship. Her efforts did not go unnoticed by Raiden who stood near the hull of the ship, but he decided against speaking with her in that moment.

He recalled the time he had found her, bound like a dog and covered in welts and lacerations big and small. She was curled into a ball, shaking and burying her face into her knees. It was then Raiden became aware of the state of her clothing, torn and barely covering her form as if someone intentionally ripped and pulled at it to expose more of her. Immediately he slipped out of his own robe and pulled it across her trembling form, respectfully averting his eyes. As he helped Raelynn stand to her feet, his eyes widened as countless more bruises and marks made themselves visible, tiny splotches of smooth brown skin barely surviving. These people had clearly put her through a very long, thorough beating, and it was evident that they were in no means hoping to show mercy. No, they wanted her dead. Raiden had teleported into the SF ship and rushed her to the infirmary room. People cleared the way immediately and knew better than to question his sudden appearance as he brushed past them while carrying the barely conscious woman to a bed near the back. He knew the Kombatants would be able to handle themselves well, so he stayed and began the healing process.

It was during this time he realized that Raelynn was no mere mortal, but a half god created by the hands of Cetrion. While it was difficult at first for him to fully trust her said intentions due to her creator's betrayal upon the Elder Gods, he had seen her heart's purity during the mission. The thunder god knew that she was making the best of efforts to redeem herself of past mistakes, and Liu Kang recognized this as well. A twinge of concern fell upon him just then as he knew that she still had much she needed to recover from. Whether she would eventually open up to him or not didn't matter, he would be patient and assist her as best as he could.

Raelynn took a seat upon the thick wooden rail and swung her legs over to face the bloody depths of Netherrealm's ocean. She wasn't afraid of falling nor coming across any odd sea creatures knowing that she had flying abilities, but of course she also wasn't dumb enough to try and test her strength or reflexes. A heavy sigh escaped her lips as she looked on at the overlapping waves, allowing her mind to space out and roam. Her fingers tapped on the rail in a rhythmic pattern, and she suddenly was reminded of something. Her hands came together and moved in a circular motion, stretching further until the form of her solar powers had become a guitar. She clutched the neck and hugged the body of the instrument under her other arm smiling to herself.

Upon visiting the islands of the Pacific in the past, she had learned about the aspect of music through vocals and tools that produced a pleasant audio. The demigoddess found that these brought her a sense of peace and tranquility, and immediately she wanted to learn the ways of this fascinating revelation. What came as an interest to her in the beauty of music was the endless techniques for a new sound, new sensations, new reactions, and day by day, there was always the creation or discovery of another. She allowed her fingers to delicately pluck and strum a mix of chords, a tingle settling in her chest at the euphoria beginning to wash over her. Her hands moved on their own accord, finding a steady tempo and following a pattern with an occasional switch. The nerves that built up in the pit of her stomach had eventually disappeared into wisps of nothingness. Her eyes began to slowly close and she hummed quietly wanting no attention to be drawn to the back of the ship. It seemed to work decently, until-

"Wow, you're part god and a singer? Gotta say I'm definitely jealous."

The woman’s fingers froze in place already in position to strum a new chord. She craned her neck just enough to glance over her shoulder at the intruder, already knowing it who it was. “My life is nothing to be envious of, Specialist Briggs.”

Raelynn heard footsteps tread closer and tapped on her guitar. The younger woman climbed onto the rail and threw a leg over the other. They sat for a moment in silence, staring off at the deep scarlet waters swishing and rolling about. “I owe you an apology, Specialist.”

Jacqui’s eyebrow quirked and her eyes fell upon the half god. Raelynn took her silence as a sign to continue. “I apologize for my behavior towards you and your friends throughout most of the mission. Even after I had caused harm upon your lives and nearly killed your fiancé, you still ensured trust in me. That I could never understand, but-"

"It wasn't easy." The half goddess shifted her attention to the soldier. Her face was impassive as she watched the waves. Raelynn couldn't tell if her expression was a good or bad thing, but she decided against trying to get her hopes up. A great deal (if not all) of her acts under Cetrion were cruel and groundless, and she held no anguish up until the time she had to come face to face with the truth of her doings. It tore her day and night, and meeting Hajoon had her convinced that she would be able to leave the life of corruption far behind and start fresh. Of course, the facts couldn't be hidden forever, and the half goddess found herself back in the deep hole of falsehood, surrounded with nothing but fabricated offers to a better life. She scoffed mentally. That opportunity was officially closed off to her. It seemed as though disaster was always a few steps away, eager to ruin her chances at something sound, and risking it a third time was nowhere near appealing.

"There were many instances where I questioned why the Chosen One defended you to such an extent, especially after it was SF that provided for your recovery." Jacqui's voice had brought her out of her thoughts. "Trust me, I was beyond ready to blast a hole or two through your head a hell lot of times." She paused. "But spending time with Haru and hearing your whole deal...I understood you." Raelynn's brows raised slightly, not expecting such a considerate response.

