#crystalline eventide

[reilliane]

Septem (ii) ⊱⊰ Genshin!Various

✤ she/her - ✤ words: 8k

PART 02 OF 02 - [ PART ONE ]

✤ An Academy built to hone and prepare gods-to-be and blessed mortals for the world beyond — isn't it a dream come true, when a blank Vision greets you in invitation?

✤ kaeya, chongyun, mika, diluc, bennett, thoma, venti, kazuha, xiao, heizou, scaramouche/wanderer, aether

“Ad Astra.”

To your astonishment, the rays flashed even brighter, they've become so blinding that you had to close your eyes.

Only when it has dimmed to a considerable degree are you able to blink and adjust your sight, feeling an incomprehensible frisson in your chest.

Is this what magic feels like? You ponder in awe as the [c] light of your Vision beats at a steady rhythm, like a heart. It floats back down to your waiting hands.

“Septem Academy welcomes you, [Surname] [Name].”

The Sustainer smiles, golden eyes appearing even warmer than before as she beckons the four behind her to make way down the carpeted center of the gathering hall.

They do as she says, following shortly after you tail along.

“As you have just recently enrolled, the classes may be too advanced, so until you've caught up, you will stay at the Hearth and learn at your pace until it's fit for you to attend class in the campus. I will have the professors know and send in the syllabuses. Of course, you are free to enter the campus library to study if you so wish.”

Down an enclosed corridor that's only lit by torches with seven respective flame colors, you cannot help the wonder that blossoms inside. Eventually, enormous double doors are reached at the end, opening on their own to reveal a brightly illuminated room.

It is circular and open spaced—a huge gazebo, if you will. In between each marble columns stand seven tall mirrors, each accented and arrayed accordingly.

A moment is needed for you to notice that beyond the place is the celestial body itself, the skies. Rolling clouds complement the azure canvas, touched with a ray of the sun.

You wonder if the eventide will be just as majestic.

“Now, unveil your Vision.”

A sense of nervousness and excitement causes your fingers to tremble in the slightest, unwrapping from the Vision that now thrums with life. The glow of white dies down, eventually marking out a detailed insignia that has your eyes widening.

The Sustainer lifts her hand, and with a voice that commands the heavens, announces.

“Ab intra—”

— Kaeya/Chongyun/Mika

“Hearth Cryo!”

Crystalline snowflakes burst from nonexistence, languid with its descent that commemorates the arrival of another student acknowledged by dichotomy—governed by resolve.

It's cooling, in fact, the entire hall has been engulfed by a passing blizzard, not too much to the point of turning blue... but heavens, that was cold.

You let out a shiver at it.

After informing you that the corresponding Master has been summoned, the Sustainer vanishes into red cubes, followed by the rest of the cloaked figures that disappear through their respective mirrors after a bode of farewell and welcome.

The very moment they have gone, the mirror's surface in front of you—that's adorned in silver thorns and deep blue roses—starts to be enveloped by frost. You fear that it'd burst into shards, so you take a wary step back, only to gawk when a figure passes through with ease, frost clinging onto her body.

It billows away without even needing to be brushed off, as though they're mere fairy dust. The woman hums at you, mien coming off as captious that you instinctively straightened up. She cocks an eyebrow, looking almost bemused.

“If you keep on gawking, I'll have no choice but to vow vengeance upon you, so I suggest you start moving pronto.”

You stiffen. “Yes, ma'am!”

Shoot, I can't afford to make a bad impression right away-!

Far from being prepared at her promise of vengeance, you scurry forward, Vision in hand, towards the mirror that she gestures to. You begin to worry for yourself almost immediately, but held back from thinking too much — just be rational, and you'll do fine!

Passing through the frosty mirror, you land on soft snow, upheld by a sturdy grip on your arm. “Dear me, Eula, were you frightening the newcomer again?”

“Be quiet, Kaeya. The sooner she gets here, the better.”

Hearth Cryo's gateway is in the form of a wooden archway at the end of a forest. The winter is seemingly endless and the snowfall is heavy, though the cold isn't as biting as you thought it'd be.

Looming in the distance is a fortified castle, mighty and lonesome, it exudes the impression that it is built to defend its inhabitants from the bitter cold—or perhaps even something more?

Eula thankfully enlightens you more after catching the curio in your gaze. The Hearth isn't always in a winter stasis. In fact, it mirrors the real world the most out of the rest of the Hearths, which she mentions is always in an 'impossibly good weather'. Hearth Cryo goes through the usual four seasons, it just so happens that you manage to land in winter.

You do not know what to expect of the hearthmembers, so you're somewhat blundered when you get to see them all for the first time. They are all so... different.

You suppose that it's understandable—after all, wasn't this Hearth acknowledged by dichotomy? When you come to introduce yourself, you also did not expect their thorough introductions. Kaeya merely says that it's what makes them as tight-knit as a Hearth; everyone being so different, yet similar in the one aspect that they face significant contradictions. To an awful, almost upsetting degree.

Really, the sentimental bomb is too big of a drop, you feared they saw the glassy sheen in your eyes. You eventually understood then, that the castle sort of signified everyone's defense from the ghastly paradox thrown to them by fate.

“Heh, interested in me, are you? Oh? Don't tell me you're getting emotional over everyone? You're amusing. They may not express it well, but I'm sure that your arrival has brought some warmth this winter.”

Kaeya Alberich—you question why he's in the Academy despite already having such a nice grasp of his Vision, and he only laughs. He says that the reason is solely because he's part of an exchange program, and officially belongs to Aurum College—an educational institution for the 'magicless yet gifted'. In other words, he hailed from Khaenri'ah, a far, far away nation.

He is on his way to graduate and be a part of the Knights Brigade there, until he was suddenly blessed with a Vision. Thus, he has been sent here to master the element until it is time to return. He has a fellow Aurum student, apparently, one in Hearth Geo.

Despite being such an enigmatic man, sometimes he doesn't seem to have a filter with his words at all, bluntly stating that other than the reason for mastering his Vision, he wants to find out how the 'blessed mortals favored by gods' actually act like.

It isn't surprising; you know that the people are torn between liking and disliking the ostensibly 'biased' concept of being granted elemental magic. Everyone has dreams of their own, so why isn't everyone blessed with magic?

Kaeya enlightens you of everything that goes about Aurum College and how he personally views 'blessed mortals' in your free time. He finds some to be a bit uptight and insufferable, but nothing drastic at all—for deep down, magicless or not, everyone is human. Save for the Hearthleaders, of course. When you jokingly asked if you're a part of the group that he finds insufferable, he only gives a charmingly annoying smile. Darn him and his flirty tendencies... if Rosaria was around (and that one man from Hearth Pyro) then he'd be forced to spill!

“It's just me... ! I- My deepest apologies, I didn't mean to scare you. I give the place a thorough look over before turning in for the night. Mm? Well, believe it or not, the castle's supernatural activity spikes in the evening... even the campus'.”

It completely blew past your mind that Chongyun patrols the castle halls in the dead of night, so when you got a little peckish at midnight and aimed to grab some snacks from the distant pantry... you nearly shrieked upon spotting a terrifying blur of blue zooming past like a ghost.

If not for the candle he held nearby, you would've screamed and alerted everyone! Poor Chongyun looks just as spooked as you are though, but was much better in concealing his surprise. Shenhe, his aunt, unfortunately caught the both of you like deers in headlights.

Rosaria and Shenhe frequently joins him in this trip, see, and so they catch you wandering the halls late in the night some time again. They invited you along and you agreed! A late night adventure it is! They might have an old-fashioned way of exorcising things, but they're geared with literal ghost hunting equipment! Chongyun once expressed resigned amusement when you eagerly waited for him to explain what all the whatchamacallits do, saying you remind him of a friend.

He also says that this duty is something that he must see through until graduation, for there really are spirits roaming around in the night that needs to be exorcised or appeased lest they cause trouble. He mentions that they are ancient souls that were defeated in a long forgotten war... ooh, shivers.

At nights when you get drowsy in the middle of your 'trips', he'd gladly sit with you somewhere and let you take a nap as he tells ghost stories (and about his other friends from other Hearths). Sometimes he'd even carry you back to the castle if it feels like you're going to sleep the whole night away. He won't be able to look at you in the eye without turning into a tomato the next morning, though!

“[N-Name]... ? I noticed that you were struggling in your subjects earlier... so, do you- um-! Will you let me help you? Only if you want to, of course, I'm not coming off as demanding am I? I really only want to help- I- I'm rambling!!”

Mika is such a sweet bean. You made the mistake of calling him as such and he became putty, unable to construct intelligible sentences and even glance you without squeaking.

He becomes a completely different person when it comes to learning, however, almost like he's possessed with a spirit of vigor! He's talented in all classes except for communication-centered ones... he tries his best, though!

Along with Ganyu and Layla, he asks to tutor you after noticing the struggle to catch up with the rest and looks utterly relieved when you accepted the offer. Eula teased him about it in your presence and he fainted, literally, so you had to take him to the campus infirmary. He woke up midway and when he realized that you were carrying him there... fainted again.

Seriously, you thought he has a weak heart! Kaeya couldn't stop laughing about it, much to sweet Mika's embarrassment. It's safer to actually let it happen than to come to his defense, Ayaka once did so and the blond could only malfunction further.

He hides away in the archives of the castle, busying himself with maps of Old Teyvat that he was so engrossed in and charting possible maps of the regions beyond by reading available information. Regardless if it's on paper or in his tablet, his works are guaranteed to have intricacies. It is an interesting thing that he does that you're in awe of. Now, if only you know more about him other than his love for such things... maybe he'll eventually open up?

You've asked about the whereabouts of your Hearthleader, but even your fellow hearthmates know little about her other than the fact that she's undergoing 'executive training' under the current Archon of Snezhnaya and won't be back until months later.

Everyone doesn't really get together like most hearths do, no special and fancy celebrations other than what is already tradition, like New Year's and Christmas. Not like it matters, for everybody already is close to one another even if it doesn't seem like it.

They all are present for every breakfast and dinner—and everyone even goes to campus together! They're such a sweet bunch, Eula comments that she'll have ants all over her what with the found family dynamic. Everyone knows she's just as glad, though.

... That is, if the Hearth is in order.

There will be a blizzard outside and everyone by the fireplace will be engaged in light banter, bundled in blankets.

“Hydro Seniors are at it again with Dendro, did you see them almost sparking another debate in the cafeteria?” “I certainly did. Ayaka, your brother has a sharp tongue when it comes down to it, doesn't he?” “Indeed... he doesn't intend to cause harm, however. In fact, I believe he fancies the academic rivalry that's proceeding.” “At least your brother doesn't mean any harm with it, unlike Kaeya who likes to pick up a fight with Ragnvindr... Eula, how are you not punishing him for this?” “Rosaria! Hey now! That's no fight. Diluc and I are merely having a wholehearted conversation.” “Even if I did, it's not like he'll stop. Leave him to it, vengeance will be served soon, anyway... ah, Ganyu, Shenhe, how are things going on your end?” “Certainly well! I've managed to work around the stress of so many papers so I had some decent sleep lately.” “But you were awake yesterday night until three in the morning? My nephew and I saw light in your room while going about the castle.” “Yes... we heard some grumbles, as well... we thought it was a spirit until we realized that it was just Ganyu fussing over her projects with Layla.” “S-Shenhe, Chongyun, shhh... !” “Lying won't work at all, you're caught red handed~” “It could not be helped! I was helping Mika research about something, too, so-!” “Ganyu, that was supposed to be a secret!” “Wow, I need some wine for this- hey, Kaeya!” “Everyone, tone down! I cannot believe you all started falling apart and [Name] hasn't even been here for a full week yet! Mark my words, vengeance will be-!” “Yes, yes, Master.” “Alberich... !”

— Diluc/Bennett/Thoma

“Hearth Pyro!”

Balls of fire spew from nonexistence, blistering with its heat that commemorates the arrival of another student blessed with resolution—governed by cathexis.

Oddly enough, they aren't burning hot at all. The heat that it carries is tender, like the cozy warmth from a fireplace, it's utterly comforting. It very much feels as though you are being gazed upon by a kind sun.

After informing you that the corresponding Master has been summoned, the Sustainer vanishes into red cubes, followed by the rest of the cloaked figures that disappear through their respective mirrors after a bode of farewell and welcome.

A girl with pretty pink hair passes through the mirror to your left, nodding in what you can assume is content as she takes in your appearance. “[Surname] [Name], correct? I'm Yanfei, I'll be guiding you to our Hearth.”

“It's nice to meet you,” you return her nod as you walk closer, examining the mirror in great detail. It is coated in gold, with fragments and shards floating about in a bright scarlet glow.

“Same here!”

Rubies, maybe? Or firestones?

Catching the awe in your gaze, she giggles, proud. “Pretty, isn't it? Our Hearth is even prettier! Come, let's not keep them waiting any longer. Everyone's pretty excited that we're having someone new, you know?”

Ah, that's good to hear. It's comforting to know that they're all open to someone who has practically appeared out of the blue.

“Alright, then!” you return her smile, letting her go first before following shortly behind.

Warmth is the very first thing that welcomes you, tolerable and actually faint, like you're bundled in a blanket. The next thing, is a bright light that nearly blinds you had your eyes not adjusted.

A series of greetings are soon heard, all with varying levels of excitement.

Yanfei isn't kidding when she said that Hearth Pyro is really pretty. An extravagant, rustic-style mansion (goodness, you think it's even bigger than a mansion) stands before you. A column of arches draped with crystals line up to the front porch, with enormous trees bearing gold and scarlet leaves seen all about the place.

Also, was that a pheonix flying by just now? Alas, there is little time to be astounded, because you're hearing calls from all sorts of directions.

Your hearthmates' smiles are blinding (save for that well-composed man at the back and that twin-tailed girl's... devilish grin-) as they gather around, tugging you to the mansion as if you're someone they knew from long ago. Their cordial behavior is uplifting, you can't help but be put at ease.

Right then and there, you just know that there won't be any rainclouds over your head—not when everyone is a ray of sunshine. You didn't even think it was possible for so many friendly people to be in a single place! Is this what a good world looks like?

Hearth Pyro already feels like home. There is just something about it that carries such comfort. Not to mention, the hearthmembers' personalities. They even threw you a welcome party!

They are the friendliest out of all the Hearths and you aren't surprised. You also learn that they host most of the school events, serving as emcees and even mediators for clashing Hearths. Which, again, isn't surprising at all.

“Good morning. I take it that you had a good night's rest? Oh, I'm an early riser, I just got back from the campus, here are your papers. Don't be nervous to ask if you need help understanding something.”

Diluc Ragnvindr, he's the heir to a hefty inheritance and is the next company head of Dawn Winery in Mondstadt. Familiarity did not strike a chord until you heard his surname and you almost freaked out. His father has commissioned you once to bake the sweets for an event, how can you not know of the Ragnvindr name? Though you've never met the son- until now, that is.

