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carnivalcarriondiscarded · 4 months

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Wait im sorry if like youve talked about this before but what is everyones roles in the fantasy au 👁️👁️ or jobs?

i've just Thought Aloud in bits and pieces but hey. i feel like talking today so i'll put it all in one place with Updated Thinkings

(i like to imagine that they all kinda Quit their initial jobs/lives to go adventuring with each other, either by choice or... not. except Howdy, who's a multitasking king). the Neighborhood party earns their wages by completing jobs/quests, though some of them have minor supplemental ways of adding to the coin collection

Wally, of course, didn't really have much of a Before. he didn't intend on becoming a warlock/wizard - that choice was kinda made for him by the circumstances of his existence. but Wally had to pretend to be a wizard for his own safety, and wizards have a sort of societal expectation to be Helpful and Magical and Wise and Existing For Public Service. so while Wally would have rather just been a painter, he's obligated to be a wizard - that's technically his role/job. within the Neighborhood party, he's a bit of a distance fighter/support! he doesn't really do the whole up-close / physical aspect of battle, though he technically knows how. He casts spells from afar, which tend to be widely benign. artsy little cantrips and inconveniences to make it harder for the enemy to fight. he's also a bit of a bloodhound - illusions don't trick him, he can "see" most magic, and he's really good at getting around unnoticed. if they're stuck somewhere, Wally can probably get them out

Barnaby's "job" before going adventuring with Wally - it started out as just the two of them! - was just working on the farm with Ms. Beagle, where he had been his entire life. Sure he'd sometimes do public performances/acts in town, which would earn him extra coin, but that was more of a paying hobby than anything (a paying hobby he will Continue) in the Neighborhood, he's... uh. their cheerleader? that's not entirely inaccurate! he's not big on combat or effort i'd reckon, so he prefers to just keep morale high. offer background music, funny commentary, jokes to lighten the mood, mediate tensions, etc. if necessary, he makes good backup - he has his illusions of course, and he Does pack a mighty punch if need be! he's also very helpful when retreating - he can grab the smaller party members and run

Wormie is the group mascot <3

Sally was a bit lost before joining the party - i like to think that she was constantly on the move as part of a traveling theater troupe, but she wasn't the star or director. she was just part of the group, uninspired and with a full well of untapped potential. one day she up and left (dramatically) to find her own inspiration/muse & path to stardom, which ended up being several years of wandering until she happened across the budding Neighborhood and went "this! this will be the source of my stories!" as for her role, she's a bit of an everyman. front lines fighter, entertainer, mediator, etc. she views herself as the party "leader", or rather, their Manager. she keeps the party entertained with stories, and bolsters their reputation in the same manner. in a battle she's a bit of a powerhouse - her light magic is useful both in combat and entertainment! she keeps a "book" of the Neighborhood's exploits (she swears it will be edited/published someday) holy shit she's moominpappa, and in their Extended downtime she writes and throws plays inspired by their adventures at their home base (town).

Eddie was still, originally, a mailman. or i suppose in a fantasy setting - a courier! until one day he saw a group of people being attacked by some bandits, managed to fight them off, and immediately got roped into helping rescue the folks' entire town from the bigger group of bandits. then they told others about Eddie's help, they wanted his help too, one thing after another and now he's got a full set of armor, a sword, a shield, and his whole thing is saving people. huh? how did that happen? he was delivering letters a month ago! if i had to give him a title... i'd say he's a Protector! he seems like the type! he always has his fellow adventurer's backs - i bet he has his hands full trying to cover everyone at once. outside of combat, he's still very helpful and does whatever is asked of him / needed. collecting firewood! pitching tents! stirring soup! getting Frank to remove a centipede from camp! in downtime he probably takes small bodyguarding gigs. he also is a minor healer - he took some sorta oath for some sorta god (or virtue) that he can't remember, but he has minor healing/cleansing powers. he's also good at sniffing out evil & dark magic! some would joke that he's the party's guard dog

Frank was raised in a monastery that believes in "using your body to fight for the greater good". this was not his job when they became old enough to actually Act on his training! nah they ran away in his mid teens because they wanted to fight things on his own terms. also they want to study bugs more than anything, which he does! for a long time! then they meet a certain princess, befriends her, and helps her run away. he only joins the Neighborhood because Julie wants to, and it's a good way to travel - read: study more arthropods - and earn coin. fighting is a bonus aspect Frank's role is... front line fighter, bookkeeper, and the Guy Who Knows Things! what monster are they dealing with? what are its strengths/weaknesses? Frank probably knows! can they afford a room or two at an Inn? Frank knows (no, they cannot)! who's throwing themself into direct mortal danger with gusto? it's Frank! no but really, Frank is like their resident nerd who can beat pretty much all of them in hand-to-hand. in downtime he probably has a garden purposefully full of plants that can be left alone for long periods of time... maybe they sell half the things grown for extra coin!