"I couldn't imagine a life finding out that the one who was supposed to be my caretaker, my protector, my safe haven, was actually the one who robbed me of all that. My mother..." Her words trailed off and she peered down into her lap. She tightened her jaw and bit her lip to keep from releasing the tears awaiting just behind her eyes. Raelynn almost reached her hand out in an effort of comfort but stopped, not wanting to ruin the intimacy in the moment. Jacqui lifted her head and continued. "Man, it would kill me if she'd ever done something like that...growing up believing that everything was all good and sweet, and everyone just hated her for doing what I thought was the right thing, thinkin' it was my own folks who were the crooks trynna steal me away and take my power from me..." She scoffed. "Seein' my dad as a revenant then manipulated by Kronika was betrayal enough, and it hurt like hell. Point is, I realized that you truly had no malice in you. You were just takin' orders and tryin' to keep your mother—uh, Cetrion, happy."

And it was true. Raelynn trusted completely in the virtue goddess as any child would their guardian. She worked vigorously in carrying out the Elder Goddess' wishes, longing to eventually gain any sort of praise or affection, but it was rare that those occurrences came to past. Most of her upbringing revolved around unanswered questions and the constant urge to do better, trying at all costs to win approval. But like a fool, she allowed her heart to get the best of her, put her through the worst of hells just to seek out a foolish desire that would never be anything close to genuine. That's what messed her up in the first place, and she couldn't—no, would not dare to do something as stupid as that again. It was only her and Haru. Nobody else.

"I am...appreciative of your understanding, Ms. Briggs," Raelynn spoke after a long moment of silence. "You and your comrades are owed a huge debt on my behalf."

Jacqui chuckled and shook her head, then turned to look at the demigoddess. "You're damn right we are!" The two women shared a laugh on the rail. "Actually, I believe there is a way to pay back this debt."

"How so?"

"Well, Takeda and I's wedding was put on pause due to this whole mission, and it cost a lot to find decent live music. Cassie offered, but we're trying to have a simple proper wedding, not a drunk karaoke session. And you have the voice of an angel—well, a god in your case. If you can strum a few chords and sing a few notes for a few hours, I'll consider you free of deficit."

Raelynn cocked her head and raised a brow. "That's...that's all?" She figured the woman would request of something more extravagant, like a prolonged lifespan or giving her supernatural abilities. Jaqui nodded and crossed her arms awaiting an answer.

"I...very well, Ms. Br-"

"Jacqui. That formality stuff is weird if it's not comin' from General Blade." The demigoddess was taken by surprise again. She gave a single nod and looked on at the waves which now fell into to a more mellow and calm pattern.

Perhaps it wasn't just Haru and her against the world. Every person aboard had their story, their differences, their fall outs, but they were able to cast it all aside at an effort for peace upon a world that did almost nothing for them in return. Some aspects of the Earthrealm were odd, she thought. It was going to take a lot of time to get used to these people, but maybe, just maybe...

There was a sense of hope.

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crazyyanderefangirlfan · 3 years

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Bring on the Mania Pt 7

"I can't believe you're a designer."

"I can't believe you've been living under a rock."

After their encounter with Vil and Rook, the pair made their way back to Ramshackle. But not without Amane playfully scolding the girl.

The girl flushed at his response. "W-Well, I don't really watch fashion shows or anything related to it. But after coming here, I do now." She confessed.

He quirked a brow. "Only now?"

"Well, yeah." She said, re-adjusting the crate on her arms.

"I don't really pay attention or follow the trends, too much of a hassle. But, I am beginning to watch them after meeting Vil. Just want to support him, even if I can't understand everything."

Amane blinked at her answer, felt the corners of his mouth twitch to a smile. Despite admitting her lack of knowledge of the subject, she still made an effort to understand it for his sake. She's so sweet.

Though; that begs the question...

"So, you don't have a preferred style?" He asked.

"Not really. I just wear what makes me feel comfortable. My mom doesn't care as long as I'm happy, and my grandparents just remind me to wear shorts under my skirts."

Wow.

What felt like an hour, they finally spotted the gates of Ramshackle. Beyond the gate, Valerie could vaguely make out Gerald's ghostly form watering the flowers he planted last month.

"Hey, Gerald."

Her loud voice made the ghost pause and lookup. Upon recognizing her, Gerald placed the watering can down and flew over to open the gate. When his eyes landed on their items, he smirked.

"Ya, feeding an army, kid." He joked.

"Nah, just a chubby and over-indulgent trash cat." She retorted. The ghost chuckled.

Gerald flew overhead and opened the front door. He even offered to carry the two other bags for Amane, but the demon declined, saying it was good exercise. The ghost went back to watering.

When they entered Ramshackle, they found Grim on the couch. Taking a nap with an empty tuna can next to him. When they entered the kitchen, they found Lisha picking on some stray beetles on the counter. When the little strix noticed them, she grabbed a piece of paper next to her and flew over to Valerie. Dangling it for her to read. What it said made her bit her bottom lip.