He's just as surprised, but admits that he's heard of you from his father. Along with the reveal of his name comes with his reason for studying in Septem; despite already having his future set in stone, he has revealed that he plans to be high in the ranks of the Favonius Brigade, as well.

Thus, if he isn't occupied with studying or other affairs pertaining to the wine industry—he expressed distaste in wine itself, which is surprising—he can be found in the campus' or the Hearth's barracks. If that 'annoyance' in Hearth Cryo is around the campus, then he won't stay and linger there anymore. If he's nowhere to be seen, then best to assume that he's holed up in another extravagant meeting outside the Academy.

You do wonder how he's able to stay at topnotch shape despite having at least more than five responsibilities, though. And when he finds out, he just chuckles, saying that such stresses are necessary if he seeks to see the fulfillment of his objectives.

Since he is more than aware of the weight of stress, he's extra heedful of everyone, always saying not to push themselves and take a rest. It's become a part of his routine to give aid—knowing that you will not ask him for help even if you clearly need it—and make you your preferred beverage in the mornings.

“Oh shoot, [Name], I'm sorry-! Oh go- is it- is it that hot?! Heck, of course it is, wait here, I'll go get the med kit! Then I'll treat you to the cafeteria to make up for it!”

You knew that Hearth Pyro is too good to be true, you just knew that there had to be something—or in this case, someone—that counters the good. And that's, ladies and gentlemen, bad luck in the form of a poor student, Bennett.

When Amber once told you to watch yourself around Bennett because you may get hurt, you didn't believe her- how can a sunshine bring you harm?! Yes, you ate those words the moment he spilled the coffees he was carrying onto you.

It was a disaster at the table and it was only six in the morning! Luckily, no one was awoken by both of your screeching. You've never heard someone apologize so quickly after slamming his head unto the floor (how is he not bleeding from that!?). Quick to defuse the situation, you tell him it's alright, he can't control his bad luck.

He means well, you know it, so how can you hold a grudge and be petty? Such a poor sweetheart! He makes up for it by buying you snacks from the canteen whenever he can, sometimes even staying up to keep you company. Movies? Movies!

Bennett has a heart of gold and you admire how he keeps his head up in spite of his bad luck. He does not stop trying, does not stop dreaming. You told him this once and his face glowed as red as the Vision strapped to his belt bag, spluttering incoherent sentences one after the other until ultimately—accidentally—knocking your pencil case off the table and- well, there goes your papers, too...

“Hey there! You didn't come down for dinner, so we all assumed you were busy studying. I brought you your meal! Oh, and I had the same professor when I took that class, I'll get my notes for you real quick, okay?”

Thoma seems to have a lot of time available despite being a full-time student in the Hearth- how the heck does he manage keeping track of his straight A's while maintaining the dorm pristine?

The chores are meant to be divided so why does he do it all?! When confronted about it he laughs it all away and says that everyone should just focus on whatever it is they're doing and leave the work to him, which is unacceptable! So, to sweet Thoma's chagrin, Diluc took over the cooking with Xiangling, Yanfei and Hu Tao were in charge of handling written affairs, Xinyan and Bennett dusted away the furniture, whilst Yoimiya and Amber tended to everyone's equipment weekly. Dehya is in charge of ascertaining the extracurricular activities delegated by the Council (Celestia) for the Hearth.

Thoma said that it was fine, but everyone knew how much he appreciated it despite him reasoning that it felt much like he's sinning(!?)—which resulted to laughter. He learned to ask for help eventually, much to the relief of many.

That doesn't mean that he's let go of his tendency to try and take a step further when it comes to helping others, however. He pins his focus on you whenever possible and you're truly thankful! After helping you settle in the Hearth, he accompanied you to the Atelier, a place where you buy other essentials. He even treated you to dessert and insisted that you need not pay him back!

He's an angel and everyone concurs. Though rivalries between Hearths are ineludible, no one ever sought him out to a magic battle or anything of the like. All students tolerate—if not like—this man. Goodness, even the professors are fond of him, what's his secret?!

Hearth Pyro is in charge of Septem's ceremonies, be it from the hosting of Spring Festival or the Magical Cotillion that's held the night before New Year's, everything falls in their hands. This entails that they have full authority over the themes and games, a lovely specialty of those in the Hearth.

Sadly, because of this, there are very few instances where everyone can take a breather, for the academy has frequent celebrations. Even so, this does not dampen everyone's spirits, because who says planning can't be fun?

It may not be to some, but this is Hearth Pyro, fun is its core!

Besides, the Headmaster said that if there are any leftover mora from the budget, it can be used by the members of Hearth Pyro however they see fit. A kind of compensation for all the work, without a doubt.

And oh, where that money goes... (karaoke, field trips, weekend getaways, a special tour in the Ragnvindr's Winery!?)

Additionally, since everyone is working and planning in one place, the opportunity for a huge slumber party is thrown, solely for members of the Hearth only!

With a movie playing in the background and pizza boxes open, everyone bundled in duvets on the floor and typing plans, ah, what a night!

“December... ah, we've to arrange the Magical Cotillion, right? How d'ya suppose we go about the theme this time?” “Not yet, Xinyan! We have Winter Cradle to go through first. It's taking place at the 15th... ooooh, what shall we do to make this exciting. Maybe another ghost event~” “Ah, I completely forgot about that! It's a good thing that it only takes up three days compared to Spring Cradle... you have any ideas, Thoma?” “Oh, oh! What if we have every Hearth participate in a cooking competition? We can have outsiders as judges! Don't we need to raise something for charity as well?” “You're just using this opportunity to cook, aren't you.” “Diluc!” “Well, Xiangling's idea doesn't sound half-bad. I don't think we ever hosted a cooking competition... in December.” “Hahaaa! That's 'cause things like that fit more in the Summer! But hey, a lil' deviation won't hurt anyone now, would it? Besides, if Thoma's handlin' it then no one will argue!” “We can be mellow with the second game for the next day, then. How does Elemental Trace sound to you, Yanfei?” “Dehya... isn't that the free-for-all game where you have to hide your Hearth flag and Leader while the enemy tries to capture them both? Should we allow element-infused paintballs this time, Yanfei?” “H-Hold on, how is that mellow-!?” “I don't see a problem with this at all, Dehya, a great idea! Don't worry, Amber, Septem is far from being mellow, anyway! Now, for the appropriate punishments for the losing teams... Headmaster asked us to try and strengthen the Hearths' camaraderie with one another, yes?” “I don't like where this is going...” “Winning Hearth is exempted. Losing Hearths will pair themselves up and room together in each other's dorms for two weeks.” “This is going to result to chaos... If Dendro and Hydro end up pairing together...” “Well, all the more reason to win, don't you think? We can ask the twins for help this time, we should make it complicated, hm~”

— Venti/Kazuha/Xiao/Heizou/Scaramouche

“Hearth Anemo!”

Glowing feathers materialize from nonexistence, delicate with its descent that commemorates the arrival of another student blessed with ideals—governed by freedom.

You are unable to be in awe for much longer, for just as you are about to caress a feather that droops nearby, excited murmurs flood your hearing.

The Sustainer vanishes into red cubes after giving you an almost strained smile, followed by the rest of the cloaked figures that disappear through their respective mirrors after a bode of farewell and welcome. Well, one of the cloaked figures, a tall one with a molten gold Vision clipped at the front, rebukes.

“Do not tow the new student in your Hearth's knavery, let her focus.”

“Hey! Don't tell me what to do, I'll have you know, my Hearthmembers know when to behave!” responded the one that is now standing before you, huffing as the taller figure disappeared through his mirror.

You blink, stupefied. Ah, that was a warning and implication, wasn't it? Does it mean that the Hearth you've been sorted to often attracts trouble-?

“Hehe~ Hi there, [Name]!” wow, he has a beautiful set of eyes, “I'm Hearthleader Barbatos, but you can just call me Venti. I'm glad to have you as our newest addition!”

Venti is relentlessly shaking your hands with a bright grin. Although his visage leans more onto the cute side, with the way he winks at you, you're led to believe that he can be just as boyish if he wants to.

“Likewise,” you nod, unable to stave off the smile that tugs on your lips and he cheers. Immediately, he tugs you towards his mirror, one that emanated such a pleasant breeze that you can't help but sigh.

The Hearthleader catches onto this and puffs his chest out in pride with an even bigger grin than before, saying he's thankful that you liked the winds he's personally conjuring about. It's baffling, to suddenly know that he's been using his magic all along.

He laughs, his hand halfway through the mirror.

“Don't worry, I'll make sure you master the winds just as well, now, are you ready to go?”

You nod and he hums, taking a step inside. “Okay, you ready to fall out of the sky?”

“Yes— wait what-!?”

He pulls you inside, ignoring your demands for clarifications as he yells, “Here we go!”

Eyes snapped shut, your screams clash with his guffaws. Pride left forgotten, you cling onto your Hearthleader—as embarrassing as it is—as you both quite literally, fall out of the sky. The race of your heart drums in your ears as the wind envelops your freefall.

Upon Venti's insistence, you pry your eyes open and—woah. It doesn't even occur that you are still free-falling as you take in the breathtaking view; Hearth Anemo consists of large, floating islands, with the dorm itself standing on the biggest and central island.

The sky is the bluest shade there is, the clouds are as fluffy as cotton, and the cool wind never stops from breezing by—hold on, did a dragon just fly past?!

The sight of the entire place prevents you from noticing the hold your Hearthleader has on your waist, steady and gentle in your descent upon the lush, viridescent grass, where the rest of the hearthmembers wait. A kind blonde lady steadies you the moment your feet are on the ground, giving a lightly reprimanding look towards Venti, who only giggled.

With the way Jean—the Hearth Master—lectures him about your entry, you're led to believe that this is how everyone else is welcomed. An elfish thing to do, certainly, but you can't start to deny things—not when you learned to enjoy it. Albeit only in the last second.

The members of Hearth Anemo are... interesting. Aside from the ladies who are very well-mannered and decorous, the men, on the other hand... hm, is unique the word? They're a colorful, rowdy bunch, exhibiting lax with a touch of differing rascality.

“[Name]! [Name], what'cha doing- eh!? You're still studying? But you already passed your assignments, didn't you? Let's go do something, pleaaaaaaase! It's a Saturdayyyy!”

Most of the time, Venti does not act much like a Hearthleader, commonly found sprawled out on the sofa snoring away with his headset blaring music. He doesn't even make it into his room! By far, the most lenient out of all known leaders, as commented by Heizou.

Do not let it sway your belief that he's incapable of being earnest, though! He has his fair share of formidable moments, surfacing especially when it comes to matters regarding the nation he'll rule over soon, or when he seems to be reminiscing about something. It unsettles everyone—even Scaramouche—to a certain degree whenever it happens.

He may be high-spirited, but he's Menace #1. It is because of your dearly beloved Hearthleader that you grew paranoid enough to lock your bedroom door. The very morning after your welcome in the dorm, you wake up screaming because of a huge, huge dragon pushing his face to your window—courtesy of Venti, of course. It took only a matter of seconds for the rest of your hearthmates to scramble into your room, wielding questionable kitchen utensils from a whisk to a frying pan despite being half-asleep.

You cannot bring yourself to look at them in the eye because of embarrassment and Venti is just obnoxiously laughing away as if it's a daily occurrence! Sucrose shyly empathizes with you, saying that everyone practically went through the same thing and they've all forgotten to warn you about it last night.

Safe to say, you make sure to lock your room and windows after that, for though the Hearthleader manages to pull pranks even outside the safety of your room, you won't let him bother your sleep any longer! This results to him pawing the outside of your door as if he was a cat begging to be let in.

“The winds are lovely, aren't they? Their caress is comforting even in the eventide. Ah, yes, I can spend all afternoon basking here in solitude... feel free to stay, I do not mind at all.”

Whenever you feel stressed, burnt out, or just failing to be in the right spirits for the day, you seek Kazuha out. He just bears this kind of aura that doesn't fail to allay whatever weight is in your chest. Maybe it's the way he's always so at peace? Maybe his sweet smile?

He comes to you after the small party in honor of your arrival, ever so graciously asking if you'd allow him to help you settle in the dorms and with your studies. Why in Celestia's name is he so kind? Thus, for all that he has done, he has the honor of taking the first bite of the cake you made as thanks for everyone's pleasant welcome (all except for one).

Sucrose joins him in teaching you from time to time, and with their help, you easily manage to get a hang of the classes. Kazuha turns down your offer of payment each time, saying that it's only right for a fellow hearthmate to help another. Ugh, really!

When you aren't busy or being badgered by the rest of your hearthmates, he invites you to go out with him during the weekend, visiting his home nation whenever possible. He can't stick in one place, he says, so he finds the time to go out—it explains why if he's not helping you in your studies, then he might as well be deemed a missing person. Imagine your surprise when you find out that he likes taking naps in the middle of class, yet, his grades are excellent...

He's pretty old-fashioned, too, being all chivalrous and poetic you nearly thought he belonged in Hearth Hydro. You can't forget when he welcomed you in the dorm with a kiss to your knuckles. Kazuha is a sweet man, but with the way his eyes twinkled almost devilishly, you believe that he has his own hidden side of mischief.

“What are you doing out here at this hour? You need-... me? I don't need to tell you anything. Huh? You're a fool, sacrificing slumber just to what, stare at the moon? Wait, you... want me to join?”

He seems to dislike you, avoiding eye contact and sneering when you accidentally brush past him. This led to you steering clear, not liking the idea of burgeoning whatever enmity there is. It's not until you overhear Venti lecturing him about his 'rebarbative shyness' that you start assuming; maybe he's not that bad. Jean and Heizou backed this up, saying that Xiao does think nicely of you... only, he doesn't know how to express that.

You want to believe them, but it's hard when the student in question is glaring from across the breakfast table! Your muted tussle with him is peak entertainment for the rest in the Hearth, though. Scaramouche doesn't have the slightest bit of filter each time he laughs sardonically at the predicament—and that only worsened the glare on your person!? 〒▽〒??

Things change the night you wake up from a nightmare. Disfavoring the idea of heading back to sleep, you bundle yourself with a blanket and head out of the dorm into the comfort of the winds. You take the opportunity to walk around the entire Hearth, past the bridges connecting floating islands and mountains.

His presence surprises you as he, quite literally, jumps from the precipice of a mountain. The winds slowed and aided his descent, but holy smokes, how are his knees okay?! Your terrified expression causes him to scowl and... reprimand you for staying out so late? Huh? Is he concerned?

When he learns that you're awake because of nightmares, he grows silent, as if he can relate. His face turns pink when you invite him to stargaze as a way to pass the time. He vehemently refuses—but gives in after your silence, even lending you an earphone so you can listen to music! And so you both pass the night gazing at the night sky until you wake up to see the stupid grins of your hearthmates. Xiao may have avoided you out of embarrassment, but everything's good now, really!