Julie, of course, was a princess! that was her whole job! it was incredibly boring and restricting, so she ran away with the help of a funny nerd. after that her whole life was just "avoid getting recognized while figuring out how to live in a world without the comforts/ease of castle life". i'd think she much prefers her new one! as a role, Julie joins Barn and Sally in the "entertainment category". while they entertain with humor/stories respectively, Julie goes straight for games and activities to fill the lull between action. keep the blood pumping, spirits high, and bonds Solid! camp games, road games, locked-in-a-dungeon games! in combat, she's on the front lines with her oversized sword. i think another fitting role would be "navigator" - she can ask plants for directions! technically Julie is a secret powerhouse. her flora magic is insanely powerful, though she prefers not to use it for several reasons

Poppy, i like to think, did indeed have a bakery. it was well-loved in her community, her staff were wonderful people, and it all burned down in a night due to raiders. luckily for Poppy and her town, Eddie was nearby and got on the case to get rid of their problem - maybe Poppy felt obligated to help in some shape or form, and Eddie wound up inspiring her to learn healing magic. She moved into the town that would become the not-yet-existing Neighborhood's HQ to try and restart her business, but it just wasn't the same, and she had gotten a taste of what it would be like to directly save/heal people Poppy is the party's cook, healer, and ultimate voice of caution! the most she'll do in battle is sprint into danger to drag an injured person to safety for healing - she doesn't have a combative bone in her body i'd guess! does she enjoy being in the Neighborhood? eh... it's stressful and terrifying, but she couldn't live with herself if she let them all brave the wild without an adequate healer OR an adequate cook. i like to think that she saw the state they were traveling in and went "oh no"

Howdy, of course, has his tavern! it's a popular hub for travelers, townsfolk, pretty much anyone and everyone. of course it helps that it's the only tavern in town! the only reason Barnaby managed to convince Howdy to join the Neighborhood on one of their jobs is because Howdy realized that he can widen his net & sell to new people On The Go. finally, a use for that magic backpack collecting dust in his room! Howdy got a taste for adventuring and joins the Neighborhood every once in a while, usually only for shorter jobs - he doesn't want to be away from his tavern for too long his roles are support, professional haggler, sarcastic commentary. he doesn't have a crumb of magic in him, but he's clever! he's learned how to make his own support items - including his fancy revolvers with magical crayonsbullets. Howdy rarely fights, choosing to watch over his pack, dole out items when needed, and listen to Barnaby's running commentary. when it is necessary that he join in on combat, he can usually clear the playing field in a matter of moments. he's skilled with both the revolvers and using his own items - he's a one man four armed army!

Home's job is "keep Wally upright and powered". they prefer to be an observer in all situations, even after their existence becomes common knowledge to the Neighborhood. the most Home will do is nudge Wally in the right direction or alert him to something important. Home's literally just hanging out behind Wally's eyes w/ a bucket of popcorn. unless something happens to his beloved little puppet, in which case Home becomes the biggest baddest bitch around and sends everyone else to the bench

tl;dr: Wally: support fighter, magic geiger counter, escape artist Barnaby: entertainer, backup Wormie: mascot Sally: storyteller, fighter, Manager Eddie: protector, minor healer, "paladin" Frank: bookkeeper, fighter, scholar Julie: activities director, navigator, fighter Poppy: cook, healer, overthinker Howdy: tavernkeeper, inventor, support Home: just keeping an eye out

#THERE'S A TL;DR AT THE END BTW #YOU DONT HAFTA READ ALL THAT #honestly thinking about them fighting is so funny #bc like... out of the 9 of them technically only 5 actually fight #Unless frank needs to sit one out to research #then its 4!#so you've got four guys fighting for their fucking lives while everyone else is just vibing off to the side #honestly half of the appeal of fantasy aus is the Fun Combat Aspect #not only the actual fights but also! sparring! practicing with each other!#its about frank teaching wally how to throw a punch & wally immediately decking him right in the face! Accidentally!#its also about the Camping. and the Healing. and the Trusting Each Other With Your Lives.#found family it up babeyyyyyyy #rambles from the bog #wh fantasy au #just realized that ~In Canon~ if anything the neighbors are Forced Family #they dont have a choice! they're in it together whether they like it or not!#and i say 'if anything' bc ehhhh i dont really think they count... are they more like coworkers? but yk #this is an au post i cant be speculating on The Delightful Source here

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the-era-of-shadow · 7 months

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The Day The Moon Died Act II - The Wave of Black

Case 01: The Eternal Highschool Lovers

Chapter 1: Spiced Lattè

Written by Ash Rose

Cover by Ash Rose

CW/TW:

Swearing, heavy fictional religious themes, mild body horror

Summary:

The Black Arms' rally had been a complete and total success, and the group began to grow immensely in the weeks following it. To tell the tale of its spread in full, follow these three separate, and yet connected tales - cases of the Black Arms' effect on PetalBloom, and see for yourself the damage that had been done.