Crowley may be the closest thing she had for a father, but sometimes she wants to shove a transformation down his throat. Turning him into a real crow, and breaking a wing, so Grim can hunt better,

She shook her head from those morbid thoughts, not the time.

"Sorry, Amane, but I have to do something. I'll come back as soon as I can to help you." She said, putting the crate down.

"Oh? What happened?" He inquired, placing the bags on the counter. She sighed.

"Crowley asked me to clean his office; while he has something to attend to."

"The fuck? Why would he do that?" Above all things crow shit makes her do...

"It's okay. In fact, I was first a handywoman and cleaning lady, along with Grim. But after a certain incident, we became students." She explained, running her fingers through her ponytail.

"Okay, let's go." He announced. The girl sputtered.

"I-I'm sorry, w-what?"

"Let's go to Crow shit's office. I wanted to see more of this school again. It's been ages." He answered, taking her hand and leading her to the door.

"W-Wait! Amane, I have frozens!"

"Don't worry, we'll handle it." As if on cue, Bennett and Wilbur floated down and began arranging.

"Well, you heard your ghostly guardians. Let's go!"

"Alright, I'll be quick, don't cause any trouble." The opal-eyed girl begged. Standing in front of the office.

"No promises, Sugar tits." The hetero-eyed male winked playfully. The brunette rolled her eyes and went inside.

With the two monsters back in Ramshackle, the demon was alone. Free to flirt with any one of these gorgeous boys without Lisha clawing his eyes out; or having her turned into her original form and trying to eat him.

He smirked.

"Get ready boys, this demon is on a hunt."

For the past hour, Amane happily flirted with several students; some even try to give him their numbers or ask for his. But he turned them down, he may love good-looking guys, but he ain't touching that.

"Oh baby, maybe if you and your dick grow a few inches, then I'll see." The incubi playfully boop a pouting student's nose before happily running away.

He turned to the corner to catch his breath, but the grin never left his face. This was too much fun!

In the corner of his eye, he found something glinting under the sun. Curious, he walked over. It was a blue tablet; it looked like it was charging. Intrigued, he pressed the power button. What he didn't expect was a voice on the other end.

"W-What a-are y-you d-doing?"

Idia felt the world finally turned against him. First, he forgot to charge his tablet last night, making him replenish it in solar mode. Next, he missed a rare event that won't come back in six months. To top it all off. A normie found his tablet.

Joy.

"Oh fuck, it talks." The person on the other side of the screen said in surprise.

'Ugh, go away. Talking to people like you drains all my health.'

"Hon, if you don't reply. I'm just gonna grab this thing and drop it somewhere-"

"No!"

Idia could feel their smirk from the screen. He wants a restart.

"The name's Amane Mania, you?"

The flame-haired male wanted to deny but decided he should if he tried anything.

"I-Idia S-S-Shroud."

"Idia, huh? What dorm are you from?" Amane questioned.

"I-Ignihyde." Idia could feel a severe drain of his energy.

"Ah, Ignihyde. A bunch of shut-ins, but high in sex drive." Amane sighed blissfully.

"What!?" The man barked in laughter.

"When I was still here, I had an occasional fuck with guys. What they lack in skill, they make up for enthusiasm."

There was silence from Amane's end; before purring his following sentence.

"Let's test that with you~" Idia's hair flared up. But, he didn't stop.

"Would you like me to call you daddy or master?"

Great seven's he cannot handle this. Please, Lord of the underworld, save him.

Fortunately, his prayer was answered.

"Excuse me!"

Startled by the loud voice, the incubus turned around and faced a...Kid?

Huh?

"That's my brother's tablet. May I have it back, please?" Innocent amber eyes stared at him.

"Umm, sure. Give me a moment." Though still confused on why a child was here, he was not going without the last word.

He whispered to the tablet, making sure the kid didn't hear him.

"Until next time, Dom switch."

Amane could have sworn something exploded on the other end, but he paid no mind. Instead, he gave the tablet to the young cyborg.

"Here ya go, Kid."

The child beamed. "Thank you!" Then zoomed off.

_______________________________________________

"Anything interesting happened when I was gone?" Valerie asked.

Just as she said, the girl didn't take too long and now walking back to Ramshackle.

"Well." He began his retelling his meeting Idia and a short cyborg.

"Oh, that's Ortho. He and Idia are considered one student. Like, me and Grim."

"Except, the little guy had a better personality than the gremlin." Amane retorted, earning a playful slap on the shoulder.

"Hey! Cut Grim some slack. Yes, he can be too much sometimes, but he has his moments." She defended. Amane just pulled her hood to her face.

"My~ Is this the infamous Amane I've been hearing so much about?"

"Fucking crack whore hell!"

The suddenness of the interruption causes the incubus to cling to the girl like a frightened cat.