“A trace of flour in your hair, an aroma of chocolate, hm, something tells me that you're quite an expert in baking sweets... oh, I'm right? Aha! But of course, my intuition never disappoints me. Say, will it be too much to ask you to bake something? I can help you out~”

He goes by the name of Shikanoin Heizou, but you know him as Menace #2. This man actively engages in pranks with Venti and is one of the main source of the Hearth's ensuing chaos, be it within the dorm itself or during competitions. He may not be a fan of physical confrontations, but he loves being subtle and 'harmless' when he messes around with other Hearths.

Contrary to his impish nature, he becomes pro-faced when he's in his specialized class, criminology. And in spite of still being a student, you hear that he has already made a name for himself outside the Academy. (Venti tells you that it's only because Heizou gets in the way of police officers, though.. and manages to catch the criminal before they can).

He's rather fearsome, what with his intuition and intellect. He gives off the impression of a slacker—and he does slack around, so how is it that he's still in the top of his specialized class, clashing with a silver-haired rival? Heizou once offered to teach you, with a price that he didn't bother elaborating on. Yeah, you didn't want to risk anything, so you turned it down, much to his laughter.

He, much like Venti, has a habit of dragging you around places for no reason. You're fine with it, until you both somehow ended up stumbling into a completely different mirror—and into Hearth Electro, where a silver-haired Master (is he that rival?) was a second away from enacting 'judgement' for crossing without notice.

To your complete horror, Heizou is only laughing as he tugs your wrist, dragging you along in your run/escape/hunt to find the portal that transports you back to the Paths Chamber. By the time you've both landed in the safety of the Hearth, he's still laughing. He promised to take over your chores for a week, though, so all's good and well. (Until he drags you somewhere again.)

“Winter Cradle begins weeks from now, it's a competition between Hearths, I expect you not to drag us down lest those pyromaniacs think up of some absurd punishment. Well? What're you gawing at? Move.”

Oh he hates you, alright—no, he despises you for sure! How do you know? Because when you came up to greet him during the welcome party, he sneered and told you to kindly [REDACTED] off and leave him the [REDACTED] alone, smiley face :)

You shouldn't feel too down though, assures Jean. 'Cause even if Scara 'hates' everyone, he'll learn to accept and 'tolerate' your presence in the Hearth. Yeah, you think it'll be a long time from now, so you try not to talk to him unless it's necessary.

Menace #3. Pushing people's buttons and riling them up must be his life mission, but unlike Heizou who doesn't mean any harm, this guy means it and is absolutely blunt when it comes to his comments (insults). He revels in seeing people pissed off and it has once led the Headmaster to confine the whole Hearth in their dorm for two weeks.

Though he butts head with Xiao a lot, it pales when he's up against that one ginger in Hearth Hydro. He'll be incessant with his goading and comments, but will stop when intercepted. When you went to stop him from picking a fight with Hearth Dendro's Buer—aka their Hearthleader—he only gave you a scowl before backing off. You received Jean and Venti's endless thanks afterward... and you end up being assigned as Menace #3's mediator slash personal 'i'm so sorry for him, he doesn't know what he's doing' speaker.

You don't realize that aside from some of the set rules in Septem and Hearth Anemo, he only listens to you—and Kazuha points it out during dinner. It isn't surprising to see Scara explode, but what catches everyone off-guard is seeing his red, red face. From then on, it isn't hard to notice how pink his cheeks go even if he's scowling at you. What's up with him?

Hearth Anemo has a tradition of spending time together. Happening at the end of each month, everyone will race around the whole Hearth, going through the main islands and the tiny other floating islets before leaping off the land and taking flight, sometimes crossing portals to other Hearths.

Sounds absurd? Well apparently, everyone has their own manner of 'flight' save for Heizou, Kazuha, and Jean (very swift runners), who channels Anemo on their feet so they can leap higher and jump from floating stones to another.

During your first race, Venti had you join him on the dragon during flight, alongside the runners whilst the rest fly along. Xiao and Scaramouche are arguing in mid air, whilst poor Sucrose and Faruzan—who are seated on a winged cube and prism—almost go deaf nearby.

It is incredibly relieving to just take to the skies and you saw the way everyone smiled—except for a certain someone—when you expressed determination to master the winds so you can fly alongside them next time.

“Hey, does anyone know where [Name] is? I've been searching for her all morning..” “Heh, maybe she's got enough of your face, Hearthleader. Didn't you wake her up with that dragon of yours again?” “Scaramouche, how awful of you to even assume such things! My dear hearthmember can't possibly be annoyed of me!” “No, I think he's right for once.” “Not you too, Xiao!” “U-um, if it helps... Master Jean and I saw her with the representatives in charge for finding the venue for the Magical Cotillion earlier..” “Hm, so she's with those from Hearth Pyro?” “No, Hearth Pyro is currently busy with Winter Cradle, so they asked some help in searching for a place-” “You guys! Kaveh just posted: #outwithnewstudent! #busydayahead #scoutingtonsofplaces #septemlife #alhaithambailedagain. She's with this Kaveh guy, the Ragnvindr, Hearthleader Morax, Mona, Cyno, and Alberich.” “Thank you for informing us, Heizou. What an odd line-up... so every Hearth has one representative. But I suppose it'll work out just fine since Kazuha went with her-” “Kazuha's with her!?” “What is with all this noise! I can't focus on my research if- hey, where are you all going? Woah-! Ah, Master Jean... they're all gone..” “... Well, since the boys left, it looks like you can focus on your work now.”

— Aether —Bonus: Lumine [Platonic]

“... Null.”

The reveal stuns the four in cloaks, whispers and murmurs arising that does little to satisfy your confusion. Null? Does this mean that...

In all its incadescent glory, the glow of your Vision remains a still white, obstinate and unchanging to other known seven colors. I don't have a place here?

“This is most surprising... who would've thought that we'll have another case like this?” concern blooms upon discerning the conflict in the Sustainer's voice, who then gazes at you imploringly.

“I would like to apologize, dear, but as you do not belong to any known Hearths, you will...”

You stiffen. Ah, I know that coming here was too good to be true.

“... Be living at the campus itself.”

Wait—

“Excuse me?” you splutter. “I thought that- doesn't null mean nothing? How can I ever... with this?”

The white Vision that holds no insignia of any element proceeds to pulse as though it is your heart. It draws in the rest of the cloaked figures, whose whispers entail something about 'twins' and with you as another addition to the cryptic 'element'.

It ignites a sense of hope inside. Are they implying that you aren't the only one granted with the blankness of a gift?

Almost like the fair woman is attuned with your train of thoughts, she places a hand on your shoulder. “Before your arrival, twin siblings have come to grace the Academy with a similar conundrum, and their Visions...”

You, along with the four figures, flinch at the way cracks litter across the case of the gift- until it bursts- and disappears as though it wasn't there in the first place.

“... Much like yours, shattered and vanished,” she then takes your hand and turns it over to view the rhombus mark that has just recently appeared. “Then in its stead, a marking of sorts came.”

A four pointed star luminescent with pinks, blues, and violets glow on your palm, bright and telling.

The Sustainer dismisses the group of four shortly as you marvel at the enchanting sight of the prism-like mark. It's beautiful.

Alone with the golden-eyed woman, she leads you out of the Paths Chamber and back into the halls, threading across the grand interior of the Academy. No one is around, but you seem to hear the faintest sound of little children singing—well, you think it belongs to children.

Out of the corner of your eyes, you see a handful of tiny creatures wobbling about with equally tiny hats and a fixed smile. However, they scurry to hide whenever you try to catch them.

Eventually, after passing the many, many sections of the campus and heading up several floors through a hidden staircase that only appears when you step onto it, you reach the peak of the Academy itself.

Who would've thought that a living space will be here? Despite technically being a loft—a large, beautiful one that stretches throughout the whole floor—it feels homely. If not for the blessing of sight, and if you relied on the atmosphere alone, you would've believed this to be the house you grew up in. Preoccupied with marveling over the place, the sound of the names being called flies past your ears.

Well, until the Sustainer is tapping your shoulder and you're turning to set your eyes upon twin siblings.

“Someone else is actually just like us! Glad to meet you, I'm Aether. It gets a little lonely around here, Lumine's getting sad 'cause she doesn't have anyone to speak to other than me because it's not permitted to sleep over at other dorms- hey, stop hitting me- but it's the truth!?”

Somehow, the range and utility of elements come to both siblings with relative ease, unlike you. For this very reason, Aether helps you out with learning how to get the hang of each of them. This carries on even after you're finally permitted to learn in the campus, and he becomes some kind of guard whenever someone makes you too uncomfortable. The attention of being able to wield seven elements is suffocating.

In a surprising turn of events, this guy actually has the guts to skip class. Not often, but he does so if he feels like the day is too 'bland' for his tastes. He still aces his exams, though. The twins appear like role model students, but do people know that they're sharing food in the middle of class? No!?

In potionology, a class he excels in, he concocts the best of brews with little to no side effects at all. For the fun of it, he sometimes brews a potion that somehow works as a meal—it's strange, but hey! You and Lumine are starting to live off of it when spending all-nighters, much to his utter concern. You both need actual food, not potions! o(≧口≦)o

Curses! You really thought that he's the sweetheart between the twins, but he has a devilish side to him, huh? He just adores waking you up in the morning in a bunch of ways. Once, he teasingly roused you from your sleep whilst being close to your face (you couldn't face him for hours), and one time, he sent you flying with Anemo!

Overlook his antics, however, then he really can be quite the sweetheart. Moments when you feel down, he'll give you a tub of ice cream. He goes out of his way to make sure you have the maximum amount of comfort in the 'dorm', and will not hesitate to help you with literally anything.

“I'm relieved to know that it isn't just us. Do you need help with something? You can count on me, Aether's a big dummy anyway. Let me tell you, he was just as bored as I am, he simply didn't want to admit it- hoh, so now you're hitting me!”

Although the dorm is spacious enough to accommodate the addition of another room, you bunk in with Lumine, to her excitement. Initially, you thought her to be mellow, but she's pretty high-spirited! The very night you arrived, you're both up so late in the early morning that if Aether hadn't barged in with a scolding session, it's a certainty that you wouldn't have slept at all.

It never deters either of you from doing it over and over, though. It has become so thrilling pretending to be asleep when Aether comes in to check if you're resting, and laughing silently when you get away with it. If you're lucky enough, you can even rope him in!

If Lumine manages to wake up early (a rare occurrence), she will save you from her brother's impish rousing. If not (an almost daily event) then you both can chase him for the sudden ice bath that woke you up and drenched you whole.

Lumine is the one to be a helping hand in your written studies, contrasting her twin, who guides you with your magic. She can be pretty strict, but all is well, for it's through her teaching that you are quickly able to have classes in the main campus.

She understands the stuffiness of being in the spotlight just as well as Aether does, so she diffuses any escalating situation that will stress you further, especially in class. Ah, and she is aware- more than aware of your escapades, how can she not? Ask her to join next time! (And so, three 'null' students are nowhere to be found in campus from time to time...)

The twins are pretty popular among the student body all because of their atypical ability and kindness. Now that there's a rumor about a third student being able to wield seven elements, oh dear.

They like to hold each of your hand as you go down for class, a very heartwarming sight for many. As the time folds on, however, you notice that Aether is giving some of the students a smug look... ah, one can only wonder why. (Lumine slaps her head and says that you're terribly dense.)

Leisure time with the twins is heavenly! You do all sorts of things, from movie marathons, to baking tons of desserts, playing video games, leaving the Academy for little trips- everything! Tight-knit as ever, mess with one, you mess with the two! So everyone knows not to, at all costs, get on their bad side...

During event games like the Seasonal Cradles in which it'll be dorms against dorms, you three have the luxury of either participating or sitting out. It's fun! You can't forget the Halloween event when Hu Tao and co approached to ask for help in scaring the students, ah yes, that was golden.

By the time a semester has passed by, these twins are knowing of everyone's warranted fascination about you. Quick, let one of them snip a photo of you three together and just post it in social media... nuh-uh, you're their precious dorm mate- uh, hearthmate, um- loftmate?? Be jelly, suckers!

You expected to be sorted to a Hearth, yes, but right now? You are perfectly fine and elated to be with the twins. Will not have it any other way!

“I think everyone's leaving for their homes this semester break?” “Mhm, what about it?” “Hooooo~ That means the whole campus and the Hearths are all for ourselves! Should we go have some fun?” “Lumine, I don't think we can just enter anyone's Hearth without permission. Plus, [Name]...” “Actually, I haven't seen any Hearths yet. I'd like to visit, but I don't want to intrude on anyone's business.. I don't know everyone as well as you two, either..” “Okay let's do it.” “Brother, I didn't know you can be this down bad for-” “We can also ask the Council for a gate pass so we can travel outside if we want to!” “Oh, that's a great idea!” “Quit ignoring me, you two!”

A lot can happen in the span of five years.

Your life at Septem Academy may have just begun, but with the way things kicked off at a great start, you’re relieved to say that maybe the adventure really is just beginning, as well.

Ah, but before all that, perhaps you first need to catch up on learning how to utilize your newfound magic.

a/n: so~ it's revealed that kaeya/albedo are exchange students from the distant college in Khaenri'ah! holy smokes, they came from so far :'))

also added a bonus hearth! well technically not a Hearth, since it's just Aether and Lumine- but there's MC now. they are referred to as nulls because of the plain white glow that they have on their chests (in this case, MC's hand) and the obvious lack of elemental sigil. still, they're op DSADASK

whenever i'll make more works for this particular au that will be tagged "m-septem", MC is always sorted similarly to the twins, as a 'null' student. unless stated otherwise, ofc! and boy i have a lot of scenarios for septem.