Notes:

WOOOOOOOOOOO WE'RE BACK BABEYYYYYYY

[Act I]

[Moonlight Interlude I]

[Next Chapter]

“And who better to start off with than those two lovely young ladies we met back at the rally…?”

It had been only a week since the rally that took place in the Riverbed Town’s plaza, but ever since that night, Uni’s life had changed both quickly and drastically. Determined to remove whatever it was that the so-called “Black Arms” did to her beloved Lattè, Uni had taken her to her house immediately following when they had met up at the plaza. When Uni informed her parents of where she had found Lattè, and saw how Lattè behaved towards them, they immediately began to feel immense concern for not just Lattè, but for Uni as well.

Neither of the girls were able to get any sleep that night, Uni’s mother rushing out to bring the High Priestess of PetalBloom, Archæsis Waning, herself to help rid Lattè of the effects that devilish group were somehow having on her mind while Uni’s father stayed behind to tend towards the two girls - which mostly entailed making sure that Lattè wouldn’t leave the house, and checking up on Uni to make sure that she wasn’t also being affected by whatever it was that was ailing Lattè.

From that point forward, Archæsis essentially lived with Uni and her family, only leaving to put on sermons for those who still were on the side of Madam Moonshine, and to help Uni’s parents with groceries. The reason for this, as from the mouth of Ms. Waning herself, was to hopefully find a way to “cure Lattè’s mind”. When inquired further about this claim by Uni and her parents, Archæsis admitted that although she was still unable to get any sort of an answer for all this from Moonshine herself, she had, on the night that the rally had occurred, received a message from one of the other deities. Specifically, the god of light, the one they call Light Gaia. He had told her that the mysterious man at the epicenter of the “Black Arms” was not someone to take lightly, for he is not some mere mortal man, but rather, a being of godly power, hellbent on undoing all of the hard work that Moonshine had done to rid the chaos that afflicted PetalBloom. For what reason he might have for doing such a terrible thing, Light Gaia did not tell her, but what he did say is that within this being is chaos energy of unimaginable proportions, and that during the rally in the town plaza, he must have used said chaos energy to warp the minds of those in attendance into mindless agents of chaos and disorder, which included Lattè. She also clarified that Light Gaia did not completely know what this affliction entailed, and that even what he had told Archæsis was just a theory, but she would do her best to work with him to get more information on the situation, and that she hoped to find a possible cure. As for Moonshine’s whereabouts, Archæsis merely said that Light Gaia declined to answer.

What followed such a reveal was days on end of Archæsis, Uni’s parents, and even Uni herself asking a barrage of questions to Lattè in order to learn more about her condition, if not from her direct words, then instead from how she spoke them. The results they came to were quite worrying ones indeed, though not so worrying as to be completely hopeless. Lattè’s behavior fluctuated quite often. When left to her own devices, she would begin to act erratically or otherwise deranged - breaking out into sudden and unprovoked laughing fits, talking to people who were not there, and even biting at her own arm. But when one of the other people in the house would approach the chair she had been strapped into to keep her from escaping, she would begin to act like her normal self again. Though Uni’s parents feared that Lattè was in fact too far gone, and that the normalcy that she presented when others were around was a mere façade made in order to try to trick them into becoming just like her, Archæsis and Uni held out hope that it instead meant that there was potential for Lattè to return to her original self.

The other day, however, something had occurred that caused a slight hiccup in such faith. After breakfast had been served, Archæsis had noticed that there seemed to be something hidden within the back of Lattè’s shirt, and that whatever it was, it had started to stain it with a shade of green that was akin to that of Bloomian bloodshed. Curious as to what it could have been, Archæsis lifted up the shirt, revealing to not just herself, but to Uni and her parents as well, that what looked to be a pair of wings akin to that of a petal-scaled dragon had somehow begun to sprout from Lattè’s back, still covered in the blood that must have been shed from them breaking out of the girl’s back in the first place, and appearing to not be developed enough to actually facilitate flight - if such a thing would even be possible. When Archæsis had asked Lattè how and why this was happening, she simply had said that she desired freedom. This brief testimony was eventually corroborated and elaborated upon by Light Gaia, as Archæsis had fled the scene almost immediately to ask the god what could be causing such an unsightly mutation. He explained that what she had discovered sounded somewhat similar to an “ability” that the strange being had himself - apparently, according to Light Gaia, the being’s appearance would often shift and change in ways that seemed to defy realistic ability during his time living in the Pantheon’s Plane, and from what Light Gaia could gather, the reason for this was directly tied to the being’s emotions. Light Gaia hypothesized that the chaos energy transferred from the being into Lattè was somehow transferring this “ability” to her as well, and Archæsis figured that such a thing sounded reasonable enough. It was still worrying, however. For Uni’s parents, it was yet another piece of evidence to verify their fears that Lattè was indeed already too far gone for saving, and for Archæsis and Uni, it was something that made their hopes of returning Lattè to her regular old self seem less probable. The changes being made to Lattè’s body were drastic, and seemingly irreversible - who’s to say that such finality was not also the case for her mind as well? But despite this, none of them, not even Uni’s parents, completely gave up on Lattè. Uni’s parents had always been accepting of Uni and Lattè’s relationship, and even back when Uni and Lattè were just friends, Uni knew that Lattè considered the two as like a second pair of parents, and Archæsis seemed to be rather supportive of the relationship as well, even sharing with Uni words of wisdom that she had gleaned for herself back when her husband had died.

