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rainbowmoonstonestories · 5 months

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Let Your Dreams Be Your Wings | Chapter 12

Chapters: 12/? Fandom: The Sandman (Netflix 2022, minor content from the Comics) Rating: Explicit Relationships Dream of the Endless/Morpheus x F!Reader Characters: Dream of the Endless/Morpheus, Lucienne, Matthew the Raven, Mervyn Pumpkinhead, Hob Gadling, Death, Rose Walker, The Corinthian, other minor Sandman characters, Original Characters. Warnings: 18+ content (minors DNI), explicit sexual content, POV switching, very long chapters to read. Summary: You always dreamed of becoming a successful Fashion Designer, sharing your creations with the world and making your father proud. But with him being very ill and so many costs solely weighting on your shoulders, things didn’t go as planned and you had to take a different path instead. An interesting offer led you to the elder Alex Burgess and you were hired as a new housemaid for a very good pay. However, your kindness and outstanding empathy convinced the man to give you an additional task for a doubled compensation; gaining the trust of Dream Of the Endless, held captive into the basement for over a century. Despite the shock of finding such an ethereal entity stripped of all his clothes and contained into a confined space, you had to accept for the sake of your father. But the more you got to speak to the mysterious anthropomorphic personification who didn’t utter a single word, the more you were lost into his eyes that, conversely, seemed to contain the entire universe. A deep connection formed between the two of you, separated only by a thick layer of glass.

Little did you know, what started like a simple housemaid job was about to change your life forever.

Credits: The moon dividers were made by firefly-graphics

Tagging: @number-0-iz, @emarich7. If anyone else wants to be tagged in the next updates, let me know! I noticed that Tumblr sometimes won't let me tag everyone for some unknown reason, so if it comes to that I can at least send you a message to notify you.

You can also read this on AO3 if you feel more comfortable!

What initially appeared as a tedious and bothersome obstacle at work, turned out to be something far more sinister and perilous. Fortunately, Morpheus was there to safeguard you. Or rather, the essence of him that resided within your pendant.

Chapter 12

Upon awakening the next morning, it came as no surprise to find the necklace still securely adorning your neck, having traversed realms during the night. The touch of the stone against your skin evoked a sense of comforting warmth, tranquility, and security.

Your attention became completely absorbed as you gazed at the crystal's reflection in the mirror, almost losing track of time. Although the blue glow was no longer animated with a life of its own, it continued to radiate stunningly whenever the natural light illuminated the stone’s surface from various angles. It almost appeared to emit a gentle luminescence in the darkness, reminiscent of a magical Fairy amulet.

During your younger years, you cultivated a keen fascination for healing crystals and their diverse properties. Your interest was so deep that one Christmas Eve, your father gifted you a meticulously detailed book containing the names and descriptions of various crystals. From what you could recall, the Rainbow Moonstone held the distinction of being one of the most coveted and priciest stones available in the market, standing out from other minerals due to its iridescent color.

While you had never possessed one before, you held an unwavering conviction that no other Moonstone could come close to the enchantment and beauty of the jewel you had received from Morpheus. The pendant was far more than a mere decorative accessory, containing a fragment of his essence with the primary function of safeguarding you in his absence.

While you were uncertain about the specific intricacies, accepting the gift had brought immeasurable joy to your boyfriend, and ultimately, that was the most important thing to you.

Ella was absolutely thrilled to hear that her suggestion had been incredibly successful. Upon learning that you had formalized your relationship with Morpheus, she was overwhelmed with excitement and let out a joyous scream right in your ear. She eagerly asked to be introduced to your boyfriend, complimenting you on the captivating necklace that caught everyone's attention at work.

Furthermore, your colleagues were quick to observe a striking transformation in your appearance and couldn't resist praising your radiant and youthful look. The women in the office were curious about your skincare routine and makeup products, initially skeptical when you explained that you hadn't made any changes to your habits. However, after a while, they decided to let it go and returned to their tasks.

As they continued to describe you so highly, you couldn't help but question whether there was a correlation between their perception of you and the pendant you were wearing. Considering the fact that both Alex and Paul had experienced prolonged lifespans due to The Endless' presence in their basement, you started to entertain the possibility that the fragment of power infused into the stone might be having a similar effect on you.

Unfortunately, that seemed to further exacerbate the situation at work, with Maya's growing hostility causing trouble with a supplier. Despite her supposed competence in managing things, Maya failed to inform you about an important delivery of fabrics and materials scheduled for your day off. As a consequence, the supplier discovered that your team was ill-prepared and expressed his frustration, interpreting it as a lack of professionalism on your part. Luckily, you were able to resolve the issue by explaining that you were not informed about his arrival. After apologizing multiple times, he eventually calmed down and decided to let the matter go.

You confronted Maya about the situation, only for her to feign ignorance and insist that she had left a post-it note on your desk. While Ella dismissed the incident and speculated that the note had been lost accidentally, you couldn't shake the feeling that something much more malicious was happening against you.

Despite your suspicions, you made the choice to withhold any further complaints, aiming to deprive Maya of the satisfaction she sought. Instead, you channeled your energy into excelling at your job, and the rewarding outcome of your hard work was so satisfying that you didn't want to waste any more thoughts on Maya and her envy.

Your eyes filled with emotion as you witnessed your latest creation showcased on one of the massive LED screens in Piccadilly Circus. A wave of people expressed their admiration for the clothing designs and digital editing skills to such an extent that they were driven to scour local stores in pursuit of the coveted Corbyn&Jones brand.

Oliver reported that the sales were soaring in a manner unprecedented even with Isaac on their team. This only heightened the anticipation for the upcoming fashion show, bolstering the confidence that you had been lacking for quite some time.

Your father was overjoyed, taking a stroll every day just to marvel at your company's advertisements scattered throughout the city and boast about his daughter to anyone he encountered. Making him proud had always been your ultimate life goal, and now you could finally release the weight of anxiously fearing that you might disappoint him.

And yet, for some unknown reason, you had observed a sudden shift in his mood. On random occasions when you visited, you noticed him drifting off and appearing melancholic. Concerned, you felt the need to ensure that he wasn't concealing any physical decline, but you were relieved to hear that he was in better health than ever. Nevertheless, you still felt compelled to delve deeper and probe further to uncover the underlying issue.

Eventually, he disclosed that he was going through a post-traumatic episode, plagued by nightly nightmares stemming from the fear of falling ill again. Despite harboring a lingering uncertainty about the truthfulness of his words, you decided to confide in Morpheus and seek his aid. Your boyfriend reassured you that he would visit your father in his dreams to alleviate his distress and ease the man’s anxieties, earning a radiant smile and a tender kiss from you.

One night, Morpheus planned a delightful surprise that filled you with sheer happiness. He awaited you at the dream beach, wearing a charming little smile with his hands crossed in front of him. Instead of embarking on a typical adventure through enchanted realms or historical eras, Morpheus presented you with a formal invitation to his castle. He expressed his desire to give you a proper tour of his abode and to introduce you to Lucienne in a dignified way.

The moment Morpheus mentioned his librarian, your memory instantly conjured up the recollection of your encounter with her during a previous dream. While you had always regarded the entire realm of the Dreaming as Morpheus' home, the fact that he specifically invited you to his palace served to strengthen the love and trust he had for you.

With gentle guidance, Morpheus led you on a serene walk across a curved bridge that evoked a strong sense of familiarity, appearing to be the very same you had crossed on the day you reconciled. However, this time, there was no trace of fog or haziness to obstruct your view, allowing you to completely immerse yourself in the breathtaking scenery that unfolded before your eyes. Below, an expansive body of water stretched out, while two majestic stone hands supported the bridge, seemingly reaching towards the vast blue sky adorned with fluffy white clouds. Surrounding you, lush green hills extended as far as the eye could behold. To your astonishment, there appeared to be a woman intricately carved into the rocks, reclining and appearing at peace.

What captivated you the most was the sight of a grand palace that awaited you at the end of the path. It radiated enchantment, reminiscent of the Disney castle, the opulence of the Sultan's home from Aladdin, and the majestic landmarks found in RPG games. It’s towering pillars and soaring, pointed towers, were adorned with intricate domes that added to its grandeur.

Hovering just above the main doors were three mystical creatures: a Wyvern, a Griffin, and a Hippogriff, which you recognized from your readings. Contrary to its name, the Hippogriff did not possess the frontquarters of an eagle, but rather resembled a majestic winged horse. They shifted their positions, looking down at the two of you and adding an undeniable sense of fascination to the scene.

"You know, when I was a child, I always wished I could go to Disneyland. But now I realize that it would pale in comparison to this. Your realm is beyond anything I could have ever dreamed of.”

Morpheus leaned in close, whispering intimately in your ear. “My love, you are asleep.”

You suppressed the shiver that traveled down your spine, aware that his closeness elicited a physical response in your body. You didn't want to let those vibrations escalate into something more. Yet.

You chuckled softly, unable to contain your amusement. "Point taken," you replied, your voice barely above a whisper. You let your fingers glide down his elbow, until your hand reached his wrist, where your fingers naturally intertwined with his.

Morpheus remained almost motionless, but you could sense his touch growing stronger against you. The doors at the entrance opened autonomously, offering a warm welcome to the King and his esteemed guest.

In your previous dreams, you were only able to catch glimpses of the castle, primarily making your way to the Throne room without the opportunity to explore any other areas in detail. Now, with Morpheus at your side, your dream was incredibly vivid and stable, allowing you to fully experience everything exactly as it was.

The dark floor gleamed with a flawless polish and reflected the ambient light, while the walls showcased an intricate and captivating Gothic architectural design. On either side, numerous column torches illuminated the surroundings with their flickering flames, casting a warm glow throughout the space.

Morpheus gracefully accompanied you as you traversed the crimson red carpet that extended along the main hall and gracefully ascended the grand staircase. As you made your way, you inspected the aged portraits and glass windows above you.

As you entered a new room, the architecture underwent a complete transformation, presenting a structure crafted entirely from wood. The yellow curtains were all drawn back, allowing the vibrant natural light to fill the space with its radiance.

At the far end of the room, someone stood before a printed wallpaper that showcased a remarkably realistic image of a library. Clad in what appeared to be a janitor uniform, the figure held a paint roller in their hand as they inspected the wall with a sense of contentment.

After a moment, you realized that it wasn't a person at all, but rather an eerie scarecrow-like creature with a massive pumpkin head in a typical Jack O’Lantern style.

Noticing your presence, the pumpkin man nervously cleared its throat and greeted its lord. "It’s finished, boss.”

You smiled as you observed the creature, noting that it had the voice of a grumpy middle-aged man.

"Thank you, Mervyn," Morpheus replied, releasing your hand and placing his fingers on your back. "Y/N, Mervyn is the caretaker of my castle, responsible for the upkeep and maintenance of the Dreaming.”

Mervyn's gaze narrowed as he locked eyes with you.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Mervyn. You are doing a wonderful job," you said with genuine kindness.

Introducing yourself to such a fantastical character felt both peculiar and mesmerizing at the same time.

"Oh, I… well," he replied, visibly savoring your unexpected compliment. "Welcome to the castle.”

His statement lacked any hint of enthusiasm, but you surmised that it was simply a characteristic of his worn-out, wayward personality.

"I'll be nearby if you need me, boss.”

As you observed Mervyn walking away out of the corner of your eye, Morpheus gently encouraged you to move forward. He came to a stop in front of the wallpaper, and you couldn't help but admire its flawless integration with the wall, as if it were an intrinsic part of the structure itself. Gazing upon the image, you perceived a certain depth to it, creating the illusion of a genuine passage leading to the library.

To your surprise, you soon confirmed that the wallpaper was indeed as tangible as it seemed to be. Morpheus took a step forward, effortlessly passing through it and seamlessly crossing the threshold.

"Come," he beckoned, turning to you with a smug expression. "It poses no harm to you.”

You couldn't contain your laughter as you followed him, walking through the wallpaper and being instantly transported into a real, physical library. The sight of numerous shelves brimming with books enveloped you, creating a mesmerizing and immersive atmosphere that fueled the elation within you.

It was evident that Morpheus had deliberately chosen a longer route, leading you to a higher floor before descending along the metallic stairs. He found your reactions entertaining to observe, delighting in your wonder as you expressed admiration for everything before you.

The castle was far from ordinary, with its abundance of shortcuts that efficiently transitioned to Morpheus’ intended destinations. The Dreaming was something that defied description, unlike any amusement park one could find in the Waking World. It was a realm of constant metamorphosis, unpredictable and boundless, imbued with endless magic and mystery.

And yet, humans could only ever glimpse a small fragment of its vastness.

The height of the ceiling was unfathomable, stretching far beyond what you could imagine. The sight of the long spiraling stairs made you question if anyone would ever dare to climb them, as they seemed to ascend in such a way that even watching them felt terrifying.

Comparing yourself to Belle from Beauty and the Beast felt like an understatement, as every aspect of your adventure reflected elements from the known fairytale. The grand castle, the magnificent library, the dress you wore, the mystical characters in the halls, and the presence of the godly creature beside you, who had often been depicted as a monster by many.

He was the King of Dreams and Nightmares. But above all, he was your enchanting boyfriend, your savior, and the hero of your childhood. Anything but a monster.

When you locked eyes with him, he raised an eyebrow inquisitively, but you didn't give him the chance to speak. Bringing your hands to either side of his face, you leaned in and pressed a passionate, joyful kiss against his lips, savoring every moment in a lingering embrace. Time seemed to stand still as you cherished the connection between you.

As you slowly pulled away, the sound of your lips parting from his reverberated through the air. He tenderly grasped one of your wrists, softly stroking it up and down with his cool hand. "What was that?" he questioned, The glint of satisfaction in his eyes indicated that he was by no means annoyed by it.

"I'm just so incredibly happy to be here that I couldn't resist expressing it,” you replied. “Thank you for this.”

"No need. You will always be welcome to my realm, and my castle.”

As your smile widened, you gently smoothed out his coat and affectionately adjusted his collar, even though there was nothing noticeably amiss with it. Stepping back, you gently ran your fingers along the wooden surface of one of the prominent tables at the center, feeling the cold texture as if you were touching it in the Waking World. There was no lack of contact with the surface, and your fingers didn't sink into it or appear strange to the eye.

The table was nearly swallowed by a collection of scrolls, bulky tomes, and various vintage boxes. Your curiosity enticed you to delve deeper into the contents, but you restrained yourself, choosing not to pry.

The sound of approaching footsteps grabbed your attention, prompting you to lift your head from the sea of objects. Emerging from behind a shelf, Lucienne appeared, clutching a book that dwarfed all the other volumes on the expansive desk.

She looked exactly as you remembered, sporting the same pair of round glasses perched on her nose and her distinctive pointy ears. Her jacket had been cast aside, giving her a more casual appearance with the dark purple vest and long-sleeved white shirt.

As she glanced up, she spotted you and Morpheus standing before her, hastily setting the weighty book aside.

"Oh, my apologies, sir. I didn't hear you coming," she said politely. "I see you've brought a special guest.”

"Lucienne, I am certain you remember Y/N.”

Morpheus' voice was deep and low, resonating through your entire being as he placed a hand on your shoulder.

"Of course, my Lord.”

Lucienne’s gentle eyes sparkled in the dim library light, and a soft smile graced her face as she drew nearer. "It's a pleasure to see you again, Y/N.”

Overwhelmed by the magnitude of the moment, you allowed your boldness to take over. Without hesitation, you embraced Lucienne, wrapping your arms around her neck and giving her a gentle squeeze.

"Oh dear," she exclaimed, her voice filled with surprise as she stood frozen in shock.

Inexplicably, you had a sense of familiarity with her that extended beyond the very brief interaction you had with the woman once. Perhaps it was because of the deep attachment you had formed to the Dreaming, and subsequently, to everything that was a part of it.

"The pleasure is mine, Lucienne.”

As you slowly disentangled from the embrace and released her, she quickly regained her composure, straightening her posture and gesturing towards the bookshelves around her.

"Welcome to the Library. Here, we have every book ever written, as well as those yet unwritten,” she explained.

"This place is absolutely incredible," you said in amazement. "I wouldn't even know where to begin.”

Morpheus regarded you with a hint of pride, but then, he had to interject. "It is here that I take my leave of you. You are in good hands with Lucienne.”

As his touch left your skin, a pang of disappointment tugged at your heart. "Do you have to leave?" you asked, almost hoping for a different answer.

"Yes, for the moment," he answered. "I will return.”

While you had hoped that he would remain by your side throughout the entirety of your dream, you realized that being his girlfriend didn't automatically entitle you to have him all to yourself. Given the multitude of dreamers in the realm, it came as no surprise that the King of Dreams had important matters to attend to. While you held a special place in his heart, there were occasions when Morpheus’ priorities took precedence over your personal desires.

And so you nodded, holding back from showing any affectionate gestures in front of his librarian. Morpheus acknowledged your understanding with a silent but complicit look as he walked away.

Alone with Lucienne, she wasted no time in asking about your literary preferences and offering to give you a comprehensive tour of the entire place. The idea was enticing, and you found yourself eagerly following her around. Her speeches were remarkably smooth and detailed, showcasing her formal yet clear manner of explaining things.

Upon returning to the main table, she graciously invited you to take a seat on the most luxurious armchair positioned behind it. In your hands, you held the largest and grandest book you had ever laid eyes on. It was a novel that had yet to be published, a carefully guarded fantasy reading that she graciously allowed you to glimpse into.

After some time had passed, Matthew swooped through the library and landed gracefully in front of you, greeting you warmly with his usual cheerful demeanor. With your excitement still running high, you gently cradled the raven in your hands, planting a kiss on the top of his head.

If birds were capable of blushing, you were certain that Matthew would have turned crimson red.

"Oh, wow. That was unexpected," he blurted out.

His comment earned a soft chuckle from you, while Lucienne simply broke into an amused grin.

It felt as though your dream could have lasted forever. You remained there for what seemed like hours, although it was likely that time flowed differently in that realm compared to your own. With Lucienne's permission, you wandered amidst the countless shelves, gazing at the myriad of books they held as you relished in the scent of paper and old leather.

Eventually, you became completely absorbed in the books, taking one after another and running your fingertips or nails along the pages before carefully placing them back. The Library was overflowing with knowledge, and the wealth of history and literature you discovered there was more inspiring than anything you had ever come across in the Waking World.

The Dreaming was a true treasure, something that needed to be safeguarded at all costs. The mere thought of it being destroyed, reduced to rubble and dust by the hands of one man driven by greed, only intensified your contempt for humanity.

As you carefully set the last book onto its designated shelf, you were taken by surprise when Morpheus' voice resonated in your ear, causing you to nearly jump in startlement.

"Hello.”

When you turned around, you found him standing magnificently close to you, his gaze filled with love as he looked upon your face.

"Hi," you responded. “I thought you were busy.”

"I was.”

You noticed that he was gradually moving closer, gently pressing you against the shelf behind you.

"I was hoping to see you again before waking up,” you muttered.

“Here I am.”

“Here you are.”

As your back made contact with the wooden structure, a soft gasp escaped your lips. He remained silent, his fingers indulging as they traced along the fabric of your dress.

With a mixture of apprehension and a sudden, growing arousal in the pit of your stomach, you whispered to him, “We’re not alone.”

"We are," he stated firmly. "I have used my power to isolate this part of the library. It is just you and me.”

His lips slightly parted, and in the presence of his aura, the Moonstone necklace reacted, emanating a vibrant blue glow that grew in intensity as if it were dancing.

Unconsciously, you darted the tip of your tongue out to moisten your lower lip. "Oh.”

"Are you disappointed?" he asked, his voice filled with a hint of concern.

You shook your head. "Why would I be?”

"Perhaps you had something else in mind," he clarified, taking a handful of fabric into his hands.

Your heart began to race even faster. "Morpheus, you can't be serious.”

“About what?”

Your breath was trembling, and you could feel the anticipation building as he skillfully worked along your dress, gradually lifting the gown up, bit by bit.

"You know the effect you have on me," you replied.

Hearing that, a corner of his lips lifted in a subtle smile. "Do I?”

As he raised your skirt to the desired height, he slipped one of his hands beneath it. His fingers delicately lingered on the hem of your underwear, playfully toying with the lacy fabric.

"You do," you remarked with a mixture of confidence and desire. "Very well, in fact.”

He brought his mouth tantalizingly close to yours, his lips hovering just a breath away. "You speak truly, my love.”

Before you could utter a response, your voice was cut off as his index and middle fingers brushed against your covered clit, descending just below it to confirm your need. As he continued to touch you, you could feel the wetness building and spreading with each stroke, moving back and forth in a steady, delicate rhythm.

“Morpheus-”

“I know.”

As his mouth eagerly melded with yours, you responded with equal hunger, your arms encircling his shoulders as you pulled him closer. Your tongues entwined in a passionate waltz, while his fingers ventured delicately, exploring your entrance through the fabric of your undergarment.

In the Waking World, you repeatedly tossed and turned in your bed, tightly clutching the sheets as your dream exerted its influence on you.

The last time you had a night out was during your college days. When Ella invited you to join the team for a dinner and drinks, you were initially tempted to decline. However, your friend was insistent and wouldn't take no for an answer.

Ella arrived at 7 PM to pick you up, with Oliver at the wheel of their Volkswagen Golf. If she already looked stunning in her office attire, she now radiated with the glamour of a Hollywood diva. Her green eyes and blond hair, elegantly styled in a bun, were enhanced by a captivating mossy tube dress. Oliver couldn't resist showering Ella with loving and appreciative comments, expressing his admiration for her beauty. However, he also took the time to respectfully compliment your appearance, a sentiment that Ella readily endorsed.

You spent an unreasonable amount of time in front of the closet, and your indecisiveness put you at risk of being late. Ultimately, you opted for a classy dress that struck a perfect balance, neither too short nor overly long.

If you were already feeling nervous before, the news that Maya would also be present only intensified your uneasiness. No matter how hard you tried to treat her kindly and show that you welcomed her presence at work, every attempt resulted in her spewing venom at you. You repeatedly cautioned both Ella and Oliver about the negative impression she was making on you, but they consistently ignored your concerns, convinced that she would eventually warm up.

You knew better than anyone else that your gut feeling was never wrong.

Regrettably, there was little you could do to improve the situation. Maya had worked for the company much longer than you had, and despite the importance of your role, you couldn't shake the feeling that you were seen as a paranoid newcomer. Although you cherished your relationship with Ella and wouldn't trade your job for anything else, you yearned for the ability to go to the office without the constant fear of the havoc that Maya's malignant plans could unleash.

Upon arriving at the designated location, Oliver expertly parked the car across the street. He then walked alongside Ella, embodying the persona of a perfect gentleman as he offered his arm to her. Deep down, you felt a longing to include Morpheus in these social gatherings, but you were aware that he preferred not to partake in such human events. After all, the King of Dreams and Nightmares wouldn't exactly fit in at a casual pizza night.

Maya, along with a few other colleagues, had already made her presence known, clad in a black leather jacket and a form-fitting red dress. Her long, dark curls had always been the feature you admired most about her. They were wild and full, yet smooth and shiny. Her lips were consistently adorned with her signature coral tint, and the dark makeup she wore accentuated her brown eyes, making them stand out even more.

There was no denying that she was absolutely gorgeous, but there was an unsettling energy about her that didn't sit well with you.

Contrary to your expectations, the dinner turned out to be a delightful experience. Your colleagues were just as enjoyable outside of work as they were within the office, and you discovered that you shared many common interests with most of them. Laughter filled the air as you engaged in lively conversations, relishing in the taste of one of the most delicious pizza you had ever ordered. As you let your mind wander and unwind, you found yourself truly able to relax.

While the unique connection you had with Morpheus and his realm was incomparable, the company of your new friends brought more comfort and enrichment to your waking life.

All of them, except for one person.

Maya remained silent throughout the entire dinner, only offering brief responses to occasional questions. You couldn't shake off the feeling that her intense gaze was aimed at you like daggers, but for the sake of your sanity, you chose to pretend not to notice.

Around midnight, Ella proposed the idea of heading to a nearby club for one last drink and a dance, aiming to give that perfect night an unforgettable ending.

Although you were not typically one to enjoy wild parties, the unanimous agreement made you hesitant to go home alone. While clubs were not your preferred choice, you didn't want to dampen the mood of such a fantastic night with a complaint. Reluctantly, you accepted to join them, despite your reservations.

The music wasn't terrible, but it happened to be excessively loud for your liking. Every time you wanted to say something, you had to shout in someone's ear, only to be asked to repeat it. Due to the limited space available, you had no choice but to occupy a small table with a round couch that left you all crumpled and tightly squeezed together. Additionally, your cocktail was so strong that you had no choice but to leave most of it untouched.

Ella had always been fond of clubs, a passion that had developed since her teenage years. Apart from you, the only person who seemed to feel out of place was Oliver, but he still wore a charming smile for the sake of his wife. For the next hour or so, he lovingly watched her revel in the joy of the dance floor, spinning and leaping to the rhythm. Whenever someone ventured too close, he swiftly stepped in, encircling her in a protective embrace.

As your throat grew parched and you couldn't bear to take another sip of your dreadful drink, you stood up from the couch and headed to the bar for a refreshing soda. From there, you continued to gaze at the married couple, smiling and admiring the beautiful way they complemented each other in everything they did.