@cherryflushz @e7t3 @scarlet-halos @lordbugs @nebulaera @annoying-and-upset @hanniejji @applepi1415 @tjjjrsj @azirajane @hey-comrade-hold-stil @limelightsuperhero @chloeloe @loptido @windyventi @nejibot @ganyuqrt @justrinnn @yasunamilk @alana5021 @coco-goat-milk @lunastarjay @bambambunny @aryllechan @epioneemersyn @uwu-dreams @yvechu @mininji @o0soup0o @koi-chairowo @www-rosalesluvsyou

#kaeya x reader #kaeya fluff #mika x reader #mika fluff #chongyun x reader #chongyun fluff #diluc x reader #diluc fluff #bennett x reader #bennett fluff #thoma x reader #thoma fluff #venti x reader #venti fluff #heizou x reader #heizou fluff #xiao x reader #xiao fluff #kazuha x reader #kazuha fluff #scaramouche x reader #scaramouche fluff #wanderer fluff #wanderer x reader #aether x reader #aether fluff #genshin x reader #genshin fluff #genshin various x reader #female reader

[raytm]

to gaze upon the eaves of the passing, amorphous buildings in awe. the glistening of stalactites tapered to blunt, convex points. they revealed his reflection in billowing streaks of colour, nebulous around the edges, waning away as it skirted to the other side. he could have stared into its frosted, ethereal world for hours, fractals of shimmering light dancing across his vision. his stomach lurched, knees threatening to buckle as serval’s stride continued on and he sank into the snow, hitching forward inelegantly. the alcohol settled in him as warmth, imbuing his senses with a pleasant distortion. this place, often bleak and wintry, was far more benign when witnessed slantwise. his laughter was a sweet baritone, untethered to ludicrous things like decorum. serval shook her head, either nonplussed by her brother’s descent into delirium or finding it hilarious, incongruous to their soirée’s dignified air. her hair, long and blonde, shone with a lustre of starlight, whipping back and forth on the brisk, eventide wind. her laughter sung with a dulcet cadence of incoherence, not because she was inarticulate, but because he was drunk. one, two, the crystalline glasses of effervescent wine were sweet, and even their father’s hibernal lower did not jerk him from his stupor. he had ushered them over, brandishing his arm like an incensed, seizing branch, lowering his voice to a seething hiss, take your brother home. it wasn’t a request. stumbling through the early evening snow was far more thrilling than a ballroom of stifling vanity and perfunctory niceties. the streets were vacant, cast in arresting shafts of sputtering street light, oil lamps burning away, their flames high and quivering. where the undulating swells of darkness stopped the light became loose strands, lambency wreathing through the spills of ink before fading away. these otherwise familiar sights were augmented in his inebriation, so much more enthralling now than ever before. “ move it, slowpoke.” his sister’s scolding is gentle, a lenience afforded to so very few. he blinks at her, slowly, allowing her features to bleed into clarity. “ home - right, home.” often, that word held with it an insurmountable weight, manacles that kept him adhered to his family’s noble name and inherited responsibilities. now, it felt like the benevolence of a smoldering fire, chasing the lingering chill from his bones. the fireplace was imposing, built of old, clay bricks and filled with neatly chopped logs. the aromatic scent of still glowing cinders, the quiet stillness that accompanied it, that felt more akin to home than any tepid gatherings of family ever did. Gepard leans into her, his shoulder bumping into hers, bracing himself for another, labored step, then another, his thighs felt like gelatin. “ we’re going home.” it was spoken softer, a whisper of chattering teeth and rallying sobriety. his sister nodded, turning her attention back to the street and the two of them continued on, lurching just a little less now. 

#⋆⁺₊❅. 𝐺𝐸𝑃𝐴𝑅𝐷 𝐿𝐴𝑁𝐷𝐴𝑈. › 𝐢𝐜. #alcohol / #gepard drabble #ok now i write the angsty one #i love the landau siblings sm you have no idea #this happened 1 time and he got an hour long lecture the next day as well as a headache oml. #never again.

[cultfed]

offers a new years smooch fashionably late bc gojo is late to everything

incandescent lamps flicker, subtle shafts of light cast across the verge of eventide’s stygian pull. revelry had waned into soft, muted conversation, auspicious moments prior to the year’s endmost farewell. it was a time entrusted with heartfelt prayers, fond memories to be made with those closest, it felt intrinsic that his moments, however transient, were spent with satoru. it wasn’t entirely dedicated to respite, after all, rapacious entities thrived in the wretched detritus they palliated with those invocations, the shadows they cast engorged on a night of festivity.

 suguru defies fatigue, claws bore as tension into his shoulders, yet his attention remains affixed, the asphalt below swelling, contorting, whether it were sleep deprivation’s leverage or something eldritch and malevolent was difficult to discern. satoru speaks but a once insouciant cadence is distorted, it takes his hand, macilent fingers obscuring his vision, for reality to converge in lucidity. he blinks, once, twice, before his hand wraps around satoru’s wrist, retorting with a roll of his eyes, extracting himself from that moment of closeness. it was imperative that the mission be his priority, in spite of that, there’s an alleviation that comes in tandem with his blithe grin, abating something dense eating at him.  “ they appointed two of us to this mission.” he recalls, a reprimand that rolls off his shoulders like gentle rain. satoru asks him, a solitary brow arched in anticipation, what time it was, in the time it takes to cast his glance to his phone the distance between them is breached. “ bingo ,  it’s midnight.” and it wasn’t as if they hadn't kissed before, it was a clandestine affair, a hint of roseate that crept along his throat, settled at the tips of his ears, this kiss was stifled laughter, his mouth a fond curvature. the year is recast a new with satoru’s fingers cradling his jaw, amusement or mischief in the depths of crystalline blue. suguru’s face felt warm, his youth rendered in these moments, wallowing in the glow that was satoru gojo. “ i’m not going to take the fall for you.” he murmurs, a shared breath.  “ happy new year. " spoken even softer. 

#wawa i cannot write here's a kiss mwah

[reginrokkr]

» @maquiscursed asked: a kiss between furrowed brows to try and comfort (you know from who 😔)

Every eventide fall brings the most terrifying darkness to those who don't stand entirely under light's shade or luminosity brilliance, whispers of the Abyss grow louder and all demons concealed within roused with invigorated drive to crawl from the skin of the cursed outside or scream in pain byproduct of conflicting celestial light within that, like moonlight will never be silenced by night's black mantle, neither will the abandoned seraph's.

With it comes excruciating pain that never goes away nor it ever ameliorates with continuous building of pain tolerance and, despite Dáinsleif's best effort at concealing it, fair eyebrows knit in a frown within the composure he insists to uphold until he returns to his own chambers. For even if he knows it is safe to present himself however he is to Neuvillette —either out of courtesy of reciprocating the rex's confidence to do so with him, as an expression of shared trust or both—, he loathes to show the worst of him to the Iudex. The most immediate justification for that being his sorrowful gaze at the earliest notice of pain, of concern and lament as if all of this were his own.

Albescent lashes flutter close to take deep breaths, having proved in the past effective to calm his alarmed senses back intro tolerant tranquility just for a little longer until both of them part to sleep each on their room. Amidst his exercise to calm down he feels softness of plush lips pressing a kiss betwixt his brows, prompting Twilight to open them sufficiently to note his beloved's merciful attempt to make him feel better. Stellar pupils quiver within sapphire depths, half-lidded as they are, roseate lips part to heave a sigh of newfound relief he didn't know he would feel when pain flourishes in all its inclemency. ◜Forgive me.◞

It is far from the first time Neuvillette saw this within centuries of blooming relationship the two of them had and even yet, regardless of how much he learned about his own pain spikes, hardly ever it was from his own mouth as much as it must've been from observation alone. Opposite to him, ever the honest one who never once hesitates to communicate how he feels in all his confusion and disorientation as new humane sentiments weigh on his heart, no matter how indecent it may be of him as the maximum exponent of this nation or embarrassing to him, if he ever felt that way. Perhaps... perhaps he would do better in practising the same as Leviathan does, if only to give him more concrete information of what he feels like instead of the sorrowful thought of a mind drifting within a whirlpool's eye with naught specific and thousands of painful beliefs, right or otherwise.

◜I must admit...◞ Strong chest rises and falls in a deep breath, albescent lashes open further to reveal glimmering crystalline blues as his hand reaches for the other to bring it to his face. ◜...you make it feel better.◞ It is not a white lie or a half truth to make Neuvillette feel better, no— but earnest truth to at least give him a spark of hope that not everything is futile and, however little the gestures, they contribute to his betterment. Dáinsleif nuzzles lovingly the palm of the dragon's hand before his own lips plant a soft kiss on the same spot where an intriguing mark is displayed on his gloves, he noticed.

◜The pain tends to grow bigger at night, when the demonic darkness of this world is at its more influential.◞ Hesitant as he is, his refusal to let Neuvillette in the dark despite the knowledge he already counts with is bigger. ◜Strangely enough, it would seem that my nervous system is less prone to confound your touch with a magnified version as per the corruption's distortion. Almost as if... it has grown accustomed to it.◞ There is naught Dáinsleif has to validate this nor he knows if it makes sense altogether, but there is no denial that one way or another, he feels soothed. Either because it has been long enough since he acquainted himself with a merciful, soft touch of another or perhaps because he learned to trust his eyes more, to ground himself more on the dragon's good heart despite the lingering pain.

Long fingers tighten their hold on Leviathan's hand a touch more, glacial sapphires bore into iridescent lavenders, a vulnerable gaze even he would scold himself for presenting himself in such degree of weakness if were he see himself. ◜...Sleep with me, Neuvillette.◞ What would be otherwise a hesitant question born from the belief of being too emboldened is nothing but a plea, in truth— a result of growing confidence in himself that, despite the fact that his broken mind may think otherwise, he, too, matters.

#apocryphis #◟༺✦༻◞ may your sorrow be washed away with tides deliverance; o' mighty dragon ┊neuvillette → maquiscursed.┊ #◟༺✦༻◞ let luminous feathers dance under sapphire rain of justice┊dáinsleif × neuvillette.┊ #◟༺✦༻◞ what use has the veil of falsehood? ┊ask.┊ #◟༺✦༻◞ sapphire flames in their wake ┊ic.┊ #◟༺✦༻◞ τόμος θ: Λυκόφως οι θεοί που πέφτουν┊advent of ragnarök.┊ #◟༺✦༻◞ when reason to be shines through. ┊aria of the celestials┊ #he's doing his best to be more vocal like Neuvi is 😔 #also— he's asking him to sleep with him #granted that they haven't done that much in the past if ever #it's really taking the most out of him to be emboldened like this #but it's... a nice change #and it would do wonders to him to sleep together #and wake up warm and emotional because for once #it does feel better to sleep #and not so scary anymore #for the nightmares he tends to have #or the whispers of the Abyss #◟༺✦༻◞ May your sorrow be washed away with tides deliverance; o' mighty dragon ┊Neuvillette → apocryphis.┊

[xasha777]

In the twilight of Earth's future, there existed a guild of Temporal Guardians, sworn to protect the fabric of time itself. The youngest among them was Lyra, known for her flowing auburn hair and an enigmatic presence that seemed to radiate with an otherworldly glow. Clad in an iridescent, crystalline suit that shimmered with the echoes of a thousand timelines, she stood as the custodian of the Chrono-Crystal—a gem capable of opening rifts through the very essence of time.

The Chrono-Crystal was no larger than Lyra's palm, yet within its faceted depths whirled nebulas and stars, each sparkle a potential gateway to a different era. It was said that the Crystal was born from the heart of a collapsing star, its death giving rise to a relic that bound the universe's past, present, and future.

As a Temporal Guardian, Lyra’s duty was to mend the time warps that threatened the cosmic order—rifts caused by the reckless, the curious, and the nefarious. Such rifts would splinter reality, creating alternate timelines where dinosaurs walked modern cities or steam engines powered interstellar ships.

One fateful eventide, as the cosmos stretched silently above, a time warp of unprecedented scale ripped through the continuum, threatening to unravel existence itself. This cataclysmic tear was no accident; it was the doing of the Chronarch, a renegade Guardian who sought to rewrite history to his own design.

Lyra, guided by the pulsing light of the Chrono-Crystal, stepped through the portal it unveiled, her heart braced for the tumultuous journey ahead. She emerged in an era undefined, where the past, present, and future collided in a chaotic symphony. Skyscrapers crumbled into sands of time, while ancient forests spiraled up towards a neon sky.

The Chronarch awaited her, his intentions as dark as the void. He brandished a corrupted shard of time, its surface as dark as obsidian, absorbing light and hope alike. Battle ensued, a dance of light and shadow, each strike from Lyra's Crystal casting prismatic beams across the distorted sky, while the Chronarch's shard unleashed darkness that swallowed light whole.

It was a battle across epochs, with the fate of all time hanging by a slender thread. Lyra, fueled by her oath and the energy of the Crystal, fought with a grace that belied the power she wielded. The Chronarch was formidable, but his vision was tainted by greed, his moves predictable to the one who had studied the ebb and flow of time itself.

In a climactic surge, Lyra shattered the shard with a focused beam of pure time-energy, the explosion sending shockwaves throughout the continuum. The rift began to seal, the chaotic blend of times slowly disentangling, returning to their rightful paths.

As calm returned, Lyra stood amidst the tranquility of a newly stabilized timeline. The Chrono-Crystal, once again pulsing gently in her grasp, had saved the multitude of worlds from being lost to the ravages of the Chronarch's ambition.

Lyra returned to her own time, her mission complete, but the adventure ever ongoing. Time, after all, is an infinite canvas, and she, its vigilant artist.

[dawnswine]

leaves diluc a little mason jar full of a spiced chai tea blend. it's not much, but ... well, it's not like his brother enjoys wine or the sort of gifts kaeya might usually give, so hopefully this custom-made blend will suffice. if nothing else, it'll keep him warm during the cold winter days ahead.

Impartial to the act of bestowing gifts, to the ornate garlands and the hint of aromatic cocoa lingering like a warm sentiment; or so he had thought himself. long since had these celebratory eventides filled with dulcet laughter and a ceaseless flow of dandelion wine become arduous. an oppressive mantle of foregone days, a drove of inundating memories he had kept clandestine, close to his breast, stifled into silence. A fool to believe such preventions would allow him to forget, to remain ignorant to that which had meant so much to them both. The tempered glass reveals himself distorted, the powder meticulously ground; he recognises it in a moment of rumination, fingers running listlessly around the golden brim. soon, the zephyrs would turn glacial and ruthless and these herbs, an evocation of the past, would keep him warm against them. he closes his eyes and a sigh falls from his lips -  jaded. he tucks the jar away, in a haven for the nights when the chill would fester in the marrow of his bones, when the thoughts of home were all that could force the rigid tension out of him.  he hoped kaeya also received his gift, a solitary crystalline bottle of baileys, a beverage tethered to the festivities. this one time he would indulge him, a special liquor to greet the epilogue of the evenings celebrations with. silently, he also hoped he liked it.

#ic / #he likes it very much thank u. #;w;;;

[flutterclouds]

Emote for a server

#pokemon mystery dungeon #swablu #artists on tumblr #digital art #crystalline eventide #glitch au #runa #team eventide #my art #volcanic doodles

[teshamerkel]

Do you know what happened to that glitch au fic?

Oh!!! Do you mean Volcanic’s story? It’s been renamed Crystalline Eventide and can be found over here! She has three chapters up right now, and also a lot of awesome character art. :D

If you’re talking about a different glitch au, unfortunately none come to mind. Sorry. ^^’

#ask #anon #tesh talks #volcanicbakemeat #crystalline eventide

[voidic3ntity]

iceberg of irrationality: the condensation of vivid imagination, evaporation & coagulation, the process of crystalline lucidity, a pure vagrant valency, drifting & floating, endless eventide, the iridescent lightness & the vivid likeness, entities of mind; the self similar fractal intelligence, a grand poetica basilica.