But what none of them knew was just how strong Uni’s love for Lattè truly was, as once nighttime had arrived, and her parents and Archæsis had gone to bed, Uni released Lattè from the chair she had been bound to, her words towards Archæsis earlier that day having latched themselves into Uni’s mind, and making her feel abhorrent for keeping her girlfriend tied up like that. Lattè had promised Uni then that she wouldn’t flee the household, but as Uni sat up from her bed, realizing that she had not truly been sleeping, but simply laying awake as she was haunted by the events of the past week, she did not see Lattè in the bed as she had been when Uni had originally tried to fall asleep, and upon further investigation - leaving her bed entirely to light the lantern in her room, as the night did not provide much natural light with which to see - Lattè had seemingly abandoned the room completely, leaving the window near Uni’s bed wide open, suggesting to her that she had lept from it while Uni had tried to sleep. The thought perplexed her at first, as Uni’s bedroom was on the second floor of the house, making the distance between her window and the ground below rather drastic. But she remembered that the leap was indeed not a fatal one - in fact, it was one that she had been able to make before, a memory of her doing so with only a dislocated arm to show for it as a young child, a fire having had been started accidentally by her mother as she had been distracted by writing a letter to a friend while cooking came to mind. In the altered state that Lattè was in mentally, Uni figured that she would be deranged enough to do such a leap willingly, even if there were other options. Uni, on the other hand, was in her right mind, and thus would not be vacating the building in such a way. Rather, she opted to float down the stairs and leave through the front door, doing so as quietly as possible so as to not wake her parents sleeping on the first floor. After all, she didn’t need them thinking that Uni had been affected by the Black Arms as well, just because she was trying to wrangle Lattè in.

-☆☆☆-

“Wait… Did she… Really just… Sprout a pair of wings?? Just like that??” Shadow questioned Widow, clearly feeling bad that she was interrupting the story.

“Indeed she did! The power of chaos energy is, well, quite chaotic!” Widow responded, making sure that her tone of voice would be one that would hopefully help soothe Shadow’s guilt.

"And why don't we have wings??" Garrick asked, almost seeming offended by the fact that he did not, in fact, have wings.

"... I don't have an exact answer for that, I'm afraid… Maybe there was a brief spell where the hivemind was incapable of producing them…?" Widow hastily answered.

"That's dumb! I want wings!!" Garrick complained, pouting with his arms crossed.

"I'm… sure you'll get wings someday, sweetie…" Widow assured him, exasperatedly rubbing his head.

“Ah, yes, an early form of how the hivemind dictates the details of its extensions’ vessels! I’m honestly surprised to learn that such a phenomenon made its debut so early on in our history, I don’t think any of us would have expected that!” Leanni remarked suddenly, their wording bringing the attention of those in the group that were less familiar with the terminology used within the Black Arms’ culture.

“So that’s why some of you lot have piercings and scars despite your rapid regeneration powers?” Relic suddenly perked up, immediately diverting all attention to her, as no one had even known she was there.

“Uhm- Why yes! But… When did you get here, my dear? I hadn’t seen you when I joined…” Leanni hastily replied, clearly still in a bit of shock, just as everyone else was.

“Really? I’ve been here the whole time!” Relic answered nonchalantly, genuinely perplexed by how no one had noticed her sooner. “And why wouldn’t I be? This sort of thing is what I have been wanting to know ever since I had my first encounter with Shadow and Eclipse back when I lived on Angel Island! Eclipse and the Dark Arms have given me little snippets throughout the years, but this is my first time hearing the entire story unfold! That’s why I’ve just been back here in my little area taking notes! I don’t wanna miss a single detail!” She added, proudly showing off her journal in which she had made a plethora of quite detailed notes and summaries of the events within Widow’s tale so far.

"... Why didn't you say anything when Rouge and I were wondering where you were?" Shadow inquired, confused.

"You were wondering where I was? Oh, I'm sorry Shadow! I must have been distracted making sure my notes were in order!" Relic responded genuinely as she handed her journal to Widow.

“Oh my…! Such dedication…!” Widow said with astonishment as she looked through Relic’s notes.

“Thank you! I like to think that my dedication to my research is one of my most valuable traits!” Relic gloated. “... A lot of people say that another one of those sort of traits of mine is being able to seemingly appear from nowhere - which I’ve clearly also proven today…!” She then added, seeming a bit more humble with this sentence than the last.