But then, your thoughts took a sharp turn when you heard a male voice, unfamiliar and filled with flirtation, right beside you.

"Hey beautiful, are you here alone?”

When you turned to look at the stranger, you noticed that he was standing uncomfortably close to you, emanating a strong scent reminiscent of a beer barrel.

"I'm not," you replied, attempting to move away from his sweaty presence.

"Oh really? I don't see anyone else," he retorted.

You let out a grunt. "My friends are over there," you pointed with your head. "And I'm waiting for my boyfriend.”

Unfortunately, the man was unfazed by your response. "Yeah, sure. That's quite an old excuse."

Getting away from him proved to be quite a challenge, as the more you distanced yourself, the more persistently he pursued you.

"It's not an excuse," you falsely claimed. "And I genuinely want you to respect my boundaries and leave me alone.”

The man erupted into laughter, throwing his head back and slamming his hand against the counter. "Oh, I do love a woman who can challenge me," he exclaimed.

"Good for you.”

You moved away from the counter, determined to walk past him without any further obstacles. However, once again, the man intercepted you, blocking your path and forcefully gripping your upper arm. Panic surged through you as your eyes darted around, realizing that you were completely isolated. None of your friends seemed to notice your distress from their positions, and the growing crowd only served to hinder any potential assistance.

You tugged at your arm, but the grip around it refused to loosen.

"Come on, dance with me. How bad could it be?" he insisted, trying to persuade you.

You gritted your teeth, furrowed your eyebrows, and shot him one of the most menacing looks you could muster. As you did so, you failed to notice that the necklace was beginning to glow amidst the flashing, colorful lights of the club.

To your surprise, just as you anticipated him to persist and attempt to drag you away, the man's gaze abruptly shifted upwards. His face turned pale, and his eyes widened in sheer terror, as if they were on the verge of popping out of their sockets.

For a moment, you considered the possibility that he might have consumed some illicit substance that induced hallucinations, given his startled expression resembling someone who had just encountered a ghost.

His grip loosened, releasing your arm as his hand slowly withdrew. "I... I'm sorry. I didn't know... I mean... I didn't think..." he stammered.

As a familiar black figure emerged from behind you, everything fell into place, and all became clear.

"I am quite certain that she has requested for you to keep your distance," Morpheus stated, locking eyes with the man, his hands tucked into his pockets, and a sinister aura surrounding him. All the sounds in the dancing hall became muffled, and all you could hear now was his voice alone.

“Y-Yes, she did, I-”

“I strongly suggest that you comply," Morpheus warned with an authoritative tone. "Unless you wish to face the consequences for your impertinence.”

The man was shaking so violently now that you thought he might faint right then and there. In an instant, he turned on his wobbling legs and sprinted away, crashing into a few people as he made his exit.

Everything around you regained its clarity, and the music resumed the loud thumping in the air. As Morpheus's gaze met yours, you couldn't resist the urge to take a step forward, filled with eagerness for physical contact. "What are you doing here?" you asked.

He hesitated, his eyes lowering to the pendant around your neck. "I needed to speak with you.”

Although you were confident that you could have found a way to extricate yourself from that situation, you were more than grateful for his intervention.

You were about to respond, but before you could even open your mouth, Ella and Oliver appeared beside you. "Y/N? Is everything okay?”

Ella's focus immediately shifted to Morpheus, who reciprocated by looking directly at her without any visible reaction.

"Yes, just a drunken idiot who tried to force himself on me. But he's gone now," you explained.

Immediately, Ella's countenance brightened as she pieced everything together, giving you that familiar knowing look. But before she could ask any more questions or address Morpheus directly, the Endless leaned slightly closer to you.

"Follow me."

And with that, he turned away, disappearing into the crowd as he made his way towards the exit.

You realized that Morpheus didn't seem inclined to be part of your friendly exchange. As much as you wanted to introduce him to them, you also wished to respect his need for privacy.

"Sorry about that," you said apologetically. "He's reserved and not particularly fond of crowded places.”

At that, Ella emitted a soft hum of comprehension. "So he's your boyfriend?" she asked over the music.

"Yes, that's him."

"Damn, girl. I can see why you're so into him," Ella remarked with a playful grin.

"Oh, come on! You can't say that in front of your husband," you exclaimed, playfully scolding your friend for her customary daring.

"You know how she is," Oliver chimed in, completely at ease and unaffected. "And I must confess, even as a man, I can understand her perspective.”

"See? That's why I married him!”

Seeing them so close-knit was rejuvenating, as they were the perfect embodiment of true love that had weathered many obstacles to fully blossom. With a final, warm smile, you wrapped an arm around Ella's shoulder to speak into her ear, your throat burning for the exertion. "I have to go, he's waiting for me.”

"Don't let me hold you back, then. Enjoy the rest of your night!”

With a playful wink, she hinted at a deeper meaning behind her words, causing you to shake your head in amusement. Oliver nodded politely, bidding you a final farewell, to which you responded with a light pat on his arm. "See you at work, guys."

And so, you deftly wove through the throng of people, their bodies pressed together as they danced and celebrated like there was no tomorrow. When you finally reached the door, you pushed the bar to open it, taking a moment to adjust your jacket and shield yourself from the chilly night air.

Standing in front of the entrance, Morpheus had his feet slightly apart and his hands once again tucked into the pockets of his coat. Unconcerned by his solemn demeanor, you planted a kiss on his cheek.

When he didn't reciprocate your gesture and instead remained motionless, gazing downwards, your smile faded away. “What’s wrong?”

He took a moment to reply, his lips parting, but no words emerged right away.

"I disapprove of your choice of clothing.”

That was definitely not the answer you were expecting.

"Why...? Does this dress not look good on me?" you asked, your voice tinged with uncertainty.

"No, quite the opposite," he said, his voice softening. "These mortals should not have the audacity to lay their hands on you.”

The relief and warmth you felt were incomparable, causing your grip around his coat to weaken. He averted his gaze from you, his attention moving to the ground as if finding it suddenly more interesting.

"In other words, you're jealous," you concluded with a smile.

“No.”

“You’re not?”

"Not exactly," he clarified. "But I do have concerns about other men touching you.”

You laughed, brushing your nose against his. "Which means you are, indeed, jealous," you teased.

He swallowed, struggling to find the right words to explain himself, but ultimately coming up empty-handed.

In the end, he sighed in resignation. "Very well. If it makes you feel better," he conceded.

You pressed your lips against his, savoring their softness and fullness. "You have no idea."

He relaxed at your touch, finally letting his hands leave their safe haven and wrap around your waist. "I do not want anyone else to claim what is rightfully mine," he declared with possessiveness.

If anything, his words only intensified your euphoria.

"As if anyone could ever succeed at that. I am yours and yours alone," you declared with unwavering conviction.

Morpheus let out a long breath, closing his eyes as he lightly traced his lips along your forehead, leaving a trail of tender pecks on your skin.

How long had you longed for a man who would exhibit such a profound level of care for you? Someone who would take action for your well-being and hold you in such high regard, considering you an indispensable part of his life.

At that point, the number of years had become immeasurable. That feeling had been ingrained for so long that it had become an integral part of your being, woven into the very fabric of your existence.

"Y/N," he whispered, his voice barely audible. "There is an important matter I need to apprise you of.”

You locked eyes with him, curiosity and apprehension filling your gaze. "Right, you mentioned that you wanted to talk to me. What is it?"

You could sense his nervousness, as if he were apprehensive about divulging the contents of what he had been keeping inside.

"It is about Calliope," he revealed. "She was captured by a human 60 years ago.”

You were overcome with a sense of dread, feeling your chest constricting with pain. "What...?”

"She turned to me for help, calling my name," he explained, his voice tinged with remorse. "But my realm was not in a suitable condition for me to intervene, and my powers needed to be restored.”

You nodded, signaling for him to continue.

“She is bound by the law, I cannot help her. Not directly.”

You pinched your nose in frustration, feeling exasperated. "What is wrong with humans imprisoning gods? This is absolutely ridiculous.”

His fingers tightened their grip on your back, pulling you closer to him.

"Is there anything you can do?" you asked with desperation. "I saw what they did to you when you were trapped in that sphere. I can only imagine the suffering she is enduring right now.”

Morpheus nodded, his expression determined. "There is," he affirmed.

Under normal circumstances, the knowledge that his ex-wife had summoned him would have been cause for concern. However, this time, the urgency to seek justice was undeniable. After what happened to Morpheus, it was impossible to ignore that someone else was exploiting a deity, subjecting her to unimaginable torture.

“Then you must go,” you asserted.

"I seek an extensive favor of you," he uttered, "Yet, is there a prospect for you to wait for my return?”

Was he truly contemplating the idea that you would terminate your recently formed relationship? Was he sincerely afraid of losing you solely because he intended to help his former partner with a situation he had gone through himself?

"Morpheus, I won't stand in your way. Calliope was once your wife and the mother of your son, so I shouldn't expect you to abandon her now that she has no other means of escape. And please know that I would never want that either.”

Morpheus smiled, albeit subtly, but you could still catch a glimpse of it.

“I'll wait for you, no matter how long it takes.”

"You, Y/N Y/L, are the most extraordinary creature which I have ever encountered throughout my entire existence.”

Your heart skipped a beat, and a blush spread across your cheeks, impossible to hide. "That can't be true, I'm just a mere human.”

"You are far greater than you believe yourself to be, my sweet love.”

That was the ultimate reassurance you needed, erasing any remnants of doubt. Your love and trust for Morpheus encompassed every aspect of your being, and in your heart, you stood firm, unencumbered by even the slightest fear of never being reunited with him.

As the two of you strolled across the street, leaving the club behind, Maya eyed you with an intense, fiery fixation. She attempted to quell her anger by biting her nails, but the escalating blaze within her had already consumed the final shreds of her tolerance.

That night, she made a solemn vow to herself that she would make what you had her own, regardless of the consequences.

While you undeniably had complete faith in Morpheus, a part of you couldn't help but think about the potential outcomes of him meeting his wife again. You were completely supportive of him offering her his help; you knew she was in trouble, and the last thing you wanted was for Calliope to endure another 60 years of imprisonment.

Despite the tremendous tragedy they both had faced, you couldn't dismiss the possibility of them somehow reconciling. You knew that he loved you, and he made it clear on more than one occasion. But if things were to take a different turn, would he still choose you above anything and anyone else?

You felt so confident and resolute when you assured him that you were completely okay with what needed to be done. So why couldn't you shake off this newfound sense of anxiety now?

Throughout the entire following day, you made a conscious effort not to dwell on it. You worked overtime without even realizing that you were supposed to be home an hour earlier, to the point that Ella had to physically pull you away from your computer.

When you arrived home, your stomach was in knots, and you didn't have much of an appetite. You tried to text Hob about the idea of grabbing a drink at the New Inn, but unfortunately, he was already engrossed in a post-dinner briefing with the teaching staff.

And so, you settled on the couch with a cozy blanket draped over your legs and a steaming mug of tea in your hands. You flipped through TV channels in search of a captivating movie, documentary, or reality show to distract and exhaust you. The empty plate from the small dinner you had eaten sat on the coffee table, and you stared at it for a while before deciding that you had absolutely no motivation to wash it.

The coziness of the living room, the plush cushions beneath you, and the cocooning warmth of your blanket were so comforting that you started to drift off to sleep, placing the half-empty mug next to the neglected plate.

Your mind started to explore various destinations you could visit. However, considering Morpheus's preoccupation with his ex-wife's predicament, the dream beach was not a suitable option to choose. You felt like visiting Lucienne once again and explore more of the library, but then your thoughts changed as you were reminded of Abel and Cain, along with their beautiful Gargoyle companion, Gregory.

For a moment, you had forgotten about it all until Morpheus freed himself from the basement and resumed his position as the King of Dreams. You reminisced about their kindness and the joy they exuded in the presence of a dreamer, in a realm that had been disconnected from humanity. The tea they served was delightful, and their companionship felt like being with a family you would cherish spending Christmas with.

As you tried to vividly recollect their land, your head found solace against the plush pillows on the couch. Gradually, you felt yourself becoming weightless, floating in the air and twirling like a leaf gracefully dancing in the wind.

It took some time for your full lucidity to return in your dream. As you walked through a beautiful, verdant forest that seemed to glow and transform with each step, a few brilliant fireflies encircled you, emitting a soft and enchanting sound. Your consciousness heightened as you found yourself standing in front of a bridge at the edge of the woodland, with two familiar houses proudly standing at the end of it.

Feeling exhilarated, you sprinted towards the shared garden, which seemed to radiate even more vibrancy and meticulous maintenance compared to your first visit.

“Cain! Able! Are you there?”

Without hesitation, you called out their names, and as if in response, the doors swung open simultaneously. Standing before you were the two hosts, their expressions filled with surprise upon seeing you.

“Oh! It’s Y/N!!”

As Abel hurried towards you, you eagerly grasped his hands, giving them a firm squeeze and shaking them with excitement. “Hello, Able. It’s so nice to see you again.”

Cain also joined the gathering, and after you released Abel's hands, he delicately took hold of one of yours. With a graceful bow, he displayed a gesture of chivalry towards you. “Y/N, Welcome back to our land.”

"Thank you, Cain. I apologize for abruptly waking up during my visit here.”

"Oh, there's no need to worry," replied Abel. "It happens quite often.”

You smiled brightly, marveling at the elegance and virtue of their garden, which had been fully restored to its former glory. But as you quickly surveyed the area, you immediately sensed that something, or rather someone, was absent from the scene. “Where’s Gregory?”

Suddenly, your question cast a somber mood, causing Cain and Abel to lower their heads in a gesture of mourning.

Cain scoffed and turned away, while Abel let out a heavy sigh and looked at you with tear-filled eyes. "Gregory is no longer with us, I’m afraid," he said.

"Oh no... What happened...?”

You remembered how the Gargoyle had startled you by descending at full speed, only to greet you with the most adorable big snout you had ever seen.

"Well, you see," Able explained, "Lord Morpheus needed his power restored, and at that time, Gregory was the only thing that still contained a fragment of it.”

"I understand," you replied.

"But you know," he continued, his smile returning. "I believe he left something else in return.”

As you tilted your head, about to ask what it was, the actual answer materialized right before your eyes. To your surprise, what appeared to be a baby Gargoyle climbed up onto Abel's shoulder, settling itself comfortably on it. It resembled a miniature version of Gregory, complete with a pair of large, curious red eyes that stared intensely at you.

Able gently scooped up the little creature in his hands, offering you a chance to hold it. "Y/N, this is Goldie. Isn't he the cutest little Gargoyle?”

As Goldie opened his mouth in what appeared to be a wide, innocent smile, your heart melted. The moment Abel gently placed him in your hands, an overwhelming desire to hold him forever flooded over you.

"Are you kidding me? He's the cutest thing I've ever laid eyes on," you expressed, delighting in the way Goldie clung to your thumbs for support.

As you looked up, you noticed Cain watching the two of you with a silent adoration, cherishing the sight of how well you and Goldie harmonized together. When your eyes met, Cain cleared his throat, attempting to mask his moment of vulnerability with a gruff comment. "Please, come inside. Tea is almost ready.”

He straightened his vest and turned around, walking briskly and crossing the threshold of his house. Abel leaned closer to you, lowering his voice so that his brother couldn't overhear. "Cain is angry about what Lord Morpheus did to Gregory, but I believe he left the egg with Goldie as a way to apologize."

Knowing Morpheus, you knew that he had no intention of taking Gregory away. Therefore, it came as no surprise to you that he felt compelled to repay them for the loss he had been forced to inflict.

“I’m sure that was the case,” you told him with a nod. “Can I keep him for a while?”

You felt a sense of peace as Goldie nestled into your hands. You instinctively cradled him against your chest, as if he were a precious human child in need of comfort.

"Of course!" he exclaimed, extending his arm for you to hold. "Would you care for some tea, my friend?”

With another warm smile, you grasped his arm with enthusiasm. "Absolutely!"

Once again, the tea was exquisite. Cain and Abel engaged in their banter over trivial matters, and you found their interactions highly entertaining to watch. They treated you with gentleness and kindness, offering their utmost respect, as if you were a princess to be revered and celebrated.

Goldie settled in your lap, stretching his tiny limbs and finding solace on your legs. Slowly, he drifted into slumber, his little body and tiny wings rising and falling with each peaceful breath, accompanied by the sweet and endearing sounds he made. With one hand, you lovingly stroked his warm head, letting your fingertips glide over his velvety skin.

Fortunately, your tea time was not interrupted by any sudden awakenings. The brothers captivated you with enthralling tales about the Dreaming, and they even accompanied you on a wonderful walk through their seemingly boundless garden, where every step unveiled new marvels and splendors. Goldie seemed to have developed a deep affection for you, staying perched on your shoulder and playfully tugging at your hair as you walked along.

It was only when the alarm on your phone resonated through the living room that the familiar haziness of the REM phase enveloped you. Reluctantly, you felt yourself being pulled back to the Waking World, leaving your Dreaming friends behind a second time.

As you woke up, you gently rubbed your tired eyes, slowly rising from the couch and reaching to turn off the TV. Despite feeling relaxed and content after such a beautiful dream, there was a lingering sense of contemplation in your heart. Thoughts of Morpheus and Calliope persistently occupied your mind, and you attempted to dismiss any notions that arose.

That day at work was incredibly chaotic, with an overwhelming influx of tasks vying for attention all at once. With the Fashion Show looming closer, the weight of creating and designing numerous new products pressed heavily on your shoulders, leaving little room for respite or even a moment to catch your breath.

Glued to your computer from morning until evening, you finally reached the end of your work, saving your files and stretching your arms in relief. A smile spread across your face as you gazed at the clothes hanging in front of you, freshly sewn and poised to be captured in photographs. As you turned off the lights and closed the door of the studio, you gently cracked your aching neck and let out a weary sigh.

A peculiar sound from behind captured your attention, causing you to abruptly stop and pivot on your heels. As you glanced down the corridor, everything appeared to be normal, with no one in sight and nothing out of the ordinary. Dismissing it as nothing, you continued on your way.

With most of the team already gone, you made a detour to Ella's office to share your new sketches and discuss the upcoming plans before calling it a day and heading home. Things were going so seamlessly that you were able to fit in more than originally discussed, expanding the collection and outlining the presentation for the Show. Since you joined the team, the Corbyn&Jones brand had gained significant recognition, and Ella couldn't help but boast about how fortunate she was to have you as a friend.

If it weren't for Ella and the enduring friendship that kept you connected, truth be told, you might not have reached a similar milestone in your life. While your skills and creativity undoubtedly played a crucial role, it was the call she gave you that served as the perfect catalyst to help you fully blossom.

You had everything you had ever wanted and then some.

But as we all know, the most beautiful rainbows often emerge after the fiercest storms. And while you had encountered your fair share of challenges in the past, here was an imminent threat of something potentially catastrophic happening that evening.

Ella stood up from her desk, gathering her belongings and placing them back into her bag. She switched off the table light before preparing to leave, but a strange smell filled the air, causing you to instinctively sniff a few times to confirm that you weren't mistaken.

It was rather faint, seemingly insignificant and perhaps not worth worrying about, but it undeniably seemed like something had been overcooked.

"Ella? Is it just me, or do you also smell something burning?”

She halted, furrowing her eyebrows and taking a deep breath to investigate. She inhaled, then exhaled slowly, repeating the process two more times consecutively.

"No, wait. It’s not just you.”

Confused, you both stared at each other in silence, until the fire alarm in the office abruptly blared to life. Your heart leaped into your chest as the door swung open, and a panting Amelia rushed in, her face turning pale.

"Girls, we have a problem," she declared. "I believe there is a fire coming from the studio.”

You gasped. "What?! But I was just there a few minutes ago!”

"I don't know, I saw smoke coming out. I didn't dare open the door.”

Ella let out a frustrated curse, nervously scratching her arm as she began to pace back and forth. "Is anyone else still here besides us?" she asked anxiously.

Amelia shook her head. "Harry left 10 minutes ago. It's just the three of us.”

A thought crossed your mind, and in an instant, a wave of dread surged through your stomach. “Shit, Ella. The studio. Everything we have is in there.”

"What about the USB drive?”

Your breath became shallow. "It's in my desk drawer. In the studio.”

“…Fuck me sideways.”

As the smell of burning intensified, you also noticed a trail of smoke beginning to fill the corridor.

"I'll get the fire extinguisher," Ella said. "Amy, call 999 immediately. We don't know what we're up against here.”

“Right away!”

A wave of nervousness climbed over you, and the fear of potentially losing everything you had worked so hard for twisted your gut, leaving you feeling unsettled. The backup of all your work since you joined the company, the meticulously crafted clothes reserved for the Fashion Show, and even the catalog of the latest collection, yet to be published in the monthly magazine. All of it was now at risk, if not already reduced to ashes.

Without giving it much thought and disregarding caution, you sprinted out of the office as fast as you could.

“Y/N, wait!!”

The path to the studio was shrouded in darkness and thick fog, causing you to struggle for breath and cough violently. Through the crack under the door, you could see an ominous orange glow, accompanied by puffs of smoke billowing out.

Opening the door was the last thing you should have done, but driven by your instinct and worries, you reached for the handle and pushed it down. As soon as you stepped into the room, you were met with a growing fire, fierce flames consuming part of the apparel and spreading along the cables connecting the computers to the electrical panel.

One of the monitors had been damaged, emitting sparks, while another one was dangerously close to overheating.

“What the-!?”

Ella stood right behind you, holding the fire extinguisher in her hands, paralyzed by the sight before her. The temperature in the studio had become almost unbearable, as if you were stepping directly into the depths of Hell.

Holding your ground, you ran to your desk and opened the drawer, retrieving the USB drive that had fortunately remained safely away from the approaching flames. The catalog was also within your reach, and with a quick motion, you extended your arm to secure it.

Ella started using the extinguisher to spray a section of the fire, successfully keeping it partially under control. However, despite her efforts, the other side of the room continued to deteriorate, with the flames intensifying by the second and spreading at an alarming rate.

"Y/N, Amy just went down. We need to leave as well, now!" Ella shouted urgently.

You knew that she was right, but you couldn't bring yourself to abandon everything as it was. Spotting a section of clothing that was still untouched by the fire, you hurriedly gathered as many pieces as you could and tossed them over your shoulder, disregarding the scattered hangers on the floor.

“Y/N, just leave it!”

Ignoring the imminent danger, you persisted in removing the clothes from their hangers. You persevered until you had taken off the very last garment, even though the other half had already been irreversibly ruined.

“Watch out!!”

Everything happened in such a blur that it was difficult for you to process and make sense of it all. The electrical panel on your right exploded as soon as the flames reached the main circuits, and you found yourself engulfed in a colossal tongue of fire that transformed everything around you into a fiery red inferno.

You struggled to catch your breath, battling against the overpowering heat that enveloped you. However, despite the circumstances, an inexplicable calmness replaced fear within you. Despite the high risk of being consumed by the flames or suffering severe injuries because of it, you felt an indescribable calmness settling in your chest. As your pendant began to emit a vibrant blue light, the ferocious flames were swept away by its glow. You felt a protective aura expand around your entire being, shielding you from the fire right where you stood.

As the flames diminished, you emerged from them completely unharmed, not a single mark blemishing your skin. Ella, astounded and wide-eyed with disbelief, hurried towards you, reaching out to touch your face, needing to confirm for herself that you had truly emerged unscathed.

“You... how…?”

Realizing there was no time to spare, you jolted Ella out of her stupor by placing a few articles of clothing into her arms. "Let's go."

With her mouth agape, she nodded in compliance and used the remaining power in the extinguisher to douse a few more flames in front of you. Yet, as the fire expanded and reached the entrance, creating an intensified wall of dense smoke, the extinguisher ran out of its capacity, leaving you without any means to overcome the blockage.

"Stay by my side," you instructed, encircling an arm around Ella's waist as the two of you navigated through it.

“Wait, there is no way out…”

The necklace continued to emit a brilliant blaze of light, and with a firm clench of your jaw, you tightened your grip around Ella. Fueled by unwavering determination, you pressed on, forging ahead.

“Y/N, we’re walking right into it!”

“Trust me,” you told her. “Just keep moving!”

And so she did, with no other option remaining as the room was nearly consumed.

The empty extinguisher fell to the floor with a resounding thud as Ella tightly gripped your shirt, desperately clinging to you for support. The energy from the pendant now encompassed both of you, creating an imperceptible barrier that repelled the flames, causing them to bounce against it.

As you continued walking towards the elevator, Ella's gaze remained transfixed on your necklace, her eyes darting between the gemstone and your face, uncertain of what she was truly witnessing.

Morpheus looked at Calliope with a heavy heart, acknowledging her statement that in the past, he would have left her to suffer without turning a hair.

What intensified his feelings of guilt was the undeniable truth in her words. He had often let himself be blinded by resentment and pride, causing him to act thoughtlessly on numerous occasions.

Without looking up, Calliope asked, “Do you still hate me for leaving you? For blaming you for what happened-”

“No.”

His response was quick, coming so naturally that he didn't even need to ponder over it.

“I’ve learnt much in recent times and…”

Calliope appeared expectant, even surprised by the manner in which he spoke.

In the end, he struggled to find the right words to convey what he truly meant. “No matter. I do not hate you.”

At least, he answered with complete honesty. All the animosity he once held for her, the wounds she had caused him, had completely vanished.