#poetry #spilled thoughts #dark academia #dark prose #trauma #drugs #depression #alchemy #mental illness #art #mental health #spirituality #sad #introspection #liturature #tw #me #voidic3ntity #life is strange #pain #stoned #poets on tumblr #darkness #original #poem #life #death #poetic #philosophy #morbid

[fordeadleaves]

here's pinned

crystalline-icarus -> fordeadleaves

yeah hi. we’re the sunset towers system! collectively, we go by icarus lukas, eventide, or the archivist and use they/it/he/any neopronouns.

we don’t currently have a members list up but feel free to ask about or check us out on pluralkit. [code: xxtxb]

main interests atm: lifesteal smp, dominion smp, content smp, [redacted] smp, the roothouse

dont send us chain asks they will be trapped in our inbox forever

look in my ask game tag. i am accepting asks for anything in there.

more info below ↴

links

carrd

pronouny

scu wiki

scu discord fanserver

reblog spam blog | @fromlivingleaves

incorrect quotes blog | @icarus-incorrect-quotes

personal/system blog | @neuralnet-galaxies

twitch

ao3

socials

twitter: crylements / fordeadleaves_

discord: fordeadleaves

spacehey: fordeadleaves

flightrising: MosaicFiresilk

simplyplural: fordeadleaves

cohost: fordeadleaves

you should know

i don’t tag swears

i normally don’t tag caps either (i will if asked tho)

all my posts are ask to tag! the posts tagged w/ ask to tag are just posts that i think are likely to be triggering, but i’m not sure what to tag them as.

#*the archivist speaks #*pinned #tags: #*the archivist draws #*the archivist builds #*the archivist writes #*the archivist sings #*poggers #*dumb thoughts #last updated: 12/10/23

[thenightling]

I’ll be your mirror (A Sandman fan fiction)

This story is a shameless Fluff piece written while listening to “I’ll be your Mirror” by The Velvet Underground on repeat.  This is sort of Dream of The Endless working through an existential crisis.  

  I’ll be your Mirror

             The pale figure of Daniel Hall moved through the empty private chambers of The Castle at the heart of The Dreaming.  

This ancient, and stone-looking, fortress was a monument to pure creativity, pure imagination. Sometimes known as Ghost Castle it seemed fitting that that the current aspect of Dream (who often answered to the name Daniel) actually resembled something of a ghost.  He was pale white, as white as milk, and his hair was just as white, just as soft and cloud-like, as the rest of his ethereal form.  His hair was curly and untamed, much like the black hair of his predecessor, the now deceased aspect of Dream, Morpheus.            Daniel’s eyes were black as pools of midnight water, with two twin star pupils.  He could have been the boyish and more youthful looking twin of the previous embodiment of dream.                Daniel wore an egg-shaped emerald amulet, the only sign of color upon him.  Otherwise he was a mostly white, and wispy entity wandering his private chambers. He moved silently and with some private sense of purpose.   Dream of The Endless is something like a great, faceted jewel.  And each facet is a different incarnation- an aspect, an autonomous entity that is both connected to, and yet separate to the whole.

             Daniel knew he was only a fragment and not the whole of what is Dream of The Endless and yet there was no real sense of comfort to that strange loneliness that ate at his all-too human-like heart.   He often felt he was too human.  Had his predecessor dealt with such a burden?  He tried to recall.  Yes.  Why, yes he had.  But only toward the end…            You would think the link to that old, deceased, aspect of Dream of The Endless would be gone but that was not necessarily the case.  Not only had Daniel inherited all of his memories but he had done something, something that he was fairly certain most did not know about…            Daniel had been conceived and gestated for over two years in a mortal woman’s womb in The Dreaming.  Though his mother had some divine aspect within her, and was considered something of a “metahuman” herself, Daniel had seemed human enough at the time of his birth, despite the peculiarities of his gestation and his poor, naïve, father having been the manipulated soul of a deceased human…            Where had the other aspect of Dream been during Daniel’s gestation?  Well, for most of it he had been imprisoned in a crystalline cage in a mortal’s cellar.            In his early form Daniel had appeared to be a normal human baby.  Blond haired, blue eyed, with a peach-tone flesh that wasn’t as it was now, this milk-white.  The only one who had recognized him for what he truly was had been Himself, that is to say, the active aspect of Dream, Lord Morpheus.            Now looking pretty much nothing like that mortal baby, the adult and distinctly non-human Daniel Hall, this aspect of Dream of The Endless, recalled well their first psychic communications with one and other.  It was the only time he truly felt a deep and profound bond to another, when he stared into Morpheus’ eyes and felt that link there between them.  Of course there had been some connection to his mortal-esque mother but this was different.  What he felt toward this other aspect of self was like staring into a reflection of his very soul.               When he “Spoke” with Morpheus it was like communing with his own subconscious. There was such an understanding and appreciation for the truth that it comforted him to know he was there. Though to tell which had been comforted by the other’s presence was difficult to say.

When Morpheus had “Died” as Dream of The Endless, Daniel rose to power, taking his predestined form and his mind flooded with the repressed, and hidden knowledge and memories of over ten billion years of consciousness. Now he felt like the very heart of an intricate web, he knew each fiber as it stretched from himself and through The Dreaming.  

He had a psychic link to every sentient entity he had ever created within The Dreaming, including ones created by his previous-self (whom he could recall having been, like a human reincarnation).

The loneliness had been terrible in those first few moments as Lord of The Dreaming, despite his sudden psychic awareness and knowledge.   And one of the first things he did was something others might find unspeakable…

           Meanwhile, in another part of The Dreaming…

           “I walk across the dreaming sands under the pale moon: through the dreams of countries and cities, past dreams of places long gone and times beyond recall.”

           In his darkest and strangest hours, when Morpheus had thoughts he scarcely would admit to himself he wondered that perhaps Loki, Lucifer, and all the other iconoclasts of the various pantheons were right in their rebellion. They wanted to leave and so they did. There was no dramatic final exit. They didn’t dread abandoning responsibilities as he did. If only he had the bravery or selfishness and carelessness to do as they had done…but these thoughts were along the lines of words he would never dare utter, not even to himself. He was dead now, right? What did it matter? He had escaped his role in the most absolute fashion possible…

           Morpheus walked along the beach of Hob’s dream in the perpetual eventide. This was, for him, his Heaven, his sanctuary. And almost every night he would walk and speak with his friend who always steadfastly refused Death’s gift. How he admired Hob’s fortitude. And how he, himself, liked it here. He was at peace here. Eternally residing in the dream of a friend wasn’t the worst way one could spend an existence after being an Endless. And yet sometimes he felt certain old aches, like a mortal who had lost a leg and missed it terribly.            His existence as Dream of The Endless was over but Morpheus had been recreated as a Dream Entity.   Now free from the burden of being Dream of The Endless, he did not envy the self that had to reign in his place.  In fact he found himself pitying him. And sometimes he felt that his new purpose, his new reason to be, was to simply reassure Daniel as no one had for himself- to remind him that he understood.  That he knew how he felt.  That he was not alone.  And most importantly, perhaps, that he forgave him for all his faults and short comings…

             Daniel walked to the mirror mounted over the vanity table in his private rooms.  The door to the room vanished behind him.  He wanted to be alone with his brooding thoughts.    Daniel stared into the mirror, trying to decide who or what he was.                Who was he?  And where did he belong?  Was he the boy Lyta Hall had cradled in her arms or was he the man who would govern The Dreaming for eons to come and who had always governed The Dreaming?   He felt world weary and weak.   He doubted himself and his abilities as Dreamlord.   He sighed heavily.  Sometimes he just wished he was that innocent child once more simply so someone would hold him and comfort him and tell him everything would be okay.              A figure stepped behind Daniel, soundlessly and as shadowlike as Daniel was ghostlike.  Daniel was only briefly startled by the sudden presence of his deceased self in the chamber with him.  He knew better than to ask how Morpheus had come to be there. Morpheus might have been deceased as Dream of The Endless but as a dream-entity he was very much free from that burden and knew his way around The Dreaming and especially his old castle.  And he knew how to enter where only Dream would enter.                The two – the living Dream of The Endless and the “Dead” Dream felt such a relief in the other’s presence as if all pressure had been lifted.  But each was too proud to admit how much he needed the other in that moment.                          “What am I?” Daniel asked in his lingering sense of personal uncertainty. It was the question he would never ask anyone other than himself.              “You are you.  You are Dream.”  Morpheus assured him as if that was all the answer he needed.            Daniel nodded.  He seemed a little shaky but the other figure placed a bony hand on Daniel’s narrow shoulder.  Daniel’s garments wavered, shifted.  And his white robes became a fine, gauzy, white, toga, just as Morpheus’ own gothic, wizard-like robes shifted into an identical black toga.              The two looked like matching halves of a yin-yang standing there in front of the great oval mirror mounted over the vanity table.              “I am here.” Morpheus assured him in his own imperfect way of trying to comfort himself.  “I am here.”  He did not begrudge his posthumous existence. He knew why Daniel needed him.  The silent need that they both had, it was that same need that had invited a certain cat that had been mistaken as another aspect of Dream, to come save the universe. That was a different adventure that both knew in their heart but could not actually, consciously, directly, remember, not really.            “I will be for you what was never there for me.” Morpheus assured him.              Daniel took a ragged breath.  “I didn’t… I wasn’t sure you would…”            “That I would forgive my own existing?   Daniel… It was my plan.  I knew I had to change or die.  I chose both.  I knew what you would do because you are me.  How could I begrudge it?”            Daniel turned his head.  Morpheus had released his awkward grip on the shoulder of his other self.              “This is where we both belong.”  Daniel said.  It was a statement but it was also a plea, a secret, hidden plea.  He feared being rejected by himself.            “Perhaps.”  Morpheus said, knowing Daniel understood what he meant.            “We are all things within The Dreaming.” Daniel said.  “The wind, the rain, the sunset, all of it.  It’s us.  And I don’t actually –need- anyone.”  He lied and he knew his other self knew he was lying.            “But there is a difference to be able to talk and hear a voice respond that has felt and knows your burden.”              “I don’t want to be alone.”  Daniel said.  “You’re just going to leave again, retreat back into your dreamscape and leave me to bear it…  We’re not the same.  You’re free where I am not.”            Morpheus’ expression darkened, his frown deepened. “No.   No, I’m not as free as I thought I was.  You are my burden now. I am my own burden.  Because…  No matter where I go… there I am… And you need me.  I… am responsible.”            Daniel looked at him, uncertainly, blinking his black, glassy eyes.  “You would… stand with me?  So I don’t have to be alone?”            “I am here, am I not?  Yes… I have died.  And …changed.”  He loathed admitting that more than once.  “But things are different now.   There are two of us…  We need not stand alone any longer.”             Daniel looked at him, at his other self, and there was no resentment. There was no sense of old guilt for forcing him to exist.  He knew that he understood why he had done it.  They forgave each other.   And they were both home.    

           “No one else would ever accept me if I showed them all of who and what I am.” Daniel confessed.  “Not even… Not even my mortal mother.  She could never understand.   There’s so much darkness in me...  And it has always been there.  Always, even before I was Daniel Hall. I am so very afraid of …of my own darkness.”             Morpheus gave him a trace of a bitter smile.  “You are afraid others might see your mind, your secret heart, and judge you for it?  You are afraid they will see the corruption, cruelty, and unkindness?”             “Yes…”             “Daniel, I was far crueler than you ever were.  Don’t burden yourself…”              “But sometimes I-“                “Shhhh.”  Morpheus said.  “It’s what you do, not what you think that defines what you are.  You don’t bear that darkness alone.  It’s what you choose to do despite the darkness that matters. Pretend to be kind- and act on that pretended kindness.  Behave the way you think a kind creature should act.  It is good enough to pretend, to play the part.  You are good enough.”               “How- how can I do that?  I barely know how to be you.”               “’Me.’” Morpheus corrected.  “How to be ‘me.’  You are not my shadow.”                Daniel shook his head and raised his hands to his face, placing his palms over his own eyes.    

            Morpheus was not very good at physical intimacy except with lovers and even then there was some question as to his ability to express affection but when it came to himself he made the exception and reaching out he took a hold of each of Daniel’s hands, cupping his hands with his to gently ease down his hands.  “Please put down your hands.   Don’t worry. I see you for what you really are. You are not something terrible. You are Dream and you are …beautiful. Surely you see it?”              “How can you possibly see good in me when you don’t even see it in yourself?”  Daniel asked.         Morpheus was taken aback by the question as if Daniel’s very words had slapped him.  “I…”        “I have done terrible things.  I have hurt people.”  Daniel said. “Why do you think I am so much better than you?  Why? How could I be better than you when I AM you?  At least you never killed except in defense of The Dreaming!  I…  I killed and it was for malicious reasons. I thought I was being honorable but I was just being cruel.”

            Morpheus knew what he was talking about. He had always known. He knew about Daniel’s lover, Ivy, Rose Walker’s daughter.   Desire’s great granddaughter.   And he knew that when a bachelor party, besotted by alcohol, had made lewd comments about Ivy, Daniel had driven them all, in a pleasant dream-walk, into the ocean…

            It had been cruel.  It had been brutal.  It had been something Morpheus had thought beyond his own capacity but he sometimes surprised himself. And he also knew he had to forgive himself. Daniel had been burdened with being Dream of The Endless all alone and it was effecting his mind.              Daniel clenched his hands into fists.  He looked so vulnerable to Morpheus, so tired, and so frail.  “Damn you!  Damn you for leaving me here and making me be you!”  Daniel said with his head bowed.  Their thoughts were shared between them as they had been when Daniel had his mortal, infant, form.                

          Morpheus slowly walked from Daniel and the vanity mirror that had reflected them this entire time.  Now Daniel’s was the only image in the mirror as Morpheus walked to a sofa that had not been in the stark room a moment before.            He sat down slowly, heavily, despite his slight build.           “I should never have done this to you…  It was wrong of me.”

        Daniel was surprised.           “All I did was subject another self to the same burden that I fled from in allowing you to become Dream of The Endless, and letting myself die.  I see now there is only one way to rectify this wrong…”               Daniel blinked several times and walked over to the sofa.  He sat down next to him.   Daniel knew what he meant to do.  “Are you certain?  After all you went through to extricate yourself?”                Morpheus nodded slowly.  “Yes, I am certain.  I must do this.  It will just be an endless cycle unless…”            Daniel placed a hand over Morpheus’ “Unless we share the burden… together.  Support one and other…  be there for each other…”            Morpheus looked at him.           “Balance one and other.”   When Daniel lifted his hand there was now something in Morpheus’ palm. It was the ruby dreamstone amulet he had re-created shortly before his own destruction. He looked down at it with a nod.                With an almost ceremonious act of raising it, Morpheus lifted the jewel pendant up, and over his head.  He lifted it over his mop of black, wild, hair and let the amulet hang from his neck, lightly against his chest.            Now Daniel offered the pouch of dreamsand.  Morpheus saw it had been exactly duplicated though which was the duplicate, the one he would claim, or the one Daniel kept, it was impossible to tell.