“I’d say! Though, looking back, I totally should’ve noticed somethin’ was up when Rouge’s cheeks starting becoming more colorful~!” Harazuki remarked, intentionally teasing Rouge for the blush she had started to notice on her cheeks.

“H-Hey!!” Rouge playfully snapped back at the small darkling, her face now covered in the blush that only moments ago was just slightly starting to encroach upon her.

“Back on topic -” Shadow interjected, “So, is this then a form of our shapeshifting ability?” They wondered.

“I don’t believe so, as odd as that sounds. Don’t you remember how Eclipse told us some time ago that the ability of shapeshifting was integrated into the Black Arms via gleaning it from another civilization? I very much assume that would have happened after all this, given that this indeed the story of how the Black Arms formed in the first place.” Relic argued.

“Correct you are, young one…” Doom affirmed, “While conscious shapeshifting came about from the conquest of a world beyond our own, this sort of “unconscious shapeshifting” as it were instead originated from… Myself.” He then clarified. “You see, I as a deity have always had the ability to shapeshift, even before I came to be the being I am today, let alone before that conquest. I could activate it consciously, of course, and I still can, but back then I had a terrible issue with activating it unintentionally, the ability and how it was tied to the chaos energy that defined my existence being often triggered by the emotions I tried to seal inside me, as I tried to bury them as I would the chaos energy itself… Archæsis was in some sense correct in her theory, but there were some details that I believe were missing in her way of understanding it. As I see it, the mind link that I had created between us Black Arms quickly gained a sort of mind of its own that existed both within us and beyond us, becoming the hivemind as we understand it to this day. The mind that it has, in the way that it functions, reminds me quite a lot of the consciousness that had existed within the Chaos Emeralds before they had been destroyed during my murdering of Moonshine. When the Emeralds had been shattered, their power relocated itself into my body, and I believe that their consciousness, too, had come along with it - lying dormant within me until I had created the mind link, to which the consciousness of the Emeralds latched onto and soon became one with, and with that fusion, the muscle memory of my strange ways of coping with feelings that brought dread spread itself into all those that were within the hivemind’s tendrils… Lattè was just the first one to show the symptoms, given how she was separated from the rest of the Black Arms and confined in such a brutish manner… I remember talking her through the experience that night, hearing her voice call out in a panic through the hivemind while the rest had already begun to slumber… Or, at least, I had talked her through some of it, explaining what I believed to be happening and sharing my own experiences… That did calm her down quite a lot - for despite the fact that she had been completely ensnared within the whims of chaos, the drastic unfamiliarity still startled her greatly… Unfortunately, I had soon fallen to slumber as well, even though I had tried to fight it. I had woken up feeling immensely guilty for such a thing, but Lattè thankfully was able to get through the rest of the night on her own, as she informed me. She had come to find a sort of whimsically twisted pleasure within the painful ordeal, finding it to be a quite literal release of all the feelings that had accumulated within her as she had been imprisoned, as well as finding it a great honor that she and her body were “chosen”, in her words, “to be such a dramatic display of chaos”-”

“My darling… I very much appreciate you bringing Lattè’s perspective to light, as I’m sure everyone else is as well… But I do believe that I was the one that was telling this tale, no…?” Widow interjected, cutting Doom short in the most polite way she could think of.

“Oh, right! My apologies, my dearest Widow… Please, carry on.” Doom responded, his cheeks beginning to blush from guilt.

-☆☆☆-

Once she was outside, Uni began to look around for any sign of Lattè's presence, which was easier said than done. It was dark, quite dark, and not wanting to draw attention to herself as she had traversed the first floor of her home, she did not bring her room lantern with her. For a moment, Uni considered the idea of going back inside to grab a lantern, whether it be the one from her room or just whatever she could find within the rooms of the first floor, but she quickly figured that trying such a thing would be too risky. She was here now, out in the darkness - an achievement that in and of itself took some effort. She had to commit to it.

Thus, she carried forth into the night, keeping close to any buildings she could find so she could feel her way around the town, as even when she moved the part of her hair that usually covered her left eye, and cleaned her glasses with her nightgown, it was nearly impossible for her to be able to see without some sort of light source. Not even the night sky provided her with any sort of assistance, as once again, the moon was absent from the sky. Originally, she had just figured that it was just the moon's cycle, but now that a week has passed… shouldn't the phase have changed by now? It was almost like time itself had froze… But that would be delusional, wouldn't it? Such a strange delusion would surely only come from a Bloomian who is without Moonshine's guidance, Uni remembered such a conclusion being made by her and many of her peers as they were told stories of what a mess chaos energy had made of PetalBloom in the time before Moonshine first appeared to them. But why would she, someone who was still very much loyal towards the moon goddess, be without her guidance? … She tried to not think about it too much.

Thankfully, she was soon distracted from such thoughts, as she accidentally bumped into someone else who was also traversing the town. The person held a lantern in their hand, clearly much better prepared than Uni was.

"Are you perhaps… lost, young child?" The person asked Uni with concern.