In a fleeting moment, Calliope's lips curved into a smile, suggesting her satisfaction with the response she had received.

“I think you should release the mortal now. He has set me free, and without forgiveness wounds will never heal.”

“You would forgive him for what he has done?” He asked, his contempt for the human named Richard Madoc still smoldering inside him.

“I would not forgive what he has done, but I must forgive the man. Not for him, for me.”

They locked eyes in a silent exchange, and through her gaze, she implored him. “Will you free him?”

“If that is what you wish, it shall be done,” he said, resigned to her request.

Calliope silently acknowledged her desires to him with a nod. Consequently, he acquiesced, leaving the writer to face the excruciating realization that there were no more stories to be told without his muse.

As they made their way towards the front door, Calliope posed an unexpected question, her voice tinged with uncertainty. “May I… visit you in the Dream Realm sometime, so that we may finally talk about our son?”

Morpheus parted his lips, but he discovered himself incapable of uttering a response.

She continued. “And… grieve him properly?”

A part of him longed to say yes, but as he reflected on the fate that had befallen Orpheus, he was faced with his own lack of fortitude and emotional strength to confront it.

“One day perhaps, but…”

Calliope's expression hardened as she replied, "I understand.”

Unable to meet her gaze any longer, he quickly turned his head away. Holding the door open for her, he positioned himself beside it, his posture tense, as a deluge of painful memories from the past crashed over him like a chilling shower.

Anticipating her departure without another word, he was taken aback when she stopped, standing just inches away from his face. “Thank you Oneiros. I will not forget this.”

Morpheus felt his heart shatter in his chest, and he steadfastly kept his eyes ahead.

“Fare you well,” she whispered, her forehead gently brushing against the side of his face. “Fortune be with you.”

Finally, he summoned the courage to look at her once more. "Goodbye, Calliope."

With those words, he aimed to bring closure to their unresolved situation, in a way that had eluded them when she had walked away from his side. There was no lingering anger or unfinished business, only the faint traces of a love that had once thrived but had now reached its conclusion, leaving an indelible imprint on both their hearts.

Calliope offered one last smile, radiating acceptance and tranquility. With grace, she stepped out into the world, embracing the freedom she had finally earned. He watched her depart, her white dress trailing behind her, gently brushing against the ground.

Morpheus found himself gripped by a mix of sorrow and relief, their tendrils entwining. And in that very moment, he detected a potent presence—an intense energy emanating from another part of the Waking World. It felt familiar, a connection to his very being and essence. Soon, with a sudden flash of recognition, he realized that it emanated from you.

“Y/N…”

Something felt amiss, an undercurrent of danger that left him on high alert.

In a heartbeat, a swirling wave of sand erupted from the ground, whisking him away to where he could find you.

The local firefighters arrived promptly, containing the flames and preventing them from spreading to other parts of the building. They skillfully extinguished the fire, limiting the damage to the studio. and managing to salvage two out of the four computers, including the one you used for your work.

Although this was a positive outcome, the devastating reality remained that the most important room suffered severe damage, resulting in the loss of a portion of the completed apparel and part of the expensive equipment.

Ella was in such a state of shock that she found it difficult to respond adequately to the inquiries. Consequently, you took charge and spoke on her behalf. The authorities were actively investigating the incident to ascertain the cause of the fire, whether it was an unintentional electrical malfunction or something else entirely.

You were immediately struck by the recollection of a particular sound you had heard upon leaving the studio, something that eluded your identification. It made you wonder if there was a possibility for you to have averted the whole thing, rather than simply walking away without any attentive investigation.

Ella's tight grip on your hand immediately dissuaded any feelings of guilt, causing your knuckles to ache. It was clear that she had something of great importance to discuss with you, but with so many people around, it seemed difficult for her to find the appropriate moment to speak.

To you, deciphering her thoughts wasn't a difficult task, and now that the adrenaline had faded and you were both out of harm's way, you genuinely didn't know how to approach the subject.

After half an hour, Oliver arrived, forcefully navigated through the growing crowd on the street. His complexion turned ashen as he finally laid eyes on his wife. Overwhelmed by a flood of emotions, he instantly enveloped her in a tight embrace, teetering on the brink of tears as he observed her disheveled state.

In truth, both of you appeared slightly worn out, with smudges of soot on your cheeks and hair. Oliver meticulously examined Ella, anxiously relieved when he found no signs of injury on her.

In the end, Ella revealed to her husband that she owed her safe escape entirely to you. She disclosed that you had selflessly protected her from the encroaching flames, ensuring that they never posed a serious threat. You attempted to deny it, but she adamantly refused to perceive it in any other way.

You found yourself in Oliver's firm grasp, his hold so powerful that it felt as though your lungs might burst from your chest. While he had already demonstrated himself to be distinct and notably more relaxed than any previous boss you had encountered, the last thing you expected was for him to exhibit such a tender gesture of affection towards you. He expressed his gratitude repeatedly, to the extent that you were uncertain how to respond, stating that he would go to any extent to repay you.

You wanted none of that. After all, the sole reason Ella had placed herself in jeopardy was your obstinacy, disregarding her warnings. Without the necklace given to you by Morpheus, would you have acted on the same impulse?

Perhaps not, but you couldn't dismiss the possibility entirely.

Exhaustion seeped into your body, and as Oliver held Ella close, affectionately cradling her against his shoulder, she lifted her head and seemed to notice something in the distance. “Y/N, isn’t that your boyfriend?”

It felt as though a switch had been flipped, infusing you with renewed energy. Turning to look in the direction she pointed, you allowed your eyes to roam until they landed on Morpheus, who was standing just a few feet away.

He observed you with concern, but at the same time, he hesitated to approach you because you were not alone. For how long had he been there, looking at you from afar?

Your feet seemed to move of their own accord, starting off slowly before you found yourself running towards him with an urgent pace.

Morpheus withdrew his hands from the pockets of his coat, opening his arms to embrace you as you collided against him.

You had expected him to take much longer to reappear, but you couldn't be happier about it. "You're here.”

"I am.”

You grasped a handful of his coat between your fingers, keeping your arms firmly around his neck. "When did you arrive?"

"A few moments ago," he replied. "I did not want to disturb you.”

"Disturb me? I would do anything to be in your embrace," you confessed.

“You are now.”

“Indeed. Please, just keep holding me. I need it.”

You didn't want to release him, burying your face in the hollow of his neck and savoring his intoxicating, exotic scent.

On the other hand, Morpheus could distinctly smell ashes and burnt remnants on you. In contrast to your request, he withdrew slightly to examine you closely, delicately caressing your face with his hands. The coolness of his palms brought a soothing and grounding sensation, filled with love and adoration.

“My love, are you hurt?"

"Not at all," you responded assuredly. "I don't know what happened. One of the rooms in our office suddenly erupted in flames. I... I was there, right in the midst of the fire. But nothing happened to me.”

As you explained the situation, you brought your hand to the pendant and gently grazed your fingers against it. Morpheus glanced at your nails as they brushed against the stone, and you could see the fear of what might have occurred distorting his features.

"You saved me, Morpheus," you declared with gratitude. “And my friend, too.”

As you turned to look at Ella, you noticed her pressing herself against Oliver, her legs weakening as the built-up tension started to ebb away.

But what you caught sight of in that split second, among the group of people on the sidewalk, made your blood run cold through your veins. Right there, far enough to be mistaken for one of the bystanders, stood Maya. She seemed nervous and hesitant, taking a few tentative steps back before vanishing from your sight.

You might have been tired and still shaken from what you had gone through, but you were absolutely certain that you saw was not a figment of your imagination. What was she doing there? Didn't she leave with the rest of the team long before the fire broke out?

Suddenly, realization hit you like a swollen river, so hard that it took your breath away. When you turned to look at your boyfriend, your distressed expression caught his attention. He frowned, waiting for you to reveal what was running through your mind.

"Morpheus," your voice was hushed, wary, and filled with fractures. "I don't believe it was an accident.”

The seed of doubt was now implanted, inciting a tempest inside him. From the anger manifesting on his face and his eyes growing darker, you knew that he had no intention of treating the matter lightly, not if it meant that someone had done such a thing to you, whether it was intended to harm you directly or not.

“I need to prove it," you asserted.

He didn't need to say a single word, for the way he looked at you expressed his question with utmost clarity. You understood exactly what he was asking.

Maya Davies was about to incur the wrath of the king of nightmares, and you were fully supportive of it. With a single nod, you gave him your approval.

"I will assist you, my love. But not tonight. Please, let me give you a good rest.”

You smiled, taking his right hand between yours and softly pressing a kiss to his knuckles.

"What would I ever do without you?”

Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 (currently reading) Go to Chapter 13 ->

#the sandman #dream of the endless x reader #morpheus x reader #the sandman fanfic #lydbyd chapter 12

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skywarpie · 1 year

Text

Reflected Memories

Hey, did you ask for an angsty Trans Copia fic? No? Too bad. Here’s one.

1,544k words. AO3 Link

tw: just lots of angst and body dysmorphia

For as long as he can remember he’s hated the reflection that stares back at him from the mirror. It makes him feel nauseous. The person that stares back at him has never felt like it matches the person that’s inside him. He can remember standing in-front of a mirror when he was a child, no more than ten, and just staring. Yet no matter how hard he tried he couldn’t twist that reflection to actually reflect him.

There was a brief while where he considered this a normal occurrence. That it was something that everyone had to deal with. Either that or he was being punished for some unknown reason (which seeing as how his life has played out so far, that really wouldn’t surprise him too much).

He remembers how for the longest time he was addressed as such a “fine young sister.” It leaves an acidic taste in his mouth and Copia finds himself, not for the first time that morning, thinking he’s going to lose what little breakfast he’s consumed.

As he got older things only seemed to get progressively worse. The long hair wasn’t too much of an issue. For a while he had just tucked it into the tightest bun possible, until finally he had asked Primo to help him cut it. His eldest brother was more than happy to oblige.

“You’re sure?” Primo had bent to look him in the eyes. It was almost comical. His nearly six foot figure nearly bent in half to acknowledge his younger sibling.

Copia noded.

“Very well.” And there had been no argument. No trying to talk him out of it. It was arguably the most freeing moment of his short life.

Copia finds himself grimacing as he recalls how Sister Imperator had responded. She hadn’t been angry per-say, but he had received a stern talking to.

“Honestly, I don’t understand why you didn’t bring it to my attention. I would have ensured it was done properly. That someone who knew what they were doing was the one slicing off your hair.”

Someone who did know what they were doing had done just that, Copia had wanted to argue, but like every other time in his life when confronted with issues he had remained silent.

“It doesn’t matter.” Sister waved a hand through the air. “Just make sure that next time you come to me when you want this done. Do I make myself clear, Copola?”

He freezes like he’s just been struck. That name hasn’t entered his mind in decades and the thought of it suddenly makes him feel like the room is spinning. He rubs at his eyes, smearing the black makeup that circles them. He needs to do something, anything to get his mind off of this.

Copia turns on his heel and practically runs from his room, only stopping once he’s in his office where he can lock himself away and focus on mind numbing paperwork. It works – for the most part. But several hours in he finds his body aching from the cramped position and needing a stretch. The growling of his stomach reminds him that he should probably get something to eat as well. He’s still undecided on that one yet.

It’s only once he’s made his way around the ministry gardens a solid three times, does he wind back up in his own room. Some rest. That will help.

Copia wastes no time in stripping himself of his black cassock and exchanging it for a comfortable pair of sweatpants. Carefully he lays the cassock over the back of one of his few chairs. He doesn’t want it to get wrinkled. He makes his way to his closet to find a more comfortable shirt, only he stops dead in his tracks.

He swallows thickly as his reflection once more stares back at him. Stupid. Idiot. Fucking idiot. In his haste earlier Copia forgot to replace the sheet back over the glass. Only this time it’s worse. Last time it was just his lanky form in his cassock. Now it’s him with only his sweats and a bare chest.

Copia isn’t ashamed of the scars that adorn his chest, quite the opposite actually. He’s glad to have them. It shows what he’s been through and how he’s fought tooth and nail to get to where he is today. To be who he is today. It’s just — his body over all. He’s never liked it. Even now, it just doesn’t appeal to him. There’s little to no definition in his arms and there’s the slight pudge to his gut. For more than once in his life he finds himself wishing he looked more like his brothers. Although he knows they’d tell him he’s perfectly fine the way he is, Copia can’t help but feel like they’re taking pity on him.

“Ah, there you are.” Secondo’s deep voice echoed in his ears. “We were beginning to think you’d never leave that room of your’s.” He laughed at his own joke as he straightened his paperwork on his desk. He’d recently been appointed to Cardinal, working directly under Primo. “I know you’d rather spend your time cramped up in there, but honestly —” Whatever he had intended to say had died on his tongue as a gut wrenching sob cut through the air.

Copia sat on the other side of his brother’s desk, head in his hands as he practically curled in on himself. He had wanted to say something sarcastic, play into the typical banter they shared but he hadn’t been able to bring himself to do it. His mouth had opened and a wail had taken the place of words.

Secondo sat rooted to the spot. His brows furrowed and eyes wide as he took in the scene before him. “Sorella.” It’d been said softly but instead of comfort it had only brought more heartache as the man before him tried to curl in on himself even more. He stood, hurrying over to kneel beside him. “I did not intend to upset you. I was only joking.” He placed a comforting hand on Copia’s shoulder.

The younger man had jerked away, his sobbing only growing. For a long moment they both stayed that way until finally Copia had managed to pull himself together just enough to speak. He wiped at his nose, not even bothering to wipe at his eyes. The black makeup there was already tear stained and ruined.

“What is it? You can tell your fratello.”

He had hiccuped so hard that his body jerked. “I can’t do this anymore.” His voice was hardly above a whisper and Secondo had to strain to hear it.

“Do what?”

Copia knew it was meant as enduring. His brother only wanted to help. That didn’t alleviate his mind in the least. His bottom lip trembled. “Do you ever feel like –” a violent hiccup shook his body. “Like something’s wrong.” He looked down at his hands. “Like you don’t fit.”

His brother’s eyes had softened as did his voice. “I can’t say that I personally have ever felt that way, but I think I know what you’re speaking of.”

And that had been the end of it. Secondo, along with his other two brothers, even his mother, had settled into the change far easier than he had ever imagined they would. Almost immediately he had changed out his wardrobe for far more fitting clothes and changed his name.

“Copia? But that means –”

He interrupted Terzo. “Copy. Si.”

Terzo had scrunched his nose up. “But why that?”

Copia shrugged. “It is not so different sounding from –” he stumbled over his words and swallowed thickly. “From the other name and because I would like to learn to be more like the three of you.” It seemed like the most obvious answer. However his brother’s expression began to slowly make him worried.

“You shouldn’t feel like you have to model yourself after us. You’re your own person.”

“Si. If I don’t like it, I will change it again, no?” He shrugged.

Defeatedly Terzo had sighed. “Si.”

Instinctively Copia snatches his cassock from the chair and flings it over the mirror. He settles for just yanking one of his old shirts from a drawer in his dresser and flinging it over himself. From there he shuts off the lights and buries himself in his bed under the heavy quilts. He isn’t tired and more than likely won’t be sleeping tonight. But he feels overwhelmed. Not just by his memories but also from the fact that he can’t even speak about his issues to his brothers anymore. Because they’re gone. Dead. Because of him. If he had just kept his mouth shut and continued living the hell he was in, would they still be here? No, more than likely not. Sister would have simply found another gullible idiot to take his place and they would still be cold in glass coffins. It’s funny really, to think that there’s someone more gullible than him out there.

Copia chokes on a sob as he covers his head with the blankets. He’s not tired but that doesn’t mean he can’t dream of a better time. One where he was who he is today and his brothers still breathed.

#hello i have come to deliver daily angst #the band ghost #okay to reblog i guess #skywarpie writes #ghost band #ghost bc #cardinal copia #papa emeritus iv

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alien-in-residence · 11 days

Text

The Last Human Diplomat Ch.2

Lights flickered from disrepair in the tram station for the Plains district. Rhean emerged from the crowded train and climbed the stairs two at a time. A discreet scanner in the wall analyzed her ID and communicated with the turnstiles to let her pass. Rhean emerged into the Plains district, a section of the Ring purpose made for the aristocratic class of Rouen-Ta. Grass covered every patch of flat ground and vines climbed up most archways and walls.

Lhuk’s apartment in the Ring was much more of an estate than Rhean’s. It wasn’t free-standing, still linking together with a long line of houses that formed a wall around a central walkway. It did, however, have a lawn out front. Lhuk had filled it with all the notable flora of Rhah’Fa, the Rouen-Ta homeworld.

Rhean was the last to arrive, a thin layer of sweat on her forehead. Lhuk was waiting on a bench designed for her centaur-like frame while the other invited diplomats complimented the topiary. The two other guests were Lhuk's assistant and the Sezeen ambassador. The junior staffer appeared to be substantially younger than Lhuk although Rouen-Ta age was still hard to gauge for Rhean. His ram horns were short, barely making a half loop. Rhean had been told his name once but had never seen him after initial introductions when he first arrived on the Ring.

Vessa, the Sezeen, was somewhat short for her species but still towered over everyone else. Of her coworkers, Rhean felt that Vessa was closest to being called a friend. She had arrived on the Ring just a few weeks after Rhean successfully applied for her office in the ambassador's annex. Vessa had initially been too patronizing to the "plight of humanity" but had shown a genuine concern for Rhean's refugee constituents.

Vessa’s tunic was made of rich leather and had long colored strips that flowed down the back to accent her plumage. It was sleeveless, allowing her large fore-limbs flexibility to carry her large body around. Her small manipulator arms were neatly at rest within the folds of an intricate undershirt. She even wore a few rings along her serpentine tail.

Lhuk and her assistant wore rich purple coverings over their hind torsos. It reminded Rhean of a saddle but she kept that comparison to herself. Lhuk had a silken dress with fractaline patterns crawling across it like lightning. Her assistant wore something incredibly modest so as not to upstage his boss.

“Thanks for waiting, everyone.” Rhean told them in Rouen-Ta high speech. She was trying and failing to hide that she was out of breath. “Sorry, I lost track of time at home.” Lhuk gave a short snort that was neither rude nor forgiving. Rhean dipped her head slightly to Lhuk and the junior staffer returned a similar nod. The social display seemed to please Lhuk and reinforce a desired hierarchy.

Lhuk did not travel on the Ring’s public trams and would not degrade her guests by having them do so either. She had chartered a shuttle that left from her affluent neighborhood and would take them the 60 degrees along the Ring to the Yonk College.

It was a well decorated and automated shuttle with almost all its fuselage committed to passenger comfort. Windows covered much of the ceiling and walls. It was not a machine that Rhean would trust in open space. The vessel was of Rouen-Ta make and the seats were likewise fitted to their physiology. While it was overly spacious for Rhean, Vessa had difficulty fitting her full body between the floor and ceiling.

“Are you alright, Vessa?” Rhean asked the Sezeen as she wedged herself sideways into a tiny couch.

“Oh don’t worry about me,” Vessa replied. She scrunched her neck back into her torso which ruffled her ridge of feathers there. She looked somewhat comical and Rhean stifled a laugh. Vessa was in good humor and stifled a laugh herself.

The trip was only a few minutes long. The shuttle took a less direct path to provide views of the Ring’s axial support structures and the parent sun, Pale Yellow. Rhean had been disappointed that the star hadn’t been given a more poetic name by the Rouen-Ta pioneers. The star system was populated exclusively by massive colorful clouds, rich in minerals but lacking in living space. It seemed to her that the Rouen-Ta Republic had grown so large that coming up with good names for their frontier systems just didn’t matter anymore. The shuttle quickly passed out of the sunlight and into shadow as it docked with the station.

They emerged just a moment later from the cramped shuttle into the nauseatingly spacious Yonk college. The college took up a full 5 degrees of the Ring and was designed to make you forget you were on an artificial station. The ceilings were either painted or covered in vid screens which played looping footage of Core’s blue and auburn skies. Buildings did not stretch floor to ceiling. In fact, the multi-floored design of the Ring had surrendered here to the single, dominating reality that was the College. It made Rhean feel like she was falling.

Yonks walked along foliage lined pathways between buildings made of brick and wood. Small fauna flit on insect-like wings or scurried up and down the treelines. It was an impressive display of wealth from the Imperium. It was an excessive use of Ring resources to propagate this planet-side facade. It was propaganda. It was working.

Their host was an elderly representative of the college. Rumor had it that even though he was nearing 200 years old he was the sure pick for the college’s next dean. He had initially taken the faculty position as a retirement job after his war service. Lhuk had talked at length about how a college dean was sometimes worth more as an ally than a dozen Primes. Her goal over dinner was to make a notable ally just as they became important.

The college architecture was ostentatious in its design and building materials. Everything was constructed, no pre-fabs. Each building was given a wide berth from its neighbors. Maintaining such large open spaces was a display of wealth on par with a gold toilet. And wood, whether fabricated or cut, was outrageously expensive. Rhean already felt guilty about the wood in her office and apartment. The college did not have such reservations.

A young Yonk with no Psion markings and a light-blue shelled Hifan approached them as they walked the grounds and offered to escort them to the college's reception hall. The Hifan spoke Imperium Standard through a vocalizer on the top of his barrel shaped body. Theirs was a species Rhean was still not comfortable with. They completely lacked a face and glided along with a single slug-like foot. In her head, they registered more as animal than person.

The social dynamic between the Yonk and Hifan was obvious. The Hifan was not a student here, but a slave. The college likely owned and leased many Hifan out to their Yonk students. These collegiate Hifan were all some variety of servant, either note-takers or maids. The diplomats could see a few of them scooting around the grounds, collecting trash or dutifully following a student. It was difficult for Rhean to conceptualize the Hifan as people but it was a courtesy the Imperium denied them by design.

Square columns of steel and stone adorned the entrance to the reception hall. Inscriptions in Imperium Standard spoke of the power and longevity of knowledge. The intimidating architecture seemed to banish the friendly Yonk and his servile Hifan.

The diplomats were the last to arrive. A small crowd of Yonks milled about in the impressively decorated antechamber. Portraits of previous college deans lined the walls. Hifan with crisp, white fabric fixed to their shells were silently offering up refreshments and scented vapors. The whole scene reminded Rhean of old earth vids of black-tie, backroom speakeasies. Although the complete lack of humans besides herself made the comparison thin.

Lhuk led the charge, introducing herself and then her guests to their host, a pale and heavily marked Psion named Barret. Barret likely had a Psion score in the high triple digits. Rhean had been told that fellow Psions were able to read the markings and interpret the score instantly. She only knew that the more intricate and extensive the markings, the more prestigious the Yonk. And the more dangerous, she thought to herself.

Small talk in the reception hall was short lived. It appeared that dinner as well as the other guests had been waiting for the diplomats. Not long after introducing themselves to their host the doors to the dining room were opened.

The central event of the evening was to be a classic Yonk style dinner. Contrary to their species’ reputation as loner erudites, Yonk festivities were long, involved social events. By tradition, dinner was always served across multiple tables, kept small to encourage conversation. The host was expected to stay at one table and guests were expected to rotate throughout the room to their liking. Being too stationary was seen as being a boring curmudgeon while being too mobile was looked on as flighty or vapid.

The evening’s attendees were mostly Yonks with many faculty from the university attending alongside some minor politicians from the Imperium. There was a Kiran Fleet Marshall as well as a Huliotess Deputy Director bureaucrat in attendance. In total there were ten tables, each with six seats. They were not expected to always fill a table, but never to let one grow empty.

The hierarchy was instantly visible to Rhean. The Huliotess, despite being a Deputy Director, was woefully out of place amongst the two meter tall crowd of intellectuals. The Yonks were quietly making sure she felt lesser. The host had provided universal benches for the attendees but notably the chairs did not include a roosting rest for Huliotess physiology.

The kitchen staff were mostly Hifan with some Va-tess mixed in as chefs. The food smelled great, infused with the rich spices and heat that Yonks preferred. Rhean had moved tables twice by the time the food was finally brought out. They served her a first course she could only describe as “spicy oatmeal” with what looked and tasted like seaweed flakes mixed in.

At her current table were three Yonk faculty and the Huliotess deputy. The Yonks had been going on and on about economic activity along the DMZ. The arrival of food distracted the Yonks and allowed Rhean an opportunity to talk to the Huliotess. “Do you really think piracy is that big of a deal in the DMZ?”

The Huliotess looked surprised that someone was talking to her. “Well, piracy is a constant in the universe, like gravity,” she replied in a musical accent. “You can never really eliminate it, just prepare for it. But I don’t think that a few caravans raided in the last month warrants ending two millennium worth of cease-fire.”

One of the Yonks looked up from their bowl of soup and quipped, “Well more like a century’s worth.”

The Huliotess’ frills raised in embarrassment. She dipped her head and pecked at her plate of seeds. Rhean took the comment in stride and continued to address the Huliotess. “So do you think traders should simply arm themselves when in the DMZ?”

“I think a fighter or two following in a foreship’s wake is a far cry from putting an armed patrol fleet into the DMZ,” the Deputy Director replied. The rude Yonk was still staring at Rhean, hoping to elicit a response. The Huliotess’ feathers continued to stand on end. “Recent military excursions into the Zone aside, putting a patrol fleet into the DMZ will only serve to raise tensions and scare a few pirates. Certainly not worth the risk.”