Hanging upside down in mid-air was Diasomnia's playful vice-dorm leader, Lilia Vanrouge. The vampire had an amused smile on his face when he perceived Amane's shocked expression.

"Fufufufu, forgive my sudden appearance. I was merely interested to know the demon who cooked that delectable food Sebek brought."

The shock quickly wore off his body, replacing it with a familiar smugness Valerie knew.

"So, my cooking became legendary already? I'm flattered." The incubus fluffed up his hair and shot Lillia a sensual look. The ex-soldier chuckled.

"I believe we haven't been properly acquainted." Lilia landed in front of them, took Amane's hand, and kissed his knuckles. Flustering the demon and surprising the girl.

"My name is Lilia Vanrouge, a pleasure to meet you." His eyes were half-lidded, his smile fanged and filled with flirtatious mischief. For the first time Valerie has met him, Amane was blushing.

"Amane?" She called out hesitantly.

That seemed to snap him out of it; the poor man tried to laugh it off.

"Well, aren't you a gentleman? But I welcome change of pace." Amane smirked.

"Lilia!"

Recognizing the voice. The young brunette peered behind the senior. Jogging his way over was Silver.

"Finally found you, old man." The young knight huffed, relieved that his search is over.

"Good morning, Silver!" The girl beamed up at him.

The aurora-eyed male smiled softly in her direction; he took her hand and placed a lingering kiss.

"Good morning to you too, Valerie."

Lilia let out a small gasp as if realizing something.

"Oh, Dove. I forgot to greet you as well. Let me fix that."

Coming near her face, he gave her cheek a sweet kiss. The girl smiled, especially feeling the strands of his hair on her face.

"Lilia, your hair is on my face." She giggled.

Standing on the side, Amane could only freeze and stare with wide eyes and raised brows. A man was kissing her cheek, which lasted longer than necessary, and not even the slightest bit affected.

Just how dense is she?

"Okay, old man. That's enough."

Silver forcefully removed the shorter male off the girl. Jealousy bubbled in the pit of his stomach. But he tried his best to ignore it.

Lilia pouted. "Your no fun, Silver."

"Remember why we needed to find Valerie, and it's not just to thank Amane for the food." The silver-haired male sternly reminded.

"Yes, yes, I know." Lilia waved him off. Reaching to his coat pocket, he drew a small velvet pouch with a yellow rope. The sound of coins jingling can be heard within it.

Valerie groaned.

"You two know how I feel about this." She complained, rubbing her temples.

"I know, Valerie. But please, accept it just this once." Silver coaxed the girl, giving her a reassuring smile. However, she shook her head.

"Tell him, I appreciate that he's trying to help me. But like all the other times, my answer will still be no." The vampiric fae sighed at her declaration.

"You are absolutely stubborn, Dove." He said, pocketing the pouch.

"But then again. It is one of your charming points." The raspberry-eyed male flashed her a fanged smile.

"We'll be going now. We at least completed one thing needed. Though once we inform him that you refused again..."

"I'll deal with him once he comes to Ramshackle." She can already picture his pouting face in her mind.

Lilia nodded and gestured Silver to follow, giving the girl one last kiss on the cheek (Lilia) and hand (Silver). They walked away.

"Hold on." Amane broke in. "Someone wanted to be your sugar daddy?"

"My, what?"

A hoard of bats attacked the poor demon.

_______________________________________________

"H-Hey! Be gentle." Amane hissed as the cotton swab touched his face.

It took a while to get the bats off him. Thankfully, they left on their own accord, and an injured Amane too. Bite marks littered across his body, more so on his body; the skin on his arms was punctured and bleeding. Some even left small scars on his legs and stomach.

The midnight-haired male never felt so relieved for the girl's abnormal strength, carrying him bridal style and dashing all the way to Ramshackle. Without breaking a sweat or looking remotely tired.

Currently, the man was having his face nursed by Wilbur. His arms, legs, and stomach were neatly wrapped in bandages. Meanwhile, the girl was in the kitchen preparing lunch.

"I am being gentle. You keep fidgeting." The ghost remarked, dabbing Amane's face.

"What did you even do?" Grim chimed in.

On the coffee table, Grim and Lisha were waiting for his answer. Concern shone in the little Strix's eyes while Grim looked bored.

"I...Might have said something wrong." He confessed.

"Not surprising." The feline snorted.

"Hey-Ouch!"

"I told you to stay still." Wilbur chided.

"I dearly hope you won't influence Valerie too much."

Speaking of which.

"Hey, Grim. I need to ask ya something." Amane gritted his teeth, feeling another sting of pain on his face.

"Oh? So you require my wisdom? The great Grim will happily provide, what is it?" A smirk formed on the monster's face. Lisha rolled her eyes at his cockiness, and Wilbur chuckled under his breath.

"Where does Valerie get her money? I know Crow shit gives her allowance, but I'm not convinced."