"In a sense, I suppose… I'm trying to look for my girlfriend, but I don't have a lantern with which to see where I'm going." Uni answered honestly, seeing no reason as to why she shouldn't.

"Oh dear, is that so? Why don't I give you a lantern then? I'm sure that would make your search much easier!" The person offered, pulling out a spare lantern from where Uni could not see, and placing it within her hands. "And here, have a box of matches as well with which to light it!" They added, also handing Uni a box of matches.

"Are you sure…? I have no money on me to give you in exchange…" Uni hesitantly responded, feeling guilty.

"Money? Why would I ask you to pay for these?" The person inquired, as if the concept was completely foreign to them.

"Because you give people money in exchange for goods and services? That's… how the world works?" Uni answered, quite honestly having never questioned it herself.

"But… This is something you need, is it not? Without the lantern, you cannot see in the night, and without the matches, you cannot light the lantern!" The person argued.

"... Well… if you put it that way-" Uni muttered, beginning to slowly see the person's point of view.

"Exactly! So you owe me absolutely nothing, understand?" The person insisted, their opinion unwavering. Uni was in shock at first, but eventually she agreed to the arrangement, giving the person a nod in response.

Just as Uni was about to leave, setting the lantern down so she could strike a match in order to have a flame, she heard the person say something to themself that sent a shiver down her spine, even if she didn't know why it was exactly that it did.

"Man… the moon sure is pretty tonight."

Regardless, Uni pressed on, continuing to traverse the town's streets, doing so more confidently now that she had something to improve her field of view.

Soon enough, Uni had gone past the streets of houses and entered the shores which marked the outskirts of town. No one was there except for her, which made the moment feel rather beautiful - or at least, in Uni's opinion, it did. If it were any other night, if things were back to normal, if she even perhaps had Lattè by her side at that moment, she would happily lie down in the sand, maybe even take a dip in the river, and just enjoy the night for what it was. Some other night, once all of this is over, Uni thought to herself. For if she wished to play the night away with her girlfriend, she would have to find her first.

Surely enough, she found a clue as to where Lattè could be.

… Kind of.

As she traveled down the river's shore, Uni soon saw a light emanating in the distance. Upon further inspection, she realized that the light in question was coming from a cabin - but not just any regular old cabin, no no. It was the cabin that Ms Lillian Yasmin called her home, sat much nearer to the shore than the rest of the houses in the Riverbed Town, and much smaller than them as well. But despite its small size, its presence was unavoidable at this time, as the light from inside the building shined brighter than any other, and the sounds of the many people within - signaling to all outsiders that the house was brimming with excitement, despite the late hour. It wasn't just these factors, however, that made Uni wonder if this was where Lattè was hiding, however. Uni knew from eavesdropping on conversations between her parents and the other adults that Ms Lillian's house was quite frequently seen as a place to call home by one Vladmira Waning, Archæsis' disowned child who caused all this in the first place by inviting Lattè to that devilish rally. If Lattè was to be with anyone right now, it would be them. With that thought in mind, Uni set off towards the cabin, determined to track Lattè down within the likely cramped interior - and give Vladmira a piece of her mind if she got lucky enough to see them along the way, or unlucky, depending on how one sees it.

Looking into the house through one of its windows revealed to Uni the reason behind all the light and sounds that she had noticed before - that reason being that the cabin was packed with people inside! What those people were there for exactly was not known to Uni, but if she had to wager a guess, she'd assume it to be another rally of some kind, even though just by looks it could also be assumed to be a house party.

The people inside were happily chatting with one another, gorging themselves with food and drinks. Uni noticed some alcohol among the drinks provided, and some fish among the food - but she also noticed something else. A different kind of meat that she had never seen before, and of which seemed to be in low supply from the looks of it. Though she didn't exactly need to rely on her sight for that observation, she would quickly find out, hearing someone within the house make the same observation out loud only moments later.

"Fresh meat, coming right up~!" Someone else responded to the voice in a sing-songy tone, the statement being followed up by a brief giggling.

The voice was… familiar to Uni, though not terribly so. Despite her better judgment and current prerogative, she searched the entire room with her eyes, practically pressing her face against the window to do so - which would prove to be a mistake on her part. Suddenly, a panicked looking individual was thrown onto the table that was placed in the center of the room, a good couple of minor injuries having already been made on their body. The sudden movement and noise caught Uni by surprise, causing her to recoil away from the window in shock. For a moment, Uni thought about retreating back to her home, but the thought left without any action being taken, Uni refusing to give up on her search for Lattè. So there she continued to stand, watching the scene unfold through the window, looking through the crowds to see if Lattè was among them. The pained sounds of the person on the table made it hard to focus, though.

"What the hell do you freaks want from me?!" The person shouted through tortured tears.