Another Yonk decided to chime in, “Ha! Political philosophy from a clerk! The DMZ has been too sacrosanct for too long. Pirates view it as an open invitation to hide there.” The deputy’s feathers began to calm as the Yonks took control of the conversation. “Two possibilities exist. Either there is a pirate planet or there is not. If there is, then the solution is to find and burn it. If there is not, then we simply must be more vigilant at port and weed them out.”

Another Yonk interjected with an esoteric rebuttal and Rhean took this as a sign to move tables, taking her bowl of spice-oatmeal with her.

One table closer to the host, she found Vessa and yet more Yonks. This table had a densely marked Psion and the only student in attendance. She was conspicuously the only of her species without Psion markings in the room. The Kiran Marshall had just left and Vessa was talking about post-commonality literature.

“You’re judging the First Generation too harshly. When you’ve been required to follow forms for so long, it makes sense you’d flock to the abstract,” Vessa said to the Psion.

“But you have to admit that some of Gheera’s treatise is borderline unreadable. Ending and starting sentences at random. Some of the pages were hand written!” The Psion replied.

“No argument here, but I understand where Gheera’s coming from. I’ve read pre-Commonality prose and it makes me nauseous. Like automated number readouts.” Vessa laughed to herself in that deep trilling sound that made Rhean feel at ease. “What about human literature, Rhean. Any notable phases of formlessness?”

Rhean was both thankful and mortified to be included in the conversation so swiftly. “Well that’s a difficult question isn’t it? If it has a name, doesn’t that mean it has a form?” The Psion flared his gills in annoyance and decided to switch tables. Rhean continued to her audience of now just the student and Vessa, “There was a movement called Postmodernism. I’ve never been a huge fan but a few people I know call it the only honest literature.”

The Yonk student was intrigued. “And what was the style in the Human postmodern movement?”

“Oh well I’m not a literature expert but there was no one way to write. It sounds similar to what Vessa was describing,” Rhean said. The student now looked fully intrigued. “Again, I’m not hugely familiar, but one type of poetry was- sorry, is- stream of consciousness. You simply write exactly what’s coming to your mind as you go. No real structure, end goal, or point. Just exactly what comes to mind.”

Vessa and the student looked horrified. Vessa blinked her eyes a few times, clearly lost in a grounding meditation. The student kept her eyes on her dinner bowl for a long moment. It was Vessa who finally returned to the moment and asked, “So you just write exactly what comes to mind, as it comes to mind? That sounds horrifying.”

“Well perhaps I’m speaking the Imperium Standard sloppily, but the style really only reads like a poorly edited monologue,” Rhean tried to reassure her table.

Vessa was still visibly uncomfortable but asked, “I’ve been meaning to ask. Do humans have imperfect memories?” The student stared down at their food, clearly upset by the thread that Vessa was pulling.

Rhean absent-mindedly looked to the nearby tables, hoping for a new guest to rotate in. She had no choice but to answer the question, unaware of the faux-pas she was making. “Well, no. Memory is a skill and is highly variable among humans. It also takes up multiple forms.” The new info did seem to garner the student’s interest. “But if you mean precise memory, some humans have what’s called photographic memory.”

“So what do you ‘see’ when you remember something?” the student asked.

“Well, I don’t really see anything. I can somewhat picture something in my mind, but for me it doesn’t always come with clarity.” Vessa and the student nodded. The table felt much less tense and Rhean didn’t know why.

The student began to lead the conversation, asking Vessa about her history in politics and how she’d come so far from Nest. Another Yonk joined their table and the topic shifted to Sezeen spacecraft. Rhean stayed at the table until her oatmeal was nearly gone and then stood to hand it to a Hifan waiter. She saw her opportunity to finally join the Host’s table and took it.

Barret was emptying what looked like his second bowl of pasta while Lhuk discussed the Duoro border crisis to a crowd of bored looking Yonk diplomats. “It’s the inconsistency of it all that maddens me. One day I’ll have a formal trade agreement from a clan and the next day I get a call that the same clan has raided a caravan!”

“That’s what you get for trading with brutes,” Barret replied with fish meat still in his mouth. “What do you expect, Lhuk? They’re barbarians with warp drives.”

The blatant racism definitely shocked Lhuk and she did a meager job hiding that fact with her impassive face. “I’d take an honest brute over a lying sophisticate.”

Barret ignored her comment and charged forward with a rant that had clearly been brewing. “The problem is the Duoro, as a culture, lack hierarchy and discipline.” He took a triumphant slurp of a stray noodle for dramatic effect. When no one challenged him he continued with confidence. “Each clan acts on its own, unconcerned with the needs of the whole. Their leaders pursue the fleeting desires of the day with little control or oversight over their rabble. When a clan leader can be deposed by a simple challenge, what level of stability do you think that provides? No, Lhuk, the only way to communicate with the Duoro is with threats.”

Lhuk did not see an easy way out of the situation and so gave a non-committal huff. The other Yonks at the table nodded their heads in subservient agreement with their host. Rhean wore disbelief across her face. The host and table quickly noticed that Rhean was the only one not to voice a response to Barret’s condemnation of the Duoro. A row of bulbous Yonk eyes and Lhuk’s beady set of four eyes came to rest on her. That familiar feeling of otherness rose in her stomach.

She had to say something, anything. “I’m not so sure.” Her rebuttal garnered her a moment of shock and a narrow window to formulate an inoffensive political position. Barret’s comments were a red hot poker to her temper. She knew escaped members of the Duoro’s slave castes and their first complaints were not lack of hierarchy and discipline. With few options she had to lie and find middle ground between herself, and a racist.

“The Duoro are a confederation, are they not? I think that shows their fear of tyranny more than a lack of discipline. Each clan wants independence from each other. While that may not be hierarchical, I don’t think it shows lack of discipline.” Rhean had partially convinced the Yonk diplomats, Barret was annoyed to have been contradicted at his own event, at his own table. “I know members of their caste system, and their commitment and discipline nearly matches the Imperium’s.” She could see Barret cool down ever so slightly.

“Well then perhaps not discipline, but consistency,” Barret said. The major thrust of his argument was intact, as was his pride.

The conversation was still for a moment and Lhuk saw an opportunity to take the steering wheel again. She’d been at the host’s table for a little too long and had maybe one more opportunity to ingratiate herself with Barrett. A Va-tess waiter walked near their table and saw the number of empty or emptying bowls. He made quick eye-contact with Barret, Rhean, and the other Yonks at the table to confirm their readiness for more food. Lhuk’s plate was barely touched.

Rhean slowly slipped the tiny disk of poison from her dress pocket and split her mind into two focusses. One was playing the part of an impartial and polite dinner guest, happy to be at the host’s table. The other was watching the door to the kitchen and discreetly unwrapping the poison. She kept her hands below the table and slowly peeled away one side of the plastic baggy. Surface tension kept the other side of plastic stuck to her now sweaty left palm.

The Va-tess waiter appeared not long after his disappearance with four bowls balanced between his six arms. His rodent-like face expressed a worry born both from the balance and the heat of each bowl. He came to the Yonk to Rhean’s right first and happily exchanged a steaming bowl of soup for a cold, empty one.

As he twisted to deliver Rhean’s meal she moved her foot slightly to trip one of his spindly legs. He fell briefly and shot out of one his arms to steady himself on the table. In doing so he nearly dropped the full bowls of food he still carried. Rhean took the opportunity to grab hold of two of his arms and help him stand again. In the instant that she helped him rise, she slipped her palm over the one bowl of pasta he carried and let the poison drop. The swish of her dress and the minor chaos of the fall helped to obscure her delivery.

The Va-tess thanked her and delivered her another bowl of spiced oatmeal. He offered a meager apology, “Sorry sires, I was too ambitious to deliver them all at once.”

Barret did not offer a response. His barbles dangled from his face as he smacked his mouth in anticipation of another bowl of pasta. Rhean saw the tiniest tip of the poison disk bobbing in the bowl. She hoped its pale blue would be lost in the rainbow of exotic ingredients present in the dish.

Rhean had to wrestle her attention away from the others' food and forcibly concentrate on eating casually. Lhuk thankfully provided unintentional distraction as she talked Barret’s ear-holes off. It was clear that she had pushed her luck this evening and was skirting ever closer to annoying the host. Lhuk picked at her tray of grains and fruit when it became obvious that Barret was more interested in eating than talking.

Lhuk decided to surrender and pushed her chair back from the table, signaling she was finally going to rotate elsewhere. She tried her luck one last time however and moved her hand into Barret’s personal space, offering up her contact card. “Well if you ever need to discuss getting things past the border, I know a lot of caravan houses,” she said.

Barret eyed the card with derision but ultimately took it from her. He flipped it over in his hand a few times and then used its edge to wipe a bit of food from the side of his mouth. He smiled and his gills fluttered in boasting, “Certainly Lhuk, I’ll always keep you in mind.” One of the other Yonks at the table chuckled and Lhuk took the indignity in stride. With that, she was gone to some other table, nursing her pride.

Rhean remained at the table, committed to watching the coming fiasco. It came maybe a minute after Lhuk made her ignominious exit and right as the Yonk student sat down. At first, it looked like Barret was choking, but a Yonk’s breathing and eating tubes are separate. He pounded his chest with a fist and tried to cough out through his gills. He started to stand but his arms felt weak. He shook a little in his chair while his eyes bulged in his head.

His psion markings felt hot. They felt oh so hot, hotter than being in the chair almost two centuries ago. He could feel the needle poking at his skin while the proctor and the machine barked questions at him. Memories broke into his conscious mind and he didn’t have the strength to stop them. His mouth felt dry as the sensations of the past overloaded his brain and he started to hallucinate.

How long had he been in the chair? Had it been two minutes or an hour? What was his score? What would he look like when the test was finally done? The machine drew a long line across his abdomen. It burned like molten metal in his skin. He’d never told anyone but he was worried that he’d be ugly once the test was over. What was that last question? Something about time distortion in the L3 point between three moving blackholes. Could he ask for repeats? He couldn’t remember. Oh no, he hadn’t been breathing. Was the test over?

He was on the bridge of Dutiful. Some Marshall was reading off casualty reports while the Psion war council looked over a hundred reports a second. HIs head felt woozy as he skimmed through satellite images. Someone was saying his name but he couldn’t hear them. His arms felt weak. How high up were they? Was this orbit safe? Did the humans even have any orbital defense missiles left? How much longer was this madness going to last? It needed to end, he was so tired. Why was he so tired?

He was back in the college reception hall and there was no oxygen making it to his brain. Barret thrashed at the table as his gills turned a dark red. He tried over and over to cough. The Yonk next to him was trying desperately to smack him in the back and make him cough, but Barret was moving around too much, trying to grab something. Like an idiot child he started clawing at his gills, trying to get air in them and the clotting blood out.

He needed to clear his airway. He needed someone to strike him just in the middle of his back where the minor lungs connected to the pulmonary branch and his gills. Why wasn’t anyone helping him? Was he having an allergic reaction? It wasn’t in the air. Nothing was that quick and some other Yonk would’ve been affected as well. Was it something in the food? It couldn’t be, half of the Yonks had ordered the same dish. Lhuk’s business card! He’d wiped it right on his mouth! Foolish! Terrible discipline next to a foreign agent.

Barret was standing back from the table while a fellow Yonk nearly punched him in his back. It didn’t solve the problem. Blood was starting to drip from Barret’s overinflated gills. They’d already sustained enough damage that he’d need a transplant anyway. His eyes darted around the room frantically until he found Lhuk. He jumped at his table and clawed at the business card. His arms were starting to grow rigid. Each movement looked pained and forced. He had to steady himself on the table with both his arms as strength left his legs. His species’ double jointed arms didn’t ever truly lock in place and so he quickly fell.

His face impacted the bowl of pasta with force enough to knock over the table. In the chaos he had managed to get a grip on the card. A mess of food and blood splayed out around his now convulsing body. He crawled around to orient himself facing Lhuk. With their eyes locked he took her business card and smacked it over and over onto his now shattered dinner bowl.

The crowd stood back, so shocked at the hectic display that no one moved for a moment. A host of servants from the kitchen had appeared and were trying to administer first-aid. Their efforts were in vain. Barret had stopped moving. His last actions were clear to the guests assembled. He had condemned Lhuk. The table of Yonks had seen her hand over her business card shortly before leaving the table. They had seen him wipe it on his mouth. Her embarrassment and her foreign status were all they needed to condemn her.

No one said anything but they all stared at her. Vessa moved up next to Rhean as did Lhuk’s assistant. They knew they had to condemn her immediately if they were going to make it out of the college.

Lhuk took the stares of the crowd like a criminal on the way to the gallows. She took out her data slate and called the Rouen-Ta consulate for the Ring. “Hello? Yes, this is Lhuk. I am requesting diplomatic privilege.” The crowd began to stand in a wall between the exit and Lhuk. “You can check the record of my blood. I’ve earned the right,” she continued over the call.

The Yonks began to look toward the Kiran Fleet Marshall as the authority figure in the room. At first he was confused but then moved into the role of military commander. “Madame Lhuk, if you would. I am placing you under arrest for the murder of Psion Barret,” his vocalizer announced in commanding Imperium Standard.

It took a second for her ambassador’s translator to deliver the Kiran’s command. Lhuk stood rigid as a soldier and ended her call.

Rhean had to summon herculean strength to suppress her grin, but to her benefit no one in the room was looking at her. She gifted herself the enjoyment of beholding the now deceased Psion Barret. The former head War Psion for the War of Human Pacification lay in a puddle of pasta sauce and his own blood. The last Psion calculation he ever made was wrong.

#writeblr #hfy #sci fi #tales from terra #The Last Human Diplomat #writing

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maxwell-grant · 11 months

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I was reading one of your posts that crosslinked to another post about someone named the Grey Claw, but the link wasn't working. What's the Grey Claw all about?

I was planning to hold off talking about him until I could finish translating his comic or wrote a story with him proper, plans I still intend to get around to but are gonna be on ice for a long while. So in the meanwhile, let's finally set the record about this guy.

Said to be the star of Brazil's first horror comic, he is unarguably the first Brazilian supervillain, and I'll make an argument that he may very well be The First Comic Book Supervillain proper, inspired by the pulp master villains but something much different than the drab Fu Manchu clones of the time, something new and costumed and strange and fantastical in ways that were years if not decades ahead of his time. Predating the first recognized American supervillains in comics, at the midpoint between Fu Manchu and Doctor Sivana, between Fantomas and The Joker, between Doctor Quartz and Lex Luthor, there is: The Grey Claw.

Murders, underground connections, secret laboratories, opium dens, a secret society of crime and a mysterious super-villain challenging all of police and society. São Paulo was still in it's quiet beginnings, but even then, it dreamed of being a grand shadowy metropolis, like the ones heard about in movies, pulps and North-American comic books.

And that dream made the success of The Grey Claw series in the 1930s. For months, paulista readers eagerly followed the perils of Inspector Frederic Higgens at the hands of The Grey Claw's semi-anarchist gang, with exotic characters such as the robot Flag and the sensual Dame in Black.

Considered by many to be the first Brazilian horror comic - due to it's plot full of monsters, mummies, grave defilings and mentions of life after death - The Grey Claw is a direct spawn from the seedy and mysterious texts of north-american pulp magazines. Soon, those masked avengers and horrific villains in non-stop action would reach the world of comics, giving birth to the superhero revolution. - The City and it's Monster, by Worney Almeida de Souza

The Grey Claw was the star of a comic published in newspaper A Gazetinha starting July 1937, just short of a full year before Superman's debut in June 1938, and it would run for a hundred installments until wrapping up it's story circa 1939. The same newspaper would eventually debut both Superman and The Phantom (second only to Superman and maybe Batman in terms of imitators worldwide among Golden Age superheroes, and I say maybe because they overlap a bit but The Phantom was definitely the go-to superhero to rip off basically everywhere outside of the States) to Brazilian audiences, running alongside The Grey Claw during his brief run. The strip is a police procedural that gradually turns into a sci-fi horror story, a pastiche of film serials and pulp novels that focuses on the titular strange, powerful masked villain running amok in a seedy metropolitan area, and a police detective's efforts to uncover who is behind said villain.

The basic skeleton of it is a fairly cut-and-dry police procedural with a square-jawed Sherlockian policeman investigating a string of calling-card murders with more suspects and victims picking up along the way. Our heroes are mostly colorless and dull archetypes, although the protagonist Higgins is amusingly dickish at several times and I'll go to bat for the female lead Kay Tornhill, she's a fairly progressive character in spite of limited screentime as the detective's partner (not romantically, she joins the investigation to protect her younger brother from the Claw). She's a skilled fencer / marksman / equestrian / swimmer who doesn't really get to show these talents in the story, but they make a point of bringing it up, and I think Kay's presentation probably did the most in convincing people for decades that this comic was penned by a woman under a male name, because, well just look at her.

But as is Pulp Supervillain Lead tradition, it is the villain who has more than enough charisma to spare to carry us through, and a lot of what makes The Grey Claw feel distinct is that he winds up remixing stock pulp/serial villain traits in novel ways, the result of him making his debut in a fairly new and developing medium and growing stranger as the issues develop as he takes center stage more and more. Everytime he shows up, he brings with him things like televised death traps (television hadn't yet been brought to Brazil), underground torch-lit lairs, rabid ape monsters in chains who used to be humans, and a gigantic automaton who walks around making turkey noises and killing everything in sight unless reigned in by The Grey Claw, who names it "FLAG" and treats him with great fondness as if he were a best friend and a sidekick and a dog all in one and bemoans that one day, he will be able to give his berserk death machine friend the power of speech.

FLAG! FLAG! It is I, FLAG! Calm yourself, FLAG!

My poor FLAG! Some day, I shall give you the usage of speech...

Here's one thing about the character upfront: The story was drawn by Renato Silva (who also did Nick Carter stories) and written by Francisco Armond, but nobody knows who Francisco Armond is. For a while, the most likely candidate was Helena Ferraz, a poet and co-editor/director of the paper who had already published under the male pseudonym Alvaro Armando (named after her two sons), but relatives of hers confirmed it wasn't her, and so currently nobody knows who wrote this. I actually still have no idea who, if anyone, currently owns the rights to The Grey Claw, because although he's had a recent reboot (by the same creator of Doutrinador and in the exact same vibe, which means it's dogshit and I will not entertain it), he's long passed the point where he should be public domain.

The comic was a great success for it's time and would achieve a level of fame none of it's contemporaries would by being reprinted internationally. In 1939, it was reprinted without permission by Mexican editor Sayrol in 1939 and made it's way to European publishers through there. Between 1944-1947 it had a very popular run in Belgian magazine "Le Moustique", and he was adapted to France under the name "La Griffre Grise", which is where I discovered the character while looking for French pulp characters. Unsurprisingly, the character was never credited as a Brazilian creation, and for 50 or so years went almost completely undiscovered by even the most hardcore researchers.

Even in Brazil, nobody knows about this guy, and it was only in 2011, 74 years after his debut, that the character's entire saga was finally collected and reprinted in trade paperback by Editora Conrad. It's not cheap and it's really hard to find and order, completely out of stock in most online stores, but I got it as a birthday gift from my sister a couple years ago. I have it on hand right now to help put this post together.

It's a fairly weird comic that's in many ways aged really poorly but also tapped into some veins superhero comics and future supervillains would take a long while to even approach. The dialogue is a couple steps clunkier than even your average Golden Age comic, almost impenetrably outdated with Portuguese linguistics (a poisoned character saying out loud "Oh no! I've just been narcotized!") and weird malapropist English terms hastily translated and inserted in, and conveying the feel of it is even beyond my own skills at translating. It's a unique time capsule of how Brazil was still adapting to rapidly developing times, recently loosening up from centuries-spanning shackles of Portuguese and Spanish colonialism and with a newfound input of foreign media in pulps and serials and theater, and adapting and developing new subcultures and ways of expression as a result.

This was one of the first times a Brazilian comic would play around this much with USAmerican tropes and archetypes (cultural imports from the USA were all extremely new and viewed as a hot new alternative to European art and culture that had otherwise been the dominant form), a São Paulo-published comic set in a seedy, Depression-choked American metropolis, a big monument of brick and poison and inequality, which is exactly what São Paulo would become. There is something oddly alien and prescient about The Grey Claw because it's rooted in a fictionalized fantasyland idea of 1930s New York, that would nevertheless predate São Paulo's trajectory into becoming the country's big American-Style Urban Center, over the decades later when it would be the USAmericans' turn to tighten those colonialist shackles back on.

The dialogue also makes it pretty funny to read as a result and especially when the villain shows up, because The Grey Claw himself is pretty goddamn funny. Not just funny: I think his characterization is actually pretty damn impressive, and it's certainly the main draw of the thing for me. There's one sequence I'm going to post the whole page to be appreciated. I can't scan it so you'll just have to take my word as is that this is the whole page.

For context: It is revealed that The Grey Claw has been on a mad quest to unlock the mysteries of life and death via a formula that can bring the dead back to life. He monologues quite intensely about having unveiled and unlocked the secrets, saying to FLAG that he was the first step in giving life and intelligence into inanimate matter ("You would be a perfect creation, if only you were able to express your feelings", he says, to the horrid gurgling automaton who murders everything in sight), but that this time, he shall perfect the breath of life.

But it is eventually revealed, when he is exposed as Dr James Stone (a "famed young chemist, one of the most well-liked men around town") after his explosive demise, that he had in fact stolen the formula's recipe from a former partner, Professor Curberry. Curberry was the ape monster he kept chained in the basement, and that he visited in order to whip while it writhed in chains, with the narrative stating The Claw was "blinded by hate" towards him. At the end, it's revealed that Curberry's corpse coming back to life as a half-man-half-ape monster was a side effect of The Grey Claw "getting the dosage wrong", and we're just gonna ignore the can of worms that ending brings to focus on when The Grew Claw actually succeded.

For his test subject, he picked the corpse of the scientist's secretary he murdered within the 2nd strip, over a week well into death, and injects her at the dawn of midnight. And I'm gonna have to transcribe it:

Mid-night at last! The "Claw" begins the grand experiment.

The ghost's hand shakes slightly as he injects the licor of life in the dead woman's arms. And this is the first time the steely nerves of that insensitive creature have ever faltered.

"Twenty four minutes and...she'll be back to life! Ah, this time the triumph will be complete!"

"Will I fail yet again? No, failure is not possible. However, the experiment realized with Curberry was definitive...how horrible it would be if the experiment failed again!"

"It would be horrible! But no! If I fail, I will not allow her to survive...Yes! I shall exterminate her! Curberry and Mac-Flagan were more than enough!"

The minutes drizzle out slowly. As the pointers walk across, the mysterious ghost feels his nervousness grow.

They dedicated an entire page's worth just to The Grey Claw stressing and worrying and having a breakdown over the prospect of his formula not working again. But he does succeed, and the secretary comes back to life devoid of any memories and in great shock. Here's how the "insensitive creature" reacts

Despite his great dominion over his own nerves, the "Claw" can barely repress his restlessness. The living dead woman stumbles around her with a look of fright.

DAME IN BLACK: "What an emptiness in my head! It's all confused, scrambled, obscured!"

THE GREY CLAW: "This time I've won completely, FLAG!"

He later tells her that, with no memories of her own, she might as well not "cling to the past" and instead join him as his "Dame in Black". But in the aftermath of this, while he's busy boasting and jeering that the world belongs to him now, FLAG immediately zeroes in and tries to maul the woman before The Claw shoos him away. And then in the next strip, he writes in his diary about how his two besties are getting along now-

The next day, certain that FLAG would no longer try assaulting the "Dame in Black", the "Claw" penetrates a discreet cabinet next to the laboratory

"My memories...they shall be worth a fortune later..."

"I have triumped! She transcended the throes of death and returned to life, thirty minutes after the injection. She showed herself a bit stunned, undecided, wowed; she spoke, she walked, she fought…yes, she fought the idiot automaton, who was startled by the new companion…But now, they are both great friends."

"I have taught her the process of turning FLAG docile as a lamb. She is of sane mind; her mind has shed, however, all impressions of the "past". My voice, however, brought her memory-"

Did I tell you guys already that, before the police blows the two up, FLAG ultimately mauls The Grey Claw to death while his last words are him desperately trying to get the robot to calm down, saying "It's me!" instead of fleeing? I'm posting like one highlight, but to post all of them would be to post basically every time this character shows up in the story.

(Art by @zanzooeditorial)

There's just such a fascinating mismatch between how the narration and everyone sees him, as this stone cold invincible death-dealer turned death-master who holds the entire country in a grip of terror, and his characterization when he's actually on-screen going about his affairs. The narrative goes through lengths to paint him as an unfeeling soulless monster that is almost patently contradicted with most of what he says and does in-text, which veers widly between pitiable and even sympathetic to, actually worse than if he was fully pragmatic chessmaster genius the police perceives him as, and it's not even really played for laughs, it's more like a side effect of this being published peacemeal over 2 years and shooting for new directions and thus contradicting itself. He's afforded this emotional range that's just really unheard of, not just in the pulp villains he's based on but in all the Golden Age supervillains that came after him, it's something that only really started catching on with Marvel and their attempts to add extra dimension to their villains.