"Mmm? that's it?" Amane nodded. "Alright, I'll tell ya."

"Yeah, bird brain gives her money. But we do random jobs to earn extra; she even works part-time in the Monstro Lounge sometimes." Grim explained.

Amane carefully regarded this new information and came to one conclusion.

"So, in other words. Valerie is deadass close to being broke."

"Pretty much."

Amane grimaced. This girl seriously needs help.

Loud knocking brought their conversation to a halt. Amane tilted his head, brows furrowed. Please don't tell him it's crow shit.

"I'll get it!" Bennet's voice rang through the air. There was a thick wave of silence; before a sound of footsteps and Bennet's uneasy voice were coming to the lounge.

"H-Hey, now wait for a second"

"Where is the child of man?" A deep voice interrupted the ghost.

Entering the lounge was a tall male with black hair, lime green eyes, and horns on his head. Behind him was Bennet, who shifted his eyes to Amane.

Lime green eyes fell to the demon, raising a brow.

"And who might you be?"

Amane had to seal his mouth shut to keep himself from drooling. This male before him is positively gorgeous! Tall, dark, and cool air of mystery, piercing green eyes stared into his very being, made him chew his inner cheek. Damn, he wanted to see those in the bedroom, and judging by his size, he has to be packing under his pants.

"The name's Amane Mania. I'm pretty famous here for my notorious good looks."

The demon flashed him a flirtatious smirk but cringed when he felt something stick to his face. Weakly glaring at Wilbur, who held a pack of band-aids. The ghost gave him a warning glare, but Amane stuck his tongue out at him.

"Ah." Realization dawned on the tall male.

"The demon currently living with the child of man and the one who cooked that exquisite meal."

"Damn straight. Now, I would like to know your name, handsome."

Everyone, save for Lisha, stared at Amane like he actually said, something prude.

"A-Amane." Wilbur stammered.

"You...Don't know who he is?" Bennet questioned, just as stunned. Amane shook his head.

"Even you, Lisha!?" Grim shouted in surprise. The little strix shrugged her wings, just as confused as the incubus.

"Interesting." Mused the ebony-haired male.

"Oh! Malleus, you're here."

The lime-eyed male, Malleus, straightened his posture when he heard her voice. Valerie peeked through the door with messed-up hair.

"Child of man, may I have a word with you?" He inquired.

The tone of his voice made the girl fidget in place. His stare prompted her to clutch her apron.

Looks like he's upset with her rejection.

"Fine, but let talk outside." She answered. She took off her apron and gave it to Bennett. She followed the tall male out, leaving the rest of the inhabitants to process what they witness.

The pair walked a safe distance away from the dorm; and sat on a bench underneath a tree large enough to shade them.

"Why did you reject my gifts? You need the money, correct? So, why?"

As soon as they sat down, the fae prince wasted no time questioning her. Confusion and hurt shone in his eyes, completed with a pout.

Valerie sighed.

"Malleus." She began. "I know you want to help me, and I'm grateful for it. But please understand, you giving me money so freely? It makes me...Um, well." She paused to find the right words.

"I feel like I'm leeching off you-"

"You're not." He firmly objected. Taking hold of her hands. Eyeing down at her in all seriousness.

"Even so, accepting money; I didn't earn leaves a bitter taste in my mouth."

Silence befell the two students. Malleus seemed to contemplate on her words, rubbing the back of her hand in small circles. After a few tense seconds, he sighed in defeat.

"Very well." He conceded, reluctantly pulling her hands away.

"However. If I ever find you struggling even more as it is, please don't refuse what I give you."

His tone made it clear that he was not giving her a choice, but there was a tinge of desperation.

"Okay, fine." The fae smiled in relief.

"Although. If you want to properly earn the money I give you, you can always come and cook for Diasomnia. I cannot count how many times Sebek has eaten Lilia's cooking for my sake."

The smile faded from his face to a tired frown upon remembering the times Lilia made those horrendous concoctions and insisting for the entire dorm to try. Out of everyone, Sebek suffered the most.

That earned a sympathetic smile from her. "I'll think about it."

She stood up, re-arranged her hair into a neat ponytail again, and faced him.

"Would you like to join me for lunch, Tsunotaro?" Her smile radiated warmth like a fireplace.

Ah, that nickname such fond memories. Enough to muster a small smile and a response.

"I would be delighted."

_______________________________________________

"So...He's a prince."

"Yes."

"And one of the top five powerful wizards."

"Yes. I'm surprised you didn't know about this."

"Eh, not into that sort of stuff."

Meanwhile, the residents of Ramshackle were busily explaining who Malleus was to the two ignorant demons.

"You could at least know he was royalty. Doesn't your family branch over Twisted Wonderland?" Gerald asked. He got back from the kitchen, and here he was.

"I honestly have no fucking interest that shit." Amane's heated reply stunned the ghosts. This is the first time they saw him this angry.