"Oh come on now, I know you aren't a complete moron! After all, you are a part of Archæsis' clergy, right? It takes a lot of smarts to know how to deceive an entire planet into following such a fickle, uncaring goddess… I should know, I've lived with your sort all my life!" Someone responded to the person, their voice full of sarcasm and vitriol. Uni could tell they were the same voice as the person who had responded to the food shortage notice, and now that they've appeared physically, their body perched over the one lying on the table, Uni finally realized who it was that was speaking. The very first of the corrupted clergy children, the very first of the ever so chaotic and violent "Children of The River" in general - known by Uni as "Charveyea Chantè", but known by the crowd as Black Widow, a name that'd be brought to Uni's attention very quickly as Widow threatened the person on the table with a kitchen knife to their neck.

"Oh Widow, my darling beloved… Do I dare say that you are truly the most attractive when you are threatening…?" A person Uni recognized only slightly to be the mysterious being discussed at length by Archæsis and Light Gaia said to Widow in a seductive way.

"Do you dare…? Is that even a question you need to be asking, my love? As if I don't feel the same way about you?" Widow responded, just as seductively - which forced Uni to wonder… Are the two of them… a couple?? It made sense but also… didn't. The mysterious being was a god, right? What kind of god dates a mortal?? Whatever - that wasn't what she was meant to be focused on, anyway… And yet… she couldn't look away…!

"I do suppose you have me there~..." The mysterious being obliged, letting out a short chuckle that seemed half insane and half aroused. "Anyways… How are we going to deliver this fine specimen his just desserts…?" He questioned, gently caressing the person's chin in a threatening manner.

"Well… As much as I'd love to give someone like this an extension on his punishment, since it is what the man deserves… The people are waiting, and the people are hungry… And who am I as a fair and just queen to deny the people what they need?" Widow answered, her voice being quite breathy.

"Of course, my love… let us feast~!" The being replied, immediately revealing that he had a knife in his hands as well as they swung it down right through the person's chest. He watched in awe as the area began to spurt out blood, almost seeming to be transfixed upon the way it splattered onto the body's clothes. After a few moments of waiting for the light of life in the man's eyes to go out, the being removed his blade from where it had stabbed the body, now watching the blood drip from the knife with the same trance-like fascination that they had before. That is, until Widow then struck at the body also, stabbing the now deceased body in the stomach. Repeatedly, each taking turns after the other, Widow and the mysterious being stabbed and hacked at the body until it was chopped up into pieces small enough to fit on the cooking fire. All the while, the two embraced and locked lips with one another numerous times.

Once it was over, and the fresh bits of flesh were being taken from the table to be cooked, Uni finally stepped away from the window, taking in what she just saw… And more importantly, the fact that she stuck around to watch it happen… That fact disgusted her. What the hell was wrong with her?? She felt a terrible headache come over her as she began to question herself. But as soon as it had come, the headache left as well - Uni trying her best to shrug off the whole ordeal with a reassurance that she could soon forget about all this and laugh about it with Lattè… That’s right! She still had to find Lattè!

"G-guess Lattè wasn't there after all…!" Uni remarked to herself, a statement which she followed up with a small nervous laugh that she hoped no one but her would ever know of.

Uni may have failed to find Lattè in the Yasmin cabin, but she wasn’t quite ready to give up on her theory of her being with Vladmira, however, for she couldn’t see any trace of them in the house either - nor that of the boy that Uni remembered them having a crush on. With that information in mind, an idea of where to search next came to Uni. She remembered hearing that the boy along with his younger sibling would switch from living with their grandmother Lillian to living with their parents on occasion, and while Lillian lived away from the rest of the Riverbed Town in her little cabin, the boy’s parents lived right in the heart of the town - in one of the apartment buildings in the plaza. If the boy wasn’t with his grandmother, then surely he would be with his parents, and there would also be Vladmira and Lattè.

As Uni entered into the plaza area of the town, her lantern illuminated not just her path ahead, but also a bit of the buildings on each side of the street. One of these buildings, of course, was the Rojo Family Diner, or at least what remained of it. It now stood as an empty husk of its former self, abandoned unintentionally by its owner, and intentionally by its owner’s daughter. How selfish of her, Uni thought as she looked upon the former diner. All that man wanted was to live a happy life. He wanted to keep his parents’ restaurant going, he wanted it to keep going even beyond his own time here in the realm of the living. When he lost the chance to give the restaurant to his wife after she died during childbirth, all he had left for an heir was her… And for what exactly did she reject that? For why exactly did she kill him? For madness’ sake? So she could instead watch our whole world burn? … Why would any of them reject the lives Madam Moonshine gave them? Uni couldn’t help but wonder, even as she got back to her journey.