The Grey Claw is a brutal murderer and a cutthroat terrorist who has an innocent woman shot in the heart within the second page, and he's a wisecracking goofball who delighs in showing off his advanced intellect and machinery before his police nemesis. He commands vast invisible communications networks and armies of brutal thugs, and then he writes diaries and plays pranks and poses dramatically. He is a vicious man who turned his former partner into a mutant ape and keeps him locked up and whipped while constantly berating and cursing him ("Ah Ah Ah! I wish your university colleagues could see you now!"), but he did forsake victory and spared his worst enemies from a horrible end to save the life of a woman he liked among them. He is a deeply lonely gothic dweeb who casually engages in constant banter with the monstrous unresponsive automaton, whom he asks for input and talks to and holds tight in moments of emotion or camraderie that is entirely one-sided on his end, he barely restrains it from murdering everything in sight at all times and winds up being mauled to death the second that grip is loosened. He has one friend in the whole entire world and it's the one he made himself.

He is desperately driven to prove himself and have that blasted resurrection formula he's been developing for years work, even though we learn that it was apparently stolen from someone else the whole time and he was just, what, passionately pretending to himself that it was his life's work? We never get to see his face, only a last-minute identity as a respectable young chemist and "the last suspect anyone would have", and given he was indeed able to reverse death and decay, seemingly permanently, it would have been extremely easy for the series to continue, and for The Grey Claw to come back again and again as many times as it took.

He is humorous and childish and absurd and even quite likeable, but the bodies do not stop piling near him, and the more he shows up, the weirder and bloodier things get, until what began as a bog-standard police whodunit ends with a violent struggle between a former professor turned bloodied giant ape man and a titanic lumbering murder robot deep within an underground dungeon system, where said murder robot proceeds to slaughter everything in sight including the Dr Frankenstein-gangster-pirate who created him, as the police throws dynamite at them because nothing else has worked so far in stopping them.

By all means, The Grey Claw had everything necessary and then some to make it into the biggest leagues of supervillain history, on the strength not just of his initial outing but his inspired characterization and great success and popularity by his time. Today he's remembered only among diehard afictionados and collectors, for spearheading many firsts within Brazilian comics and being one of the very, very few figures among Brazilian superheroes/supervillains to achieve any kind of fame at all. The scene and history when it comes to Brazilian superheroes, and reasons for the lack thereof, is a topic for another day.

Some fans have tried boosting the character's rep by claiming he was an influence on several marginally better-known characters such as Marvel's Blazing Skull or the nascent villain protagonist genre of comics that would pop up throughout Europe in the 50s-60s, but even I'll say that's a stretch too far. Records show The Grey Claw was popular in his time and region for sure, popular enough to be reprinted without credit across the globe and popular enough to be remembered and redrawn in present day (can't discount the strength of a good design, at least), but he was an anomaly at the end, a missing link untethered and unprotected from time.

A gothic horror alchemist who skulks around medieval dungeons, weaponizing every latest technological advancement and social anxiety to his advantage and even some that didn't really exist yet. A totem of death obsessed with life, the first comic book villain to surpass death if only for a moment, an inhuman murderous monster who turns out to be as painfully human as it gets. A skull-faced harbinger of death who foregoes the cloak and scythe to don a panama hat and fancy apparell and The Chest Logo Of His Persona and Brand. Just one year before some gringo strongman was doing that but with circus colors and a letter instead.

Pfah, fashion visionaries never get their due in time. But if conquering death was a trivial task for The Fascinora, conquering time and returning to his true self should be achievable in no time at all!

Ah Ah Ah!...

Give or take some 90 years, maybe.

(Art by @necronauta)

#replies tag #pulp heroes #pulp villains #brazilian comics #the grey claw #o garra cinzenta #brazilian characters #superhero #horror #supervillain

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witch-sweets · 9 months

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The Haunted Prince Chapter 2

IVE DONE IT

Mornings always sucked even when he was The Prince he always tried to sleep in as long as possible. He was (and still is) a night owl so when morning came Snatcher burrowed as into his blankets as deep as possible. (he didn't want to deal with vannesa and her clingy nonsense in such a tired mortal state) but as suspected a knock came from the door "mister Prince your presence is needed in the dinning hall Her Majesty Vannesa has made you a lovely breakfast" it was one of the manors MANY butlers but the worst part was that this wasnt just any random butler. No THIS was Sir Salem a butler who PERSONALLY knew him! "Whut?" Was the only thing he could even comprehend to respond with in his tiredness. "Your Majesty are you alright? Your voice is quite raspy" oh yeah he'd forgotten about that. The Prince's voice was a lot higher with a peppy tone... NOTHING like how he sounded. "UGHHHHH....." This was the only sound that he could make as he (very pitifully) crawled out of the gigantic bed. "TELL THE BI- I MEAN THE QUEEN THAT ILL BE OUT THERE IN LIKE- I DONT KNOW- TEN? FIFFTEN MINUTES?" he really didn't care about formality at the moment he just wanted to be left alone. "alright Prince if that's what you wish" UGH it's gonna be so embarrassing for people to refer to him as Prince again his name is literally his title his full ROYAL title is: Prince Prince Sundew. Even though he hated her he very much knew that:Queen Vannesa Subcon Everfrost was a WAY cooler title to place onto contacts. Nonetheless he knew that wollowing in embarrassment would get him nowhere so he stumbled and tripped his way to the wardrobe. "Ok let's hope that I was gifted something purple at some point-" it was like the wardrobe of popular comic strip character Charles Blue it was all the same (embarrassing) outfit. after experiencing the horror of remembering why mortals wear pants and cringing from how stupid the outfit looked and how oddly comfortable it was he tripped his way out of the room. Stairs were going to be a problem and he knew this he saw the Kid playing a game where some girls younger brother died from falling down the stairs and he wanted to avoid death as much as possible. So VERY carefully he SLOWY walked down the stairs... And every maid and butler were looking at him weird. "Your Majesty uhmm do you require assistance walking down the-" "NOPE IM FINE" "ok if your sure...." Once he made it to he first floor he took a DEEP breath, fidgeted with his fingers, stared at his wrist fo a solid minute, and then sucked it up and entered the dinning room.

#a hat in time #ahit the prince #ahit snatcher #Fic #The Haunted Prince AU #ITS HERE #I SPENT TO LONG GATHERING IDEAS AND INSPI 4 THIS #BUT ITS FINALLY HERE!!!

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fanstuffrantings · 4 months

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About to ramble for a bit about a different series I read a bit, fell off of, and recently fell back into:

Now from the title I know people are going to be giving it a sideways glance, far. I will warn that in the second chapter someone attempts to sa the female lead, nothing happens, and nothing like it happens again. But I do want the warning there in case someone is surprised by it.

But also it's so insanely good I need to talk about it. Long ramble under the cut:

So the story follows Reinhardt Lincke only child of a Marquess who loved her unconditionally. She's in a marriage of convince to her loathsome husband, the crown prince, who she'd been engaged to since they were kids.

However following him making decisions to please his mistress that cause a rebellion, he disobeys the order from his father the king to go and quell the people. Instead commanding Reinhardt's father in his place, her father going with the agreement that once things finish, the prince will ask for a divorce. Her father dies in the war and while sobbing over her fathera casket the prince asks for the divorce he promised.

For 15 years the female lead agonizes over the loss of her father and her anger at her ex-husband, vowing that if time were to rewind she would get revenge. So when time resets to the moment she heard the request for the divorce, while the prince tries to negotiate what she'll get, she simply does what anyone would do:

When asking for that doesn't work she takes the next best course of action:

Obviously she gets imprisoned and eventually banished to her mother's old territories after having her father's stripped from her. Something done with orders from the king because he's aware of what mess his son has brought.

To the north she goes where she meets with a much younger, much more unintimidating, future knight of her husband who was known as a mad dog. Limited on staff she decides to help him shape up into a more useful tool for her and her revenge. She's not a warrior herself, but she'll use every other warrior she can.

Now to note: the male lead is 16 when they meet, the female lead is 24. There's a lot of mugginess when it comes to romance. It's messy, questionable. And I'm about to get into spoilers but if you go into this, know no one in this comic is a good person. I do beg you to read it though because it's so very very good. You can read it officially on tappytoon.

More art:

So first, the female lead actively avoids a romantic relationship with him, most of their time is spent apart when he gets separated and sent to war for 3 years after a handful of months knowing her. But the male lead has an obsession with earning her love. He'll do anything for her and she needs that type of person following the death of one of the only people she had left.

The manga is dark. The romance isn't sweet or cute, the female lead only agrees to a romance because she feels like she messed up the male lead so badly that she owes it to him to give him love at first so that someone could love him. He doesn't tell her that, in fact he's fine how he is and simply is happy to exist the way he does, but she believes she's the reason he ended up how he did. The male lead views her like his goddess and he's willing to dive into the pits of hell and be utterly depraved, hurting himself if it means she would even deign to think of loving him.

She wants the head of her enemy, and he is willing to bring it to her.

And never once are we given a moment to want her to have mercy on the prince, but it also doesn't feel like it's forced. We feel sympathy for the Mistress, even if she's a terrible person we understand she's a victim who hurts others.

Now for current spoilers:

It's also revealed the male lead has gone back in time, he has memories of being used and abused by the Mistress of the prince who becomes his second wife. He loathes her and wants her dead so his interests align with the female lead. He even still manipulates her and pledges his loyalty to the royal family just to win back the body of fl's father.

He brings her the body of her ex-husband after he dies and goads her into mutilating the body because he came to love her after finding out how much brutality she could have in her.

And then immediately following this she sleeps with him for the first time while still covered in the blood of her ex-husband.

This series is dark, twisted. Everyone in it is some brand of horrible and we know that. But it never pretends it's anything different. From chapter 1, you are aware the female lead is willing to destroy.

#i tamed my ex husband's mad dog #molten rambles #like #please read it if you enjoy dark/morally questionable content #its so well done #the characters are horrible people who are willing to be horrible

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cricketrocker · 2 years

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That Moment of Silence Between

Okay. I have decided to cancel my "True Confessions" series. That's my decision and there's not a rulebook by which anyone can call a penalty on that. I will tell you, however, that I still read the newspaper every morning. Yep, the real newspaper. Based on your age, world perspective, feelings about 5AM technology, etc.--you may be asking "What's a newspaper?" or "They still do that?" Yes, they do! I cannot even wake up early enough to see the paper-boy on his bicycle toss it over the Hell Bitch (that is still not quite fitting in the garage) and onto my sidewalk. But between 5:35 and 5:40AM every morning, I creep out my front door, pick up the paper, and scamper back into the house before joggers see me and my morning-hair.

I read all the paper. By "read" I mean that I generally parse headlines until I get to the comics. Then in the comics, there's this weird one I've started to read this year: "Judge Parker." In case you don't know--this is one of those "boring comics" that I'd never read until one day I did and never stopped. Judge Parker was a widower and a judget with two children, Randy and Ann. Later, Judge Parker married a younger woman, Kate. Initially he was a dashing figure who solved crimes and chased criminals, he kind of turned into a dull and serious judge who rarely strayed from his courtroom--and the strip began to transition away from the Judge and over to Sam Driver, a young attorney. I mean. I don't even know how Sam relates to Judge Parker. I couldn't tell you who Judge Parker was anymore. But anyway, there's a lot of drama. And today, Sam and Abbey are split up, their world is torn asunder and Abby says the above:

"...exist in that moment of silence between what was and what will be."

Silly Judge Parker. But not so silly today. What Abby said stuck with me as she described that place. That place between what was and what will be.

THAT PLACE BETWEEN WHAT IS AND WHAT WILL BE.

Okay--now I'm switching over to Top Gun: Maverick for a few minutes. Too close for missles, so I'm switching to guns. Ha ha. Mayday, mayday, Mav's in trouble, he's in a flat spin, he's headed out to sea. That's what Iceman said into the radio when Mav's F-14 flew right through Ice's jetwash. And the thing is, it was just a freak accident. But Mav's RIO (radar intercept officer) Goose hit his head on the canopy when ejecting, and the rest, as they say, is history.

So. Top Gun. Yeah. Remember how I'm sure I said something about how my parents never let me see any movies growing up? Top Gun was different. I was 12. My little brother was 8. My dad had been in the Navy. Not sure of all the backstory, but my dad took my brother and I to the Los Alatos movie theatre in Albuquerque to see Top Gun. I mean. Wow. WOW. That open scene and where the Top Gun anthem and all the jets and the fog and how it explodes into Kenny Loggins' DANGER ZONE. WOW. I'd gone to 12-year old heaven. But then when the profanity started flying and the TAKE MY BREATH AWAY SO MUCH TONGUE--I was suer that I was going to full time hell, and kept glancing over at my dad to notice him totally geeking out over the NAVY JETS, and then checked over at my brother to make sure his head was on fire, I settled in and Top Gun became my thing. I eventually bought it on VHS and made an audio recording of it on cassette for my Walkman. While other kids were playing real music, I was jamming out to just listening to the audio of Top Gun. I had the whole thing memorized. I was going to be a Naval Aviator. I don't know. Then when I was 13 we moved from Albuquerque to Texas.

Anyway. When I heard that Top Gun: Maverick was coming out way back in 2019 for summer 2020--I made plans with my dad (and brother) to go and see the sequel. How amazing and lucky it was/is to get that chance. But then COVID delay 1. Then COVID delay 2. Then FINALLY in May 2022, it happened. We saw it together, all the families were there. The genius innovation of reserved seats made the same row possible. Left work early. Met everyone there. Finally. And it was truly as good and actually much better than I'd thought possible. I sat until the very last second of the credits. No one else was left in that place. Went out to the lobby, hugged my brother and dad. It was a moment, truly. Sometimes you win, 36 years later. Lucky, blessed, charmed, whatever--it was a moment.

I'd see it as many more times as I can without being too weird and I guess soon it'll be streaming. But that's not why I bring it up. I bring it up because a cool thing happened--in July, I had to do something called The Predictive Index thing with HR. The Predictive Index is one of those new tools that help give you insight into yourself as a HUMAN, as an EMPLOYEE, and as a MANAGER or TEAM MEMBER. I'm in the process of doing this myself--but then also asking my team to do it so I can just be better. Hey, any insight is good insight? I guess? But when insight isn't good, maybe it can just be GREAT! I took this tool--which you fill out to measure your cognitive abilities, personality traits, and behavioral tendancies--and it said that I am a:

Right? Maybe this is the perfect tool. Or maybe I am. Whatever.

I'm not quite sure yet whether or not this is just kind of like a horoscope yet, because I haven't looked at what other people might be. But LOOK--the tool said I AM MAVERICK, and kind of hit the nail on the head with a few things. Even a jet, the F14 original Top Gun style and not the new F18 style--so maybe that is because I am an OLD Maverick. We'll see.

Maybe you probably won't be lucky enough to ever manage me, or manage anything for that matter, maybe you're a full-manager, maybe you're a freaking manager of managers, all you do is manage until you're blue in the face, but you should totaly take your PI and see if it somehow relates to your favorite movie or life or when you were 12.

Right now my favorite part of Top Gun: Maverick has to do with the character of Phoenix (pictured below). She is a badass and in one scene she has my favorite line of the whole movie. SPOILER ALERT--it happens when essentially Maverick has to STEAL A JET because he's just been fired so that he can prove to his mean John Hamm Admiral Boss that he is the best of the best and it really can be done--well he STEALS A JET and proves that miracles can happen--while he is doing it, right before he does it, they cut to Phoenix who says in the coolest voice ever, "Nice."

That's my point.

There's what happens in that moment between what has happened and what will happen. Sometimes I feel like I'm stuck right there where anything is possible. Like the Lottery. Like when the missle that's going to blow your jet smithereens is fired and when it hits. Like the space between jump and gravity and impact--or flight. Like that little blink between laughter and tears. There's that moment.

"Nice."

Worth the price of admission, even 36 years later.

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arkholt · 6 months

Text

Milt Caniff on being aware of your audience

From The Comics Journal 108, May 1986:

SABA: You seem to have always worked, first of all, primarily from an awareness of whatever the audience iS going to want or receive. I gather from that that you, in your considerations of what to do, it's usually been from the point of view of what the audience wants. You're not an abstract theorist of the comic strip. CANIFF: No, and I feel very strongly about this. It'd be great to be able to force something down the audience's throat. But that's not the deal, you're out there to give them what they want just as if you were selling oranges. You don't give them rotten oranges because they're rotten people. You give them oranges that they'll buy. If it comes down to that, it's not that mercenary, it's simply realistic. You'll be stuck with a lot of oranges if you don't give them good oranges. SABA: A lot of younger cartoonists today- and, I must admit, like myself-work primarily from what we want to do. What we think is the best artistic way to do it. Which is what you might call the "art for art's sake' approach. CANIFF: It's dangerous. SABA: Commercially dangerous. CANIFF: Not just commercially dangerous. It's dangerous in terms of your career. And of course, this comes down to being commercial. If it doesn't sell, you'll finally have to do something else to make a living. But, it's dangerous in the sense that then you're getting into the missionary attitude about what you have to say. Who's to say you're so damn smart, you know? Maybe you're wrong. The trick is to feel your ways, like a couple of boxers, feinting around until they find what they hope is the weakness in the other guy, and then letting him have it. And the same way, encountering what he has to offer you. The public can do you in so quickly by ignoring you. We used to have a year. Give a new strip about a year to succeed. Now you've got about two weeks. And I mean two weeks. Then, zoom, you're out of there, because the editor has about 200 things to choose from, and he's got 10 slots in his comics page. SABA: Do you not feel there's a danger of compromising what you would do by feeling what the audience wants? CANIFF: No, I don't regard it as compromise at all. It's a matter of getting your hold. It's like getting on a horse, and the trick is to stay on the horse. And you don't say, "You should obey my bridle." The horse has his own ideas. So the trick is to combine the two. And you must be a good rider. You must have good, strong saddle muscles, or off you go. And he's not going to ask any questions. He's going to throw you, that's all. He's dumb anyway, and you're a big deal about being a hero figure on top of Lochinvar's horse, it's not going to work. You've got to go along with that horse and do it his way, to a certain extent, and your way to a certain extent, and then you end up in a statue.

#newspaper comics #comic strips #comic history #comics #sequential art #milt caniff

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bitch1986miami · 7 months

Text

Keep Waking Up 🤯

I woke up and had cereal twice and it's all gone and I went back to bed a 2nd time. I slept maybe around 2:30 A.M. and woke up the 2nd time around 7:30 A.M. The 2nd time, my back hurt, feeling so much better, but it hurts a lot though I can handle it. It's the curve in my spine, doesn't feel as straight, though, so it's not as stopped up.

So, I tried to go back to bed. I usually don't get much sleep but am feeling better since cleaning more etc. It's lighter away from my bed, ran out of window covering for some reason, but not many flies, only 1 near my bed earlier.

So, the character of the fat fair Italian lady monitoring me in private is always popping up so excited to act like a total animal all hyped up like she's averting addressing me, all hyped up like it's scheduled that when I'm not as long term ill to keep bothering me with all these noises making me more long term ill. So many noises, with excuses, that it doesn't "paint a picture." It''s just a perverted comic strip. All this "burping" up bubbles and popping and locking it. ...

Oh, and today they have an "idea" that it's about me trashing myself like I have to immerse myself into feeling like people who are subpar. I'm just me and want to be better. For a long time, I couldn't connect with my peers and it was about feeling "in the action" with Baby Boomers. So, I was supposed to feel good with a Baby Boomer or so etc. I wanted to think about it, and I do and am open to other things. So, they got all excited and "came at" me and wanted it to be the experience that I'm surrounded by all these Generation XYers.

"I swear," they were all around me with noises while I'm in bed trying to go back to sleep. They keep "playing innocent" like if I used to feel bad if it's not as bad and I'm more accomplished in feeling love that it doesn't matter. It affects me physically, as well. They said when I met Petra Mullejans, I'm not supposed to be cute and they act energetic like it's in the mood for her, while I feel like a slug. So, they are just showing off and never act caring about me. They seem to be staring into space looking out like their eyes can't meet anyone but they do others. I'm a joke. I could have a great life, they are just jealous and trying to stop me. This is the whole picture, and I'm not waiting for my whole life to feel out for it. I said what it was. I don't need to polish my writing indefinitely on this. Maybe, there's no purpose in some people's lives.

I thought of someone younger annoying and just figured out they also make the excuse for a long time or like all along that if I come out better at least they accomplished something, but they do something that comes with hurt or some emotional or physical wound and then someone nice just comes up and kisses it and they say that means I have to keep suffering in order to feel anything, but I know they are weak links and don't "paint a picture" but pres the wrong button.

They are so selfish just bother me until satisfied something is wrong. This is physical stress etc. me laying in bed needing and being injured from them. People are uncomfortable for me to feel I deserve money, in their own way here. Orlando and Cleveland, why not do something? Something could follow me anywhere I more.

They are incessantly only concerned that it's about saying they are okay as they sit there and stare at me like something's wrong if I feel bad and need love and they just say I didn't do anything at all and reacted to what they did, though they kept saying at first not to have to be thankful even. My dad is dead and he "said" if I left it wouldn't happen from him!

#petra mullejans #andre rieu

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absolutechump · 1 year

Text

There is an insurmountable supply of novel, gut-wrenching, hilarious, or terrifying stories I could tell you about my life. I've seldom had a moment's rest. But if there was one story that I feel would give you the best perspective on who I am today, it's the story of the second time I ran away from home.

For some background, the first time I ran away was when I was 12 and living in Florida. I had planned for months, packed my bags full of money, first-aid supplies, basic clothing, and a bunch of blind confidence apparently. After leaving at one in the morning, I walked down empty highways for miles only to turn back in a moment of shame and have the cops called on me when I tried to break back into my house. I got yelled at. My mom never asked me if I was okay. It still makes me feel like an idiot.

The second time I ran away was the day of my highschool graduation. I've never been a person who asked for much and my birthdays have always been eclipsed by someone else, so a day meant to celebrate me are few and far between.

I had a really hard time passing school due poorly managed ADHD, but I had managed to thanks to the support of a few amazing teachers, who were very excited for me. Even my awful (now ex-) step dad had brought my family to Jersey to see me on my big day. All this to say, I was looking forward to it. False hope I'd soon find.

Because of the last minute passing grade I got, my name had not yet been put on the roster. I didn't get called and when the ceremony finally ended I couldn't find a single friend in the crowd. They had all been lost the previous summer due to a mix of COVID-19 and a very bad friend who did a great deal of damage in my life (but that's a story for another time). Regardless, the day moved forward to more disappointments. My ex-step dad used me for the rest of the day as his personal tour-guide, my younger brother called me some choice slurs, and my mother and sister sat idly by, saying nothing in my defense.

So sure, the day wasn't pleasant. But it's nothing I hadn't grown accustomed to and while it hurt, it didn't get me too down. I thought, surely I could vent some of these frustrations to my dad, surely he can at least get behind disapproving of my step-dad. My dad told me I was pathetic… among several other things. It was astounding really. 'There's simply no way this is how this day would go.' I thought to myself, 'it has to be a joke. This day has been cartoonishly bad. This cannot be real life, it must be some tv show episode or comic strip about constant mishaps.'

I wanted to do something. I never do anything and I've always prided myself on my sensibility and unemotional thinking. Being reasonable all the time makes you predictable. It makes people think they can do whatever they want to you and you won't budge. I was… I am so sick of people thinking I'm fine when I'm not. I'm human damnit. I have feelings. I get hurt. And everyone needed to know. So I grabbed a coat and I walked out the door quietly and I went until I knew I wouldn't be bothered and I laid down in that graveyard and slept.

When I woke up in the morning I was cold and angry and very very sad. My washing up took place in a supermarket bathroom and the rest of my day was spent sitting at a Dunkin donuts in somber silence. My dad wasn't worried and I knew it. When I finally got home no words were exchanged. I wanted to do something. I wanted to affect him. I wanted him to feel bad for not having even a fleeting moment of empathy for me. But at the end of the day doing "something" meant nothing. It didn't change the fact that I was still the responsible, dependable kid I am. So no worry was needed. He knew I'd come back home fine and without complaint, just like I always do.

#personal writing #this was the first iteration of my college admissions essay #i decided to scrap it bc it felt to whiny and didn't make me look good #just kinda sad and lame #and also pathetic

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the-sappho-of-lesbos · 2 years

Note

How were you groomed when you were younger?