Those who had witnessed it reacted in their own way. Lisha had an understanding look in her eyes. Grim, however, yelped in fear and accidentally shot a fireball at him. Who immediately dodged.

"Gah!"

"Grim!"

"What the fuck, you little shit!"

"Screee!"

"You were about to go on demon mode!" Grim argued, swatting the flames with his tail.

"No, I wasn't!" Amane protested. He grabbed the bowl of water Wilbur used to clean his face and splashed it on the burning couch. It worked, but now they were left with a charred piece of furniture.

"Oh, boy." Gerald muttered under his breath; as he scanned the mess.

Valerie won't be happy with this.

"I'm back!" Speak of the devil.

"I hope you won't mind that Malleus will join-" Valerie blinked.

Once.

Twice.

Yeah, this is real.

She closed her eyes and inhaled deeply; before letting it all out.

"Alright." She finally said. Opening her eyes, she surveyed their tenses expressions.

"Grim, what did you do?"

"Why me!?" The monster complained.

"You're the only one who does fire magic." She deadpanned.

"I thought he was going on demon mode, that's why." The cat explained, pointing an accusatory paw at the incubus.

"No, I wasn't, ya little shit!" The midnight-haired male furiously retorted.

"You were!"

"Why I oughta-"

"Okay! That's enough." Valerie interrupted, stepping between the demon and monster. Both looked more than eager to fight.

"Since this is clearly an accident, and Grim just went on instinct. So Grim, please apologize to Amane." She calmly instructed the monster, who looked offended.

"What? Why should I-"

"Do it, or I'll make you go on an all broccoli and spinach diet for two weeks." Her smiling face did not match the threatening tone in her voice.

If Grim was human, he would have paled at the thought only to eat those for two weeks straight.

"Sorry, Amane." The monster mumbled, but it was audible enough to hear. Valerie smiled at her accomplishment.

She turned to face everyone and clapped her hands.

"So...Ready to eat?"

Lunch had been thankfully more tamed. Even Grim didn't give his (loud) compliments on her cooking. Looks like her threat left him silent. She did well on lunch.

Kung pao shrimp, roasted salmon with green beans, and tomatoes. A chicken and radish salad, followed by pink lemonade.

"You're an excellent cook, Valerie." Malleus complimented. Taking another bite of his salmon.

"Thank you." Valerie smiled.

"Yeah, not bad. You're almost better than me. Almost." Amane emphasized the last part with a teasing grin. To which the girl rolled her eyes.

After lunch Amane's phone went off, taking it to the lounge with Lisha on top of his head. Leaving Grim and Valerie to do the dishes, Malleus decided to stay and talk to his favorite human more.

Once that was done, she scooped Grim onto her arms, walking out the kitchen with the fae prince in tow. Making their way to the lounge, they paused when they heard Amane's voice. There was slight aggravation in his voice.

"I see. In that case, please forward it to my assistant."

Valerie peered from the entrance. The man sat on the couch, running his fingers through his hair. He finally turned his head, nearly jumping out of his skin when he saw her head.

"Lover of cow tiddies!- Don't do that!" He cursed. Amane slumped on the burned couch, mentally drained from the call.

"Is something troubling you, Mania?" The fae prince questioned. Taking a seat on a nearby chair, and the girl sat next to the demon.

"Nothing to sweat about. But it looks like I have to cut my time short." The incubus confessed, tiredly rubbing his face. Lisha rub his cheek in comfort.

"Huh, why?" Valerie's face wrinkled in concern. But the demon chose to ignore what she said.

Amane got up and dragged his feet out of the room. Disregarding the concern or curious gazes of the others.

The girl wordlessly watched the man walked out. As much as she wanted to help him, she knew it wasn't her business and might anger him.

"You care for him quite a lot." A deep voice snapped her out of her thoughts.

Malleus has been observing her reactions ever since they came back to the dorm. Safe to say, he was a bit jealous of the demon. The fae prince had been vying for her attention since the VDC. Even more when she saved him from his overblot.

The girl rubbed her arms. "Y-Yeah, he opened his heart towards me the last time he stayed here. So I have to be worried for him."

The lime-eyed male stayed silent.

"You didn't forget anything, right?"

"Nope, and don't worry about cleaning the room. I already did that."

The pair stood in front of the entrance door. Amane carried a small bag filled with the items be brought and bought. In the background was Malleus, who was holding Grim at the moment. Lisha was on top of the incubus' head.

"Really? How sweet." Valerie gave him a small smile. Appreciating the gesture.

"You suffered enough bullshit from this school. It the least I could do." The hetero-eyed male playfully pinched her cheek, earning a whine from her. Making him snicker.

"See ya next time, Sugar tits, and you too ya, fat gremlin."

"Quit calling me that!" The monster fumed. Long and slender fingers scratched under his chin, causing him to purr in content. Malleus let out a mirthful chuckle at the action.