          “Ovid wrote of three Oneiroi.” Daniel said. “But I think we have both had enough of three-in-one.  And perhaps two is enough.  Don’t you think?”

        Morpheusn as Morpheus was done securing the pouch to his hip Daniel took his hand again.  He liked holding his hand and he knew Morpheus liked it too even if they were both too proud to admit it out loud.          “Promise me,” Daniel said, “promise you will help me through my own darkness.”         “I will try.  I’m not sure I can.”  Morpheus said, uncertainly.        “You can,” Daniel said “Because you already are.  We… already are… for each other.”          “Which one of us is the reflection of the other?”

            “Does it matter?”             “No.  Not anymore.”

                      The End.

#I'll be your Mirror #The Sandman #Sandman fan fiction #The Sandman fan fiction #Sandman #Daniel Hall #Dream of The Endless #Morpheus

[monster-bait]

Deep Sea Merman x Female Character - Genderbent Little Mermaid pt 1

Merman x Female Character - Genderbent Little Mermaid pt 1

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

He should have known better.

That was what he kept telling himself, over and over, with increasing aggravation as he made his way to the surface once more. It was spectacularly stupid after all. Nothing good could could come from the surface dwellers, it never had. Yet there he was, night after night, making the slow ascent upwards, to where the waves crested over a narrow jetty. Where she would be.

He should have known better.

The girl was a tiny thing, it seemed to him, her strange white limbs awkward and ungainly. The first time he saw her, she was perched on the stones, her long hair whipping into the wind. She had the same beguiling smile of the females of his kind: lithe and lissome creatures who dwelled in the warmer waters and avoided the darker, deeper depths and the monsters who lurked there. His domain.

In his youth, many moon seasons past, he had indulged in going to hear the females sing. Glittering, rapturous voices, curling around each other and him too, raised in song. Songs of love and desire, whispering across his long neck and skating down the sinews of his abdomen; Songs of death and despair that shivered across his back, raising his dorsal spines.

From a safe distance, in some dark, shaded corner he would watch: a voyeur to something that would never be his, admiring their beauty and the haunting melodies they’d created.

Watching them from afar - with their wide emerald eyes and silvery hair, soft curves designed to titillate and attract their kind and land dwellers alike, and luscious, glorious tails - had long ago lost its appeal, knowing, as he did, that he would return to the dark alone. Their songs, those wrenchingly beautiful lines of music that seemed to sink beneath his inky skin and caused his tail writhe of its own volition, were not for him. Would never be for him.

It was a particular form of torture he’d long since abandoned. None of them would ever take him as a mate; he didn’t belong in their waters and they would never survive in his…and even if they could, to them he was a monster from the deep.

The girl had the same sort of smile, he’d seen at once. Dazzling in the fading sunlight, secretive and soft.

In the light of that fading sun on the surface, a place he didn’t belong, he was a voyeur once more, he thought sadly. Desperately coveting what could never be his before returning alone to the darkness.

.

.

The first time he’d heard her, he’d been in pursuit of food. The sea had grown colder, and he’d been able to travel up from the depths without discomfort, stalking his prey through what had previously been intolerably warm waters. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d been so close to the surface - too close. Too close for safety, too close for sense.

He’d been poised to strike when the sound of her had moved down through the water, sending a tremor up his spine that had nearly snapped him in half and made the spikes on his dorsal fin stand out on end.

It was the ethereal voice of one of his own kind, silvery and sweet, calling to him directly, but it was- impossibly! -above him.

The pod had already made good their escape as he’d hung there, suspended in the wavering light that cut through the water’s surface, dumbfounded and frozen.

That sound. That voice!

It had done something to him, made his stomach clench, made him feel as though he were being seared on the spot, made the small bioluminescent orbs that bobbed above his scarred face shiver and dance.

He’d remembered stories he’d heard many moons past from the old crone he visited occasionally. Stories of strange winged creatures above the surface, whose songs were so distressingly beautiful that the surface dwellers would be compelled to follow them. Ships would crash upon rocky shoals; would be steered down dark, dangerous channels, inevitably to their doom, allured away by those unnatural voices.

The crone had also told him that their own kind would know their true mate from the sound of their song.

He liked the sea hag, valued her wisdom and her magic, although he regretted his visit to her cave that day. Happier he would have been not knowing that particular bit of information, he’d often thought. He didn’t like to admit that part of the reason why he would go to hear the females singing was to listen for the voice that called to his cold heart.

It had never happened, of course.

That sort of life bond was not meant for one such as him. He found their songs compelling, admired their beauty wistfully, but he’d never heard the voice that was meant for him, and had come to accept that it simply didn’t exist.

The voice he’d heard that day beneath the surface, distorted as it was, made his body writhe, made him feel as though his innards were being forced up his throat. He wanted that voice, needed it. The breathlessness he’d felt made his head spin, and he simultaneously wanted to find the source of that shimmering silver sound and wrap his arms around it for the rest of eternity, or else flee back to the black depths where he belonged.

He needed to see what kind of creature possessed such a voice, he’d thought, thinking of the bird-women above who lured the human sailors to their end. He needed to see so that he’d know what to avoid, and would be able to stay away…away from whatever it was, to prevent the warring sensations of agony and ecstasy that roiled through him.

It was rare that he ventured up to the surface waters, rarer still that he actually breached the surface itself. He was adapted to the dark, to the cold, and the warmer waters above were uncomfortable, the light piercing. His vision took longer to sharpen here, and he disliked the temporary blindness.

His head broke the surface of the water carefully that day, although he was not able to prevent the sharp gasp he’d sucked in at the light that blinded him and the foreign, uncomfortable sensation of breathing dry air.

As spots clouded his vision, he’d waited in apprehension for it to take him, to press its advantage of having incredibly stupid prey presenting itself dizzy and disoriented. The expected attack, although he braced himself for it, did not come.

The light had been blistering. It had taken him several long, gasping moments to remember how to breathe outside of the water, for his vision to be restored, although he’d still squinted painfully. Eventide for the surface dwellers, he’d realized, taking note of the way the sun had sunk in a smear of crimson at the horizon. Eventide, and still so painfully bright.

It had still been singing.

He could not understand the tongue, but the melody it wove was lilting and sorrowful. Beneath the water’s surface, his powerful tail had thrashed as he arched against the sound; sound that had seemed to dance across the water’s surface to him, shimmering around him in a silky caress.

He needed to see, he’d thought, lifting himself carefully, keeping close to the shadows of the rocky ledge from where he’d emerged, needed to see it.

It was a girl.

A girl! A girl, just a girl, a human girl!

He could not comprehend how such a thing was possible. The girl had sat perched on the rocks, her delicate, heart-shaped face resting atop those foreign appendages. Her hair was long and dark, coils that whipped in the breeze, so unlike the silvery hair he was accustomed to. He wished to see her eyes, the upturn of her small nose and curve of her lips, but the damnable light made everything indistinct to his normally sharp gaze. When her song had finished, the girl had smiled softly.

It was her smile that had nearly undone him, even moreso than her voice. Like the melody she sang, there was sadness there, sadness and secrets, secrets he wanted to learn before taking her in his arms.

When she’d begun to sing again, after trailing her her hand lazily through the water, the response he’d felt in reaction jolted like a current surging through his body. He was reminded of a time he’d unfortunately tangled with a ray that had thrown him off with a painful shock.

This, though…this was different. Sexual, protective, primal. His stomach bunched and that spot where torso met tail heated in arousal. He wanted to swim to the girl and spirit her away, to hold her close and absorb her foreign heat, to feel her hands upon him.

His

He had swum home that night gasping.

.

.

An echo of the girl’s voice had teased at his ear in the following days. A soft whisper of song against his neck, a curling presence at his side. The darkness of his cave had never seemed as empty as it did in those few days, his arms had never ached to hold and possess so desperately.

He told himself he was merely satisfying his curiosity several evenings later, when he found himself carefully traversing the dark waters to the surface once more, unable to exist without knowing if he might catch a glimpse of her again. If the girl was there, he would stay to listen to her song. If she was not, well… he would never again return to the surface if she was not there.

It was later this time, the horizon was awash with brilliant color. The sun had already sunk beneath the edge of the world, leaving a violet sky in its wake, and in its absence he could see her clearly.

She was breathtaking.

Her skin was alabaster smooth, her dark ribbons of hair grazed the ground as she raised her face to the sky. Her soft curves were hidden beneath the coverings the humans wore, but he knew her skin would be impossibly soft to his touch. She’d just been finishing a song when he’d emerged from the water, sticking close to the same craggy ledge as before, his dark head invisible in the shadows. The last few crystalline notes hung in the air and his eyes slipped shut, letting the silver net of sound she cast drop over him, her willing prisoner.

When she began to sing again, his own voice rose with hers, unbidden.

He had never failed to have mastery over his voice before. He didn’t intend to sing with her, had only planned on listening quietly, but his own voice could not be contained, was compelled to join with hers. The girl’s voice faltered, her head whipping around, seeking the source of the unnatural sound of his singing.

He was unsure if it was because he was adapted to the dark waters or it was simply nature’s way of making up for his freakish appearance, but his voice had always held a richness, a resonance that the others of his kind did not possess. His deep, echoing call would reverberate around the bowels of the sea, bouncing back to him and telling him exactly where food was, and it did the same now, the rocky ledges that surrounded them providing him a cavern of echos that hid the source of the sound.

He lapsed until the girl took a deep, shaking breath and began to sing again. This time, when he joined her, it was softer, smoother, leashed power. The smile that split her face was a barbed harpoon, lancing him to the spot. He knew in that moment that he would do anything for this girl, this little slip of a human, who smiled so sweetly for him. The oceans could burn, the surface world crumble to the sea, and the stars drop from the heavens…he would keep her safe.

.

.

He could make her his.

Night after night he returned, and night after night she was there, singing into the wind, waiting for him. Their voices would twist and join, mingling together the way their bodies did in his fantasies. Pure, silver sound, tone meeting tone. Their voices belonged together.

He didn’t know how it was possible, he didn’t know why, only knew that it was his terrible, dumb luck to have finally found his true mate, and for it to have been a human.

The thought had infiltrated his mind sometime after the third or fourth night he’d gone to sing with her, and once there, it could not be quieted.

He could make her his.

His kind were able to mate with humans and often did, not that he knew from any type of experience. He could surprise the girl as she sat at the water’s edge, blissfully unaware of the dangers that lurked beneath the placid surface, and pull her in. He could take her there, against the jetty, could take her repeatedly until he’d slaked the ravenous lust that had plagued him since the first night he’d heard her singing. His body begged for the release that only she could provide, and it would be easy, so terribly easy to make that fantasy a reality right then and there.

She would be frightened. She would be terrified and would scream, and he would be compelled to silence her either by force or by dragging her beneath the water with him.

The thought of hurting her in any way, of her being frightened or in pain twisted his heart, and he knew he could never do it. In his fantasies, she enjoyed their coupling as much as he did, loved him as he loved her…a fantasy that could never come to be, one that was best forgotten. His body’s demanding urges were merely a biological impulse, one that would pass. After all, he’d felt lust before, had lusted after his own kind before. It had always passed.

Besides, merely mating with the girl would not fill his cave with her warmth, would not make his arms be any less empty when he awoke in the darkness. He wanted her, wanted her to be there with him, wanted to keep her close.

He imagined her hair wavering beneath the water, imagined that soft smile being directed at him.

He could make her his.

He could go to the crone. He alone hunted the leviathan beasts of the darkness, allowing her to come and go freely, he would remind her of that, would remind her of the food he occasionally provided. Would remind her that she was as alone and forgotten as he was, that only he came to her cave to visit, purely for the enjoyment of her stories and wisdom, never expecting anything in return. The others came to see her often, but those visits, he knew, were transactional: ill-thought bargains struck in fits of pique or desperation. The sea hag always took her pound of flesh in the end, and the others would whisper fearfully, keeping a good distance until the next time one of them needed something.

She could make it possible. He would sacrifice whatever she asked: his sight, his voice, it would not matter…as long as he got to hold the girl in his arms and call her his, any price the crone wished to name would be deemed a fair sum. As long as the girl was not hurt in any way, as long as the price was his alone to pay…the crone could make it possible.

The thought cheered him, and he hunted that afternoon with renewed zeal. He had lined his cave with hundreds of glittering stones taken from chests he’d found on sunken ships, surely she’d like that. The small orbs of light above his scarred, sunken face that lured food in his world of endless night were rendered obsolete in those clearer, brighter waters of the surface, but she would be able to see the stones by their light: sparkling crimson and green and blue.

He would see to it that she had a bed of the softest seagrass on which to rest, would make sure she never went hungry. None of the terrifying creatures that lived in those deepest, darkest parts of the sea would ever harm her, he would make certain of that. Caring for her, providing for her would be his top priority for the rest of his days.

He passed a small cluster of silvery-haired females as he traveled home after his hunt, dragging a tuna carcass for the crone. It wouldn’t hurt his cause to remind her that he was a friend, he’d thought as he’d speared the fish. Three high pitched gasps sounded at the sight of him before they’d taken refuge hiding amidst some swaying seaweed. Such an interaction would have pierced him once, would have left him feeling despondent over the unrelenting loneliness that stretched before him, over the rejection and horror from those of his own kind.

On that day, all he’d noticed were the pretty baubles worn in their hair-shells and sea stars and draping strands of pearls, and he wondered if his human would enjoy being gifted with similar trinkets. The thought of her - curling dark hair wavering in the water, her soft white skin ending in a glorious, colorful tail - warmed him, and he swam on happily. He would find the most beautiful pearls in the sea for her to wear in her hair.

.

.

She was a pleasant weight in his arms as he slept, the alert part of his brain keeping a vigilant lookout on the mouth of their cave, aware of the ever-present dangers beyond. She’d been waiting anxiously for him the day before, slim fingers pressed together nervously until he’d returned from hunting. Had let him love her until his body was satisfied, had curled against him in the cold night. Long tendrils of her silken hair tickled at the cavern of his nose, and he awoke fully with a smile.

There had been a time, in his youth, when he’d traveled widely, crossing the length and breadth of the entire sea, from the cold, comfortable waters of the north to the aquamarine waves of the south. Her eyes were the same color as those warm waters, endlessly blue and beautiful.

His own glowing, yellow eyes opened slowly as he stirred, tugging her close, seeking the breathtaking blue he loved so dearly.