I don’t mind talking about it but I’m also just going to give a massive TW to this and put it below so people can skip over it if it makes them uncomfortable

Also for the sake of convenience I’m going to call this woman my cousin but she was my uncle’s current partners daughter (and I was like mid teens and she was in her 30s - just to put things into perspective)

So we were never super close but after my dad had an episode that resulted in him taking a bunch of his medication, alcohol and pretty much just going running around at night and calling my sister and I saying stuff like come and find me or you’ll never me and then hanging up and doing the same thing my mum ended up calling my uncle, his partner and my cousin to come help. Because her MS was bad at the time she couldn’t really drive or get out of the car to go look for him. So she went with them and drove around to find him. After that we all become a lot closer. My sister and I would go to our cousin’s house and hang out with her kids and her BF at the time. However sometime after that her and my mum had a falling over some Christmas plans or something. I still don’t fully know what happened, but everyone got involved and it was a huge mess. I just stayed out of it but my sister ended up messaging our cousin and said what she did was uncalled for. Anyway, after that my cousin hated my family. But she still “liked” me. I was going through a hard time at school and I was dealing with my sexuality. I didn’t really feel like I had anyone around me. So I really started to cling to my cousin and her bf. I was texting all the time and I would meet up in town with them without telling my mum. That’s when things started to get a bit weird. She would tell me stuff like my whole family hates me because of my sexuality, that my mum is just using me for money, that my sister is going to turn out to be a drop out slut/skank and it will be all my fault because I’m her sister. She would talk about stripping in front of her bf around me. Would talk about taking me to strip clubs and like sexual makeout sessions between her and her bf. This was also at the time that I was hanging around a local comic book shop and there was this one guy there (who I stupidly at the time thought was just trying to be my friend lol ) who was probably just a bit younger then her. He would buy me stuff and tell me I’m not like other girls and I’m really mature for my age or smarter then other people my age, would try to meet up with just us two, would hug me weird etc etc. like nothing too bad but definitely looking back I’m like ehhh that’s pretty creepy. Anyway she knew all of that and just thought it was cute and never like pulled me up on what was happening. She used to smoke a lot around me too - to the point where I would end up smelling like cigarettes. So I would have to stay out even later to try and get the smell off me so people at home didn’t realise. But she would cry and hug me a lot telling me my mum was using me as a pawn to get to her and hurt her so I felt a lot of guilt over that.

The first thing that broke the dam was I had to go into town with my sister one day after school to get her some new shoes. I wasn’t thinking straight and panicked so I send my cousin a message saying I’m really sorry but could she not go into town that day (I could have said I just wasn’t able to meet up but my dumb brain was all frazzled lol) she absolutely lost it at me. Kept sending me all these mean messages. I had such a huge panic attack over it that I actually semi fell out of the bus and onto the ground. My stuff went everywhere it was awful. After that I ended up coming clean to my mum about the whole thing.

After that I didn’t really have much to do with her. Expect for one time which was fully and entirely my own fault because I was an idiot. I was really upset and ended up messaging her. I genuinely can’t remember what I said but I know I was feeling really suicidal around that time. She ended up replying with my uncle hates me and he never wants to see me again and he thinks I’m a terrible person. Which didn’t help because my pop on my dad’s side either passed away before that or shortly after. So the next time I saw my uncle was at the funeral. I was genuinely so scared to go because I thought he would yell at me. He ended up pulling me aside later afterward said he never said those things and he loved so it all turned out okay 😊

But yeah that’s the main gist of it. I mean there are like a little more details but that’s the main thing. Sorry if I made absolutely no sense at all explaining that. I’m 23 now so my whole memory of the events isn’t the best since it happened a while ago.

But thank you for popping in! And I hope you have a very nice day ✨💞💞

#tw #tw trauma #tw grooming #tw abuse #at e #least my therapist at the time said it was grooming so lol #because she also used to buy me like books and stuff #but she got super weird at me this one time I bought myself a book and said it was one of my new favourites 😂#she looked like I’d asked her to eat poo or something

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caitimetravels · 3 years

Text

she’s insignificant

chapter 1: we only see each other at weddings and funerals

the umbrella academy x (fem) reader

disclaimer: i do not own the plot/storyline of the netflix tv series and i do not own the umbrella academy characters.

warnings: mentions of death (rip reggie), mentions of overdosing

masterlist

we start our story in a lonely house. it was never quite the normal childhood house for the family that occupied it but it was definitely more lively than it was at the moment. she missed that. the house felt too big, too quiet.

most people get the chance to move out when they grow up and that’s what the children of this house did. they weren’t comfortable in this house. she thought it was unfair. she never got the chance to grow up. she was stuck, trapped in the stupid house she could barely call home. maybe she could have had a wonderful life. met a nice man or woman, started a family.

he stripped that life from her. tore it out of her grasp and toyed with her again. she was so sick of this life, she wanted an escape.

she hated him. so why?

why wasn’t she happy he was gone?

--------------------------------------------------

october 1st, 1989.

on the 12th hour of this day 43 women around the world gave birth. this was unusual only in the fact that none of these women had been pregnant when the day began.

sir reginald hargreeves. eccentric billionaire and adventurer. he resolved to locate and adopt as many of the children as possible.

he got eight of them.

number 1 “luther”

the abnormally buff man steps out onto the moon, bouncing along to put his trash in the pile made before. he stares out at earth with a sad look. a beep on his arm breaks him out of his thoughts. he flips the material off his wrist, taking a look at the transmission sent to him.

number 2 “diego”

a masked man hurls the attacker into the wall, taking him out. he steps around the corner to help a scared family. “you’re family’s safe now” he goes to walk away, pausing at the tv. the news plays in front of him, stopping him short.

number 3 “allison”

a beautiful woman with curly highlighted hair steps onto the red carpet in an equally stunning red dress. she smiles and poses for the many cameras pointed her way. several reporters call out her name. it is then that one is whispered something. suddenly the questions change, they become more personal, asking about her father. a woman walks out and whispers something into her ear. her expression changes and they quickly walk away.

number 4 “klaus”

a man with short messy black hair jumps off a bed, saying his goodbyes to several other men in the room. he collects his things from a man through a window. he’s chucked a coin and he smiles giddily, looking rather happy to be out. immediately he goes back to buy drugs, consequently overdosing. he wakes up in an ambulance having been resuscitated. he notices the news, frowning.

number 7 “vanya”

the violinist beautifully playing to the empty theatre stops, taking deep breaths to calm herself down. she leaves, wandering down the street when she notices the news on a tv showing through the window. she whispers one word to herself, in disbelief.

“dad..”

number 8 “y/n”

the h/c haired girl sat in an all too large library reading an anton chekhov play. she looks up at a small knock on the door. a chimpanzee dressed in a suit stands solemnly in the doorway. she raises and eyebrow, confused by his behaviour. he speaks softly, informing the girl of what her siblings were currently learning all over the city.

“oh..”

--------------------------------------------------

number eight. the demon.

the same h/c girl stands in a line with her 7 other siblings. a younger vanya is asked to leave. they all avoid looking at her. she was different.. at least that’s what their father told them. eight didn’t understand it. she was different too and no one asked her to leave.

as usual eight is pulled away from her siblings as they train together. she is taken to a separate room, one built for her. it’s plain and white, much like a cell in a mental asylum.. or at least what she imagined a mental asylum to look like from what she had read in stories.

she hates this room but she hides her emotions just like her father taught her to.

“don’t let them control you, number eight” he scolded, “you should be in control”

--------------------------------------------------

the doors to the academy are slowly pushed open. vanya steps into the house, taking in how big the house was. it had been around 13 years since she’d been here. she took small steps through the large room, looking up at the chandelier. she turned towards the parlour where her mother sat by the fire.

“hey mom” she called out softly. she received no answer.

“she probably won’t answer” a new voice called out and vanya stepped further into the parlour to see her h/c haired sibling. she sat atop the bar, reading a book and not sparing her a glance. “she’s been lonely ever since you all left.. gone a bit weird i guess”

vanya’s mouth fell open. how was she the same age? y/n hadn’t aged a day since they left. she was still in her 16 year old body. at her sister’s silence the h/c finally looked up.

“what?” she raised an eyebrow, “you look like you’ve seen a ghost”

“vanya?” a voice sounded out from the stairs. the brown haired woman turned now spotting their other sister, allison. “you’re actually here..” she huffed, surprised but not at all disappointed.

“hey allison” vanya greeted carefully.

“hey sis” allison’s voice was soft as she walked over, offering a hug. their moment was ruined by diego.

“hah” he scoffed, “what is she doing here? you don’t belong here. not after what you did” he didn’t even look over at them, making his way towards the stairs.

“you’re seriously going to do this today?” allison asked in disbelief but diego only ignored her. “hmph, way to dress for the occasion by the way”

“at least i’m wearing black” he shot back, disappearing up the staircase.

“don’t mind him” the two girls turned towards y/n who now had her book tucked under her arm. “he’s just grumpy he had to come back”

“you know what.. no, um.. maybe he’s right” vanya shook her head, ready to leave. “i shouldn’t-”

“forget it” y/n stopped her, “he doesn’t matter.. i’m glad you came, all of you. even if you don’t want to be here.. i- i want you here”

“i’m glad you’re here too” allison nodded, agreeing. y/n gave them a soft, small smile before moving away. the two older women shared a look as she disappeared. she had been lonely..

--------------------------------------------------

vanya stood near the bookcases, looking over the old umbrella academy comic books and articles. she looked through the books until she came across her own. gently pulling it from the shelf she eyed it over, hopeful. there were creases in the fold. she opened the cover, revealing her note to her father.

pogo interrupted her, clearing his throat. she smiled, crossing the room to embrace him. he noticed the book she was holding.

“do you know um.. did he ever read it?” she seemed unsure, not wanting to know the answer she expected. slowly, pogo sighed,

“not that i’m aware of” he shook his head, “i’m afraid those creases are from ms y/n. she loved reading it when you first released it”

they both glanced over at the painting of number five.

“how long has it been since five disappeared?” vanya asked,

“it’s been 16 years-” pogo was interrupted.

“4 months and 14 days” they both turned to see y/n entering. she either didn’t notice or ignored their stares, moving across the room to grab a new book.

“did you.. did you ever find him?” vanya breathed, waiting in suspense for the answer. y/n finally looked at them now, pausing. she had always told her father that she didn’t, that she couldn’t but maybe just maybe she did.

“..yeah”

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fvrxdrm · 3 years

Text

5 Times

Pairing: Damnation!Leon Kennedy x Reader

Warning(s): None

*****

4 times Leon didn't confess his love and 1 time he did.

One

It was the giggles that sailed upon your boat, the laughter, the smiles. You both saw the funny in everything and that was your bond. You could be serious too; you loved deeply of others more than what was generally accepted. So you guessed the humor was how you let out the tension that kind of love brings. In those silly moments you were perfect, and they were the sweetness you needed in rough times. That's what friends do, right? It's the love that makes doors in emotional brick walls, the love that makes everything possible.

That's what Leon always thought. It was so cordial and unique in a way that he felt like what he valued so much was somehow outlandish and alien. He couldn't distinguish what comes out of him whenever you were with him and every tingle that raises hills on his skin was a puzzle he was unable to solve.

"I'll see you around," you mumbled against his chest.

"Yep." Leon unwrapped his arms around you albeit slowly, reluctant for some reason, and smiled through his pursed lips. "I'll see you around."

He watched as you wended your way from his house and into your home, a teasing tug pulling his lips at the ghost of your own against his cheek.

Two

Under the dim lights and the colorful ornamentations, your raiment sparkled against the gleam, catching the eye of many guests, predominantly Leon. You looked like a princess wearing a headband that imitated a crown, a top and a pair of pants embellished with a winking glint that could be mistaken as diamonds from afar, and heeled leather boots that comically made you look tall. Your hair was in a loose and messy braid with a few strands hanging just beside your face and a light chain that twisted along your H/L H/C locks.

Leon was in awe, no doubt. His focus was glued to your appearance. Even when his friends were making random conversations with him, he found it unbearably hard to keep his icy blues away from you.

"You should just ask her out, you know. You've been staring at her with heart eyes the entire night," Chris spoke as he followed the trail of Leon's gaze towards you.

Leon broke away from his stupor and shook his head at the man's voice, his blood rushing towards his neck and face.

"What? No, no. You're mistaken. I-I don't like her like that."

"You sure? Last time we were drunk you were yelling about how much you love her right into my ear."

"We were drunk, Chris."

"And? What's that saying again? A drunk man's words are a sober man's thoughts?" Chris simpered as Leon's eyes widened in surprise.

"What? Th-that's not true!" He denied.

"Mhm, sure. Anyway, my girlfriend's probably looking for me now," the taller and bulkier man said. "At least ask her to dance."

As Chris' footsteps faded away into the beat of the music, Leon thought about what he had said.

Did he actually like her, or was it just something he was confusing himself with? Either way, you were still a treasured dear to him and whether or not his heart was romantically beating for you, he would still value you the same, although he would probably be a bit clingier if you did end up together.

For now, he'll just ask you for a dance, go with the flow, and see what happens.

Three

The night rode in on a horse of pure midnight velvet, beckoned by the stars under the glow of a full moon. As the colors of the day rested, perhaps dreamt of the morrow, the forest became its monochrome beauty, darkened greens and golds that made an ever-changing, ever-present puzzle, question and answer united.

Fire danced beside you as you and Leon laid against under the constellation of stars and talked the night away, smiling and laughing at every jest that was told.

It felt pleasant to be in his arms and he felt warmth as a wild heart beat in his bars.

"This one," you began, leading his fingers towards a raised and silvery part of your skin, "I got this when I was younger. I got stabbed by a pencil."

"A pencil?"

"Yeah. My friend and I got into a fight and it was buried, like, 3-fucking-inches inside of me. And holy shit, my teacher didn't fucking notice it while I was bleeding profusely. I was leaking hamburger helper!"

Leon busted a gut and pulled you towards him even more as he shook in laughter.

You went on and on about the most absurd things that had happen during your childhood until you lost all energy and eventually fell asleep in Leon's arms.

You looked peaceful, he thought. Your face was so serene as if nothing had really affected you in any way. The world was cruel, but you only sought for the brighter side and stood along it with your back turned to the hell it truly bore. Your lips were parted lightly, and hair just a tad bit messy from all the exaggerated movements you'd done while telling your stories and tossing your head back while laughing. A part of your skin was showing as your top rode up, and he couldn't the blush that crawled up to his face when realized his hand was rested on that patch of skin.

He smiled.

Maybe he did like you, or love you. If his admiration wasn't enough, then his heart reassured him.

Four

"Oh, fuck!"

You swam away from Leon as fast as your arms and legs could fight against the water as he chased you, muscles and quads aiding him. Compared to you, he was more skilled in this type of stuff while you had chicken legs with barely anything of assistance. So it was no surprise when he caught up to you with spider hands and wrapped his arms around your waist. He tickled your stomach, the bareness of it making the stimulation all the more patent and making you guffaw while squirming in his arms.

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry!" You cried in between laughter. You turned around to face him when you felt his hands making a stop against the side of torso and looked at the wonders of his eyes steadily and intensely.

You didn't notice it, but Leon's breath hitched at the proximity of your faces, the hot air that flew out of your nose hitting the droplets on his face. You were in a daze. Both of you. It felt so intimate and bona fide that for a second that was your only reality.

Your fingers trailed up his chest, neck, and finally his cheek, and for a moment, your hand was still on his face with only your thumb moving to stroke the scar that was stripped away from his hair. Leon furrowed his brows. The inside of your lip was lightly bitten as you thought about your next action for a moment. But decided that fuck it, life is short. If he felt the same way than congrats! But if he didn't, well, it's either he'll pull away or kiss back with no purpose. And hey, what's the matter with making out with your best friend?

And so, you drew a bit closer, albeit rather slowly in case Leon wanted to pull away. But seeing as he was copying your motions, you saw his intention and pressed your lips against his in a shy lip-lock.

Five

Leon tugged on his tie as he looked at the people dancing around inside of the venue, his heart doing a little dance of its own when he saw you smiling with the crowd.

He blew a sigh, the breeze intertwining with the air. He could see the party from the balcony: flashes of different color schemes, the swaying of dresses as the women moved, the chattering of people as they drank the glasses of champagne. He couldn't believe it. He couldn't believe this was all about you and him; two souls entwined by love.

"I see you didn't invite me," a sultry and velvety voice said from beside him. He knew who it was and it didn't faze him anymore to see her appearing uninvited as she always did.

"What are you doing here, Ada?"

"What, I can't go see two of my favorite people anymore?"

"Well, it always ended in a mess, anyway, so what's the point." Ada chuckled in response and leaned back against the railing, the smile her giggling left still ghosting on her face. It was all jokes, fun, and games to her for a moment until she turned serious and gazed at you from a distance where you couldn't notice.

"Take care of each other, Leon. You both are worth more than what you give yourselves credit for," she muttered. "I wish I could've given her the life you're giving to her now. But I can't, and I'll remain like this until I die."

In the depths of her mind, Ada reminisced on the time when she was in Leon's position. She gave the love you needed and wanted, and cared for you in so many ways. But she was a mercenary, a wanted one at that, and she knew that one day, everything would be thrown into a void or burned until it turned to ashes. So, she broke what you had off and handed you to Leon where he could give you a better life.

Leon couldn't say anything. It seemed rude and odd but he remembered when you knocked on his door, drenched in rain water and sobbing everything from your chest. It hurt to see you like that. And so, he promised. He promised to be the best husband he could ever be and shower you with everything he could give you.

"Leon!" Your voice rang out as you ran towards him with a wide smile on your face, startling the both of them.

Leon turned towards where Ada stood but saw that she was gone as if she was nothing but an apparition that was made by his mind.

He was befuddled for a moment, pondering about his encounter with the woman, but found his heart racing as you came closer to him.

What transpired was long forgotten and all the world could see how Leon mimicked the smile that defined the joy you brought to him. He was just happy to share such a beautiful moment with you and he optimistically wondered about what was ahead of you.

He pulled you towards him and spun you around as he battered your face with kisses, whispering 'I love you's and so many more sweet nothings against your cheeks while you laughed in his arms.

Hidden within the shadows was the raven-haired woman, imitating their smiles as she watched the intimacy from afar. She felt like her mission was done and although it hurt, she was thankful for what she'd done. Leon was going to give you the life you deserved and he was going to fill the holes she'd left.

*****

This was rushed. Lol. And I'm using my phone. How was it tho?

This was the outfit I had in mind. Feel free to change it though.

#leonkennedy #leon kennedy x reader #leon kennedy x you #leon+kennedy+imagine #leon+kennedy+fanfic #leon kennedy imagines #leon s kennedy x reader #leonxreader #resident evil #leon+s+kennedy+x+reader #resident evil fanfic #resident evil x reader #resident evil damnation

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gc-genshin · 3 years

Text

Chapter Four: Epiphany

Epiphany (n.): a sudden insight or understanding of something.

Pairing: Various x female reader

Summary: You get an idea of what's going on… sort of.

Warnings: Explicit language.

Word count: 12.7k (holy shit my bad)

A/N: Uh… *taps mic* hello?? Is this book still relevant?? Did y'all miss me? Lmao, lot of shit happened the past months so I wasn't really able to focus on this story unfortunately. I hope this extra long chapter makes up for the wait! Plus this isn't proofread and I'll add the taglist later, I'm ready to post this chapter.

Happy reading!

Your first week of working at the Wangshu Inn was… uneventful, to say the least.

Other than being hectic trying to take care of guests because of Lantern Rite, nothing really surprising has happened. Which you suppose was a good thing.

After your little drinking incident that happened a few days ago…

—

“Perhaps…” Xiao started and you waited with a baited breath, nervous as to what he was going to say. “You are in need of some assistance, you imbecile.”

You looked at him with hazy and unfocused eyes. In your drunken stupor, you could only respond to him with an embarrassed laugh.

“Aha, yeah…” You trailed off awkwardly. Your eyes then began to droop dangerously low as a sudden wave of drowsiness had hit you. Xiao could only watch as you instantly passed out in his arms while letting out small snores. The adeptus let out an aggravated sigh as he picked up and carried you to your shared room, already regretting the decision of taking care of you.

—

It was safe to say you didn't see him for a day or two.

Today was Friday. One day before the Mingxiao Lantern was released. Goldet had decided to already pay you for your two weeks because of how hard you were working, which you tried to decline, but Goldet was as stubborn as you so you reluctantly accepted the money.

You were sweeping the reception area, bored out of your mind. You were done with all of your chores but you still wanted to work and be productive. You turn your head when you hear Goldet heave a sigh.

“Lantern Rite is nearly here, why don't we decorate the inn this year?” She asks you.

That line sounds familiar. You tilt your head, feigning confusion. “Lantern Rite? What's that?”

Goldet looks at you surprised. “Oh! Don't you know? On the first full moon of the first month each year, Liyue celebrates the Lantern Rite. It's a festival to commemorate the heroes from the past. After dark, the people release Xiao and Mingxiao Lanterns into the night sky.” She began explaining. “Ah... "May the flames of wisdom spread to all, and never be extinguished." This is the meaning of the lanterns. We believe they act as the beacons in the night, guiding bygone heroes back to their homeland.”

You gaze at her in wonder. “That sounds like a magnificent festival.” If I cried during the cutscene from the game, I wonder how much of a mess I would be if I was able to see it in person.

“Do you want to get involved in the Lantern Rite?” Goldet asks.

You nodded. “From the way you were talking about it, it sounds like a wonderful experience.”

Goldet clapped her hands excitedly. “That's great! The festive period leading up to the day itself is all part of the celebrations. If you're looking to take part, it's not too late.”

You thought for a moment. “Wait, so you're telling me that I don't have to work?” You asked Goldet.

She let out a small gasp as if she was shocked you would even suggest such a thing. “Oh Archons no! I would never ask you to work on a holiday such as Lantern Rite!” She exclaimed. You blink at her a few times, caught off guard by her slight outburst, and she laughed at your expression. “Haha... During this time, we pray to bring peace and ward off bad luck. Liyue locals call it "bidding farewell to the old and welcoming the new."

After hearing Goldet exclaim, Huai’an, her husband and the innkeeper, came to see what the commotion was. “Verr, are you alright? I heard you yell.” He asked with a concerned look.

Both you and Goldet turned to him. “I'm fine, dear. I was just explaining to [Name] the history behind Lantern Rite.” Goldet tells him. “Can you believe this will be her first time celebrating it?”

Huai’an gives you a look of surprise. “You've never experienced Lantern Rite?”

From the way they were talking about it, you almost felt embarrassed to say no. You hunch your shoulders and meekly shake your head at him.

Huai’an noticed your timid state. “Well isn't this exciting?” He quietly asked Goldet. He then turned to you. “Lantern Rite truly is a wonderful experience so I have no doubt that you'll enjoy it. Plus I can teach you how to make Xiao Lanterns!” He gives you an encouraging smile.

You give them both a wide eyed stare. “So… I'll be able to go to Lantern Rite? You don't need me for anything?”

Goldet shook her head while laughing. “No, you silly girl. Everybody will be in the city to release lanterns, so the inn won’t be very busy that night.” She gives you a soft smile. “Go and have fun.”

Shit I might just cry. You looked at Goldet teary eyed. “Boss!” You wept comically. “You're too kind, boss! Paying me in advance, giving me a roof over my head, letting me go to Lanter Rite! What did I ever do to have such a wonderful boss?” You cried out and glomped her into a hug. You were totally using your younger appearance as an advantage to act more childish because you would have never done this with any other boss.

Goldet laughed at you, reciprocating the hug. “And what did I do to deserve such a wonderful employee? You've been working so hard since you've started, it would be cruel of me not to let you go and enjoy the festival.” She tells you while swaying side to side. You've come to realize that Goldet was starting to become like the older sister you never had.

You both pull away from the hug. “Plus,” Goldet began, “I paid you early in advance so that you would be able to go shopping.” She gives you a cheeky smirk. “Can't have you wearing my clothes and your uniform the entire time you're here.”

You laugh at that. “You're right.” You grin at her and Huai'an. “Thank you both so much, for all that you've done for me.” You say sincerely.

“Of course [Name]. Now go have fun shopping.” She gestures to the balcony. “I think you've just about swept the floorboards down to splinters.”

You thank Goldet again and give her one last hug before running to your room to change. But as you were making your way up the stairs, Goldet called out to you. “Oh [Name]! Um… also,” she trailed off uncertainly.

You crinkle your eyebrows in confusion. “What's up?”

“If you're able to…” she cleared her throat. “... could you... try to convince Xiao to go with you?” She asked. She then let out a sigh. “We're not close, I wouldn't know how to ask him myself. But it seems that you've grown familiar with him.”

You look at her confused. You? Being close with Xiao? Yeah, the thought sounds nice but there's no way you have already ‘grown familiar’ with him in just a week. If anything he tolerates you at best since you've forcefully wormed your way into his life.

“Really?” You tilt your head. “Xiao doesn't seem to be one for crowds.” Sorry Aether, I might have to steal your idea. “I mean, I'll try and convince him but I can't make any promises.”

Goldet let out a resigned sigh. “I suppose you're right… Anyway! Just thought I'd mention it. You should get yourselves down to the harbor.”

She then shoos you off with a smile. “Get going! If you leave too late, the city will be crowded with people and you won't be able to make the most of it.”

You nod enthusiastically. “Yes ma’am! Happy Lantern Rite!” You wave to her and Huai'an.

They both wave back. “Happy Lantern Rite!”

—

You burst into your room, practically vibrating in excitement at the thought of having your own clothes. You hurriedly started to strip out of your uniform, unaware of the curious gaze that came from your current roommate.

Xiao was currently leaning against the railing on the balcony that accompanied the room and was wondering why you were in such a rush. As he turned to question you, he instantly turned back around upon seeing you reach behind yourself to start buttoning your dress, keeping his gaze on the scenery before him. Xiao let out a deep breath and rubbed his forehead in aggitaion. I just can't get used to her doing that.

However, when you start to undress, you notice Xiao quickly turn around out of the corner of your eyes. Halting your movements, you call out to the young adeptus as you buttoned your uniform back up. “Sorry Xiao! I didn't know you were there!” And you made your way to the bathroom.

Hearing you say his name made Xiao tense up in surprise and furrow his eyebrows. He was one hundred percent certain that you would have just kept undressing in the middle of the room, being the shameless mortal that you are, but you didn't. You instead moved to change in a different room. Huh… perhaps she does have some decency.