Retrieving his hand, Amane gave the girl a mock salute and stepped.

_______________________________________________

Valerie hummed as she fixed her hair into her signature style, albeit replacing her pink ribbon with a black one.

It was getting dark, which meant it was time for her shift in the Monstro Lounge. Malleus left hours ago after watching some historical movie, knowing fully well Sebek and Silver would go out and bring him back to the dorm. Meanwhile, her little monster was sleeping peacefully on her bed.

Valerie checked herself on the mirror for the final time. She was currently wearing a female version of octavinelle's dorm uniform. Except, she replaced it with a black mini pencil skirt, lavender stockings with garters, and black kitten heels.

Once she deemed herself presentable, she grabbed her phone from the bed to check the time. However, when she opened it, there was a text. Her eye twitched when she noticed it was from the headmaster.

"Please don't let this be another errand." The poor girl prayed before reading it.

'Ms. Kemonohito, I'm happy to inform you that all your student debts have been by none other than Mr. Mania. He will also pay for your schooling and accommodations from now on. Ahh, it brings my heart such joy that Night Raven alumni can be as kind as their headmaster.'

Valerie had to re-read the text five times to make sure her eyes weren't playing tricks. She stood there, frozen in shock.

Just why?

A loud knocking brought her out of her dilemma.

"Come in."

Opening the door was Gerald, who held a folded piece of paper.

"I accidentally phased in Amane's room and found this on the bed. It had your name on it." The ghost informed before heading out.

Valerie eyed the piece of paper in her hands; it felt hard. Carefully unfolding it, she let out a small gasp.

Credit cards. Amane's credit cards, there were about five of them in her hands. Quickly, she read the note, desperate for an explanation.

'Hey, Sugar tits.

I hope ya like the gift I left ya. I know what you're thinking, 'I can't accept this!' But I really want you to have it, you deserved it. You've been thrown into an unknown world; and placed in the care of an arguably competent man. Which I know by experience can be utterly useless in some situations.

I also took the liberty of paying for your academics and housing of that dorm of yours too. Don't worry about paying back; it's alright, really. You worked your ass since you got here. You are tired, I can see it. Lorelei is good at hiding it too.

Also; If you are worried about earning money, I think I can arrange something, but it's a surprise.'

-Love your new reliable (and gorgeous) guardian, Amane.

A smile threatened to form her face when she finished reading it. This man, whom she known for a short while, was going above and beyond to help her. This feels like those found family tropes in media.

As thoughtful as it was, Valerie recalled a certain fae making a similar promise, and it made her stomach churned. She wasn't sure how to break the news to him. She already made him upset with her rejection, and she raised his hopes up with her promise.

The opal-eyed girl just hopes he'll take it well.

Taking a deep breath, she texted Azul that she's unable to work tonight due to feeling unwell and needed time to rest. Once she has his confirmation, Valerie flopped on her bed.

"Oi! Henchwoman! What the heck and aren't you supposed to go to work!?"

Grim growled, obviously not happy from being woken up.

The girl simply just pulled her little monster close; and buried her face on Grim's fur.

"Not tonight. Actually, I'm going to tell Azul I won't be working in the Monstro Lounge anymore unless he needs a favor." Her reply was kinda muffled. But audible. This confused them.

"Eh? Really? Then where will you get the money?" The cat monster implored. The girl merely raised her head and smiled at him.

"Let's just say; we got a certain weirdo taking care of us now."

Bonus:

"..."

"U-Uhhh, Malleus?"

"..."

"Listen, I really value your generosity and concern for me. Trust me, I was just surprised. Please believe me-"

"I do."

"Really!? Your not mad?"

"I am disappointed that I won't be able to help you, but I am thankful to him and his ability to provide for you."

"I'm not."

"No need to be jealous, Azul."

"Be quiet, Jade."

A/N: Finally done with this chapter! Sorry for the long wait, I know this long over due but I hope you like it.

#twisted wonderland #twisted wonderland oc #valerie kemonohito #amane mania #idia shroud #ortho shroud #twst grim #lillia vanrouge #twst silver #malleus draconia #azul ashengrotto #jade leech

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kaesaaurelia · 3 years

Text

have you tried holding your breath?

For @whumptober2021 day 2: Talking Is Overrated (specifically "choking")

In space, no one can hear you swear at the automated system that's denying you entrance to a whole ship full of oxygen.

(Technically this is an AU of some GO fan characters, but it's sufficiently removed from the context that I'm gonna call it origfic. No angels, no demons, and also, alas, no oxygen.)

The goddamn escape pod had gone spinning off in the wrong direction from the force of the explosion, flinging her against the wall before she had secured herself. She didn't know how long she'd been out but it had been long enough that she was well out of reach of anything that looked like a friendly ship, but there was something big the sensors were picking up, the only thing made of metal that she'd be able to get to before she ran out of oxygen, and so, with one hand, she told the pod to beeline towards whatever that was, and with her other hand she felt around the back of her head for any bleeding. Her head didn't hurt, but that was probably due to the nanites, which were still in combat mode and suppressing pain so that she could act.