Milky white, sightless eyes met his, her curled ribbons of hair still wavering in the water. It was always cold in the dark heart of the sea, but the coldness of her arms was unnatural, as was her stillness. Panic seized him, panic and horror as he shook the dead girl in his arms.

He woke with a start, gasping into the darkness.

The girl was dead. He’d gone to the crone, had struck a bargain to have the girl survive in their world, and claimed her. He’d been so happy, happier than he’d ever been in the entire length of his existence, perhaps for the first time, truly. He’d done all he could: had provided for her every need, had showered her with gifts, sang with her every day, had loved her as fiercely as he was able. And still the girl had died.

Too dark, too cold. The crone had made no guarantees. The girl had died in his arms, and he was alone once more.

She was not able to be a part of his world, would never be. The gift of prophecy was not a given trait for all of his kind, but he knew not to ignore his dreams. If he tried to take her down to the depths, the girl would die, and he would be alone. Worse off than he’d been before, once the joys of loving and being loved in return, however briefly, were familiar to him.

If he could not bring her to him, he would need to go to her. He’d always been pragmatic, had always felt better when he had a plan.

The crone could make it so. He knew the price, had heard the stories. Once his tail was split, every step on the dry earth would feel like the thrust of a million spears, the pain unceasing. His voice would be sacrificed, to allow the change in his lungs to take place, to allow him to breathe the dry air above day in and day out.

His voice would be sacrificed.

He would never be able to raise his voice in song with her, would never be able to wrap her in the silver of his own melody, to let her feel what he felt when listening to her.

He could still sing to her, he resolved, turning tail to the surface with determination. He could sing to her one last time. The was a sandy shoal he could go to, far enough away to prevent her from having to see him, far enough for him to unleash the full power of his voice for her.

He could see her there, as he squinted across the surf. She was there, trailing her fingers through the water, waiting for him, when he’d pulled himself up to the sand. The story he told in song was one of love, of devotion, haunting and dark, and he poured every bit of himself into the melody. The jagged cliff to her back shook with the reverberation of his singing, as deep and dark as the story he told her. Singing into the wind, he willed the girl to love him, to understand.

When he left the shoal to circle back around to his rocky ledge, he saw her clearly.

She was weeping, and she’d never looked more beautiful.

“Please,” she cried plaintively, the wind whipping her lovely hair. “Please, please come back!”

He could go to her. He could go to her then, he knew, and she might not even scream. He could go to her and try to make her understand how much he loved her, that he was going to see the crone on the morrow, that they could be together soon.

In that moment, just before launching himself back to the water to swim to her side, he made a single grave mistake. Glancing down to the glittering surface before sliding down the mossy rocks, he saw his reflection there, and he paused.

A monster stared back.

He forgot, occasionally. He shouldn’t have, should have remembered every day why he was so alone, so rejected by his kind. Inky black skin, designed to disappear into the shadows and catch prey, a task that was accomplished, in part, by the bioluminescent lures atop his head. Sharp spikes and fins, whip-thin, scarred from head to tail. The creatures of the deep were massive and monstrous, and he’d had encounters with them all, his scarred body a testament to such. His face was comprised of sharp angles, the effects of repeated depressurization over the years giving him a sunken, cratered appearance, making him even more monstrous.

He had nothing to offer her, could not guarantee that the crone’s magic would affect his appearance. He would sacrifice his voice, the one thing of beauty he could give to her, and she might still shun him for being so alien and hideous.

He stayed on the rocks. He had never wept before, wasn’t entirely certain it was something his kind could do, but just then he understood her tears and wished he could join her.

He could not go to her. She could not come to him. She was right there, he could take her in his arms in just a few short strokes, but they were worlds away.

They could never be together, and he was a fool for wishing it so.

He should have known better.

#exophilia #terato #monster boyfriend #mermaid #merman #siren #monster lover #the little mermaid #genderbent #fairy tales

[mlpdestinyverse]

Adore

Eventide Twister and Dream Flow share an intimate moment together on Hearth's Warming Eve.

*NOTE: This chapter contains in-story music! For the full experience, do listen to the song that's linked later in the story before or during the scene in question! Thanks!