You quickly came out of the bathroom after that interaction, dressed in Goldet’s clothes for the last time. Seeing Xiao still out on the balcony, you walk up to his side while enjoying the warm breeze.

Xiao looked at you from the corner of his eyes, nearly seeing the excitement radiate off you. “Where are you going in such a rush?” He asked. You perk up when hearing his voice and swivel your head to him.

“Goldet is letting me go experience the festival!” You exclaimed excitedly. “Isn't that great?”

Xiao rolled his eyes and let out a scoff. “What's so great about releasing glowing trash into the sky only for it to return to the sea?”

You hummed. “Well, it's like any other tradition I suppose. It's not so much the actual festival or ritual that matters but more of the meaning behind it instead.” You shrug. “Plus it gives me an excuse to go shopping, you coming with?”

“No.”

You let out a groan and roll your eyes. Even though you were expecting it, you couldn't help but feel a little disheartened at his answer. “Why not?” You question. Although I already know why.

Xiao gave you a look. “I don't enjoy large crowds of people.”

You let out a sigh. “Fiiiiine,” you drawl out, “no means no so I guess I'll stop bothering you about it.”

Xiao raised an eyebrow. Really? She's going to quit just like that? He looked at you dubiously.

“For now.” You added mischievously with a smirk.

There it is. Xiao should have known better. He found out that you were too damn stubborn to give up easily pretty quickly. He shook his head at you. “Do you plan on leaving soon?” He changed the subject.

You nod. “I was going to leave as soon as I changed but then I saw you and just had to talk to you.”

That made Xiao scrunch his eyebrows. “You just had to talk to me? Why's that?”

You look towards him and give him a closed eyes smile. “Because I wanted too! Plus you're my friend and I enjoy your company.”

Xiao gave you a once over. A heavy feeling settled in his chest when you referred to him as a “friend”. That word left a bitter taste in his mouth. Everyone that he ever considered a friend had either died or left him in some way, and he never bothered to keep in contact with the current adepti, so the thought of you wanting to be in his company was worrying. Who knows how long it'll be until his karmic debt finally catches up to him…

And drags you along with him.

Xiao narrowed his eyes at you. You immediately took notice of his tense state and swallowed at the harsh glare he gave you. Uh oh. You let out an uncomfortable laugh. I don't think he liked that.

“What have I told you about getting close?” He asked harshly which caused you to curl in on yourself slightly.

“In the thousands of years that have passed, I have taken countless wraiths,” he began, “so if you want no trouble, it’s best you keep your distance from me.” After he finished scolding you he turned to leave, going to do who knows what. You watched as he seemingly stormed away. Slightly panicking that he was leaving because you had upset him, you steeled your nerves and asked the first thing that came to your head.

“But what if I want trouble?”

Your question made Xiao stop in his tracks. He turned to look at you confused. You wore an expression that was full of confidence that waived slightly.

“What if I don’t want to keep my distance away from you?” You continued. “You told me to “stay out of your way or all that awaits me is regret”, right?” You quickly stride over to him and jab a finger in his chest.

“Well guess what honey? That's a risk I'm willing to take.” You tell him fiercely. “I make my own choices and if I happen to make bad choices then I will deal with the consequences of those choices.” You place a hand on your chest and glare at him determinedly.

“You have no say in what I ultimately can and can't do, Xiao. Only. I. do.” You finally finish and place your hands on your hips defiantly.

Xiao looked at you blankly, trying to process what you had just said. When he finally did, he looked at you sternly. “Is that really what you want?”

“More than anything.” Your eyes bore deep into him, not wavering in the slightest in your decision. “You saved my life. The least I can do for you is offer you my company and assistance in any way for not letting me splatter all over the ground. Even if you don't want it.”

After a few heartbeats of silence, Xiao reluctantly gave in and sighed while crossing his arms. “You are the most troublesome human I've had the displeasure of knowing.”

You smiled triumphantly. “Glad we're on the same page!”

“Well I'll be heading off now. Do you need anything?” You ask as you start heading towards the door.

“Nothing in the city would be of use to an adeptus.” He responds. “Don't forget your blade.”

You promptly made a 180 turn and walked towards your nightstand where a little dagger laid. Since you weren't able to fully wield a bigger weapon and don't understand how they do the whole whooshy thing to make their weapons disappear, I think he called it “particulation” or something like that, Xiao insisted that you had some form of weapon to protect yourself with.

You grabbed the knife and clipped it parallel to your belt, allowing your shirt to conceal it. “I don't see the reason as to why I have to have this thing. Aren't the Millelith scattered along the road to Liyue?” You then turn to Xiao and tilt your head. “Plus I can just call you whenever I'm in trouble.” Though that would probably be a last resort for me.

“I don't trust those lousy soldiers.” Xiao huffed.

You raised your eyebrow and pursed your lips, nodding in agreement. “Yeah… I don't blame ya.”

“Anyways,” you shrug, “are you sure you don't want to come with me?”

Xiao only shook his head. “Best you go alone. There's no need for me to be there.”

You look at him with big doe eyes, trying to convince him to at least walk you to the harbor. “But the road from here to Liyue Harbor is long and full of dangers... I need someone to ensure my safety!” You exclaim, seemingly scared.

“That's why I gave you your blade.” The adeptus gave you a bored look upon his handsome face.

You then startled Xiao when you clapped your hands into a prayer position and brought them to your head. “O Vigilant Yaksha, please escort me safely to the city!” You cry out.

Xiao tensed at your sudden decloration. Normally, Xiao was used to other’s praying to him and hearing their wishes but when you did it, it made him feel… fidgety. You seemed to hold yourself in a high regard that you didn't let anyone have control over your actions, so it was odd to see you with your head bowed to him.

Xiao crossed his arms and looked away from you. “Quit that. There's no need for you to bow to me.”

You perked up, an excited gleam in your eyes. “So you'll come with me?”

“So be it. I won't be going into the city though.” He retorted.

You throw him a smile. “That's fine!” You straighten back up and open the door. “Come on, let's go!” You wave at him.

Xiao shook his head at your antics and began to follow you. And to think that she's a grown adult. “Wait.” He called out.

You stop in your tracks and look back at Xiao confused. “Huh? Why?”

Xiao walks up to your left side and grabs your bicep. You looked at him even more perplexed. What is he doing?

You then began to feel a strong gust of wind swirl around you and in an instant, darkness flooded your vision and a familiar feeling of nausea came over you. When you opened your eyes again, you saw the gates of Liyue below the hill you were on.

You put your hands on your knees, trying to keep from puking everywhere, as you begin to process that Xiao had just teleported you both to Liyue.

“Here we are.” Xiao released your arm.

“Would have been nice to know beforehand.” You groan. After feeling like you weren't going to empty your guts out, you look up and let out a small gasp.

In front of you stood an archway that led to the bridge that entered into the city. Looking beyond that, you could see the beautiful Chinese architecture of the buildings that filled Liyue Harbor with the magnificent decorations of Lantern Rite along the city. You gaped at the scene before you. Holy shit…

Xiao swiveled his head to give a hard stare. “Don't go and cause any trouble.” He warned you.

That caused you to let out a snort. “Yeah, yeah, sure. What are you, my dad?” You raised an eyebrow at him. “Why did we teleport?”

“So I wouldn't have to listen to talk my ear off all day.” He responded bluntly, causing you to let out an offended gasp. “And I told you,” he continued before you could tell him off. “so long as you are in Liyue, it is my duty to protect you and not let any harm come to you.” Xiao reiterated.

“Wow… you really are my dad. But that's a pretty big responsibility. You sure you can follow through with it?” You question.

“Are you questioning my abilities as an adeptus?” He asked gruffly. He then leaned in closer to your face. “I always take care of my duties.” Xiao finished while staring you straight in the eyes.

Your eyes widened in surprise at his declaration. The way he said that so firmly and confidently made your chest feel light before tightening, a familiar feeling of guilt settling in, causing you to look away and frown. Shit… not now.

Noticing the change in your demeanor, Xiao tilted his head confused. “What's wrong?”

Shaking your head to get rid of the self-deprecating thoughts that were forming, you look up at him with reassuring eyes. “It's nothing.” You tell him with a small smile.

Going back to your seemingly old self, you give Xiao a look. “Alrighty,” You turn towards him and hold out your pinkie, “pinky promise it then.”

He gave your pinky an inquisitive look. You furrow your eyebrows in confusion. “You have heard of a pinky promise before, right?”

Xiao squinted his eyes at you. “Is this another strange human gesture?”

“Eh, I wouldn't necessarily say it's strange. More endearing than anything.” You hold your dominant hand and make a “give it” gesture. “Give me your hand.”

Xiao hesitantly puts his hand in yours. You close it into a fist, only leaving out his pinky. You then bring your own pinky and lock it with his own. “Now say your promise again.” Xiao looked at you reluctantly. You let out a groan. “Come on dude, just do it please?” You say giving him your best puppy dog eyes.

Xiao sighed. “I promise, so long as you are in Liyue, that I will protect you and not let any harm come to you.” He looked at your still entwined pinkies. As he said this, a gentle breeze drifted between the two of as if it was sealing the promise between you and Xiao. Xiao watched as the wind suddenly made your hair flutter around you and the way the afternoon sun casted just the right amount of shadows on your features as you looked up at him. At the moment he didn't see the fifteen year old features that made up your current face but the mature, more sharper features that he saw from your most recent pictures and student ID.

“Now what?” Her hands are really warm.

You give him a smile. “That's it!” You then let go of his pinky, bringing your hand back to your side.

He looked at you confused. “That's it? Nothing special happens?”

“The special thing about pinky promises is that the person who broke the promise gets their pinky cut off by the other person who made the promise.” You say to him.

“That's quite gruesome for such a little act.” Humans confused him so much.

“I think it was more of a scare tactic for kiddos than anything really.” You shrug. You then started walking to the city. “I'll see you later Xiao!” You call out with a grin.

“Be careful.” He told you with a subtle nod, which made your smile somehow even brighter, before teleporting away. You then turned back around and practically skipped to Liyue.

—

You made your way down the hill and soon came upon the gate that led to the city. In front of it stood two guards, you couldn't bother to remember their names, who gave you a nice ‘welcome to Liyue Harbor’ as you walked past them. As you walked over the bridge you saw the Mingxiao Lantern standing tall in all its glory. Continuing on, you finally stepped foot in the city. With a look of amazement on your face, you spun around while trying to take in all of the decorations.

I can't believe I'm actually here… You let out a disbelieving laugh and began to feel your eyes become misty. Am I really tearing up right now? Oh my God I am. You shake your head trying to get your emotions in check. As you carry on walking further, the infamous somewhat creepy shipowner, Bolai spots you looking around like a lost puppy. Which you really weren't, you were just hypnotized by the decorations.

“Hello young lady!” He called out to you. You whipped your head towards him, slightly startled. When you realized who was talking, you made a small grimace. Oh… it's that really creepy guy that I don't like.

As he makes his way towards you, you put your guard up as you straighten your back. “Hello.”

Bolai raised an eyebrow as he stopped short of you. “What a strange accent. Are you perhaps foreign?” He questioned.

You furrow your eyebrows. I have an accent? “Something like that.” You reply with a shrug your shoulders nonchalantly and a ghost of a smile on your face. Ain't no way in hell are you talking about yourself to him.

Bolai narrowed his eyes at you suspiciously. How interesting. “Quite the mysterious one, you are. Tell me, young lady, where do you hail from? Fontaine? Sumeru?”

“Sure.” You tell him halfheartedly. Why the fuck is he grilling me so hard? I should probably give him some sort of answer so he'll leave me alone. “I traveled a lot so I never really had a distinctive place to call home.” You smoothly lied. Well… it wasn't entirely a lie.

Believing your little fib, Bolai’s face softens into a look of realization. A young girl like you didn't have a home growing up? Is that what you were hinting at?

Taking notice of the subtle pity look that crossed his gaze, you groan internally. Great, now he's going to think that I never had a home. Whoops!

“Well just know that you are always welcomed here in Liyue,” He reassured you, kinda. Your eyebrows raise slightly in surprise from that. “And if you ever need anything, and I mean anything, you can always come to me.” He finished ominously while giving you a smile that seemed a little too kind.

You leaned your torso away from the strange man and looked at him mildly creeped out, yet kept a polite smile on your face. “Duly noted… thanks.” Trailing off, you maneuvered your way around and sped walked away from Bolai. A fake shiver runs through your body. Ugh… just as creepy as I remember.

You continued further into the city. Your head was constantly moving from left to right, up and down, taking in the gorgeous decorations that littered the buildings and streets. Pulling out the Mora pouch that Goldet gave you, you recounted the money that you earned from your first week working. 60,500 Mora… that should be plenty right? You paused. Actually, isn't that a lot of money? This seems like a lot for just a week of work. After pondering a few moments, you shrug the thought off.

You made sure to visit almost all the food stalls that were on the harbor to experience Liyue’s cuisine authentically, as well as how to make Xiao lanterns. After doing all the activities you possibly could, you made your way up the gigantic steps that led to the main road of the city.

As you made it to the top, you put your hands on your knees trying to catch your breath. From being on your feet all day from working plus the training the Xiao puts you through, it's safe to say you were pretty damn tired. You're kidding me. I can not be this out of shape! You thought.

Heaving one last breath, you straighten back up. You looked out to see the streets bustling with people with a slight grimace on your face at the crowds of people. You absolutely hated crowds of people because being around them just completely drains your energy.

However, your curiosity and astonishment motivated you to move forward. As you walked through the city, you kept an eye out for any clothing shops because you needed your own clothes, since that's pretty much what you came here for.

Letting your gaze continue to search through the windows of various different shops, your eyes landed on an article of clothing that caught your attention. You quickly make your way to the store and opened the doors, causing a bell above the door to let out a little chime and alert the store owner and other shoppers of your presence.

“Welcome!” They called out. You give them a small wave in response as you make your way over to the outfit. Once you made it, you reached your hand out to feel the smooth silk of the fabric. It was a beautiful sleeveless, purple dress that reached the middle of your thighs. Around the skirt of the dress laid two longer pieces that were a darker purple and draped along the sides. The top of the dress was two different colors, the right being a dark purple that were the same color of the longer pieces while the left was a lighter purple that matched the skirt, and had a high collar and with an opening in the chest area. The dress also adorned what looked like a wide obi belt, but you weren't too sure. The whole dress was trimmed with gold accents and had gold swirls all along it. Next to the dress were a pair of low ankle boots that matched the color theme.

This was the one.

You yoink it off the rack and look around for the owner. When you found them, you asked if they had any dressing rooms to try on the dress to which they led you to one. You begin to strip as soon as the door closes behind you. I really hope it fits otherwise I'll be heart broken.

As you slipped the dress over your head you zipped up the side and fastened the button on the collar. When you turn around to face the mirror, your eyes widen in surprise. Holy shit… I've never had a dress fit me so well. The dress sat magnificently on you and accentuated your curves. However… You looked down at your chest to see that your bra from your universe was most definitely visible thanks to the opening that went from the collar of the dress to the belt. I'm gonna have to do something about that. Looking back in the mirror you took notice of your tattoos. Those as well. You thought for a moment. Plus I don't particularly like wearing dresses unless I have leggings or something underneath it.

You begin to take the dress off and put your other clothes back on. I wonder if they would have some kind of body suit or something… You put the dress back on the hanger but continue to hold on to it. Making your way back towards the racks of clothing you begin your search.

As you walk through the aisles of clothing, you notice a black full body suit hanging on one of the racks. Bingo! You thought with a smile. You made your way to the suit, but you failed to notice the other body that was backing up into you.

Feeling a sudden weight on your right side, you stumble a little due to the force. However, the person that ran into had lost their balance and started to fall to the ground. Eyes widening in surprise, you were quick to catch them by grabbing them under their arms. When you looked down to check on the person to see if they were okay, you felt your breath hitch.

Staring back at you startled are lavender colored eyes that were lined with dark, thick lashes that belong to the one and only Ganyu.

You begin to feel your cheeks grow warm as you look down at the gorgeous half-adeptus in your arms. Ohfuckohfuckohfu– “Are you okay?” You asked worriedly. When you looked up to see what could have caused her to trip, you were greeted with the sight of a man that looked a little too pleased with himself. As he looked away from Ganyu and up to you, you made sure to give him the coldest glare you could manage – which made the man’s smirk falter and back up just a little.

Fucker.

Ganyu blinked as she came back to her senses. “Y-yes! I'm alright.” She gives you an appreciative smile. “Thank you.”

You return her smile. “It's no problem.” As you help her upright, you lean closer to her ear. “Do you know this guy?” You whispered. She looks at you from the corner of her eye and subtly shakes her head no.

You looked up to the creep and gave him an ‘innocent’ smile. “Is everything alright here?”

Realizing the slight hostile undertone in your voice, the man gives you a strained look. “Y-yes, everything's fine!” He stuttered and gestured to Ganyu. “I just thought I'd give this young lady a little help.”

Your eyes flicker from her back to the man. “She looks to be just fine on her own. What does she need help with?”

The man’s opens then closes, trying to think of a good excuse. “I… uh… well, she-!” You cut the man off with a raised hand.

“I'm going to stop you there. You're making yourself look like a fool.” You chastise. “It's obvious what you're doing and you're clearly making her uncomfortable. I suggest you stop now before you keep digging your grave even deeper.”

Eyes blown open and mouth agape, the man stares at you in shock from your words. Was I really that obvious? The man thought. He felt himself cowering in on himself under the heavy gaze of the two girls.

“Well, whatever.” He scoffed while avoiding eye contact, seemingly trying to act tough. “It's not like she was actually attractive.” Yet he received no reaction from either of the girls, as they continued to stare. The man began to fidget from their silence, then quickly turned around and left the store.

Both you and Ganyu let out a sigh. “Thankfully, that's over.” You tilt your head at Ganyu. “Does that happen often?”

“No, that was the first time it has ever happened.” She reveals. She then bows toward you. “Thank you for helping me.” When Ganyu straightens back up, she places a hand on her chest while giving you a sweet smile. “My name is Ganyu, secretary of the Yuhai Pavilion.”

God, she's even more gorgeous in real life… You flush a little as you give her a small bow in return. “It's nice to meet you, Miss Ganyu. I'm [Name] [Last Name].”

“It's a pleasure to meet you as well, Miss [Last Name]. Again, I do apologize for bumping into you earlier.” She tells you.

You wave your hand dismissively. “Just call me [Name], please. Calling me by my last name makes me feel old.” You joke.

Ganyu tilts her head curiously at you. “If I may ask, how old are you?” She asks innocently.

You pause, processing her question. Damn it. “I'm fifteen.” You manage out. I really hate telling people that because then they'll treat me like a child…

“Really?” She wonders aloud. “You're quite mature for your age and you seemed to know exactly what to do in the situation that happened earlier…” She trailed off.

You freeze hearing that. Oh shit! Has she caught on already?! You let out an awkward laugh. “Yeah, mature…” You say while making a subtle face. Although Xiao would disagree otherwise.

“Anyways, thank you once again for helping me. Is there anything I can do for you in return?” Ganyu asks.

You bring a finger to your chin and hum in thought. “Actually there is.” While Ganyu waits patiently for your request, you give her a smile. “Would you know of any stores that would have a body suit?”

The beautiful half-adeptus perks up in response. “As a matter of fact, this store has the same ones that I wear. Let me show you.” She then beckons you to follow her.

You do so with a skip in your step.

—

You and Ganyu soon left the shop, with you now wearing your new outfit that screamed main character. Thankfully the body suit was able to cover all of your tattoos. As you continued through the city, making light conversations with Ganyu, you watched as two little boys, who looked to be around the age of ten, chased each other around the streets while laughing. You watched them with a small smile. While you didn't like kids, you didn't necessarily hate them either. Plus it was kind of your profession to be able to take care of them as well. But you definitely didn't want any kids. Well, right now at least.

You watched as they weaved through the legs of strangers, trying to avoid getting hit. However, as the one with light blue hair raised a hand out in order to tag the other little boy with darker blue hair and an asymmetrical cut, a man that wasn't paying attention to what was in front of him went to take a step and kneed the poor boy hard in the head. The pale blue haired boy went down in an instant.

You let out a snort and raised a hand to your mouth to hide that you were laughing. “That poor kid just ate shit.” You couldn't help but let out a few chuckles at the kids unfortunate situation. Ganyu looked at you confused from the corner of her eyes. I'm a horrible person.

“I'm so sorry, buddy! Are you okay?” The young man that hit the boy asked as he crouched down. He received no reply as the boy laid still. The man started to shake the boy, seemingly beginning to panic.

“Hey…” He called out once more. “Are you okay?” He shook the boy frantically. Still, he received no reply. “This isn't funny, kid. Wake up!”

You stopped laughing and straightened your posture as your ‘doctor mode’ kicked in. Now you were getting concerned. Thousands of scenarios ran through your mind as to why the kid wasn't getting up. Is he concussed? Is he faking it? What's going on?

The other little boy that was running away, turned around when he heard yelling. His orange eyes widened in fear. “Chongyun!” He cried out and began running back to his friend.

Realization dawned on you. Those kids were Xingqiu and Chongyun. Your feet moved before you even noticed it as you rushed towards Chongyun and the man. Ganyu jumped when you began running and raised a hand to stop you. “[Name], wait!” But you were too far away to hear her over the people walking around.

A crowd began to form around the two to see what was happening. This caused the young man to panic even more. He looked up to the crowd. “Is there a doctor here? Please, anyone!” He cried out desperately, yet no one made a move to help.

You shook your head at the crowd. I see that the Bystander Effect is still a thing here. Xingqiu made it to Chongyun before you did, then got to his knees as soon as he reached him and started tapping Chongyun on the shoulder. “Chongyun?” He asked. “Wake up ‘Yun!”

You finally made it to the crowd and started elbowing your way through. “Excuse me! I'm a doctor, please let me through!” You yell out to the pedestrians. They turned and looked at you skeptically. Your lip curled up into a sneer at the people's ignorance. I don't have time for this.

“I said MOVE!” You yell out startling them in the process and forcing them to move. “Thank you!” You say exasperatedly, not forgetting your manners apparently. You quickly made your way over to Chongyun and got to your knees behind his head, gently placing your hands on either of his cheeks in order to stabilize his neck, in case he had injured it. Xingqiu noticed you and looked at you with tears eyes, worried out of his mind for his friend.

You looked to the man who started this whole mess. “What's going on? What happened?” You asked hurriedly while you checked Chongyun’s pulse.

The man seemed to be in a daze as he answered. “This kid just came out of nowhere. I had accidentally hit him with my knee and now he's not waking up.” He explained shakily. “Then this other kid just now showed up.” He pointed to Xingqiu. He then looked at you confused. “Aren't you a little young to be a doctor?”

You look at the man and give him a glare. “I don't think that matters right now since I'm the only one who even bothered to step in and help the poor child.” You glared at the rest of the crowd when you finished which made them avoid eye contact with you. Murmurs started to float through the crowd. What was this girl doing? Who is she? She's clearly too young to be a doctor.

You ignore their not so quiet whispering and look over to Xingqiu, giving him a reassuring smile. “Hey buddy,” you started softly. “What's your name?”

The normally composed boy let out a sniffle. “Xingqiu.” He responded. “My friend, Chongyun, isn't opening his eyes! Can you help?” He asked pleadingly.

“Don't worry baby, I'm a doctor.” You tell him, the pet name subconsciously slipping out of habit from when you worked with kids. “I'm going to help him and make sure he's okay.” Seventy beats per minute. Normal heart rate. Nineteen breaths per minute. Normal respiratory rate. If he wakes up soon, it'll most likely be just a slight concussion. You mentally start going down the checklist for head trauma patients when Chongyun finally opens his eyes.

Quickly taking notice, you yell at the crowd. “Everyone back up please! The kid is waking up so give him some space!” The crowd immediately backs away. You look back down at the boy who was wincing from the sunlight.

“Hey honey,” You gently try to get his attention, “can you hear me?”

Chongyun opened his eyes fully and looked at you, confused before squinting from the sunlight. From his position on the ground and the way the sunlight was hitting his baby blue eyes, you were able to see that his pupils were equal in size. Good. No anisocoria, no serious brain damage.

“Wha…?” Chongyun groaned out. With your hands on his cheeks, you gently tapped them to shift his attention back to you.

“Hey honey, look at me.” You instructed. “What's your name?”

The boy paused for a moment. “Chongyun.” He answered.

Alright that's one question. “It's nice to meet you Chongyun.” You smile at him. “Chongyun, do you know how old you are?” You continued.

“I'm ten.” He responded a little quicker this time. You nodded your head at him. That's two.

“Do you know where you're at, Chongyun?” You made sure to keep saying his name so that he would focus on you.

After a moment of silence, he responded. “I'm in Liyue.” He then closed his eyes and let out another groan. “My head hurts.”

“I know, dear. One last question, okay?” You tell him. He nods. “Do you know what happened to you?”

He thought for a moment. “I was… I was chasing Xingqiu,” said boy perked up in response to his name, “we were playing tag. I almost caught him then it suddenly got dark.” He opened his eyes and looked at you. “Why did it go dark?”