Her hand came away wet and red, so after double-checking the arrival time estimate and the oxygen content of the escape pod -- really very alarmingly similar numbers -- she felt around for the first aid kit and bandaged herself up.

She had to switch out of combat mode to preserve oxygen, unfortunately, which meant she had to try really, really hard to breathe slowly, because her whole body hurt like hell now, in ways she hadn't been used to since basic training. But she used some of the old-fashioned ingestible painkillers in the first aid kit, and then figured, what the hell, and took a dose of sleep medicine too. If she ran into any unexpected debris, or hostiles, it would eat up valuable breathing time, and she figured she might as well die in her sleep rather than totally panicked and trying to think her way out of the third indisputably fatal situation she'd been in today.

Her last thought, before falling asleep, was that she wondered if the general had known what she was sending her people into. This was not the time she'd been in one of these fucking escape pods, and she was beginning to wonder if her higher-ups considered her disposable.

She awoke to unpleasant sounds and even unpleasanter sensations: the lightheadedness of low oxygen and the forced shuddering wakefulness that the nanites imposed upon her when they perceived her life to be at risk. She rubbed her eyes and squinted out the window and saw the ship that would be her salvation, hopefully.

If she could get into it.

Fuck. How was she going to get into it? It wasn't a ship of any design she recognized -- maybe a good sign, since it meant she hadn't been up against anything like it in combat recently -- but also, how was she going to get in? The hull was pockmarked with the evidence of small impacts, suggesting its shields weren't functioning at all, and the way it was drifting did not seem to be due to any kind of propulsion. Four "wings" of light-collecting panels were folded up, though, which meant probably whoever had brought it out here had done that on purpose to preserve the solar panels from impacts, and there were a few little pink and yellow lights blinking on and off. Warnings? Invitations? "Remember where we parked" signals? It was anyone's guess.

The air was getting really fucking low, and the lights swam before her eyes.

She sent an experimental signal towards it, just to see if it was awake. It took a few seconds, but she got a ping back, and a few more lights stuttered on. So she sent it a request for shelter, and hoped whoever owned this ship was nice, or at the very least wasn't going to take her apart to see how she worked. She'd been there before.

She got a garbled response in characters that didn't resemble any language she knew, but she blinked, and when she opened her eyes again they had resolved into Latin characters. STATE NAME, ALLEGIANCE, REASON FOR REQUEST.

Aw, fuck. This wasn't gonna go well. She briefly considered lying, but it was hard to imagine what they wanted to hear when she didn't know anything about them and also her poor nanites were doing their damnedest to wring every bit of oxygen out of the air and failing.

She had to try. CAPTAIN VICTORIA HEWELL, SOL ALLIANCE, LOW ON OXYGEN, she responded.

The response came back immediately. REQUEST REJECTED.

Shit. Shit shit shit. She typed WHAT THE FUCK, WHY? and then deleted that and instead sent back a more professional query: REASON FOR REJECTION?

NON-RECOGNIZED: INNER SOL ALLIANCE.

It was some fucking automated system, she realized. It had instructions not to let the wrong people in while whoever was in charge was away, and whatever person was supposed to be reviewing the requests was dead or using the bathroom or had fucked off long ago, and she was extremely fucked. I NEED OXYGEN OR I WILL DIE, she explained. Some of these systems were smarter than others.

She waited for a long time -- well, three breaths, but that was a long time these days, given how little those breaths were sustaining her. HAVE YOU TRIED HOLDING YOUR BREATH? the automated system suggested helpfully.

A flash of rage seized her, and in a fit of gleeful hypoxic insanity she sent back GO FUCK YOURSELF YOU STUPID ROBOT I HOPE YOU CHOKE ON A MAGNET. She had just enough time to kind of regret sending that -- the automated system would undoubtedly fail to appreciate either her fury or the end of her life, and it probably wasn't even vulnerable to magnets, and if it was advanced enough to understand her it would probably be offended at being called a robot -- before she passed out again, the dwindling oxygen levels in her blood beyond the capabilities of her nanites' forced wakefulness to help with.

When she came to, gasping, she found herself in a dimly-lit hangar, her escape pod open to let indescribably sweet, fresh-smelling oxygen in. The message flashing on the escape pod screen said WELCOME ABOARD. PLEASE KEEP YOUR MAGNETS TO YOURSELF, ASSHOLE. Then there was a sort of jagged-edged character that looked like... a W, only moreso, maybe? Was it a glitch? A signature? Fuck if she knew. She undid her safety belt and floated free. She was going to have to be more diplomatic than she was good at if she wanted to get back to her life, but at least somebody onboard had a sense of humor.

#whumptober2021 #no.2 #talking is overrated #choking #oc #fic #kaesa op #text #fiction #disaster principality vehuel

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