Feat. Eventide Twister,  Dreamaria Flow

Story and Description Under The Cut

Ponies' voices fill the night!                Hearth's Warming Eve is here once again! Happy hearts so full and bright!                 Hearth's Warming Eve is here once again!" The jubilant voices of Twilight Sparkle's party guests resounded within the walls of her castle foyer. Various citizens of Ponyville crowded the spacious hall, mingling together in friendly chatter or the exchanging of gifts if they weren't already harmonizing along with one of Ponyville's Hearth's Warming songs. The sheer number of merry attendees was far from a surprise. It was a grand celebration hosted by the Friendship Princess herself, held every year before the day of Hearth's Warming. And the town's ever-expanding populace over the years only meant more room for families and friends to peacefully join together in celebrating the beloved holiday season. Yet even with that knowledge, Eventide Twister tensely sat on one side of the room, blue eyes momentarily flitting across any passing faces before looking away to avoid any possible eye contact. She let herself appear to be distracted by the well-decorated room; focusing on the beautifully draping fabrics of reds and golds, or the curling ribbon and colored lights that wrapped around each and every crystalline pillar in sight. At the beginning of the celebration, she had aided in flying about, setting up wreaths and hanging up ornaments on the looming tree in the middle of the hall. It was simply per yearly tradition for the party guests. Perhaps she had been the only pegasus to keep her distance from the other attendees while she quietly worked around the uninhibited nooks of the room. But having an extra horn right beside her, cheerily lifting decorations up to her with orange-hued magic and a matching vibrant grin, had significantly altered the experience she had once dreaded and avoided each year prior. Every other presence in the room had left her mind with the stringing of lights and the mirthful laughter of her company. But her small, blissful space of comfort and genuine fun had ended once the actual party had started and a wave of other ponies had flooded into the castle. Again, Eventide's eyes roamed over the crowd. She anxiously searched for the streaks of blue locks she had grown so familiar with in the past year. Though when the sight of her friend had yet again escaped her, Eventide returned to taking in the decor- "You're rather quiet, miss Eventide! I hope you're enjoying the party?" Eventide felt herself tense further. She turned back towards the group beside her and the older unicorn stallion who had paused conversation to address her. He was a researcher from Canterlot, as well as an acquaintance of her mother, much like the two other mares who flanked him. When Eventide instinctively glanced over at the red-headed mare sitting right beside her, her mother smiled back lightly. "She's just waiting for her friend to return from the refreshment table," Sunset Shimmer answered. She felt her mother's hoof affectionately rub at her upper back. It was a comforting gesture that was appreciated, and a reminder of why Eventide had stuck so close to the mare in her friend's absence in the first place. But it didn't quite distract the pegasus enough from the three sets of eyes that were now honed in on her. Eventide could only faintly nod in agreement, hoping the older adults would carry on with their previous conversation. "We're sorry if we've been leaving you out, dear!" One of the mares piped up. "Enough of us old ponies talking! I don't know nearly enough about you, darling, and I've known your mother for years!" Leaning in, the second mare gave her an eager smile. "Say, what is it that you do? I can only imagine what you're capable of as Sunset's daughter. She's one versatile mare!" Sounds of agreement were shared between the three ponies, all while Eventide stiffened. What was she supposed to say? That the daughter of one of Equestria's greatest modern researchers and inventors - right-hoof mare of Princess Twilight herself- was a simple mailmare? Eventide could feel her face grow hot at the pitiful thought, and the presence of her mother beside her became more prominent with each second she remained silent. And yet an answer refused to form. 'I...I'm barely anything. I can't embarrass her like that...' "Well, you're not far off! Eve is great at a number of things!" Eventide turned to her mother, surprised by her answer. There, she could see Sunset's motherly pride radiating off of her. Whether the older mare was taking the opportunity to brag and exaggerate, as a parent instinctively would, or save her daughter from an answer, the pegasus wasn't certain. "That's what I thought!" The inquiring mare laughed. Sunset happily hummed in return. "Yep! I mean, this whole month alone, she's been so focused on practicing away on her piano! She plays beautifully-" Sunset turned her head, her expression shifting to one of confusion when she caught Eventide's stare of dismay. 'Not again...' "The piano, you say!" The stallion exclaimed with great intrigue. Eventide just barely stopped a wince as the mares also made sounds of interest. "I enjoy some Fréderéin Chopin myself!" He continued with a strange puff to his chest, as if satisfied with his own tastes. "You must be quite skilled if you've been practicing that much!" One of the mares added, equally as interested as her stallion companion. "Well we absolutely just have to hear you play sometime, won't we~?" The other mare chirped. Eventide bit her lip. There it was; the suggestion this topic typically lead to ever since she was a kid. She gave a vague hum, hoping it'd be enough to assuage their interest. Because well, they were strangers, and acquaintances of her mom at best. The possibility of seeing them again soon, or of their request being serious, was next to none. "Hey, actually! One of the musicians playing for the party has a piano set up right here in the hall!" Eventide's body went completely rigid. All while the three ponies gasped in realization, the same idea seemingly flashing through their minds. There was a painful churn to her stomach as the ponies happily chattered, seemingly discussing their ideas for song requests. But at that point, she couldn't hear what they were saying. She was frozen, her mind struggling to catch up to the situation. She could feel her awareness extending outward towards the large sea of strangers surrounding her, to the possibility of having no choice but to be the center of their attention and judgment. Very quickly, Eventide could feel her skin flushing. Her mind fuzzed over as it looped the horrific idea over and over again in her head. "Actually," Sunset Shimmer quickly interjected. Her voice pierced through Eve's thoughts, though not enough to relieve her cornered mind. "Eve really doesn't like performing on the spot." "Oh, are you sure?" The stallion deflated, doing nothing to ease Eventide's anxiety-ridden nerves. "If you've been practicing that much, I'm sure you'd do just fine, deary! Give it a try!" While a look of annoyance flickered across Sunset's face, Eventide could already feel her mind retreating into itself, far away from the choice before her. Her blue eyes flitting from face to face, she could just barely assess their expressions. Their insistence and expectations weighed her body and mind like concrete, and she could feel her internal panic overpowering her- -until she felt a cooling wave rush through her form, followed by a warm foreleg looping snugly around hers. "I'm back!" That familiar sweet, sing-songy voice broke through Eventide's clouded focus. And there she was. Beside her stood her friend, Dreamaria Flow, who smiled brilliantly at the group. Two beverages were suspended in the air next to her head by an orange aura of magic; the very same aura that swirled around her radar of a horn. "Sorry to interrupt, everyone! I'd just like to borrow my friend back, if you don't mind~" Dream shifted her attention to Eventide and smiled brighter, if possible. Sunset didn't miss a beat or give the other three ponies a chance to respond. It was like she was making a point, cheerfully accentuating her words purposefully as she replied. "Oh no please, go on ahead! You two should enjoy the night while you can!" "Sure will, Sunset! You do the same!" Dreamaria was already gently tugging Eventide away. Before Eve could turn to follow, the pegasus didn't miss her mother's grateful smile at Dream...or the playful, knowing glance she gave to her daughter. Swiftly averting her gaze, Eventide moved to match Dream Flow's stride, although Dream slowed her own steps in return to pace with her friend. "That felt like one stressful corner you were being pushed into..." Dreamaria eventually noted once the two had made some distance away from the group and the other partygoers. She tilted her head, giving her friend a kind smile while her brows narrowed back. "I'm not sure what was happening, but it sure seemed like they were pushing boundaries...how are you doing?" Eventide allowed herself a deep breath, one Dream Flow frequently reminded her to take. The stress that had overtaken her chest and mind was far from subsiding completely. But it was significantly less of a strain than what it was just moments before. And she only had one talented pony and her magic to thank for that. While she shot her friend a look of deep appreciation, more than relieved to get away, her eyes were soon trailing over to the rest of the noisy crowd surrounding them. Even after regaining her comfort bubble, she was once more made aware of just how out of her element she was. She never went to parties. Never did she willingly attend social gatherings if it meant being stuck in a room full of strangers and their uncomfortable attempts at forced conversation with her. ...but being invited along by Dreamaria to the unicorn's first Ponyville Hearth's Warming party had been the one exception. 'I really thought I'd adjust...but it still feels like there's hardly any room to breathe.' Dream Flow herself took a glance around the room. Then, with a cheery hum, she leaned in closer to Eventide. "Hey! Why don't we get the heck out of here?" Eventide blinked, giving a puzzled glance to her friend. It was only met by the mare's pleasant beaming. "This whole experience has been new and interesting. But I think I'm ready for our presents back at your place~ So we can head home, but only if you're ready!" While Dream Flow patiently waited for an answer from the pegasus, Eve found herself searching the unicorn's face, questions rolling through her mind. Dream had been so enthusiastic about the celebration just hours ago, and they were barely an hour into the actual party as they spoke. Not wanting to keep her friend waiting, Eventide slowly nodded. That was enough for Dream to happily nod back and motion with her head towards the double doors at the beginning of the foyer that exited the castle. Walking out into the cold winter night, the layer of snow across the land crunched underhoof. And Eventide couldn't help once last glance at the bright, bustling castle before trudging on beside her friend. -------------------------------------------------- The town was far quieter than they had left it nearly two hours ago, with the dark of night claiming the sky. It seemed that the usual townsfolk were either attending Twilight's party or staying indoors to celebrate with their loved ones. This left the streets of Ponyville fairly empty. The only immediate sounds around the two mares were their soft sips of hot cocoa that Dream Flow had retrieved earlier, as well as their leisurely paced hoofsteps. There was very little rush when the stringed lights on every house and tree were a sight to behold. The orbs beautifully illuminated the town with dappled glows, various colors bouncing off of the snow as well as the extravagant decorations that lined the many streets. But by the time they were crossing the bridge in the middle of town, Eventide's confusion had slowly subsided and the bigger picture of Dream Flow's decision had pieced itself together within her head. Her legs had begun to slow and drag through the blanket of snow at her own realization. It wasn't the excitement of presents that had drawn her friend away from a party she had been looking forward to. No. Dream had left for her sake. The timing was too convenient. After going out of her way to invite Eventide out and celebrate Dream Flow's first Hearth's Warming Eve in Ponyville, Eventide had gone and worried her compassionate friend with her trivial stresses. Again. And over the idea of playing a piano, of all things. They were supposed to enjoy the party together. Eventide was supposed to let the unicorn experience the excitement of one of Princess Twilight's celebrations, along with the togetherness of celebrating it with her new town's merry citizens. But she couldn't even accomplish that much for her friend. Now Dream Flow felt obligated to walk her home, knowing full well how much Eventide couldn't handle the pressure of a simple social event. Eve's ears folded back against her head, her eyelids drooping. 'I let her down... I ruined her night. And now she's stuck looking after me. I shouldn't have come...I should've known I'd weigh her down. But I was only thinking about myself-' "I...don't think anypony should have to feel this guilt-ridden on the day before Hearth's Warming." Eventide stilled and her head snapped up, realizing that Dream Flow was a few paces ahead of her on the bridge. The blue mare stood half-turned towards her, orange magic still glowing around her horn and cup. With a meek smile, Dreamaria's hooves crunched the snow as she walked back towards Eve, stopping a comfortable distance before her. Her voice was one of patience as she spoke, keeping her question soft in the silence of night. "Want to share what's going through your mind...?" Eventide bit her inner cheek, avoiding her friend's eye momentarily. She struggled, for an uncomfortable amount of time she would say. Yet Dreamaria remained there with a tolerance that was far beyond Eventide's understanding. "I..." Eventide's voice sounded too loud in this stillness, and in general, too grating for her own ears. She nearly stopped herself from speaking any further if it meant not having to hear such an unpleasant tone. Her pupils flicked to Dream's, just briefly, before lowering back towards their hooves. Even as quietly as she replied, her voice carried through the quiet air. "...m-madeyouleave. I'm sorry." As her words faded into the air, silence overtaking the space between them once more, she could almost feel Dreamaria's two-toned gaze boring through her. She chanced a peek up at her friend, uncertain of what she'd find. With a mildly troubled expression, Dream eyes seemed to be searching Eventide, analyzing her even. And within a second of Eventide lifting her head, the other mare's expression shifted into something gentler. "...there's something I want you to understand." Dream stepped closer, except this time, she was looking off towards the direction they had come from. "I like experiencing new things. And knowing what a Hearth's Warming party hosted by Princess Twilight was all about was certainly something I was interested in. But. What was more important to me was sharing that fun. And I invited you with me because I wanted to hang out and share it with you." Dream shifted her attention back to Eventide, her warm smile never faltering. "Sure, I liked the energy! But there's no one at that party I'd rather spend my Hearth's Warming Eve with. And if you're uncomfortable, then that's my priority." Eventide's breath involuntarily stilled. She instead watched as a flicker of guilt crossed her friend's face. "Really, I'm the one who knowingly pushed your comfort zone with the invitation. Getting out of that zone every once in a while can be good, but it's not exactly fair if I made you feel like you had to say yes-" "No." Eventide startled both of them with the ease in which she had responded. A shaky breath escaped her mouth in the form of a white cloud. Taking in Dream's face, her kind words echoing inside her head, Eve recognized the erratic pounding within her own chest. "Iw-wantedtogo..." 'With you.' It took a heartbeat longer for Dream's surprise to fade back into its usual warmth. "That's comforting...and honestly, I'm proud you gave this party a chance. You should be proud too! It takes a lot of courage to face the things you aren't comfortable with." Eventide nodded softly. She willed herself to take the compliment to heart, however difficult that tended to be. And with a confident beam, Dream trotted to stand next to her friend, lightly nudging her with her muzzle. "Well~? Let's get going! I meant it when I said I was looking forward to exchanging gifts- eep!" Any steps they had taken were quickly halted by a gust of chilly winter wind that tossed their manes about. Dream jolted, her magic hastily tugging at her blue sweater vest and the green sleeves beneath in a weak effort to cover any exposed pelt. "I d-don't remember winter being this cold!" She turned to Eventide, wide-eyed. "How are you not shivering?" Fighting back a smile at the endearing sudden shift in demeanor, Eventide responded by looking back at her wings and the thick layers of feathers covering them. After a pause, she then slowly and timidly extended one of them towards the unicorn. No explanation had to be given, apparently. Dream might as well have teleported beside her as she ducked under the pegasus' cream and orange plumage and pressed up against her for warmth. It took another moment of hesitation and mentally calming herself down for Eve to fully drape the wing over Dreamaria's back. Dream released a sigh of relief. "You're so lucky to have a thick coat, Eve!" She laughed. "You're like a heater!" Eventide didn't hide a shy smile that time. Resuming their walk, it wasn't long before Eventide could recognize the dark red roof of her family's home. She pulled a key out from a pocket in the gradient, monochromatic sweater she herself was wearing. A click unlocked the door, and she ushered Dream and her shivering self to head inside first. As expected, the house was soundless. In light of her choosing to attend Twilight's celebration for the first time in years, her father had also decided to join in on the festivities. As for her brother Astral, there had been no sign of him at the party. He was no doubt working tirelessly away in his lab, as he tended to do these days. The interior of the living room wasn't completely cast in darkness. Much like the castle and the streets, the Shimmer family household was also decorated with various lights, although every light in the room gave off a matching golden glow that created a warm, soothing atmosphere. In one corner of the room was their Hearth's Warming Tree, shimmering with the very same lights. And at the top sat the common Hearth's Warming tree topper; a star of destiny, the biggest and most vibrant of lights in the room. It might as well have been a beacon in the dark. And unless her friend voiced otherwise, Eventide settled on keeping the actual living room lights off if it meant basking in this beautiful ambiance. Shutting the door behind her and removing her snow boots, Eventide watched Dream Flow float their emptied cups over to the closest trash can, just before making a beeline for the tree. The lively unicorn apparently wasn't wasting any time. "Okay, let's get to it! Me first!" Dream eagerly declared. As Eventide made her way to the middle of the room, one of the various presents beneath the tree began levitating before floating over to the mare. Once in Eve's hooves, the orange glow of magic surrounding it dispersed. Dream Flow sat before her. The unicorn had her hooves clutched close to her chest while she observed her pegasus friend closely. If Eventide didn't know better, she would've thought that the other mare was watching on nervously. Upon tearing away the green wrapping paper, Eve's eyebrows flew up at the thick, mottled blue leather journal that was within her hold. It was clasped close, the cover bordered by beautiful metallic silver. But what drew her eye to the center of the surface was the same metallic silver, forming elegant swirls, dots, and music notes into a large design Eventide could recognize as a stylized version of her own cutie mark. "I had it custom made!" Dream quickly spoke up. She was rubbing her hooves together at this point, and now Eventide could curiously see that the mare was, in fact, timidly looking between her and her present. "I noticed your other journal was filling up and I thought you could use a new one! Something nice and fancy for your wonderful poems." Dream Flow shone a sheepish smile at her friend. "I hope it's a useful gift. I've never...bought a present for anyone besides my uncle before." 'Oh... I'm the first...?' While that almost seemed hard to believe, coming from somepony as giving and considerate at Dreamaria, a part of Eventide somehow felt lighter with that thought. She held her new, beautifully crafted journal to her chest, offering the most earnest smile she could at Dream. "Iloveit. Thank you." "Oh good!" Dream breathed out heavily in relief. She clasped her hooves together, appearing at ease. "Happy Hearth's Warming, Eve! Soo..." Her hooves began to tap against each other, interest lighting her face. "Not to sound too eager, but you said you had a gift for me too~?" Eventide stood still, the mixture of determination and uncertainty that she had been suppressing the whole day catching up all at once. 'Right... This is it.' While self-conscious, Eventide walked over towards the nearest chair, shifting it to the most ideal location she had noted in mind. She wordlessly motioned for the other mare to sit, who did so without question albeit visibly curious. Holding her breath unknowingly, Eventide found herself tensely striding to a small studio piano of dark mahogany wood, tucked in one corner of the room directly in front of Dreamaria's seat. Its keys were facing the wall, providing a makeshift barrier between herself and any onlookers to her performance. During her younger days, back when she had played more, it had helped with stage fright. Years had passed since she could handle an audience beyond her own family. And as such, as Eventide slid herself onto her seat before her piano, the mare positioned her hooves in their rightful places, only to watch them shake. Her jaw tightened. '...I can do this. I've practiced day after day for this. Just to get this right.' She fought the urge to glance up at the mare on the other side of the piano, knowing it could very well break any sort of resolve she had desperately clung to. It was taking everything in her not to back out, to avoid the possibility of making a mistake and embarrassing herself. But she had looked over this piece she had written, tweaking it every way she could to perfect it. She had practiced it to the point of knowing it by heart. With one last deep breath, she steeled herself. Her hooves made contact with the instrument before her. 'This is for her...and only her.' After a moment's tension, the first high key pierced the room, like the first touch of snowfall. It hung in the air for a moment before other slow, gentle keys faded in with it. Eventide took her time, letting each key have its turn to echo in the room of golden glows. There was only a heartbeat of momentary silence before a lower melody drifted across the keys. To her it resembled the heavy fall of icy snow, churning in the darkness, where all sense of direction was lost. And then it dispersed. Her hooves flew across the higher keys, returning to that original melody with fervor. Closing her eyes, the storm had made way to the first rays of light, breaking through the clouds. It revealed endless snow-blanketed fields. And there she traversed. Uncertain. Searching. Reaching. But somehow there was trust. There was belief, even with no set path, that she could continue onward, believing in that light that had returned her sight. Her world. The light was warm and the sunlit clouds urged her on. And in return, she could feel something within her swell with tender emotion. Adoration. Before she had realized it, Eventide had completely relaxed as her song flowed out of her. There was no desire to hide, and no need to force herself around Dream Flow. At this moment, for once, she felt at peace. Like being a simple pianist at this point in time was enough. The keys slowed once more, and the pegasus had her final notes resound through the air. As they faded, she allowed herself a moment of silence. And relief flooded her. 'I...did it...' Eventide raised her head, realizing the silence had yet to be broken by either pony in the room. And her eyes found Dream's. Dreamaria was staring at her with an expression she had never seen before from the mare. Wide-eyed. Slack-jawed. There was the slightest bit of movement to her mouth, as if any words she had in mind had not fully taken form. "Eve..." she finally murmured, so softly that Eventide felt her heartbeat quicken. She chose not to say anything as Dream Flow pulled herself out of her chair. Her hooves clacked against the wooden floor as she moved towards the piano. Dream stood on her hind hooves and placed her hooves atop the piano from behind. One hoof slid across its cool surface, a look of bewilderment on her face. "What...how did you...?" Dreamaria continued to look over the piano, and then at Eventide, not even bothering to finish her questions. That wide-eyed speechlessness had Eventide unsure whether to feel elated or worried. Either way, she timidly glanced back down at her keys. "...Happy Hearth's Warming." "You..." Dream blinked, and Eve could see pieces fitting together in her head. "Because I wanted to hear you play...?" Eventide nodded. Thankfully, Dream appeared to be pulling herself back in again, with her mouth stretching into a thrilled grin. "That was amazing!" She declared, delighted laughter tinging her voice. "Wow! I just...that was almost less of a melody and more like an emotion you just played. I didn't even need my magic to feel it..." Dream touched her hoof to her chest. "It was so passionate and...incredible. And...wow, look at me, I don't even know if I have the proper words right now!" She giggled. "Is this what means to be shaken?" By the time Dreamaria had finished speaking, Eventide could feel her cheeks flaring with heat. She shifted in her seat, not knowing how to handle the amount of happiness brimming in her heart. Movement from her friend's end had her watching Dreamaria rest her chin and hooves on top of the piano. Only then did Eventide really take in the way the decor was illuminating Dream Flow's figure from behind, creating a radiant halo of light. Beautiful. Breathtaking. "You really never cease to amaze me, Eventide..." The lights glimmered in Dremaria's predominantly orange irises. She exhaled serenely and closed her eyes, shifting her forelegs to properly relax and rest her head. "Could you please play it one more time? That energy...I'd like to feel it again." That was a request Eventide would never refuse. With just a bit more confidence than before, the pegasus once again took to her piano keys. She took her time, playing slightly slower than before, but with just as much heart. There was something strangely intimate about presenting this song. It was like she was telling a story, and bearing her heart. And she felt safe doing so. A momentary glimpse at Dream Flow's peaceful face, and Eventide was once more smiling to herself. The two of them in this tender moment, and this song that carried everything she held within, were all that mattered.

_________________________________

-Music: "Adore" by Stephan Moccio. A fitting title. At one point in time I had planned on being subtle with Eve's feelings, but ultimately threw that out the window and this chapter happened. Say hello to DreamTwister~ This takes place at the end of Dreamaria's first year in Ponyville, and before either of them meet Skychaser. So back when it was just the two of them. It was a year Eventide spent learning what a friend's unconditional love and support was really like. And through the months, it lead to the development of...deep fondness. Eventide is far from ready to express the extent of it. But music and the arts have certainly proven to be a helpful outlet. Somanywarmfeelings...but if you've read Parental Shipping and know how well Dream recognizes the different forms of love, then well, you may imagine she won't be putting anything together any time soon. *holdsbothofthem* And because I designed it, here's a quick drawing I did for the design of Eventide's new journal!

#mlp #my little pony #mlp art #mlp oc #Eventide Twister #Dreamaria Flow #destinyverse #hearth's warming #story

[mog-maven]

Item List: Head: Diadem of the Highborne (Raid finder) Shoulders: Trench Tyrant's Shoulderplates (Normal) Back: Hidden Chest: Breastplate of Twilight Decimation (Mythic) Wrist: Hidden Hands: Vindictive Gladiator's Plate Gauntlets (Alliance only, warrior only) Waist: Dark Crystalline Girdle (Mythic) Legs: Fleetwrecker's Greaves (Normal) Feet: Vindictive Gladiator's Plate Warboots (Alliance only, warrior only) Weapon: Lustrous Eventide Greatsword

https://www.wowhead.com/outfit=249830/purple-warrior

#transmog #wow transmog #transmogrification #tmog #xmog #wow #world of warcraft #warrior #draenei #plate #alliance #warrior only #alliance only #mog

[lovepmd]

Meanwhile, the true final dungeon of Crystalline Eventide involves [REDACTED] exploring a series of overgrown tunnels that lead deeper into the planet. Which probably isn’t a good idea, what with the ghostly apparitions chasing down anyone who enters it.

ooooooooooooooooooooo yes

#ask #glitch au

[ghosthunthq]

Orphaned at a young age, Eugene often wondered which of life’s secrets were waiting for him beyond the Crystalline City. He, unlike his twin brother Oliver, was frustrated with his sheltered life within the gates and instead took to wandering the dark forbidden forests of the Eventide. Alone in the vast woodland, he forged a connection with the many beasts of the realm, tested his abilities with a bow, and learned the way of the hunt. Although he knew the dangers, on one fateful day, Eugene strayed too far from the light of the Crystalline city. Lost in a maze of deadened trees, he stumbled into a dreadful creature of long-dead grey skin and fingers sharp as talons. It took him down in one swipe, laughing as he fell. With no memory of what happened next, Eugene was more than confused to find himself collapsed on the floor of the library, alive – if only barely. His brother brought him back from the brink of death with the magic he learned through those books. After that, Eugene did not ever return to the Eventide, but the sound of the fiend’s hissing laugh still haunts in his memory. Why was he spared?

Ghost Hunt & Dragons  by @eyeliner-vampire

Other works in this series Oliver | Mai

#Ghost Hunt #Eugene Davis #GHHQ #D&D #Art