You give him a look of reassurance. “Your noggin got hit pretty hard and you fell down. You were asleep for a few minutes but you'll be okay.” You tilt your head. That's the last question. A and O times 4. He's alert and aware. “Does your head still hurt?” You asked as you began to palpate his neck, feeling for any serious injuries. You removed your hands when you found none.

He nodded. “Do you feel pain anywhere else? How about your neck?” He shakes his head in response.

“Good. Do you feel like sitting up for me sweetie?” You ask. Chongyun slowly moves to sit upright with your help and you guide him to the curb to sit on so he was out of the road. Xingqiu crawled over to his friend to see how he was doing, with you reminding him to overwhelm Chongyun. As you look out towards the crowd, you see Ganyu, who was carrying a cup of what you assumed was water, make her way over to your little group. She hands you the cup, which you thank her profusely, and you give it to Chongyun.

“Drink it slowly.” You advise him. “I don't want you choking on me now that you're awake.” You tease gently while sending a subtle wink to Xingqiu, causing the young boy to giggle.

He gingerly takes the cup from your hand. “Thank you ma’am.”

“Thank you, ma’am!” Xingqiu tells you as well.

“It's not a problem.” You reassure both of them with a smile. As soon as they saw that Chongyun was okay, the crowd dispersed and continued what they were doing. However, not without whispering amongst themselves how seemingly a teenager knew exactly what to do when taking care of an injured child.

You continued to sit with the two boys to monitor Chongyun, in case something suddenly went awry. Ganyu stayed as well, astounded at the young girl before her.

“What you did was quite impressive Miss [Name]!” The half adeptus praised. “I didn't know you were so vast in medical knowledge, and at such a young age too.”

You let out a few chuckles. “Well you only just met me today Miss Ganyu.”

She then gives you a sheepish look. “I was surprised to see you help him so quickly,” she leans in closer to whisper to you, “given that you were laughing at him earlier.”

“Oh… yeah,” You let out an uncomfortable laugh. “As long as they're not seriously hurt or in any danger, kids getting hit or falling is hilarious to me.” You let out a wince. “Wow, that sounds awful.”

“Yet you didn't hesitate to help him as soon as you saw that something was wrong.” Ganyu pointed out.

You lifted your hand to pet Chongyun on the head. “Well I've always wanted to be able to put my life to good use and help people in some way, so what better way than this? Helping people in their times of need.” You give Ganyu a cheeky smirk. “I may act all tough but I'm actually a big softie.”

“I'm well aware of that now.” Ganyu chuckles.

As you visited with the half-adeptus and two young boys, you failed to notice a pair of red eyes gazing at you with a look of mischief.

—

After triple checking that Chongyun was okay and him constantly telling you that he was, you wave the boys goodbye who returned it in full. Ganyu then tells you that she should continue running errands for Lady Nigguang and you may or may not have freaked out a bit inside when you heard her name. Waving to the half adeptus as well, you continue to wander aimlessly through the city.

You soon found yourself at the Wanmin restaurant, chef Mao working swiftly in the kitchen. He soon brought out your order and after paying, you made your way to the south side wharf. As you make your way to the dock, you sit down on the edge and look out at the ocean before you while swinging your legs. You welcomed the smell of salt water and the ocean breeze that fluttered around you, yet it did nothing to quarrel your racing thoughts.

I can't believe I've already been in Teyvat for a week and still don't have a fucking clue as to how I got here in the first place. You slide your hands down your face and clasped them together in front of your mouth. And Xiao has been no help to me in that matter unfortunately. The guy still doesn't talk to me that much anyways. Plus training with him has been difficult as well. I've learned that he's a super strict teacher and I've only managed to construct only two Geo items with him this past week but that was only when I was extremely frustrated or upset, so I have no clue as to how I'm going to be able to properly control the element… or that ‘particulation’ thingy with the weapons as well.

You drop your head in your hands and let out a whine. This is all so confusing! I really wish someone or something just give me some fucking answers!

You then look up and run your hands through your hair. Turning your head to the left, you see the giant Mingxiao lantern that was ready to be released once it was dark enough. You let out a sigh and try to relax. I should probably start looking for a place to watch it when it releases tomorrow. You stand up and start walking back to Feiyan Slope. Soon you crossed over the little bridge that connects Chihu Rock and Feiyan Slope. You decided to stick closer to the buildings to try and stay away from the crowds.

However, as you were too preoccupied to not hit anybody, you didn't notice a hand reaching out from an alleyway until it was too late. You felt a harsh tug on your left arm which caused you to let out a yelp. You quickly caught your bearings and when you turned to slapped your assailant, you froze as you saw a pale face that looked to be thirteen years old inches from yours. Red eyes with strange, floral shaped pupils came with the face and was framed with dark hair that faded into red.

Holy… Hu Tao? You wondered. But she looks a lot younger? Younger than this “me” that's for sure.

You give her a confused smile. “Um… hello?” Am I just going to meet every character in Liyue today?

“You're the one Mr. Zhongli told me about!” She exclaims. “It's nice to meet you! My name is Hu Tao!”

You swore you felt your soul leave your body when you heard his name. ZHONGLI?! HE’S LOOKING FOR ME?! OH SHI-! You're cut from your thoughts when Hu Tao starts pulling you. “Hey! W-wait!”

“C’mon! Mr. Zhongli is waiting for you back at the funeral parlor. It seemed like he wasn't too happy with you so we shouldn't keep him waiting any longer!” She giggles.

Yup, I'm officially dead. Maybe now I can go back to my world and be normal again.

Soon the young girl brings you to the doors of the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor. You gnawed on your lower lip. Fuck… I'm more nervous now than I was when I was taking the MCAT. Maybe because I'm meeting a FUCKING GOD?! You begin to slightly hyperventilate, the reality of the situation finally sitting in. FUCKFUCKFUCKFU-

You are once again snapped out of your internal freak out by Hu Tao pulling on your arm. The girl pushes the doors open while bringing you with her. The inside is about what you expected from a funeral parlor with coffins lining along the walls along with different types of shrines. After a few twists and turns, you and Hu Tao reach a very intricate door with a plate on it that says “Consultant: Zhongli”. You clench your jaw as you could practically feel the intense aura that radiated from him even through the door.

Without even knocking, Hu Tao busts through his door. “Mr. Zhongli! I found her! This is the girl you were looking for right?”

The wind gets knocked out of you upon finally seeing him in person and your knees about damn near buckle from underneath when you make eye contact with him. If you thought Xiao’s eyes were intense, then you don't even know how to describe Zhongli’s.

The Geo Archon narrowed his eyes towards you. “Indeed it is, Hu Tao.” His deep voice rumbled throughout the entire room and shook you to your core. “You may take your leave now.”

The young girl pouted. “Aw… and I wanted to see you scold her.”

A quick glance from the corner of his eyes was enough to make Hu Tao take the hint and leave, however not without whining on her way out.

As soon as Hu Tao was gone, Zhongli stood up and took large strides towards you, causing you to start panicking. Hu Tao, why did you have to leave me alone with an Archon?! Soon the man towered over you, forcing you to look up at him. The shadows that casted over his being due to him blocking out the overhead light made his striking amber eyes all the more intimidating. You felt like you were about to be pounced on like a mouse cornered by a barn cat.

Then Zhongli lowered his face closer to yours. “So you're the outlander who took my vision without permission.” He accuses. You feel your breath hitch in your throat and your palms beginning to clam up. You had never been more intimidated in your life and you have fought against people twice your size no problem before!

“Oh…! Um, t-that was me?” You stutter out. Your eyes widen when you realize just how fucking stupid you sounded.

Zhongli coolly looked at you. “Of course it was you. I knew that you were not of this world the moment you arrived in Liyue.” He tells you firmly while staring straight into your soul. “Now, do inform me on how you were able to acquire this power without a Vision granted from me?”

The silence was deafening in the room. You thought you were just about to faint until your experience from working under pressure in the emergency room decided to kick in and not fail you as you quickly composed yourself.

“In my defense,” you raise your hands. “it was completely out of my control.”

Zhongli raised an eyebrow, unconvinced.

You let out a sigh. “Here's what happened. A saw a Statue of Seven in Guili Plains, in all of its glory, and as soon as I was near it I felt a pulling sensation. Later that day I was extremely frustrated and all of a sudden a rock pillar just came out of the ground.”

Zhongli hummed in thought before finally standing back to his full height, allowing you to breathe again. He brought a hand to his chin and looked down in thought. “Interesting. I have not heard of such instances where that has ever happened, with me or any of the other Archons.” His eyes met yours again. “So what makes you special? So special that even the adeptus Xiao has decided to look after you?”

You couldn't help the exaggerated laugh that bubbled out of your throat. “Ha! I wish I knew, but your guess is as good as mine sweetheart.” You pause. “I also know that you're Morax too… if you haven't figured that out yet.” You finish meekly. WHAT THE FUCK AM I SAYING?!

The Geo Archon’s eyes widen at you. “How did you know that? Where exactly did you come from?” He interrogates.

You quickly explain to him the same thing that you told Xiao, that he was from a video game and that you were aware of what was to come in the future as well as how you somehow physically de-aged.

“Interesting.” Zhongli thought for a moment. “It appears that you come from a similar universe in which our’s exists but in a completely different manner.”

“How much of our universe do you know through this ''game”?” He questions.

“I know of some future events that will happen, but the lore of the story is still a complete mystery. We don't even know how long the main story of the game is.” You say.

Zhongli pondered. “I see. If you know what is to happen in the future, then it would be best to let things run their course and not intervene with it.”

“Yeah, the butterfly effect and shit like that.” Your eyebrows shoot up in surprise as you subconsciously swore. You quickly slap a hand over your mouth. “Sorry… it's a bad habit.” You apologize quietly.

Zhongli decided to ignore your mishap. “So you're aware of what could happen. And since you're already aware of my identity, I presume that you know that I go by Zhongli now?”

You nod your head. “Yes, I do.” You then realized that you haven't introduced yourself. You quickly bowed towards him. “My name is [Name] by the way! [Name] [Last Name].”

Zhongli nodded. “It's a pleasure to finally know the name of the outlander that took my Vision without consent.”

You make a face at his snarky comment. “Is it a pleasure though?” You muttered rhetorically.

“Let's continue with your situation.” Zhongli diverted the conversation back on track. He then looked towards you. “Perhaps if you tried to remember the events that happened to you before you came here, that may give us a better idea as to the reason why you're here.” He then gestures to one of the chairs in front of his desk. “Please have a seat. It will be easier for you to remember if you're comfortable.”

“I do remember being on a bridge but that's the only thing I know now.” Moving to sit down, you tuck your dress skirt underneath you and cross your legs, trying to look somewhat professional. You take a deep breath as you gather thoughts. What happened before coming here? What was I doing? You lean forward and rest your elbows on your knee while interlacing your hands, then put your forehead against them. You close your eyes and your eyebrow twitches into a furrow as you begin to concentrate. [e/c] eyes move rapidly behind eyelids as memories start to form.

“A hospital…” You began. “I was working a shift in the hospital.”

—

“Hi Miss Bradford!” You cheerily call out as you knock on the door. The old woman looked up from her magazine and smiled at you with dull blue eyes.

“Dr. [Last Name]. How are you doing sweetheart?” She asks softly. Miss Bradford was a quiet old lady in her seventies with salt and pepper hair and the brightest, most gorgeous blue eyes you had ever seen.

That was before she had started chemotherapy.

Miss Bradford was your most recent patient. You had treated her a few months ago when she came to your emergency room with intense chest pains. After taking multiple different CAT scans and MRIs, you and several other doctors had concluded her diagnosis as breast cancer. Although you admitted her to Oncology, she kept having complications when she had started chemotherapy; causing you to see her quite frequently.

Today was the day Miss Bradford would start her third round of chemo and you decided to bring her her favorite lunch before starting. Miss Bradford was hell bent on beating this cancer but after her most recent round she had started to lose her appetite. Which was never a good sign for a cancer patient.

“I'm doing well, thank you. And I thought I told you to call me [Name]?” You grab a chair and pull it up next to her bed.

She gives you a small smile. “But you worked so hard to earn the title of a doctor. I'm only giving you the respect you deserve.”

You shook your head playfully at the older woman. “How're you feeling today?”

She let out a sigh. “Tired, but better than yesterday. I'm ready to get this damn treatment over with.” She grumbled.

“That's good! Do you feel like eating today?” You ask.

She shook her head. “Not really but knowing you, you'll probably force me to eat anyways.” She looked at the plastic sack in your hand. “Whatcha got there?”

“Well hopefully this will bring your appetite back for today. It's your favorite!” You raise the bag higher and place it on her food tray. “Almond Tofu! I remember you telling me that it was your go to desert when you lived in Singapore, so I had one of my foreign exchange friends teach me how to make it.” You let out a dramatic sigh. “I can't tell you how many times I messed up baking this damn dessert.”

Miss Bradford looked at the sweet treat with tears in her eyes. “Oh, [Name]…” She let out a wet laugh. “You didn't have to do that.”

You smiled at the older woman. “I know I didn't have to, but I wanted to.”

She suddenly reaches over as quickly as all the tubes hooked up to her allowed her and brought you into a tight hug. You fretted over her before she cut you off.

“Thank you, [Name].” She whispered. You reciprocated her hug gently.

“You're welcome, Miss Bradford. Though I can't guarantee it'll be just like the real thing.” You playfully warned.

She let out a laugh as she pulled away from the hug. “I'm sure it will be wonderful.” She gives you a grateful smile. She then evenly separates the dessert and gives you half of it. You shook your hands no at the offer.

“No no, Miss Bradford, I made this for you so you don't have to share it with me.” You politely decline.

She glares at you but smiles. “I know I don't have to but I want to.” She quipped.

You gasp. “How dare you throw my own words back at me!”

“Just take the damn dessert, Dr. [Last Name].” She laughed out loud.

Letting out a sigh, you grab the plate from her and begin to eat with her. You both chatted for a couple of minutes after finishing before you were paged to be back down in the emergency room. You grabbed the plastic container the dessert was in and threw it away. As you moved the chair back to its proper place, you looked at Miss Bradford.

Reaching a hand out, you place it over her own. “Thank you for eating today, Miss Bradford.” You tell her sincerely. “I know it's getting hard but all of the nurses are telling me that you're doing great.”

“Just two more rounds and it will be over.” You encouraged her.

The older woman nods as she grasps your hand and gives it a tight squeeze. A nonverbal thank you.

“Do you need anything else before I leave?” You ask.

She shakes her head. “No, Dr. [Last Name]. I'm quite alright. Now go save some lives.” She lets go of your hand and shoos you off.

You roll your eyes teasingly. “I'll be back to check on you after your treatment. Try not to see me this time around!” You open the door and wave back at her. “Good luck! You got this!” You then swiftly leave the room and head back to your station.

As soon as you were gone, Miss Bradford’s smile dropped immediately. She laid her head back and lifelessly looked at the ceiling. Tears started to fall from her cobalt eyes as she thought about you and the gift you had made for her.

“I'm gonna miss you, [Name].” She whispered into the empty room.

—

After three days, you fortunately had the day off from working so you immediately went to go see Miss Bradford.

You soon made it to the familiar room. “Hi Miss Bradford! How do you feel-” You stop in your tracks upon seeing Miss Bradford lying in front of you. The older woman looked nothing like what you had seen three days prior. Her beautiful salt and pepper hair had begun to fall out and her skin looked like it was barely hanging onto her bones.

You quickly come back to reality. This is what chemo does. And elderly people tend to not survive the drug. You remind yourself.

You take a deep breath and walk towards the bed. “Miss Bradford?” You call out. “It's me, Dr. [Last Name].”

The woman slowly opened her eyes. Her bleary and glazed over eyes tiredly searched for the voice calling out to her before landing on your form. Her dull blue eyes light up in recognition.

“[Name].” She croaked out yet still gave you a smile.

You give a smile right back to her. “Hi Miss Bradford.” You greet softly. You squat down next to the bed so it was easier to make eye contact. “How're you feeling?”

She let out a tired sigh. “Like shit.”

You chuckled quietly before you both sat in silence for a few moments. You open your mouth to say something but the older woman beats you to it.

“I don't think I'm gonna make this round, sweetheart.”

You clench your jaw hearing her statement. “Don't say that.” You tell her firmly. “I thought you wanted to kick this cancer’s ass?”

The poor woman couldn't even manage a chuckle. “Don't all patients say that?” She asked. She looks past you and out the window. “I think it's my time. I can feel it.”

She then closed her eyes and gave you a grateful smile while reaching up to cup your cheek. “Thank you, [Name], for sticking by my side even when my own children didn't. I couldn't have asked for a more wonderful doctor to take care of me.”

You held the hand that was on your cheek and gave the older woman a sad smile as if to say “I'm sorry for not doing enough”, yet she seemed to understand what your smile conveyed as she began to caress your cheek as a means to console you.

“Keep saving lives, Dr. [Last Name].”

The steady flat note of a heart rate monitor tells you that your patient has finally passed away.

Her hand that was on your cheek laid flaccid on your own. You closed your eyes and let out a shaky sigh. After a few minutes of sitting in silence with your deceased patient, you press the nurse’s call button. You then place her hand next to her on the bed. Shortly after several nurses come into the room and begin to console you while covering Miss Bradford’s body with the sheet. You watched them as they wheeled her out of the room.

She told you to keep saving lives and you plan on doing just fucking that.

—

It was dark out when you finally left the hospital after you said your last goodbyes to Miss Bradford. The temperature had dropped significantly causing a shiver to run down your spine and goosebumps form on your arms.

You're not going to lie. Even though she told you that she was ready and already accepted her death, you couldn't help but feel like you failed her; so you were feeling pretty depressed. Everybody was so determined to get her healthy again, to go back to a somewhat normal life again. But it was never that easy.

You passed several buildings as you continued home. Soon you were passing your current town's local park when you suddenly stopped, a sudden feeling of anxiety had come out of nowhere. It felt like there were eyes on you, watching your every move. Your face sets into a hard glare to try and look intimidating. You turn around in a circle trying to find any suspicious people, yet you only found yourself alone in the street which unsettled you even more.

A sudden rustling causes you to whip your head to the right. Your eyes immediately lock onto a bright pair of golden ones that look at you from the tree line. Neither one of you refused to blink or look away, seeing who would back down first.

Your eyes widen when the other set of eyes seem to just dissipate into thin air. After a few moments of trying to process what the hell just happened, you shake your head.

I must be going insane. You thought. When you turned around to continue home, your gaze caught sight of something on the sidewalk. On the sidewalk was what looked like gold flecks of dust hovering in front of you. Being the completely logical person you were, you tried to kick the dust away from you. However doing so only caused more gold flecks to appear and soon a trail of them started to manifest that led into the forest where you saw the pair of eyes. You looked at the trail bewildered. What the actual fuck is going on? You drop your head and let out a defeated sigh.

“Yeah, I'm over this.” You mumble out loud. You walk through the trail dead set on going home and sleeping for the entire day tomorrow. Now you weren't going to lie, yes you do get upset whenever one of your patients pass away, but normally not this upset because that was part of your job; it's bound to happen. But Miss Bradford’s death seemed to be taking a bigger toll on you than you thought.

However, as you tried to walk through the trail it forcefully turned your body to walk to the forest. Your eyes widen as your adrenaline spikes and your fight or flight kicks in as you start thrashing around, trying to release its invisible hold on you.

“Hey, wait! Stop!” You cry out. You whip your head in all directions, trying to look for someone to help you. “Help! Anyone, please!” Yet all you received was silence from the empty street. While the gold dust continued to push you toward, you still tried to fight against it though you quickly began to falter thanks to the mentally and physically taxing day you just went through.

As if it had sense you were giving up, the trail abruptly stopped pushing you. For a split second you thought about running off again but decided against it. You watched as the trail formed and led even deeper into the forest where the bushes and trees were so thick that not even the bright moon that was above could illuminate it. Your eyes flicker down to the trail before going back to the forest then back down to the trail. You grimace at the trail as if you were saying “do I really have to?” to it.

All of a sudden, your head whips up to the tree line as you hear music softly playing from it. From your limited musical knowledge, it sounded like it was a harp or some type of string instrument. You feel your muscles relax and your heart slows its frantic pace as the soft melody coursed around you, like a warm comforting blanket that had just come out of the dryer, and a sense of peace had washed over you.

The logical side of your brain was screaming at you to not listen to it. To not be a dumbass and see where it was coming from. To run away as fast as you could while screaming for help, yet you already knew that wasn't going to work. But the hypnotic song that the harp-like instrument was playing kicked that side of your brain to the curb as it lured you into the forest.

Your feet moved before you even realized it and soon you began to bush limbs away. After a few minutes of trying to follow where the music was coming from, it started to get louder and then light filtered through the trees. You quickened your pace and pushed away the last of the trees, but froze in your place as the music suddenly stopped and at what you walked upon.

In front of you was nothing but a vast and endless bright blue sky. From above where the sun continued to glow brightly but seemed to be twice the size of what it was before, to below you where you could see a single hint of land anywhere. Clouds rolled by thanks to the gentle breeze that blew past you and tall pillars were littered throughout the area, some were even floating!

You turn back to the forest behind you with a confused expression before looking back at the open sky. Wasn't it just night before? And why is this… oddly familiar? Where have I seen this before? You wondered.

You jumped nearly ten feet in the air when you heard a noise at your feet. You look down to see individual slabs of concrete form a bridge several feet out in front of you and the gold trail resumes onto the bridge.

You stare at the bridge processing what just occurred. You could practically hear the Jeopardy theme song playing in the background. You sharply inhale and your eyes widen when finally realized why this was all familiar.

Motherfucking Genshin Impact! I thought I recognized this loading screen!

You place a hesitant foot on the bridge, expecting it to crumble but it stood sturdy. You take another step, then another, and after four steps the bridge begins to form out again. You keep walking as the bridge does so. You do this for a few moments, giggling to yourself about what is actually transpiring.

“I really have gone insane.” You laughed. “Ah, and my future was so promising.”

A loud boom from below cuts you off from your self deprecating thoughts. What the hell? You get down on your knees and crawl over the edge of the bridge to see a huge black rip in the sky.

“Outlanders,” A voice boomed out. “your journey ends here.”

And out stepped the Unknown God.

Oh shit. You gasp quietly as your heart rate accelerates at the sight of her. She's hotter in person. You looked around for the twins and quickly spotted them on a platform just below the Unknown God.

“Who’re you?” The queen herself, Lumine, calls out.

“The sustainer of heavenly principles.” The Unknown God summons a black cube in her hand. “The arrogation of mankind ends here.” She then creates a cube below the twins, forcing them to jump out of the way. They spin in the air and summon their, much cooler than the ones in the game, wind gliders with swords in hand.

The Unknown God sends multiple horrifying trails of cubes after the twins, forcing them to fly and twirl out of the way of them while causing the whole sky to rumble somehow. Soon the twins fly towards the Unknown God and collide with her creating a huge explosion.

The explosion caused the bridge you were on to shake due to the force. You grabbed on tighter to the ledge in hopes of keeping your balance, but an aftershock made you slip off from the edge. You let out a terrified scream as you suddenly began to fall.

Your scream caught the trio's attention and made them look at you. The twin’s faces morph into a shocked and horrified expression as you fall while the Unknown God’s eyes narrow in recognition. “There you are.” And sent cubes after you, yet you are completely immune to what's happening around you thanks to the wind that was blowing in your ears.

Lumine quickly yelled to her brother. “Aether, catch her!” She diverted her attention back to the god. “I'll take care of this!”

Aether jumped into action and quickly flew to you. He willed his wind gliders to move faster than the cubes and was soon on you. He then flies underneath you and catches you bridal style. You let out a loud “oof” as you roughly collided with something and opened your eyes, which had subconsciously closed when you fell, to see Aether flying away with you in his arms and away from the cubes.

Aether looks down to your wind blown form. “Are you okay?” He asks gently. How you could hear him over the wind, you didn't know, but you could only stare at him in shock, not actually believing that he was real.

Taking in your silence as being in shock from the fall, he flies higher in the air and turns to the Unknown God to see his twin getting sucked into the god’s cubes.

“Lumine!” He cried out. He looked between you and his sister before ultimately throwing you over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes while keeping a firm hold on your thighs. He zooms to the god at high speeds which catches you off guard.

“What the fuck?!” You screech. You were starting to get a little motion sickness from all of the sudden movements.

Aether dips behind the god and swings his sword at her which causes an even larger explosion than before. You let out a scream at the loud sound. You could feel Aether’s chest rising and falling rapidly under your legs due to him panting. You hear him gasp and you turn over his head to see what was happening, though you already knew.

However, the sight of the smoke from the explosion coming back and encasing Aether’s hand was more terrifying in real life than it was in the game.

“Hold on!” He orders then quickly readjusted you so that he had a hold of your waist. You wrap your arms around his shoulders and cover your face in his shoulder, bracing for any sort of pain. Soon your vision started to turn black, but before it covered it entirely you heard Aether scream out to the Unknown God.

“Wait, don't go! Give my sister back!”

—

A/N: Kazuha is now officially the ninth member of the harem. Also, y'all... Inazuma? Lord help me I want to add Gorou and Thoma to the harem as well.

Side note, for all of the male characters that have a "young adult" physique like Aether, Kazuha, Xiao, etc. they're taller than they are in the game, from 5'6"-5'8" (Xiao still being the shortest) while those with an "adult" are anywhere from 5'10-6'2", because I said so lol.

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