Soon enough though, the thought left. With it a new one came along, being spurred on by Uni’s eye starting to see the beginning of the plaza’s numerous apartments. She remembered a story that Archæsis had told her at some point earlier in the week. The story was that of a man likely no younger than forty that had come into her office one day recently, demanding that she allow him to buy up the apartments in order to kickstart a successful business. Now, this hadn’t been the first time that Archæsis had met with the man - for he had come to her many times before. Since she was the High Priestess, and she was stationed in the Riverbed Town, she was the top line of authority for the area. With this came the job of listening to this man in particular try to buy all sorts of things in order to make some sort of business out of it. When Archæsis understandably asked him why the man was trying so hard to run a business, he answered that he wanted the money. He wanted to move away from the small little Riverbed Town and go live in PetalBloom’s massive capital city of Lunar High-Rise. No matter how many times Archæsis tried to convince the man to just be content with what Madam Moonshine had given him in life, the man just kept on trying to make it big. Through many conversations Archæsis had with the man, she had learned that he had a wife and two kids. His wife worked as a cleaner for the company that owned the plaza’s apartment buildings so that she and the man could still afford to live within one of those very apartment buildings while he continuously kept crashing and failing with his businesses, always wasting every cent of his money doing so. As for his children, the man explained that they lived with his mother-in-law, only living with himself and his wife if absolutely necessary. Archæsis of course pointed out to the man just how neglectful his behavior was, but the man did not listen, he simply argued that there was not enough room for the two children to live with them full time. To that Archæsis told him to save his money for once to get a bigger apartment, or perhaps, a house, and the man never responded. As Uni thought back on that story, a thought came to her. Could it be that the boy Vladmira likes and his sibling are the man’s children? She knew that the two of them often did live with their grandmother through school gossip she "unintentionally" overheard, after all.

But that would be something that she would have to find out later, for even after she reminisced through that entire story that Archæsis had told to her, she was yet to find any sign of Lattè. Not wanting to accidentally miss her, Uni made sure that her focus was squarely on finding her girlfriend as she wandered through the pathways in between apartment buildings. Soon enough, Uni did indeed find Lattè, and just as expected, she found Vladmira as well. But what was not expected, however, was where exactly she found the two.

The two sat on top of a small roof that perched itself over the balcony of one of the apartments, peering through the window of the apartment above. It was a sight that immediately caused Uni to panic, as she rather understandably feared the worst if Lattè were to fall.

“Lattè!! Just what do you think you’re doing up there??” She yelled, forgetting to mind the fact that the residents of the apartments were most likely trying to sleep at this hour. Lattè was caught off guard by the sudden noise, but Vladmira grabbed her arm in order to keep her balance in check.

“What are you doing here…?” Vladmira sneered at Uni, their anger showing through narrowed eyes rather than a raised voice.

“Isn’t it obvious, you creep?? I’m taking my girlfriend back from your sinful clutches!” Uni argued back, still speaking quite loudly for the time of night that it was, which only infuriated Vladmira more.

“Be patient, dumbass…! I know your mother taught you how…! She’ll be back to your house by morning… Just let us do what we must, since you refuse to join us…” They hissed, their eyes averting from Uni and instead looking back to the window above them every so often.

“I can’t let you do that as long as you act in opposition to the great Madam Moonshine!” Uni protested, to which Vladmira just looked to her with a look of complete exasperation.

“When the hell are you people going to realize that bitch is fucking dead…???” They muttered.

Suddenly, the window above them opened, and out from it came the boy Vladmira liked, being helped down onto the balcony roof by Lattè. As soon as the boy was completely onto the roof, the three of them began to take off, all three of them taking very risky leaps from the balcony roof to the ground below before flying off into the darkness of the night. Uni attempted to keep up with them, but was quickly pulled away from pursuing them further. When she looked to see who it was that was holding her back, Uni quickly realized that it was her parents, as well as Archæsis, who asked her what she was doing so late at night.

“Lattè left in the middle of the night with Vladmira! I was just about to get Lattè back, too! But they were on that balcony roof over there, and they ran too quickly for me to follow once they got down from there!” Uni explained herself, ignoring her parents trying to motion for her to quiet down.

“I… I see.” Archæsis replied, wincing at the sound of her child’s name. “I will deal with this when the morning comes, young child.”

“B-but-!” Uni tried to protest, still feeling the passion in her heart to track Lattè down.

“No buts, Miss Uni. Even though the moon once again does not show itself to us on this night, this time is for Madam Moonshine and her alone to work in. She works so that we may use this time to rest.” Archæsis told Uni in a stern, yet gentle voice, “Besides, young children such as yourself should not get themselves involved in this horrible conflict. Allow us adults to deal with all of this, dear. Why not send some prayers to the gods to get Madam Moonshine’s attention instead, if you wish to help so badly?” She then suggested.

“... But the ones that caused this are children, just like myself…” Uni argued, though less strongly than before.

“Then show yourself as an example to them and do as you are told.” Uni’s mother suggested, as a nod of approval from Archæsis sealed the night’s fate for Uni.

But it would only be for tonight, Uni thought to herself as she traveled back home with her parents and Archæsis.

For if Vladmira failed to have Lattè returned to her house by morning, they would for certain face Uni’s wrath.

#the era of shadow #teos #sonic au #undescribed #black arms #writing tag #the era of shadow: origins #teos origins #mod ash

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